Mike Matheny hired by Cardinals as manager

The St. Louis Cardinals are replacing a manager who’s third on the career victory list with a man who’ll be writing his first lineup card on opening day.

Mike Matheny, a former catcher with the Cardinals who had been a minor league instructor, will be introduced as Tony La Russa’s successor at a news conference Monday.

Matheny, 40, played for St. Louis from 2000 to 2004 and won three of his four Gold Gloves there. He became a team leader playing for La Russa, who retired after leading the Cardinals to their second World Series title in his 16 seasons with the team.

Matheny was one of six men the Cardinals interviewed to replace La Russa.

ETC.

Matthew wins in Mexico

Catriona Matthew won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational for her fourth career LPGA Tour title, closing with a one-under-par 71 for a four-stroke victory in the 36-player event at Guadalajara.

Matthew, the 42-year-old Scot whose last victory came in the 2009 Women’s British Open, had a 12-under 276 total and earned $200,000.

Anna Nordqvist and 2010 winner I.K. Kim were tied in second place. They each shot 71.

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Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won the rain-delayed Singapore Open on Monday, beating Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff.

After tying at 14-under 199 on Sunday after the third and final round, Pagunsan and Fernandez-Castano teed off on the playoff hole before play was suspended for 90 minutes because of rain and the threat of lightning. The storm let up briefly, allowing the players to hit one more shot before more rain stopped play for good.

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The loudest cheers were for Tiger Woods. The Australian Open belonged to Greg Chalmers.

Chalmers won his national championship for the second time, closing with a three-under 69 to hold off a late charge by Woods and a 50-foot birdie putt by John Senden that nearly forced a playoff.

Chalmers finished at 13-under 275. Senden shot a 72, and Woods had a 67 to finish third, two strokes behind Chalmers.

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Kings forward Dustin Penner, who suffered a hand injury Thursday against Vancouver, was put on the injured reverse list. The move is retroactive to Nov. 10. Penner has two assists in 14 games.

—Lisa Dillman

Roger Federer’s tough season is ending on a high note after the Swiss star beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-1, 7-6 (3), to win his first Paris Masters title and his 69th title.

The 16-time Grand Slam event champion had never reached the Paris final but gave the sixth-seeded Frenchman few opportunities after saving two break points in his opening service game.

The former No. 1-ranked player will end the season without a Grand Slam event title for the first time since 2002, and his ranking has dropped to No. 4. But Federer has rallied of late, winning the Swiss Indoors just before arriving in Paris.

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Lewis Hamilton showed signs of his old self as he stormed to victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates, after Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel retired on the first lap.

Vettel’s Red Bull picked up a right rear puncture and spun off at Turn 2. The German driver made it to the pits, but the damage was too great for him to continue and he retired for the first time this season.

Hamilton, the 2008 champion, took over the lead and finished 8.4 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso for his third win of the season. Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button was third.