So often the bridesmaid in 2014, American Matt Kuchar finally claimed his first PGA Tour win of the season in dramatic fashion overnight as he chipped in from the bunker on the last to steal a one-shot win over England’s Luke Donald in the RBC Heritage. Kuchar has made a habit of leading into the final round only to fall short this year – the most recent example being at the recent US Masters – and it looked like he might do so again when he three-putted the 17th to lose the outright lead in South Carolina. But his superb chip gave him the lead back and Donald couldn’t find the birdie he needed to send it to a playoff.
Lewis Hamilton made it three wins in a row in the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday as Mercedes tightened its grip on the title race. It seems only Hamilton’s teammate, Nico Rosberg, who finished second for the third race in a row, can stop him with the German four points ahead of Hamilton in the driver standings thanks to his win in Australia. The pair sit well clear of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who finished third, while Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Liverpool tightened their grip on a maiden EPL title thanks to Chelsea’s unexpected stumble against last-placed Sunderland. A controversial penalty in the 82nd minute helped the Black Cats score a 2-1 over the Blues – the first loss manager Jose Mourinho had suffered at Stamford Bridge in 77 league games. The Reds’ 3-2 win over Norwich overnight means they now sit five points clear of Chelsea ahead of next week’s big clash at Anfield, while Manchester City will be looking for nothing less than victory when they host West Brom tonight.
And there was controversy aplenty in the National Rugby League with three controversial refereeing decisions having played a role in deciding the results of three games. Two of those came on Friday night with North Queensland left seething that a late Manly try was awarded despite clear evidence that a Cowboys player was obstructed in the lead-up. South Sydney had a similar complaint in their one-point loss to Canterbury, while Melbourne had what looked to be a fair try disallowed shortly before Canberra scored to steal a 24-22 win. The 2014 season is just seven weeks old but has already been plagued by a series of refereeing controversies.
