GOLF
Park the best in Mexico
Inbee Park won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on Sunday, holding off Carlota Ciganda for her fifth victory of the season and 17th LPGA Tour title. The second-ranked South Korean star birdied the final two holes for a bogey-free 8-under 64 and a three-stroke victory over Ciganda in cloudy conditions at tree-lined Club de Golf Mexico. Ciganda shot a 63. The Spaniard eagled the par-5 second hole and had eight birdies and a bogey. Park finished at 18-under 270. She was making her first start since withdrawing in China two weeks ago because of a cyst on her left middle finger. Park took the lead from top-ranked Lydia Ko in the Vare Trophy standings for season scoring average and moved within three points of Ko in the player of the year standings. Park earned $200,000 and is second on the money list with $2,570,096. Ko skipped the tournament to rest for her title defense next week in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida. Amateur Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) finished at 5-over 293, good enough for a tie for 26th.
• Russell Knox had six birdies in 11 holes and was tied with Graeme McDowell when the fourth round of the rain-delayed OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico was suspended. McDowell birdied the par-5 13th before it was too dark to continue. Knox was on the 13th hole. They were at 19-under par. It will be the second consecutive week that a PGA Tour event went to Monday because of rain. That hasn't happened in 10 years. Knox won the HSBC Champions last week in Shanghai. He can become the first player since Camilo Villegas in 2008 to win his first two PGA Tour titles in successive weeks. Jason Bohn was at 17 under through 12 holes. Derek Fathauer, the 54-hole leader, was 1 over for the day and four shots back.
• Sweden's Kristoffer Broberg won the BMW Masters in Shanghai for his first European Tour title, beating American Patrick Reed with a 10-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff. Broberg closed with a 5-under 68 to match Reed (67) at 17-under 271 at Lake Malaren. Sweden's Henrik Stenson (68), South Korea's An Byeong-hun (70), Denmark's Lucas Bjerregaard (70) and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee (71) finished a stroke back. The event was the third of four in the European Tour's Finals Series. The DP World Tour Championship is next week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. John Daly (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 2-under 70 and finished in a tie for 46th place at 3 under.
MOTOR SPORTS
Worsham wins Funny Car
Del Worsham raced to his first Funny Car season title and went on to take the event victory Sunday in the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona, Calif. Worsham beat playoff rival Jack Beckman in the semifinals to secure the season title and join Kenny Bernstein and Gary Scelzi as the only driver to win championships in both nitro categories. Worsham, the 2011 Top Fuel champion, beat Tommy Johnson Jr. in the final round for his fourth victory of the season, 30th in Funny Car and 38th overall. "When I put this trophy next to my other one at home it will be real," Worsham said. "Every time I looked up there was a Schumacher car sitting there in my face. I was nervous about it. I was counting points. I am not going to tell you it was like any other race, because it wasn't. I know the points are the same as the first round at Charlotte, but the circumstances here were much greater." Worsham won the final with a 3.900-second run at 328.14 mph in a Toyota Camry. Andrew Hines won his second consecutive and fifth championship in Pro Stock Motorcycle when his closest rival, Jerry Savoie, lost in the second round. Shawn Langdon won the Top Fuel event, Allen Johnson topped the Pro Stock field, and Eddie Krawiec won in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Langdon outran season champion Antron Brown in the final with a 3.715 at 332.43, Johnson beat Vincent Nobile with a 6.541 at 210.18 in a Dodge Dart, and Krawiec topped Matt Smith with a 6.888 at 194.21 on a Harley-Davidson.
• Nico Rosberg won Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix, leading from start to finish to beat Mercedes teammate and already-crowned season champion Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg started from pole and won his second consecutive race -- his fifth victory of the season -- to clinch second place in the season standings with one race to run in Abu Dhabi. Rosberg and Hamilton spent the entire race 1-2, remaining that way through three pits stops. Hamilton turned some of the fastest laps near the end could not catch his teammate and rival. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finished third and teammate Kimi Raikkonen was fourth. The race at Interlagos was run on a dry day free of rain, which is often a feature of the Brazilian GP outside Sao Paulo.
TENNIS
Djokovic continues streak
Novak Djokovic stretched his winning streak to 15 consecutive at the ATP finals by beating Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-1 Sunday in London. The top-ranked Serb has not lost at the season-ending tournament at the O2 Arena since 2011. He has won three consecutive titles since then. Before the match, the ATP held a minute's silence for the victims of the Paris attacks. Nishikori beat Djokovic in the 2014 U.S. Open semifinals, but the 25-year-old Japanese player has lost to the 10-time Grand Slam champion four times since then. On Sunday, Djokovic lost only nine points on his serve and never faced a break point. With Nishikori serving, Djokovic won 30 of the 53 points. Djokovic is having the best season of his career. He reached the final at all four Grand Slam tournaments, winning three of them. His only loss in a major this year came in the French Open final, when Stan Wawrinka beat him in four sets. Besides his run at the ATP finals, Djokovic has won 38 consecutive matches indoors, a streak stretching back to 2012.
• Defending champion Czech Republic clinched its fourth Fed Cup title in five years after Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova won the decisive doubles Sunday against the Russian pair of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina. The Czechs rallied to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory to take the best-of-five series 3-2 on an indoor hard court at Prague's O2 Arena, where security was stepped up following the attacks in Paris. Earlier Sunday, Maria Sharapova came from a set down to beat Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the first reverse singles to give Russia a 2-1 lead. Pliskova kept the Czechs in the final by defeating Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-4 in the second reverse singles to level the match at 2-2. The Czechs broke the Russians in the opening game of the final set and again for 5-2 before Strycova served the match out. After Pavlyuchenkova hit the net with a backhand volley on the first match point, Strycova dropped to her knees, screaming in joy and prompting a noisy celebration. Following the 1993 split of Czechoslovakia, the Czechs won their first title as an independent nation in 2011 by beating Russia in Moscow, and retained the trophy in Prague the following year. They claimed their third Fed Cup title in four years last November by beating Germany in the final in Prague. Czechoslovakia won five times, including three consecutive from 1983-1985.
HORSE RACING
Sheriffa on top at Aqueduct
Sheriffa overcame a poor start Sunday to win the $125,000 New York Stallion Stakes for fillies and mares at Aqueduct. The 5-2 favorite quickly recovered from a late break to settle into fourth down the backstretch. She swung seven wide turning for home and rallied to beat Saythreehailmary's by one length. The time was 1:23.57 for seven furlongs. Ridden by Cornelio Velasquez and trained by Linda Rice, the 4-year-old improved to 3-1-0 in five starts this season. Sheriffa paid $7.60, $4.50 and $3.20. Saythreehailmary's returned $4.40 and $3.20 while Old Harbor paid $3.50 to show.
• A Fayette County judge in Lexington, Ky., said Keeneland can give Runhappy's $820,000 Breeder's Cup Sprint prize to Gallery Racing, the stable that owns the thoroughbred. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that fired trainer Maria Borell had asked the court to withhold $122,752. That's the amount she says the Houston-based stable owned by Jim and Linda McIngvale owes her. Borell was fired the day after Runhappy won the race. She filed the suit on Monday, claiming she had an oral agreement that included 10 percent of the stable's share of purses won by horses she trained. Circuit Court Judge James Ishmael Jr. ruled Friday that he had no power to require Keeneland to set aside the disputed winnings. Borell is suing for breach of contract and defamation by the colt's owners.
Sports on 11/16/2015