Sports Briefs

BASEBALL

KT Wiz seek new managers after finishing last

KT Wiz, who finished the regular season of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at the bottom of the standings for the second straight year, have decided to replace the general manager, Kim Jin-hoon, and manager, Cho Beom-hyeon.

The Wiz announced on Wednesday that they have decided to hire Lim Jong-taek, the former general manager of the professional basketball team the KT Sonicboom, as general manager of the club.

The Wiz added that they will not be extending their contract with current manager Cho, which expired after the season. The Wiz is yet to announce who will replace Cho at the moment.

Cho was known to have a knack for talent development. While with the SK Wyverns, he unearthed many young talents, and with the KIA Tigers in 2009, he led the team to take the Korean Series title.

But Cho has not enjoyed much success with the Wiz.

The Wiz ended this year at the bottom of the rankings with a season record of 53 wins, 89 losses and two draws - not much of an improvement compared to their first year in the KBO. Last year, during their inaugural season, the Wiz recorded 52 wins, 91 losses and one draw.

By Choi Hyung-jo

GOLF

Emiliano Grillo snags his

second old season trophy

NAPA, Calif. - On the eve of a new PGA Tour season, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina picked up his second trophy of the old season as the rookie of the year.

Grillo began his rookie year by winning in a playoff last year at Silverado. He made the cut in all four majors and finished in the top 20 in all but the U.S. Open, and then he had a pair of top 10s in the FedEx Cup playoffs, including a runner-up finish at The Barclays.

Smylie Kaufman and Kim Si-woo also won last season as rookies, though Grillo had the highest finish among them in the FedEx Cup at No. 11.

Kaufman won in Las Vegas a week after Grillo’s victory, and Kaufman played in the final group at the Masters until he fell back in the final round. Kim joined Grillo as the only rookies to reach the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship.

“I have two trophies that I’m always going to have in my memory,” Grillo said.

One was from the Frys.com Open (now the Safeway Open). The other was his crystal bowl as rookie of the year. He said the second one was harder to win.

It was the third time in the last four years that the PGA Tour rookie of the year came out of the high school class of 2011. Jordan Spieth won the award in 2013 and Daniel Berger won it last year.

AP