Koepka outduels McIlroy, wins first WGC title by 3 strokes

Brooks Koepka had three birdies in a fourhole stretch on the front nine and cruised to a three-stroke victory in the FedEx St. Jude Invitational on July 28 for his first World Golf Championships title.

Playing with Rory McIlroy in their first finalgroup pairing, the topranked Koepka closed with a bogey-free 5-under 65 at TPC Southwind for his seventh PGA Tour title. He finished at 16-under 264.

McIlroy followed his third-round 62 with a 71 to drop into a tie for fourth at 11 under.

Webb Simpson had a 64 to finish second. Marc Leishman (67) was third, four strokes back. Tommy Fleetwood (66) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (69) joined McIlroy at 11 under.

LANGER WINS 4TH SENIOR BRITISH OPEN TITLE » Bernhard Langer beat Paul Broadhurst by two shots to win the Senior British Open on July 28 for his record-extending 11th senior major title.

Starting three shots off the overnight lead held by Broadhurst, the 61-yearold German fired a 4-under 66 to finish at 6-under 274 for his fourth Senior Open title, a tournament record.

After heavy rain delayed the round by almost six hours, the two-time Masters champion opened with four birdies on the front nine and added two more on Nos. 13 and 14 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes to build a fourstroke lead. He completed the round with a couple of bogeys on the 15th and 17th.

Broadhurst shot 71 to come second.

Retief Goosen of South Africa closed with a 66 to tie for third with American Tim Petrovic (68) with a 3-under 277.

In his last appearance at the tournament, threetime champion Tom Watson (73) finished tied for 64th at 9 over. On July 27, the 69-year-old American announced he wouldn’t be playing at the event again. In his 18 appearances, he never missed the cut.

JIN YOUNG KO WINS AT EVIAN FOR 2ND MAJOR TITLE OF SEASON » Jin Young Ko clinched her second major title of the season, firing a 4-under 67 in the final-round rain on Sunday to win the Evian Championship by two shots with a 15-under total of 269.

Winner of the season’s first major, the ANA Inspiration in April, Ko closed out the victory after playing partner and longtime leader Hyo Joo Kim lost control with a triple bogey at the par-3 14th.

Ko took the two-shot lead she was given, and added a birdie at the par-4 No. 17, to hold off strong finishes by American rookie Jennifer Kupcho (66) and Shanshan Feng (68).

Kim (73) made a birdie to join a three-way tie for second with Kupcho and Feng.

The second major for Ko, the 2018 LPGA Rookie of the Year, also means she goes back to No. 1 in the world rankings above her other playing partner, Sung Hyun Park.

Park (75) was let down by her putting in falling to a tie for sixth at 10 under.

MLB

SANÓ HOMERS AS TWINS POUND WHITE SOX » Miguel Sanó hit a three-run homer in Minnesota’s fiverun first inning, and the Twins pounded Dylan Covey and the White Sox, 11-1, on July 28 to strengthen their hold on the AL Central.

Jorge Polanco, Jonathan Schoop and Max Kepler also connected as Minnesota ran its major leagueleading total to 205 home runs. The Twins went deep 11 times while taking three of four in the series and moved two games ahead of second-place Cleveland.

Covey (1-7) threw 14 pitches and failed to get an out in his 10th start of the season. After Polanco’s 16th homer made it 2-0, Nelson Cruz and Luis Arraez singled before Sanó chased Covey with an opposite-field drive just inside the foul pole in right.

Track and field

MUHAMMAD BREAKS WORLD RECORD IN 400 HURDLES AT NATIONALS » Dalilah Muhammad broke a 16-year-old world record in the 400-meter hurdles by finishing in 52.20 seconds on a drizzly night at the U.S. championships.

With puddles on the track Sunday, the reigning Olympic champion eclipsed the mark of 52.34 set by Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia on Aug. 8, 2003.

Muhammad’s previous best time was 52.64 in 2017.

Teenager Sydney McLaughlin was second and Ashley Spencer wound up third to also earn spots to the world championships in Doha.