Beem wins PGA Championship
CHASKA, Minn., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Rich Beem, who seven years ago gave up the game thinking he was not good enough to compete, became golf's newest major championship winner Sunday.
Not only that, he managed to do something that no player has ever done. He won a major title that seemed all but destined to belong to Tiger Woods.
Employing a go-for-broke attitude that has brought him from obscurity to the top of his profession in less than a month, Beem won the PGA Championship by one shot over the world's top player.
"I didn't know if I had what it took to win," said Beem, who will turn 32 next Saturday. "Now I do. And I'm still surprised. I was shaking out there today, but somehow I was able to control my emotions."
Beem denied Woods another piece of golfing history and became the 12th player in 15 years to make the PGA his first major title.
Having won the most important tournament of his career two weeks ago at The International, Beem backed that up by playing the round of his life Sunday. He shot a 4-under 68, opened as much as a five-shot lead midway through the back nine and then held on as Woods produced a typically remarkable stretch in which he birdied the last four holes.
Needing only to bogey the final hole for the victory, Beem did just that. He finished 72 holes at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in 10-under 278.
Woods has eight major championships to his credit and was trying to get to the halfway mark in his march to the record of 18 held by Jack Nicklaus. Instead, Woods wound up second in a professional major for the first time. Nicklaus had 19 second-place finishes in major tournaments.
Chris Riley, winless in four years on the PGA Tour, finished alone in third place at 283 -- a distant five shots back. Justin Leonard, who began the day with a three-shot lead as he sought his second major crown, struggled through a dismal 77 and wound up tied for fourth at 284 with Fred Funk.
The beginning of the end for Leonard came when he put his tee shot at the par-3 eighth into the water en route to a double bogey.
Jarrett captures NASCAR race
BROOKLYN, Mich., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Dale Jarrett survived a spin and a slide across the tri-oval grass on the 12th lap Sunday and went on to take the lead with five laps remaining and to win the Pepsi 400 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
The victory came 11 years to the day that Jarrett won his first Winston Cup race, one that came in this event.
Jarrett was able to pass race-leader Jeff Burton on lap 196 with the pass coming in the same area where he had spun out earlier. Burton's engine later blew up and Jarrett was able to cross the finish line 2.285-seconds ahead of Tony Stewart.
Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Jeff Burton and Mark Martin.
Todd Parrott, Jarrett's crew chief, made the decision to take four tires rather than two on the final pit stop with 32 laps remaining. The extra rubber allowed Jarrett's Ford Taurus to be superior late in the race against the cars that had just two tires changed on the final pit stop.
Jarrett's second victory of the season came in front of a crowd estimated at 150,000 fans.
Jarrett dropped to 17th after spinning out early in the race but was able to recover and drive to victory.
Renteria hits first grand slam
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Matt Morris tossed eight innings and Edgar Renteria belted his first career grand slam Sunday to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Morris (15-7) continued his road dominance, allowing one run and eight hits and improved to 8-3 with a 2.57 ERA away from home. The righthander struck out six without a walk for his third straight victory.
With the Cardinals ahead, 1-0, and the bases loaded in sixth, Renteria smacked Vicente Padilla's 1-0 offering over the right field wall for his first hit in nine at bats in the series.
Padilla (12-8) matched Morris early, retiring the side in order in three of the first five innings. But he yielded five runs -- four earned -- and six hits in six innings, walking one and striking out six. He sustained just his second home loss in eight decisions and saw his ERA at Veterans Stadium increase from a National League-leading 1.91 to 2.37.
Other National League results: Colorado 6, Atlanta 3; Los Angeles 2, New York 1; Cincinnati 2, Houston 1 in 10 innings; Montreal 9, San Diego 2; Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 2; Chicago 3, Arizona 2; Florida 3, San Francisco 0.
Mariners get to Clemens
SEATTLE, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Edgar Martinez went three for four with two doubles and a homer against Roger Clemens and Joel Pineiro continued to roll with 6 1/3 superb innings Sunday as the Seattle Mariners salvaged the finale of their three-game series with the New York Yankees, 5-2.
Martinez, arguably the greatest designated hitter of all time, entered the game just 18 for 82 in his career against Clemens (10-4). But the Mariners' cleanup hitter hit a solo homer in the second, delivered the game's biggest blow -- a two-run double -- in the third and had a two-base hit in the fifth.
Martinez's contributions were enough to make Pineiro (13-4) a winner for the ninth time in 10 decisions. After beginning the season in the bullpen, Pineiro has become a major contributor to Seattle's rotation, lasting six innings for the 12th time in his last 13 outings.
Clemens, seeking career win No. 291, was tagged for five runs and nine hits in seven innings. He walked three but did strike out nine.
Other American League results: Tampa Bay 8, Kansas City 6; Detroit 7, Baltimore 4; Oakland 7, Chicago 4; Anaheim 4, Cleveland 1; Minnesota 6, Boston 2; Texas 10, Toronto 7.
Comets keep title hopes alive
HOUSTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Janeth Arcain, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson all had baskets in a decisive run to start the second overtime Sunday as the Houston Comets kept their season alive with an 83-77 victory over the Utah Starzz in Game 2 the Western Conference semifinals.
Houston won a playoff game for the first time since two-time MVP Cynthia Cooper retired and set up a decisive Game 3 in Houston on Tuesday night.
Arcain opened the scoring in the second extra session with a jumper and Swoopes added a short jumper with 3:45 left for a 77-73 lead. Thompson scored off an offensive rebound and capped the 9-0 run with a three-pointer for a 82-73 cushion with 2:14 remaining.
Swoopes finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Thompson collected 18 points and 14 rebounds and Arcain scored six if her 17 points after regulation.
In New York, Tamika Whitmore paced a balanced attack with 24 points as the New York Liberty, rebounding from the worst playoff los in franchise history, routed the Indiana Fever, 84-65, to even their best-of-three WNBA Eastern Conference semifinal series at a win apiece.
New York, which is 5-0 all-time at home against Indiana, will host the decisive third game on Tuesday.
Whitmore scored 14 points in the second half, including 10 in an 18-5 spurt that gave the Liberty a 69-46 lead with 7:19 left. New York led by as many as 24.
Blake wins first title
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- In his third attempt, American James Blake finally captured his first ATP Tour title Sunday.
Blake rallied to beat No. 14 Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, and capture the $800,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
The 22-year-old Blake, who earned the top prized of $111,600, had reached two previous finals this year. But he lost to Andy Roddick at Memphis in July and Taylor Dent at Newport last month.
Blake's success came the day after perhaps the biggest victory of his career. On Saturday night, Blake stunned compatriot and top seed Andre Agassi to advance to the title match of this hardcourt event.
