GOLF ROUNDUP Appleby wins Las Vegas Invitational in playoff with McCarron

Sophie Gustafson overcame a rules dispute to win the LPGA event.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS -- Stuart Appleby birdied the first playoff hole at the Las Vegas Invitational on Sunday to beat Scott McCarron and get his first PGA Tour victory since 1999.
Appleby pumped his fist when he made the decisive 15-foot putt. McCarron had a chance to extend the playoff with a putt almost identical to Appleby's. However, his shot broke left and slid by the hole.
Appleby and McCarron were tied at 31-under 328 at the end of the tournament's 90 holes. Both missed birdie putts on 18 that could have won them the tournament in regulation -- Appleby from about 16 feet and McCarron from about 12.
Appleby, the leader going into the final round, shot a 3-under 69 Sunday at the TPC Summerlin course. The win was his first since the Houston Open four years ago.
McCarron closed with a 6-under 66. Steve Lowery shot a final-round 67 and finished third, three shots back. Scott Verplank (67) was fourth at 332 and David Frost (65) next at 333.
LPGA Tour
THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Sophie Gustafson eagled the first hole and birdied eight others en route to an 8-under 64, then overcame a rules dispute regarding one of her putts to win the LPGA Samsung World Championship.
The 29-year-old Swede finished at 14-under 274, two shots better than third-round leader Rachel Teske and Beth Daniel, who was one shot when the round started at the Tournament Players Course at The Woodlands.
Teske faded with bogeys on two of the final three holes.
Gustafson ran into a rules dilemma on the 14th green. After standing over a birdie putt, she backed off as the ball, on the edge of a slope, rolled on its own for several feet. An LPGA official allowed her to play the ball from the new spot and she made par, prompting questions whether she should have been assessed a penalty.
After her round, she was taken to the NBC television truck where LPGA officials discussed her actions, reviewed a video of her play with her and determined she did nothing illegal -- that she hadn't grounded her club but merely had taken her stance before putting.
The controversy marred an otherwise spectacular final round for this year's European Tour player of the year.
Gustafson started the day at 6-under and five shots behind third-round leader Teske and soared into contention quickly.
Champions Tour
KAHUKU, Hawaii -- Hale Irwin shot a 5-under 67 in the final round of the Turtle Bay Championship, becoming the first player on the Champions Tour to win an event four straight times and five times overall.
Irwin was 8 under for the three-round event at 208, two strokes ahead of Tom Kite. Irwin won his 38th event on the tour -- his second of the year -- and a $225,000 prize. His earnings on the year jumped to $1.3 million.
Jan Stephenson, the first woman to play on the Champions Tour, fired a final-round 78, her first day under 80, to finish at 242 -- 34 strokes back. She tied Bobby Mitchell for last place.