Martin Kaymer claims No. 1 ranking in golf by advancing to Match Play final

Martin Kaymer is the new No. 1 in golf.

Kaymer calmly rolled in an eight-foot par putt on the 18th hole Saturday for a 1-up victory over Bubba Watson to advance to the final of the Match Play Championship at Marana, Ariz. That was all he needed to move to No. 1 in the next world ranking.

The 26-year-old German becomes the second-youngest player to be No. 1 since the ranking began in 1986. Tiger Woods was 21 when he reached No. 1 in June 1997.

It ends the 17-week reign of Lee Westwood, who had only three wins on his world ranking ledger when he became No. 1.

With his 1-up victory, Kaymer advanced to the championship match Sunday against Luke Donald of England, who needed to play only 27 holes in his quarterfinal win over Ryan Moore and his semifinal demolition of Matt Kuchar.

Earlier Saturday in his quarterfinal match, Watson played J.B. Holmes and was five down with eight to play when he staged an amazing comeback. Watson won after Holmes hit into the desert on the 19th hole. Kaymer went 18 holes in a 1-up win over Miguel Angel Jimenez in his quarterfinal match.

Johnson Wagner shot a six-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Chris Stroud after the third round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Japan’s Chie Arimura shot a one-under 71 for a one-stroke lead over Australia’s Karrie Webb after the third round of the HSBC Women’s Champions at Singapore.

WINTER SPORTS

Vonn returns from injury, wins downhill

Lindsey Vonn won a World Cup downhill race Saturday, three weeks after sustaining a concussion that curtailed her world championship run.

Vonn was slightly behind Tina Maze of Slovenia at the first time split on the Olympia course at Are, Sweden, but won in 1 minute 40.93 seconds. Maze was 0.13 of a second behind Vonn, and overall World Cup leader Maria Riesch of Germany finished third.

Vonn withdrew from the late stages of the world championships on Feb. 14 because of the lingering effects of a concussion. Vonn crashed during training on Feb. 2 in Austria. She finished sixth in the super-combined event on Friday in her first race since the world championships.

Christof Innerhofer produced a strong super-G run to win the World Cup super-combined race at Bansko, Bulgaria, ahead of Felix Neureuther.

The Italian, who won the super-G world title two weeks ago, finished 11th in the slalom earlier Saturday, but rallied for the combined win in 2 minutes 23.87 seconds.

Neureuther of Germany was 0.01 of a second behind, and Thomas Mermillod Blondin of France finished third. Ted Ligety of the United States was fourth.

Hannah Kearney of the United States and Olympic champion Alexandre Bilodeau of Canada won dual moguls events in World Cup freestyle skiing at Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic.

Kearney was followed by Canadians Jennifer Heil and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe. Kearney leads the World Cup standings with three events left.

ETC.

Djokovic beats Federer for title

Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer just a month after beating him at the Australian Open to win his third consecutive Dubai Championships title.

The No. 3-ranked Djokovic won, 6-3, 6-3, to extend his unbeaten record in 2011 to 12 matches and earn his 20th title. He beat Federer in the semifinals on his way to winning the Australian Open last month, his second Grand Slam.

Vera Zvonareva beat Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha, 6-4, 6-4.

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina defeated Mardy Fish of the United States, 6-1, 7-5, in the semifinals of the Delray Beach Championships in Florida.