Golf
Walker pulls away late for second win in six starts
HONOLULU – Jimmy Walker pulled away with three consecutive birdies late in the final round and closed with a 7-under 63 to win the Sony Open.
Walker went 187 tournaments and seven years without winning on the PGA Tour. He won the Frys.com Open in October, the first tournament of the new wraparound season. As the first multiple winner on the PGA Tour this season, he went to No. 1 in the Ryder Cup standings and is closing in on cracking the top 30 in the world.
Sunday was so tight that there was a five-way tie for the lead with two hours remaining. Walker was one shot behind Harris English when he made three consecutive birdies starting at No. 15. English made bogey from the bunker on the 15th and never recovered.
Chris Kirk was the last player to have a chance. He missed a 30-foot eagle chip just short of the 18th green that would have forced a playoff.
Oosthuizen hangs on to his Volvo Champions crown
DURBAN, South Africa – South African Louis Oosthuizen birdied his closing two holes to retain the Volvo Champions title on Sunday after an earlier eagle on the eighth.
The 2010 British Open winner shot a 4-under 68 for an overall 12-under 276 and claimed his seventh win on the European Tour.
Oosthuizen finished a stroke ahead of fellow South African Branden Grace who also shot a 68 on the Durban Country Club course.
It was Oosthuizen’s first success since winning this elite 36-player event a year ago.
World Cup Skiing
Hirscher seizes overall lead with a slalom victory
ADELBODEN, Switzerland – Marcel Hirscher mastered a classic Swiss slope yet again Sunday, winning a World Cup slalom to seize the lead in the overall and discipline standings.
Hirscher, the Austrian two-time defending overall champion, sliced through the gates on a thrilling run down the steep final slope to beat Andre Myhrer of Sweden by 0.29 seconds.
Teenager Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway was third, trailing 0.66 behind Hirscher’s combined two-run time of 1 minute, 49.75 seconds.
Gagnon ends a 30-year drought for Canada
ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria – Marie-Michele Gagnon ended a 30-year drought for Canadian women in World Cup combined events by earning her maiden victory Sunday.
Gagnon was 1.37 seconds off the lead in 16th after the super-G portion but went ahead of the field after posting the second fastest time in the slalom run.
Gagnon finished in an overall 2 minutes, 5.55 seconds to beat second-place Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria by 0.32. Olympic and world super-combined champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany trailed Gagnon by 0.39 in third.
Nicole Hosp of Austria, who led the competition after the super-G, finished fourth.
NHL
Underwhelming Winnipeg parts ways with Claude Noel
TORONTO – Claude Noel was fired as coach by the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday and replaced with Paul Maurice.
Noel was fired amid a five-game losing streak that dropped the Jets to 19-23-5 and 10 points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Noel, hired after the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg before the 2011-12 season, went 80-79-18 during his tenure with the Jets.
Assistant Perry Pearn also was fired.
Maurice inherits a team that has struggled in its third season in Winnipeg thanks in part to inadequate goaltending and defensive breakdowns. The 46-year-old has been behind the bench as an NHL head coach for 1,084 games.
Associated Press
