AVONDALE, La. — Bubba Watson won the Zurich Classic on Sunday for his second PGA Tour victory of the year and third overall, holing a 3-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff with Webb Simpson.
Watson, also the winner at Torrey Pines in late January, matched Simpson with a 3-under-par 69 to finish at 15-under 273. Both players birdied the par-5 18th on the first extra hole. Watson made a 12-foot putt to force the second extra hole, which was the 18th again.
Simpson, winless on the PGA Tour, was left to wonder what might have been if not for a one- stroke penalty on No. 15 when his ball moved as he was addressing it on the green.
K.J. Choi (69), Jason Dufner (66) and Tommy Gainey (69) tied for third.
• Maria Hjorth took advantage of Alexis Thompson‘s collapse in a failed bid to become the youngest LPGA Tour winner, rallying to win the Avnet LPGA Classic in Mobile, Ala., for her fifth tour title.
Hjorth shot her second straight 5-under 67 to finish at 10-under 278, two strokes ahead of Song-Hee Kim (71). The 16-year-old Thompson, tied for the lead with Kim entering the round, had a 78.
• Top-ranked Lee Westwood rallied to win the Ballantine’s Championship for his second straight victory, shooting a 5-under 67 for a one- stroke victory over Miguel Angel Jimenez (71) in Seoul, South Korea.
Djokovic remains on a roll
BELGRADE, Serbia — Novak Djokovic defeated Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (4), 6-2 to win the Serbia Open for his fifth tennis title and 27th straight victory this season.
• Juan Martin del Potro beat Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Estoril Open in Oeiras, Portugal.
• Nikolay Davydenko won his second BMW Open title by beating Florian Mayer 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in Munich.
Worsham triumphs in top fuel
BAYTOWN, Texas — Del Worsham raced to his second straight top fuel victory and third in five events this season, beating teammate Larry Dixon at the NHRA Spring Nationals.
Jeff Arend (funny car), rookie Vincent Nobile (pro stock) and Andrew Hines (pro stock motor- cycle) also won their divisions.
• IndyCar’s São Paulo 300 was postponed until today because of heavy rain in the Brazilian city.
Footnotes.
NHL rookie of the year finalist Jeff Skinner scored twice for Canada and the Olympic champions routed France 9-1 to advance to the second round of the ice hockey world championship.
• Cadel Evans of Australia won his second Tour de Romandie title, finishing safely in the pack during a final stage in Geneva won by Britain’s Ben Swift.
• Former heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper, one of Britain’s most popular sportsmen who was best known for knocking down Muhammad Ali while he was still known as Cassius Clay, died at his son’s house in England. He was 76.
• Tom Thibodeau was selected the NBA’s coach of the year after leading the Chicago Bulls to 62 wins in his first season.
The Associated Press
