
Lottie Woad, a former Florida State star, wins the Women's Scottish Open in her pro debut
IRVINE, Scotland (AP) — Lottie Woad tapped in one final birdie, plucked the ball out of the cup and gave a simple wave to the crowd as if she had done this before. The English star made it look easy Sunday when she won the Women's Scottish Open in her professional debut.
Woad never flinched when Hyo Joo Kim made a charge on a windy day at Dundonald Links, closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-shot victory.
Woad is the second player in three years to win on the LPGA Tour in her pro debut, following Rose Zhang in the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in 2023.
Woad finished at 21-year 267 and earned $300,000.
'I think it's quite hard to do that, but very special to win in my first event,' Woad said. 'Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots.'
Kim had opened with four birdies in seven holes, and when the South Korean added birdies on the 11th and 12th, she shared the lead with Woad.
Woad was unflappable, making birdie on the 13th and 14th holes to regain control and dropping only one shot late in her round. She finished with a three-quarter wedge over a winding burn to 2 feet for birdie and a reserved celebration.
Her victory is certain to get everyone's attention in women's golf. Woad was the No. 1 amateur in the women's ranking when she won the Women's Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour three weeks ago. Then, she finished one shot out of a playoff in the Evian Championship in France, an LPGA major.
That gave her enough points for an LPGA card, so the 21-year-old decided to forgo her final year at Florida State and turn pro. Now she has an LPGA title — the Women's Scottish Open is co-sanctioned with the LET — as she heads south for Royal Porthcawl in Wales for the final major of the year in the Women's British Open.
Nelly Korda, who played the opening three rounds with Woad, ran off four straight birdies on the front nine until missing some putts that stalled her momentum. She shot 71 and finished eight shots behind, leaving the American winless this year after a seven-win season in 2024.
Julia Lopez Ramirez closed with a 65 and tied for third with Sei Young Kim (73), earning the Spaniard one of three spots available in the Women's British Open next week. The other spots went to Paula Reto of South Africa and Mary Liu of China.
Woad first made a name for herself when she won the Augusta National Women's Amateur last year with birdies on three of the last four holes. She said that was more pressure than she felt in her pro debut.
'I think Augusta, that was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win,' Woad said. 'So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this.'
The only difference this week was getting paid for it. Along with winning the Women's Irish Open, Woad tied for 31st in the U.S. Women's Open this year and tied for 10th in the Women's British Open at St. Andrews last summer.
She heads to Wales hopeful of keeping the momentum.
'It's been pretty good, yeah. I don't really know how to describe it,' Woad said. 'Just been shooting low scores, which is always nice.'
The LPGA Tour now has had a different winner in all 19 tournaments this year, the longest stretch of no multiple winners in its 75-year history.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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NBC Sports
an hour ago
- NBC Sports
Ichiro Suzuki adds humorous touches to Hall of Fame induction ceremonies
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — If you want someone for your next celebrity roast, Ichiro Suzuki could be your guy. Mixing sneaky humor with heartfelt messages, the first Japanese-born player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame stole the show in Cooperstown. Morning showers and gloomy skies delayed the ceremonies by an hour, but the moisture gave way to bright skies and warm temperatures. The sun seemed its brightest during Suzuki's acceptance speech. The outfielder was joined by pitcher CC Sabathia, also elected in his first year of eligibility, and closer Billy Wagner, who made it in his final try on the writers' ballot. Suzuki fell one vote shy of being a unanimous selection and he took a jab at the unidentified sports writer who didn't vote for him. 'Three thousand hits or 262 hits in one season are two achievements recognized by the writers. Well, all but one,' Suzuki said to roaring laughter. 'By the way, the offer for the writer to have dinner at my home has now expired,' he added, with emphasis on 'expired' for good measure. A pair of Era Committee selections rounded out the Class of 2025: Dave Parker, who earned the nickname Cobra during 20 big league seasons, and slugger Dick Allen. Parker died June 28, just a month before he was to be inducted. An estimated 30,000 fans crowded onto the field adjacent to the Clark Sports Center, sun umbrellas and Japanese flags sprinkled around. Suzuki's No. 51 was seemingly everywhere as fans, thousands of them Seattle Mariners boosters who made the trek from the Pacific Northwest, chanted 'Ichiro' several times throughout the day. A sign that read 'Thank You Ichiro! Forever a Legend' in English and Japanese summed up the admiration for Suzuki on his special day. With 52 returning Hall of Famers on hand, Suzuki paid homage to his new baseball home in Cooperstown and his adoring fans by delivering his 18-minute speech in English. His humor, a surprise to many, delighted the crowd. He threw shade at the Miami Marlins, the last stop of his professional career. 'Honestly, when you guys offered me a contract in 2015, I had never heard of your team,' Suzuki joked. He kidded that he showed up at spring training every year with his arm 'already in shape' just to hear Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs scream, '`Holy smokes! Another laser-beam throw from Ichiro!'' He even took a moment for some tongue-in-cheek modesty. 'People often measure me by my records. Three thousand hits. Ten Gold Gloves. Ten seasons of 200 hits. 'Not bad, huh?' Suzuki said to more laughs. He thanked his late agent Tony Anastasio for 'getting me to America and for teaching me to love wine.' But he also took time to get to the root of what made him extraordinary. 'Baseball is much more than just hitting, throwing and running. Baseball taught me to make valued decisions about what is important. It helped shape my view of life and the world. … The older I got, I realized the only way I could get to play the game I loved to the age of 45 at the highest level was to dedicate myself to it completely,' he said. 'When fans use their precious time to see you play, you have a responsibility to perform for them whether you are winning by 10 or losing by 10. 'Baseball taught me what it means to be a professional and I believe that is the main reason I am here today. I could not have achieved the numbers without paying attention to the small details every single day consistently for all 19 seasons.' Now he's reached the pinnacle, overcoming doubters, one of whom said to him: '`Don't embarrass the nation.'' He's made his homeland proud. 'Going into America's Baseball Hall of Fame was never my goal. I didn't even know there was one. I visited Cooperstown for the first time in 2001, but being here today sure feels like a fantastic dream.' Sabathia thanked 'the great players sitting behind me, even Ichiro, who stole my Rookie of the Year award (in 2001).' He paid homage to Parker and spoke about Black culture in today's game. 'It's an extra honor to be a part of Dave's Hall of Fame class. He was a father figure for a generation of Black stars. In the '80s and early '90s when I first started watching baseball and Dave Parker was crushing homers, the number of Black players in the major leagues was at its highest, about 18%. Me and my friends played the game because we saw those guys on TV and there was always somebody who looked like me in a baseball uniform. 'Baseball has always been a great game for Black athletes, but baseball culture has not always been great to Black people. I hope we're starting to turn that around. I don't want to be the final member of the Black aces, a Black pitcher to win 20 games. And I don't want to be the final Black pitcher giving a Hall of Fame speech.' Wagner urged young players to treat obstacles not as 'roadblocks, but steppingstones.' 'I wasn't the biggest player. I wasn't supposed to be here. There were only seven full-time relievers in the Hall of Fame. Now, there are eight because I refused to give up or give in,' he said. Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes (99.7%) from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Sabathia was picked on 342 ballots (86.8%) and Wagner on 325 (82.5%), which was 29 votes more than the 296 needed for the required 75%. After arriving in the majors in 2001, Suzuki joined Fred Lynn (1975) as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle, the New York Yankees and Miami. He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB, including a season-record 262 in 2004. His combined total of 4,367 exceeds Pete Rose's major league record of 4,256. Sabathia, second to Suzuki in 2001 AL Rookie of the Year voting, was a six-time All-Star who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award and a World Series title in 2009. He went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the New York Yankees. A seven-time All-Star, Wagner was 47-40 with a 2.31 ERA and 422 saves for Houston, Philadelphia, the New York Mets, Boston and Atlanta. Tom Hamilton and Tom Boswell were also honored during Hall of Fame weekend. Hamilton has been the primary radio broadcaster for the Cleveland Guardians franchise for 35 seasons and received the Ford C. Frick Award. Boswell, a retired sports columnist who spent his entire career with The Washington Post, was honored with the BBWAA Career Excellence Award.

Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Piastri beats Norris to win Formula 1's rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Oscar Piastri had to wait, and wait some more. Then he made his move. Piastri beat his McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris to win Formula 1's Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday after heavy rain delayed the start. Piastri powered past his teammate and title rival Norris on the first racing lap after the safety car pulled into the pits on lap four, following a delay to the start of more than an hour. 'I knew I was going to try and lift (off the accelerator) a little bit less than Lando did and try to make it stick,' said Piastri, admitting his car felt 'lively' as he took on the extra risk through the steeply uphill Eau Rouge corner. Norris suggested over the radio he was having issues with the battery providing his electric power. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown told broadcaster Sky Sports that there was 'a small battery issue which we've got to look at.' Norris reduced Piastri's lead toward the end of the race but the Australian held on with worn tires and Norris couldn't get close enough to challenge. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari after he kept Red Bull's Max Verstappen behind him all race. Title battle Piastri extended his championship lead over Norris from nine points to 16 and denied his British teammate a third Grand Prix win in a row. It was the second straight day that Piastri held off Norris after taking second place ahead of his teammate in Saturday's sprint, won by Max Verstappen. Except for the weather, Piastri's overtake of Norris was almost a copy of Verstappen's opening-lap pass on the Australian from second on the grid in the sprint. Piastri had been disappointed to qualify second for the Grand Prix behind Norris, but it 'turns out starting second at Spa is not so bad after all,' he said. Piastri took his sixth win of the season and is the first McLaren driver to win the Belgian Grand Prix since Jenson Button in 2012. Hamilton's surge to seventh Unlike the thrilling and chaotic last race in Britain, there was no significant rain after the race finally got underway and Sunday's race was largely a procession after a few early attacks on the still-wet track. Most key contenders switched to dry tires at roughly the same time and didn't have to stop again. In Red Bull's first Grand Prix since the firing of Christian Horner as team principal, Verstappen failed with an attempt to get past Leclerc at the start and spent the rest of the race behind the Ferrari driver on his way to fourth. George Russell was fifth for Mercedes after an early pass on Alex Albon, who finished sixth for Williams after holding off Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who was seventh. The seven-time champion started 18th and Hamilton carved his way through the field on the wet track early on but then lost momentum. Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ninth and Pierre Gasly 10th for Alpine. ___ AP auto racing:

Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bubba Wallace climbed out of the No. 23 car Sunday, pumped his fists, found his family and savored every precious moment of a historic Brickyard 400 victory. He deserved every minute of it. The 31-year-old Wallace overcame a tenuous 18-minute rain delay, two tantalizing overtimes, fears about running out of fuel late and the hard-charging defending race champ, Kyle Larson, on back-to-back restarts to become the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. No Black driver has won the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 raced on the track's road course. 'This one's really cool,' Wallace said. 'Coming off Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn't crying like a little baby.' His third career NASCAR Cup victory delivered Wallace's first victory in the series' four crown jewel events, the others being the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. It also snapped a 100-race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas and locked up a playoff spot. His only other win came at Talladega in 2021. The final gap was 0.222 seconds, but that was no measure of the consternation he faced. Larson cut a 5.057-second deficit with 14 laps to go to about three seconds with six laps left as the yellow flag came out for the rain. The cars then rolled to a stop on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy. 'The whole time I'm thinking are we going? Are we not?' he said. 'I will say I leaned more towards 'I know we're going to go back racing. Be ready. Don't get complacent here.' Wallace made sure of it. He beat Larson through the second turn on the first restart only to have a crash behind him force a second overtime, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to finish the race or whether he needed to surrender the lead and refuel. In Wallace's mind, there was no choice. 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So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.' The other big race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs finished 21st o win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize. Dillon, a surprise championship round entrant after making the field as the 32nd and final driver, finished 28th. 'They brought me money guns and they jammed so I decided to take all the money and throwing it to the fans and they were all wrestling and fighting over it,' said Gibbs, who also received a title belt and a ring. 'But it's super cool. It's a cool opportunity.' Tire troubles At different points, Austin Cindric and three-time Cup champion Joey Logano appeared to be in control of the race, but tire problems took them out of contention. Eric Jones also was knocked out of the race when his right front tire came off between Turns 3 and 4, sending him hard into the outside wall on Lap 91. They weren't the only drivers who made early exits. Ross Chastain was the first out after just 18 laps when a tap from Michael McDowell sent Chastain's car spinning into the third turn wall and caused heavy damage. The others who were out before Lap 100 were Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware. Weathering the storm Series officials were concerned enough about the threat of rain that they moved up the start time by 10 minutes. Fifteen minutes probably would have eliminated the rain delay. But the threat of rain impacted the race long before the delay. Early in the second stage, some teams informed drivers rain was expected near the midway point and it seemed to increase the aggressiveness earlier in the race than expected. Monster advice Cookie Monster made it to the track Sunday, too. The beloved Sesame Street character, who served as the Brickyard's grand marshal, attended driver introductions and took a handful of questions before the race and even offered some advice to the drivers. 'Don't stop and ask for directions,' the furry blue character said. Up next Cup drivers will continue their brief Midwestern tour next Sunday when they race at Iowa. ___ AP auto racing: