Leonard Survives Errors

Justin Leonard survived some anxious moments Sunday to win the WorldCom Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

He closed with a two-over-par 73 for a 14-under 270 total, a stroke ahead of Heath Slocum and two in front of Phil Mickelson. Slocum shot a 70 and Mickelson a 71.

But it wouldn’t be Harbour Town Golf Links for Leonard--he had never finished higher than 30th in six appearances-- without some difficulty.

Leonard’s fortunes appeared to have changed for good as he set a 54-hole scoring record with rounds of 67, 64 and 66.

However, the birdies that were so plentiful through Saturday would not come in the final round, and Leonard struggled to win his seventh PGA Tour title.

Leonard ricocheted an approach off the railroad ties that front the bunker at the 13th hole for a bogey, dropping him into a tie with Slocum at 15 under. Then Leonard, known for making a 45-foot putt to clinch the 1999 Ryder Cup for the United States, missed a two-footer for par on the next hole to give Slocum a lead.

“I was mad at myself when I missed that putt,” Leonard said.

This time, though, it was Slocum, a 28-year-old who won three Buy.com Tour events last season, who struggled.

His sand shot to the 16th hole rolled about 40 feet past the pin. His par try was seven feet short and he missed the putt coming back to fall to 13 under and a shot behind.

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Cristie Kerr won the Longs Drugs Challenge for her first LPGA Tour title, taking advantage of Hee-Won Han’s final-hole bogey.

Kerr, in her sixth full season on the tour at age 24, squandered a five-stroke lead before parring the 18th hole for a three-over 75 and a one-stroke victory over Han, who shot a 70. She bogeyed the 18th hole after hooking her tee shot into the glove compartment of a golf cart.

Kerr finished with an eight-under 280 on the demanding Twelve Bridges course at Lincoln, Calif. She earned $135,000 to move into second place on the money list with $295,606. Annika Sorenstam, who did not play in the tournament, tops the list with $563,330.

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Britain and Ireland defeated Europe, 141/2 to 111/2, to win the Seve Trophy at Newtownmountkennedy, Ireland.

Europe had a 51/2 to 41/2 edge in the 10 singles matches on the third day of the Ryder Cup-style event, but Britain and Ireland already had built a 10-6 lead. European captain Seve Ballesteros, who organized the event, beat Britain and Ireland captain Colin Montgomerie, 1 up in the opening match.

Tennis

No. 58-ranked Iva Majoli became the lowest-ranked player to win a top-tier tournament when she defeated Patty Schnyder, 7-6 (5), 6-4, for the championship of the Family Circle Cup at Charlestown, S.C., her first singles title since the 1997 French Open.

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Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Carlos Moya, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, to win the Monte Carlo Masters, the first major clay-court tournament of the season.

Ferrero closed out the match when Moya sent his last service return wide.

Miscellany

Meredith Beard scored in the 82nd minute to give the Washington Freedom a 2-1 victory over defending WUSA champion San Jose at Washington. Both teams are 1-1.

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The Ice Dogs were eliminated from the West Coast Hockey League playoffs with a 5-1 loss to the Fresno Falcons in the decisive fifth game of their first-round playoff series in Long Beach.