Van Pelt wins first PGA Tour event

Bo Van Pelt won for the first time on the PGA Tour with a birdie on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff over John Mallinger on Sunday in the U.S. Bank Championship at Milwaukee.

Van Pelt had two putts to win, leaving a 26-footer a little short before sinking a two-foot birdie for his first victory in his 229th tour event.

On the second playoff hole, the 29-year-old Mallinger rolled his second shot in a greenside bunker. Mallinger got out but left himself a 28-footer for birdie that he pushed right of the hole and settled for par.

That would be plenty for Van Pelt, who had a chance on the first hole to end it but looked nervous and missed a 13-foot eagle putt. He settled for a tap-in birdie to put the pressure on Mallinger, who made a five-footer to set up the final scramble.

Van Pelt, 34, shot a 64 in the final round and did not have a bogey to move from seven-under par to 13 under, finishing with a four-foot putt for birdie on No. 18. Van Pelt made his move with three straight birdies on the back nine at Nos. 13-15, sinking a 22-footer at the par-five 15th to go to 12 under.

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MOTOR RACING

McGriff, 81, makes history

Eighty-one-year-old Hershel McGriff became the oldest driver to take part in a national NASCAR series race, finishing 13th in a Camping World West Series event at Portland International Raceway in Oregon.

Jim Inglebright of Fairfield, Calif., won the Bi-Mart Salute to the Troops 125 on Portland’s 1.98-mile road course.

In a career that has spanned more than six decades, McGriff has four NASCAR Cup series victories and 37 wins on the West series. He is a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Valentino Rossi has held off Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo in a wheel-to-wheel last lap to win the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring for his 101st MotoGP victory. Rossi crossed the line 0.099 seconds ahead of Lorenzo after passing him with less than two laps left.

Antron Brown beat Tony Schumacher by 0.008 seconds to take the Top Fuel final at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash. Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) were the other winners at the 14th of 24 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

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TENNIS

Soderling wins Swedish Open

Robin Soderling beat Juan Monaco, 6-3, 7-6 (4), to win the Swedish Open at Bastad for his fourth ATP Tour title and first on clay.

The second-seeded Soderling became the first Swedish winner of the tournament since 2000 when his coach, Magnus Norman, won the title.

Jeremy Chardy won his first ATP Tour title, beating Victor Hanescu, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the Mercedes Cup final at Stuttgart, Germany. . . . Sybille Bammer upset top-seeded Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (4), 6-2, to win the Prague Open in the Czech Republic. . . . Top-seeded Flavia Pennetta routed Sara Errani, 6-1, 6-2, to win the Palermo Open in an all-Italian final in Sicily.

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SOFTBALL

U.S. puts away Australia, 8-0

Ashley Hansen hit a grand slam and Jennie Finch threw a two-hit shutout as the U.S. advanced to the World Cup of Softball championship game with a 8-0 win against Australia at Oklahoma City.

Australian starter Aimee Murch (1-2) had already forced in runs by hitting Alissa Haber and then walking Andrea Duran before Hansen pulled a 1-and-1 pitch from reliever Kaia Parnaby just over the fence in right field for a 7-0 U.S. lead.

The teams will meet again in the championship game tonight after Australia (3-2), the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, bounced back to beat Italy, 8-0.

The U.S. is unbeaten in five games in the tournament.

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ETC.

Black Astor wins on closing day

Black Astor and jockey Joseph Talamo beat heavy favorite Spring House by two lengths for a wire-to-wire win in the closing-day $150,000 Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Talamo kicked away in the stretch for the win, covering 1 1/2 miles in 2:27.10.

Suspended NFL star Michael Vick’s federal dogfighting sentence is ending. The federal Bureau of Prisons lists Vick’s release date as today. That means Vick can shed the electronic monitor he has been wearing while on home confinement in Hampton, Va., for the last two months of his 23-month sentence.

A University of South Florida football player was recovering at a hospital after falling 35 feet from a gondola ride while working at Busch Gardens in Tampa, team officials said. Team officials identified the player as Maikon Bonani, 20, South Florida’s starting kicker.

The Clippers’ Blake Griffin was named most outstanding player of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Griffin, the No. 1 overall pick in June’s NBA draft, averaged 20 points and 11.5 rebounds in the first four games. League play concluded Sunday night.

-- Lisa Dillman

Julia Pakhalina of Russia won the gold medal in women’s 1-meter springboard diving at the world championships in Rome, her first title at a worlds or Olympics in nine years. Pakhalina totaled 325.05 points. Chen Roulin and Wang Xin of China won the gold medal in 10-meter synchronized diving. The U.S. team of Mary Beth Dunnichay and Haley Ishimatsu finished second. Ishimatsu is from Seal Beach.