Sports Briefs February 27, 2012
Golf
Hunter Mahan stopped Rory McIlroy's march to No. 1 by winning the Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz.
Mahan built a 4-up lead through 10 holes at Dove Mountain, then held off the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland to capture his second World Golf Championship title.
McIlroy defeated Lee Westwood in a semifinal match Sunday morning. He could have replaced Luke Donald at No. 1 in the world by winning the tournament. But he fell behind with a series of mistakes on the front nine and could never catch up.
With his 2-and-1 victory, Mahan becomes the first American to win the Match Play Championship since Tiger Woods in 2008. He is the sixth player to win multiple WGC titles, and he moves into the top 10 for the first time in his career.
• John Huh parred the eighth hole of a playoff to beat Robert Allenby and win the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
Making his fifth PGA Tour start, Huh parred all eight holes in the playoff that matched the second-longest in PGA Tour history.
• Angela Stanford won the HSBC Women's Champions on the third playoff hole in Singapore, her first victory since 2009 and her fifth on the LPGA Tour.
The 34-year-old Texan parred the last playoff hole, beating South Koreans Jenny Shin and Na Yeon Choi and China's Shanshan Feng.
Baseball
Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and the Washington Nationals have agreed to add $100 million over six years to his contract, with a full no-trade clause, a person familiar with the negotiations said.
Zimmerman already was signed for 2012 and 2013, with $26 million remaining on the five-year, $45 million contract he got at the start of the 2009 season. He's now guaranteed $126 million over the next eight seasons through 2019, and there is a club option for 2020.
NHL
Wild 4, Sharks 3: At St. Paul, Minn., Jed Ortmeyer's first goal of the season gave Minnesota the lead with 4:13 left to send San Jose home with a tough loss to finish 2-6-1 on a season-long nine-game road trip.
Panthers 4, Canadiens 2: At Sunrise, Fla., Stephen Weiss scored two goals and Florida beat Montreal.
Ligntning 4, Devils 3: At Newark, N.J., Martin St. Louis scored three goals and set up another to lead Tampa Bay over New Jersey.
Penguins 4, Blue Jackets 2: Evgeni Malkin scored his 37th goal of the season, Brad Thiessen made 21 saves in his NHL debut and host Pittsburgh beat Columbus.
Stars 3, Canucks 2, OT: Loui Eriksson scored at 3:52 of overtime to give host Dallas a win over Vancouver.
Sentors 5, Islanders 2: Robin Lehner, making his first start since being recalled from the minors to replace the injured Craig Anderson, made 28 saves in host Ottawa's win over New York.
Ducks 3, Blackhawks 1: At Anaheim, Calif., Teemu Selanne scored a power-play goal and had an assist to move into 20th place on the NHL's career scoring list, and Anaheim beat Chicago.
Skiing
Lindsey Vonn won a super-G on a demanding course in Bansko, Bulgaria, to become the World Cup career leader in the discipline.
This was the American's 10th World Cup victory this season and the 51st of her career. By winning her 18th super G she overtook Austria's Renate Goetschl for the record.
• Massimiliano Blardone mastered a fast-deteriorating course in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, to beat World Cup overall leader Marcel Hirscher in a giant slalom.
Tennis
David Ferrer won the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires, Argentina, rallying past defending champion Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Spanish final.
• Jurgen Melzer capped his amazing run through the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tenn., with a broken right big toe by beating Milos Raonic of Canada 7-5, 7-6 (4) for his fourth career title and first since 2010.
- The Associated Press