England’s David Lynn won his first title in nine years at the Portugal Masters on Sunday, while South African Justin Walters took second spot just two weeks after his mother’s death.
Lynn, who started the final round on the Algarve six shots off the pace, carded a final-round 63 for an 18-under-par total of 266, with Walters a shot further back.
Overnight leader Paul Waring of England shared third place on 268 with compatriot Stephen Gallacher and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger.
Lynn, a former USPGA Championship runner-up, won his only other European Tour title at the Dutch Open in 2004.
He built his victory charge on Sunday on a run of five birdies in a front nine of 30 and, after a bogey at the 10th, picked up further shots at the 11th, 14th, 15th and 17th to set a clubhouse target that was never matched.
“I really caught fire on the front nine, I was making everything I looked at, although I hit it to one foot at the first which got me off to a really good start,” said Lynn, who looked out of contention on Saturday following a third-round 73.
“After that I made a couple of great putts for par to keep the momentum going and then I was making the birdie putts,” he said.
An emotional Walters holed a 40 foot par putt on the 18th to claim second place on 17-under, the South African breaking down in tears following the death of his mother two weeks ago.
“I don’t know if I can talk much right now,” the 32-year-old from Johannesburg said. “Coming into the week I really didn’t have any goals or ambitions, I just wanted to play, and honor my mum and make her proud.”
“The putts kept dropping and I kept hitting some decent shots, and the last one at the end, she made it for sure,” he said. “It was probably the best moment of my career. It was so cool because I had a lot on the line.”
“I don’t think I have the words for it just yet. Maybe after a drink with my dad who is here with me we can fully take it all in, but at first glance I don’t know how I did it,” Walters said.
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
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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