Mediate finishes strong in PGA Champions event
Rocco Mediate needed just about everything to go right for him to win the Sanford International in Sioux Falls, S.D., and it did.
Ken Duke had everything go wrong on the final hole that helped Mediate to his first victory on the PGA Tour Champions in three years.
Mediate birdied his final two holes for a 6-under 64 at Minnehaha Country Club. He won after Duke, tied for the lead going into the final hole, caught two nasty lies in the rough and made double bogey.
Mediate wound up winning by two shots.
“When I added them up, I went, ‘Holy crap, 64.’ That was cool,” Mediate said. “It was just one of those days everything kind of went really good. When I was bad, I got it up-and-down. When I was good, I made putts.”
It was his first victory since the Senior PGA Championship in 2016.
Duke ended up sharing second place with Colin Montgomerie and Bob Estes, who each had 67s.
Only two tournaments are left before the Schwab Cup playoffs, a series of three tournaments.
More golf
Danny Willett won a European Tour event on home soil for the first time with a three-shot victory at the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England. Willett, 31, held off nearest challenger Jon Rahm in the final round. Willett shot a 5-under 67 to finish 20 under.
• Sebastian Munoz of Colombia made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff, and then beat Sungjae Im with a par on the first extra hole to win the PGA’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss.
Auto racing
Josef Newgarden won his second championship in three years with a smooth drive in the IndyCar season finale, where he played it safe for points and watched rookie Colton Herta dominate the road course to win at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif. The championship gave Team Penske a season sweep of the crown jewels of IndyCar; Simon Pagenaud won the Indianapolis 500 in May for Penske’s record 18th victory.
Women’s basketball
Jasmine Thomas had 29 points and Courtney Williams added 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the visiting Connecticut Sun to a 78-56 win and sweep of the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA semifinals. Connecticut advances to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2005. … Las Vegas staved off elimination when All-Star center Liz Cambage scored 28 points to lead the host Aces to a 92-75 victory against the topseeded Washington Mystics in the other semifinal. The Mystics have a 2-1, best-offive series lead.
Soccer
Daniel Royer’s goal helped the host New York Red Bulls (14-13-5) secure a 2-0 shutout against the Philadelphia Union (15-9-7) in the MLS. … The host Portland Timbers (13-13-5) and Minnesota United (14-107) played to a scoreless draw at a rain-soaked Providence Park. … Zdenek Ondrasek scored to help Dallas (12-119) tie New York City (16-5-10), 1-1. Ondrasek tied the match for host Dallas in the 66th minute.