Villegas rallies for victory at Tour Championship
Too far behind to do anything about the FedEx Cup, Camilo Villegas put together a stirring rally Sunday that was good enough to win the Tour Championship in Atlanta in a playoff over Sergio Garcia for his second straight victory.
Villegas overcame a five-shot deficit by making six birdies over his last 11 holes for a 4-under 66, then beat Garcia with a par in the playoff on the 233-yard 18th.
The 26-year-old Colombian, who had gone 85 starts on the PGA Tour without winning, picked up his second in a row on a sunny afternoon at East Lake.
What was supposed to be the highlight of the Tour Championship — the FedEx Cup — turned into an afterthought. Vijay Singh effectively wrapped up the $10 million prize two weeks ago in St. Louis, so all he had to do was finish 72 holes at East Lake and sign for the correct score to win the FedEx Cup.
Singh closed with a 70 and tied for 22nd in the 30-man field, but none of that mattered. He won the first two playoff events to take the drama out of the FedEx Cup for the second straight year.
•Ochoa wins in playoff: Lorena Ochoa won the Navistar LPGA Classic for her seventh victory of the year and first since May, beating Candie Kung in Prattville, Ala., with a par on the second hole of a playoff.
Recharged after a month away from the tour, the top-ranked Mexican star closed with a 2-under 70 to match Kung (67) and Cristie Kerr (66) at 15-under 273. Kerr was eliminated with a bogey on the first extra hole.
•Romero rolling: Argentina’s Eduardo Romero won the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C., for his third Champions Tour victory in five starts, closing with a 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Tom Kite.
•Spaniard wins British Masters: Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won the British Masters in Sutton Coldfield, England, beating defending champion Lee Westwood with a par on the third playoff hole. Castano closed with a 5-under 67 to match Westwood at 12-under 276.
Tennis
Tsonga wins first title
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga upset No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic 7-6 (4), 6-4 to win the Thailand Open, clinching his first career title and avenging his loss to the top-seeded Serbian in the Australian Open final.
The second-seeded Frenchman saved three break points in the last game before sealing his victory.
•Kirilenko rallies at Korean Open: Top-seeded Maria Kirilenko rallied to claim the Korea Open title in Seoul, South Korea, with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Australia’s Samantha Stosur.
Auto racing
Alonso wins under lights
In Formula One’s first night race, Renault’s Fernando Alonso captured the Singapore Grand Prix after starting 15th on the grid while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton extended his championship lead.
Alonso won for the 20th time in his career, his first victory since last year’s Italian Grand Prix. Williams’ Nico Rosberg was second, his best Grand Prix finish, and Hamilton was third.
Hamilton extended his championship lead to seven points because of a turn of events that cost title rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari any points. The Brazilian led early on from the pole, but his race was ruined when he pitted after the end of a safety car period at the start of the 20th lap.
Massa pulled away from his stop prematurely, taking the fuel rig and hose with him up the pit lane. He knocked over one of his mechanics and almost collided with another car. He finished 13th.
•Schumacher pads lead: Tony Schumacher increased his Top Fuel points lead after many Countdown contenders fell early in the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Millington, Tenn.
Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Motorcycle) joined Schumacher in the winner’s circle with three races remaining in the NHRA POWERade Series Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
WNBA
Silver Stars in finals
Becky Hammon scored 35 points, making four free throws in the final 36 seconds, and the San Antonio Silver Stars advanced to their first WNBA finals with a 76-72 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Sparks in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
Hammon was 10-of-18 from the field, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range, and made all nine foul shots.
•Shock stay alive: Deanna Nolan scored nine of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, and the Detroit Shock staved off elimination with a 64-55 victory over the New York Liberty in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Game 3 is today.
Miscellany
Marathon record lowered
Haile Gebrselassie smashed his marathon world record by 27 seconds, winning the Berlin Marathon in a city where he has had so much success.
The 35-year-old Ethiopian took advantage of excellent conditions on a flat course to finish in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 59 seconds. Despite an ailing calf, he shattered the mark he set in Berlin last year and became the first man to win this race three times.
In the women’s race, Irina Mikitenko of Germany won in 2:19:19.
•Ballan dominates: Alessandro Ballan gave Italy its third straight world championship road race title, finishing off a dominating performance in Verese, Italy, with a late breakaway victory.
The Italian held off a chasing group, led by compatriot Damiano Cunego who finished second. Denmark’s Matti Breschel surprised with a bronze medal by edging a third Italian, veteran Davide Rebellin.
•Penguins in Sweden: The Pittsburgh Penguins arrived in Sweden after an eight-hour flight from the United States, then hit the practice rink a few hours later.
The Penguins are in the Swedish capital for NHL season-opening games Saturday and Sunday against the Ottawa Senators at the Globe Arena.
The New York Rangers take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Czech capital of Prague the same weekend.
•San Jose State edges Hawaii: Jared Strubeck kicked a 47-yard game-winning field goal with 1:49 left in the game and the San Jose State defense forced five second-half turnovers to rally the Spartans to a 20-17 victory over Hawaii on Saturday night in Honolulu.