Cowboy Running Back Haywood Is Dead at 23

Running back Ennis Haywood of the Dallas Cowboys died Sunday, a day after being put on life support with an undisclosed illness. He was 23.

Haywood died at the Medical Center of Arlington (Texas), hospital spokeswoman Diane Stout said.

“The cause of death at this time is unknown,” she told Associated Press. She said she didn’t know what Haywood was being treated for.

Haywood was taken to the hospital early Saturday after waking up feeling ill and vomiting, Iowa State director of media relations Tom Kroeschell told AP. Kroeschell said he got the information about the former Cyclone player from Coach Dan McCarney.

Haywood participated in the Cowboys’ three-day minicamp last week and was expected to compete for a roster spot at running back.

Haywood, an undrafted free agent, was on the Cowboys’ practice squad last season. He led the team in rushing in the exhibition season with 120 yards in 31 carries.

Haywood ranks fifth in career rushing at Iowa State with 2,862 yards and sixth in touchdowns with 27. As a senior, he rushed for 1,169 yards and 14 touchdowns to lead the Big 12.

Golf

David Toms did everything so well for 71 holes that he could have made a quintuple-bogey nine on the 18th hole and still have won the Wachovia Championship at Charlotte, N.C. He made an eight.

In a sloppy finish to an otherwise spectacular week, Toms won for the first time in nearly 20 months. On 18 he drove right into the trees, hit left into a hazard just short of a creek, laid up short of the green, then took four putts to get down from 45 feet.

Toms didn’t look anything like the player who had dominated a tough golf course, taking a five-shot lead into the final round and never letting anyone get closer than three strokes until the very end.

The bottom line was his 10-under 278, good enough for a two-stroke victory over Vijay Singh (68), Robert Gamez (70) and Brent Geiberger (69).

Rosie Jones shot a two-under-par 70 to win the Asahi Ryokuken International at North Augusta, S.C., ending a streak of 17 consecutive LPGA Tour victories by foreign-born players.

She is the first American winner since Meg Mallon won the Canadian Open last August.

Jones, who led after each round, finished at 15-under 273, three strokes ahead of Wendy Ward, who closed with a 70.

Hale Irwin recovered from a front-nine mental meltdown that included a ball tossed into a creek in anger and a whiff on a tap-in to win his first Champions Tour title of the season with a birdie on the second playoff hole of a playoff with Tom Watson.

Irwin and Watson both shot one-over 73 in the final round of the Kinko’s Classic at Austin, Texas, and finished at eight-under 208 after both birdied the 18th hole of regulation.

They parred No. 18, the first playoff hole, then headed back to the par-three 16th. Watson’s birdie attempt curled short by about two inches. Irwin then made an eight-foot putt for the win.

Annika Sorenstam won her final tournament before facing the men in the PGA Tour’s Colonial, closing with a four-under 68 for a nine-stroke victory in the Nichirei Cup at Tokyo.

Sorenstam finished with a 13-under 275 total. She will play in the Colonial on May 22-25 in Fort Worth.

Tennis

Justine Henin-Hardenne won the German Open in Berlin for the second year in a row with a performance that showcased her strength on clay courts. She fought off three match points to defeat Kim Clijsters, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, in an all-Belgian final.

The 2-hour 15-minute match ended when Clijsters hit a forehand long. She lost the last game at love after wasting three match points while leading, 5-4.

After winning her third title of the year, Henin-Hardenne withdrew from the Italian Open, which starts today in Rome. She said her left knee worsened as the match went on and she hopes the rest will help her before the start of the French Open in two weeks.

Motor Racing

Sebastien Bourdais won his second consecutive Champ Car race, holding off Mario Dominguez in the German 500 at Klettwitz.

Dominguez was unable to find a way around Bourdais on the 154th and final lap. They drove side by side through the final two turns, with Bourdais on the inside. Michel Jourdain Jr. finished third.

Dominguez was 0.084 seconds behind for his best finish since winning his first CART race last October. Jourdain finished 0.245 behind Bourdais before a crowd of 68,000 at the EuroSpeedway oval.

Miscellany

Anson Carter scored in overtime to give Canada a 3-2 victory over Sweden in the World Hockey Championships at Helsinki, Finland.

The New York Ranger winger swooped in from behind the net to slip the puck under Mikael Tellqvist’s pad 13:49 into the extra period.

The San Jose SaberCats clinched a first-round bye in the Arena Football League playoffs by beating the Tampa Bay Storm, 47-34, at Tampa, Fla. The win tied the SaberCats (11-4) with the Avengers, the Storm and the Orlando Predators for the best record in the league.... Andy Kelly threw nine touchdown passes to lead the Detroit Fury to a 76-52 victory over the Las Vegas Gladiators at Auburn Hills, Mich.... Aaron Garcia threw six touchdown passes and the New York Dragons clinched a playoff berth with a 59-30 victory over the Buffalo Destroyers at Buffalo, N.Y.... Raymond Philyaw threw seven touchdown passes to help the Indiana Firebirds beat the Grand Rapids Rampage, 71-68, at Grand Rapids, Mich. Clint Dolezel threw seven touchdown passes for the Rampage.... Sherdrick Bonner threw six touchdown passes -- four to Randy Gatewood -- in the Arizona Rattlers’ 56-44 victory over the Chicago Rush at Chicago.