Burns Holds Off Woods and Wins

Bob Burns became the 16th player to win his first PGA Tour event this year at the Disney World Golf Classic Sunday at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., but he distinguished himself in one other significant way.

None of the other first-time winners had to fight off a challenge from Tiger Woods.

Burns made consecutive birdies on the back nine to take control and was solid the rest of the way, closing with a seven-under-par 65 for a one-stroke victory over Chris DiMarco.

Woods made up a six-stroke deficit over 10 holes and finished with a 63. He missed a six-foot birdie putt on the final hole that ended his chances. He finished third, two strokes behind.

It was the second time in three years at the Disney Classic that Woods has finished at 23-under 265 and had only a third-place finish to show for it.

Burns came to Disney World with hopes of having a good enough week to finish in the top 125 on the money list and keep his card. He was 118th, but that’s no longer a problem.

Burns, who finished with a 25-under 263, earned $666,000 and now has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

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Dana Quigley shot a two-under-par 69 and held off a final-round charge by Bob Gilder to win the Senior PGA Tour’s SBC Championship by one stroke.

Quigley’s 12-under-par 201 total at San Antonio was worth $217,500. It was his second win this year and his seventh on the Senior PGA Tour. He won the Siebel Classic in San Jose in March.

Vicente Fernandez (70) was third at 10-under 203. Tom Watson (70) finished another two strokes back and Gil Morgan (71) was at 206.

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Ernie Els won his fourth World Match Play title with a 2 and 1 victory over Sergio Garcia at Virginia Water, England. Els earned $390,000 for the victory. Garcia got $187,000.

It was Els’ first win in the event since 1996 when he became the only player to win it three years in a row.

Auto Racing

Kurt Busch beat the field out of the pits with 91 laps to go and then held off Johnny Benson to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville, Va.

Busch, who started 36th, took the lead for the first time on the 389th of 500 laps after a 15.3-second pit stop and lost it for only one lap the rest of the way. He ran the last 10 laps with Benson trying for his first win in 224 career starts.

Busch beat Benson by 0.46 seconds for his second career victory, both this season. It was the seventh win for the Roush Racing Fords.

Point leader Tony Stewart’s margin over Jimmie Johnson closed from 97 to 82 points. Mark Martin remained third and is 123 behind with four races left.

Stewart, who started 31st, finished 11th. Johnson was sixth and Martin 10th.

Scott Wimmer held off Ron Hornaday on a restart with seven laps left and won the rain-delayed Busch Series Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park for his second victory in four races.

Wimmer led 83 of the 250 laps and passed Hornaday for the final time on the 218th lap. He averaged 79.337 mph in his Pontiac on the three-quarter-mile oval and had to avoid three cautions in the final 30 laps for his second career victory.

Stacy Compton was second, followed by Jamie McMurray, who needed a provisional and started 37th after becoming the quickest Winston Cup winner in the modern era last week at Charlotte, N.C., in only his second start.

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The first California Late Model championship finished in a tie between Ron Daniel and Mike Price, even though Brian Kelley won the race at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield.

Daniel finished second and Price fourth in the Victory Circle 100-lap race. In the first half of the two-race series, held at Irwindale Speedway on Oct. 12, Price finished third and Daniel fifth.

After the race, track officials from both facilities decided that Daniel, who had a higher overall combined finish than Price, was awarded the $1,000 bonus.

Tennis

Andre Agassi claimed his record 15th Masters Series title when Jiri Novak withdrew from the final of the $2.5-million Madrid final because of a groin injury. The win moved Agassi within 43 points of No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the ATP Champions Race. Novak suffered the injury Saturday during his semifinal victory against Fabrice Santoro.... Lindsay Davenport lost to Patty Schnyder in the final of the $1.2-million Swisscom Challenge at Zurich. Schnyder needed 2 hours 15 minutes to prevail, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 6-3, and win her first title of 2002.