GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Brooke Henderson eagled the first playoff hole and beat Lindsey Weaver-Wright to capture the ShopRite LPGA Classic on Sunday for her 11th win on tour.
Henderson shot a bogey-free, final-round 7-under 64 at Seaview Hotel and Golf Club to win for the first time in a year. The 24-year-old Canadian rallied from a four-shot deficit entering the final round of the 54-hole tournament to finish at 12-under 201.
Weaver-Wright, a 28-year-old American still looking for her first tour win, forced the playoff with birdies on four of the last six holes, including a long one at No. 17 and a 10-footer at the par-5 final hole for a 65.
The playoff started at the reachable par-5 No. 18, and both found the fairway. Henderson got within 10 feet of the cup with her second shot while Weaver-Wright was short of the green. Her third shot landed around the same distance from the hole as Henderson, but she was away. She missed her birdie putt and Henderson, ranked No. 11 in the world, had no pressure making the eagle to win to pocket $262,500.
Henderson, whose last victory was in Los Angeles in 2021, moved into the lead with a short birdie at No. 12. She stayed there until Weaver-Wright birdied the 17th.
Playing in the group in front of her, Henderson reached the par-5 final hole in two and lagged her eagle putt to tap-in birdie range.
“It felt like a long time since my 10th victory, and I’ve been putting in some work,” said Henderson on the green after the win. “Yesterday I actually thought I was too far back coming into today and I just tried to go as low as I could and see what happened, and here we are.”
Weaver-Wright missed the fairway with her tee shot at No. 18. Her second was played into the fairway and her third to roughly 10 feet for a clutch birdie.
Jodi Eward Shadoff of England made an eagle on the final hole to finish a shot behind the leaders at 11 under. The 34-year-old has never won on the tour.
No. 4 Lydia Ko also made a birdie on the final hole and finished tied for fourth with Albane Valenzuela, a Swiss resident and former Stanford star looking for her first LPGA win. They both shot 67s.
Brittany Lincicome, who is due to give birth to her second child in September, was tied for sixth with New Jersey native Marina Alex and Nasa Hataoka, who both won recently in California. Lincicome and Alex shot 67s, a stroke better than Hataoka, who opened with four birdies on the first five holes to take an early two-shot lead.
Defending champion Celine Boutier of France shot a 63 to finish in a group at 8 under.
Frida Kinhult of Sweden started the final round at 9 under with a one-shot lead over fellow non-winner Lauren Coughlin. Both struggled, with Coughlin shooting a 72 to finish at 7 under and Kinhult finishing at 5 under after a 75.
Overnight rain drenched the course close to Atlantic City and made the greens very receptive, helping the scoring.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
