Gaby Lopez wins LPGA tournament in 7-hole playoff
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. >> Having already battled for five extra holes into darkness without producing a champion a day earlier, Gaby Lopez and Nasa Hataoka showed up to work at 8 a.m., just like regular folks. The early wake-up call and extra golf was worth it for Lopez, who rolled in a 30foot birdie putt to prevail on the seventh playoff hole Monday and capture the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
It was the second LPGA title for Lopez, who 14 months ago became the second player from Mexico to win on tour, joining World Golf Hall of Fame member Lorena Ochoa. She earned $180,000 for the victory.
The elite field featured 26 players who had won tournaments in the last two seasons.
This was the LPGA’s fourth-longest playoff. The longest was 10 holes at the 1972 Corpus Christi Civitan Open, where Jo Ann Prentice beat Hall of Famers Sandra Palmer and Kathy Whitworth.
Lopez and Hataoka wound up playing the difficult 197-yard 18th hole at Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando eight times over two days, with two birdies from Lopez the difference.
Lopez birdied from 18 feet on her final hole of regulation Sunday to earn a spot in the playoff alongside Hataoka and Inbee Park, who was eliminated on the third playoff hole.
Hataoka, who made a deft up-and-down from 30 yards for par to extend the playoff to a seventh hole as play resumed Monday, had the edge on the final hole after hitting a 4-hybrid that rode a slope along the right side of the green and curled to 12 feet from the hole.
But Lopez, whose ball barely made the putting surface, went first, her putt up the hill slowing and tumbling into the cup on its last rotation. Hataoka, ranked sixth in the world, made a poor stroke, pulling her birdie attempt left.
MLB
EX-M’S ACE FÉLIX HERNÁNDEZ HAS MINOR LEAGUE DEAL WITH BRAVES >> Longtime Seattle Mariners ace Félix Hernández reached a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves on Monday that includes an invite to big league spring training.
The right-hander would get a $1 million, one-year contract if added to Atlanta’s 40man roster.
Hernández, who turns 34 in April, is coming off his worst season in the majors. King Felix went 1-8 with a 6.40 ERA in 15 starts for the Mariners and lost his place in the rotation.
Hernández was among the best and more durable pitchers in the majors for more than a decade, a stretch that included six All-Star selections and the 2010 AL Cy Young Award. He was a huge crowd favorite at Safeco Field, with fans holding up K cards in The King’s Court to mark his many strikeouts.
The two-time NL East champion Braves hold their first workout for pitchers and catchers on Feb. 13.
NFL
SNOW REJOINS RHULE AS PANTHERS NEW DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR >> Phil Snow is rejoining head coach Matt Rhule in Carolina as the new Panthers defensive coordinator.
Snow previously served as defensive coordinator under Rhule at Baylor from 2017-19 and Temple from 2013-16.
Snow has spent 37 seasons coaching college football, serving as a defensive coordinator at seven previous schools, including UCLA, Washington, Arizona State and Boise State. He also worked as an assistant coach with the Detroit Lions for four seasons (2005-08).
Under Snow, Baylor ranked 41st in the nation in total defense last season, and finished second in takeaways with 30, third in interceptions with 17 and eighth in sacks per game at 3.3.
Tennis
DJOKOVIC CEDES AUSTRALIAN OPEN SET IN 1ST RD FOR 1ST TIME SINCE 2016 >> Novak Djokovic did something he hadn’t in 14 years: He dropped a set in a first-round match at the Australian Open.
That didn’t bother him, though. He actually looked upon the challenge he faced Monday night under the closed roof at Rod Laver Arena as a good thing.
Djokovic last ceded a set in an Australian Open opener all the way back in 2006, during a loss to Paul Goldstein. Since then, the 16-time Grand Slam champ had produced 13 consecutive straight-set wins in the hard-court tournament’s first round; add in the initial pair of sets against Struff, and the streak was at 41.
Soccer
CRISTIANO RONALDO’S RETURN TO FORM >> Ronaldo’s return has coincided with Juventus taking a firm grip on Serie A.
Ronaldo did not score at all in November, but he scored twice as Juventus beat Parma 2-1 on Sunday to take his tally to 11 in his last seven league matches.
The win also put Juventus on course for a record-extending ninth straight Serie A title as the Bianconeri moved four points above Inter Milan. They were two points behind the Nerazzurri a month and a half ago.
Ronaldo has struggled with injury this season and missed three Serie A matches, playing through pain in others.
The 38-year-old Portugal forward has nevertheless scored 16 goals in 17 matches, becoming the first Juventus player to have that many goals after 20 matches since Omar Sivori in 1960.
Ronaldo is also the only player to have scored at least 15 goals in one of Europe’s top five leagues in each of the last 14 seasons.
BECKHAM’S MLS TEAM IN MIAMI TAKES FIELD FOR FIRST TIME >> David Beckham’s new soccer team finally got to play soccer.
After more than six years of planning — and a process that was at times brutally difficult — Inter Miami took the field for the first time Monday. The expansion MLS club’s inaugural training camp opened at Barry University, with about two dozen players on the field.
Beckham wasn’t at the workout and is not expected in town for a few more weeks. McDonough has been with the club for the last year and a half or so and is still working on a final roster, with about a half-dozen more signings expected in the coming weeks. He watched much of the session from a far corner.