For Watson, the Timing Is Just Right

Tom Watson shot a five-under-par 67 Sunday and beat Gil Morgan by two strokes to win the Senior PGA Tour Championship at Oklahoma City.

Watson, who won this event in 2000, earned $440,000 for his first victory of the year on the Senior PGA Tour.

The five-time British Open champion was three over after 20 holes, then played the last 52 in a bogey-free, 17-under par to finish four rounds at 14-under 274.

Morgan struggled down the stretch in a 69 that left him at 276, three strokes ahead of Bob Gilder, who closed with a 68. Hale Irwin had a 71 and was fourth, seven strokes behind Watson, but he became the first senior golfer to win $3 million in one season.

In an effort to beat the rain, the tee times were moved up two hours and golfers went off the first and 10th tees. But after 30 minutes, rain caused play to be suspended for a little more than two hours.

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Jonathan Byrd closed with a nine-under 63 to win the Buick Challenge and become the 17th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this year.

Byrd made five straight putts on the back nine at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga., two of them for eagle, and was within range of the tour’s 72-hole scoring record in relation to par.

David Toms put together a strong rally and had an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force a playoff, but it slid over the left edge of the cup. Toms shot a 65.

Byrd finished at 27-under 261 and earned $666,000. Toms finished with his third runner-up finish this year. Phil Mickelson closed with a 63 to finish third at 265.

Along with getting a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, Byrd moved up to No. 41 on the money list. A strong showing at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic this week might be enough to get into the top 40 and qualify for the Masters.

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Se Ri Pak easily won the wind-swept LPGA Nine Bridges Classic at Jeju Island, South Korea, closing with an even-par 72 to beat Carin Koch by six strokes. Temperatures were in the 40s, with winds blowing at more than 15 mph.

The South Korean star finished at three-under-par 213, while Koch had a 73 to finish at 219. Annika Sorenstam’s 76 left her nine shots back, ending her bid to set a record for tournament wins in a year.

Lorie Kane and Mhairi McKay finished third at five-over par, a stroke ahead of Sorenstam and Danielle Ammaccapane.

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Third-round leader Patrick Moore was declared the winner of the rain-shortened Buy.com Tour Championship, finishing on top of the money list and leading 15 players who earned promotions to the PGA Tour.

Moore birdied three of four holes to complete a six-under-par 66 that left him at 10-under 206 after 54 holes. Half the field failed to finish the final round before heavy rain left the course in Prattville, Ala., unplayable.

Moore earned $108,000 for the victory and moved into the top of the Buy.com money list with $381,965. Steven Alker, Mike Heinen and Jeff Klauk tied for second at eight-under 208.

Tennis

Paradorn Srichaphan came back to defeat Marcelo Rios, 6-7 (2), 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, in the final of the Stockholm Open.

It was the second title of the year for the 23-year-old from Bangkok, Thailand, who won the TD Waterhouse Cup in New York in August. The win lifted him into the top 20 in the ATP Champions’ Race for the first time.

Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian defeated Fernando Gonzalez, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to win the Swiss Indoors at Basel. Nalbandian, seeded sixth, never lost his serve and beat the seventh-seeded Gonzalez in 97 minutes. Twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan beat top-seeded Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, 7-6 (2), 7-5, for the doubles title. It was their fifth title of the year.... Top-seeded Kim Clijsters overwhelmed second-seeded Magdalena Maleeva, 6-1, 6-2, to win the Seat Open in Luxembourg for the second straight year.... Justine Henin overpowered unseeded Alexandra Stevenson, 6-3, 6-0, in less than an hour to win the Generali Open at Linz, Austria.

Miscellany

Freshman forward Kyle Close of the UC Irvine men’s soccer team has been upgraded from serious to stable condition at a Santa Ana hospital. Close was one of seven players injured in Saturday’s crash of a team van going to a game at UC Riverside.