Kurt Kitayama made sure his 50th start on the PGA Tour would be one he never forgets after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one stroke on Sunday with a final score of nine under.

Kitayama, 30, is in his seventh season after making his debut in the 2016-17 campaign, and he finally earned his first PGA Tour victory to go with two wins on the European Tour and one Asian Tour triumph.

It was far from smooth sailing, with a catastrophic triple-bogey on the ninth hole ruining Kitayama's bright start to his final trip around Bay Hill, taking him from a two-stroke lead at 11 under, back to one behind the leaders.

But he kept his composure, rattling off seven pars in a row to begin his back nine, before what ended up being the tournament-winning birdie on the tricky par-three 17th.

Rory McIlroy and Harris English both had birdie putts on the 18th to reach nine under, but could not convert, meaning Kitayama just needed a par on the last to secure the win.

He left himself with a long two-putt for the title, and he almost made it in one, coming up an inch short to set up a tap-in par.

Illustrating how difficult the course played over the weekend, Kitayama was nine under through two rounds, and finished with back-to-back 72s as the field failed to chase him down.

McIlroy briefly tasted the outright lead after Kitayama's triple and Jordan Spieth's late collapse, but the Northern Irishman's seven birdies were balanced out by five bogeys, including two in a row on the 14th and 15th while he was out in front.

He finished tied for second at eight under with English, who was the only player in the field to finish with no bogeys on Saturday or Sunday.

Spieth found himself at 10 under through 13, but imploded with three bogeys over his next four to tie for fourth at seven under with Patrick Cantlay, Scottie Scheffler and Tyrell Hatton.

After a five-over outing on Saturday, Davis Riley bounced back with a 66 for the round of the day, catapulting him into an unlikely top-10 finish at six under.

Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk lifted her first WTA singles trophy after defeating Russia's Varvara Gracheva 6-3 7-5 in Sunday's ATX Open final.

Kostyuk only needed to beat one seeded opponent en route to the title, eliminating fourth seed Danielle Collins in the semi-final to set up a showdown against the 22-year-old ranked 88th in the world.

In an incredibly back-and-forth first set, eight of the nine games went against serve, including five consecutive breaks to begin the match, with the 20-year-old Kostyuk's lone hold good enough to take the lead.

With both players competing in their first final at this level, the nerves were apparent, as they combined for eight double faults in the opening set and another six in the second.

It was Gracheva pulling ahead 5-3 as she tried to force a decider, but after saving a set point, Kostyuk broke back to make it 5-5, and rattled off the final four games of the match to claim the title.

Coming into the tournament ranked 52nd in the world, Kostyuk will surpass her career-best mark of 45th when the next set of rankings are released.

Lewis Hamilton called for Mercedes to implement upgrades as soon as possible after a disappointing opening race at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion was well off the pace of the Red Bulls, who secured a one-two finish, and came fourth after losing his battle with former team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Aston Martin's show of strength is a particularly sore point for Mercedes, who supply their engine, gearbox and rear suspension, and fans may fear another tough season is on the cards for the team.

A disappointing campaign last term saw Mercedes respond to provide some competitiveness in the final rounds but Hamilton is keen for a much swifter reply this year.

"I thought the team did a great job in terms of pit stops and just unfortunately the car is not there at the moment," he told Sky Sports F1.

"We are just lacking downforce and we have got to work really hard to add that ASAP.

"Anything from in the wind tunnel, we need it tomorrow. We have really got to push massively to try and close that gap."

Team principal Toto Wolff is equally keen for developmental upgrades, but he feels a more radical approach is required.

The fact Aston Martin have impressed has provided some optimism, though, if the team can pinpoint where their success stems from.

"Red Bull is just on a different planet. That is what hurts because they are so far head, it reminds me of our best years because we just put a second on everybody else," he said.

"That is the benchmark and we have to do one step after the other to come back and we can do that. We can, absolutely we can.

"I think it needs to be much more radical in the steps than hope for a three-tenths upgrade.

"They [Aston Martin] deserve what they have done, they did a good job. The good news for us is there is a lot of Mercedes in there.  To pinpoint it, that would be helpful in the recovery."

Charles Leclerc believes Red Bull are on "another planet" to their Formula One rivals after they dominated the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen's title defence got off to a comfortable start with a victory on Sunday, with his team-mate Sergio Perez second and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in third.

Leclerc looked on course for a podium finish for Ferrari, but an engine failure led to his retirement.

The issue came despite Ferrari changing a component ahead of the race, one of only two permitted alterations allowed over the course of the season, which could lead to further pain for the Scuderia in future races.

While the cause of the problem was unknown to Leclerc, he made it clear the team must secure as many points as possible to keep Red Bull in sight.

"I have no idea what happened to the car when I lost the power, the only thing I know is that I did, I don't know for what reason," he told Sky Sports F1.

"I don't know if it is related to the change we had this morning, so I don't want to comment on that, but it is a shame.

"We expected to be on the back foot this weekend, especially in the race to Red Bull. That team is on another planet right now.

"But that's what exactly why most weekends we need to make sure we bring maximum points possible home and we didn't manage to do so."

Max Verstappen was delighted to break his Bahrain Grand Prix hoodoo, but Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez is promising a tight Formula One title race in 2023.

The reigning world champion picked up his first career victory at the Bahrain International Circuit to kick off the new season where he left off last term.

Verstappen led a one-two ahead of teammate Perez, while Fernando Alonso came third on his Aston Martin debut.

Having failed to win on any of his previous visits to Bahrain with the team, the Dutchman acknowledged he was gratified to finally claim a win at the circuit.

"I was very happy to finally win here in Bahrain," he said in his post-race interview. "It was a very good first stint. From there, it was about looking after the tyres.

"[There are] just little things we want to fine-tune. I think we have a good race package. I think it will depend race-to-race, [but] we can definitely fight with this."

Perez, who was aided in securing second by the late retirement of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to an engine issue, feels he can press his team-mate this year though.

After finishing third in the standings last term, the Mexican is looking to ensure he can stay on the heels of the Dutchman as the latter eyes a third consecutive crown.

"We worked really hard over the winter, so it is nice to see all the boys enjoying the first race," he added. "It was important today to get both cars to the end.

"Finishing second was the maximum I could do today [with my start]. It is a long season. I think I am getting closer every single session and I will give my best."

Alonso, who departed Alpine for Aston Martin during the off-season, nabbed his first podium finish since he came third at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix.

For the Spaniard, the oldest driver in the field at 41, it marked a vindication of his decision to make the move as he continues to defy expectations.

"[It is] amazing for the team, [it] was [a] great weekend," he added. "Finishing on the podium in the first race of the year, it is just amazing.

"What Aston Martin did over the winter to have the second-best car on race one, it's unreal."

Max Verstappen started the defence of his Formula One title with a comfortable victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The two-time world champion was in front from the start and never truly came under threat, leading a Red Bull one-two ahead of Sergio Perez to secure his team's first opening-weekend victory since 2011.

With Charles Leclerc forced into a retirement due to an engine issue, Red Bull's closest challenger was Fernando Alonso, who worked his way through the field for a podium finish.

But a rejuvenated Aston Martin were no match for a dominant Verstappen and Red Bull in what proved to be a comfortable race for the defending champions.

Leclerc, who had a power unit change before the start, leapfrogged Perez to take second place at the start but could not stay ahead of the Mexican, who regained his grid position after the first round of pit stops on lap 26.

Mercedes' fight with Aston Martin was the battle to watch, Lewis Hamilton completing an undercut on Alonso before a stellar move on lap 38 saw the Spaniard move ahead again.

Engine problems for Leclerc led to his retirement three laps later, opening the door for Alonso to battle Carlos Sainz for a podium spot after the virtual safety car was deployed.

Alonso was able to catch his compatriot on lap 46 to clinch third spot in his first race for Aston Martin, though there was no challenge for Red Bull as they eased to only their second ever win in the first race of the year.

Ferrari frustration

Having had to retire from the lead twice in the 2022 season due to engine issues, Leclerc would have hoped those problems were a thing of the past heading into Ferrari's 2023 campaign.

Never appearing to have the pace to put the Red Bull duo under threat, calamity struck with another forced retirement in a nightmare start to the season.

Ocon's Alpine agony

Esteban Ocon's season did not get off to a good start, with the Frenchman given three time penalties over the course of the race.

An initial five-second penalty came for incorrect grid position, with a 10-second penalty following for failing to serve that correctly and another five-second penalty issued for speeding in the pit lane before the Alpine was eventually retired.

IN THE POINTS

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +11.987

3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +36.637

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +48.052

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +50.977

6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +54.502

7. George Russell (Mercedes) +55.873

8. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) +1:12.647

9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1:13.753

10. Alexander Albon (Williams) +1:20.870

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 25

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 18

3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 15

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 12

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 10

Constructors

1. Red Bull 43

2. Aston Martin 23

3. Mercedes 16

4. Ferrari 12

5. Alfa Romeo 4

Charles Leclerc has taken a new power unit component ahead of the Formula One season opener in Bahrain.

The Ferrari driver, who starts third on the grid behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, has a new energy store (ES) on his car.

No penalty will be issued for the Bahrain Grand Prix, though it leaves Ferrari in a challenging position for the remainder of the season as only two such changes are allowed over the course of the campaign.

The F1 season in 2023 will see a record-breaking 23 races on the calendar, Las Vegas having been added to the schedule.

Leclerc looked to be Verstappen's strongest rival last season, winning two of the opening three races, but reliability issues and strategy errors derailed his charge as he finished 146 points behind the Dutchman.

Changes were made at Ferrari ahead of the new season, Frederic Vasseur replacing Mattias Binotto as team principal.

Toto Wolff conceded Mercedes must change their car design in order to return to the top of Formula One.

Mercedes endured a dismal 2022 season, with Lewis Hamilton suffering the first winless campaign of his F1 career.

Much of their struggles were put down to issues with the car, but Mercedes stuck with their unique "zero pod" design for the 2023 season, despite the success of Red Bull's "side pod" model.

Yet after a disappointing qualification session that saw George Russell place in sixth and Hamilton in seventh for Sunday's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Wolff confirmed changes will have to be made.

He said: "I don't think this package is going to be competitive, eventually.

"We gave it our best go also over the [off-season] and now we just need to all regroup, sit down with the engineers who are totally not dogmatic about anything and decide what is the development direction we want to pursue in order to be competitive to win races.

"It's not only like last year that you're scoring podiums and eventually you get there.

"I'm sure we can win races this season but it's really the mid-and long-term that we need to look at which decisions you need to take."

Wolff believes Mercedes "gave it our best shot" but ultimately the team must accept their model has not worked.

"We hit our targets. That's why we gave it our best shot," he continued. "The moment comes and the stopwatch comes out and that showed us that it's simply not good enough.

"We haven't got enough downforce and we need to find solutions to fix that."

Two-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen claimed pole position in Saturday's qualification, with team-mate Sergio Perez completing a front-row lockout for Red Bull.

Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will start in third and fourth respectively, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso occupies fifth on the grid ahead of Russell and Hamilton.

Trey Lyles gave a damning judgement of the Sacramento Kings' issues as he pointed out the team "can't stop anybody" in the wake of Saturday's defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Sacramento lost 134-138 to see their winning streak snapped at five games.

They sit third in the Western Conference, though they are seven-and-a-half games back from the Denver Nuggets.

The Kings have the best points per game (121.1) in the NBA this season, yet when it comes to defense, they are one of the league's poorest performers.

Only the San Antonio Spurs (122.0) and the Detroit Pistons (119.1) have conceded more points per game on average than the Kings (118.5).

For Lyles, the issues are clear.

"At the end of the day, no matter how tired we were, we were terrible defensively," he said.

"We can outscore anybody, but we can't stop anybody."

Lyles grabbed 15 points and eight rebounds from the bench, as Kevin Huerter led Sacramento with 29 points while Domantas Sabonis had 24 points and 14 rebounds.

Anthony Edwards came to the fore for the Timberwolves with 27 points, four rebounds and eight assists.

However, the key to their victory – at least from Edwards' perspective – was keeping De'Aaron Fox, who had scored 30 or more points in nine of his last 11 games, below that threshold.

"De'Aaron Fox has been playing out of his mind," Edwards said, with Fox having managed 25 points.

"We were happy to hold him under 30 tonight. He still played great though in the fourth."

Minnesota coach Chris Finch reserved special praise for Edwards

He said: "I thought we played great all night long. Especially when they tightened it up at the end, we play a lot in flow.

"A lot of it was Anthony stepping up at the right time."

Giannis Antetokounmpo is eager for the Milwaukee Bucks to learn from their winning-streak-ending loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Joel Embiid and James Harden led the charge as the 76ers overcame a 14-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter to win 133-130 in Milwaukee on Saturday, snapping the Bucks' 16-game winning run.

Milwaukee went into the contest with the best record in the NBA but Embiid – whose three-pointer with 42 seconds left on the clock nudged the 76ers ahead – and Harden ensured the league's longest winning streak of the season came to a shuddering halt.

Embiid finished with 31 points, 10 assists and six rebounds to back up Harden's 38 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey added 26 points.

It was the first time two Philadelphia players finished with at 30 or more points and 10 or more assists in the same game since Hal Greer Wilt Chamberlain did so in October 1965.

Antetokounmpo now wants to see the Bucks respond.

"They went wherever they wanted to go, scoring from the paint, floaters, isos, offensive rebounds, free throws, threes," said Antetokounmpo, who had a double-double of 34 points and 13 rebounds.

"You name it. They were able to get everything.

"We've got to be able to play 48 minutes of good basketball, defend for 48 minutes. This is a good lesson for us.

"We did a good job the first three quarters. Obviously, the fourth quarter, a lot of free throws, they made some tough threes. 

"It was basically our game but they came out, they were aggressive, they moved the ball, got downhill to the paint."

For his part, Philadelphia talisman Embiid was not convinced he had the best of games at an individual level.

"I thought tonight I could have been better. I missed a lot of easy shots I usually make," he said.

The 76ers hold a 41-22 record for the season and pulled to within four games of the Bucks in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

"It's good, having these types of games, especially with our schedule the rest of the way," Embiid added.

"It's good for us, prepares us for the playoffs. It's good and bad. Good because you know you're able to do it, but it's also bad because you put yourself in that position [down 18].

"So maybe we should try to find a way to not put ourselves in those positions in the first place so we don't have to do it again."

Harden said: "Give ourselves a chance. That was the whole fourth quarter. I feel like they had us that entire game, and then, that fourth quarter, we came out with some pop.

"You find something that works and you try to stick with it. We found something late, in that fourth quarter, and we just stuck with it. We got some stops and things changed for us."

Alex de Minaur secured his first ATP 500 title on Saturday after coming from behind to defeat Tommy Paul 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the Mexican Open final.

It was a tremendous week in Acapulco for the Australian, having eliminated world number 10 Holger Rune in the semi-final en route to his seventh title overall, with the first six all at the ATP 250 level.

Against Paul, De Minaur blew a pair of break points in the opening set, and then gave up the break in the very next game, allowing the American to serve things out safely to take the first frame.

But mistakes started to creep into Paul's game the longer the match went. After landing 75 per cent of his first serves fair in the opener and avoiding any double-faults, Paul's first serve percentage dropped to 46 in the second, and he committed a pair of doubles.

He committed another two double-faults in the decider to hand De Minaur the early break, and his play from the baseline also deteriorated, hitting just six winners to go with 14 unforced errors.

Known for his resilience, De Minaur had to save five break points to hold serve in the opening game of the third set, but he held his nerve, and churned out five consecutive games as Paul ran out of gas.

The 500 ranking points will see the Aussie climb to 18th in the world, with his career-best mark of 15th now within reach.

Meanwhile, the fairytale continued for Nicolas Jarry at the Chile Open, with the Santiago-born talent electrifying his home crowd with a 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 semi-final victory over Jaume Munar.

Jarry will get a chance for the second ATP title of his career, and the first since 2019, when he meets Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the final.

Etcheverry emerged victorious 7-5 6-3 in an all-Argentine showdown against third seed Sebastian Baez, earning his first final appearance at this level.

Jon Jones wants his first defence of the UFC heavyweight championship to be against the man widely considered the greatest heavyweight in the history of the promotion, Stipe Miocic.

Jones captured the belt on Saturday after securing a first-round guillotine choke submission against Cyril Gane, just two minutes and four seconds into the main event.

It was the 35-year-old former light heavyweight champion's first fight since February 2020, and there had been questions about how he would look coming off such a long layoff and at a drastically increased weight, but he passed the test with flying colours.

He planted Gane on the mat with his first takedown attempt, and after feeling out a potential guillotine that was not properly applied, he returned to the same move moments later and cinched it up tight.

During his post-fight interview, Jones shared that he knew grappling was his route to victory, and that Gane's limited experience in that department would be no match for his lifetime in the wrestling room.

"I had a strong conviction that if I were to get him down to the ground, the fight would be in my area," he said.

"I've been wrestling since I was 12 years old, and I felt stronger and more comfortable – especially on the ground – than ever.

"With kickboxing you never know what's going to happen – he zigs, I zag – there was a major feeling out process. 

"I actually felt a little goofy on the feet, it's been a while, but once I got my hands on him I knew that's where I was most comfortable and that I could take control."

When asked about his interest in taking on the former heavyweight champ, Jones said it is the only fight on his mind.

"Oh yeah, baby," he said. "Y'all want to see me beat up Stipe? One thing I know about the UFC is we give the fans what they want to see.

"Stipe Miocic, I hope you're training my guy. You're the greatest heavyweight of all-time, and that's what I want. I want you, real bad."

Miocic, 40, has not fought since a crushing knockout at the hands of Francis Ngannou in March 2021, but he is the only heavyweight in UFC history to defend the belt three times in a row, during his first of two championship reigns from 2016-2018.