Kokrak captures his first PGA Tour tournament title
In his 10th season, in his 233rd tournament, Jason Kokrak can finally call himself a PGA Tour winner.
Kokrak earned every bit of it Sunday in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas. He matched the best round of the tournament with an 8-under 64 to overcome a threeshot deficit at the start and win a duel on the back nine with Xander Schauffele.
The timing couldn’t be better. The CJ Cup moved from South Korea this year to Shadow Creek because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kokrak is an ambassador for MGM Resorts, which owns the prestigious Tom Fazio design.
“It feels like home,” Kokrak said. “I’ve played this golf course enough that I should know it by now.”
Kokrak began to pull away with four straight birdies on the front nine, and birdie putts from 20 feet and 18 feet to start the back nine stretched his lead to two shots.
Schauffele answered with three straight birdies, the last one a 45-footer by using his putter from the thick collar of the 13th green to catch him. Then, it was a matter of who blinked first.
That turned out to be Schauffele on the par- 5 16th, when made his only bogey in his round of 66.
Kokrak made par for a one-shot lead, and Schauffele couldn’t catch up. MICKELSON 2 FOR 2 ON CHAMPIONS TOUR >> Phil Mickelson became the third player and second this year to win his first two starts on the PGA Tour Champions, slamming the door on Mike Weir with a back-nine surge in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Va.
Mickelson closed with a 7-under 65 to finish at 17-under 199, three strokes better than second-round leader Weir, the fellow 50-year- old left-hander who had a 71.
Bruce Fleischer and Jim Furyk are the only players to win in their first two senior events.
SPANIARD BREAKS THROUGH ON EUROPEAN TOUR >> Spain’s Adrian Otaegui captured his first stroke-play title on the European Tour after shooting 9-under 63 in the final round of the Scottish Championship to win by four shots in Fife.
Tennis
ZVEREV WINS IN COLOGNE >> Alexander Zverev ended his 17-month wait for a title by drawing on the pain of his U.S. Open final defeat to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 and win the Cologne (Germany) Indoors. RUBLEVWINS FOURTH TITLE THIS SEASON >> Andrey Rublev joined Novak Djokovic as the only men to win four tour singles titles in the pandemicshortened 2020 season as he beat Borna Coric 7- 6 (5), 6- 4 in the final of the St. Petersburg (Russia) Open.
College football
NO. 2 ALABAMA DEFEATS NO. 3 GEORGIA >> A positive COVID-19 test couldn’t keep Nick Saban from the sideline, and Georgia’s heralded defense had scant hope of keeping Alabama’s playmakers out of the end zone late Saturday night.
Mac Jones passed for 417 yards and four touchdowns and the No. 2 Crimson Tide picked apart No. 3 Georgia in the second half of a 41-24 victory in Tuscaloosa, Ala. It ended up being a decisive ’Bama victory in a collision of the Southeastern Conference’s last remaining unbeaten teams.
The Crimson Tide (4- 0), with Saban stalking the sideline after all, rallied with three touchdowns in a 10-minute span starting late in the third quarter.
The nation’s top scoring offense ultimately got the emphatic upper hand in a battle with the Bulldogs (3-1) and one of the nation’s best defenses.
N.C. STATE LOSES QB >> Starting quarterback Devin Leary could miss the rest of the regular season for No. 23 North Carolina State (4-1, 4-1 ACC) after having surgery for a leg injury suffered in a win against Duke.
In a post on the program’s Twitter account, the school said Leary had surgery a day after breaking the fibula bone in his left leg. He is expected to miss 4-8 weeks.
BLACK FORMER PLAYERS SUE IOWA >> The University of Iowa said it would not pay a demand from eight Black former football players for $20 million in compensation for alleged racial discrimination they faced playing for the Hawkeyes.
The players also called for the firings of head football coach Kirk Ferentz, offensive line coach Brian Ferentz and athletic director Gary Barta.
CLEMSON REMAINS NO. 1 >> Clemson easily held off Alabama to retain the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press poll, extending its longest run atop the poll to seven weeks.
Clemson defended its turf with a historic blowout against Georgia Tech. The 66-point rout was the largest ever in an ACC football game. Clemson received 54 first-place votes out of 62 from the panel of sports writers and broadcasters.
The Crimson Tide got the remaining eight first-place votes. Notre Dame moved up to a season-high No. 3, No. 4 Georgia dropped one spot and Ohio State moved up to No. 5 a week before the Big Ten starts playing.
PURDUE COACH TESTS POSITIVE FOR VIRUS >> Purdue coach Jeff Brohm tested positive for the coronavirus, the school announced. Brohm is awaiting a second test to confirm the initial result and is isolating at his home, Purdue’s athletic department said in a statement.
Miscellany
HART WINS 15TH STAGE IN GIRO D’ITALIA >> Tao Geoghegan Hart sprinted to victory at the end of the mountainous 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia to Piancavallo, and João Almeida held on to the overall leader’s pink jersey but saw his advantage slashed to 15 seconds. NORWEGIAN WINS CUP- OPENING GIANT SLALOM >> Lucas Braathen upset the pre-race favorites to clinch his first career win at the season- opening men’s World Cup giant slalom in Soelden, Austria. The Norwegian was fifth before posting the second fastest time in the decisive leg to finish ahead of Swiss duo Marco Odermatt and Gino Caviezel.