Tiger Woods wins at La Jolla
LA JOLLA, Calif., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- In his first event of the season, Tiger Woods Sunday won the Buick Invitational in a playoff against rookie Nathan Green and veteran Jose Maria Olazabal.
With the victory, Woods, who just turned 30, became a four-time champion of the event, played at La Jolla, Calif. He qualified for sudden death by draining a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole of regulation to shoot an even-par 72 for the day.
Woods, Green (72) and Olazabal (69) all finished at 10-under-par 278.
Lucas Glover (71), who could not hole an eagle putt at 18 to join the playoff, tied for fourth place with Jonathan Kaye (66), John Rollins (69) and Arjun Atwal (71) at 9-under 279.
Three-time champion Phil Mickelson (73), who had a share of the lead early, carded three consecutive bogeys from 14-16, and tied for eighth place with third-round co-leader Sergio Garcia at 8-under 280.
Stenson wins the Qatar Masters
DOHA, Qatar, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Henrik Stenson won his third European Tour title Sunday, by taking the Qatar Masters at Doha by three strokes over England's Paul Broadhurst.
In the final round, Stenson, who closed with a birdie at 18, carded a 4-under 68 to finish at 15-under-par 273. In 2005, he gave up a two-stroke lead in the final round.
Broadhurst shot a 2-under 70 to finish alone in second place at 12-under-par 276. Darren Fichardt, the 2003 champion, closed with a 4-under 68 and was alone in third place at 11-under-par 277.
Nick Dougherty (70), Niclas Fasth (73), Richard Finch (72) and Ricardo Gonzalez (72) all ended in a tie for fourth place at 10-under 278. World No. 3 Ernie Els, who matched Bernhard Langer's record of consecutive cuts made on the European Tour at 69, shot a 72 and ended tied for 13th place at 5-under 283.
Report: Piazza to sign with Padres
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing major-league baseball sources, says catcher Mike Piazza has signed a one-year contract with San Diego.
The deal is expected to be made official on Monday.
"The Padres told Mike that he could pretty much catch as much as he wanted to," Piazza's agent, Dan Lozano, said on the Padres' Web site. Lozano added that Piazza is hoping to catch about 90-100 games this season, play some first base and be the DH in inter-league games.
Piazza, 37, one of the most dangerous hitting catchers in baseball history, was interested in signing a free-agent deal with an American League team to become a designated hitter.
In 2005, Piazza had a career-worst .251 batting average, with 19 home runs and 62 RBI in 113 games for the New York Mets. In his career, he is a .311 hitter with 397 homers and 1,223 RBI in 14 seasons.
Athletics sign Ellis for two more years
OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Second baseman Mark Ellis of the Oakland Athletics has signed a new two-year contract.
The deal, signed late Saturday, will pay the 28-year-old Ellis $6 million. He set career-highs in batting average (.316) and home runs (13) in 2005 after missing all of the 2004 season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and tied a career-high with 52 RBI.
In three major league seasons, Ellis is a .276 lifetime hitter with 28 homers and 139 RBI.
"I had to prove a lot last year and I was able to do that," Ellis said on Oakland's Web site. "Having this deal shows the organization has a lot of confidence in me, and I appreciate that. I'm happy."
The San Francisco Chronicle reported the deal included a $250,000 buyout clause.
Roger Federer wins men's Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Roger Federer came from behind Sunday to beat Marcos Baghdatis in four sets and capture his second Australian Open title in three years.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer of Switzerland dropped the first set at Melbourne Park before coming back for a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 victory.
Federer needed 2 hours, 46 minutes to handle the unseeded Cypriot Baghdatis, which he did with the help of 11 aces and eight breaks. Baghdatis broke Federer's serve three times in the losing effort.
Both players had 48 unforced errors.
The 24-year-old Federer is the first-ever player to win in his first seven Grand Slam finals and now owns 35 overall singles championships in 44 finals. His career prize money is already over the $21-million mark.
