Sports Briefs October 11, 2010
Heath Slocum's 60-foot birdie putt from behind the 16th green banged against the pin and disappeared into the cup for an unlikely birdie, sending him to a 2-under 68 and a one-shot victory Sunday over Bill Haas in the inaugural McGladrey Classic in St. Simons Island, Ga.
Slocum won for the fourth time in his career, and should move just outside the top 50 in the world. Slocum earned $720,000, which moved him to No. 29 on the PGA Tour money list with one tournament left on his schedule. The top 30 earn invitations to the Masters.
• Australia's Katherine Hull rallied to win the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala., for her second career LPGA Tour victory, pulling ahead with a birdie on the par-5 17th and finishing with a par for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke victory over Brittany Lincicome.
Hull, the former Pepperdine player who also won the 2008 Canadian Women's Open, finished at 19-under 269 on the links-style Senator layout at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Capitol Hill complex. After opening with a 68, she had three straight bogey-free 67s.
• Mark O'Meara won the Senior Players Championship inPotomac, Md., for his first individual victory on the Champions Tour, beating Michael Allen with a 4-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff.
O'Meara closed with a 2-under 68 and Allen shot a 66 to finish regulation at 7 under in the last of the 50-and-over tour's five major championships. In April. O'Meara teamed with Nick Price to win the Legends of Golf.
Football
Ohio State is the new No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll.
The Buckeyes moved up one spot in the Top 25 after preseason No. 1 Alabama lost for the first time this season. The Crimson Tide fell 35-21 on Saturday at South Carolina.
Oregon is No. 2, followed by Boise State, TCU, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Auburn.
Ohio State received 34 first-place votes and Oregon (15), Boise State (eight), TCU (one) and Oklahoma (two) also got first-place votes from the media panel.
The Crimson Tide slipped to No. 8, LSU was No. 9 and South Carolina moved up nine spots to 10th after the program's first victory against a top-ranked team.
• NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that the league is looking into allegations Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre sent racy messages and lewd photos to a game hostess when he played for the Jets in 2008.
"We are going through that and we are making sure we understand all the facts," Goodell said at halftime of the Chargers-Raiders game in Oakland, Calif.
Should Favre be found to have violated the NFL's personal conduct policy, he could be fined or suspended.
Hockey
Flames 3, Kings 1: Miikka Kiprusoff made 21 saves in host Calgary's win over Los Angeles.
Oilers 3, Panthers 2: Dustin Penner, Ryan Jones and Shawn Horcoff scored in a 5:47 span early in the second period to help host Edmonton over Florida.
Bruins 3, Coyotes 0: At Prague, newcomer Nathan Horton scored a second-period goal and added an assist to help lift Boston over Phoenix.
Auto Racing
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel edged teammate Mark Webber to win the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Japan, and move closer to the Formula One championship lead.
Vettel started from the pole position at the 3.61-mile Suzuka circuit and led for most of the race.
• Larry Dixon raced to his 12th Top Fuel victory in 12 final-round appearances this year, beating championship rival Cory McClenathan in the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Mohnton, Pa.
Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Dave Connolly (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the fourth of six playoff races in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.
Tennis
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal overpowered fifth-seeded Gael Monfils 6-1, 7-5 to win his first Japan Open title in Tokyo.
- The Associated Press