Garcia captures Players title in playoff
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., May 11 (UPI) -- Sergio Garcia won the Players Championship Sunday with a par on the first hole of a playoff with Paul Goydos at the TPC at Sawgrass in Florida.
The title was Garcia's seventh on the PGA Tour -- his first since 2005.
The 28-year-old Garcia shot a 1-under-par 71 and Goydos 74 in the final round, tying at 5-under 283 in regulation.
Garcia won with a tap-in par putt after Goydos drove into the water surrounding the island green at the 17th -- the first playoff hole.
The Spaniard collected $1.7 million.
"It's been a lot of work," Garcia said. "I feel like I've been playing well. Unfortunately I hadn't been able to come around and win. Everything was so hard. I'm thrilled the week is over and I managed to come out on top."
Goydos, who was bidding for his third tour victory, said his tee shot on the playoff hole "ballooned a little" before dropping into the water short of the green.
"That's the way it is sometimes," Goydos said.
Jeff Quinney finished in third place, a shot behind Garcia and Goydos. Briny Baird was fourth, another three shots back.
Sorenstam coasts to 72nd LPGA title
WILLIAMSBURG, Va., May 11 (UPI) -- Annika Sorenstam shot a 5-under-par 66 Sunday for a seven-shot win in the Michelob Ultra Open in Virginia -- the 72nd championship of her LPGA career.
The victory was Sorenstam's third this year, following an injury-plagued 2007 when she failed to win a tournament for the first time since her rookie season in 1994.
The 37-year-old Swedish star finished the Michelob event at the Kingsmill course in Williamsburg, Va., at 19-under-par 265.
Jeong Jang, Christina Kim, Karen Stupples and Allison Fouch shared second-place at 12-under 272. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa closed with a 70 and finished 12 shots behind Sorenstam.
The victory moved Sorenstam closer to the only two players with more LPGA titles -- Kathy Whitworth, who won 88, and Mickey Wright with 82.
"It was a very special one," Sorenstam said. " I love coming here. I think it's a great golf course. I just haven't done well here in the past."
Sorenstam earned $330,000 for the win.
Massa wins auto race in Turkey
ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 11 (UPI) -- Felipe Massa captured his second straight Formula 1 auto race Sunday, taking the checkered flag at the Grand Prix of Turkey in Istanbul.
Massa, who won the pole position Saturday, won the race for the third straight year by beating Lewis Hamilton by 3.779 seconds. It was Ferrari's fourth straight win.
"Lewis was pushing me a lot the whole race," Massa said. "He was very strong."
"We knew it was going to be very tough to challenge the Ferraris," Hamilton said.
Massa's Ferrari teammate and defending circuit champion Kimi Raikkonen was a factor in the first three laps before dropping as far down to sixth place later in the race.
On the 24th lap, Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) took the lead, but stopped to refuel and make a tire adjustment on the 32nd lap. Massa was in control from that point.
Raikkonen finished third and his six points gave a seven-point lead over both Hamilton and Massa atop the F1 points standings.
Djokovic captures Rome championship
ROME, May 11 (UPI) -- Novak Djokovic needed three sets to beat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka in Sunday's final at the Italian Masters tennis tournament in Rome.
After dropping the first set 4-6, the tournament's No. 3 seed captured the second and third sets by identical scores of 6-3, 6-3.
The victory was worth $558,000.
"I tried to stay focused all the time, because the role of the favorite in these kind of big matches is not easy to cope with," Djokovic said. "I didn't think that I'm going to play in the finals against a player who's unseeded, but obviously he deserved to be there. He showed his quality."
Wawrinka, from Switzerland, was trying to become the second unseeded champion in Rome in the Open Era. Spain's Felix Mantilla topped Roger Federer in the 2003 final.
Wawrinka's lone tournament title came at Umag, Croatia, in July 2006.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., May 11 (UPI) -- Sergio Garcia won the Players Championship Sunday with a par on the first hole of a playoff with Paul Goydos at the TPC at Sawgrass in Florida.
The title was Garcia's seventh on the PGA Tour -- his first since 2005.
The 28-year-old Garcia shot a 1-under-par 71 and Goydos 74 in the final round, tying at 5-under 283 in regulation.
Garcia won with a tap-in par putt after Goydos drove into the water surrounding the island green at the 17th -- the first playoff hole.
The Spaniard collected $1.7 million.
"It's been a lot of work," Garcia said. "I feel like I've been playing well. Unfortunately I hadn't been able to come around and win. Everything was so hard. I'm thrilled the week is over and I managed to come out on top."
Goydos, who was bidding for his third tour victory, said his tee shot on the playoff hole "ballooned a little" before dropping into the water short of the green.
"That's the way it is sometimes," Goydos said.
Jeff Quinney finished in third place, a shot behind Garcia and Goydos. Briny Baird was fourth, another three shots back.
Sorenstam coasts to 72nd LPGA title
WILLIAMSBURG, Va., May 11 (UPI) -- Annika Sorenstam shot a 5-under-par 66 Sunday for a seven-shot win in the Michelob Ultra Open in Virginia -- the 72nd championship of her LPGA career.
The victory was Sorenstam's third this year, following an injury-plagued 2007 when she failed to win a tournament for the first time since her rookie season in 1994.
The 37-year-old Swedish star finished the Michelob event at the Kingsmill course in Williamsburg, Va., at 19-under-par 265.
Jeong Jang, Christina Kim, Karen Stupples and Allison Fouch shared second-place at 12-under 272. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa closed with a 70 and finished 12 shots behind Sorenstam.
The victory moved Sorenstam closer to the only two players with more LPGA titles -- Kathy Whitworth, who won 88, and Mickey Wright with 82.
"It was a very special one," Sorenstam said. " I love coming here. I think it's a great golf course. I just haven't done well here in the past."
Sorenstam earned $330,000 for the win.
Massa wins auto race in Turkey
ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 11 (UPI) -- Felipe Massa captured his second straight Formula 1 auto race Sunday, taking the checkered flag at the Grand Prix of Turkey in Istanbul.
Massa, who won the pole position Saturday, won the race for the third straight year by beating Lewis Hamilton by 3.779 seconds. It was Ferrari's fourth straight win.
"Lewis was pushing me a lot the whole race," Massa said. "He was very strong."
"We knew it was going to be very tough to challenge the Ferraris," Hamilton said.
Massa's Ferrari teammate and defending circuit champion Kimi Raikkonen was a factor in the first three laps before dropping as far down to sixth place later in the race.
On the 24th lap, Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) took the lead, but stopped to refuel and make a tire adjustment on the 32nd lap. Massa was in control from that point.
Raikkonen finished third and his six points gave a seven-point lead over both Hamilton and Massa atop the F1 points standings.
Djokovic captures Rome championship
ROME, May 11 (UPI) -- Novak Djokovic needed three sets to beat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka in Sunday's final at the Italian Masters tennis tournament in Rome.
After dropping the first set 4-6, the tournament's No. 3 seed captured the second and third sets by identical scores of 6-3, 6-3.
The victory was worth $558,000.
"I tried to stay focused all the time, because the role of the favorite in these kind of big matches is not easy to cope with," Djokovic said. "I didn't think that I'm going to play in the finals against a player who's unseeded, but obviously he deserved to be there. He showed his quality."
Wawrinka, from Switzerland, was trying to become the second unseeded champion in Rome in the Open Era. Spain's Felix Mantilla topped Roger Federer in the 2003 final.
Wawrinka's lone tournament title came at Umag, Croatia, in July 2006.
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This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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Jockey Kent Desormeaux, riding winning horse Big Brown, waves to the crowd at the 133rd running of the Preakness horse race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on May 17, 2008. Big Brown, who also won the Kentucky Derby, will race in the Belmont Stakes for a possible Triple Crown. (UPI Photo/Alexis C. Glenn)
133rd Preakness Stakes in Baltimore
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