Pampling’s Eagle Leads to International Victory

Hole-outs, eagles and strings of birdies typically decide the International at Castle Rock, Colo.

Not this year. With the winds swirling and the pins tucked, Rod Pampling pulled off just enough good shots to win his first PGA Tour event.

Pampling curled in a 21-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the 17th hole to move past Alex Cejka and win the International on Sunday.

“It was just a matter of hanging in there,” said Pampling, the sixth first-time winner on the PGA Tour this year.

Pampling closed with a par to finish with 31 points, taking home the $900,000 first-place check and some momentum heading into the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Not bad for a player best known for leading the first round of the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie and missing the cut the next day.

Cejka finished with 29 points. Tom Pernice was third with 27 points.

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Tom Kite made three birdies over the final seven holes for a three-under 69 and a one-stroke victory in the 3M Championship at Blaine, Minn., his first Champions Tour victory in 21 months.

Kite finished at 13-under 203, one stroke ahead of Craig Stadler, who missed a 15-foot eagle putt on the final hole.

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Meg Mallon birdied three of the last four holes, including a 10-footer at the 18th, for a four-under 68 and a one-stroke victory over Karen Stupples and Se Ri Pak in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Sylvania, Ohio. Mallon finished at seven-under 277.

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Annika Sorenstam made two eagles in a course-record eight-under 64 for a two-stroke victory in the HP Open at Stockholm.

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U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and three-time major winner Nick Price withdrew from the PGA Championship because of injury and family obligations, respectively.

Tennis

Amelie Mauresmo won the Rogers Cup at Montreal, beating Elena Likhovtseva, 6-1, 6-0.

Mauresmo, seeded second, is projected to move up today to a career-high No. 2 in the WTA Tour rankings.

Hockey

Defenseman Scott Hannan agreed to a three-year contract worth about $7.8 million with the San Jose Sharks shortly before his arbitration hearing.... The Tampa Bay Lightning avoided arbitration with Cory Sarich and agreed to terms with the defenseman on a multi-year contract.... Philadelphia Flyer defenseman Kim Johnsson was awarded a one-year, $2.8-million contract at an arbitration hearing.

Track and Field

Jerome Young reportedly tested positive for the banned drug EPO at a meet last month, which would be the second flunked test for the sprinter. Young will face a lifetime ban if he is found guilty.

The French sports daily L’Equipe reported Sunday that Young’s sample from a July 23 meet at St. Denis contained traces of the endurance-boosting drug. L’Equipe, which based its report on anonymous sources, said a laboratory is analyzing a second sample.

Marion Jones won twice in her first competition in more than three weeks, winning the long jump and running the second leg for a U.S. 400-meter relay team that had the best time in the world this year. Jones helped lead the U.S. to victory in a meet against France and host Germany at Munich.

Jones leaped 22 feet 4 1/2 on her last try to win the long jump. She ran with Angela Williams, Lauryn Williams and LaTasha Colander on the relay team that won in 41.37 seconds.

Carrie Tollefson has been added to the U.S. Olympic team in the women’s 1,500 meters after her two challengers gave up their attempts to meet a qualifying standard for the Athens Games.

College Football

Georgia linebacker Odell Thurman has been suspended for the first three games of the season for violating team rules. Thurman will sit out games against Georgia Southern, South Carolina and Marshall. The junior could return for the Oct. 2 game against Louisiana State.

Chris Dufresne is on vacation.