DUNSANY, Ireland — Europe won the Solheim Cup for the first time since 2003 on Sunday, finishing powerfully to beat the United States 15-13 at Killeen Castle.
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen turned the momentum Europe’s way when she recovered from 1 down with birdies at the last three holes to beat Michelle Wie by one hole. Her win left Europe needing just one point from the last two singles to win the trophy but the side captained by Alison Nicholas did even better.
Caroline Hedwall of the Netherlands — 2 down with two holes to play — earned a crucial halved match to give Europe a 14-13 lead when rookie Ryann O’Toole bogeyed the 17th and 18th.
Spain’s Azahara Muñoz birdied the 17th in the final singles to go 1 up on Angela Stanford and guarantee Europe’s victory before closing out a one hole win at the last.
The sides were tied 8-8 entering Sunday’s 12 singles matches but Europe won the session 7-5 with American Cristie Kerr forced to forfeit her match with Karen Stupples. Kerr, who was set to play in the 12th singles match, was unable to start due to a wrist injury.
• Kenneth Ferrie beat fellow Englishman Simon Wakefield on the first playoff hole to win the Austrian Open in Atzenbrugg for his first European Tour title since 2005 and third overall.
Ferrie and Wakefield both carded a 67 to finish 12-under 276 for the tournament.
Vettel closes in on F1 title
SINGAPORE — Sebastian Vettel won the Singapore Grand Prix, but the Red Bull driver will have to wait a little longer to clinch his second Formula One world championship.
The German led throughout from pole position to finish 1.7 seconds ahead of fast-finishing McLaren driver Jenson Button, with Red Bull’s Mark Webber third.
Vettel leads the drivers’ championship by 124 points with five races left and is virtually certain to take back-to-back titles. To prevent that happening, second-place Button would need to win every race while Vettel fails to gain any points.
• Cruz Pedregon raced to his first win of the season and moved into third in the funny car point standings at the NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas.
Bob Vandergriff (top fuel), Jason Line (pro stock) and Michael Phillips (pro stock motorcycle) won their divisions.
Lynx gain spot in WNBA finals
PHOENIX — Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists to lead the Minnesota Lynx to a 103-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury and a berth in the WNBA finals for the first time with a Game 3 victory.
• Iziane Castro Marques moved into Atlanta’s starting lineup and scored a season-high 30 points as the Dream beat the visiting Indiana Fever 94-77 to even the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.
Footnotes.
Patrick Makau of Kenya broke the world record to win the Berlin Marathon by pulling away after 27 kilometers (16.8 miles) and finishing in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 38 seconds.
• Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the final of the Moselle Open in Metz, France, to win his first title since 2009.
