Lexi Thompson wins LPGA Tour event at age 16

At 16, Lexi Thompson became the youngest player to win an LPGA Tour event.

The Floridian closed with a two-under-par 70 on Sunday to win the Navistar LPGA Classic at Prattville, Ala., beating Tiffany Joh by five strokes and finishing at 17-under 271.

Thompson shattered the age record for winning a multiple-round tournament held by Paula Creamer, who won in 2005 at 18.

The victory brought a piece of history and $195,000.

“This has been my dream, like, my whole life,” said Thompson, who turned 16 in February. “It’s the best feeling ever.”

::

Tiger Woods was among the winners after the BMW Championship, even though he didn’t play.

Woods slipped to No. 49 in the world rankings Sunday, and because he is in the top 50, he will be eligible for the Chevron World Challenge, the tournament he hosts at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks in December.

Jay Don Blake beat John Cook on the fifth playoff hole to win the Songdo IBD Championship at Incheon, South Korea, for his first Champions Tour victory.

The two Americans shot 68s in the final round to finish at 13-under 203 with Mark O’Meara and Peter Senior. O’Meara and Senior were eliminated from the playoff after bogeys on the third hole.

ETC.

Spain wins European basketball championship

Juan Carlos Navarro stole the spotlight from what was supposed to be a big matchup between Pau Gasol and Tony Parker, leading Spain to its second consecutive European basketball championship.

Navarro scored 27 points, leading Spain to a 98-85 victory over France in the final at Kaunas, Lithuania.

The Lakers’ Gasol chipped in with a double-double, adding 17 points and 10 rebounds for Spain.

Scott Dixon won the Indy Japan 300 from the pole at Motegi and Will Power finished second and took the points lead from Dario Franchitti, whose uncharacteristic slip-up helped set up a reprisal of last year’s tight title race going into the final two events.

Team Penske’s Power moved into first place in the standings with 542 points, 11 ahead of Franchitti, who finished eighth after being penalized for hitting Ryan Briscoe’s car on the 26th lap.

Matt Hagan backed up his record-setting run by beating points leader Mike Neff in the funny car final for his first victory of the season in the NHRA Nationals at Concord, N.C.

Antron Brown (top fuel), Kurt Johnson (pro stock) and Eddie Krawiec (pro stock motorcycle) also won in their respective categories in the first event of NHRA’s six-race playoff to determine the world championships.

On Friday, Hagan recorded the fastest-ever funny car run, 3.995 seconds.

Novak Djokovic’s ailing back didn’t hold up, meaning Rafael Nadal won’t have to face his main nemesis in this year’s Davis Cup final.

Djokovic tried to help Serbia stage a comeback in its semifinal against Argentina despite a lingering back problem but had to retire when trailing, 7-6 (5), 3-0, against Juan Martin del Potro. That sent Argentina into the final against Spain, which advanced after Nadal routed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4, on clay.