Sports Briefs November 8, 2010
Francesco Molinari outlasted Lee Westwood in a spirited duel Sunday in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai for a one-shot victory to capture his first World Golf Championship and continue a memorable year for Italy.
Molinari closed with a 5-under 67 at Sheshan International for his first win this season, and only the second of his career. He spoiled the debut of Westwood as the world's No. 1 player, although the Englishman put up a fight worthy of his ranking.
• John Cook successfully defended his title in the Champions Tour's season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco, while Bernhard Langer took his first season points title.
Football
TCU's impressive victory over the weekend not only lifted the Horned Frogs to No. 3 in The Associated Press poll, it caused Auburn to move up behind top-ranked Oregon and Boise State to fall two spots to No. 4.
The Horned Frogs won 47-7 at Utah on Saturday in a matchup of unbeaten Mountain West Conference teams. With that thoroughly dominant performance, TCU drew so much support away from Boise State, it caused movement in the top four for the first time in three weeks.
Oregon received 49 first-place votes and 1,484 points, only three points less than last week. Auburn received the exact amount of first-place votes (two) and points as last week.
Suns 118, Hawks 114: Jason Richardson scored 21 points, Steve Nash added 19 and visiting Phoenix held off Atlanta's second-half comeback.
76ers 106, Knicks 96: Elton Brand scored 20 points and visiting Philadelphia beat New York.
Celtics 92, Thunder 83: Ray Allen scored 19 points and Boston opened a four-game road trip with a win over Oklahoma City.
Pistons 102, Warriors 97: At Auburn Hills, Mich., former Eastern Washington standout Rodney Stuckey had 21 points and nine assists to help Detroit beat Golden State.
Rockets 120, Timberwolves 94: Luis Scola scored 24 points and Kevin Martin added 21 to help host Houston win its first game of the season with a rout of Minnesota.
Lakers 121, Trail Blazers 96: Pau Gasol had 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists and host Los Angeles beat Portland.
Blues 2, Rangers 0: Ty Conklin made 27 saves for his 15th NHL shutout and visiting St. Louis beat New York.
Capitals 3, Flyers 2, OT: Mike Green scored in overtime to give host Washington a win against Philadelphia.
Oilers 2, Blackhawks 1: Kurtis Foster and Sam Gagner scored in the third to lift visiting Edmonton over Chicago.
Ducks 5, Predators 4: At Anaheim, Calif., defenseman Paul Mara scored with 1.7 seconds left, lifting Anaheim past Nashville.
Running
Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia won the men's title at the New York City Marathon in his debut at the distance.
Kenya's Edna Kiplagat won the women's race for her first major marathon championship.
Auto Racing
Sebastian Vettel took the lead at the first corner and cruised to victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, setting up a showdown for the Formula One title at next weekend's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was second, championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari third and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren fourth.
Tennis
Flavia Pennetta routed 18-year-old CoCo Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-2 in San Diego to give Italy its second straight Fed Cup final victory over the United States.
Pennetta's victory in the fourth singles match gave the Italians a 3-1 victory in the best-of-five finale. Her victory came after Melanie Oudin stunned French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-1 to keep the United States alive.
- The Associated Press