AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) ― Guan Tianlang is in good company this week at Augusta National.He played a practice round Monday with two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, then headed out in the afternoon with Tiger Woods. He has a game lined up Tuesday with Tom Watson, an eight-time major champion. On Wednesday, he plans to play the Par 3 Tournament with Nick Faldo, winner of six majors.Can’t he play with someone his own age?Not at this Masters.Guan is the 14-year-old from China, the youngest to ever

GolfApril 9, 2013

ST. LOUIS (AP) ― Brandon Phillips kick-started a nine-run ninth inning with a tiebreaking bloop double and Choo Shin-soo made amends for two botched fly balls with a three-run double, and the Cincinnati Reds spoiled the St. Louis Cardinals’ home opener with a 13-4 victory on Monday.Mitchell Boggs (0-1), the stand-in closer for St. Louis, yielded six runs while getting only one out and the Cardinals needed four more pitchers to get out of the inning. Only a few thousand fans remained of the large

BaseballApril 9, 2013

South Korea’s Park In-bee is building up momentum as an ace pro golfer. The 24-year-old finished with a 15-under-par 273 to beat runner-up compatriot Ryu So-yeon to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship by four strokes on Sunday. It was Park’s first major title of the season and also her second career major title in addition to her 2008 U.S. Women’s Open. The 24-year-old is also the second successive Korean to win the Kraft Nabisco after Yoo Sun-young last year. Park took home $300,000 for her win.

GolfApril 8, 2013

PARIS (AFP) ― Argentina are into the Davis Cup World Group semifinal after their world number 71 Carlos Berlocq beat 13th-ranked Frenchman Gilles Simon to hand the South Americans a 3-2 win on Sunday.A distraught Simon, who saved five match points before finally succumbing, said it was the lowest point of his tennis career.“By a long way that was the most difficult defeat to accept of my entire career,” he said.“What disappointment, it was a very important match for everyone. I had to win it, bu

More SportsApril 8, 2013

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ― Driving to the basket in crunch time, Raymond Felton slipped to the floor and lost the basketball in the process. All he could do was lunge back at it and bat it toward J.R. Smith as the shot clock ticked closer to zero.For the second straight possession, Smith beat the buzzer ― this time with a 3-pointer ― and the Knicks closed out a 125-120 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.“He makes plays like that. He makes tough shots. Sometimes I think he likes to tak

More SportsApril 8, 2013

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ― Martin Laird tied the course record with a 9-under 63 to hold off Rory McIlroy to earn his first win in more than two years at the Texas Open.Laird began Sunday four shots behind leader Billy Horschel, but posted a bogey-free round to finish 14 under overall and earn the third win of his career, his first since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2011. The Scottish golfer entered the week having missed four of eight cuts this year.McIlroy, the world’s No. 2, began the day at 6 u

GolfApril 8, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Ryu Hyun-Jin is going to enjoy pitching for a team with the menacing lineup the Los Angeles Dodgers possess, and the hitters have become equally confident with the rotation that’s backing them up.The South Korean earned his first major league victory, shrugging off a two-run homer in the first inning by Andrew McCutchen and pitching the Dodgers past the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Sunday for a three-game sweep. Adrian Gonzalez drove in four runs with three hits and Justin Sellers h

BaseballApril 8, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― Paolo Di Canio, whose past fascist allegiances have become a flash point in English soccer, lost his first game as Sunderland’s manager Sunday ― a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, which regained third place in the Premier League.Chelsea was playing its fourth game in nine days but had enough energy to rally. Branislav Ivanovic netted the winner after both sides scored an own goal.Tottenham is two points ahead of fifth-place Arsenal, having played an extra game. Everton is a further four poin

SoccerApril 8, 2013

South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae got off to a good start for the season by winning a bronze medal in the ball event at her first World Cup in Lisbon on Sunday.On the second day of the event, the gymnast received 17.400 points in the ball program, ranking third following Russia’s Margarita Mamun (17.700 points) and Ukraine’s Ganna Rizatdinova (17.450 points).Son also came in fourth in the hoop routine (17.400 points) and seventh in ribbon (16.250 points). Son’s accomplishment in ball ro

More SportsApril 8, 2013

     LOS ANGELES -- South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers earned his first victory in Major League Baseball (MLB) on Sunday.   In his second career start at Dodger Stadium, Ryu pitched 6 1/3 strong innings and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks against the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the Dodgers won the game 6-2.The Dodgers improved to 4-2, while the Pirates fell to 1-5.   Ryu, who also struck out six batters, is the eighth South Korean pitcher to record a win in the

BaseballApril 8, 2013

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Ian Desmond slapped his hands together as hard as he could when he approached home plate, about to score the go-ahead run in the 11th inning.His rough day was ending with a very good moment.Desmond made two errors that helped the Cincinnati Reds take the game to extra innings, then led off the 11th with his first home run of the season, rallying the Washington Nationals to a 7-6 victory Saturday.“A lot of mixed feelings right now,” Desmond said.Great American Ball Park can do t

BaseballApril 7, 2013

RANCHO MIRAGE, California (AP) ― Park In-bee opened a three-stroke lead in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, twice hitting to 2 1/2 feet to set up back-nine birdies in a bogey-free round.The 24-year-old South Korean shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday to reach 12 under at Mission Hills, putting her in position for her second major title and second victory of the year. She won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open and added her fourth LPGA Tour title in February in Thailand.Lizette Salas, a stroke behind Park enter

GolfApril 7, 2013