Singh Wins in Canada for Seventh Title of Year

Already No. 1 in the world, Vijay Singh felt like Public Enemy No. 1 in Canada.

Any other time, the crowd of about 40,000 at the Canadian Open at Oakville would have been thrilled to see the world’s best player overcome a sore left knee and a three-shot deficit to make birdie on the final hole and win in a playoff.

Just not Sunday.

Not with Mike Weir on the cusp of becoming the first Canadian in 50 years to win his national title -- on the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Open, no less.

“I feel for Mike,” Singh said. “That was the one person I didn’t want to beat.”

In some respects, Weir beat himself.

Three times he stood over a putt to win the tournament -- a 10-foot birdie on the 72nd hole, a 25-foot eagle on the 18th hole in the playoff and a five-foot try for par at No. 17 on the second extra hole. He missed them all.

Weir ran out of chances, driving into the rough on the par-five 18th, laying up and then hitting his approach into the water on the third playoff hole.

Weir shot a 72, his only round over par in the tournament. He and Singh each finished at nine-under 275.

“The level of pressure was right there with Augusta,” said Weir, who became Canada’s first major champion last year at the Masters. “It was me who didn’t get it done. I just didn’t have anything falling my way the last few days.”

Singh, who blistered tee shots on the 18th all three times, only had to three-putt from the fringe to win for the seventh time this season and put a stamp on a No. 1 ranking he has held for a week.

Singh closed with a 69 and joined Tiger Woods (twice), Jack Nicklaus (twice), Tom Watson and Johnny Miller as the only players to have won at least seven times in one year since 1970.

Singh earned $810,000 on Sunday, leaving him just short of $8.7 million this season. Woods owns the season record with $9.1 million.

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Annika Sorenstam won her fifth LPGA Tour event this year and 53rd of her career, closing with a one-under 70 for a four-shot victory in the John Q. Hammons Classic at Broken Arrow, Okla.

Sorenstam had three birdies and a bogey in the final round for a nine-under 204. Shi Hyun Ahn closed with a 69 and finished second at five-under 208.

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Bruce Summerhays overcame a six-stroke deficit with a birdie on the 18th hole to win the Kroger Classic at Maineville, Ohio, by one stroke over defending champion Gil Morgan, Jim Thorpe and Doug Tewell.

Summerhays prevailed over second-round leader Tewell with an eight-under 64 to finish at 15-under 201. Tewell shot a one-under 71, and Thorpe and Morgan each shot a six-under 66.

Motor Racing

Patrick Carpentier took the lead when Michel Jourdain Jr. made a pit stop on Lap 41 and won the Grand Prix of Monterey, which was shortened from its scheduled 80 laps on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road circuit to 79 by Champ Car’s 1-hour 45-minute time limit for road races.

Bruno Junqueira finished second to Carpentier for the second year in a row and cut Sebastien Bourdais’ series lead from 35 points to 24 with three races remaining.

Adrian Fernandez refused to give Bryan Herta any room as they raced to the finish line of the Indy Racing League’s Delphi Indy 300 at Joliet, Ill., crossing the finish line 0.0716 seconds ahead to get his second victory this season.

Rubens Barrichello won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, overcoming an unscheduled early pit stop to finish ahead of world champion Michael Schumacher in a 1-2 showing by Ferrari on its home track.

Miscellany

Triple jumper Christian Olsson of Sweden and 400-meter runner Tonique Williams-Darling of the Bahamas split the $1-million jackpot by winning at Berlin in the season’s last Golden League track meet.

The jackpot goes to athletes who win their events at all six Golden League meets.

Olsson, the Olympic champion, jumped 57 feet 3 inches. Williams-Darling, also an Olympic champion, needed the fastest time in the world this year, 49.07, to hold off Ana Guevara of Mexico, who finished in 49.53.

Craig Alexander of Australia passed Matt Reed of the U.S. in the final two miles of the run course to win the men’s division of the City of Los Angeles Triathlon. Alexander finished in 1:49:05 and Reed in 1:49:34.

Emma Snowsill of Australia dominated the women’s race, winning in 2:05:39.

Goalie Martin Brodeur, who sat out Canada’s World Cup of Hockey semifinal victory over the Czech Republic on Saturday because of a sprained left wrist, said he hopes to practice today and play in Tuesday’s title game against Finland. Brodeur said pain prevented him from practicing Sunday at Toronto.

If Brodeur can’t play, Roberto Luongo probably will start. Luongo made 37 saves in Canada’s 4-3 victory over the Czechs.

The USC men’s basketball team has received commitments from Sead Odzic, a 6-foot-3 guard from Niles West High in Skokie, Ill., and Michael Freeman, a 6-8 power forward from Hayfield High in Alexandria, Va. They can make their commitments official when the early signing period begins Nov. 10

Shezsospiritual, ridden by Omar Figueroa, won the $60,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona. Victory Encounter finished second at 4-5. Shezsospiritual paid $20.60 for $2 as she won for the sixth time in 23 starts.

Olympic gold-medal winners Misty May and Kerri Walsh defeated Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs, 22-20, 21-17, Saturday in the women’s final of the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ Aquafina Shootout at Las Vegas. Karch Kiraly and Mike Lambert defeated Eric Fonoimoana and Kevin Wong, 13-21, 21-15, 15-10, in the men’s final.