Moore wins U.S. Amateur

Ryan Moore won the last four holes to beat Luke List 2-up in the 36-hole final at the U.S. Amateur at Winged Foot Golf Club on Sunday in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Moore, of Puyallup, Wash., birdied Nos. 15, 17 and 18 to win his fourth prestigious amateur event of the year. The UNLV senior, who won the U.S. Amateur Public Links in July, becomes the fourth golfer to win two USGA championships in the same year, joining Bob Jones and Chick Evans (U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open), Jay Sigel (U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur) and Pearl Sinn (U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, U.S. Women’s Amateur). He also won the NCAA Division I and Western Amateur titles this year.

“Coming down 17 and 18 in the afternoon, I knew I had to make birdies,” Moore said.

A three-time NCAA All-American, Moore’s best previous finish in a U.S. Amateur was the quarterfinals in 2002. He is the first stroke play medalist to win the event since Tiger Woods in 1996.

List, a 19-year old sophomore at Vanderbilt, had never trailed in his previous five matches. He built a 4-up lead twice, at the 17th hole in the morning round and on the first in the second round. List was 2-up after making a 3-foot birdie putt at the par-3 13th.

Cink cruises to victory in NEC

The last man picked for the Ryder Cup team, then first at Firestone from start to finish.

No wonder Stewart Cink says his confidence is at an all-time high.

Six days after U.S. captain Hal Sutton added him to the team, Cink completed the best performance of his career by turning the final round of the NEC Invitational in Akron, Ohio, into a showcase of poise and putting. He never let anyone within two shots of the lead to become the first wire-to-wire winner on the PGA Tour this year.

“This is huge,” Cink said after a 15-foot birdie on the 18th for an even-par 70 and a four-shot victory over Tiger Woods and Rory Sabbatini. “It means so much to win in this style … and never really make it close.”

He had been 0-6 when he had a lead going into the final round, a statistic that wore on him even with a five-shot cushion during the final round on a tough Firestone South course.

“I know I can be a front-runner just like anyone else,” he said. “And I can polish it off.”

Cink finished at 11-under 269 and earned $1.2 million for his first World Golf Championship title.

Sutton was flying to New York, where he will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange today, but he was hardly surprised.

“I know he’s been playing great. I’ve been watching him for three months, watching him get better,” Sutton said. “This doesn’t make me feel any better. I feel just as strongly about him as when I picked him.”

Woods, the best front-runner in golf, was merely a bystander, just like everyone else. He bogeyed the first hole by chipping through the green and into a bunker, and never got closer than five shots. Woods finished with a 69.

He kept alive his streak of never finishing worse than fifth at Firestone in seven appearances, and he will keep another amazing streak going — 263 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the world.

Rookie Taylor wins playoff

Rookie Vaughn Taylor claimed his first PGA Tour victory, rolling in an 11-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to win a four-way playoff at the Reno-Tahoe Open in Reno, Nev.

Taylor made a 14-foot birdie putt on the last hole of regulation for a 3-over 75 and tied hometown favorite Scott McCarron (71), rookie Hunter Mahan (74) and Australia’s Steve Allan (74) at 10-under 278.

In the playoff, McCarron missed a 14-foot birdie putt and Mahan failed to convert from 16 feet. Allan’s approach to the 429-yard, par-4 18th came up short.

Birdie gives Tewell victory

Doug Tewell rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole to win the Greater Hickory Classic in Concord, N.C., title with a tournament low, 8-under-par 64.

Tewell played three bogey-free rounds and finished at 14-under-par 202 for the 54-hole event, one shot ahead of second-round leader Bruce Fleisher, who shot 68 on the 7,097-yard layout.

It was Tewell’s eighth Champions Tour victory and marked the fifth straight year he has won at least one event.

Matthew outlasts Han in playoff

Catriona Matthew rolled in a short par putt on the first playoff hole to avenge a 2003 playoff loss and beat defending champion Hee-Won Han and win the Wendy’s Championship for Children in Dublin, Ohio.

Matthew shot a 4-under 68 for a 10-under 278 total for her second career LPGA title, and first since 2001.

Matthew and Han, playing in the same group, each parred the 18th in regulation to force the playoff.

Han, who beat Mathew in a playoff in 2003, led by as many as three shots and was the leader throughout the final round, closed with a 72.