BASKETBALL
Fever open with victory
Briann January had 19 points and six assists and the Indiana Fever stole home-court advantage in the WNBA Finals with a 75-69 victory over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 on Sunday. Marissa Coleman added 16 points and the Fever hit all 16 of their free throws in a rematch of the 2012 finals. Indiana won Game 1 of that series as well en route to the franchise’s only championship. Maya Moore had 27 points and 12 rebounds and Sylvia Fowles add 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Lynx. But Minnesota missed eight free throws and turned the ball over 15 times to drop the opener. Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Tuesday night in Minneapolis. Veteran Tamika Catchings had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for the Fever, who never got rattled by Minnesota’s boisterous home crowd. The Lynx were 19-2 at Target Center in their playoff history, the best winning percentage in the WNBA. One of those defeats came at the hands of the Fever in Game 1 of the 2012 finals.
Charlotte Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has a dislocated right shoulder. The team announced the news Sunday but did not speculate on how long he’ll be out of action. The injury occurred with 46 seconds remaining in the second quarter in Saturday’s preseason contest at Orlando when he hit the floor hard. Kidd-Gilchrist did not play against the Miami Heat on Sunday. Kidd-Gilchrist is a key player for Charlotte. The Hornets were 28-29 last season when he played and 5-20 without him. The 6-foot-7 Kidd-Gilchrist will be further evaluated by Hornets team physicians in Charlotte on Monday. The team said an update on his status will be provided when available.
GOLF
Olesen closes out Dunhill
Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews, closing with a 1-under 71 for a two-stroke victory. Olesen had a double bogey on the second hole and a bogey on the third but recovered to finish at 18-under
- Americans Brooks Koepka and Chris Stroud tied for second. Koepka had a 67, and Stroud shot 68. David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) finished tied for 52nd at 5 under.
Jin Cheng of China won the Asia-Pacific Amateur when heavy rain and high wind forced the cancellation of the fourth round at Clearwater Bay in Hong Kong. Jin earned a spot next year in the Masters. He shot a 1-under 69 on Saturday for a 54-hole total of 11-under 199 and a one-stroke lead over Australians Cameron Davis and Ryan Ruffels.
HOCKEY
Flames trade for Hamilton
The Calgary Flames acquired center Freddie Hamilton from the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday for a conditional seventh-round pick next year. Hamilton will report to the Stockton Heat of the American Hockey League. Hamilton, 23, appeared in 18 NHL games last season, going scoreless in one game for San Jose and scoring a goal in 17 games for Colorado.
BASEBALL
Angels hire Eppler as GM
The Los Angeles Angels have hired longtime Yankees executive Billy Eppler as general manager. The Angels announced the hiring Sunday night, several hours after their season ended with a loss at Texas. Eppler, 40, replaces interim general manager Bill Stoneman, who took over after Jerry Dipoto quit at midseason following his latest disagreement with Mike Scioscia, the longest-serving manager in baseball. Eppler is a San Diego native who spent the past 11 seasons with the Yankees. Originally hired as the assistant director of baseball operations, he rose to assistant general manager for the past four seasons, working alongside Brian Cashman.
SOCCER
Honduras qualifies for Rio
Antony Lozano and Alberth Elis scored to help Honduras beat Costa Rica 2-0 on Sunday in Carson, Calif., and Honduras got a spot in the semifinals in CONCACAF qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics when Mexico beat Haiti. Lozano scored in the 41st minute, and Elis added a late goal after Costa Rica’s Luis Sequeira was sent off in the 75th minute for his second yellow card in a minute. Honduras and Mexico, a 1-0 winner in the second game of the doubleheader, are 2-0 in Group B, while Costa Rica and Haiti are 0-2.
GOLF
Grillo’s birdie clinches Web.com Tour title
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.
— Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Web.com Tour Finals-ending Tour Championship, and Rob Oppenheim got the last PGA Tour card when Lucas Glover shook up the order with a closing bogey.
The 23-year-old Grillo beat Chez Reavie by a stroke in the last of the four events that replaced PGA Tour qualifying school, finishing with a 1-under 69 for a 14-under 266 total on the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Reavie had a chance to force a playoff, but missed a 15-foot birdie putt. He shot a 68.
The series featured the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and non-members such as Grillo who earned enough money to have placed in the top 200 had they been eligible. The top 25 players on the Web.com Tour regular-season money list earned PGA Tour cards. They were competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players were competing for 25 cards based on series earnings.
Oppenheim took the 25th and final card with $32,206, edging Eric Axley by $101. Oppenheim finished with a 67 to tie for seventh at 7 under and earned $19,000. Glover’s bogey on the final hole dropped the 2009 U.S. Open winner from a three-way tie for 10th into a fiveway tie for 12th, giving Oppenheim an extra $800. Axley, 25th last year by $31.66, missed the cut.
Glover earned a card with a 14th-place finish on the series list.
Reavie and Patton Kizzire, the Web.com Tour’s combined money leader with $518,241, earned full tour exemptions and spots in the Players Championship. Reavie finished 166th in the FedEx Cup.
Henrik Norlander was third on the money list with $215,743, followed by Andrew Loupe at $195,405. Norlander won the series opener, and Loupe won last week.
Roberto Castro also earned a card along with Michael Thompson, Tom Hoge, Brett Stegmaier, Hiroshi Iwata, Ricky Barnes, Derek Fathauer, Anirban Lahiri, Mark Hubbard, Robert Garrigus, Tim Wilkinson, Derek Ernst, Luke List and Brian Davis.
Andrew Landry (Arkansas Razorbacks) had already earned his PGA Tour card by finishing among the regular season top 25 money leaders.
Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) won $6,360 for his 30th-place finish of 4 under. Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Razorbacks) finished in a tie for 43rd and won $3,194. Both will be relegated to the Web.com Tour for the 2016 season.