Italy prop Marco Riccioni has signed a two-year contract extension to stay with Premiership finalists Saracens.

The front rower signed for the club from Benetton in 2021 but missed most of the last campaign after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

He has been capped 21 times by the Azzuri and been named in their squad for this autumn's World Cup.

"Marco has had an outstanding season and at 25 years old has an incredible future ahead of him," said Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall.

Ludvig Aberg is on a heater.

The Texas Tech senior enters the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship, which begins Friday at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, having won each of his past two events, the Big 12 Championship and NCAA Norman Regional. He also just shot 59 – and nearly 58.

The sub-60 score came Wednesday as the Red Raiders got in a casual round at Kierland Golf Club, a 27-hole layout near Grayhawk. Aberg started his day on the Mesquite nine, where he capped a 6-under 30 with three straight birdies. He then headed to the Acacia nine, which was highlighted early by an eagle at the par-5 fifth that moved Aberg to 9 under on the par-72 composite. With four holes left, Aberg birdied Nos. 6 and 7 before holing a chip after short-siding himself at the par-3 eighth, his 17^th hole of the round.

At 12 under with the par-5 ninth to go, Aberg stuffed his second shot from just inside of 200 yards to 8 feet. That’s when Texas Tech head coach Greg Sands got out his phone to video the putt for 58. Aberg slid it by left and low, but the tap-in still achieved the “backhanded 59,” as Sands called it.

“Everything is coming together for him very well,” Sands said of his star player on the eve of the national championship.

Aberg enters nationals having finished in the top 10 in nine of nine college starts while posting four victories. He’s done so despite the distractions of PGA Tour University, where he’s comfortably No. 1 and on the precipice of a PGA Tour card, plus conversations of the three postseason awards, including the Hogan, which he accepted Monday during a banquet at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

The super Swede is likely the favorite for the Haskins and Nicklaus awards, as well, though Vanderbilt sophomore Gordon Sargent has also put together a nice season with top-7s in all 11 starts, including three victories.

“When you look at stuff like PGA Tour U, you see guys cracking all over the place, and this guy just doesn’t crack,” Sands said. “You put anyone in his spot, and they don’t do what he’s done.”

FORT WORTH, Texas — California club pro Michael Block was living the dream at the PGA Championship. Thursday at Colonial brought him back to reality.

A sensation at Oak Hill when he tied for 15th against the strongest field in golf, Block opened with three straight bogeys and finished with three double bogeys over his last four holes of an 11-over 81 that left him in last place and 19 shots behind Harry Hall in the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Block received a sponsor exemption — he has one for the RBC Canadian Open next week, too — after his amazing week at the PGA Championship. He was on “CBS This Morning,” received a text from Michael Jordan and signed with WME Sports.

“I’ve got nothing,” he said to himself after a tee shot on the 13th barely cleared the water and finished on the back left of a green that had a front right pin.

“If you are a golfer, you’ve had the day I’ve had,” Block said after his worst score by seven shots in the four PGA Tour-level events he has played this year. “You understand the facts of where the lies aren’t good and the trees are in your way every time. Even your good shots are bad, your bad shots are worse.

“It is what it is. I’m going to live with it,” he said. “I thought it was going to happen that third or fourth round last week at Oak Hill, and it never happened. It happened now, and I wasn’t surprised by it, to tell you the truth.”

Hall had a dream start. The Tour rookie from England took only 22 putts, the last one an 8-foot birdie for an 8-under 62 that gave him a three-shot lead over Harris English.

Along with his eight birdies, Hall made par putts of 15 and 30 feet.

Tom Hoge, who played his college golf at TCU and now makes Fort Worth his home, holed out for eagle from the seventh fairway on his way to a 66.

Scottie Scheffler, who returned to No. 1 in the world with his tie for second at the PGA Championship, and defending champion Sam Burns were in the large group at 67. Jordan Spieth didn’t make his lone birdie until the eighth hole and opened with a 72.

Hall changed up his routine this week by playing 36 holes of practice at Colonial — a Monday pro-am and then nine holes on Tuesday and Wednesday. That helps, along with his putter.

“Maybe that’s the key, just to see a bit more of the course than I have done in the past,” Hall said. “I didn’t do too much different. I kind of just made things a little bit more simple.”

He missed seven greens and played those holes in 1 under, the biggest a chip-in for birdie from about 80 feet on the 12th hole.

“I was really in the moment out there and determined to play some good golf,” Hall said. “The 7 out of 7 scrambles doesn’t really surprise me because that’s the best part of my game, but the way I hit the ball the first two-thirds of that round was pretty special.”

Block has been on quite a ride the last six days. He made the cut at the PGA Championship, played with Justin Rose on Saturday and Rory McIlroy on Sunday. The 46-year-old head pro at Trabuco Arroyo in Mission Viejo, California, turned in a performance as memorable as Brooks Koepka winning his fifth major.

He made a hole-in-one on the 15th hole, and his closing from deep rough gave him a tie for 15th and an automatic spot in next year’s PGA Championship.

And then he came crashing back to earth after a week so busy he only saw Colonial one time before Thursday. But he wasn’t giving up just yet.

“I’m looking forward to coming out tomorrow and playing a great round and giving it everything I have,” he said. “I’ve shot 58, and I’ve shot a 59 in my life, and since what I had today, I wouldn’t be surprised if I did it. So if I do, cool. If not, I’ll be seeing my kids and my wife tomorrow night in Orange County, California. It’s all good one way or the other.”

Hoge, who was raised in North Dakota, is so passionate about his Horned Frogs that he flew from Maui to Los Angeles to watch TCU in the college football championship game (a blowout loss to Georgia) and then flew back to Hawaii for the Sony Open.

He got off to a decent start until his round stalled. It came to life on No. 6 when his approach settled inches away from the cup. And then on the seventh, he hit 8-iron from 157 yards straight into the cup for an eagle.

It’s just the start he needed after missing the cut at Colonial the last three times.

“The last few years, I really struggled on Thursday then kind of fought back on Friday to try to make the cut,” Hoge said. “It was certainly a focus this year to try to get off to a good start, try to be a little more patient and letting the round come to me. Making a few birdies off the bat was really nice.”

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Anna Nordqvist was among 11 players who won matches for the second straight day, only the three-time major champion from Sweden had to work the longest at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play.

Nordqvist had her second match go all 18 holes Thursday before she held on for a 1-up victory over Lauren Coughlin. Nordqvist never trailed, but she watched a 4-up lead after eight holes shrink to 1 up after the 13th.

They halved the last five holes, leaving Nordqvist in good position — but still not safe — to win her group and advance to the knockout stage on the weekend at Shadow Creek.

The second day of round-robin group play was all about staying alive, and 16 players from the field of 64 already are mathematically eliminated. Xiyu “Janet” Lin was the only top seed in her group to get eliminated, losing another match, this time to Pajaree Anannarukarn.

The tournament attracted only two of the top 10 players in the women’s world ranking, and both suffered setbacks in the second round.

Albane Valenzuela, a runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur four years ago, won four holes in a five-hole stretch around the turn to knock off Lilia Vu, the top seed and winner of the LPGA’s first major this year at the Chevron Championship.

Valenzuela (2-0) faces Lauren Hartlage on Friday for a chance to advance. Hartlage is the lowest-ranked player in the tournament who has lost both matches before they reached the 17th hole.

“Very happy to walk away with a win,” Valenzuela said. “I knew this was going to be a very tough match. Lilia is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world and made me work for the points. She definitely left some putts out there, and I did as well, so we kind of fought ’til the end.”

Brooke Henderson won three straight holes to build a 1-up lead at the turn, only for the Canadian to make five bogeys the rest of the way and lose to Sophia Schubert. Henderson had an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th to halve the match, and the putt missed right of the hole by several inches.

The top player from each of the 16 groups advance to the weekend.

Maja Stark of Sweden built a big lead for the second straight match and then had to hang on to beat Yu Liu to raise her record to 2-0. Another young Swedish star, Linn Grant, went 18 holes for the second straight day. She halved her match on Wednesday, and then had a wild match against Matilda Castren.

Grant was 3 down after four holes. She rallied to win three straight holes before the turn. None of the final six holes was halved, and Grant did enough to win, 2 up.

“I just had a mindset that it is a tough golf course, so anything can happen on any hole,” Grant said. “You just have to keep hitting fairways and trying to hit those greens. A lot of times you win a hole on par because it is tough.”

Angel Yin pulled off an unlikely win. She was 1 down to Esther Henseleit of Germany playing the par-3 17th. Yin hit over the green on a rough-filled bank, about 10 feet beyond the putting surface. Henseleit had 12 feet for birdie. Yin used her putter to punch the ball along the thick grass, onto the green to about 5 feet. Henseleit missed her birdie and Yin stayed in the match.

On the 18th, Yin hammered a drive along the firm fairway and hit a wedge to 10 feet, making the birdie putt to earn a tie. She will play Ally Ewing, who has won two matches without having to play the 17th hole either day.

Ludvig Aberg had a decision to make after his junior year at Texas Tech.

He had two options: return to Lubbock for his senior season or turn pro and take his chances without status on any major tour.

For the then-22-year-old Aberg, the choice was easy.

“Lubbock is my second home and I've spent more time there than I have any other place in the last couple of years,” Aberg told GolfChannel.com. “So obviously, love the people, love the coaches, love my teammates and you know anytime that I get back there, I feel home.”

At the time Aberg made his decision, he knew he would have a chance to factor in the PGA Tour U rankings in his final season under coach Greg Sands. What he – and everyone else – didn’t know was just how much PGA Tour U would evolve as he spent another year on campus.

After the 2022 national championship, the top five players in the PGA Tour U rankings were awarded with Korn Ferry Tour membership through the remainder of the season and were exempt into all open, full-field KFT events, beginning the week after college golf’s season wrapped up at Grayhawk. They were also exempt into the final stage of that year’s KFT Qualifying Tournament.

Not bad, right?

Still, it left no immediate path for the best player in college golf to head straight to the PGA Tour and didn’t reward the No. 1 player any differently than the guy who rounded out the top 5.

That changed in the fall when the Tour announced that the No. 1 player in PGA Tour U would be rewarded with a PGA Tour card and was further bolstered in early May when the Tour revealed that it is expanding that reward to include an extra full season of PGA Tour status. So, this year’s No. 1 player following the NCAA championship will earn a Tour card for the remainder of 2023 and 2024, playing out of the same category as the Korn Ferry Tour and DP World Tour points winners while being subject to reshuffles.

Because the No. 1 player would keep his PGA Tour status for the following year, that player would not need to compete in PGA Tour Q-School at the end of that first year.

“I think everyone jumped for joy when they saw it,” Aberg said. “I think it's going to be very, very beneficial for college golf in general. And I think it's just going to make it better. Because now there is an incentive to stay in school. There is, you know, a clear pathway to the PGA Tour through college, which is incredible. I think they've done a tremendous job.”

Coach Sands, who has watched Aberg transition from a talented young high-schooler in Helsingborg, Sweden, to arguably the best men's college golf has to offer, was thrilled for his star player and raved about how well his veteran leader has handled the pressure of holding that top spot.

“Well, it's amazing for college golf,” Sands said. “It's an unbelievable carrot at the end of the stick, if you will, a reward for two great years of playing golf. And really, I'm so happy he made a decision himself to stay here and knew that he would be leading that and just really played great all year handling the noise of the future and the noise of PGA Tour U and so you couldn't ask for more professionalism. He just handled it amazing.”

To say Aberg has handled the pressure well would be an understatement. Texas Tech’s leader has elevated his play down the stretch of his final collegiate season to a level that has left no doubt as to which player is deserving of an immediate ascension to the Tour.

In three starts leading up to the national championship at Grayhawk, Aberg hasn’t been beaten.

His run started in Hutchinson, Kansas, where he defended his Big 12 Championship at Prairie Dunes with a resounding eight-shot victory.

He followed that performance with a one-shot victory in Odessa, Texas, at local U.S. Open qualifying, which preceded NCAA regionals, where Aberg hit towering fade after towering fade at Jimmie Austin in Norman, Oklahoma, to eclipse a pair of Sooners on their home course and lead his team back to Grayhawk.

Oklahoma coach Ryan Hybl has gotten a close look at Aberg the past couple seasons and raved about the Red Raider’s talent and mindset on the golf course.

“He hits the ball as good as anybody. His putter is as good as anybody. His chipping is as good as anybody. And he acts like a 35-year-old man out there,” Hybl said. “So I would say overall, he's kind of got all the pieces. Almost the Megatron of who you would want, that's kind of what he looks like.

“And he's just easy going on the golf course, which I think it makes it fun to watch him play, too. Kind of reminds you a little bit of Ernie Els. The game just does not look very hard. I don't know how else to describe it, but it's very impressive.”

Aberg had a 74-point lead over North Carolina’s Austin Greaser in the PGA Tour U standings on February 1^st. His lead is now more than 260 points heading into the national championship, which is larger than the gap from No. 2 to No. 21.

As if Aberg wasn't playing well enough heading into his final collegiate event, he shot a 13-under 59 two days before the national championship.

He's certainly making the most of his last days before turning pro. Aberg received the Ben Hogan Award Monday for the second consecutive season, becoming the second player to win the award in back-to-back seasons. The other guy? Jon Rahm. 

The late-season success has the Swede itching to tee it up one final time at Grayhawk.

“I can't wait, to be honest,” Aberg said. “That's what we play for, the championships. I would love to get a national championship, both individually and as a team. So hopefully, you know, in terms of preparation, very similar to any tournament that you play. You just try to keep to your game plan, and yeah, I can't wait.”

If Aberg can back up his Big 12 and NCAA regional victories with an individual national championship, he’ll not only have a Tour card through 2024, he’ll also be exempt into the 2023 U.S. Open and the 2024 Masters, giving him even more opportunities to kickstart his professional career.

Exemptions into those two majors for the NCAA champ were announced earlier this year, and coach Hybl loves the recognition top college players are receiving from the professional ranks.

“I always think it's phenomenal when our guys continue to get noticed as being the next elite players in the game of golf,” Hybl said. “So I think it's a special moment for the college game. You know, we've argued over the years how many different opportunities maybe our guys should be getting and it's starting to happen … So it's just, it's very deserving. These are the next generation of great golfers.”

As exciting as the future is for Aberg, it means the end of a collegiate career that has seen him grow from a talented prospect to a budding star.

It means moving on from his “second home” and transitioning to the life of a professional.

Aberg tried to put into words the emotion of “lasts”: his last Big 12 Championship, his last regional and now, his last NCAA championship, all while finishing out his degree and preparing for the next stage in life.

“It's a little tricky,” Aberg said. “I want to say, though, that I was a bit overwhelmed, I'm not gonna lie, because there is a lot going on. And at the same time, I want to get my school pretty good as well. I wanted to get a degree. That's one of the reasons why I came to college because I wanted to get my education done. So there is a lot to balance.

"Hopefully I'll be able to come back and hopefully they'll welcome me back as well in the next few years. And you know, Coach Sands has helped me, he's given me so many opportunities to be able to be in the position I am and I'm beyond thankful for that. Hopefully we'll win a national championship to finish my career as well.”

National championship or not, it’s safe to say Aberg will be welcome in Lubbock any time.

2023 Clausura finalists Tigres UANL and Chivas played to a 0-0 draw in Thursday's first leg of the Liga MX championship series.

Held in a sold-out and boisterous Estadio Universitario, the playoff game initially failed to meet the energy from the stands.

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On the field in the first half, both sides looked nervous with a handful of shots off target and a couple of noteworthy mistakes. While Chivas defender Antonio Briseño narrowly avoided scoring an own-goal off a poor clearance, Tigres midfielder Fernando Gorriaran mistimed a pass near his box that almost led to a goal for the visitors.

Playing away from home, Chivas were defensively compact against Tigres, occasionally sitting cautiously back in a 4-5-1 formation that helped maintain a 0-0 scoreline by the halftime whistle.

By the second half, the hosts began to press higher up the field through attack-minded substitutions from new manager Robert Dante Siboldi. With bench options like Jesus Garza, Juan Pablo Vigon, Nicolas Lopez and Nicolas Ibañez all on the pitch by the 68th minute, Tigres utilized a more vertical approach by the latter stages of the match.

"The series is still, for me, open," Tigres coach Robert Siboldi said. "I think we showed that we were superior. The opposition came to find a result that would allow them to continue in the race."

Aiming to hold onto a valuable away draw, Chivas manager Veljko Paunović kept his side defensively organized, later committing to a five-man backline with second half substitutions of his own. Despite added attacking momentum, Tigres failed to get anything past Chivas goalkeeper Miguel "Wacho" Jimenez, eventually finishing their home leg with a 0-0 draw.

"First objective accomplished, not conceding a goal. Second objective, scoring a goal, not accomplished," said Paunovic in the post-game news conference. "We're not completely satisfied with the result, but it's important to have not conceded a goal."

On Sunday, Chivas will host the second leg of the Liga MX final at the Estadio Akron in. If the Guadalajara club were to go on to win the championship, they would equal the all-time record of 13 league titles held by their rivals, Club America.

As for Tigres, a Liga MX trophy would close out their complicated season on a surprisingly high note. With inconsistent results and Siboldi as their third manager since February, the Nuevo Leon team will be aiming for their fifth league championship in the last decade.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah said there was "no excuse" for his team's failure to qualify for next season's Champions League after Manchester United clinched the remaining top-four spot in the Premier League on Thursday.

Man United's 4-1 win over Chelsea means that with one game remaining Liverpool are guaranteed to finish fifth and go into the Europa League. It is the first time that Liverpool have failed to qualify for Europe's top club competition since Salah joined the team in 2017.

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"I'm totally devastated," Salah tweeted. "There's absolutely no excuse for this.

"We had everything we needed to make it to next year's Champions League and we failed. We are Liverpool and qualifying to the competition is the bare minimum. I am sorry but it's too soon for an uplifting or optimistic post. We let you and ourselves down."

Liverpool had won seven straight games to put themselves back in contention for a top-four spot but a 1-1 home draw with Aston Villa on Saturday effectively ended their hopes before Newcastle and Man United confirmed their fate in the subsequent days.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has led Liverpool to three Champions League finals, winning one, in the last five seasons but admitted Saturday that "we were too long not good enough ourselves."

He added that the team now needs to embrace competing in the Europa League.

"We will make it [the Europa League] our competition," Klopp told BBC Sport. "I am not that spoilt. That we are already qualified for the Europa League is incredible with all these teams around us. That's really difficult and we did it, that is good.

"For so long we couldn't even hear the sound of the Champions League, that's how far away we were. The Europa League is absolutely fine. Let's see what we can do."

It is set to be a big summer for Liverpool, with Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain already confirmed to be leaving Anfield when their contracts expire at the end of the season.