Sports Briefs August 23, 2010
Football
The Seattle Seahawks said rookie left tackle Russell Okung suffered a second-degree sprain of his right ankle and will be out of action for two weeks, following the injury suffered in Saturday night's preseason game against Green Bay.
Replays appeared to show left guard Ben Hamilton getting tangled with Okung on Seattle's first play.
The team also signed former San Francisco wide receiver Brandon Jones on Sunday, a year after he signed a lucrative deal with the 49ers. Jones played in eight games and finished with just one catch after the 49ers gave him a $16.6 million deal in free agency.
Jones was released by the 49ers last Wednesday.
• Brett Favre's highly anticipated first game back with the Minnesota Vikings lasted all of four plays and one series.
Favre completed a 13-yard pass to Adrian Peterson on his first play from scrimmage in a 15-10 loss to host San Francisco but also was sacked by Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis for a 10-yard loss on Minnesota's third play.
Alex Smith, Favre's 49ers counterpart, went 9 of 13 for 88 yards in a solid first half. Willis had four tackles playing only nine snaps.
• The Buffalo Bills placed two rookie draft picks on the season-ending injured reserve list, and could be down to one healthy tight end after Michael Matthews limped off the field during practice.
In announcing receiver Marcus Easley and linebacker Danny Batten have been placed on I.R., coach Chan Gailey said both are expected to miss too much of the regular season for the team to carry them on the active roster.
Arjun Atwal became the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA Tour in 24 years and the first Indian-born champion, shooting a 3-under 67 for a one-stroke victory in the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C.
Atwal finished at 20-under 260 and earned $918,000. Fred Wadsworth was the last Monday qualifier to win, accomplishing the feat in the 1986 Southern Open.
• Ai Miyazato reclaimed the top spot in the world rankings, winning the LPGA Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore., for her fifth victory of the year.
The Japanese star closed with an even-par 72 to finish at 11 under, two strokes in front of Cristie Kerr.
• Fred Funk won the Jeld-Wen Tradition in Sunriver, Ore., for the second time in three years, closing with a 3-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Michael Allen and Chien Soon Lu in the fourth of the Champions Tour's five majors.
Funk took the lead for good with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 598-yard, par-5 16th, then two-putted from 40 feet for par at 18 to finish at 12-under 276 on the Sunriver Resort's Crosswater Golf Club course. Allen shot a 67, and Lu had a 69.
• U.S. Amateur competitors played a practice round at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., for the first time. The tournament, which begins today, will be considered a test study, to be re-examined five years from now when the course serves as host for the U.S. Open.
The links-style course that sits on the shores of Puget Sound has a long way to go to even be considered on the same driving range as the Scottish birthplace of golf. But this week serves as Chambers Bay's formal introduction to the golf world.
Tennis
Roger Federer beat Mardy Fish 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-4 in Mason, Ohio, winning his second straight Cincinnati Masters championship and fourth overall.
Basketball
Kevin Durant scored 25 points and made two crucial late blocks to help the United States beat Spain 86-85 in Madrid in a warmup game for the world championship.
Swimming
Americans Chip Peterson and Christine Jennings won the 10-kilometer open water races at the Pan Pacific championships in Long Beach, Calif.
Peterson won the men's race in 1 hour, 56 minutes, 2 seconds at Marine Stadium, home of the 1932 Olympic rowing competition.
- The Associated Press