Brittany Lincicome on Sunday birdied four of final five holes to win her second consecutive Bahamas LPGA Classic, finishing in near-darkness to capture the shortened season opener by two strokes.
The 32-year-old Floridian fired a seven-under 66 in the final round to complete 54 holes at 12-under 207 to defeat Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling, who shot 68 to close on 209.
With portable lights used to illuminate predawn practice areas turned upon the 18th green, Lincicome sank an eight-foot birdie putt to complete the lowest round of the tournament and take the trophy again.
Photo: AFP
“I’m on cloud nine and I’ve never defended before, either. It’s unbelievable,” Lincicome said.
The event was shortened to 54 holes after high winds wiped out most play on Friday.
With five players deadlocked at the top of the leaderboard at nine-under, Lincicome seized command on the back nine with a 10-foot birdie putt at 14, a six-foot birdie putt at the par-five 15th, another 10-foot birdie at the par-three 17th and her closing clincher.
“My putter really saved me all day,” Lincicome said. “I made a lot of great birdies and par saves, and that saved me.”
Hsu, who has made 79 LPGA starts without a triumph, was in the hunt late thanks to a run of three consecutive birdies ending at the eighth hole and a birdie at the par-five 11th to reach nine-under.
Hsu birdied 15 and 18, but a bogey at 17 was too much to overcome.
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