WEBCOM TOUR
Rod Pampling wins Web.Com Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am
GREER, S.C. (AP) β Australia’s Rod Pampling won the Web.com Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am on Sunday, finishing with a 5-under 66 for a 25-under 261 total.
The 45-year-old Pampling opened with consecutive 9-under 63s at The Reserve at Lake Keowee and Green Valley Country Club and shot a 69 on Saturday at Thornblade Club β also the site of the final round.
Pampling earned $121,500 for his first career victory on the tour. The two-time PGA Tour winner was two strokes off the tournament record of 27-under 259 set by Mark Anderson in 2013.
Kelly Kraft was two strokes back after a 66.
WELLS FARGO
McIlroy finishes at 21 under, wins Wells Fargo Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β Rory McIlroy became the first two-time winner in the Wells Fargo Championship with a dominating seven-shot victory Sunday over Webb Simpson and Patrick Rodgers.
The top-ranked McIlory closed with a 3-under 69 to finish at 21-under 267, shattering the tournament record by five strokes. He entered Sunday with a four-stroke lead over Simpson after a course-record 61 on Saturday.
Rodgers, playing on a sponsor exemption, was the only player to mount a serious challenge, getting within three shots after a birdie at No. 15. He finished with a 68, and Simpson shot 72.
It is McIlroy’s second victory in the past three weeks and his 11th on the PGA Tour. He won the Match Play Championship this month in San Francisco.
He has six top-10 finishes in his last eight PGA Tour starts.
CHARLOTTE
Ryan Lochte breaks through in final day at Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β U.S. Olympian Ryan Lochte won the men’s 200-meter individual medley during the final day of the Arena Pro Swim Series meet Sunday, while rival Michael Phelps failed to make the finals in two events.
Lochte, the world record-holder in the 200 IM, won in 1 minute, 57.20 seconds, the third-fastest time in the world this year. He also finished third in the 200 backstroke, won by Serbia’s Arkady Vyatchanin.
Meanwhile, Phelps was relegated to the ‘B’ finals in the 200 IM and 100 freestyle after the preliminaries, but bounced back with a strong swim in the evening session at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.
Phelps won the ‘B’ final in the 200 IM in 2:00.25, which would have put him sixth in the ‘A’ final, then tied for third in the 100 freestyle ‘B’ final with Italy’s Michele Santucci in 49.96 seconds.
Also winning Sunday were Brazil’s Felipe Lima in the 50 breaststroke, Nathan Adrian in the 100 freestyle, and Connor Jaeger in the 1,500 freestyle.
Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu added to her medal count Sunday, winning two more events, the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke. That gave her six wins in seven events during the four-day meet.
Other women’s winners were Denmark’s Lotte Friis in the 800 freestyle, Alia Atkinson in the 50 breaststroke, and Natalie Coughlin in the 100 freestyle.
SYMETRA TOUR
Jimin Kang wins Symetra Tour event
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) β South Korea’s Jimin Kang won the Mission Health Wellness Classic on Sunday for her fourth career Symetra Tour title and first since 2004.
The victory capped a comeback from an allergy problem two years ago that attacked her immune system and made it difficult to breathe and walk on her own.
A two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Kang shot 5-under 67 in all three rounds for a five-stroke victory at the Country Club of Asheville. The 11-year span between victories is the longest in tour history.
The 35-year-old former Arizona State player broke the tournament record at 15-under 206 and earned $15,000 to jump from 10th to second on the money list with $32,932.
Lacey Agnew, Brianna Do, Daniela Iacobelli and Brittany Benvenuto tied for second. Agnew closed with a 67, Do shot 68, Iacobelli 69, and Benvenuto 70.
NASCAR-XFINITY
Buescher rallies to win NASCAR Xfinity race in Iowa
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) β Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart in a green-white-checkered finish Sunday to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Iowa Speedway.
Buescher raced to his first victory of the season to give Roush-Fenway Racing its fifth Iowa win.
Chase Elliott appeared poised for an easy win before a late caution set up overtime. Buescher was the beneficiary, and he took advantage with a perfectly executed restart.
Elliott finished second after leading a race-high 114 laps. Erik Jones was third, followed by Brian Scott and Ryan Blaney.
LPGA TOUR
Minjee Lee takes command at LPGA’s Kingsmill Championship
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) β Minjee Lee played a five-hole stretch in 5 under to open a four-stroke lead Sunday when final-round play was suspended because of darkness in the LPGA Tour’s Kingsmill Championship.
After making an eagle on the par-5 15th to cap the five-hole run, the 18-year-old Australian was on the par-4 16th when the horn sounded. She hit her approach to the green, but opted to mark the ball and finish the hole when play resumes at 7 a.m. Monday on Kingsmill Resort’s River Course.
Lee was 7 under in a 10-hole stretch after a 2-hour rain delay to reach 16 under.
Alison Lee was alone in second with four holes to play. Former champion Suzann Pettersen was the only one in a five-way tie for third at 10 under to finish. She shot 68. Perrine Delacour, Paula Creamer, So Yeon Ryu and Hyo Joo Kim also were 10 under.
ANGELS-ORIOLES
Wright shines in debut as Orioles blank Angels 3-0
BALTIMORE (AP) β Mike Wright took a three-hitter into the eighth inning of his major league debut, and the Baltimore Orioles ended the Los Angeles Angels’ five-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory Sunday.
Adam Jones scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning and added a two-run double in the eighth to help Baltimore salvage the finale of the three-game series and improve to 1-12 when scoring fewer than four runs.
Wright (1-0) allowed four hits, struck out six and walked none in 7 1-3 innings. After giving up an eighth-inning single to Matt Joyce, the right-hander was removed by manager Buck Showalter and walked off the mound to a standing ovation by many in the crowd of 41,733.
Brad Brach struck out the last two batters in the eighth, and Zach Britton worked the ninth for his eighth save.
INDYCAR-INDY 500-SAFETY
Scary crashes prompt series to slow down Indy 500 qualifying
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) β IndyCar officials slammed the brakes on significantly higher speeds at Indianapolis 500 qualifying.
Instead of adding horsepower to the cars, they reined it in. Rather than allowing the fastest nine cars to compete in a pole shootout, they limited each driver to just one shot. And instead of posting the fastest pole speeds in nearly two decades, they brought them down.
Yes, in a sport filled with danger, the series decided to play it safe after another frightening crash in Sunday’s morning practice.
It might be more than just a few mistakes.
Over a five-day period, three drivers hit the walls at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all wound up with a similar result: going airborne when they started rolling backward down the track.
Nobody seems to know why it’s happening.
