Sorenstam finishes first winless year since 1994

Annika Sorenstam’s worst year since she was a rookie offered one last hope Friday afternoon in the ADT Championship at West Palm Beach, Fla., when she was among three players trying to earn the last two spots in the chase for $1 million.

She hit a hook with a five-iron into the face of a bunker, blasted over the green and was eliminated in a playoff, ending her year without a victory for the first time since 1994.

Ai Miyazato saved par with a seven-foot putt on the 17th hole in the playoff and two-putted from 35 feet on the 18th hole for par to clinch one spot. The other went to Natalie Gulbis, who also had pars on the two playoff holes.

Mi Hyun Kim shot a two-under-par 70 and finished atop the 16 players who qualified for the weekend at seven-under 137, one shot better than Morgan Pressel.

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Former major league pitcher Rick Rhoden shared medalist honors with Gene Jones in the Champions Tour’s qualifying event at Coral Springs, Fla., earning a spot next year into open qualifiers at all co-sponsored events. Rhoden closed with a three-under 69 to match Jones (68) at nine-under 287.

MOTOR RACING

Benson finishes first; Hornaday wins title

Ron Hornaday Jr. won his third NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series championship, finishing seventh in a Chevrolet to edge Mike Skinner by 54 points after the season-ending Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Hornaday trailed by 29 points entering the race, but benefited when the left rear wheel of Skinner’s Toyota broke away midway through the race. Johnny Benson won the race in a Toyota.

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Formula One’s governing body rejected McLaren’s appeal to penalize four drivers for fuel irregularities at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, letting Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen keep his world championship title.

The FIA said there was not enough evidence to punish BMW and Williams, whose drivers finished fourth, fifth, sixth and 10th in the Oct. 21 race at Sao Paulo.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished seventh, and would have won the title if two of the three drivers who finished ahead of him had been disqualified. Hamilton finished second in the standings, one point behind Raikkonen.

TENNIS

Once again, Federer too tough for Roddick

Top-ranked Roger Federer defeated fifth-ranked Andy Roddick, 6-4, 6-2, at the ATP Tour Masters Cup in Shanghai. The win raised his record against Roddick to 15-1.

Federer will next play No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the year-end tournament for the top eight men in the rankings. Roddick will play No. 6 David Ferrer in the other semifinal.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

UCLA, USC advance in NCAA tournament

McCall Zerboni, Christina DiMartino and Kristina Larsen scored first-half goals to lead top-seeded UCLA to a 3-1 victory over Cal State Fullerton at Drake Stadium in the first round of the NCAA Division I women’s tournament.

The Bruins (17-1-2) will play Oklahoma State in the second round on Sunday. Oklahoma State defeated San Diego, 2-1.

The Titans finished 12-8-2.

USC advanced to the second round with a 3-0 victory over Creighton at Columbia, Mo. Amy Rodriguez scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the first minute of the second half. The Trojans (15-3-2) will play Missouri (14-7-0), which beat Southeast Missouri State on penalty kicks, 2-0.

MEN’S SOCCER

England loses Owen in win over Austria

David Beckham’s corner kick was headed into the goal by Peter Crouch in the 44th minute as England beat Austria, 1-0, in an international friendly at Vienna, but lost forward Michael Owen to a thigh strain in the 34th minute.

Beckham, who made his 98th international appearance, started and played until the 62nd minute.

BASEBALL

Izturis’ 2008 option declined by Pirates

Cesar Izturis’ $5.85-million option was declined by the Pittsburgh Pirates, who will pay the infielder a $300,000 buyout. The 27-year-old former Dodger already had filed for free agency.

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Andy LaRoche of the Dodgers hit a two-run homer in the first inning to lead the U.S. to a 3-1 victory over South Korea and into the semifinals of the Baseball World Cup at Taipei, Taiwan.

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Season-ticket renewal forms were sent to Angels fans this week with average price increases of 9.5% -- from $1.50 a seat in some sections to $6 in others -- sending the team’s average ticket price from $19.49 in 2007 to $21.35 in 2008.

The average major league ticket price in 2007 was $22.69, and the Angels ranked 17th among 30 teams.

Most of the significant increases were for premium tickets, such as the Diamond Club seats behind home plate and some club-level seats.

-- Mike DiGiovanna