HYO JOO KIM WINS LPGA TOUR’S LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP

EWA BEACH, HAWAII Hyo Joo Kim staved off a late charge from Hinako Shibuno to win the LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship on Saturday.

Kim closed with a 1-under 71 — following a bogey on the par-4 17th with a tap-in birdie on the par-5 18th — to finish at 11-under 277, two shots clear of Shibuno at breezy Hoakalei Country Club.

Kim earned $300,000 for her fifth LPGA Tour title.

The 26-year old South Korean star had a three-stroke lead after both the second and third rounds and held off a final-round push from Shibuno, the Japanese player who a bogey-free 70.

Kim played the front nine in 1 under. She put her approach on the par-5 fifth hole, which played at 540 yards, inside of 3 feet to to set up a birdie. She birdied No. 8, but bogeyed the par-3 ninth hole that went from a third-round yardage of 146 yards to 184 for the last round.

Kim birdied No. 18 after a bit of drama. She missed the fairway with her tee shot and found the right rough. Her second shot crossed the fairway and nestled into the first cut of the left rough. With her third, however, Kim recovered with a pitch shot that left her with a tap-in,

Tsitsipas successfully defends title in Monte Carlo.

MONACO Stefanos Tsitsipas appeared happy to hear fans “yelling and chanting” again at the Monte Carlo Masters as he beat unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6 (3) to retain his title on Sunday.

“It’s a great feeling because we had the crowd this year,” the third-seeded Greek said after winning the first big final of the clay-court season. “It was a bit more lively than last year.”

Davidovich Fokina, the Spaniard who knocked out Novak Djokovic in the second round, was playing his first ATP final.

Tsitsipas, who lost last year’s French Open final in five sets to Djokovic after leading 2-0, became the first repeat champion at the Monte Carlo Masters since Rafael Nadal in 2018.

Americans finish off strong junior worlds.

TALLINN, ESTONIA U.S. figure skaters finished off a strong performance at the world junior championships Sunday by winning three more medals.

Isabeau Levito took the women’s event and was joined on the podium by teammate Lindsay Thorngren, who earned bronze. Oona and Gage Brown clinched the gold medal in ice dance.

Over the course of the event, Team USA earned four medals, the most since 2013.

Bates leaving Memphis for transfer portal.

MEMPHIS, TENN. Emoni Bates, the five-star recruit who reclassified to 2021, has announced he’s entering the transfer portal after one season at Memphis.

Bates announced his decision Saturday on his Instagram account, saying he thanked Memphis coach Penny Hardaway and the rest of his coaching staff for giving him a chance to be a Tiger.

The 6-foot-9 forward has been called a generational talent and projected as the No. 1 overall pick when he becomes eligible for the NBA draft after he turns 19 in 2023.

Van Baarle wins Paris-roubaix.

ROUBAIX, FRANCE Dylan van Baarle timed his attack on the final cobblestone sections perfectly to win the Paris-roubaix race for the first time on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Dutchman, who rides for the Ineos Grenadiers team, won in 5 hours, 37 minutes after 257 kilometers (159 miles) of grueling racing. His average speed of 45.8 kilometers-per-hour (28.4 miles-perhour) was a record.

Belgian Wout van Aert edged a tight sprint to finish second ahead of Swiss rider Stefan Kung in third — both 1 minute, 47 seconds behind Van Baarle.