France’s Julien Quesne, the world No. 322, won the Andalucia Open on Sunday to claim his maiden European Tour title at the age of 31.
Quesne, who graduated from last season’s Challenge Tour, carded a final-round eight-under 64 for a four-round total of 17-under 271, winning the title by two shots from Italian teenager Matteo Manassero, who finished with a 68.
Spain’s Eduardo de la Riva, the second and third-round leader, finished in third place after a final-round 70, a round scarred by a bogey at 18.
“It’s the best day of my life,” said Quesne, whose previous best had been a tie for 16th at the 2010 Madrid Masters.
Quesne birdied four of the final five holes, his approach to 18 leaving him a five-foot putt which he holed as he closed with a course record-equaling 64.
“It’s not easy because you have Manassero, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal; they all played good, so I just tried to play shot after shot and do my best,” added the French player, who is the European Tour’s 400th different winner. “I knew that if I holed the putt at the last I’d have a good chance. I’m very happy. It’s very quick for me to win this year.”
Quesne birdied both par-fives on the front nine and hit birdie putts at the eighth and ninth to turn in 32.
After five consecutive pars he sunk a 12-footer at 14, rolled in a 15-footer at 15 and two-putted from 60 feet at 16.
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