Off the wire

Charlie Beljan (left) celebrates with his wife Merisa and son Graham following Beljan’s PGA Tour victory Sunday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Charlie Beljan (left) celebrates with his wife Merisa and son Graham following Beljan’s PGA Tour victory Sunday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

— GOLF

Beljan wins

Charlie Beljan felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest Sunday at Disney, and he couldn’t have felt better. This wasn’t another panic attack gone wild, like the one that sent him to the hospital in an ambulance after the second round and made him feel like he was going to die. This was the prospect of winning on the PGA Tour for the first time. Two days after he was wheeled out of the scoring room on a stretcher, the 28-year-old rookie was celebrating on the 18th green as the band played “Zippity-Do-Dah.” He arrived at the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., with his job in jeopardy, and left with a two-year exemption that will send him to Maui at the start of the year, the PGA Championship at Oak Hill and lots of other tournaments where winners belong. “Every day I drove underneath that Disney sign coming in here that said, ‘Where dreams come true,’ and that’s just what happened this week,” Beljan said after closing with a 3-underpar 69 for a two-shot victory. “And I’m so grateful and so honored.” By the sound of it, he was lucky to be playing. Beljan could hardly breathe and his blood pressure spiked during his second round, when paramedics followed him around the back nine. After sleeping for only an hour or so in the hospital after a variety of tests, he played Saturday fearful of having another panic attack. And when he awoke Sunday morning, his head was throbbing and his stomach felt queasy. Once he got on the golf course, the rest was easy. Beljan ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn, twice knocking in putts from around 30 feet, and built a five-shot lead. A double bogey made it close, but only until he made birdie on the next hole. He tapped in one last putt, tossed his putter to the side of the green, pumped his fist in celebration and hoisted his 7-week-old son. Robert Garrigus and Matt Every each closed with a 68 and tied for second. Just three weeks ago, he feared he would have to go to the second stage of Q-school, no guarantee that he would have a tour card for next year. Suddenly, he can make plans for the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, for events hosted by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Beljan finished on 16-under 272 and became the fourth rookie to win on tour this year. Tim Herron was the other big winner Sunday, closing with a 69 to tie for ninth. That gave him enough money to move from No. 138 to No. 124 on the money list, giving him his full card for the 2013 season. Kevin Chappell finished at No. 125. He wound up $1,809 ahead of Jerry Kelly, but Chappell wasn’t safe until Charlie Wi and Josh Teater each made par on the last hole. If either had made bogey, Kelly would have moved up one position - from a six-way tie for ninth to a seven-way tie for eighth - that would have allowed him to pass Chappell. Beljan earned $846,000 for the victory, capping a long, hectic season in which he learned he was going to be a father, got married in March and first began suffering panic attacks after he passed out on a flight home from the Reno-Tahoe Open in early August. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) shot a 72 and finished 6-under 282, earning $16,046.

Matteo Manassero holed a 12-foot putt for eagle to beat Louis Oosthuizen on the third playoff hole and win the Singapore Open on Sunday. The 19-year-old Italian became the first teenager to win three titles on the European Tour. Oosthuizen and Manassero both finished at 13-under 271 in regulation. The South African had seven birdies and three bogeys to card a 67 in the final round, while Manassero, the third-round leader,had three birdies in a round of 69. Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, barely missed a 4-foot putt for the title on the second playoff hole, covering his mouth in disbelief after it lipped out. Rory McIlroy finished in third place at 10 under, guaranteeing he will win the European Tour money title. He becomes the second golfer after Luke Donald last year to win both the PGA Tour and European money titles in the same season.

TENNIS

Federer, Djokovic advance

As usual, Roger Federer is looking to add to one of his many records. And as many expected, Novak Djokovic will be trying to stop him. The top two players in the world advanced to the championship match at the ATP finals in London, each looking beatable early before turning things around.Federer, a six-time champion at the season-ending event, advanced by beating U.S. Open champion Andy Murray 7-6 (5), 6-2. The top-ranked Djokovic defeated Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The ATP finals is the last tournament of the season, and Federer will face Djokovic in the final match today at the O2 Arena.

BASKETBALL

Cousins suspended

The NBA has suspended Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins for two games without pay for confronting San Antonio announcer Sean Elliott in a hostile manner. The exchange followed the Spurs’ 97-86 victory in Sacramento on Friday night. Cousins will lose about $70,500 of his $3.9 million salary. Cousins sat out Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers and will miss Tuesday’s game against Portland. Elliott was a longtime Spurs player who is the team’s primary TV analyst.

HOCKEY

No progress made

As quickly as NHL labor negotiations got going again, they came to a screeching halt. Now there is no telling when the league and the players will return to the bargaining table. After a one-day break following a series of formal discussions this week, the sides got back to business on Sunday. Less than 90 minutes after talks solely about player-contract issues started, they were over. The players contend the NHL has dug in on its position and is not willing to negotiate. “The owners made it clear there is no give with respect to their proposals unless the players are willing to take them - this is my phrase, not theirs - down to the comma, then there is nothing to do, that we’re past the point of give and take,” players’ association executive director Donald Fehr said. No new plans to talk were made, but Monday wasn’t ruled out. The sides will be in touch, and if they do decide to meet then, those talks will take place in Toronto where leaders from the NHL and the players’ association will be to attend Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Getting together hasn’t been a problem recently once tensions thawed a bit after both sides rejected proposals Oct. 18. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly met with union special counsel Steve Fehr last weekend, and that led to four consecutive days of talks this week in New York that ended on a sour note Friday night. Donald Fehr and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also took part in Sunday’s brief discussions. Daly, Steve Fehr and Los Angeles Kings forward Kevin Westgarth got together for an informal lunch meeting on Saturday in New York, and the sides made plans Sunday morning to meet again at the NHL’s Manhattan office. They just couldn’t get any traction on the hotly contested issues involving player contract terms. The NHL wants to limit contracts to five years, make rules to prohibit back-diving contracts the league feels circumvents the salary cap, keep players ineligible for unrestricted free agency until they are 28 or have eight years of professional service time, cut entry level deals to two years, and make salary arbitration after five years. Daly said Sunday that owners have conveyed the message to him that these issues are of vital importance in a new deal. While there could be room to negotiate within the framework, the bottom line on these issues remains the same.

Sports, Pages 16 on 11/12/2012

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