Sports Briefs October 3, 2011
Golf
Kevin Na won the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, birdieing Nos. 15-17 to pull away for a two-stroke victory over Nick Watney in Las Vegas.
Na closed with a 6-under 65 for a 23-under 261 total at TPC Summlerin in the Fall Series opener. His family moved from South Korea to the United States when he was eight and he started playing golf a year later.
Watney, a two-time winner this year, shot a 67.
Na, tied for the lead with Watney entering the round, sealed his victory with a 42-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th. Na and Watney both parred the par-4 18th.
• Kenny Perry won the SAS Championship for his first Champions Tour title, making a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 17th en route to a 2-under 70 and a one-stroke victory over Jeff Sluman and John Huston in Cary, N.C.
Perry won a day after sister Kay Perry died after a long fight with breast cancer.
The 51-year-old Perry, a 14-time winner on the PGA Tour winner, had an 11-under 205 total - the highest winning score in tournament history - on the Prestonwood Country Club course.
Football
LSU and Alabama are the top two teams in the country one month before their game in Tuscaloosa.
The SEC West rivals held the first two spots in The Associated Press college football poll released Sunday as the second-ranked Crimson Tide jumped past No. 3 Oklahoma.
Boise State, which had one first-place vote, slipped a spot to No. 5.
Alabama's rise gives the Southeastern Conference the top two teams in the country for the 10th time in the last four seasons. And for the first time since 2000, the Nos. 1 and 2 teams reside in the same division. That season Nebraska and Kansas State of the Big 12 North held the top two spots in the AP poll for one week.
The Tide beat Florida 38-10 on Saturday night in Gainesville, then received 12 first-place votes in the media rankings.
LSU remained No. 1 for a second straight week, receiving 40 first-place votes and 1,473 points. Alabama had 1,435 points. The Tigers play the Tide on Nov. 5 in a game that could ultimately decide the division - and much more.
Basketball
Kevin Durant scored 48 points and Chris Paul added 39 to lead the New Orleans guard's team to a 175-146 victory over Dwyane Wade and LeBron James' team in a charity game Saturday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Rudy Gay had 38 points while Wade added 32 and James had 30. John Wall added 34 points.
The game was played at Winston-Salem State in front of a sold-out crowd in the 3,200-seat arena.
Paul, who is from nearby Lewisville, gave a $25,000 check to WSSU during a football game earlier in the day. Both of his parents attended Winston-Salem State.
The game was played as NBA labor negotiations were taking place in New York. After a seven-hour bargaining session, players and owners didn't sound much closer to a labor deal than they did when the lockout began.
• Rebekkah Brunson had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Seimone Augustus added 22 points to lead the Minnesota Lynx to an 88-74 victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of the WNBA finals in Minneapolis.
Lindsay Whalen added 15 points and six assists and the Lynx turned a close game into a runaway with a 13-0 run to open the fourth quarter.
Game 2 is Wednesday at Minneapolis.
Tennis
Fourth-ranked Andy Murray claimed his 19th career title in beating American Donald Young 6-2, 6-0 in the final of the Thailand Open in Bangkok.
The top-seeded Briton was in complete control throughout the 48-minute match, exploiting the lack of experience and unforced errors from his 55th-ranked opponent.
• Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia defeated Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 7-5 Sunday to win the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, capturing his first ATP World Tour title in his fifth final.
The 27-year-old Tipsarevic had been the only top-20 player without an ATP title.
- The Associated Press