Spieth among Match Play winners

Jordan Spieth made only one birdie putt to win a hole. He twice missed the green with a wedge. He never led until the 16th hole. All that mattered is he won his opening group-play match against Keegan Bradley in the World Golf Championships Match Play in Austin, Texas.

It wasn’t a pretty match. Five of the holes at Austin Country Club were won with pars. And it featured a wild halve on the 13th hole when Spieth drove into the water, only for Bradley to later chip into the hazard. Both made par.

The Texas native and three-time major winner took his first lead when Bradley’s second to the par-5 16th hole caromed off the slope of a bunker, went over the green and out-of-bounds. Neither played led by more than one hole the entire match until Bradley conceded Spieth a 6-foot par on the final hole for a 2-up margin.

In another notable match, Adam Scott beat longtime friend and fellow major champion Justin Rose 2 up.

Baseball: Rachel Balkovec, hired by the Yankees as the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a Major League Baseball team, was hit in the face by a batted ball during a drill and will be sidelined for up to a week. Balkovec was struck Tuesday. She will not be available for her first scheduled spring training game Thursday with Class A Tampa. The 34-year-old Balkovec didn’t sustain a concussion but has facial swelling. She was involved in a hitting drill in an indoor cage at the minor league complex when she was hurt. Balkovec has been instructed by team doctors to rest for five to seven days. She will be re-examined after the swelling goes down.

NBA: LeBron James sat out the Lakers’ game against the 76ers because of soreness in his left knee. The Lakers’ next game isn’t until Sunday, giving the 37-year-old James a six-day stretch to rest his ailing knee. It will be James’ 19th missed game of the season.

NFL: The Patriots and CB Malcolm Butler agreed to a two-year deal worth up to $9 million, his agent told ESPN. Butler spent last season on the reserve/retired list after signing with the Cardinals and practicing with them throughout training camp and the preseason. Now 32, Butler was the hero of the Patriots’ 28-24 win over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. His interception at the goal line in the final minute is one of the iconic plays in league history.

NHL: The league announced that it was canceling the trade that sent F Evgenii Dadonov from the Golden Knights to the Ducks because it violated his limited no-trade clause.