Ryan Palmer gets a one-shot win in Sony Open

Ryan Palmer went from anxious to overwhelmed in the 50 feet his chip shot traveled on the final hole until it struck the pin and settled inches away, leading to a one-shot victory Sunday in the Sony Open at Honolulu.

Palmer, locked in a duel with Robert Allenby to the very end at Waialae, came up short of the green on the par-five 18th and faced a delicate chip. Allenby went over the green and pitched to just inside 10 feet.

Palmer thought his chip was a smidgen too hard, and he tumbled backward in relief when the ball struck the pin squarely. Allenby missed his birdie putt, and Palmer tapped in for a four-under-par 66 and the third PGA Tour victory of his career.

“Lucky bounce,” Palmer said. “It was probably going to go by seven or eight feet.”

Allenby closed with a 67. Palmer finished at 15-under 265 and earned $990,000.

Steve Stricker, who also shared the lead briefly on the back nine, had a 65 to finish third, two strokes back.

Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson held off defending champions Fuzzy Zoeller and Ben Crenshaw to win the Champions Skins Game at Kaanapali, Hawaii.

Nicklaus, who will be 70 on Thursday, and Watson birdied two holes to win three skins and $130,000 on the back nine. They finished with 10 skins and $350,000 for their second victory in the event in four years.

BASEBALL

Standing ovation for McGwire

Mark McGwire received a standing ovation from Cardinals fans in his first public appearance in St. Louis since admitting he used steroids.

His scheduled news conference, only minutes later, was much more combative.

The second session was shifted to an overcrowded hallway at the last minute, and McGwire evaded questions about the criticism he’s received from ex-players.

“I hope you all can accept this,” McGwire said at the Cardinals’ Winter Warm-Up. “Let’s all move on from this. Baseball is great right now, baseball is better.”

SOCCER

Beckham says he’s not retiring

Galaxy and England midfielder David Beckham insisted that he will play on after the 2010 World Cup.

“I’ve always said I’d love to carry on playing after the World Cup, and that isn’t going to change,” Beckham told the Associated Press. “I don’t know where the reports have come from; they definitely haven’t come from myself.”

The Sun newspaper reported Saturday that the AC Milan player was planning to retire and return to England once the World Cup ends.

ETC.

Phelps wins his second gold

Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps claimed the gold in the 400-yard IM at the Southern California Grand Prix in Long Beach.

Phelps held off Japan’s Hidemasa Sano in the final race of the night to take home his second gold medal of the meet. Three meet records also fell with strong performances by Katie Hoff, Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima and Rebecca Soni.

Hoff won the women’s 400-yard IM, Kitajima the men’s 200-yard breast stroke and Soni the women’s 200-yard breast stroke.

Kathrin Zettel of Austria won a World Cup slalom for her second victory in as many days, and Maria Riesch of Germany took the overall lead from Lindsey Vonn by finishing third.

Zettel went down the Radvanje course at Maribor, Slovenia, in a two-run combined time of 1 minute 42.98 seconds to beat Tina Maze of Slovenia by 0.71 of a second.

Riesch leads Vonn by 28 points with 13 races left.