Woods wins second British Open
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland, July 17 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods won the British Open at St. Andrews Sunday, beating Scotsman Colin Montgomerie by five strokes.
Facing a crowd pulling for his European competitors, Woods shot a 2-under 70 and finished at 14-under for the tournament, his second British Open victory. He held off Montgomerie and José Maria Olazábal on the front nine and cruised to victory in the homestretch, the New York Times reported.
Woods led by just two strokes at the par-4 12th hole. From there he took command, making birdie while Montgomerie and Olazábal bogeyed.
Montgomerie shot a 1-under 71 to finish at 9-under 279. Olazábal shot a 2-over 74, to finish in a tie with Fred Couples at 8-under 280.
The title is Woods' second major of the year, and gives him two victories at every major for his career -- a distinction he shares with only Jack Nicklaus. The last major tournament of the year, the PGA Championship, is scheduled for the weekend of Aug. 11 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.
Meena Lee wins at Halifax
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, July 17 (UPI) -- Meena Lee shot her second straight 69 Sunday to win the BMO Canadian Women's Open.
She completed her first tour title at 9-under-par 279.
Katherine Hull, in her best career finish, was second at 8-under-par 280 after a closing 69. Leta Lindley (68) jumped into a tie for third at 7-under 281, joining Il Mi Chung and Angela Stanford.
Janice Moodie, who led after each of the first three rounds, struggled to a final-round 75 and dropped into a tie for sixth at 6-under-par 282.
Moodie was joined at minus-six by Johanna Head, Brittany Lang and Dorothy Delasin. Emily Bastel closed with a 72 to finish alone in 10th at 5-under-par 283.
Meg Mallon, the 2004 champion, finished with a 3-under 69 Sunday to finish in a tie for 16th. Lorie Kane and Dawn Coe-Jones tied as the low Canadian finishers at 1-over-par 289.
Hincapie wins Tour de France's 15th stage
PLA-D'ADET, France, July 17 (UPI) -- U.S. cyclist George Hincapie won the 15th stage of the 2005 Tour de France Sunday.
Hincapie finished the 155-miles from Lezat-sur-Leze to Saint-Lary Soulan in the Pyrenees in just over 6 hours and 6 minutes. "I'm in shock right now," Hincapie said.
Lance Armstrong finished seventh but still retained the yellow jersey as overall leader. Italian Ivan Basso is in second place, 2 minutes and 46 seconds behind Armstrong.
Barring any setback, Armstrong is expected to win his seventh consecutive Tour de France title.
Sunday's stage brought the cyclists past the memorial of Fabio Casartelli, a teammate and friend of Armstrong who died on the course 10 years ago.
The Tour will take Monday off for rest.
Davis Cup moves to semifinal rounds
SYDNEY, July 17 (UPI) -- Argentina, Russia, Croatia and Slovakia advanced to the Davis Cup semifinals Sunday after completing quarterfinal round victories in Sydney.
Argentina finished off Australia when David Nalbandian beat world No. 2 Lleyton Hewitt in the first of Sunday's reverse singles matches, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Nalbandian, who lost to Hewitt in the 2002 Wimbledon final, won all three of his matches this weekend to send Argentina into the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 2002.
Slovakia will be next for the Argentines after Dominik Hrbaty won the decisive point against Peter Wessels of Netherlands. Wessels retired in the third set because of a rib injury, to put the Slovakians into the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time ever.
Russia overcame a final-day deficit to beat France as Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev both won singles matches Sunday.
Tony Stewart wins race at Loudon
LOUDON, N.H., July 17 (UPI) -- Tony Stewart led 232 of 300 laps Sunday and captured the New England 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway.
His No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet crossed the finish line 0.851 seconds ahead of defending champion Kurt Busch.
The victory was Stewart's third of the season and 22nd of his Nextel Cup career.
Pole-winner Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne led the way at the start of the race. Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Joe Nemechek all moved up in the field.
Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle completed the top-five. Last week's winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 12th.
Nextel points leader Jimmy Johnson finished 13th and maintained a 77-point margin over Greg Biffle (2,672-2,595). The win puts Stewart within 85 points of the leader.
The next scheduled event is July 24 at the Pocono Raceway.
