Sebastian Vettel wins in South Korea, has points lead

With a third consecutive victory, Sebastian Vettel is suddenly closing in on a third consecutive Formula One title.

The Red Bull driver won the Korean Grand Prix at Yeongam, South Korea, on Sunday to move ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the F1 championship standings by six points with four races remaining — erasing what looked like a commanding lead for the Spaniard only three weeks ago.

Vettel started second on the grid behind Mark Webber but overtook his teammate on the first turn and never relinquished the lead, finishing 8.2 seconds ahead of Webber. Alonso was third, 13.9 seconds off the pace.

Vettel, who also won the previous races in Singapore and Japan, now looks to be the favorite for a third straight championship title — something previously achieved only by Juan-Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

::

NBC Sports Group signed a four-year deal with Formula One for the exclusive U.S. media rights to the motorsports series.

The deal, which begins next season, will provide more than 100 hours of programming across NBC and cable channel NBC Sports Network.

ETC.

Blixt wins Frys.com Open

Sweden’s Jonas Blixt won the Frys.com Open for his first PGA Tour title, holing a four-foot par putt on the final hole for a one-stroke victory at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif.

Blixt became the third PGA Tour rookie to win this season, closing with a three-under 68 for a 16-under 268 total. He earned $900,000 in the Fall Series event.

Tim Petrovic and Jason Kokrak tied for second. Petrovic had a 64, and Kokrak shot a 68.

Third-round leader John Mallinger had a 72 to tie for fourth at 14 under with Jimmy Walker, Vijay Singh and Alexandre Rocha. Walker closed with a 62, and Singh and Rocha shot 68.

Blixt birdied the par-five 15th and par-four 17th to pull ahead.

::

Inbee Park rallied to win the LPGA Malaysia for her second victory of the year, closing with a four-under 67 to beat fellow South Korean player Na Yeon Choi by two strokes at Kuala Lumpur.

Park finished at 15-under 269 at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club to match the tournament record in the event that started in 2010. She earned $285,000 to push her tour-leading total to $1,954,608.

Australia’s Karrie Webb shot a 68 to finish third at 12 under.

::

Fred Funk won the Greater Hickory Classic for his second Champions Tour title of the year and eighth overall, holing a two-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Duffy Waldorf by a stroke at Conover, N.C.

The 56-year-old Funk closed with a three-under 69 on Rock Barn’s Jones Course to finish at 15-under 201. He also won eight times on the PGA Tour.

Waldorf finished with a 66.

::

Ireland’s Shane Lowry won the Portugal Masters for his second European Tour victory, finishing with a five-under 66 to beat England’s Ross Fisher by a stroke at Vilamoura.

Lowry finished at 14-under 270 at Oceanico Victoria.

Fisher shot a 70.

::

Erlana Larkins had 16 points and 15 rebounds, and the Indiana Fever stunned defending champion Minnesota with a 76-70 victory over the host Lynx in Game 1 of the WNBA finals.

Seimone Augustus scored 23 points for the Lynx, who are looking to become the WNBA’s first repeat champion in 10 years. Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Wednesday night in Minneapolis.

::

Novak Djokovic saved five match points in the second set before outlasting two-time defending champion Andy Murray, 5-7, 7-6 (11), 6-3, in the Shanghai Masters final.

::

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka won her sixth WTA title of the season by beating Julia Goerges, 6-3, 6-4, in the Generali Ladies at Linz, Austria.

::

A Pittsburgh Steelers rookie defensive lineman was arrested early Sunday on charges of leading police on a chase while driving drunk and crashing into parked cars, injuring a woman, authorities said.

Alameda Ta’amu, 22, of Kent, Wash., was driving a sport utility vehicle the wrong way on Pittsburgh’s South Side about 2:30 a.m., police said. The 6-foot-3, 348-pound Ta’amu fled officers and crashed into four parked cars, injuring a woman, then tried to flee on foot before he was restrained by four officers and arrested, police said.

Charges against him include felony fleeing police, aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle, as well as misdemeanor accident causing damage, resisting arrest, escape and DUI charges, along with summary counts, according to court records.