Kim surpasses Woods in win

Knee surgery kept Tiger Woods from defending his Wachovia Championship. Anthony Kim didn’t disappoint and won with Tiger-like flair.

Kim, 22, became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour in six years Sunday, shooting a three-under-par 69 in a five-shot win over Ben Curtis at Charlotte, N.C.

Kim dominated a star-studded field by finishing with a 16-under 272 total, three shots better than the previous tournament record held by Woods.

Kim earned $1.13 million and became the youngest winner since Sergio Garcia won his third PGA Tour title in the 2002 Mercedes Championship.

Jim Furyk (seven under) and Phil Mickelson (five under) shot 72s. Vijay Singh (four under) shot a 74.

A week after losing to Annika Sorenstam in a playoff, Paula Creamer squandered a lead by bogeying the 18th hole and finished at two-under 282 before beating Juli Inkster on the second playoff hole with an eight-foot birdie putt in the SemGroup Championship at Broken Arrow, Okla.

Going for a record-tying fifth straight victory, Lorena Ochoa closed with a two-under 69 to tie for fifth.

Zimbabwe’s Denis Watson birdied the final hole and closed with a three-under 69 to finish at 10 under to win the FedEx Kinko’s Classic, taking advantage of countryman Nick Price’s watery double bogeys on 15 and 16 at Lakeway, Texas.

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TENNIS

Nadal earns fourth

straight Barcelona title

Rafael Nadal won his fourth straight Barcelona Open with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 victory over second-seeded David Ferrer in Spain.

Fernando Gonzalez won his 10th title at the BMW Open by beating Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-3, at Munich, Germany. . . . Gisela Dulko won her third title by beating top-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), in the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem at Fez, Morocco.

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PRO FOOTBALL

Benson is arrested

in boating incident

Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson, 25, was charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest and had to be pepper-sprayed and dragged ashore by officers in Austin, Texas. The charges are both misdemeanors, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Former USC tight end Fred Davis, a second-round pick of the Washington Redskins, did not show up for minicamp practice, having overslept on his third day in the NFL.

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MOTOR RACING

Force reaches 1,000

victories in rounds

John Force solidified his spot as the most prolific funny car driver in NHRA history, becoming the first to reach 1,000 round wins with a first-round victory over Ron Capps in the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Madison, Ill.

Force, who has 125 titles, was beaten in the next round by teammate Robert Hight.

Tim Wilkerson denied one of John Force Racing’s other drivers, Mike Neff, his first career win. Wilkerson earned his second victory of the season and seventh of his career by going 317.27 mph in 4.874 seconds to Neff’s 4.886 at 321.58.

Nick Joanides won both NASCAR ACDelco Super Late Model 40 lap twin feature races at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale on Saturday night for his third and fourth division victories of the season.

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HOCKEY

Rangers’ Avery is released from hospital

Rangers forward Sean Avery was released from a New York hospital, five days after suffering a season-ending spleen injury in a playoff game.

Phil Kessel had a hat trick and the U.S. beat Slovenia, 5-1, in a preliminary-round game of the world championships at Halifax, Nova Scotia.