Pettersson Gets First Tour Victory

Carl Pettersson steadied his nerves and his swing down the stretch Sunday, saving par with a tough chip on the 15th hole and a clutch putt on the 16th for an even-par 71 to win the Chrysler Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla., for his first PGA Tour victory.

Chad Campbell made five birdies on the back nine, including a 12-foot putt that swirled into the cup on the 18th hole for a 67 that left Pettersson no room for error.

Leading by one shot, Pettersson found the middle of the fairway and hit his approach 20 feet of the cup. Trying to nestle the ball close to the hole, he ran it three feet by, but made that for par and the $954,000 prize.

Pettersson, born in Sweden and reared in North Carolina, finished at nine-under-par 275. Campbell finished second, one stroke behind.

Steve Lowery, who started the final round tied with Pettersson at nine under, had a triple bogey on the par-three No. 8 and never recovered. He finished tied for seventh.

Tom Watson rallied from a six-shot deficit with an eight-under 64 to win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season-ending event on the Champions Tour, at Sonoma, Calif.

Watson surged up the leaderboard as third-round leader Jay Haas struggled, finishing at 16-under 272 for his second win of the year and eighth tour victory.

Jee Young Lee won her first LPGA Tour title, closing with a one-over 73 for a three-shot victory in the CJ Nine Bridges Classic at Jeju, South Korea.

Lee led all three rounds and finished at five-under 211 to easily beat Mi-Hyun Kim (73) and Carin Koch (71), who tied for second.

Lee became the fourth South Korean in four years to win the tournament. Defending champion Grace Park had a 70 and tied for sixth at even-par 216.

Colin Montgomerie shot a three-over 74 and finished in a three-way tie for third in the Volvo Masters in Sotogrande, Spain, and won his record eighth money title on the European tour.

Paul McGinley closed with a four-under 67 at Valderrama for a two-shot victory over Sergio Garcia, his first victory this year. He finished at 10-under 274.

David Branshaw hit an approach to two feet for eagle on the par-five 17th hole to win the Nationwide Tour Championship in Prattville, Ala., and join 20 other players who earned PGA Tour cards for 2006.

TENNIS

Victory in France Gives Roddick 20th ATP Title

Top-seeded Andy Roddick defeated Gael Monfils, 6-3, 6-2, to win the Lyon Grand Prix, completing the tournament in France without dropping serve.

Roddick, who has 20 ATP titles, defeated a 19-year-old opponent appearing in his third ATP final.

Roddick broke in the fourth game of the final, and dropped only two points on serve in the first set.

In the second set, Roddick broke Monfils in the first and fifth games and saved the only two break points he faced.

Top-seeded Kim Clijsters won her ninth title this year, defeating third-seeded Francesca Schiavone, 6-2, 6-3, in the Gaz de France Stars final in front of a home crowd at Hasselt, Belgium.

Clijsters, who sat out much of last season because of a wrist injury, did not lose a set in the tournament. It was her 30th title.

Clijsters, ranked No. 2 behind Lindsay Davenport, will be among the favorites in the WTA Tour Championship that begins next week in Staples Center. Clijsters won the season-ending event in 2002 and 2003.

Third-seeded Nadia Petrova earned her first WTA title, defeating fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the Generali Ladies final at Linz, Austria. Petrova is set to rise one spot to No. 9 in the rankings.

SOCCER

Guerrero, Thornton Help Fire Advance

Ivan Guerrero scored twice in the first half, and Zack Thornton extended his Major League Soccer record with his 13th playoff shutout to lead the Chicago Fire to a 4-0 victory over D.C. United at Washington.

The loss ended the season for the defending MLS champions.

Jack Stewart and Jesse Marsch also scored for the Fire, which led, 3-0, at halftime.

The victory, which followed a scoreless tie in the first leg of the two-game aggregate-scoring series, put the Fire in the Eastern Conference final at New England next Sunday.

HORSE RACING

Golden Rahy Pulls Off an Upset at Santa Anita

Golden Rahy, who couldn’t beat $40,000 claimers at Del Mar in his most recent outing July 22, became a graded stakes winner at Santa Anita.

Making his first start at 1 1/2 miles, the 6-year-old Rahy gelding out-finished 17-10 favorite Wild Buddy to win the $100,000 Carleton F. Burke Handicap by a neck.

Trained by Bobby Frankel, Golden Rahy won for the third time in four starts on the Santa Anita turf course.

Ridden for the first time by Alex Solis, Golden Rahy completed the distance in 2:27.02 in the Grade III.

The 5-1 fourth choice in the field of six, Golden Rahy has four wins in 11 starts. The Burke was his first appearance in a graded race.

Stage Shy, the only female in the marathon, finished third, one length behind Wild Buddy, then came Courtly Jazz, Star Pupil and At Dawn. It was Stage Shy’s first start in well over a year.

Jockey Gary Stevens, who lost an opportunity to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic when Rock Hard Ten was scratched, earned his 5,000th victory when Joint Aspiration won the $69,950 Gaviola by two lengths Sunday at Belmont Park.

-- Bob Mieszerski

PASSINGS

Al Lopez, 97, Led White Sox to 1959 Series

Al Lopez, a Hall of Fame catcher and manager who led the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox to American League pennants in the 1950s, died Sunday at 97.

Lopez had been hospitalized in Tampa, Fla., since Friday, when he suffered a heart attack, Al Lopez Jr. said.

Until this month, he was the last manager to lead the White Sox to the World Series, a 1959 loss to the Dodgers. Story in Section B.