■ Golf
Thorpe wins in Sonoma
Jim Thorpe won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, California, with supremely steady play down the stretch on Sunday. And Loren Roberts lost US$500,000 by missing one short putt. Thorpe rallied in the final holes to stay on top of a tight field with a 4-under 68 in the US Champions Tour's season-ending event, cruising to a two-stroke victory over Tom Kite and his second win at Sonoma Golf Club in four years. But Roberts, Thorpe's playing partner, provided the real drama when he missed a four-and-a-half-foot putt on the tournament's final hole.
■ Basketball
US to host Olympic qualifier
The US team learned on Sunday that it can qualify for the 2008 Olympics without leaving home when FIBA Americas announced that next summer's qualifying tournament would be staged in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the US team holds its training camp. Las Vegas edged San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the right to host the FIBA Americas tournament, which will run from Aug. 22 until Sept. 2 next year. The top two teams in the 10-team field will earn berths for the Beijing Olympics. The tournament was originally awarded to Venezuela, but FIBA Americas reopened the bidding when the Venezuelans missed their payment deadline.
■ Xterra Triathlon
Kiwi wins championship
Hamish Carter of New Zealand won the Xterra World Championship in Maui, Hawaii, finishing the 42.5km off-road triathlon he called "the meanest and most brutal" in 2 hours, 42 minutes and 36 seconds on Sunday. "It was really tough, a lot tougher than I thought," said the 35-year-old from Auckland, winner of the 2004 Olympic triathlon gold medal. "At one point during the run I didn't even know if I could finish." Carter, who rode the last mile of the bike stage with a flat, was the fourth person to start the run and caught Olivier Marceau of France a mile before the finish. Marceau came in second in 2:42:55. Melanie McQuaid of Canada won her second consecutive and third overall women's title in 3:07:53.
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