Off the wire
GOLF Miyazato to quit tour
Japan’s Ai Miyazato said Monday she has decided to quit the LPGA Tour at the end of the season because she lost her motivation for the sport after years of struggling to win again. Miyazato, 31, who was ranked No. 1 and captured 25 professional titles during her career, has not won a tournament since the 2012 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers and said that lack of success has diminished her drive to keep going. Miyazato joined the LPGA Tour in 2006 and has earned more than $8 million in her career but has fallen down the rankings and is currently outside the top 100. She does not have a top-10 finish this season and had only one last year. Miyazato does not have a major title — her best results were ties for third at the Women’s PGA Championship (2006, 2010) and the Women’s British Open (2009) — but she is one of only nine players to make it to No. 1 since the women’s world golf rankings were introduced in 2006.
‘Beef’ among 15 to qualify
Andrew “Beef” Johnston of England was among 15 players who earned a spot in the U.S. Open at a 36-hole sectional qualifier in Tadsworth, England. He finished at 10-under par 134. Aaron Rai of England, who already has won two Challenge Tour events this year, was the medalist Monday at Walton Heath. He had rounds of 66-64 and finished one shot ahead of Li
Haotong of China. The final four spots were determined by a seven-man playoff. Paul Dunne of Ireland and Thomas Aiken of South Africa each made par on the par-3 opening hole on the New Course and the par-3 17th on the Old Course at Walton Heath. Matt Wallace (par) and Wade Ormsby (bogey) advanced on the second extra hole.
Richie Ramsay will be playing the U.S. Open for the first time in 10 years, and his first one as a pro. Ramsay played in 2007 at Oakmont as the U.S. Amateur champion. The others to qualify were Oliver Bekker, George Coetzee and Brandon Stone of South Africa; Alexander Levy and Joel Stalter of France;
Eddie Pepperell of England; and Bradley Dredge of Wales. The U.S. Open is June 15-18 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
LACROSSE
Maryland men win title
Dylan Maltz had two goals and an assist and Tim Rotanz scored three times as top-seeded Maryland defeated Ohio State 9-6 on Monday in Foxborough, Mass., in the NCAA lacrosse championship game, putting an end to a 42-year title drought. Rotanz scored the final goal with 59 seconds left, allowing the Terps (163) a little comfort to count down the final minute after three goals by Ohio State in the fourth quarter pulled the Buckeyes within two.
TENNIS
Minor NCAA women’s champ
Brienne Minor gave Michigan its first NCAA women’s tennis title, while Virginia’s Thai-Son Kwiatkowski beat a familiar foe to capture the men’s championship. Minor defeated Florida’s Belinda Woolcock 6-3, 6-3 on Monday in Athens, Ga., to become only the third player from the Wolverines to capture a singles title. The other two were men’s champions: Barry MacKay in 1957 and Mike Leach in 1982. Kwiatkowski took Virginia to its second men’s singles title in three years, beating William Blumberg from North Carolina 6-4, 7-6 (5) in an all-Atlantic Coast Conference final.
Ryan Shane of the Cavaliers won in 2015. Wrapping up the 12-day championships at the University of Georgia, Andrew Harris and Spencer Papa of Oklahoma and Francesca
Di Lorenzo and Miho Kowase of Ohio State claimed doubles titles.
HOCKEY
Tampa to host All-Star Game
Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tampa will host the 2018 AllStar weekend, the surest sign yet that the NHL will actually bypass the Olympics. The Lightning had been rumored to host the event, which will take place Jan. 27-28 at Amalie Arena, but the Olympics remained the elephant in the room. The league has said since early April that it won’t be sending players to Pyeongchang and would be making its 2017-2018 schedule as normal, but some held out hope. The previous time the NHL held an All-Star weekend and sent players to the Olympics was 1998, the first of five trips to the Games.