Golf
Nordqvist ends her drought with a walk in the Park
CHONBURI, Thailand – Anna Nordqvist won the LPGA Thailand to end a five-year victory drought, holding off top-ranked Inbee Park at Siam County Club.
Nordqvist, the LPGA Championship and LPGA Tour Championship winner in 2009, led wire-to-wire. The 26-year-old Swede closed with a 4-under 68 to beat defending champion Park by two strokes.
Nordqvist finished at 15-under 273 on the Pattaya Old Course. Park had a bogey-free 66.
MLB
Yankees spend more money for another outfielder
TAMPA, Fla. – Outfielder Brett Gardner and the New York Yankees agreed Sunday to a four-year contract worth $52 million. The new pact will start in 2015 and includes a fifth-year club option for $12.5 million and a $2-million buyout.
Gardner joins an outfield of Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury and Ichiro Suzuki.
NFL
Johnny Football proves his speed at NFL combine
INDIANAPOLIS – Johnny Football has more proof that he’s fast.
Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel’s official 40-yard dash time at the NFL scouting combine was 4.68 seconds. That’s fourth at his position among those who participated in the drill Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Manziel widely is considered one of the top three quarterbacks in the draft. Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater did not run the 40.
Kent State running back Dri Archer posted the fastest official 40 time at 4.26.
NBA
Collins signs with Nets, NBA’s 1st openly gay player
LOS ANGELES – Jason Collins has become the first openly gay player to see action in an NBA game.
Collins, signed Sunday to a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets, reported into the game against the Los Angeles Lakers with 10 minutes, 28 seconds left in the second quarter and the Nets leading 35-26 after Nick Young made the first of his two free throws.
The crowd welcomed him with a nice ovation when public address announcer Lawrence Tanter announced his name.
Earlier, Collins said he was too busy trying to learn plays to worry about making history.
Tennis
Nadal bounces back for a W; Cilic wins at Delray Beach
RIO DE JANEIRO – Rafael Nadal returned from a troublesome back injury to win the Rio Open on Sunday, defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Nadal’s victory comes four weeks after losing the Australian Open final to underdog Stanislas Wawrinka after tweaking his back while warming up for this year’s first major final.
Nadal, who had to fend off two match points in the semifinal against Pablo Andujar, looked more comfortable in the final and improved his record on clay to 298 wins and 21 losses, the best in the Open Era.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Croatia’s Marin Cilic won the Delray Beach Open on Sunday for his 11th ATP World Tour title and second in three weeks, beating Kevin Anderson 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 6-4 in 3 hours, 8 minutes.
Cilic leads the ATP Tour with 18 match wins this season.
Track and Field
Whiting wins the shot put at USA Indoor Championships
ALBUQUERQUE – Ryan Whiting won the shot put in the USA Indoor Track & Field National Championships with a mark of 72 feet, 11 1/4 inches Sunday.
Whiting had the fifth-best mark in the world, about 17 inches shy of the world indoor record set by American Randy Barnes in 1989.
Seventeen-year-old Mary Cain successfully defended her title in the 1,500 meters, winning in 4 minutes, 7.5 seconds, and Lopez Lemong won the men’s 1,500 in 3:43.09.
Associated Press
