Sports briefs Feb. 22, 2010
Baseball
A person familiar with the negotiations says Johnny Damon has completed his physical with the Detroit Tigers, clearing the way for the team to finalize a one-year contract with the outfielder.
The person spoke Sunday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn't been announced.
Another person familiar with the situation said Saturday night that the Tigers and Damon agreed on an $8 million, one-year deal, subject to a physical.
The 36-year-old Damon would bring another left-handed bat to the Tigers' lineup besides switch-hitter Carlos Guillen. Guillen and Damon would likely alternate between left field and designated hitter, but manager Jim Leyland says Guillen would be his everyday hitter out of the No. 5 slot.
Leyland said he told Guillen last fall that he would be the full-time left fielder. Guillen, who batted .242. with 11 homers and 41 RBI in 81 games last season, was told he would be in the lineup every day.
Damon has also been courted by the Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves since leaving the world champion New York Yankees as a free agent. He batted .282 with 24 homers for the Yankees last season and is expected to lead off for the Tigers, who have a gaping hole at the top of the batting order.
Ian Poulter now has something more stylish that anything in his wardrobe.
Dressed in pink on a chilly day in the desert, Poulter captured the biggest victory of his career by leading the final 28 holes and beating Paul Casey 4 and 2 in the all-England final at the Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz.
Along with winning his first World Golf Championship, the 34-year-old Poulter won for the first time on American soil. He closed out Casey with a par on the 34th hole.
Cameron Beckman won the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, for his third PGA Tour title, closing with a 3-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over third-round leader Joe Durant and Brian Stuard.
Japanese star Ai Miyazato rallied to win the season-opening Honda PTT LPGA Thailand, holing a 30-foot birdie chip on the final hole for a 9-under 63 and a one-stroke victory over Norway's Suzann Pettersen, in Pattaya, Thailand.
Bernhard Langer holed a 45-foot bunker shot from a plugged lie for eagle to beat John Cook on the first playoff hole in the Champions Tour Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla.
Basketball
A North Carolina community college basketball player died after he collapsed while playing in a game in Henderson, N.C., officials said.
Raymond Dunn, a 6-4 sophomore forward for Vance Granville, collapsed on the court near the end of the first half of a game against Guilford Tech, Vance Granville President Randy Parker said.
Dunn was taken to nearby Maria Parham Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Tennis
Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Copa Telmex in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sam Querrey rallied in the second tiebreaker and took advantage of a faltering John Isner in the third set, winning the Morgan Keegan Championships 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-3 in Memphis, Tenn.
Auto racing
A woman died after being hit by a tire from a crashing dragster at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Chandler, Ariz.
The woman was watching a first-round Top Fuel run at Firebird International Raceway when Antron Brown's Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster went out of control on the strip and its left rear wheel came off.
Alia Maisonet, a spokeswoman for the Gila River Indian Community, said the woman was airlifted to a hospital for treatment and later died. Gila River emergency personnel were among the first to respond to the scene.
Maisonet said she didn't know the victim's name or hometown.
Brown was released by the track medical staff, but went to Chandler Regional Hospital for further observation, according to a statement from Don Schumacher Racing. The NHRA said Brown wasn't injured.
- The Associated Press