Sports Briefs October 31, 2011

Golf

U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy won $2 million in the Shanghai Masters on Sunday in Shanghai, beating Anthony Kim with a par on the first hole of a playoff.

McIlroy holed a 2-foot putt for the victory after Kim missed a 3-footer.

McIlroy had a chance to win in regulation, but the 22-year-old star from Northern Ireland missed an 8-foot birdie putt. He closed with an even-par 72 to match Kim (69) at 18 under on Lake Malaren's Jack Nicklaus-designed Masters course.

The $2 million first prize is the richest in golf. The top players, staying in Shanghai another week for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions at Sheshan International, also received appearance money and last place paid $25,000. Because the event isn't sanctioned by a major tour, there were no ranking points at stake.

Kim earned $750,000.

Hunter Mahan (70) and South Korea's Noh Seung-yul (73) tied for third at 13 under in the 30-man event.

Football

Clemson and Kansas State tumbled in The Associated Press college football poll after losing for the first time this season, and the top five teams in the rankings held their ground heading into Saturday's showdown between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama.

Clemson slipped five spots after losing 31-17 at Georgia Tech and Kansas State fell seven spots to No. 17 after getting thumped 58-17 by Oklahoma.

LSU received 47 first-place votes from the media panel, Alabama had 10 and No. 5 Boise State had one.

Baseball

The Yankees made a contract offer to ace CC Sabathia, who has until today to decide whether to opt out of the $92 million and four years remaining on his current deal.

Sabathia agreed to a $161 million, seven-year contract before the 2009 season and has gone 59-23 with a 3.18 ERA during the regular season for New York.

If he opts out, the 31-year-old left-hander would become the top pitcher on the free-agent market.

This year's free agents are headed by Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes, C.J. Wilson, Edwin Jackson and Mark Buehrle.

Milwaukee reliever Francisco Rodriguez also was among the 148 players who became free. The Brewers declined a $6 million club option on shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, who gets a $2 million buyout.

Hockey

Avalanche 3, Kings 2: At Denver, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots to help Colorado beat Los Angeles.

Blue Jackets 3, Ducks 1: At Columbus, Ohio, Rick Nash, rookie Ryan Johansen and Fedor Tyutin each scored and Columbus beat Anaheim.

Senators 3, Maple Leafs 2: Colin Greening and Chris Neil scored power-play goals to lift host Ottawa past Toronto.

Oilers 4, Blues 2: Ryan Smith scored twice and visiting St. Louis beat Edmonton.

Tennis

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova won her first WTA Championships title in Istanbul, beating Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 for a victory that will also put her at No. 2 in the world rankings.

Auto racing

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the inaugural Formula One Indian Grand Prix in New Delhi, staying on track to equal the record for the number of wins in a season.

• Jason Line won his second Pro Stock championship when he advanced to the semifinals of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Del Worsham (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won the pro categories.

Softball

International softball leaders will continue to explore a possible joint bid with baseball to try and get both sports back into the Olympics in 2020.

Representatives from about 70 countries attended the International Softball Federation Congress in Oklahoma City this weekend and approved a resolution to move forward with talks with the International Baseball Federation.

- The Associated Press