ST. ANDREWS--Lydia Ko birdied the final hole to finish with a 3-under-par 69 and win the AIG Women's Open at the Old Course at St Andrews on Sunday. Ko, who won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics earlier this month, finished with a 7-under 281 at the historic course in Fife, Scotland. It was her first win in a major since the 2016 ANA Inspiration. On the back nine, the New Zealander fought off rain, wind and a who's who of women's stars to capture her third major and 21st career LPGA victory. "It's been a crazy past few weeks," Ko said. "You know, something that was too good to be true happened and I honestly didn't think it could be any better, and here I am as the AIG Women's Open champion this week. Obviously that being here at the Old Course at St Andrews, it makes it so much more special." Ko entered the final day three shots back of third-round leader Jiyai Shin, a two-time Women's Open champion. And the South Korean was in position for a potential win until a trio of bogeys on the back nine led to a 74 and a 5-under finish. Shin was one of four women tied for second, with China's Ruoning Yin, Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu -- each of them former major winners who have been ranked No. 1 in the world. Ko made three birdies through 14 holes before taking her only bogey of the day at No. 15. At the famed par-4 17th, the "Road Hole," she stuffed her second shot to 20 feet of the cup to set up a crucial two-putt par. "On 15, I thinned my 3-wood into the green and hit into the bunker," Ko said. "So my biggest goal (at 17) is to make solid contact. And honestly it was so windy and rainy, I saw that the ball was heading towards the pin but I had no idea that it was on that second tier (of the green). "... that's probably one of the best, you know, punch shots or shots I've hit coming down the stretch." Ko then stuck her wedge shot at No. 18 close and sank the all-important, left-to-right birdie putt. At that point, the only player with a chance to tie Ko was Vu, who stood 6 under as she hit her tee shot on No. 18. Her drive left her 32 yards to the pin, but her chip shot was off target, giving her a 20-foot putt for a birdie. Her effort was about a foot short, giving Ko the win. Vu missed the short par putt, leading to a bogey, a round of 73 and a spot in the second-place tie. Winning Olympic gold earned Ko the final point necessary to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. Now with three major championships in tow, it's all but certain Ko will be inducted someday. "I don't think there's a word in the dictionary that can explain what just happened," Ko said. "But somebody put it into perspective before I won the gold, they said, try to think of like getting into the Hall of Fame as like a gas station on the way to my final destination and not like my final destination. I think for a while, that was my goal. I was making it seem like, OK, that was my end point, and I think after hearing that, that put it into perspective of saying, you know, it's not like I'm going to get in the Hall of Fame and say, ‘Bye-bye, golf.' "I'm still planning to play. I think that just make it easier to say, you know, if it's going to happen, it's going to happen, and I'm also going to focus on what's in front of me. I think this past three weeks was kind of like a representation of that scale." Current No. 1 Korda has won six tournaments this season, including the Chevron Championship (the major formerly called the ANA Inspiration). After a disappointing 75 on Saturday following a pair of 68s, Korda found her stroke, firing 3 under through the first 10 holes to take the lead at 8 under. But a double bogey at the par-5 14th led to a four-way tie at 6 under with Ko, Shin and Lilia Vu, and Korda never recovered. After a bogey at No. 17, Korda finished at 72 for the day and 5 under for the tournament. "Overall, I think I putted really well this week. I hit the ball really well with the conditions," Korda said. "It will be interesting to see when I don't play in 30-, 40-mile-an-hour winds what my ball flight is going to be like, finally seeing it go straight." Korda also stumbled on the back nine in Saturday's third round, with three bogeys and a double bogey. "Listen, it's golf. I'm going to mess up and unfortunately I messed up over the weekend twice in two penalizing ways coming down the stretch," she said. "Theoretically that's what kind of cost me the tournament, but I played well. I played solid. I even fought after that. I'm going to take that into the next coming events." Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn shot a 70 and finished alone in sixth at 3 under.
LAUSANNE- - Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya inched ever so close to the men's 800 metres world record on Thursday, missing the global mark by two tenths of a second in winning the Lausanne Diamond League with the second fastest time in history. Wanyonyi, who turned 20 during the Paris Olympics, clocked one minute 41.11 seconds to narrowly miss the world mark of 1:40.91 set by Kenya's David Rudisha at the 2012 London Olympics. The young Kenyan ferociously chased the green lights in the inner lane that keep pace with the world record in ideal 25 C conditions, just missing Rudisha's record but matching Wilson Kipketer's 1997 time as second fastest ever run. "I'm so happy to have run the world lead (quickest time this season). I really loved the crowd, and I hope for the best in Silesia," said Wanyonyi, who will take aim at the record again on Sunday in Poland. Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen exacted a small measure of revenge over American Cole Hocker in winning the men's 1,500m in 3:27.83, two weeks after Hocker shocked the Olympic field to win gold in Paris. The American crossed second on Thursday. "It's been almost two weeks since Paris so there was plenty of time to recover," said Ingebrigtsen, who bounced back from his fourth-place finish in the Olympic 1,500m to win the 5,000. "A lot of it has been mental including going home, taking some easy days and then getting back to work. "Tonight's race gave me good answers and I'm looking forward to building on this." Hocker had chopped a whopping three seconds off his best time en route to his Olympic victory in one of the biggest upsets at Stade de France, and it has been a big adjustment for the newly crowned champion. "Considering the overwhelming past two weeks, it was a solid race," Hocker said on Thursday. "Physically I felt comfortable, but mentally, it's a new challenge being announced as Olympic champion." Double world women's shot put champion Chase Jackson of the U.S., who suffered heartbreak in Paris when she did not qualify for the final, hurled the shot 20.64 metres for the victory on Thursday, beating Germany's Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye by more than a metre. "I didn't take any time off after the last event -- I just went straight back to training," Jackson said. "My goal is to win another world title and keep pushing myself. I know I can go further, much further." Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell handed American Grant Holloway a rare defeat in the men's 110m hurdles. Broadbell, the bronze medallist in Paris, overtook Holloway from the final hurdle to cross in 13.10, while Holloway, who finally added an Olympic gold in Paris to his three world titles, had to settle for second in 13.14. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana blazed to 200m victory in 19.64 on the heels of his Paris victory. American Noah Lyles was missing from the field, having announced this week he was shutting down his season. Two-times Olympic long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece soared 8.06m on his sixth and final jump to overtake Jamaica's Wayne Pinnock, who was second with 8.01. Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the women's high jump world record-holder and Olympic champion from Ukraine, cleared 1.99m for the victory.
CINCINNATI --Brady Singer tossed six shutout innings as the visiting Kansas City Royals completed a dominating three-game sweep Sunday with an 8-1 rout of the Cincinnati Reds. Singer (9-8), who snapped a personal two-game skid, was not bothered by a 45-minute rain delay, limiting the Reds to just five singles over his six innings, striking out six and walking one. Vinnie Pasquantino drove in three for the Royals, who had 41 hits and outscored the Reds 28-3 in the series, their eighth sweep of at least three games this season. After sweeping the rival St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series to open the homestand, the Reds could manage only a single run in each of the three losses to the Royals. Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott (10-10) was charged with four runs and six hits over five innings. The left-hander did not have the same luck with the delay, surrendering two runs in the third and two more in the fifth, including a 413-foot homer to center by Dairon Blanco. The regular ninth-place hitter in the Kansas City lineup, Blanco entered the weekend with just one homer and five RBIs. He belted three homers while driving in eight over the final two games. With heavy rain quickly soaking the exposed field, umpire crew chief Lance Barksdale ordered out the tarp when Singer lost control of a breaking ball and hit Jeimer Candelario on the back leg leading off the second. Following the 45-minute rain delay, the Royals broke through in the third when Blanco reached on a bunt single, stole second and scored on a Pasquantino single. Salvador Perez scored another with a sacrifice fly. The Reds had a golden opportunity to rally in the seventh when Sam Long relieved Singer. The right-hander walked three straight, including Luke Maile on a timer violation. His walk to Jonathan India with the bases loaded made it 4-1. But Lucas Erceg came on to strike out Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer in succession to end the threat.
Australian Open men's singles winner Italy's Jannik Sinner with the trophy during the press conference in January, 2024.
NEW YORK--Denis Shapovalov was among players who called out what they said were double standards in the sport after world number one Jannik Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing despite failing two drug tests this year.
SCOTTLAND--Minjee Lee of Australia carded a bogey-free, 5-under-par 67 to rise to the top of the first-round leaderboard at the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open on Thursday in Ayrshire, Scotland.
