Casey Makes History With Match-Play Rout

The guy in a red shirt and a swoosh turned in a record-setting performance to win the World Match Play Championship on Sunday, just as everyone expected.

Paul Casey said his choice of apparel was a coincidence.

A tournament that began with Tiger Woods going for his sixth straight victory ended with Casey capturing the richest prize in golf, sending him to the Ryder Cup with the biggest win of his career at Virginia Water, England.

Casey never trailed in his final 71 holes, winning the final five against Shaun Micheel for a 10-and-8 victory, the largest margin of the final match in the 43-year history of the HSBC World Match Play Championship.

No other golfer has made winning $1.88 million look so easy.

So dominant was Casey that he played only 126 holes, another record for fewest holes over four 36-hole matches. Ian Woosnam and Padraig Harrington each played 128 holes in 2001.

As for the red shirt?

“It wasn’t a conscious decision,” he said. “I thought it would look nice with the HSBC logo.”

Ben Curtis won a lame-duck tour event for the second time in three months by winning the 84 Lumber Classic by two shots at Farmington, Pa.

Curtis shot a two-under 70 to finish at 14-under 274 for his third tour title. He won the last Booz Allen Classic in June.

Charles Howell III shot a 72 to finish second.

Bob Gilder shot a seven-under 65, the lowest round of the day, to overcome a three-shot deficit and finish at 14 under to defend his Constellation Energy Classic title in the final year of the Champions Tour event at Hunt Valley, Md.

England’s Ian Poulter won the Madrid Masters for his first European tour title in two years, closing with a three-under 69 for a five-stroke at 22-under 266.

TENNIS

Italy Prevails After

Henin-Hardenne Quits

Italy won its first Fed Cup title, beating Belgium, 3-2, after Justine Henin-Hardenne was forced to stop because of knee pain during the deciding doubles match at Charleroi, Belgium.

The Italian duo of Francesca Schiavone and Roberta Vinci beat Henin-Hardenne and Kirsten Flipkens, 3-6, 6-2, 2-0.

Henin-Hardenne had given Belgium a 2-1 lead with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Schiavone in the first reverse singles. But Mara Santangelo beat Flipkens, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-0, to tie it 2-2.

Marcos Baghdatis won his first career ATP Tour title, defeating Mario Ancic, 6-4, 6-0, in the China Open at Beijing.

Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Marion Bartoli, 7-5, 6-2, for her third Wismilak International title at Bali, Indonesia.

Jurgen Melzer won his first ATP title, beating Filippo Volandri, 6-1, 7-5, in the final of the BCR Open at Bucharest, Romania.

HORSE RACING

Valenzuela Returns,

Prevails in Toronto

Pat Valenzuela’s return to racing was a winning one when the jockey guided Becrux to a neck victory over Rebel Rebel in the $1 million Woodbine Mile at Toronto.

Valenzuela has not ridden since July 16 while awaiting the result of a hair follicle test administered by the California Horse Racing Board earlier this month to determine whether he had used drugs in recent months.

Valenzuela replaced Corey Nakatani, who hurt his shoulder in a training accident.

MISCELLANY

May-Treanor, Walsh

Dominate to the End

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh continued their dominance of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, defeating Rachel Wacholder and Jennifer Boss, 21-14, 21-15, at the season-ending Best of the Beach tournament in South Lake Tahoe, Nev.

It was the 14th victory in 16 tournaments this season for May-Treanor and Walsh, who have won 36 consecutive AVP matches and the last seven tournaments.

In the men’s final, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser defeated Sean Scott and Dax Holdren, 20-22, 21-19, 15-9.

It was the eighth victory of the season for the pair, the most by a men’s team on the tour since Jose Loiola and Kent Steffes won 12 times in 1997.

Diana Taurasi scored 15 points and Tina Thompson added 12 to help the U.S. (4-0) overpower France, 76-41, in the second round of the Women’s World Basketball Championships at Barueri, Brazil. The U.S. plays the Czech Republic today.