Snedeker beats McIlroy to capture FedEx Cup

ATLANTA — Brandt Snedeker played the biggest round of his career for the biggest payoff in golf.

Needing to win the Tour Championship on Sunday to beat out Rory McIlroy for the FedEx Cup, Snedeker came up with three big birdies on the back nine at East Lake to take all the drama out of a final day that had been loaded with possibilities.

Snedeker hit his final tee shot into the grandstand left the 18th green and made bogey. By then, it didn't matter. So dominant was his performance that he was the only player from the last five groups who managed to break par, closing with a 2-under 68.

Along the way, he answered any questions about why Davis Love III made him a captain's pick for the Ryder Cup next week at Medinah.

Snedeker won by three shots over Justin Rose (71) in the Tour Championship, his second title of the year, and collected $1.44 million. And he won the $10 million bonus for capturing the FedEx Cup, which comes with a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy and Tiger Woods, both of whom could have won the FedEx Cup with a victory Sunday, faded early and were never a factor.

Snedeker joins Woods (twice), Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Bill Haas as winners of the FedEx Cup in its six-year history.

McIlroy had won the last two playoff events and three of his last four tournaments dating to his eight-shot win in the PGA Championship. He still is virtually a lock to be voted PGA Tour player of the year, but he had to settle for second place in the FedEx Cup.

"I knew what I needed to do," McIlroy said. "I needed to win. Brandt knew what he needed to do. And he played fantastic. He really deserved it."

It was an emotional week in so many ways for Snedeker, already a high-strung personality. His father, Larry, flew in to watch final round at East Lake, only the second tournament he has attended since having a liver transplant last year.

Snedeker stopped by a hospital in Atlanta to visit Tucker Anderson, the son of his swing coach who was critically injured in a recent car accident and remains unable to communicate with words.

"I asked him if he thought I was going to beat Rory McIlroy, and he gave me a wink," Snedeker said.

He beat everybody at East Lake in a convincing fashion. After taking a double bogey on the par-3 sixth when he hit his tee shot into the water, Snedeker responded with a 40-foot birdie putt on the eighth, an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 13, and chipping in from short of the 17th green to end all doubt.

"I had complete confidence in what I was doing," Snedeker said.

He finished on 10-under 270 and will move into the top 10 in the world ranking for the first time in his career.

Ryan Moore made the strongest run at Snedeker on the back nine, and with an up-and-down behind the par-5 15th green for back-to-back birdies, he was tied for the lead. Moore never was in the mix for the $10 million bonus, though he could have affected the outcome of the FedEx Cup.

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Tachimoto sisters capture judo gold

PARIS — Haruka and Megumi Tachimoto struck gold at the Paris Judo Grand Slam on Sunday, winning the women's 70-kg and 78-kg divisions, respectively.

Haruka, the younger of the Tachimoto sisters and ranked fourth in the weight class, stunned France's Lucie Decosse by decision 2-1 after extra time, denying the two-time defending world champion what would have been her eighth title in Paris.

"The biggest strength I've got is my heart," Haruka said after beating Decosse, the women's judoka of the year and the gold-medal favorite at this summer's London Olympics.

"I fought today not willing to give anyone an inch. I felt like I'd been gaining on (Decosse) recently. I stayed positive and confident throughout the match," she said.

Megumi also won by decision in the final, 3-0, over Russia's world bronze medalist Elena Ivashchenko after the golden score.

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Sunflowers capture fourth-straight Empress' Cup

The JX Sunflowers once again proved that they are the queens of the floor, giving their opponent Denso Iris a tough lesson.

Flower power: Ai Honda of the JX Sunflowers goes up for a shot during the All-Japan Championship final on Sunday. KYODO

The Sunflowers overwhelmed Denso in every phase of the game as they grabbed their fourth-straight Empress' Cup with a 78-52 win in the 78th All-Japan Championship final at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 on Sunday afternoon.

It was the second "four-peat" for the Sunflowers, who previously achieved the feat between 2001 and 2004 (then as the Japan Energy Sunflowers). Nichibo Hirano holds the record with five consecutive championships from 1965.

"Our players were really focused from the beginning to the end on such a big stage like this today," JX head coach Tomohide Utsumi said after the game.

Champions often get off to a slow start, but that wasn't the case for JX. It took a 27-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and made it 44-22 at halftime.

The Iris showed some resistance, cutting the deficit — which was at one point as big as 33 points — to 24 with Misaki Onuma's nine-point effort in the final quarter. But the rally was obviously too late.

"We felt like there was a big wall to overcome in today's final," said Hirofumi Kojima, head coach of the Iris, who made their first final appearance in the All-Japan Championship. "To be quite honest, we aren't good enough to win the whole tournament yet."

Guard Yuko Oga led the game with 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting, and veteran Rika Tanaka followed with 15 for the Sunflowers. Onuma and Kumiko Oba had 13 points apiece for Denso.

Though 20 points may not sound too impressive, it was clearly ace guard Oga who gave the Sunflowers a boost, particularly early in the game. The former WNBA player scored the game's first three baskets, and notched 18 points by the end of the first half.

"Denso was playing in its first final and we have some young players, so I thought both teams would enter the game with some nerves," said Oga, who played for the Phoenix Mercury in 2008. "So I was looking to aggressively take shots rather than turn the ball over by passing it."

Oga came back to the team for Saturday's semifinal game after a monthlong absence from action with an ankle injury. She made sure she used the time away from the gymnasium to good effect.

"I thought it would be very important to return to the court with a good image of playing," said Oga, the leading scorer in the FIBA 2010 Women's World Championships in the Czech Republic. "So I watched a lot of videos, both my own and other teams, and even the NBA.

"Since I was watching basketball so much on videos, I didn't feel like I was away from the game too much."

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Masterful Ligety rallies to capture World Cup giant slalom win

BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — The way Ted Ligety carved into turns looked so easy. The way he glided in between sections of the steep course appeared so elegant.

Even when he's skiing on edge in a giant slalom race, pushing to the brink of his ability — as he insisted he was doing Tuesday — it hardly seemed that way.

No wonder some of his rivals have taken to calling him, "Mr. GS."

Ligety turned in a blazing second run in frigid conditions to capture a World Cup giant slalom race on a demanding Birds of Prey course. The three-time overall GS champion flew down the hill in a combined time of 2 minutes, 40.01 seconds to hold off Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 0.69 seconds. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway was third.

"I tried to do my best. I had no chance," Hirscher said. "Ted was unbreakable."

It was Hirscher who lit a fire under Ligety.

On Sunday, Hirscher knocked off Ligety in a giant slalom race on this course, finding superior speed where many others, including Ligety, couldn't.

So, Ligety went to the video and studied Hirscher's amazing run from the weekend and used it against him.

"I'm glad to come down and get some redemption," Ligety said. "(Hirscher) crushed me by quite a bit and a lot of other guys Sunday."

This time, it was Ligety's turn. He entered the final run trailing France's Alexis Pinturault by 0.14 seconds. But Ligety easily made up the time to win his 10th World Cup race. Pinturault made an early mistake and never recovered, settling for fourth.

"I was pushing super hard," Ligety said. "If I did that run several times, I don't know if I'd make it to the finish line with a high percentage."

At 27, Ligety is the undisputed king of the GS. But he has a couple of youngsters hot on his heels in Hirscher (22 years old) and Pinturault (20). They keep getting better with age, especially Pinturault, who Ligety said is bound to break through for his first win very soon, possibly even this season.

"It's just a matter of time," Ligety said. "That's definitely a good motivator for me, knowing there's somebody 7 years younger than me that probably has more raw speed than I do. That's something that's going to make me push hard in the future. I'm hoping (Pinturault) doesn't get that mental ability and race speed too soon."

Hirscher is already there.

His performance this week is evidence of that. Second after the first run, Hirscher may have even charged toward another win Tuesday, but he banged his hand on a gate and wasn't the same in his final trip through the course.

"I was a bit not that aggressive like in the first run," Hirscher said. "I'm pretty happy with my second place. For me, it's perfect to be here.

"It's an amazing feeling because (Ligety) is Mr. GS. Hopefully it's going on the whole season."

Just then, Jansrud playfully interrupted as the three sat at a table for a post-race news conference.

Something was lost in translation.

"You hope (Ligety) wins all races the whole season?" Jansrud asked.

Wide-eyed, Hirscher quickly amended his statement.

"Not that," he said. "Hopefully, I can beat him."

Maybe next season the field will have an even better chance to close the gap on Ligety. That's when the new rules over the shape of the GS skis take effect. Ligety has been frustrated with the International Ski Federation's decision to alter the hourglass shape.

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