Sports briefs February 25, 2013
Golf
Matt Kuchar finally put Hunter Mahan in a hole and went on to capture the Match Play Championship on Sunday in Marana, Ariz.
Mahan went 169 straight holes without trailing in this event until Kuchar won the fourth hole with a par and was on his way. He built a 4-up lead at the turn, and then held off a noble rally by Mahan at Dove Mountain.
For all the great shots, the match ended when Mahan went from bunker to desert in taking four shots to reach the 17th green. Kuchar won, 2 and 1, when Mahan conceded his birdie putt.
It was the first World Golf Championship title for Kuchar, who last year won The Players Championship.
Mahan was trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners.
- Inbee Park of South Korea took advantage of overnight leader Ariya Jutanugarn's triple bogey on the last hole to secure a one-stroke victory in the LPGA Thailand in Chonburi, Thailand.
Jutanugarn blew a two-stroke lead on the 18th when she first had to take a drop and then missed a three-foot putt to force a playoff. The 17-year-old Thai golfer, who had a hole-in-one earlier in the round, was moved to tears as the putt lipped out, while a surprised Park started celebrating in the clubhouse with her caddie.
Baseball
Raul Ibanez' first hit of spring training got the Mariners on the scoreboard early, helping Seattle to an 8-3 win over the Padres in Peoria, Ariz.
Outfielders Michael Morse and Michael Saunders followed with back-to-back doubles, and Robert Andino went 2 for 3 with a double for the Mariners, who host the Los Angeles Angels at noon today.
- New York Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson is expected to be out until May after breaking his right forearm in a game in Tampa, Fla.
The slugger was hit by a pitch from Toronto's J.A. Happ in the bottom of the first inning, his first at-bat of spring training. The Yankees first called it a bruise but X-rays revealed the break.
Basketball
Detroit Pistons guard Will Bynum has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for striking Indiana forward Tyler Hansbrough in the stomach during a game against the Pacers.
The suspension was announced in a release by Stu Jackson, the league's executive vice president of basketball operations.
The incident occurred with 8:39 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Pistons' 90-72 loss to the Pacers on Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Bynum will serve his suspension tonight when the Pistons host the Atlanta Hawks.
Skiing
Tina Maze of Slovenia wrapped up the overall World Cup title by winning a super-combined race, her eighth win of the season, in Meribel, France.
- Alexis Pinturault of France used a daring second run to win a World Cup giant slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, as his closest German challengers faltered.
World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria and world champion Ted Ligety of the United States profited from the Germans' mistakes to take second and third, respectively.
Tennis
Kei Nishikori of Japan won his third career title and second since October, beating Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-3 in the U.S. National Indoor Championships in Memphis, Tenn.
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga saved a match point before overcoming top-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the final of the Open 13 in Marseille, France.
Auto racing
Tony Schumacher beat Morgan Lucas in the tire-smoking Top Fuel final at the NHRA Arizona Nationals for his 70th career victory and fourth at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz.
Ron Capps topped the Funny Car field, and Erica Enders-Stevens won in Pro Stock.
- The Associated Press