Sports in Brief: Furyk win breaks a 2-year drought

Jim Furyk

made two clutch putts to finish off a 5-under 67 and win the Chevron World Challenge yesterday at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. It was the West Chester native's first victory in more than two years.

It marked the first time in the history of the tournament that host Tiger Woods was not around to present the trophy. He withdrew after suffering injuries in a car crash at his Florida home.

Furyk finished at 13-under 275 for a 1-shot victory over Graeme McDowell, who replaced Woods in the 18-man field.

Sean O'Hair, who lives in West Chester, was 4 strokes back and finished tied for fifth.

Woods posted another statement on his Web site, this time thanking sponsors and players for being part of the tournament, which supports his foundation.

Norway's Marianne Skarpnord shot a 2-under 70 to take a 1-stroke lead over Nicole Jeray and Amanda Blumenherst at 6-under 282 after four rounds of the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament at LPGA International's Champions Course in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Lisa Strom, a former Lansdale Catholic star, was tied for 44th, 11 strokes back.

Robert Allenby won the Nedbank Challenge, beating Henrik Stenson on the third playoff hole after shooting a 1-under 71 in the final round in Sun City, South Africa.

Stenson shot a 69 to tie Allenby at 11-under 277 at the Gary Player Country Club.

Adam Scott won the Australian Open for his first pro victory in his home country, shooting a par 72 to beat Stuart Appleby by 5 strokes in Sydney.

Scott finished at 15-under 273 at New South Wales Golf Club. John Daly closed with a 71 to finish at 2 over. He will play next week in the Australian PGA at Coolum in Queensland state.

Troy Merritt had a 3-stroke lead over former Boise State teammate Graham Delaet when fifth-6round play in the rain-delayed PGA Tour qualifying tournament was suspended for the day because of darkness in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Merritt, the Mexico Open winner this year on the Nationwide Tour, was 1 over through 12 holes on the Links at Bear Lakes Country Club. He was at 18 under overall.

TENNIS: Rafael Nadal closed out his season with another title, ending a four-match losing streak by earning two points for host Spain in the Davis Cup final in Barcelona.

Nadal opened the best-of-five series on indoor clay Saturday with a victory over Tomas Berdych. He then beat Jan Hajek, 6-3, 6-4, yesterday at Palau Sant Jordi to help Spain close out its 5-0 win over the Czech Republic.

Nadal was sidelined at midseason with knee injuries.

COLLEGES: North Carolina (23-3-1) earned its second straight and 21st overall women's national soccer championship, beating Stanford, 1-0, in the Women's College Cup final in College Station, Texas.

Jessica McDonald scored in the third minute, and North Carolina's smothering defense hung on from there.

The runner-up Cardinal finished 25-1.

SWIMMING: Australia head coach Alan Thompson has taken a personal leave following a claim of "inappropriate behavior."

Swimming Australia's chief executive, Kevin Neil, said the claim was from an anonymous source and unsubstantiated regarding Thompson, who has been coach since January 2005.