Darren Clarke wins Stanford Invitational in a playoff.

GOLF Clarke wins in a playoff

Darren Clarke won the Stanford International on Sunday for his third PGA Tour Champions victory of the season, beating K.J. Choi with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff in Sioux Falls, S.D. Clarke, the 53-year-old major champion from Northern Ireland, closed with a 5-under 65 at Minnehaha Country Club, birdieing the par-4 18th to match Choi and Steve Flesch at 12-under 198. “It’s nice to get back in the winner’s circle again,” Clarke said. “In the playoff you never know what’s going to happen, anybody can make birdie and luckily it was my day today.” Clarke won the TimberTech Championship in November for his first senior title and took the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in January on his next tour start. Choi, the second-round leader, finished with a 69. He had only one birdie, on the par-4 13th. Flesch, eliminated with a bogey on the first extra trip down 18, also bogeyed the hole in regulation for a 66. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) turned in a 72 on Sunday and finished with a 1-over 211. Glen Day (Little Rock) also shot a 72 on Sunday and completed the tournament a 3-over 213. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 75 on Sunday and finished with a 4-over 215.

Ko first at Portland Classic

Jin Young Ko won the rain-shortened Cambia Portland Classic in West Linn, Ore., on Sunday for her second victory in her last three LPGA Tour starts. Making her first start since the Tokyo Olympics, the second-round South Korean player closed with a 3-under 69 at Oregon Golf Club for a four-stroke victory over Jeongeun Lee and Su Oh. Ko finished at 11-under 205. Play was washed out Saturday because of rain and the event was cut from 72 to 54 holes. Ko took the lead Friday with a 67. Ko also won the Volunteers of America Classic in Texas in early July. The two-time major champion has nine LPGA Tour victories. Lee and Oh each shot 69. Perrine Delacour was fourth at 5 under after a 69. Patty Tavatanakit (69) was 4 under with Esther Henseleit (70) and Carlota Ciganda (73). Gemma Dryburgh, a stroke behind Ko entering the round, had a 76 to drop into a tie for eighth at 3 under. Ala- na Uriell (Razorbacks) finished in a tie for 15th, claiming a 74 on the final day for a 2-under 214 three-day total.

Broberg claims Dutch title

Kristoffer Broberg of Sweden shot a tense level-par 72 Sunday to finish at 23 under and win the Dutch Open for his second European Tour victory and first since beating Patrick Reed in a playoff to clinch the 2015 BMW Masters. The 35-year-old set course records at the Bernardus club in Cromvoirt in the second and third rounds, shooting a 64 on Friday and an 11-under 61 on Saturday. But the 772nd-ranked Swede struggled Sunday, despite starting the day with an eight-shot lead, as Alejandro Canizares and Marcus Schmid both piled on the pressure with 5-under 31s on the front nine. Schmid reduced the lead to just two shots on the par-5 12th, but it could have been worse for Broberg — he chipped in for a bogey while Schmid left an eagle putt just short of the cup. Schmid then made a double-bogey five on the 13th to take the pressure off Broberg in a rollercoaster back nine for the leader.

BASEBALL Rangers demote Arihara

Right-hander Kohei Arihara was designed for assignment Sunday by the Texas Rangers, who signed the Japanese pitcher to a twoyear contract last winter. The move with Arihara before the series finale against the Chicago White Sox cleared a spot on the 40-man roster for the Rangers to reinstate righthander Mike Foltynewicz from the covid-related injury list. Arihara is 2-4 with a 6.64 ERA in 10 starts this season. He has made three starts since returning from the injured list after having surgery in May for an aneurysm in his throwing shoulder. He has made three starts since being activated from the IL on Sept. 1, giving up six runs in four-plus innings Wednesday against Houston. Texas could assign Arihara outright to the minors if he clears waivers.

BASKETBALL WNBA postseason finalized

Sitting in their apartments in Brooklyn, many of the New York Liberty players gathered to watch the final day of play in the WNBA regular season. They needed a lot of help Sunday to reach the postseason for the first time since 2017. They got it, taking the final playoff spot by virtue of losses by Washington and Los Angeles. New York earned the eighth seed and will play at Phoenix on Thursday in the opening round. Chicago will host Dallas in the other game that night. Coming into the weekend, Washington had the best chance to reach the postseason despite having so many players missing games this season with injuries. The Mystics lost at New York on Friday and then to Minnesota on Sunday. With Minnesota’s win over Washington, the Lynx took the third seed and will play the worst remaining seed in the second round on Sunday. The Seattle Storm have the four seed and will play the other first-round winner at home.

TENNIS Belgium comes back

Top-seeded Belgium recovered from being two matches down to beat Bolivia 3-2 in the Davis Cup World Group on Sunday. Belgium trailed 2-0 at the start of the day in Asuncion, Paraguay, after losing its opening singles on Saturday, but advanced to the Qualifiers next year after Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen won their doubles match, followed by reverse singles victories for Michael Geerts on his Davis Cup debut and Ruben Bemelmans.

It was the first time Belgium had won after trailing 2-0 in Davis Cup play. No. 2-seeded Argentina beat Belarus 4-1 in Buenos Aires. The 15th-ranked Diego Schwartzman clinched the win after beating Alexander Zgirovsky 6-1, 6-2. The Netherlands secured its place in the Qualifiers with a 4-0 win over Uruguay in Montevideo. Uruguay has been without its best player, Pablo Cuevas, who is injured.

SOCCER FC Dallas fires coach

FC Dallas fired Coach Luchi Gonzalez on Sunday and replaced him on an interim bases with Marco Ferruzzi, the club’s director of soccer operations. FC Dallas has won only six of its 26 games this season and has nine draws. The coaching change came a day after a 3-2 loss to the Houston Dynamo, one of only two teams below Dallas in the Western Conference standings. The club also relieved assistant coach Mikey Varas of his duties. After making the playoffs in each of its first two seasons under Gonzalez, FC Dallas is 11th in the 13-team Western Conference. Gonzalez has a 28-29-25 record in regular season games.

MOTOR SPORTS Wilkerson earns 22nd title

Tim Wilkerson raced to his second Funny Car victory in three weeks Sunday, beating Cruz Pedregon in the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. Wilkerson had a 3.927-second run at 331.36 mph in a Ford Shelby Mustang in the final for his 22nd career victory. He moved to sixth the in season standings. Josh Hart won in Top Fuel, Kyle Koretsky in Pro Stock and Angelle Sampey in Pro Stock Motorcycle in the second race in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Hart beat points leader Brittany Force with a 3.770 at 324.12 for his second career victory.