Howell ends drought

Charles Howell III made a 15foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff with Patrick Rodgers in the RSM Classic to end an 11-year victory drought.

Howell tearfully embraced wife Heather and children Ansley and Chase — neither of whom was born when he last won on the PGA Tour at Riviera in 2007.

Howell’s victory at St. Simons Island, Ga., earned him $1,152,000 and a trip to his hometown of Augusta, Ga., in April to play in the Masters for the first time since 2012

“That was the first thing that popped into my head,” Howell said.

Lexi Thompson beat Nelly Korda by four shots to win the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla. Ariya Jutanugarn took the other big prizes, clinching the yearlong Race to the CME Globe prize and the $1-million bonus, as well as the Vare Trophy for winning the season’s scoring title. The world No. 1 already wrapped up player-of-theyear honors . ... Danny Willett won the European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship by two shots for his first victory since the 2016 Masters.

Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati won the season-ending Valencia MotoGP in Spain . ... Sebastien Ogier won his sixth straight World Rally Championship in Australia.

No. 1 North Carolina beat No. 2 Maryland 2-0 to win its seventh NCAA field hockey championship.