Smith holds off Leishman to defend Australian PGA title

Kitayama earns maiden career win

GOLD COAST, Australia, Dec 2, (RTRS): Cameron Smith edged Marc Leishman by two strokes in a see-saw final round to defend his Australian PGA Championship title on Sunday.

Australian Smith, 25, made two bogeys in the first four holes as his three-shot overnight lead over compatriot Leishman evaporated but fought back brilliantly over the back nine to claim victory at the European Tour co-sanctioned event.

Smith’s final round of two-underpar 70 took him to 16-under as he became the first player to successfully defend the title since Robert Allenby in 2001.

Leishman finished on a total of 14-under after his final round of 69. His challenge faded with dropped shots on the 14th and 16th holes.

Englishman Ross McGowan broke the course record with a 63 to finish on 11-under in third place alongside Matthew Millar (68).

Smith said the final round had

“I think Cam made birdies when he had to so all credit to him,” said Leishman. “I’m obviously disappointed I didn’t get it over the line but glad that I gave it a run there and made it pretty interesting.

“I’m happy for Cam, we had a good fight out there. I did want to win, I gave it my best and just didn’t make it.”

In Bel-Ombre, Mauritius, Kurt Kitayama holed an eagle and two birdies in his first five holes to lay the platform for a maiden career win at the European Tour’s Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open at the Four Seasons Golf Club on Sunday.

American Kitayama, playing just his third tour event, carded a final round 68 for a 20-under par total of 268 and a two-shot victory over Frenchman Mattieu Pavon and Seenappa Chikkarangappa from India, who were tied for second after both shooting final round 67s.

Kitayama, 25, came into the final round tied for the lead with South African Justin Harding (71), but while the latter faded, the American was boosted by an eagle on the par 5 fourth hole as he got to within 15 feet of the cup with his second shot and rolled in the putt.

Having also birdied the third and then the fifth, it gave the Qualifying School graduate a lead he never relinquished as he landed birdies on the 13th and 17th, to go with bogies on seven and 16.

Harding, who has two wins on the Asian Tour and a couple on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour in 2018, finished alone in fourth place.

Major winner Ernie Else was the big drawcard in the field, but a three-over par 75 on Sunday saw him finish -3 for the tournament and tied for 47th.

Cameron Smith of Australia celebrates with the Kirkwood Cup after winning the Australian PGA Championship at the Royal Pines golf course on

the Gold Coast on Dec 2. (AFP)

Chicago Bulls’ Wendell Carter Jr (34) works for position as Houston Rockets’ Danuel House Jr defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game

on Dec 1 in Houston. (AP) NEW YORK, Dec 2, (RTRS): Emmanuel Mudiay scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the New York Knicks came back to defeat the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 136134 on Saturday.

The Bucks led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter before the Knicks stormed back to force overtime.

Kevin Knox added a career-best 26 points for the Knicks. Damyean Dotson and Tim Hardaway Jr each added 21 points, and Noah Vonleh added 15 before fouling out in overtime.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 33 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists. Eric Bledsoe added 27 points for Milwaukee, Malcolm Brogdon had 22 points, Brook Lopez 13, and Khris Middleton and Tony Snell 10 apiece. Celtics 118, Timberwolves 109 Gordon Hayward enjoyed his best game of the season, finishing with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to lead Boston past host Minnesota118-109.

The Celtics extended their modest win streak to three games, getting the last two on consecutive nights. The Twolves saw their season-best win streak snapped at four games.

The Celtics also got big performances from Jayson Tatum, who scored 19 points and added nine rebounds.

Kyrie Irving also chipped in with 21 points and nine assists. The Timberwolves were led by Karl-Anthony Towns, who posted 20 points and nine rebounds.

Pistons 111, Warriors 102 In Detroit, Andre Drummond tipped in misses on consecutive possessions in the third quarter to stall a Golden State comeback, and host Detroit eased away to 111-102 win in the fourth period over the two-time defending champions in Stephen Curry’s return to action.

The former two-time NBA Most Valuable Player had 27 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 37 minutes after having missed 11 consecutive games with a strained groin. He shot 10-for-21 from the field, including 3-for-9 on 3-pointers, and committed seven turnovers.

Blake Griffin led Detroit with 26 points, while Drummond gathered a game-high 19 rebounds to go with 16 points. The Pistons led 54-46 at halftime and by as many as 14 in the third period before the Warriors rallied within 78-76 on a 3-pointer by Andre Iguodala with

Brooklyn Nets guard Shabazz Napier (front), goes to the basket against Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris (back), during the second half

of an NBA basketball game on Dec 1 in Washington. (AP)

2:06 left in the period.

Rockets 121, Bulls 105 James Harden scored 30-plus points for the sixth time in eight games, Clint Capela recorded his eighth doubledouble in nine games, and Houston parlayed a balanced scoring attack into its 121-105 win over visiting Chicago.

Harden led seven Rockets in double figures with 30 points, doing so on 9-for-16 shooting. He finished 6-for-11 on 3-pointers, adding six rebounds and seven assists to his ledger. The win pulled the Rockets, who led the NBA with 65 wins last season, back to .500.

The Bulls dropped their sixth consecutive game and sixth in succession in the overall series with the Rockets. Zach LaVine paced Chicago with 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting while forward Jabari Parker added 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Raptors 106, Cavaliers 95 In Cleveland, Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points and former Cavalier Danny Green added 15 points and seven rebounds to lead Toronto past host Cleveland106-95.

Leonard connected on 11 of 21 fieldgoal attempts and was a perfect 9-for9 from the foul line and grabbed nine rebounds for the Raptors, who boast the league’s best record at 20-4 and now