Paraguayan rookie Julieta Granada captured a women's golf record US$1 million prize, firing a four-under-par 68 to win the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship on Sunday.
Two days past her 20th birthday, Granada defeated LPGA Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa by two strokes, eclipsing her previous winnings of US$633,586 by taking the one-day showdown for the biggest prize in women's golf history.
"This is just unbelievable. I'm so excited," Granada said. "It went by so fast. I was just trying to concentrate on my shots. I knew it would be a tough field."
The unique US$1.5 million event featured a starting field of 32 that was cut to 16 after Friday and halved again after 54 holes. But using the usual 72-hole format, Granada would have had the lowest score among the last eight.
Second place paid Ochoa only US$100,000, but it was enough to clinch the season money crown because the only woman who could catch her, Australian Karrie Webb, settled for third place on 71 to win only US$20,000.
"This was a fantastic year. I learned a lot," Ochoa said. "It's going to be a big challenge to be better next year but I want to do it."
Ochoa captured the season money title with US$2.59 million and Webb was second with US$2.09 million. But both squandered their title chances with bogeys at the 17th after finding the water off the tee.
"I thought I did nothing wrong," Ochoa said. "It was just hanging there in the wind and just short. It was a mistake."
Japan's Ai Miyazato, South Koreans Chung Il-mi and Kim Mi-hyun and US player Natalie Gulbis finished at level par 72. Paula Creamer of the US was last on 75.
Granada, whose mother Rosa is her caddie, became the first golfer to win her first LPGA title at the Tour Championship, overcoming early jitters to jump from 19th to fourth on the final season money list with US$1.633 million.
"This morning I was really nervous. I was hitting it bad," Granada said.
Granada grabbed the lead with 12-foot birdie putts at the sixth and 10th holes, then kept it with a 20-foot par at the 11th and added a crucial 10-foot birdie putt at the 16th before two concluding pars.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS