Anchorage, Alaska
About 2,000 dogs belonging to 72 mushers waited their turn — some more patiently and less vocally than others — to hit the trail this year. The race spans nearly 1,000 miles of Alaska wilderness, including the last stretch when the teams battle the frozen Bering Sea coast en route to the finish line in the community of Nome.
The ceremonial start is a fan-friendly event designed to show off mushing to fans in Alaska’s largest city. Spectators pet the dogs, mingled with mushers and even grabbed an autograph or two.
Racers then left the downtown area every two minutes in a staggered start with an Iditarider — people who won auctions for a prime spot in a competitor’s sled — for an 11-mile course on city trails and streets.
Carol Stedman, a retired postal worker from Alexandria, Va., was an Iditarider for the fifth time since 2011. That was the first time she came to Anchorage to watch the start of the race. She said after that initial experience, she crossed the Iditarod off her bucket list and put it on her to-do list.
“You’re in the sled, you see everything going on, it’s like a big party all the way out of town,” she said Saturday morning while wearing a stocking cap fashioned like a Husky dog.
“Seeing the interaction between the mushers and the dogs is just spectacular,” she said. “Everybody should do it once.”
City crews trucked in snow overnight to make the streets ready for the dog sleds.
Thomas Aces, Leads
Mexico City
Thomas hit a 6-iron from 239 yards that one-hopped into the cup on the par-3 13th. He added a pair of birdies that gave him a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson, with Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy right behind at Chapultepec Golf Club.
Johnson, in his debut at No. 1 in the world, was tied for the lead when his second shot on the 16th got stuck in a tree. He walked back to the original spot and hit the next one to 15 feet, and the ball fell out of the tree as he was walking to the green. He made the putt to salvage a bogey and shot 66.
Murray Wins First of ’17
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
This was Murray’s seventh final in his last eight tournaments, and 14th in his last 16 dating to last May in Madrid.
The only two tournaments he failed to make the final in that period were the 2016 U.S. Open and 2017 Australian Open.
The top-ranked Murray, who was a Dubai finalist in 2012, improved his career record to 13-1 over Verdasco.
The first three games were service breaks as the players attempted to find their range in the final.
Verdasco had the service break until the Spaniard was broken by Murray in the sixth and then the eighth games to take the first set.
Murray broke Verdasco’s serve twice in the second set, in the third game with a forehand winner, and in the seventh on a third break point.
The 35th-ranked Verdasco, a former top-10 player, has never beaten a No. 1-ranked player in 12 career attempts.
Murray became the fourth player this year to win a title having saved match points en route to the title. He faced a career high seven match points in defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals.