Creamer sinks rival's playoff hopes

Paula Creamer calmly won her biggest LPGA Tour victory, holding off a large pack in the Samsung World Championship yesterday in Half Moon Bay, Calif. Playing near her hometown of Pleasanton, Creamer beat Song Hee Kim by a stroke, closing with a bogey-free 3-under-par 69 for a 9-under 279 total. Creamer, 22, earned $250,000 for her fourth title of the year and eighth overall. On No. 18, Creamer holed a 5-foot par putt that rolled around the right lip of the cup and in. She dropped her putter and raised both arms with a huge smile across her face as Kim waited nearby for a possible playoff. Kim finished with a 68 for her fifth top-five finish of the year. Two-time defending champion Lorena Ochoa shot a 69 to tie for third at 7 under with Juli Inkster (68), Suzann Pettersen (68), and Angela Stanford (70). After Kim moved into a share of the lead by chipping in for birdie on No. 14 - the first time all day Creamer wasn't alone out front - Creamer made a long birdie putt on No. 15 to retake control.

Acton's Kirk Hanefeld won the Senior PGA Professional National Championship in Indian Wells, Calif., birdieing four straight holes late in the final round for a 4-under 69 and a four-stroke victory over Jon Fiedler and John Aubrey. Hanefeld, 52, birdied Nos. 14-17 at Toscana Country Club and finished at 10-under 278. He earned $20,000 and topped the 35 qualifiers for the Senior PGA Championship next May at Canterbury in Cleveland. "I played well all week, but it showed near the end and I finished well," said Hanefeld, the former director of golf at The International in Bolton . . . Rookie Dustin Johnson won the Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, N.Y., his first PGA Tour title, by shooting a 3-under 69 to finish at 9-under 279 and beat Robert Allenby by one shot . . . South Korean Bae Sang Moon shot a 2-under 69 to finish at 11-under 273 and win the Korean Open in Seoul, finishing a stroke ahead of Ian Poulter (70). American Anthony Kim (71) tied for third with South Korean Kim Wi Joong (72) . . . Robert Karlsson won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews, Scotland, with a birdie on the first hole of a three-man playoff. Karlsson and Ross Fisher had 7-under 65s at The Old Course to finish at 10-under 278 and tied with Martin Kaymer, who shot 68 . . . Thorny Lea's John Hadges won the Southeastern Amateur title by 10 strokes at Cohasset Golf Club, shooting a 1-over 71 to finish at 2-under 208.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has not received a grievance from former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin in the wake of his bitter split with team owner Al Davis last week. Davis said Tuesday that Kiffin was fired for cause, meaning the Raiders will not pay him for the remainder of the three-year deal worth about $6 million. Kiffin's agent, Gary Uberstine, said Kiffin will talk to the commissioner. Goodell expects a grievance to be filed, but added he would not intervene in the situation until asked. Goodell was in Houston to support Texans owner Bob McNair's charitable campaign, which has raised $2.45 million for victims of Hurricane Ike. McNair donated $500,000 and the league matched it with a contribution to its own disaster relief fund.

New No. 1 Jelena Jankovic won her second title in two weeks, defeating Nadia Petrova, 6-4, 6-3, in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. The 23-year-old Serb won the China Open last week. Jankovic already knew she will take the top ranking today from Serena Williams, regardless of the outcome of the final. Jankovic held the No. 1 spot for one week in August . . . In Tokyo, Tomas Berdych won the Japan Open for his first singles title in 16 months, beating Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-1, 6-4. In the women's event, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki defeated fifth-seeded Kaia Kanepi, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. It was the Dane's third singles title in three months, after victories in Stockholm and New Haven . . . Dmitry Tursunov won the Open de Moselle in Metz, France, by beating Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4, in the final.

Carriage Trail punched her ticket to the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic in three weeks with a record-setting run in the Juddmonte Spinster at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. The 5-year-old pulled away to a 7 3/4-length win under Kent Desormeaux. Her time of 1 minute 46.77 seconds was more than a second faster than Keeneland's track record. It was a record fourth Spinster win for trainer Shug McGaughey. Carriage Trail paid $9.20, $5, and $3.40. Model returned $9.20 and $6. Rosinka was $7.80 to show. Favorite Unbridled Belle finished ninth in the 10-horse field . . . Zarkava won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Longchamp, France, with a powerful stretch run to become the first filly in 15 years to win the race. Zarkava finished 2 lengths ahead of Youmzain. The last filly to win was Urban Sea in 1993.

Michael Harrington did the Revolution a favor, atoning for a first-half mistake with a goal that salvaged a 1-1 tie for the host Kansas City Wizards in their MLS game against the Chicago Fire. Harrington's 48th-minute equalizer kept Chicago from clinching an Eastern Conference playoff spot and also kept the Fire a point behind the second-place Revolution in a race for home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs with three weeks left in the season. Harrington's handball in the penalty area allowed Chicago to take a lead on Cuauhtemoc Blanco's penalty kick . . . Freshman Vinny Saponari scored and an added an assist as Boston University's men's hockey team beat New Brunswick, 4-1, in an exhibition at Agganis Arena. BU opens Friday at home against North Dakota . . . Kenya's Gilbert Okari cruised to victory at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in San Jose, Calif., winning in 1 hour 1 minute 46 seconds. Japan's Yuri Kano (1:10:03) won the women's race.