Louisiana State beats USC for golf title
Ben Taylor made a tricky eightfoot par putt on the 18th hole Wednesday to give Louisiana State its first NCAA golf championship in 60 years.
The Tigers beat USC, 4-1, at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., for their fifth team title and first since 1955.
USC missed a chance for its first team title but had its best finish in program history.
“Second place is way better than third,” Trojans Coach Chris Zambri said. “In the end, where we are, that’s how we’re measured, so I’m pretty bummed. You’ve got to play great and survive, so when you get [to the final], you want to get it done. Again, second beats third, fourth, dead last by a mile, yet we still haven’t won a national title and that’s a bummer.”
After Taylor holed the putt for a 1up victory over Bobby Gojuangco, he dropped his putter and embraced teammates who raced up the fairway to the final green.
Brandon Pierce got LSU on the board, beating Rico Hoey, 2 and 1. Zach Wright extended his record to 5-0, topping Sean Crocker, 3 and 2. Eric Ricard beat Jonah Texeira, 1 and 2.
Eric Sugimoto, a senior, ac- counted for USC’s lone point, beating Stewart Jolly, 1 and 2.
“I’ll remember this for the rest of my life,” Sugimoto said. “It’s bittersweet college golf ending, and besides not winning it all today, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Shaqquan Aaron, a 6-foot-7 wing, has transferred from Louisville and joined USC’s basketball program.
Aaron played in 23 games for Louisville last season, averaging 1.3 points in 7.2 minutes. He came to the Cardinals highly rated out of Seattle Rainier Beach High, where he averaged 19.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists and was honored as Washington’s high school player of the year.
He will be eligible for the 2016-17 season and has three years of remaining NCAA eligibility.
Long-distance running coach Alberto Salazar’s former assistant is among those accusing the American of violating anti-doping rules and encouraging doping by one of his top runners, Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp.
In a story Wednesday by ProPublica and BBC former Salazar assistant Steve Magness accused Salazar of using doping practices for his athletes at the Nike Oregon Project.
The story quoted Salazar and Rupp as denying any wrongdoing.
In soccer, Real Madrid hired Rafa Benitez as coach, giving him a threeyear contract as the successor to the fired Carlo Ancelotti.
Benitez, who began his coaching career in Madrid’s youth academy, had returned to the Spanish league where he led Valencia to titles in 2002 and 2004 before joining Liverpool, where he won the 2005 Champions League. He left Naples early Monday, a day after coaching Napoli’s last game, a 4-2 home loss to Lazio.
Benitez is Madrid’s eighth coach in 10 years. He will be tasked with ending Madrid’s dismal record of one Spanish title in seven seasons despite counting on Cristiano Ronaldo and record revenues.
Brothers Pau and Marc Gasol have been awarded Spain’s Princess of Asturias prize for sports for their “brilliant record” playing basketball for Spain and their NBA teams.
Ottawa Senators team owner Eugene Melnyk has been discharged from a Toronto hospital after undergoing a liver transplant last month.
The team said in a statement that the anonymous donor, who gave up part of his or her liver, also had been discharged.