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Sorenstam wins 71st LPGA title

MIAMI: Sweden's Annika Sorenstam won the 71st title of her career, capturing the LPGA Stanford International Pro-Am on Sunday when Paula Creamer left an 2.4 m par putt short on the first playoff hole.

Sorenstam moved 17 triumphs shy of matching Kathy Whitworth's all-time LPGA victory record by taking her 48th victory, also improving to 16-6 in career playoffs.

"I'm very relieved and happy and excited," Sorenstam said. "I played very well and so did Paula. She played excellent. It took 19 holes to separate us. It could have gone really any way.

It was the second triumph of the season for Sorenstam, who won the LPGA opener in Hawaii after an injury-riddled 2007 season in which she failed to win a title.

Aussie Scott ends title drought

IRVING, Texas: Australian Adam Scott sank a stunning 14.6 m birdie putt on the third playoff hole here Sunday to defeat American Ryan Moore and win the PGA Byron Nelson Championship.

Scott squandered a three-stroke lead when the day began but blasted out of a fairway bunker to find the green, then rolled home an epic putt to win his sixth US PGA Tour title, 14th worldwide, and a $1.2 million top prize.

"I dug it out of nowhere," Scott said. "I found my range on the third playoff hole. I had been getting it too close before.

"I got away with one today I think."

Tenth-ranked Scott ended a US victory drought of more than 12 months, having last won a US PGA title at last year's Houston Open, although he captured a European Tour event earlier this year at Qatar.

Clarke eyes Ryder Cup

SHANGHAI: Darren Clarke is desperate to get back into Europe's Ryder Cup team and become a world top-50 player again now that victory in China has got him over a huge mental hurdle following his wife's death.

Clarke said his win at the $2.3-million BMW Asian Open on Sunday was the most important title of his career, and the hardest to achieve, because of the hardships since his wife, Heather, passed away from cancer in August 2006.

It was Clarke's first tournament win since her death.

"This is the very top," the Northern Irishman said when asked to compare this win with his previous 10 on the European Tour.

Klasnic takes legal action

BERLIN: Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic has launched a 1.5 million euros ($2.3 million) lawsuit against two Bremen doctors for "gross mishandling" of his kidney complaint which led to a transplant.

The 28-year-old forward became the first professional footballer to return to international competition following a kidney transplant in March last year.

According to German magazine Der Spiegel, the Croat's lawyer has started legal proceedings against sports doctor Goetz Dimanski and cardiologist Manju Guha, who work on behalf of Werder Bremen.

Hamburg lawyer Matthias Teichner says the pair failed to recognize signs Klasnic's kidney was failing as early as 2001 when he first joined Bremen.

Kewell to play in Ghana friendly

SYDNEY: Liverpool's Harry Kewell said on Monday he will play in next month's football friendly against Ghana here in preparation for Australia's block of vital World Cup qualifiers in June.

Kewell has been battling injuries over the last few years and missed Australia's 0-0 World Cup qualifier draw with China in Kunming last month after injuring his groin during a warm-up match in Singapore.

He subsequently flew to Sydney for a series of medical consultations and was told he would not require surgery. Kewell hasn't played for Liverpool since the English Premier League club's embarrassing 2-1 FA Cup exit to Barnsley on February 16. But Kewell is confident of playing at home for the first time since November 2005.

(China Daily 04/29/2008 page22)