The PGA Tour says it has signed a six-year agreement to play a tournament in Japan. The Zozo Championship will start next October and is backed by the Japanese fashion website Zozotown and its billionaire founder Yusaku Maezawa.
It will be the PGA Tour's first official tournament in Japan, and Maezawa on Tuesday described it as a kind of "moonshot" for golf in his country.
Maezawa was announced earlier this year as the first commercial passenger to attempt a flight around the moon.
ZOZO Inc. President Yusaku Maezawa speaks during a press conference on the PGA Tour in Tokyo, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018. The PGA Tour will hold its first official tournament, the Zozo Championship, in Japan. And the main sponsor of next year's event, Japanese billionaire Maezawa, is calling the tournament a kind of "moonshot" for golf in his country. Maezawa was announced earlier this year as the first commercial passenger to attempt a flyby around the moon. (AP PhotoKoji Sasahara)
He says "I think this will be the first PGA Tour sponsor that is going to the moon."
Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama, sitting next to Maezawa at the announcement in central Tokyo, says "I would love to go."
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From left, Japan Golf Tour Organization President Isao Aoki, ZOZO Inc. President Yusaku Maezawa, PGA Tour Player Hideki Matsuyama and PGA Tour Vice President Christian Hardy join their hands while posing for a photo during a press conference in Tokyo, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018. The PGA Tour will hold its first official tournament, the Zozo Championship, in Japan. And the main sponsor of next year's event, Japanese billionaire Maezawa, is calling the tournament a kind of "moonshot" for golf in his country. (AP PhotoKoji Sasahara)
PARIS (AP) — Former Marseille coach Rolland Courbis, a charismatic figure of French soccer who later became a prominent pundit, has died, his employer said on Monday. He was 72.
RMC radio did not disclose the cause of the death in a statement released in agreement with Courbis' family.
Born in Marseille, Courbis came through the club's academy. A rugged defender, he was part of the team that won the French league and cup double in 1972 and returned to the club in the late 1990s as coach.
As a player, he also won two French league titles and a French Cup with Monaco.
“A Marseillais at heart, he embodied popular, dynamic football. His unmistakable accent carried his frank, direct, often passionate and always sincere words,” Marseille said in a tribute.
Courbis enjoyed a much-traveled coaching career, with spells in France and abroad, notably at Bordeaux, Lens, Montpellier and the USM Alger.
Among the many defining moments of his career was a stunning comeback he oversaw when coaching Marseille. His team found itself 4-0 down at home to Montpellier in 1998 but fought back to seal a remarkable 5-4 victory.
Courbis, who had a taste for casino gambling and lived with an Italian countess for a while, led a tumultuous life. He was seriously wounded in 1996 when gunmen fatally shot the president of a French soccer team outside a stadium following a game. Courbis, who was also involved in several legal cases and sentenced to prison, was hit by a bullet during the attack.
France coach Didier Deschamps said that with his passing, French soccer lost “a fine connoisseur of football and its inner workings, but also of the game itself.”
“He was a true passionate figure,” Deschamps added. “And in recent years, he chose to pass on that passion behind a microphone, with a turn of phrase all his own.”
Since 2005, he had become a consultant on RMC, where he commented on football news.
“His passion came through in his trademark Marseille accent and in a very direct rapport with listeners,” RMC said. “A freedom of tone that kept the language of the supporters, while sharing their questions and emotions. He was particularly successful in remaining approachable and warm, while still being demanding on substance.”
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FILE - Coach of Montpellier Rolland Courbis reacts during the French League One soccer match Nice against Montpellier, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015, in Nice stadium, southeastern France. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, file)
