Off the wire
GOLF
Thomas tops in South Korea
Justin Thomas beat Australia’s Marc Leishman on the second playoff hole Sunday to win the inaugural CJ Cup in South Korea and cap his breakout year on the PGA Tour. Thomas sealed his fifth PGA title in 2017 — and his first of the new 201718 PGA season — when he birdied the second extra hole and Leishman made bogey after finding the water. The pair went to a sudden-death playoff after completing the first U.S. PGA Tour regular-season event in South Korea tied at 9-under 279. No catching South Korean Eun-Hee Ji fired a 7-under-par 65 to win the Taiwan Championship on Sunday for her first LPGA title since the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open. Ji, who had a six-stroke lead heading into the final round, carded seven birdies to finish at 17-under 271, six strokes ahead of Lydia Ko, who also closed with a 65. Ji’s six-stroke margin of victory ties the largest of the 2017 season, joining the previous mark set by Mirim Lee at the Kia Classic. Ko birdied her last two holes. Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) was 6 over and won $8,128. Gaby Lopez (Razorbacks) was 11 over and won $5,147.
Langer’s eagle a winner Bernhard Langer made a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole Sunday to overcome a mediocre round and win the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Va., the first event in the PGA Tour Champions’ Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. Langer, even par for the day before getting to the easiest hole on The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course, beat Scott Verplank by one shot. Verplank, playing two groups ahead of Langer, shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to erase a fiveshot deficit, but missed short birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes. Langer followed his second-round 63 with a 70 to finish at 16 under. The victory was the sixth this season for Langer, and clinched the top seed in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix. Billy Mayfair (65), Kenny Perry (65) and Vijay Singh (71) tied for third. Glen Day (Little Rock) had a 5-under 67 to finish tied for 13th at
9 under and won $36,000.
BASKETBALL
Suns fire Watson
The Phoenix Suns have fired coach Earl Watson just three games in to the NBA season. The Suns announced the firing Sunday night after hours of meetings at the team’s headquarters. Assistant coach Jay Triano, a former head coach of the Toronto Raptors, was named interim coach. Triano was an assistant at Portland before coming to Phoenix last year. Watson was promoted from assistant to interim coach of the Suns after Jeff Hornacek was fired Feb. 1, 2016. The interim tag was removed on April 19 of that year. With an extremely young team, the Suns struggled under Watson. He compiled a 33-85 record. Watson’s only full season was 2016-17, when the team went 24-58.
The 38-year-old Watson played collegiately at UCLA and in the NBA for 10 seasons.
Irving, Cousins fined
The NBA has fined Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving $25,000 for responding to a fan with inappropriate language. Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’ executive vice president of basketball operations, announced the fine Sunday. Irving spoke to a fan at halftime of Boston’s 102-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. The NBA also fined New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins $25,000 for language he used toward a fan late in a loss to Memphis on Wednesday night in the season opener.
TENNIS
Pliskova downs Williams Third-seeded Karolina Pliskova cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over fifth-seeded Venus Williams at the WTA Finals on Sunday in Singapore. The Czech player raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set, but Williams regained her composure to break back in the fifth game. Pliskova broke the Williams serve again in the sixth and eighth games to secure the first set. Williams double faulted to 30-40 and then sailed a backhand long on the final two points of the set. In the second, Pliskova saved two break points in the third game, and then broke the Williams serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. She broke Williams again in the final game of the match. Pliskova, making her second consecutive appearance in the WTA Finals, is now 1-0 in round-robin action in the White Group.
Dzumhur wins Kremlin Cup Damir Dzumhur recovered from a second-set slip to beat Ricardas Berankis and win the Kremlin Cup on Sunday in Moscow. Bosnia’s Dzumhur beat his Lithuanian opponent 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to win his second career ATP title after victory last month at the St. Petersburg Open. The decider was even until Dzumhur broke for a 5-4 lead and closed out the match. Berankis has lost both of his career finals.
BOXING
Murata handles N’Dam
Japanese boxer Ryota Murata defeated France’s Hassan N’Dam by technical knockout on Sunday to win the WBA middleweight title. Murata stopped N’Dam after seven rounds to become the first middleweight champion from Japan in 22 years. Murata dominated the early rounds at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan. He stunned N’Dam with a series of combinations before the bout was stopped after the seventh round. Sunday’s fight was a rematch of a bout in May when N’Dam won on points despite being sent to the canvas several times by London Olympic gold medalist Murata. WBA President Gilberto Mendoza called for the rematch and apologized for the decision. Two judges were suspended as a result.