Alabama No. 1 in AP Top 25 for 10th straight week after win against LSU
NEW YORK (AP) — After being tested for the first time this season Alabama and Oregon have held their spots at the top of The Associated Press college football poll.
A thrilling Saturday produced some great finishes but no upsets and few changes among the highest ranked teams.
Alabama, which scored late to beat LSU 21-17, is No. 1 for the 10th straight week. Oregon beat Southern California 62-51 and is No. 2 for the seventh consecutive week.
Kansas State remains at No. 3 after beating Oklahoma State
44-30, and Notre Dame stays at No. 4 after rallying to beat Pittsburgh 29-26 in triple overtime.
Ohio State and Georgia are tied for fifth.
No. 19 Texas and No. 24 Rutgers moved back into the rankings, and No. 23 Toledo is ranked for the first time since 2001.
Ian Poulter rallies to win HSBC Championship for second WGC title
SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Ian Poulter showed he can be a star even when playing only for himself.
One month after leading an improbable European rally in the Ryder Cup, Poulter won for the first time this year. He closed with a 7-under 65 Sunday to come from four shots behind and win the HSBC Championship for his second career World Golf Championships title.
It won’t overshadow what he did at Medinah in the Ryder Cup — five straight birdies to pick up a crucial point in fourballs and winning his singles match to complete a 4-0 week. Even so, it was important to the Englishman that the year not pass without a victory of his own.
“I’ve only been one season without a victory and I certainly didn’t want to go another one,” Poulter said after his two-shot win at Mission Hills. “As well as I’ve played this year, it would have been a disappointment personally to have gone that year
without winning.”
Phil Mickelson (68), Jason Dufner (64), Scott Piercy (65) and Ernie Els (67) tied for second. Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen shared the 54-hole lead, but each shot a 72 in the final round to tie for sixth.
Poulter won for the first time since the World Match Play Championship in Spain in 2011.
His other WGC title came in 2010 in Arizona at the Match Play Championship.
Turns out he can also get it done in stroke play.
On a day when five players had at least a share of the lead at some point — and several others were close — it was the charismatic Poulter who was the steadiest. Starting the day four shots behind, he surged into the lead with four birdies on the front nine and two more after making the turn.
Mickelson and Els tried to stay close, but both wasted opportunities to pull even. Mickelson missed a 5-foot par putt on No. 12, while Els dropped a shot on the 14th when his 3-foot par putt caught the lip. He narrowly missed a birdie putt on the final hole.
14-year-old Chinese player becomes the youngest to qualify for Masters
BANGKOK (AP) — Guan Tianlang of China won the Asia-Pacific Championship on Sunday, making the 14-year-old the youngest player to qualify for the Masters.
Guan closed with a 1-under 71 at Amata Spring Country Club, needing a par on the 18th hole to beat Pan Cheng-tsung of Taiwan. Guan, an eighth-grader who weighs 125 pounds, couldn’t reach the par 4 in two shots. He chipped to 5 feet and made the putt.
Guan will be the youngest player at Augusta National in April. He easily surpasses the mark set by Italy’s Matteo Manassero, who was about to turn 17 when he played in 2010. It’s the second straight year a 14-year-old from China will play in a major. Andy Zhang qualified for the U.S. Open last summer.
Ian Poulter from England hits the ball on the 15th hole during the HSBC Champions golf tournament in Dongguan, southern China's Guangdong province, Sunday Nov. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
