Sports Briefs January 30, 2012
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 12 years, 11 months AGO
Golf
Brandt Snedeker won the PGA Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego in a playoff no one imagined possible until Kyle Stanley hit a wedge into the water and made triple bogey on the last hole.
Snedeker had a tap-in birdie on the 18th and was so certain he would be the runner-up that he drove up to the media center for an interview, just in time to see Stanley run into trouble.
Both players made birdie on the 18th in the playoff, then Snedeker won on the second extra hole with a 5-foot par putt. Stanley's putt from about the same length caught the right side of the lip.
• Tiger Woods talked all week about his improved ball control - then it let him down in the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Woods shot an even-par 72 to tie for third behind winner Robert Rock and U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy.
The 117th-ranked Rock shot a 70 to finish at 13-under 275 and beat McIlroy (69) by a shot. Woods was another stroke back along with Thomas Bjorn (68) and Graeme McDowell (68).
NHL
Marian Gaborik beat Henrik Lundqvist twice in the first period, finished with three goals and an assist, and earned MVP honors in leading Team Chara to a 12-9 win over Team Alfredsson in the NHL All-Star game in Ottawa.
NBA
Mavericks 101, Spurs 100, OT: Jason Terry scored a season-high 34 points, including four in the last 42 seconds of overtime, and host Dallas rebounded after blowing an 18-point lead against San Antonio.
Lakers 106, Timberwolves 101: At Minneapolis, Kobe Bryant had 35 points and 14 rebounds to lift Los Angeles past Minnesota.
Clippers 109, Nuggets 105: Chauncey Billups He scored a season-high 32 points and drew a crucial foul in the waning seconds to help visiting Los Angeles beat Denver.
Heat 97, Bulls 93: LeBron James scored 35 points and host Miami escaped with a win over Chicago.
Cavaliers 88, Celtics 87: Kyrie Irving scored 23 points, sinking a layup with 2.6 seconds to lead Cleveland at Boston.
Pacers 106, Magic 85: Danny Granger scored 24 points, and David West and George Hill each had 16 as visiting Indiana beat Orlando.
Hawks 94, Hornets 72: Jeff Teague tied a career high with 24 points despite playing on a sore left ankle to lead Atlanta at New Orleans.
Raptors 94, Nets 73: At Newark, N.J., DeMar DeRozan scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, leading Toronto over New Jersey.
Soccer
Abby Wambach scored twice and the U.S. women's soccer team beat Canada 4-0 in the championship game of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Skiing
Lindsey Vonn was denied a three-win weekend sweep by just 0.03 seconds as Maria Hoefl-Riesch won a super-combined event in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
• Thick fog forced organizers to cancel a men's super-G World Cup race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Figure skating
Jeremy Abbott won his third title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, beating Adam Rippon by 32 points in San Jose, Calif.
Earlier, Caydee Denney and John Coughlin won their first pairs title together after winning the previous two years with other partners.
Auto racing
NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger closed out the twice-around-the-clock win by piloting the No. 60 Ford Riley for the final stint, a nearly three-hour drive that included some door-to-door banging with Allan McNish for the lead to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona in Daytona Beach, Fla.
IndyCar's Justin Wilson was the co-driver of the winning car for Michael Shank Racing.
- The Associated Press