Auto Racing
Rosberg closes season with win at Abu Dhabi
Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes teammate and 2015 world champion Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to complete the Formula One season with a third successive victory.
The German won by 8.2 seconds at the Yas Marina circuit to complete Mercedes’ 12th one-two finish of the season, establishing a new F1 record.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished third, ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel, who had started 15th on the grid.
Force India’s Sergio Peez and Nico Hulkenberg finished fifth and seventh, separated by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Felipe Massa of Williams was eighth, Romain Grosjean ninth in his last race for Lotus, and Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull took the last point in 10th.
Golf
Schwartzel wins Alfred Dunhill Championship
Charl Schwartzel eased to a four-shot victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Sunday to become the third South African behind Ernie Els and Retief Goosen to win 10 European Tour titles.
Schwartzel’s fourth triumph at the Alfred Dunhill was ultimately comfortable as he finished with a 2-under 70 for a 15-under total of 273. Schwartzel also claimed a small piece of history for himself by becoming the first South African to win a European Tour event four times.
Schwartzel won ahead of a group of Frenchmen who chased him on the final day at Leopard Creek Country Club.
Jones outlasts Scott and Spieth to win Aussie Open
Matt Jones overcame a bogey, double-bogey and triple-bogey on the front nine Sunday to escape with a one-stroke victory at the Australian Open after shooting a 2-over 73.
Jones, who led defending champion Jordan Spieth by three strokes to begin the day, finished with a 72-hole total of 8-under 276, one ahead of Adam Scott, who shot 65 on The Australian Golf Club course, and Spieth, who shot 71 and missed an eagle attempt on the 18th that could have forced a playoff.
Skiing
Lake Louise sweep for Svindal in super-G
Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal won the super-G on Sunday to sweep the two opening World Cup races.
Svindal finished in 1 minute, 29.30 seconds, a day after winning the downhill. He missed most of last season because of a torn Achilles tendon.
The 32-year-old Svindal also swept the Lake Louise races in 2012. He has won six of his 27 career World Cup victories at the Alberta resort.
Austria’s Matthias Mayer was second in 1:29.65. Italy’s Peter Fill of Italy, second in the downhill, was third in 1:29.75. American Travis Ganong was fourth at 1:29.81.
The men head to Beaver Creek next week for a downhill, super-G and giant slalom.
Shiffrin wins 2nd World Cup slalom in hometown
Mikaela Shiffrin captured back-to-back World Cup slalom races in Aspen, overcoming an early mistake in her final run to still win by a large margin.
The 20-year-old American finished in 1 minute, 40.18 seconds Sunday, beating Frida Hansdotter of Sweden by 2.65 seconds. Sarka Strachova of Czech Republic was third.
Shiffrin was off balance early or the gap may have been even more. She won Saturday’s slalom by 3.07 seconds, the largest margin of victory in World Cup history for the women’s discipline. It was a mark that had stood since 1968.
This was Shiffrin’s fifth straight World Cup slalom win dating to last season. It’s the longest streak in slalom by a female skier since Marlies Schild of Austria took five in a row in 2011-12.
Associated Press
