Stricker Fifth First-Time Winner on PGA Tour

Steve Stricker shot a three-under-par 68 and became the fifth new winner on the PGA Tour this year, beating a quartet of players by three strokes Sunday to capture the $1.5 million Kemper Open at Potomac, Md.

In steady rain, Stricker took the lead with a birdie at No. 5 and an eagle at the sixth, then held on and finished with a 270 total. Mark O’Meara, Brad Faxon, Grant Waite and Scott Hoch tied for second.

Stricker, a third-year PGA Tour pro, earned $270,000.

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Isao Aoki sank a 28-foot birdie putt on the final hole and won the BellSouth Senior Classic at Nashville by a stroke over Graham Marsh and Jay Sigel.

Aoki became the first wire-to-wire winner on the Senior PGA Tour this year, but he nearly blew a four-stroke lead in the final round before finishing with a two-under par 70 and a 14-under 202 total.

Marsh shot 67 and Sigel 68 to finish in a second-place tie at 203.

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Laura Davies sank a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 14 for a single-hole record $300,000 to win the JCPenney/LPGA Skins Game at Frisco, Texas.

It was the most Skins Game money ever won on one hole, including the PGA and Seniors skins.

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Mark McNulty dug himself out of a greenside bunker to birdie the last hole for a three-under-par 69 and a share of the lead with Italy’s Costantino Rocca at the Volvo PGA at Virginia Water, England.

The Zimbabwean made an eight-foot putt at the par-five hole to total 205 after three rounds.

Rocca, his playing partner, had a chance to eagle the hole and take an outright lead but left the ball 18 inches short from 30 feet.

Tennis

Lindsay Davenport of the United States successfully defended her title in the Strasbourg Open in France, beating Austria’s Barbara Paulus, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), in the rain-delayed final.

Davenport, seeded ninth in the French Open starting today, led, 5-2, on Saturday when rain forced the suspension of play. She rallied from a 3-5 deficit in the second set for her fifth WTA Tour title.

Switzerland won its first World Team Cup title when Jakob Hlasek and Marc Rosset beat the Czech doubles team of Petr Korda and Daniel Vacek, 6-3, 6-4, in Duesseldorf, Germany.

The doubles match decided the title after Switzerland and the Czech Republic split the day’s two singles matches.

Rosset beat Bohdan Ulihrach, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, after Hlasek lost to Korda, 6-3, 6-4.

Florida senior Jill Craybas won the NCAA women’s singles title with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory over top-seeded Kylie Hunt of Kansas at Tallahassee, Fla.

The top-seeded Florida team of Stephanie Nickitas and Dawn Buth won the doubles title and Florida earlier won the team title.

Track and Field

Jon Drummond held off Carl Lewis to win the 200 meters in 20.20 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix meet at Eugene, Ore.

Lewis finished second in 20.22.

Gwen Torrence continued her dominance with her second 100 of less than 11 seconds in as many weeks. American Allen Johnson confirmed his status as an Olympic gold-medal contender by winning the 110 hurdles in 13.13 seconds.

Miscellany

Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino told the New York Post there’s a 50-50 chance he’ll become coach, general manager and part-owner of the New Jersey Nets.

Lisa Leslie scored 17 points and the U.S. women’s basketball team won its 47th game in a row, 106-58, against Cuba at Providence, R.I.

The United States defeated Croatia, 8-3, in water polo to win the U.S. Open at Nashville.

After disappointing losses in two Olympic qualifying races, Franziska van Almsick won a spot on the German team with a victory in the 200-meter freestyle at Braunschweig. The 200-meter world champion won in 1:58.88.

Davide Xausa scored his second goal of the game in the 87th minute to lift Canada into a 2-2 tie with Australia in Edmonton in the first game of a home-and-home Olympic qualifying series.

Tennessee senior Lawrence Johnson broke the American record in the pole vault, clearing 19 feet, 7 1/2 inches in a meet at Knoxville.

Australia’s Michael Doohan won his third consecutive Italian Grand Prix motorcycle title, beating Honda teammate Alex Criville of Spain by 0.726 seconds in the 500cc class at Scarperia, Italy.