Sports briefs
Tiger gives PGA
best rating in 5 years
Tiger Woods was one shot away from a chance to win, and the PGA Tour had its largest television audience in five years.
NBC Sports Group says the final round of the Valspar Championship earned a 5.11 overnight rating, up 190 percent over the previous year and the highest-rated PGA Tour broadcast since Woods won The Players Championship in 2013. That doesn’t include the majors.
Woods, returning from a fourth back surgery, was one shot out of the lead going into the final round. He had a 40-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole to force a playoff with Paul Casey and came up short.
Golf Channel’s two-hour window before the NBC telecast Sunday earned a 1.65 rating, its highest-rated coverage for the lead-in window since it began in 2009.
UConn is No. 1
seed in tournament
UConn is back in a familiar place – the No. 1 overall seed in the women’s basketball NCAA Tournament.
Joining the Huskies as top seeds are Notre Dame, Louisville and Mississippi State.
The Huskies enter as the lone unbeaten team and will be vying for their 12th national championship. It’s the ninth time that UConn has entered the NCAAs undefeated, including last year when the Huskies went in as the overwhelming favorite before their 111-game winning streak ended with a loss to Mississippi State in the Final Four.
This year’s Final Four is in Columbus, Ohio, and will take place on March 30. The national championship game is on Sunday, April 1.
Defending national champion South Carolina and A’ja Wilson await as a possible Elite Eight matchup for UConn in the Albany Regional. The Gamecocks are the two-seed.
Trump honors Series champion Astros
President Donald Trump recognized the Houston Astros Monday for their first World Series win, an “incredible victory” that Trump said was even more special following the devastation Hurricane Harvey wrought on the Texas city.
Houston defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 last year to clinch the title. Trump, who played baseball in high school, declared it “was one of the greatest baseball games anybody has ever seen.” The Astros jumped to a 5-0 lead by the second inning, ultimately winning the game 5-1.
“It’s really a reminder why baseball is our national pastime,” he said at the White House.
Trump thanked the players for spending time with people who were displaced by Harvey’s floodwaters, and for donating money.
In the NHL
Jimmy Vesey scored three times, Mats Zuccarello had two goals and the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 Monday night.
Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Rangers, who ended a three-game losing streak and earned their first home win since Feb. 9. Pavel Buchnevich and Mika Zibanejad each had three assists.