In brief: Stricker wins Crowne Plaza in playoff

Golf: Steve Stricker has all sorts of top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season. Now he has the best one, too.

Stricker birdied the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat Tim Clark and Steve Marino and win the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday. It was his first title after being second, third, fourth, sixth and seventh at other tournaments this year.

When the winning putt fell, Stricker pumped his fist twice, then gave a little punch. It was pure relief.

“This means a lot,” he told CBS from the green, his voice cracking and the gallery chanting his last name. “It’s tough to win out there. Feel fortunate any time you get a chance to.”

Clark came in having won the most money ($12.7 million) without winning a tournament in PGA Tour history. His 0-for-183 skid seemed likely to end when he held a two-stroke lead with five holes left to play. He was tied for the tournament record and was the most accurate driver of the week.

But he couldn’t keep it up. His next tee shot landed in the rough, as did his drive on No. 18. He took bogeys on both holes, coming up short on his par putt on the final hole to force the playoff – the third in four years at the Colonial Country Club. (The exception was last year, when Phil Mickelson made a spectacular shot on No. 17, leaving Clark in a tie for second.)

On the first extra hole, Clark put his approach 7 feet from the cup. Stricker and Marino missed their birdie tries, so the 33-year-old South African had another great chance at victory. But he rolled his putt just to the left of the cup.

On the second hole, Stricker put his approach within 17 feet and Clark almost matched it – but his approach hit the stick and rolled more than 20 feet away. He missed his birdie try and Stricker made his for his fifth career victory.

•McNulty edges Funk: Mark McNulty won the Principal Charity Classic in West Des Moines, Iowa, for his seventh Champions Tour victory, beating Fred Funk with a 30-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole of a playoff.

McNulty, 55, closed with a 5-under 66 to match Funk (66) and second-round leader Nick Price (68) at 10-under 203 on the Glen Oaks Country Club course. McNulty and Funk birdied the second extra hole to eliminate Price.

Dixon uses traffic to win at Milwaukee

Motorsports: Scott Dixon took advantage of the heavy Milwaukee Mile traffic to pass Ryan Briscoe and drive away to a victory at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

The reigning IndyCar Series champion darted past Briscoe 25 laps from the end of the A.J. Foyt 225 and was not challenged the rest of the way, beating last year’s race winner by nearly half the front straightaway on the one-mile oval.

•Capps beats Force: Ron Capps raced to his third Funny Car victory of the season, beating No. 1 qualifier Ashley Force Hood in the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.).

Larry Dixon (Top Fuel) and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) also won their divisions in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series event.

•Dr iver killed in N.D.: A crash during a feature race at the Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D., has killed longtime Fargo race car driver John Schulz. Schulz, 47, died after the car he was driving rolled on the back straightaway of the second lap in the modified division feature race.

Menchov falls, recovers to win Giro

Cycling: The 100th-anniversary edition of the Giro d’Italia had it all, and the most dramatic moment came with 900 yards to go in the 2,146-mile race.

Overall leader Denis Menchov fell on rain-slicked cobblestones within sight of the Colosseum that marked the finish of the final stage individual time trial through the streets of Rome.

The Russian got right back up, ran ahead to his bike but then opted to take a spare bike provided by a team member and still finished the race 41 seconds in front of runner-up Danilo Di Luca.

Ignatas Konovalovas of Lithuania won the 8.95-mile time trial.

•Armstrong 12th: Lance Armstrong concluded a relatively quiet Giro d’Italia in 12th place overall, then jetted home to await the birth of his fourth child. The seven-time Tour de France winner eased off in the race’s final stage. Armstrong finished 53rd in the race against the clock and ended 15:59 behind overall race winner Menchov.

Seminoles score 37 runs in regional win

Miscellany: Stephen Cardullo set a tournament record with seven hits, including three of Florida State’s NCAA-record 15 doubles, as the Seminoles routed Ohio State 37-6 in Tallahassee, Fla., and advanced to the super regionals.

Florida State (45-16) set NCAA postseason records with 37 runs, 38 hits and 66 total bases. The Seminoles set or tied 18 NCAA, school or postseason records.

•Iraqi journalist killed: An Iraqi sports broadcaster was killed by a bomb attached to his car in northern Iraq, while two other journalists were wounded in a similar blast in Baghdad, officials said.

Alaa Abdul-Wahab, a 37-year-old reporter for the Cairo-based independent Baghdadiya TV station, was killed and two other journalists wounded when the bomb exploded as he got into his Opel car in the northern city of Mosul, according to police.