Briefly: Bruce Koepka wins PGA Tour event in South Korea, secures world No. 1 ranking

October 22, 2018 at 3:14AM
Brooks Koepka of the United States watches his shot on the 18th hole during the final round of the CJ Cup PGA golf tournament at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island, South Korea, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. (Park Ji-ho/Yonhap via AP)
Brooks Koepka balanced perfectly as he watched his drive on No. 18. Exactly 568 yards later (519 meters, it turns out) he had an eagle, a victory and the No. 1 ranking. of the United States watches his shot on the 18th hole during the final round of the CJ Cup PGA golf tournament at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island, South Korea, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Brooks Koepka won the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on Sunday at Jeju Island, South Korea, and he won the world's No. 1 ranking along with it.

Koepka displaced Dustin Johnson for the world's top ranking by shooting a final-round 8-under 64 for a 21-under total of 267. Koepka, who has never held the top ranking, led by four strokes after three rounds and won by four when he closed with a back-nine 29.

"Everything I've done this year it's been working. So I don't want to change anything," Koepka said. "Just keep improving.

"I'm so excited right now, you have no idea. I can't wait to go play again."

Gary Woodland made it interesting by making six birdies in seven holes on the front nine. He shot a 63 and finished second.

Austin wins senior playoff opener

• Woody Austin shot a 3-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Bernhard Langer (70) in the PGA Tour Champions' playoff-opening Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Va.

• Danielle Kang shot a 3-under 69 to win the LPGA Shanghai by two strokes for her second career title. She finished at 13-under 275 and held off Lydia Ko (66).

College basketball

Missouri loses another Porter

A trend — or curse — continued for the Missouri basketball Porter family. Jontay Porter, who made the SEC's all-freshman team last season, tore ligaments in his right knee during a scrimmage with Southern Illinois and will miss the season.

Porter averaged 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds as a freshman last season. His brother, Michael Porter Jr., was supposed to star on that team but played in just three games before back surgery sidelined him the rest of the season. They have two basketball-playing sisters who didn't complete their collegiate eligibility because of injuries.

Auto racing

Raikkonen wins U.S. F1 race

Kimi Raikkonen won the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, his first victory since 2013, and helped keep Lewis Hamilton from clinching his fifth Formula One championship.

Hamilton finished third, but Sebastian Vettel's fourth-place finish kept Hamilton from securing the championship.

Minnesota Scene

Whitecaps complete sweep

Katie McGovern had two goals and an assist and Allie Thunstrom scored two goals as the Minnesota Whitecaps completed a weekend sweep of National Women's Hockey League games against the Metropolitan Riveters in Newark, N.J.

Jonna Curtis contributed a shorthanded goal and two assists for the Whitecaps (4-0).

Amanda Leveille had 24 saves for the Whitecaps, who defeated the Riveters 5-3 on Saturday.

U soccer team falls

The Gophers soccer team completed the regular season with a 2-0 loss at No. 21 Penn State (13-5-0, 0-2-0 Big Ten). The Gophers (9-8-1, 5-5-1 Big Ten) will begin the Big Ten tournament Sunday. Quarterfinal matchups will be announced Wednesday.

MLS

Atlanta sets attendance mark

Atlanta United drew its seventh 70,000-plus crowd of the season to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a 2-1 victory over Chicago, finishing with a per-game average of 53,002. That easily eclipsed the MLS record of 48,200 that Atlanta set last season.

Also Sunday, Los Angeles FC drew with Vancouver 2-2 and set an MLS record for points in an inaugural season with 57.

AROUND THE HORN

Men's tennis: Karen Khachanov breezed past Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-2 to win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. The match lasted 55 minutes. … Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first Greek player to win an ATP World Tour title when he beat Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Stockholm Open.

Women's tennis: Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina won their opening-round matches at the WTA Finals in Singapore. Pliskova defeated defending champion Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4, and Svitolina beat Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3.

Figure skating: Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States surpassed 200 points for the first time and won the ice dance gold medal at Skate America in Everett, Wash. Hubbell and Donohue finished with 200.82 points.

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