Europe wins first Solheim Cup since 2003

Europe won the Solheim Cup for the first time since 2003 on Sunday, finishing powerfully to beat the United States, 15-13, at Killeen Castle in Dunsany, Ireland.

Norway’s Suzann Pettersen turned the momentum Europe’s way when she recovered from 1 down with birdies on the last three holes to beat Michelle Wie by one hole.

Her win left Europe needing only one point from the last two singles to win the trophy, but the side captained by Alison Nicholas did even better.

Caroline Hedwall of the Netherlands — 2 down with two holes to play — earned a crucial halved match to give Europe a 14-13 lead when rookie Ryann O’Toole bogeyed the 17th and 18th.

Spain’s Azahara Munoz birdied the 17th in the final singles to go 1 up on Angela Stanford and guarantee Europe’s victory before closing out a one-hole win at the last.

Tiger Woods hired Joe LaCava to be his third full-time caddie.

LaCava decided to leave Dustin Johnson, one of the most talented young Americans, to go to work for the former world No. 1.

ETC.

SEC welcomes Texas A&M

Texas A&M is set to join the Southeastern Conference, the league said Sunday, possibly signaling legal hurdles have been cleared for the Aggies to leave the Big 12.

The SEC announced that the move will be effective next July and said Texas A&M will participate in all sports during the 2012-13 academic year. That gives the SEC 13 members and its first addition since South Carolina and Arkansas in 1992.

The Aggies’ defection from the Big 12 had been held up by the possibility of legal action from Baylor and other members. The statement released by the SEC did not mention that situation, and spokesman Charles Bloom said he could not comment.

Sebastian Vettel won the Singapore Grand Prix, but the Red Bull driver will have to wait a little longer to clinch his second Formula One world championship.

The German led throughout from the pole position and finished 1.7 seconds ahead of fast-finishing McLaren driver Jenson Button, with Red Bull’s Mark Webber third.

Vettel leads the drivers’ championship by 124 points with five races left and is virtually certain to take consecutive titles. To prevent that from happening, second-place Button would need to win every race while Vettel fails to gain any points. Vettel has 309 points, with Button at 185.

Cruz Pedregon raced to his first win of the season and moved into third in the funny car point standings in the NHRA Fall Nationals at Ennis, Texas.

Bob Vandergriff, Jason Line and Michael Phillips also won their divisions at Texas Motorplex in the second of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Pedregon made a pass of 4.200 seconds at 302.48 mph to beat Ron Capps in the final, earning his 29th career win and moving seven points behind leader Mike Neff.

In top fuel, Vandergriff defeated hometown favorite Spencer Massey; Line beat Kurt Johnson in pro stock; and Phillips held off Hector Arana Jr., in pro stock motorcycle.

Patrick Makau of Kenya broke the world record to win the Berlin Marathon.

Makau pulled away after 16.8 miles and finished in 2 hours 3 minutes 38 seconds.

American Cameron Dye edged out event favorite and three-time champion Greg Bennett to win the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon with a time of 1:46:34, the second-best course time ever recorded. Bennett owns the 1:46:04 course record.

The Czech Republic’s Filip Ospaly finished third in 1:49:45; Stuart Hayes of Britain came in fourth, 1:51:07, with Fraser Cartmell of Britain rounding out the top five with 1:52:13.

In the women’s race, Sweden’s Lisa Norden made it three in a row, winning easily with a course record 1:57:16. Jodie Stimpson of Britain finished second with a 2:01:10; Jillian Peterson of the U.S. came in third at 2:01:27; Annabel Luxford of Australia was fourth at 2:02:12; and American Sara McLarty was fifth at 2:03:00.

The winners each received $10,000 plus jackets from the Dodgers.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, in the final of the Moselle Open at Metz, France.