Ochoa returns to earn playoff victory in Alabama

By The Associated Press
PRATTVILLE, Ala. — Lorena Ochoa won the Navistar LPGA Classic on Sunday for her seventh victory of the year and first since May, beating Kandie Kung with a par on the second hole of a playoff.
Recharged after a month away from the tour, the top-ranked Mexican star closed with a 2-under 70 to match Kung (67) and Cristie Kerr (66) at 15-under 273. Kerr was eliminated with a bogey on the first extra hole.
Ochoa was winless in seven starts after opening the year with six wins in nine events, including four straight.
Shanshan Feng (66) and Song-Hee Kim (69) tied for fourth at 14 under on the links-style Senator Course, part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex.
Sweden’s Louise Friberg, tied for the lead with Ochoa at 13 under entering the round, shot a 72 to tie for sixth at 13 under with Wendy Doolan (68), Sarah Jane Kenyon (69), Jill McGill (69) and LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng (70).
Ochoa eagled the par-5 eighth and also had a bogey and a birdie in the round that she finished with six straight pars — eight including the playoff. She earned $210,000 for her 24th career LPGA Tour victory to push her season total to $2,591,048.
Romero claims SAS Championship. At Cary, N.C., Argentina’s Eduardo Romero won the SAS Championship for his third Champions Tour victory in five starts, closing with a 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Tom Kite.
Romero, also the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open winner in July and U.S. Senior Open champion in August, is the tour’s lone three-time winner this year.
He had a 15-under 201 total on the Prestonwood Country Club course and earned $315,000 to jump from eighth to third on the money list with $1,501,799.
Kite finished with a 69.
Andy Bean and Gil Morgan shot 67s to tie for third at 11 under. Second-round leader Bruce Fleisher (72) and Jim Thorpe (67) finished at 10 under.
Fernandez-Castano wins British Masters in playoff. At Sutton Coldfield, England, Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won the British Masters, beating defending champion Lee Westwood with a par on the third playoff hole of a playoff. Castano closed with a 5-under 67 to match Westwood at 12-under 276.