Sports Briefs May 9, 2011
Lucas Glover had gone 41 tournaments and nearly two years since winning the U.S. Open for his last victory. His win Sunday in the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C., was every bit as demanding.
Glover closed with three tough pars on the rugged finishing stretch at Quail Hollow for a 3-under 69. Then he faced a playoff with close friend and former Clemson teammate Jonathan Byrd, who made a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to catch him.
Glover kept the tournament in suspense to the very end.
After Byrd took bogey with a poor chip from the hazard, Glover had two putts from 25 feet for the win. He left the first one 4 feet short and still above the hole, then knocked that in for his third career victory.
• Tom Lehman won the Regions Tradition for his third victory in seven Champions Tour events this year, beating Peter Senior with a par on the second hole of a playoff in Birmingham, Ala.
Senior, from Australia, missed a 5-foot par putt on No. 18. Lehman two-putted from about 20 feet.
Both parred the first playoff hole, also No. 18 at Shoal Creek.
Basketball
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he's expecting all of his injured players to be available for tonight's fourth game of the Eastern Conference semifinals against visiting Miami (4 p.m., ESPN).
Rivers said that he hasn't been told otherwise by the medical staff.
Point guard Rajon Rondo dislocated his left elbow in Saturday night's game, which Boston won 97-81. Backup Delonte West has a bruised left shoulder.
Center Shaquille O'Neal also had some swelling after playing 8 minutes in the game. It was just his second appearance since Feb. 1 because of a right calf injury.
The Heat lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
• Just before what might be the last game of his coaching career, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was fined $35,000 for comments about the officiating.
The NBA sent a release less than an hour before tipoff of Game 4 in the Lakers-Mavericks series on Sunday saying Jackson was being punished for statements made Saturday. He complained about officials allowing defenders to lift their legs and use their knees to shove big man Pau Gasol out of position.
Jackson has said he's retiring after this postseason.
• Former Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel has taken a job on the Duke staff.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that the former Blue Devils guard will be one of his assistant coaches. Capel spent the past nine seasons as a head coach at Virginia Commonwealth and then Oklahoma. The Sooners fired him in March following their second consecutive losing season.
Krzyzewski calls Capel "a great fit in our program." He scored 1,601 points as a four-year starter in the 1990s.
To make room, Krzyzewski shifted Nate James to special assistant. James' role will not include on-court coaching.
• Stanford guard Jeremy Green has decided to skip his senior season and enter the NBA draft.
n Butler University officials said guard Shelvin Mack is keeping his name in the NBA draft and won't return for his senior season.
Hockey
The Phoenix Coyotes acquired junior center Ethan Werek from the New York Rangers in exchange for Swedish center Oscar Lindberg.
Tennis
Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal on clay for the first time in 10 tries, beating the top-ranked Spaniard 7-5, 6-4 to win the Madrid Open in Madrid and extend his unbeaten start to the season to 32 matches.
Auto racing
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel cruised to victory in the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul, clinching his third win of the season ahead of teammate Mark Webber to extend his lead in the standings.
The Formula One champion was never in trouble at Istanbul Park after starting from the pole for the fourth consecutive race and winning by a comfortable 8.8 seconds.
- The Associated Press