Lu Wei-chih (
The US$500,000 tournament returns to the Taiwan Golf and Country Club, where Lu won by two strokes over countryman Lin Wen-tang (
The victory was Lu's maiden Asian Tour title since turning pro in 2002. The 27-year-old has been playing at the suburban Taipei course since he was a teenager.
Lu finished inside the top-10 at the Macau Open and the Indonesia Open this year, while tying 13th in the Korean Open.
However, he will still have to fight off a host of eager compatriots, including Lin, who is likely to be looking for revenge.
Past champion Wang Ter-chang (
The strongest foreign challenge to Lu will come from Thailand, particularly in the shape of Prom Meesawat, the highest ranked player in this week's field and third on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit.
China will host the golf World Cup next year and in 2008, and also a World Golf Championships event through until 2018, the International Federation of PGA Tours announced on Tuesday.
Next year's Nov. 19-25 World Cup will be held at the Jose Maria Olazabal-designed course at Mission Hills Golf Club, located 30 minutes from the Hong Kong border.
"We congratulate the Mission Hills Golf Club on its commitment to host the World Golf Championships-Mission Hills World Cup in China in 2007 and 2008," said George O'Grady, executive director of The European Tour.
The World Cup is part of the World Golf Championships, a series of global events that bring the world's best golfers together in competition in various formats at a variety of venues.
Up to 28 nations, including China as host country, will participate in the event, which will offer a purse of US$5 million.
Chinese Sports Minister Liu Peng (
The 2008 World Cup will be played from Nov. 17-23. Dates, field criteria and format for a World Golf Championships event at Mission Hills will be announced at a later date.
Byron Nelson, who had the greatest year in the history of professional golf when he won 18 tournaments in 1945, including a record 11 in a row, died on Tuesday. He was 94.
His death was confirmed by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. No cause of death was listed on its Web site.
Known as Lord Byron for his elegant swing and gentle manner, Nelson won 31 of 54 tournaments in 1944-1945. Then, at age 34, he retired after the 1946 season to spend more time on his Texas ranch.
"When I was playing regularly, I had a goal," Nelson recalled years later. "I could see the prize money going into the ranch, buying a tractor, or a cow. It gave me incentive."
That incentive pushed Nelson to become one of the best players of his era. He won the U.S. Masters in 1937 and 1942, the US Open in 1939 and the US PGA Championship in 1940 and 1945.
He also finished second once in the US Open, twice in the American Masters and three times in the US PGA. Nelson played in British Open only twice, finishing fifth in 1937.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB