Appleby Wins in Las Vegas

Stuart Appleby birdied the first playoff hole to beat Scott McCarron and win the Las Vegas Invitational Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory since 1999.

Appleby pumped his fist when he made the decisive 15-foot putt. McCarron had a chance to extend the playoff with a putt almost identical to Appleby’s, but his shot broke left and slid by the hole.

Appleby and McCarron were tied at 31-under 328 at the end of the tournament’s 90 holes. Both missed birdie putts on 18 that could have won them the tournament in regulation -- Appleby from about 16 feet and McCarron from about 12 feet.

Appleby, the leader going into the final round, shot a three-under 69 Sunday at the TPC Summerlin course. The win was his first since the Houston Open four years ago. McCarron closed with a six-under 66.

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Sophie Gustafson eagled the first hole and birdied eight others en route to an eight-under 64, then overcame a rules dispute regarding one of her putts to win the LPGA Samsung World Championship at The Woodlands, Texas.

Gustafson finished at 14-under 274, two shots better than third-round leader Rachel Teske and Beth Daniel.

Gustafson ran into a rules dilemma on the 14th green. After standing over a birdie putt, she backed off as the ball, on the edge of a slope, rolled on its own for several feet.

An LPGA official allowed her to play the ball from the new spot and she made par, prompting questions whether she should have been assessed a penalty.

After her round, she was taken to the NBC television truck where LPGA officials discussed her actions, reviewed a video of her play with her and determined she did nothing illegal.

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Hale Irwin shot a five-under 67 in the final round of the Turtle Bay Championship at Kahuku, Hawaii, becoming the first player on the Champions Tour to win an event four straight times and five times overall. He finished at eight-under 208, two strokes ahead of Tom Kite.

Jan Stephenson, the first woman to play on the Champions Tour, shot a final-round 78, her first day under 80, to finish at 242 -- 34 strokes back. She tied Bobby Mitchell for last place.

Tennis

Top-seeded Kim Clijsters retained her No. 1 ranking by rallying to defeat second-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Henin-Hardenne, ranked No. 2, was trying to move atop the WTA Tour rankings for the first time. Instead, Clijsters held on to the spot she took from Serena Williams in August.

Martina Navratilova will play for the U.S. in next month’s Fed Cup semifinals against Belgium in Moscow, Associated Press learned. Navratilova, who turns 47 Saturday, will be the oldest player ever to participate in the competition.

Her selection will be announced today by U.S. Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King, according to a U.S. Tennis Assn. Source.

Top-seeded Roger Federer won the CA Trophy at Vienna by beating second-seeded Carlos Moya, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. It’s his sixth title this year.... Second-seeded Rachel Kops-Jones of California defeated unseeded Erin Burdette of Stanford, 6-3, 6-2, to win the ITA All-American championship at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades.