Brooks Koepka voted PGA Tour Player of the Year
MIAMI: Brooks Koepka, this year’s Usopenandpgachampionship winner, was announced as the US PGA Tour Player of the Year, having won a vote by tour players. The 28-year-old American captured the Jack Nicklaus Trophy after a historic 2017-18 campaign that saw him defend his US Open crown by winning at Shinnecock and then deny Tiger Woods a 15th major title by holding off a final-round rally in August at Bellerive.
Koepka, who missed nearly four months in early 2018 with a left wrist injury, also managed four other top-10 efforts in the season, including second-place finishes at the WGC HSBC Champions and at Colonial.
“Brooks has brought a new brand of athleticism to the PGA Tour and we saw the results this year with his historic season at major championships,” said tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
LAHIRI HOPEFUL
KUALALUMPUR: Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri hopes to make the most of a last-minute dash to Kuala Lumpur to participate in the USD 7 million CIMB Classic, where he has enjoyed good results in the past. Lahiri making it to CIMB was rather dramatic. It was a close call and Lahiri almost did not make it. Ranked 99th on the Fedex Cup last season, he presumed he’d get an entry in the field, but discovered last Friday that he was the first alternate after entries officially closed. He was on the verge of taking a flight to his US base in Florida from San Francisco when he received the news that Andrew Landry withdrew and he was finally in. The other Indians in the fray at the event are Shubhankar Sharma, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Rahil Gangjee.
TOP SEEDS WIN
NEWDELHI: Top seed Divesh Gahlot faced moments of uncertainty early on before outgunning Aman Dahiya 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2 in the under-16 third round of the Fenesta Open Junior National Tennis Championship on Wednesday. In the girls’ section of the same age group, top seed Bhakti Parwani edged out Aditi Are 3-6,6-2,7-6(10). In the under-14 category, Udit Gogoi, the number one seed, beat Yuvan Nandal 6-1, 6-3, while girls’ top seed Vaishnavi Adkar beat Kumkum Neela 6-1,6-4. Other top seeds also enjoyed smooth sailing.
DELHI HALF MARATHON
NEWDELHI: Organisers of the Delhi half marathon, to be held on October 21, have assured of measures to provide a cleaner environment for competitors. Despite the event being moved ahead by a month, air quality in the city remains low due to crop burning in states nearby. The race will feature Asian marathon champion T Gopi and defending champ Nitendra Singh Rawat in the men’s section. Sanjivani Jadhav and Monica Athare are among leading Indians in women’s section.
NEHRU HOCKEY
NEWDELHI: Amritsar’s Khalsa College Senior Secondary School, will take on Government High School, Thenzwal (Mizoram), in the first semi-final of the Nehru under-17 girls’ hockey tournament at Shivaji Stadium here on Thursday. Government Girls Model School, Chandigarh and Tika Ram Senior Secondary School, Sonepat, will contest the other last-four clash.