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Sorenstam misses cut in final event

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staff and wire reports

Annika Sorenstam’s storied LPGA tour career is over.

The 72-time tour winner shot a three-over-par 75 on Friday at the ADT Championship, leaving her five over through two rounds of the LPGA’s season-ending event at West Palm Beach, Fla.

Only 16 players advanced to the third round in the 32-woman event, and Sorenstam finished two shots out of that mix.

She announced six months ago she was leaving the tour at year’s end to pursue business interests, get married and start a family.

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“All of a sudden, the time is here,” Sorenstam said. “You’re standing there on the 18th fairway and it’s your last approach shot in an LPGA event. A lot of thoughts go through your head . . . and what’s been the coolest thing this week is all these people who showed up that I don’t know, my fans.”

After her round, an LPGA official told Sorenstam that she needed to submit to a random drug test, which Sorenstam said was her second in recent weeks.

“I really don’t know what’s going on,” Sorenstam said. “They’re not going to let me go [away].”

Sorenstam isn’t walking away from the game quite yet. She’ll arrive in Singapore on Monday for the Lexus Cup and will play the Dubai Ladies Masters in three weeks.

Katherine Hull shot 71 to get to five under, making her the leader after two rounds, a fact that will be completely irrelevant this morning. The scorecards of the surviving 16 all get erased for the third round, and will again when the final eight play Sunday.

BASEBALL

Marlins’ ballpark plan back on track

A key legal obstacle was removed for a new downtown Florida Marlins stadium in Miami, and the team will now determine whether the ballpark can open for the 2011 season.

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Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen issued formal, final orders ending a lawsuit filed by auto dealer Norman Braman.

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Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is ready to help Japan defend its title at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. “I’ll accept the offer if I’m asked to play,” said Matsuzaka, the most valuable player of the 2006 tournament. . . . Former major league All-Star Tim Raines signed a two-year contract to manage the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League.

SOCCER

UCLA, USC meet in women’s playoffs

Top-seeded UCLA (20-0-2) faces No. 4-seeded USC (16-4-2) in an NCAA tournament round-of-16 women’s soccer game tonight at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

It’s a rematch of last year’s College Cup semifinal won by USC, 2-1. And it’s another meeting between two teams that attracted a series-record crowd of 7,804 to the Coliseum on Oct. 24 for a Pacific 10 Conference game that UCLA won, 2-1.

USC has never defeated the Bruins in Westwood, going 0-11. The match begins at 6:30.

-- Eric Sondheimer

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The UCLA men’s soccer team lost to Cal Poly, 1-0, in an opening-round game in the NCAA tournament at Drake Stadium. Ryan Anderson scored the only goal for Cal Poly (11-5-6). The Bruins finished 10-5-6. . . . The U.S. men’s national team will open its 2009 schedule with an exhibition game against Sweden on Jan. 24 at the Home Depot Center.

ETC.

Spain, Argentina tied at Davis Cup

Feliciano Lopez upset Juan Martin del Potro, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 6-3, allowing Spain to escape the first day of the Davis Cup final tied, 1-1, with Argentina at Mar Del Plata, Argentina. David Nalbandian brushed aside David Ferrer, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, in the opening singles.

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Duane Cooper has been hired on an interim basis to coach the Compton Dominguez High boys’ basketball team while the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigates an unspecified allegation of criminal misconduct against Russell Otis, who is on paid administrative leave. Cooper is a former USC standout who spent two seasons in the NBA with the Lakers and Phoenix Suns.

-- Ben Bolch

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L.A. City Council member Tom LaBonge will host a memorial service Sunday for Milt Davis, a Los Angeles teacher/coach and All-Pro defensive back who started for the winning Baltimore Colts in the 1958 NFL championship game. Davis, who earned his doctorate in education and played football at UCLA, died of cancer on Sept. 29 at his Oregon home. The memorial will be at 2 p.m. at the James West Center at UCLA. . . . Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber suffered multiple fractures to his arms and legs after being hit by a car while on a bike during a charity multi-sport race at Hobart, Australia, according to reports. . . . The Olympic movement is on sound financial footing but must hold down the size and cost of the Games to cope with the global economic downturn, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said. . . . Michael Vick put family pets in rings with pit bulls and thought it was funny watching the trained killers injure or kill the helpless dogs, a witness told federal investigators during the dogfighting investigation that brought Vick down. . . . Reigning horse of the rear Curlin will stand at stud next year at Lane’s End, a horse farm in Versailles, Ky. Curlin will command a stud fee of $75,000 his opening year.

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