CARLSBAD, Calif. — Top-ranked Yani Tseng won the Kia Classic for her second straight LPGA Tour title and third in five events this year, closing with a 2-under 70 for a six-stroke victory. Tseng wins Kia Classic ADVERTISING CARLSBAD, Calif.
Tseng wins
Kia Classic
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Top-ranked Yani Tseng won the Kia Classic for her second straight LPGA Tour title and third in five events this year, closing with a 2-under 70 for a six-stroke victory.
The 23-year-old Taiwanese star led wire-to-wire and finished at 14-under 274 on La Costa’s Legends Course. She became the second-youngest player to reach 15 LPGA Tour win. Nancy Lopez was 22 when she reached the mark.
Tseng won the LPGA Founders Cup last week in Phoenix and also won the LPGA Thailand in February. She led the tour last season with seven victories — including major victories in the LPGA Championship and Women’s British Open — and finished the year with 12 worldwide titles.
South Korea’s Sun Young Yoo had a 71 to finish second.
Couples claims title in Mississippi
SAUCIER, Miss. — Fred Couples made an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 3-under 69 and a one-stroke victory over Michael Allen in the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic.
Couples finished at 14-under 202, opening with a course-record 63, at Fallen Oak for his seventh Champions Tour title and first of the year. He will play the PGA Tour’s Houston Open and the Masters the next two weeks.
Allen finished with a 66. Tom Pernice Jr. shot a 69 to tie for third with Jeff Sluman (73) at 10 under.
Hoey thwarts
Italian teen’s quest
AGADIR, Morocco — Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey won the Hassan II Trophy by three strokes, ending Italian teenager Matteo Manassero’s bid to qualify for the Masters.
Hoey shot a 7-under 65 to finish at 17-under 271 at Golf du Palais Royal. Ireland’s Damien McGrane had a 70 to finish second. Wales’ Jamie Donaldson shot a course-record 61, holing his approach shot on 18 for eagle, to tie for third with England’s Robert Coles (67) and Wales’ Phillip Price (69) at 13 under.
The 18-year-old Manassero needed to win to enter the top 50 in the world ranking to make the Masters. He entered the final round tied for the lead, but shot a 72 to tie for sixth at 12 under.
Castroneves wins IndyCar season opener at St. Pete
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Helio Castroneves stopped his first victory lap in more than a year when he made it to Dan Wheldon Way.
He climbed from his car and climbed the fence, same as he does after every win.
Then Castroneves darted across the street and patted the sign that was erected in Turn 10 earlier this month as a tribute to the fallen IndyCar star. He then emotionally doubled over against the wall, and seemed to be wiping tears away inside his helmet.
“No question about it, this is for our friend upstairs, Dan Wheldon,” Castroneves said. “I used to stop in Turn 1 and celebrate, and this time I said I’m going to do something else in a different corner. I saw Turn 10; I didn’t plan. As soon as I kind of celebrate, I look and I saw Dan’s sign. It’s amazing. It was a perfect fit for this race, a perfect way to start the season.”
The IndyCar Series finally returned to racing on Sunday, its first event since Wheldon was killed in last October’s season finale. The opener was through the streets of St. Petersburg, the Englishman’s adopted hometown, where his wife and two sons still live and where Wheldon won the inaugural 2005 race.
The pre-race ceremony included a tribute video of Wheldon, and his younger sister, Holly, dropped the green flag.
Venus Williams rallies for win
at Key Biscayne
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Weary winner Venus Williams stood near the net swatting souvenir balls to cheering fans, but a marathon match had taken its toll, and one of her attempts didn’t even reach the stands.
Williams had already expended all her energy, erasing a match point and outlasting Aleksandra Wozniak 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in Sunday’s third round at the Sony Ericsson Open.
Her career comeback now includes a come-from-behind win. Williams is playing in her first tournament since withdrawing from the U.S. Open last August after being diagnosed with a fatigue-causing autoimmune disease.
A former No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, Williams is ranked No. 134 and needed a wild card to enter the tournament. She’s trying to improve her ranking enough in the coming weeks to qualify for the London Olympics.
Other winners included Rafael Nadal, bidding for his first Key Biscayne title, and two-time champion Victoria Azarenka. American John Isner was eliminated.
Nadal, seeded No. 2, defeated 33-year-old Radek Stepanek 6-2, 6-2 and has lost only six games in two rounds.
The No. 10-seeded Isner, coming off a runner-up finish at Indian Wells a week ago, lost to No. 19 Florian Mayer, 6-4, 6-2. No. 4 Andy Murray, the 2009 champion, advanced in a walkover when Milos Raonic withdrew because of a sprained right ankle.
The top-ranked Azarenka improved to 25-0 this year by beating wild card Heather Watson 6-0, 6-2.
By wire sources
