Newswire - Sorenstam finishes first winless year since 1994
Annika Sorenstam's worst year since she was a rookie offered one last hope Friday afternoon in the ADT Championship at West Palm Beach, Fla., when she was among three players trying to earn the last two spots in the chase for $1 million.
She hit a hook with a five-iron into the face of a bunker, blasted over the green and was eliminated in a playoff, ending her year without a victory for the first time since 1994.
Ai Miyazato saved par with a seven-foot putt on the 17th hole in the playoff and two-putted from 35 feet on the 18th hole for par to clinch one spot. The other went to Natalie Gulbis, who also had pars on the two playoff holes.
Mi Hyun Kim shot a two-under-par 70 and finished atop the 16 players who qualified for the weekend at seven-under 137, one shot better than Morgan Pressel.
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Former major league pitcher Rick Rhoden shared medalist honors with Gene Jones in the Champions Tour's qualifying event at Coral Springs, Fla., earning a spot next year into open qualifiers at all co-sponsored events. Rhoden closed with a three-under 69 to match Jones (68) at nine-under 287.
MOTOR RACING
Benson finishes first; Hornaday wins title
Ron Hornaday Jr. won his third NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series championship, finishing seventh in a Chevrolet to edge Mike Skinner by 54 points after the season-ending Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hornaday trailed by 29 points entering the race, but benefited when the left rear wheel of Skinner's Toyota broke away midway through the race. Johnny Benson won the race in a Toyota.
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Formula One's governing body rejected McLaren's appeal to penalize four drivers for fuel irregularities at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, letting Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen keep his world championship title.
The FIA said there was not enough evidence to punish BMW and Williams, whose drivers finished fourth, fifth, sixth and 10th in the Oct. 21 race at Sao Paulo.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished seventh, and would have won the title if two of the three drivers who finished ahead of him had been disqualified. Hamilton finished second in the standings, one point behind Raikkonen.
TENNIS
Once again, Federer too tough for Roddick
Top-ranked Roger Federer defeated fifth-ranked Andy Roddick, 6-4, 6-2, at the ATP Tour Masters Cup in Shanghai. The win raised his record against Roddick to 15-1.
