NATION

NATION

Golf report

•PGA Tour

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Stephen Ames wanted to escape the chill of Calgary for the final PGA Tour event, a decision that paid off Sunday when he closed with a 4-under 68 for a one-shot victory in the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Ames emerged from a typically crowded leaderboard at Disney with three straight birdies on the back nine of the Magnolia Course, then saved par from 65 feet out of the bunker to avoid a playoff with Tim Clark.

It was the first victory in a year that Ames already had deemed a success because of overhauling his swing to cope with nagging back issues. He took pride in being among the leaders in the final round of the U.S. Open, and playing in the final group with Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship.

Clark, who has the most career earnings of anyone without a PGA Tour win, birdied six of his final 10 holes for a 66.

•Mizuno Classic

SHIMA, Japan — Momoko Ueda became the first Japanese player to win the Mizuno Classic in nine years, closing with a 5-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over American Reilley Rankin and Sweden’s Maria Hjorth

Ueda finished with a 13-under 203 total on the Kinetsu Kashikojima Country Club course and earned $210,000 for her first LPGA Tour victory. Hiromi Kobayashi was the last Japanese winner.

•Volvo Masters

SOTOGRANDE, Spain — Justin Rose won the European Order of Merit, then finished off Simon Dyson and Soren Kjeldsen to win the Volvo Masters.

Rose secured the Order of Merit by reaching a three-way playoff at Valderrama, where the Englishman rolled in a 12-foot putt at the second extra hole to win the season-ending tournament. Rose rallied after blowing a four-shot lead, finishing with a 3-over 74. Dyson shot a 70 and Kjeldsen had a 67. They tied at 1-under 283.

Rose earned $960,488 to overtake Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington on the money list. Rose earned $4,276,062 in 12 tournaments, the fewest played by any champion in the tour’s modern history.

•Singapore Open

SINGAPORE — U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera birdied the last hole for a 1-over 72 and a one-stroke victory over Vijay Singh in the Singapore Open.

Cabrera had an 8-under 276 total. Singh closed with a 67. Adam Scott, the 2005 and 2006 winner, shot a 71 to finish that at 3 under.

Paula Radcliffe wins
NYC Marathon

NEW YORK — Paula Radcliffe sat in the stands at last year’s New York City Marathon, cheering on her husband and realizing just how much she missed competing.

She recaptured the thrill of racing at the same event Sunday, but with a new twist — this time, when she won, she celebrated as a mother, holding her 9-month-old daughter Isla. Radcliffe and Martin Lel each pulled away during the final mile to win a second NYC Marathon title on a cool, sunny day with 39,085 runners starting.

“I’ve really, really missed it,” Radcliffe said. “It’s way more fun than cross training in a pool or cross training in a gym, and that’s what it’s all about. That’s what keeps me motivated to work hard and to cross train hard is just getting out there and enjoying the atmosphere.”

Radcliffe, the world-record holder from Great Britain, made a triumphant return in her first marathon in more than two years. She outlasted Gete Wami of Ethiopia, who was running her second marathon in 35 days.

Radcliffe won in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 9 seconds, beating Wami by 23 seconds. Two-time defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia was a distant third.

Lel had a better finishing kick than Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco, as they reprised their showing in April’s London Marathon.

On this day, Lel’s time of 2:09:04 bested Goumri by 12 seconds in the first NYC Marathon without a pacesetter. Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa was third in 2:11:25.

“What I was doing is, maybe during the last sprint, sometimes you can lose, sometimes you can gain,” Lel said.

Warren, Andrade
capture gold medals

CHICAGO — Flyweight Rau’shee Warren of Cincinnati and welterweight Demetrius Andrade became the first Americans to win gold medals at the World Boxing Championships in eight years with convincing victories in the finals.

Warren beat Thailand’s Somjit Jongjohor 13-9 on Saturday despite having two front teeth knocked out.

Andrade gave the Americans their second gold when his bout with Thailand’s Non Boonjumnong was stopped in the second round Saturday due to an injury.

“This is the most important thing in my life,” Andrade said. “This is the next biggest thing to the Olympics, and I need to get this.”

Vindicator staff/wire reports