Kodaira earns spot on tour with playoff win
AUTO RACING: Kyle Larson will have to wait another day to try to capture his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. The race in Bristol, Tenn., was postponed until Monday because of heavy rain with Larson out in front. The race was halted on lap 204, just 46 laps from an official race. NASCAR hopes to complete all remaining 296 laps, although the forecast calls for more rain and possibly snow . ... Alexander Rossi pulled away after a late restart to win the Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., holding off Will Power for his third career IndyCar victory . ... Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull won the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai for the sixth victory of his Formula One career. Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes was second.
GOLF: Satoshi Kodaira closed with a 5-under 66 to rally from six shots behind, then made a 25-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole to defeat Si Woo Kim and win the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Kodaira won for the first time in just his fifth start in a regular PGA Tour event . ... Jon Rahm closed with a 5-under 67 to win the Spanish Open in Madrid for his first victory on home soil. Rahm won for the third time on the European Tour and fifth time overall, holding off Paul Dunne of Ireland by two strokes
NFL: LB Reuben Foster won’t participate in the 49ers’ offseason program while he tends to legal matters related to domestic violence charges. The team said in a statement that Foster’s future with the team will be “determined by the information revealed during the legal process.” Foster was charged Thursday with felony domestic violence after being accused of dragging his girlfriend and punching her in the head. ... The Eagles released CB Daryl Worley hours after he was arrested. NFL Network reported he was allegedly found passed out inside a vehicle blocking a highway and was tased after he became combative toward police. The report also said a gun was found in Worley’s vehicle.
SOCCER: Manchester United gifted the Premier League title to fierce rival Manchester City in improbable fashion by losing 1-0 to last-place West Bromwich Albion. A week after preventing their neighbors from clinching the title in front of their own fans by rallying from 2-0 down to win 3-2, United delivered a similarly unlikely result against managerless West Brom. It is City’s third title in seven seasons, with Pep Guardiola’s team 16 points clear and still having five games to play this season . ... Paris Saint-Germain won the French league title after beating defending champion Monaco 7-1.
TENNIS: Steve Johnson shrugged off numerous missed opportunities to beat first-time ATP Tour finalist Tennys Sandgren 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-4 in Houston and become the first player to defend his U.S. Men’s Clay Court title in 16 years. No player had repeated in the only men’s clay-court tournament in the U.S. since Andy Roddick won back-to-back in 2001-02 . ... Second-seeded Elise Mertens won the Samsung Open in Lugano, Switzerland, beating Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-2 to take her third career WTA Tour title. The 20th-ranked Belgian won her first claycourt event after winning the last two editions of the Hobart International on hard courts in Australia.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Early on, Satoshi Kodaira was thinking only of playing well enough Sunday to make it to next week’s PGA Tour stop.
Those worries are over for the 28-year-old from Japan, who rallied from six shots behind to win the RBC Heritage in a playoff and gain an invitation to join the tour as a regular.
“This is a stage I’ve been dreaming about,” Kodaira said through an interpreter. “And having this opportunity to play full time is a dream come true. So, of course, I will accept full-time membership.”
Kodaira defeated Si Woo Kim on the third playoff hole, rolling in a 25-foot birdie on the par-3 17th hole, then punching his fist in celebration. It ended a drama-filled final round in which it appeared that Kim, Ian Poulter and Luke List had the lock on the title at different points.
But it was Kodaira’s relentless grind to the top that won the day. And with the game he showed at Harbour Town Golf Links, Kodaira appears like he’s got more big moments on tour ahead like countryman and fivetime tour winner Hideki Matsuyama.
“I feel like I’m getting closer to that level,” said Kodaira, who is ranked 46th in the world and has played in 15 tour events. “I’d like to do my best in major championships and, hopefully, work hard at it.”
Bryson DeChambeau (66) and List (72) were tied for third. Third-round leader Poulter’s bid for a second tour title in three weeks ended with a 75 and a tie for seventh.
Starting times for the final round were moved up because of a forecast for bad weather.
Kodaira won $1.206 million. He’ll be exempt on the PGA Tour through the 2019-20 season.
The tournament appeared in steady hands with Kim, whose bulldog focus and shot-making held everyone off to win The Players Championship last May. But the 22-year-old from South Korea faltered over his final nine holes of regulation, with three bogeys to fall into the tie with Kodaira.
Kim had the chance to win in regulation but missed a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. Kodaira said that was the most nervous he was during his wait of about an hour before the playoff.
Kodaira might have had a few butterflies on the final playoff hole as Kim had a 21-foot birdie try to extend things, but he came up short.
Kim thought the increased winds slowed down the greens, making putts more difficult on the final nine holes. “But I tried my best and the putts didn’t drop,” Kim said. “It is what it is.”
Poulter, who dramatically won the Houston Open two weeks ago for his first tour win in more than five years, had six bogeys Sunday after making just two in his first three rounds.
Kodaira was the hardest charged and few even realized until the final threesome of Kim, Poulter and List all came back to the pack. Kodaira became the sixth straight RBC Heritage champion who was three strokes down or more at the start of the final round.
Playing Harbour Town for the first time, Kodaira opened with a 73, then followed with the tournament’s best round of the week, 63, on Friday. That game kicked in once more in the final round, with six birdies on the way to the playoff.
DeChambeau, the 24-year-old second-round leader who fell apart with a Saturday 75, bounced back Sunday with a 66 to finish two shots back. His roller coaster of a tournament played out again in the final round as he rose three shots to 9-under, then fell back to 7-under before closing with consecutive birdies on the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes.
Dustin Johnson finished with his best round of the week, a 67, and tied for 16th, ensuring that he will stay at No. 1 in the world for at least the next two weeks.