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WASHINGTON: Mexico’s Gaby Lopez birdied the last three holes for the second consecutive day to fire an 8-under par 63 on Sunday and win the LPGA Dana Open by one stroke.
World No. 67 Lopez outdueled American Megan Khang down the stretch to finish 72 holes on 18-under 266 over a rain-softened Highland Meadows layout in Sylvania, Ohio.
The 28-year-old from Mexico City delivered a bogey-free final round for her third career LPGA title after winning at China’s Blue Bay in 2018 and taking the 2020 Tournament of Champions.
“I didn’t really bring an attitude,” Lopez said. “It was more of creating a quiet space before hitting the golf ball and committing to that before every single ball.
“It’s so easy to get ahead of yourself, especially coming down the stretch, but if you keep it in the present, that’s when magic happens.”
Khang was second, her best LPGA result, on 267 after a closing 64 with Germany’s Caroline Masson third on 268 and US teen Lucy Li, Chinese teen Yin Ruoning and American Sarah Schmelzel on 269.
Lopez, who began the round four strokes off the pace, sank a crucial 15-foot birdie putt at the par-5 18th to finish ahead of Khang, with a scream and fist pump of delight after the feat.
“I knew I had to make it because Megan was going to make hers,” Lopez said. “What I thought was I practiced exactly for this moment. I want to be here and I’m just going to take care of this putt.”
Lopez shook off short missed putts to birdie five of her last nine holes.
“Having that calmness and quiet space was exactly what we were working on. And it has paid off,” Lopez said. “It just gets more simple if I do that, not overthinking. Not making more drama than it is.”
Khang had reeled off six birdies in a nine-hole span to grab the lead, a run that started at the third, fifth and par-3 sixth holes.
She added a three-foot birdie putt at the par-3 eighth, a 20-footer for birdie at the ninth and a 12-foot birdie putt at the 11th to reach 16-under and seize the lead alone.
Playing partner Lopez made a run of four birdies in eight holes from the third through 10th and sank another at 13 to move one off the lead.
Khang escaped a fairway bunker to par the 15th but Lopez had a tap-in birdie at the 16th to grab a share of the lead.
Lopez blasted out of a bunker at the par-5 17th to inches from the cup and tapped in for birdie, grabbing the lead alone after Khang lipped out on an eight-foot birdie putt.
Both blasted out of greenside bunkers at the par-5 18th, Khang setting up a tap in while Lopez left herself 15 feet over a ridge from the fringe and made the tricky putt.
Challengers remained in the last four groups but Li, who had 14 pars and a birdie at the par-3 sixth in the first 15 holes, made bogey at the 16th and Germany’s Caroline Masson couldn’t manage an albatross at 18.
Khang, who had matched her best prior LPGA finish by sharing third at Palos Verdes in April, was the first LPGA player of Laotian and Hmong descent, her parents coming to the United States in the 1970s after the Vietnam War.
Li, a 19-year-old prodigy of Chinese heritage, won twice on the US women’s developmental tour to secure a 2023 LPGA berth.
PARIS: Two Juventus fans will be tried in Paris for racism at the Parc des Princes during a Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain, a source in the city’s prosecutor’s office told AFP on Friday. Three adults and a minor were arrested Tuesday night in Paris after Italian fans made Nazi salutes or monkey gestures at the game. The four were identified by police video surveillance cameras at the stadium and were in the area reserved for Juve fans, a police source said. The Paris prosecutor’s office said that two of the three adults had been summoned to be tried by the criminal court, one for “public insult of a racist nature” and the other for “apology for crimes against humanity.” No charges were made against the third adult as the evidence did not clearly show he had committed a possible crime. The minor was banned from the Ile-de-France region for six months, the public prosecutor said. UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings, with the appointment of an “inspector” to investigate “suspicions of discriminatory behavior by Juventus supporters” during the match, which PSG won 2-1.
RIO DE JANEIRO: Gabriel Jesus and Philippe Coutinho were both left out of Brazil’s squad for upcoming friendlies against Ghana and Tunisia on Friday as Tite’s side warm up for the World Cup. The five-time world champions face Ghana in French city Le Havre on September 23 before taking on Tunisia four days later at the Parc des Princes. Jesus, who has impressed this season since joining Premier League leaders Arsenal from Manchester City, featured 11 times for Brazil in World Cup qualifying without scoring. The tournament gets underway in Qatar on November 20. Coutinho, who has scored 21 goals in 68 international appearances, has made a slow start to the campaign with Steven Gerrard’s struggling Aston Villa. Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar is unsurprisingly in the squad and could play at his home club ground in the Tunisia game, alongside PSG teammate Marquinhos. Brazil will start their bid for a sixth World Cup against Serbia on November 24 in Lusail, with further Group G games against Switzerland and Cameroon.
MADRID: Barcelona’s summer asset sale allowed them to lift their salary cap from minus 144.3 million euros ($144.8 million) in March to a positive balance of 656.4 million by September, La Liga reported Friday. The Spanish league made public the salary limits available to teams after the summer transfer window. The figures reveal the complete transformation of Barcelona’s finances and the huge divide between the richest clubs and the rest. Barcelona spent some 153 million euros on transfer fees alone as they splurged on a platoon of stars including Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde and free agents Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie, but took in far more by selling future rights. The club sold 25 percent of their domestic television rights for the next quarter of a century to US investment firm Sixth Street for around 400 million euros and just under 50 percent of Barca Studios, which manages the club’s digital business and audiovisual productions, to two investors for 200 million euros. La Liga updates the salary cap, based on the difference between revenue and costs, several times each season. The cap specifies the amount clubs can spend on players, head coach, assistant coach and the first-team fitness coach as well as subsidiaries and youth academies. Real Madrid continue to lead with a cap of 683.4 million euros, down from 739 million euros last March. Barcelona are now just behind. There is a significant gap to Atletico Madrid, who are third, on 341 million euros with Sevilla next on almost 200 million euros. Eight clubs have caps of 52 million euros or less. Real Madrid’s salary cap is bigger than the total for the 12 clubs with the smallest caps added together.
MUNICH, Germany: Bayern Munich and France winger Kingsley Coman sustained a right hamstring tear in training on Friday, the Bundesliga club said. Bayern said their medical department confirmed the injury and that the player will be out of action “for the time being.” They did not specify how long that time will be. Earlier, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said Coman’s injury “doesn’t look so good” and that he hoped it was “just a muscle fiber tear and nothing more serious.” The 26-year-old Coman had started each of Bayern’s last four games across all competitions. Bayern play Stuttgart at home in the Bundesliga on Saturday before welcoming Barcelona for their Champions League group-stage game on Tuesday. They then visits Augsburg the following weekend before the league takes a break for international games.