Minjee Lee loses a five-shot lead, wins playoff
Vincent Norrman gave Sweden a second straight winner on the European tour when he shot 7-under 65 to capture the Irish Open title on Sunday as Rory Mcilroy faltered in the final round by hitting into the water on three different holes.
A week after 23-year-old Ludvig Aberg produced a stunning finish to win the European Masters in Switzerland and help secure a spot on Europe’s Ryder Cup team, the 25-year-old Norrman produced a similar late flourish at The K Club to earn his second victory in two months — after the Barbasol Championship in mid-july — and underscore the talent emerging from Sweden.
Play was delayed for about 90 minutes because of bad weather soon after the leading groups teed off, with Mcilroy at that stage in a four-way share of the lead on 12-under par.
His bid for a second title at his home event, after 2016, tottered when he found water off wedge shots from the middle of the fairway at Nos. 7 and 11. By the time Mcilroy went into the water twice at No. 16 in shooting triple-bogey 8, Norrman had already posted a target — 14 under — that none of his remaining title contenders such as Hurly Long of Germany (72) and Ryan Fox of New Zealand (70) could match.
Norrman won by one stroke from Long to give himself two titles in just 14 appearances on the European tour. He is set to more than halve his world ranking and potentially climb to No. 76.
Norrman’s bogey-free round caught fire when he made six birdies in eight holes from No. 7 that saw him power through the field, before he had to wait 90 minutes to discover if he’d done enough.
“I think I was a little lucky — it was a long wait but I am super happy,” said Norrman, who turned pro in 2021 after attending Georgia Southwestern before moving to Florida State University.
“If you are winning, you are doing something good. It’s a world-class event and honestly I can’t believe this happened.”
Shane Lowry (68) finished in a tie for third with Fox, Grant Forrest (70) and Thriston Lawrence (66) in a confidence-boosting performance ahead of the Ryder Cup, for which he also got a captain’s pick despite poor recent form, and his defense of the BMW PGA Championship next week.
Mcilroy closed with a 74 and was tied for 16th.
Minjee Lee lost a fiveshot lead on the back nine and recovered at just the right time, hitting wedge to 2 feet for birdie to beat Charley Hull on the second playoff hole in the Kroger Queen City Championship.
Lee, a two-time major champion, won for the first time this year after closing with a 1-under 71. It was her second playoff victory on the LPGA Tour, and she never imagined it would get to that point.
The 27-year-old Australian seized control early and led Hull by five shots through 10 holes.
Six holes later, they were tied.
Lee led by four on the par-5 12th, with Hull already having hit her second shot into the water. Lee decided to go for the green with a fairway metal, and she pulled it so far left that it went out-of-bounds, leading to a double bogey.
Hull dropped only one shot, cutting the deficit to three shots, and then she made three birdie putts in the 12- to 18-foot range on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes to catch Lee.
Texas jumped seven spots to No. 4 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday after beating Alabama, and the Pac-12 became just the second conference to place as many as eight teams in an AP Top 25.
Colorado moved up to No. 18 after defeating Nebraska, 36-14, on Saturday. It’s the second consecutive week Coach Prime’s Buffs are nationally ranked after cracking into the poll at No. 22.
Georgia received 55 firstplace votes to remain the clear No. 1. Michigan was No. 2, with two-first place votes. No. 3 Florida State received three first-place votes and moved up a spot.
Texas received two-first place votes after its biggest regular-season victory in years. The Longhorns are in the top five for the first time since starting the 2010 season at No. 5 and have their highest ranking since finishing No. 2 after losing the BCS championship game to Alabama in 2009.
Behind quarterback Quinn Ewers, Texas became the first team to beat Alabama by double-digits on its home field under coach Nick Saban.
The loss dropped Alabama seven spots to No. 10, its lowest ranking since early last November, when the Crimson Tide also were 10th.
Southern California moved up a spot to No. 5, giving the top five representation from each Power Five conference for the first time since Sept. 24, 2017. That top five was Alabama (SEC), Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference), Oklahoma (Big 12), Penn State (Big Ten) and USC.
No conference has more teams than the Pac-12, which is in its last season with its current membership before 10 of its schools depart for other leagues in 2024.
Only the Southeastern Conference ever had placed as many eight teams in single AP Top 25, doing it 21 times with a record 10 in September 2015.
In this week’s AP Top 25, Washington is No. 8, Utah is 12th, Oregon is 13th and Oregon State is No. 16. Moving into the rankings are Washington State at No. 23 and UCLA at No. 24.
The Pac-12’s previous high was six ranked teams, achieved multiple times including last week.
Oregon State and Washington State are the only members of the conference committed to it beyond this school year and would like to preserve the Pac-12, but whether its Power Five status can preserved remains to be seen.
After Washington State beat Wisconsin on Saturday night, Cougars coach Jake Dickert noted his school’s unfortunate position.
“We belong in the Power Five,” Dickert told ESPN among a swarm of Cougars, who rushed the field in Pullman.
No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State and No. 9 Notre Dame rounded out the top 10. season.
The Crimson Tide’s streak is the second-longest in AP poll history behind Miami’s 137 from 1985-93.
The next five longest streaks of appearing in the top five:
— Clemson, 2015-21.
— Nebraska, 96 from 1993-98.
— Florida, 81 from 199297. 97 from