The US’ Brittany Lang earned her first LPGA Tour victory on Sunday, winning the Manulife Financial Classic by making birdie on the par-five 18th hole three consecutive times in a playoff.
Lang held off a wave of South Korean contenders in the playoff after shooting a four-under 67 in regulation to reach 16-under 268.
“I just tried to stay down in the putt and have nice tempo,” Lang said. “I haven’t been in this position much. I’m just trying to learn.”
Photo: AFP
“I can’t believe I finally won. I’ve had my chances and I still can’t believe I did it,” she said.
She edged out South Koreans Seo Hee-kyung, Chella Choi and Park In-bee at the Grey Silo Golf Course.
Choi was knocked out on the first extra hole, third-round leader Park was eliminated on the second hole, setting the stage for a head-to-head battle between Lang and Seo. Lang rolled in a five-foot putt for the win. Four of the top six and six of the top 13 finishers on Sunday were from South Korea.
Taiwan’s Candie Kung shot a 69 to finish tied for 31st place on six-under 278.
The birdie made amends for a shorter putt that Lang missed on the 18th hole that would have clinched the tournament for her.
Choi closed with a 63 on Sunday, Park a 69 and Seo a 67 to get to 16-under.
Reigning US Women’s Open champion Ryu So-yeon and American Stacy Lewis both fired seven-under 64s on Sunday to finish in a tie for fifth at 15-under.
Playing partners Lang, Seo and Park all settled for pars on 18 to set up the playoff.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Not even a tense tete-a-tete in the gold-medal game on Friday could spoil the vibe at Paris’ biggest beach party. Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Brazil’s Ana Patricia got into a shouting match on either side of the net in the tiebreaking third set of the beach volleyball final of the Paris Olympics. The referee tried to keep the peace, but it was the Eiffel Tower Stadium DJ who cooled tempers on the sand by playing John Lennon’s Imagine over the PA system. The players laughed and clapped, the crowd applauded and sang along, Wilkerson was shown a yellow card and the top-ranked Brazilians
China yesterday celebrated one of its best Olympic performances, while some supporters declared China the true winners, if medals won by Hong Kong and self-ruled Taiwan were included. “We are number one out of sovereign countries,” read one comment with more than 1,300 likes on Sina Weibo. Many similar posts included images of an adjusted medal table with medals won by Hong Kong and Taiwan added to the Chinese total. Since Taiwan’s Olympic debut in 1956, its athletes have competed as “Formosa,” “Taiwan,” “the Republic of China,” and since 1984 as “Chinese Taipei.” Hong Kong competes separately from China. Team China racked up 40 gold
Taiwan’s streak of winning gold medals in weightlifting at the Olympic Games going back to 2008 on Friday came to an end as its weightlifter Chen Wen-huei placed sixth in the women’s 71kg final in Paris. Chen, who won bronze in the 64kg division in her Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago, finished the event with a total of 236kg, successfully lifting the bar twice — 103kg in the snatch and 133kg in the clean and jerk. She attempted 140kg in her last clean and jerk after failing to clean 139kg on her second attempt. However, she was unable to stabilize the
Olympic Refugee Team breaker Manizha Talash, who fled Afghanistan to live in Spain, was disqualified from the breaking competition after she wore a cape saying “Free Afghan Women,” the World DanceSport Federation told reporters yesterday. B-girl Talash, 21, unveiled the blue top bearing the slogan on Friday just before the first duel of the whole competition, against India Sardjoe of the Netherlands. “Refugee athlete B-girl Talash ... was disqualified for displaying a political slogan on her attire in violation of Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter,” the association said in a statement. That rule states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious