Events in Sports History in 2015

Baseball Hall of Fame

Jan 6 Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Jan 10 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Poland's Agnieszka Radwańska & Jerzy Janowicz beat American pair Serena Williams & John Isner 7-5, 6-3 to clinch a 2-1 win; earlier Radwańska defeats Williams 6-4, 6-7, 6-1

Jan 12 College Football National Championship, AT&T Stadium, Arlington: #4 Ohio State beats #2 Oregon, 42-20

Ronaldo, Keßler Win

Jan 12 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid & Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo wins for a 2nd consecutive time; his 3rd award overall; VfL Wolfsburg midfielder Nadine Keßler is women's award winner

Jan 17 American boxer Deontay Wilder wins the WBC heavyweight championship by unanimous decision over Bermane Stiverne at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas; Wilder first American to hold a heavyweight title since Shannon Briggs in 2007
Jan 18 AFC Championship, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough: New England Patriots beat Indianapolis Colts, 45-7

Seahawks Defeat Packers

Jan 18 NFC Championship, CenturyLink Field, Seattle: Seattle Seahawks beat Green Bay Packers, 28-22 (OT)

Jan 18 South African batsman AB de Villiers makes fastest century in ODI cricket history from 31 balls during an innings of 149 against the West Indies in Johannesburg

Thompson's Record Game

Jan 23 Golden State guard Klay Thompson scores the most NBA points in a quarter (37) and most 3-pointers in a quarter (9) in Warrior's 126-101 win over Sacramento Kings

Jan 25 60th NHL All-Star Game, Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH: Team Toews beats Team Foligno, 17-12; MVP: Ryan Johansen

NFL Pro Bowl

Jan 25 NFL Pro Bowl, University of Phoenix, Glendale, AZ: Team Irvin beats Team Carter, 32-28; MVPs: J. J. Watt, Houston Texans, DE; Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions, QB

Ko Youngest No.1

Jan 31 17-year-old Lydia Ko of New Zealand becomes the youngest golfer in men's or women's golf history to be ranked No. 1 in the world

Jan 31 Atlanta Hawks set a new NBA monthly win record as they move to 17-0 for January, with a 91-85 win against the Philadelphia 76ers
Jan 31 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Serena Williams wins 19th career Grand Slam singles title; beats arch rival Maria Sharapova of Russia 6-3, 7-6

Đoković Defeats Murray

Feb 1 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Serbian ace Novak Đoković wins an Open era record 5th men's singles crown, beating Scotsman Andy Murray 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0

Feb 1 France defeats Qatar, 25-22 to win the World Men's Handball Championship in Lusail, Qatar

Super Bowl XLIX

Feb 1 Super Bowl XLIX, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ: New England Patriots beat Seattle Seahawks, 28-24; MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB

Feb 15 64th NBA All-Star Game, Madison Square Garden, NYC: West beats East, 163-158; MVP: Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder, G
Feb 22 57th Daytona 500: Joey Logano wins event for 2nd time after taking lead with 10 laps to go; is ahead of Kevin Harvick before caution flag on last lap ends race in his favour
Mar 7 Chris Sharma completes the first ascent of El Bon Combat in Cova de l'Ocell, Spain, initially considered close to 9b+ (5.15c)
Mar 14 36th Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: Villanova beats Xavier, 69-52
Mar 14 62nd ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: Notre Dame beats North Carolina, 90-82
Mar 15 56th SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Arkansas, 78-63
Mar 21 Ireland retains Six Nations Rugby Championship with 40-10 win over Scotland at Murrayfield; England needs 26 point win over France for title but can only beat Les Bleus, 55-35 at Twickenham
Mar 29 Cricket World Cup, Melbourne (MCG): Australia defeats fellow host New Zealand by 7 wickets to win their 5th title; Player of Series: Mitchell Starc
Mar 29 ICC Men's Cricket ODI World Cup, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia: Australia win their fourth title with 7 wicket win over New Zealand, 101 balls remaining; Player of the Match: James Faulkner (AUS) 3/36

Golf Major

Apr 5 ANA Inspiration Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Brittany Lincicome eagles last hole to force a playoff, then beats Stacy Lewis on 3rd extra hole to win her 2nd major title

Apr 6 77th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Duke beats Wisconsin, 68-63; Blue Devils' point guard Tyus Jones, 23 points
Apr 7 34th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Connecticut beats Notre Dame, 63-53; Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis & Moriah Jefferson, 15 points for Huskies
Apr 11 168th Grand National: Jockey Leighton Aspell wins his second consecutive GN aboard 25/1 shot Many Clouds; owner Trevor Hemmings' 3rd GN victory

US Masters Golf

Apr 12 79th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Jordan Spieth leads wire-to-wire to win his 1st major title by 4 strokes from Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose

Apr 15 Laureus World Sports Awards, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai, China: Sportsman: Novak Đoković; Sportswoman: Genzebe Dibaba; Team: German Men's National Football team
Apr 17 James Anderson becomes the highest wicket-taking bowler in England's test cricket history
Apr 20 119th Boston Marathon: Lelisa Desisa Benti of Ethiopia wins men's race in 2:09:17; Caroline Rotich of Kenya women's champion in 2:24:55

Sports History

Apr 23 Kawhi Leonard is named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the first time

London Marathon

Apr 26 35th London Marathon: Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge & Ethiopian Tigist Tufa win

FC Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga

Apr 26 FC Bayern Munich wins the 2014–15 Bundesliga for a 25th time

Apr 30 NFL Draft: Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston first pick by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
May 2 141st Kentucky Derby: American Pharoah ridden by Victor Espinoza wins

Boxing Title Fight

May 2 Floyd Mayweather Jr. beats Manny Pacquiao on points in 12 rounds in world welterweight unification fight, shatters all financial records for a boxing match

May 2 Toulon win the 2015 European Rugby Champions Cup final at Twickenham
May 3 Chelsea wins the 2014–15 English football Premier League

Sports History

May 4 Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry is named MVP for the 2014-15 NBA season

May 4 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Stuart Bingham beats fellow Englishman Shaun Murphy, 18-15 for his lone world title

PGA Players Championship

May 10 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Rickie Fowler wins beating Kevin Kisner and Sergio García by 1 stroke in a playoff

May 16 140th Preakness: Victor Espinoza aboard American Pharoah wins in 1:58.46
May 17 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, Shoal Creek G&CC: Jeff Maggert wins first of 2 consecutive Champions Tour majors with par on 1st playoff hole against Kevin Sutherland
May 20 NASCAR 2016 Hall of Fame inductees: Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte and Jerry Cook
May 22 Pakistan begin the first test-playing nation cricket tour of Zimbabwe since 2009
May 24 Indianapolis 500: 2000 champion Juan Pablo Montoya of Columbia sets record for most years between two victories in the race - fifteen years
May 24 IPL Cricket Final, Eden Gardens, Kolkata: Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by 41 runs; Lendl Simmons top scores, 68 (45)

Senior PGA Championship

May 24 Senior PGA Championship, French Lick Resort: Defending champion Colin Montgomerie of Scotland wins by 4 strokes from Mexican Esteban Toledo

May 26 Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA Eastern Conference
May 27 Golden State Warriors win the NBA Western Conference
May 29 NHL Eastern Conference Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning beat New York Rangers, 4 games to 3
May 30 Alistair Cook becomes the leading run scorer of all time in test cricket for England
May 30 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,283): Arsenal beats Aston Villa, 4-0; Gunners' 12th title
May 30 NHL Western Conference Finals: Chicago Blackhawks beat Anaheim Ducks, 4 games to 3
May 31 Harriette Thompson aged 92 and 65 days becomes the oldest woman to complete a marathon (Suja Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego)
Jun 4 Australian cricket batsman Adam Voges becomes the oldest player to hit a century on debut in 1st Test v West Indies in Roseau; 35-year-old Voges scores 130 not out during Australia's 9 wicket win
Jun 5 Alex Puccio sustains a knee injury during the IFSC World Cup competition in Vail, Colorado, requiring surgery
Jun 6 147th Belmont: Victor Espinoza aboard American Pharoah wins in 2:26.65, 1st horse in 37 years to win the Triple Crown

Sports History

Jun 6 Brian Ortega wins Fight of the Night against Thiago Tavares at UFC Fight Night 68

Jun 6 French Open Women's Tennis: Serena Williams wins her 3rd French title and 20th Grand Slam singles event; beats Lucie Šafářová of Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7, 6-2
Jun 6 UEFA Champions League Final, Berlin: FC Barcelona beats Juventus, 3-1 for 5th title and second treble (Spanish La Liga & Cup champions)
Jun 7 French Open Men's Tennis: Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland wins his 2nd major title; beats Novak Đoković 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Jun 8 MLB Draft: Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson first pick by Arizona Diamondbacks
Jun 9 Chris Heston of the San Francisco Giants becomes first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the 2015 MLB season; blanks New York Mets, 5-0

Senior Players Championship

Jun 14 Senior Players Championship Men's Golf, Belmont CC: Defending champion Bernhard Langer of Germany wins by 6 strokes ahead of runner-up Kirk Triplett

Golfer and Two-Time Masters Champion Bernhard Langer

LPGA Championship

Jun 14 Women's PGA Championship, Westchester CC: 3-peat for Inbee Park; beats fellow South Korean Kim Sei-young by 5 strokes; previously LPGA Championship

Jun 15 Stanley Cup Final, United Center, Chicago, IL: Chicago Blackhawks defeat Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-0 for a 4-2 series victory; Blackhawks' 6th Championship
Jun 16 NBA Finals: Golden State Warriors beat Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-97 in Game 6 for first title in 40 years and their 4th in franchise history; MVP: Andre Iguodala
Jun 21 US Open Men's Golf, Chambers Bay GC: Jordan Spieth (21) becomes youngest winner since 1923 by 1 shot from Dustin Johnson & Louis Oosthuizen
Jun 24 Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price wins the 2014-15 Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP
Jun 25 NBA Draft: Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns first pick by Minnesota Timberwolves
Jun 26 NHL Draft: Erie Otters (OHL) center Connor McDavid #1 pick by the Edmonton Oilers
Jun 28 US Senior Open Men's Golf, Del Paso CC: Jeff Maggert shoots final round 65 (-5) to win by 2 strokes from defending champion Colin Montgomerie of Scotland
Jul 4 Copa América Final, Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago: Chile defeats Argentina, 4-1 penalties to win their first title; 0-0 after extra time
Jul 4 Super Rugby Final, Westpac Stadium, Wellington: Otago Highlanders beat Wellington Hurricanes 21-14 for their first title

FIFA Women's World Cup Final

Jul 5 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, BC Place, Vancouver, BC, Canada: Carli Lloyd scores a hat-trick as US beats Japan, 5-2

Jul 6 Floyd Mayweather Jr. is stripped of his WBO welterweight boxing title after failing to pay $200k sanctioning fee and vacate his 2 junior middleweight titles
Jul 8 The NFL's Washington Redskins have their trademark vacated on the grounds it may cause offence to native Americans
Jul 10 Jason Koumas announces his retirement from professional football
Jul 11 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Serena Williams becomes oldest winner in Open era (33) beating Garbiñe Muguruza 6-4, 6-4
Jul 12 US Open Women's Golf, Lancaster CC: Chun In-gee of South Korea wins her first major title by 1 stroke from compatriot Amy Yang
Jul 12 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Novak Đoković successfully defends his title for 3rd Wimbledon crown; beats Roger Federer 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3
Jul 14 86th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 6-3 at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
Jul 20 British Open Men's Golf, St. Andrews: American Zach Johnson wins in a 4-hole play-off with Australian Marc Leishman & Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa
Jul 25 UCI BMX Supercross series: Niek Kimmann & Stefany Hernandez win the world title

Tour de France

Jul 26 102nd Tour de France won by Chris Froome of Great Britain

Jul 26 British Senior Open Men's Golf, Sunningdale: American Marco Dawson wins by 1 shot from Bernhard Langer of Germany
Jul 28 Pedro Martínez's number 45 is retired by the Boston Red Sox
Aug 2 British Open Women's Golf, Turnberry: Inbee Park of South Korea shoots final found 65 (−7) to win her 7th major title, 3 strokes ahead of compatriot Ko Jin-young
Aug 8 Argentine winger Juan Imhoff scores 3 tries as Pumas beat South Africa, 37-25 in Rugby Championship match at Durban; Argentina's first ever win against Springboks

Sports History

Aug 8 Australia clinches first Rugby Championship with 27-19 win over New Zealand in Sydney; All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw equals Irishman Brian O'Driscoll's record for most capped international player (141)

Aug 16 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Whistling Straits GC: Australian Jason Day wins setting major championship record of 20-under-par; beats Jordan Spieth by 3 shots
Aug 17 2012 Olympic 1500m champion from Turkey Asli Cakir Alptekin is stripped of her gold medal for doping by the IAAF
Aug 22 15th Athletics World Championships open at Beijing, China
Aug 23 Canadian Open Women's Golf, Vancouver GC: Lydia Ko of New Zealand wins in a playoff with Stacy Lewis for her third success in the event
Aug 23 English Indycar driver Justin Wilson suffers a head injury during a race crash at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania

Sports History

Aug 27 15th Athletics World Championships: Usain Bolt of Jamaica adds the men's 200m gold to his 100m win

Sep 1 India scores their first Test cricket series victory in Sri Lanka since 1993 winning 3rd Test in Colombo by 117 runs; Ravichandran Ashwin (4) & Ishant Sharma (3) combine for 7 Sri Lankan 2nd innings wickets
Sep 12 US Open Women's Tennis: In an all-Italian final Flavia Pennetta wins her only Grand Slam title; beats Roberta Vinci 7-6, 4-7, 6-2; first Italian to win US title
Sep 13 Evian Championship Women's Golf, Evian Resort GC: Lydia Ko of New Zealand wins by 6 from Lexi Thompson to become youngest major winner, 18yrs, 142 days
Sep 13 US Open Men's Tennis: Novak Đoković beats Roger Federer 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4; third man to reach all 4 Grand Slam finals in the same year in Open Era after Rod Laver and Federer
Sep 19 Japan beats South Africa 34-32 in Brighton, England in the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history
Sep 20 Solheim Cup Women's Golf, GC St. Leon-Rot: US regains Cup 14½ to 13½; Paula Creamer beats Sandra Gal 4 & 3 in deciding singles match
Oct 1 NY Yankees record the 10,000th win in their illustrious history, and also clinch wild card slot; beat the Red Sox, 4-1, at a rainy New Yankee Stadium; NY bullpen ties MLB record with their 589th victim of the season
Oct 3 Host nation England crashes out of Rugby World Cup in pool stage; loses to Australia, 33-13 at Twickenham; Bernard Foley scores 2 tries and kicks 4 penalties & 3 conversions for the Wallabies

President's Cup

Oct 11 Presidents Cup Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC Korea: Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson go undefeated as US wins for the 6th successive time with a 15½–14½ victory over the International team

Oct 13 Basketball player Lamar Odom is hospitalised after being found unconscious in a brothel in Nevada
Oct 17 Star forward Cristiano Ronaldo becomes Real Madrid's all-time leading scorer across all competitions, overtaking club legend Raul with his 324th goal in a 3-0 win over Levante
Oct 18 Rashid Khan makes his One Day International (ODI) debut for Afghanistan against Zimbabwe
Oct 21 Alex Puccio ascends Free Range in Boulder Canyon, Colorado, climbing V13 (8B) after recovering from her knee injury

F1 World Champion

Oct 25 British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton wins US F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas to clinch his second consecutive World Drivers Championship

Oct 26 Rashid Khan makes his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Afghanistan against Zimbabwe

Sports History

Oct 27 American soccer star Abby Wambach announces her retirement

Oct 28 Longest ever 1st game of Baseball World Series (5 hours, 9 minutes); Kansas City Royals beat New York Mets, 5-4; also joint longest by innings (14)
Oct 30 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Keeneland Racetrack; Day 1 winners: Hit It A Bomb, Liam's Map, Catch A Glimpse, Stopchargingmaria

Sports History

Oct 30 Polish tennis star Agnieszka Radwańska wins the WTA Finals title at Kallang. Singapore; beats Czech Petra Kvitová 6–2, 4–6, 6–3

Rugby World Cup

Oct 31 8th Rugby World Cup Final, Twickenham, London: All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter lands 4 penalties and 2 conversions as New Zealand defeats Australia, 34-17

Oct 31 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Keeneland Racetrack; Day 2 winners: Songbird, Mongolian Saturday, Wavell Avenue, Stephanie's Kitten, Runhappy, Tepin, Nyquist, Found, American Pharoah
Nov 1 Baseball World Series: KC Royals win first title since 1985; rally in 9th and break away in 12th to beat NY Mets, 7-2 in Game 5 in NYC; MVP: Royals catcher Salvador Perez

Golf Tournament

Nov 1 Justin Thomas earns his first PGA Tour victory at the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Nov 1 New York City Marathon: Stanley Biwott of Kenya takes men's division in 2:10:34; compatriot and defending women's champion Mary Keitany wins easily in 2:24:25
Nov 3 Melbourne Cup won by Prince of Penzance ridden by Michelle Payne; first female jockey to win the event
Nov 9 World Anti-Doping Agency commission report recommends Russian Federation be banned from athletics competitions for running a "state-supported" doping programme
Nov 15 Federation Cup Women's Tennis, Prague, Czech Republic: Czech pair Karolína Plíšková & Barbora Strýcová beats Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova & Elena Vesnina of Russia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 for a 3-2 win and 9th title for the home country
Nov 15 Holly Holm defeats UFC Champion Ronda Rousey in an upset in Melbourne, Australia

Busch's First NASCAR Win

Nov 22 Kyle Busch driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, wins Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Florida to claim his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

NFL Head Coach and NASCAR Team Owner Joe Gibbs

Nov 22 Serbian tennis star Novak Đoković makes it 4 straight season-ending ATP World Tour Finals tennis titles beating Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 in the final in London, England
Nov 23 Lydia Ko (18) of New Zealand wins women's LPGA Player of the Year and retains the Race to the CME Globe title worth $1 million

Fury vs. Klitschko

Nov 28 British boxer Tyson Fury beats Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision to win WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO, The Ring magazine and lineal heavyweight titles in Düsseldorf, Germany; ends Klitschko's 9 year reign as champion

Vardy's Record Score

Nov 28 Jamie Vardy scores for Leicester City in a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at the King Power Stadium; EPL record 11th consecutive game in which Vardy scores

Nov 29 104th Davis Cup: Great Britain beats Belgium in Ghent 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, 1st win since 1936
Nov 29 British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finishes 2nd in season-ending Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix to win his 3rd overall, and 2nd consecutive World Drivers Championship by 59 points from teammate Nico Rosberg
Nov 29 CFL Grey Cup, Investors Group Field, Winnipeg: Edmonton Eskimos beat Ottawa Redblacks, 26-20 for their 14th Championship

Kobe Bryant Retires

Nov 30 NBA star Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers) announces his intention to retire at the end of the season

Dec 1 After finishing the season with the largest payroll in MLB history at $298.3 million, the Los Angeles Dodgers are assigned the largest luxury tax bill ever, $43.7 million
Dec 1 In the largest deal ever for a MLB pitcher, Boston Red Sox land one of the biggest catches of the off-season, signing free agent David Price for 7 years and $217 million