Seventeen-year-old Lydia Ko of New Zealand became the youngest golfer to hold top spot in the world rankings by tying for second place at the LPGA season-opening Coates Golf Championship in Ocala, Florida, on Saturday.
Tiger Woods was previously the youngest golfer to become world No. 1 when he did it in 1997 at 21, while Shin Ji-yai held the women’s record after reaching top spot in 2010 aged 22.
The South Korean-born Ko led by as many as four strokes in the final round, but slipped behind after a double-bogey six at the 17th hole as she finished one shot behind winner and good friend Choi Na-yeon of South Korea, who fired a 68. Still, it was good enough to lift her ahead of Inbee Park of South Korea in the rankings.
Photo: AFP
“It’s amazing,” said Ko, who also ended last year’s season by winning the CME Titleholders event in November and a US$1 million prize for claiming the season-long points race.
Ko, who as a 15-year-old amateur in 2012 became the youngest-ever winner on the tour, shot a one-under-par 71 for 15-under 273 to share second with American Jessica Korda and Jang Ha-na of South Korea at the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club.
The precocious Ko began the final round with a one-stroke lead and was disappointed not to win the tournament, saying she had not thought about her ranking.
“I didn’t really know what I needed to do to get in that position. All I was focused on was trying to play my best out here today,” she said. “So it’s a huge honor to be in that ranking.”
“I’m just going to just focus on my golf, not think about the rankings. The rankings always comes after the results,” she added.
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