Thomas holds on to win in Hawaii
Justin Thomas nearly squandered a five-stroke lead in the final round but birdied the penultimate hole to hold off Hideki Matsuyama and win the SBS Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii, the first PGA Tour event of 2017.
His lead down to one shot with two holes to play, Thomas hit an eightiron from 214 yards on a downhill lie to within three feet of the pin at No. 17. He made the birdie putt, Matsuyama three-putted for bogey, and Thomas was on his way to a three-shot victory. He finished with a two-putt birdie at No. 18 for a four-under 69.
Thomas’ second win of the season and third in his career moved him to No. 12 in the world. His other two tour titles were at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia. Matsuyama was going after his fourth straight victory worldwide.
Former major league outfielder Manny Ramirez agreed to terms with the Kochi Fighting Dogs of Japan’s independent Shikoku Island League, a four-team league on the smallest and least populous of the nation’s four main islands. Ramirez, 44, played 19 major league seasons, including parts of three seasons with the Dodgers (2008-2010), with a lifetime .312 batting average, 555 home runs and 1,831 RBIs. He played for the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan in 2013.
California Chrome had a light predawn workout at Gulfstream Park in Florida, his introduction to the track where he will run his final race before retiring to the breeding shed, the $12-million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28.
The popular thoroughbred, the leading money winner in North American racing history, has never raced in Florida. He’s set to have daily early morning gallops until Saturday, when the plan calls for him to breeze five furlongs. Gulfstream is the 10th, and final, track where he will run.
The San Francisco 49ers interviewed Jimmy Rae III, the Indianapolis Colts’ vice president of football operations, for the team's vacant general manager job. Jed York, the 49ers’ CEO, is on a cross-country interview tour to find replacements for his coach, Kelly, and GM Trent Baalke, both fired following a 2-14 season. Raye is the son of former 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye II, who held the job in 2009-10.
In tennis, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria ended a title drought that dated to 2014, defeating Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, at the Brisbane International in Australia, a hardcourt warmup event for the Australian Open . . . . Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain beat Daniil Medvedev of Russia, 6-3, 6-4, in the final of a hardcourt tournament at Chennai, India.
In World Cup skiing, Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin won a women’s slalom at Maribor, Slovenia, for her 27th career title, tying Phil Mahre for third place among U.S. skiers, behind Bode Miller (33) and Lindsey Vonn (76). She also equaled Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s 27 victories before turning 22. Only Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria had more wins (41) at that age.
At Adelboden, Switzerland, Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway won a men’s slalom by a massive 1.83-second margin to pull even with Marcel Hirscher of Austria in the season standings in the discipline.
Winnipeg Jets rookie star Patrik Laine will be out indefinitely because of a concussion.