Ji wins Women's Open

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP)—South Korea’s Eun Hee Ji made the U.S. Women’s Open memorable for more than a lingering LPGA Tour hierarchy dispute. Former champion Cristie Kerr failed to hold the lead, and Ji punctuated a frantic final round Sunday by rolling in a lengthy birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win the Women’s Open.
“I didn’t even dream about winning this tournament, but, well, I did it, and I think this is going to be one of the most memorable moments in my life,” Ji said through an interpreter.
The unlikely birdie and improbable victory by the 23-year-old provided a respite from the dispute between LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens and more than a dozen top tour players who signed a letter calling for her resignation. The news broke at the start of championship week, and now the situation seems to be coming to a head.
LPGA Tour veteran Juli Inkster, who is on the tour’s Board of Directors, said Sunday she expects a resolution sometime this week and that the board will search for an interim replacement before eventually hiring a new commissioner.

But late Sunday afternoon, the focus was on golf and the final pairing playing the 72nd hole of the championship—and Ji seized the moment, capping an even-par 71 with a near 20-footer for birdie to claim the national championship. Her putt spoiled a strong two-round rally by Candie Kung. Kung vaulted from 37th to a tie for fifth in the third round and was tied with Ji at 1-over before the winning putt. Ji recovered from two bogeys in her first four holes and a double-bogey at the 10th, making three birdies over the final six holes to finish even with a 284 at Saucon Valley Country Club.

Ji is another of a legion of South Korean players who were inspired to play the game by 1998 champion Se Ri Pak. She claimed the biggest prize in golf in just her second try, after finishing tied for 42nd last year. She is the second straight South Korean to win the event, following Inbee Park. Countrywoman Birdie Kim claimed the championship in 2005. Kung, of Taiwan, had a 2-under 69 and was alone in second at 1-over 285. Despite her struggles, Kerr held the lead until the back nine and shot a 4-over 75, tying In-Kyung Kim of South Korea for third at 2-over 286.
Ji made a double-bogey at the 10th, but said it had a calming effect. She went on to make birdies on the 13th, 14th and 18th.

“Up until that point, Cristie Kerr was so far ahead, I just didn’t think anyone was going to be able to catch her,” Ji said. “But after that double-bogey on No. 10, I basically cleared my mind and said let’s go and play out the rest of the round.” She punctuated her steady back-nine run on the final hole by driving into the center of the fairway, landing her approach about 20 feet from the pin. She steadied her shaking hands and coolly rolled the birdie try into the center of the cup.
Ji, who won the 2008 Wegman’s LPGA, pumped her fists and embraced caddie Zac Austin after the putt dropped. Kerr gave her playing partner a long embrace. Kerr was the only player to post rounds under par on the first two days and was the only player in red numbers heading into Sunday. But that didn’t last.

“Obviously, today wasn’t my day,” said Kerr, who had 35 putts in the final round. “Nothing went in. Even the good putts I hit didn’t go in, and that’s kind of rough. “You need to get that good feeling and that good momentum on the greens at the Open.” She had a bogey on the first hole, and had a birdie at the third to get back to 2 under. She had back-to-back bogeys at the fifth and sixth and later dropped into the black for the first time in the championship with a bogey on No. 13. Her troubles continued down the stretch as she rolled a birdie putt past the hole at the 16th and missed the comebacker, settling for a bogey that dropped her to 2 over. She failed to make lengthy birdie putts at the 17th and 18th. “Not playing the way I did the last three days, this golf course is pretty much all I can handle, and I just didn’t play as well,” Kerr said.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa posted a final round 1-over 72, tying for 26th at 9-over 293 and failing in her bid to claim her first Women’s Open.

Arturo Gatti found dead; wife a suspect

SAO PAULO (AP)—The wife of former boxing champion Arturo Gatti was detained as a suspect by Brazilian authorities Sunday following his death at a posh seaside resort.

Police said 23-year-old Amanda Rodrigues was taken into custody after contradictions in her interrogation. Gatti’s body was found early Saturday in a hotel room at the Porto de Galinhas resort in northeastern Brazil.

The former junior welterweight champion was apparently strangled with the strap of a purse, which was found at the scene with blood stains, said Milena Saraiva, a spokeswoman for the Pernambuco state civil police. She told The Associated Press that the Canadian also had a head injury.

The investigation was not complete, but Saraiva said authorities were preparing to present a formal accusation against Rodrigues, who denied being involved in her husband’s death.

Police said Rodrigues, a Brazilian, could not explain how she spent nearly 10 hours in the room without noticing that Gatti was already dead.

Police were investigating witness reports that the couple fought and Gatti was drunk when he returned to his room Friday night, Saraiva said, adding that police were told the pair were extremely jealous of each other and that he constantly complained of her clothing when she traveled to Brazil.

Acelino “Popo” Freitas, a four-time world champion Brazilian boxer, told Globo TV’s Web site on Saturday that he was a close friend of Gatti and his wife and that he “knew they were having some sort of problem and were about to separate.”

The couple’s 1-year-old son, who was unhurt, was with Rodrigues’ sister, Saraiva said.

The 37-year-old Gatti, whose epic trilogy with Micky Ward branded him one of the most exciting fighters of his generation, retired in 2007 with a career record of 40-9 and 31 knockouts.

Known for his straightforward punching and granite-like chin, Gatti captured the junior welterweight title in 1995, when he defeated Tracy Harris Patterson in Atlantic City.

McNair's Memorial

Yahoo Sports - NASHVILLE, Tenn. – There are a year’s worth of sermons and lessons that people could take from the death of Steve McNair at the hands of his unstable mistress. Mount Zion Baptist Church Bishop Joseph Walker III tried to deliver one of them during the memorial service for McNair at his church on Thursday night, saying, “The next time you write about Steve McNair, drop your stone,” a reference to Jesus’ quote about those without sin.

Walker went on with an emotional and enthusiastic 20-minute sermon that was “committed to this man’s legacy.” McNair, who was shot to death by his girlfriend Sahel Kazemi, was a great player and did wonderful charitable work, receiving an NFL Man of the Year nomination in 2005. Through his contributions to organizations such as Toys for Tots, the Boys & Girls Club and running football camps each summer that helped more than 8,000 mostly underprivileged children, McNair touched thousands of lives. He is, without question, the most prominent athlete in this city’s history.

Former teammate Derrick Mason, one of approximately 50 former teammates who attended the 2 ½-hour event, fought through his quavering emotions and thanked McNair for “allowing me to be a friend and be in your circle” and recounted how after every touchdown pass McNair would bump his fist to his chest twice and point to the sky to thank God.

Likewise, Titans coach Jeff Fisher talked about how McNair “touched lives beyond our imagination.” Fisher remembered how in one game in 2000, when McNair hadn’t started because of an injury but came in to throw a game-winning touchdown in the final two minutes, Fisher went up to McNair to congratulate him.

“Steve interrupted me and just pointed to the sky,” said Fisher, who added that McNair had toyed with the idea of quitting because of his various injuries.

Approximately 4,500 attended the service. Fans remembered their brief-yet-warm encounters with McNair.

“In March, I was at a gas station and I was hurrying through,” said Latrice Scruggs, 28, who brought her three children with her to the service. “I dropped my keys and he picked them up and said, ‘Go ahead.’ I didn’t even realize who it was until the cashier looked at him and said, ‘You’re Steve McNair, right?’

“He was so down to earth about it, just walked around like an everyday Joe. He signed my receipt and he was so nice about it.”

Or as Nashville resident Willie Rudolph put it: “This city is in mourning.”

In the balance sheet of life, McNair’s good deeds far exceeded his mistakes. But for all the warm memories of McNair, there is an obvious uneasiness to the final chapter of his story.

“The big elephant in the room,” as Walker put it. Or as Mason put it, “We struggle with questions.”

For all the cheers McNair created on and off the field, his death is shrouded in decadence. On Wednesday, police said Kazemi, 20, was driven to the murder-suicide by a combination of financial woes and jealous fear that McNair had another mistress.

The McNair story is so replete with tragedy that the sadness leaves you speechless.

“My wife and I were talking about it the other night,” said Charles Donnell, another McNair fan. “If you’re the pastor going to speak to his family, knowing what we know about what happened, what do you say? What do you say to his wife? To his sons? I can’t even imagine.”

McNair’s wife Mechelle and four sons are left to grapple with much of the upheaval. The family, which refused to allow pictures of them to be taken during the service, issued a statement: “Today in our loss, our hurt, and our pain we recognize our gains in you our friends and loved ones. … They have all been a source of strength and comfort at this time to our family.”

The rest of us are left to “struggle with questions.”

How do you go from giving your heart and imagination to an athlete at one moment to forgiving his ugly public indiscretions the next? If you’re a parent of a young child, what do you tell them about McNair?

One Pro Bowl player said early in the week “this is why we should all carry guns” before the cause of McNair’s death was revealed. But it doesn’t answer how a man who is so dedicated to his team, sport and community can also be so flawed as a husband.

One fan tried his best to grapple with the morality tale.

“I would tell my son it’s about choices and consequences,” said Rudolph, whose son is 3. “You choose to involve people in your life who aren’t stable, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

STEVE MCNAIR'S Memorabilia

UPDATE: Sahel Kazemi murders McNair then kills herself

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Sahel Kazemi was determined to be with her boyfriend, former NFL star Steve McNair -- even in death.

As he dozed on a sofa early Saturday, Kazemi shot him in the head, then twice in the chest, then again in the head.

Before shooting herself, the 20-year-old sat next to his body and "tried to stage it so she would fall in his lap," Police Chief Ronal Serpas said Wednesday at a press conference where police confirmed the deaths were a murder-suicide. She did, but her body slid to the floor and ended up at McNair's feet. The gun was found underneath her.

Serpas said police believe McNair was asleep when he was killed.

Interviews with friends revealed that Kazemi "was spinning out of control."

She was making payments on two cars, her rent was doubling and she suspected the married McNair was having a second affair with another young woman.

She told a friend on Friday that "My life is a ball of s--- and I should end it," Serpas said.

Police earlier had labeled McNair's death a homicide, but waited for further tests before concluding that she pulled the trigger of a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol in a condominium McNair rented with a friend.

McNair, 36, a quarterback for the Tennessee Titans most of his career, met Kazemi six months ago at a sports cafe where she was a waitress and his family often ate. She seemed happy and eager to build a life with him, but something went wrong.

"We do know that she was clearly sending a message during the last five to seven days of her life that things were going bad quickly," Serpas said, though there was no indication she told anyone she planned to harm McNair.

Serpas said detectives learned that Kazemi recently found out about another young woman she thought McNair was romantically involved with and had even followed that woman home, though she did not confront her.

Kazemi's family told reporters that the woman was so confident McNair was divorcing his wife of 12 years that she was preparing to sell her furniture and move in with him.

But Mike Mu, who has worked with McNair's charitable association for years, said earlier Wednesday that McNair's wife, Mechelle McNair, "didn't know who this girl is." No records of divorce proceedings have surfaced. The McNairs have four children.

Two days before the shooting, police stopped Kazemi driving a Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle that McNair had given her for her birthday in May.

According to an arrest affidavit, Kazemi had bloodshot eyes and alcohol on her breath. She refused a breath test and told an officer "she was not drunk, she was high." She was charged with DUI. McNair was with her but not charged. He later made her bail.

Police are awaiting toxicology reports on both bodies.

The man McNair shared the condo with discovered them Saturday and called a friend, Robert Gaddy, who arrived and called 911. Serpas said the man didn't call 911 himself because he was in shock.

Gaddy said Wednesday that what he saw in the condo will haunt him for the rest of his life, but he was glad police made clear that his longtime friend did not suffer.

Serpas said that even though both Kazemi's name and McNair's were on the Cadillac's title, she was apparently responsible for making payments. She was also making payments on another car after she couldn't sell it.

Kazemi had no history of violence, but "on the last several days of her life it's obvious that she made some very poor decisions," Serpas said.

Mechelle McNair has not spoken publicly since the shooting. Bishop Joseph W. Walker III of Mount Zion Baptist Church, which the McNairs have attended since moving to Nashville in 1997, said Wednesday that she is doing as well as can be expected.

"Her faith is what's sustaining her now," he said. "We haven't talked about the circumstances of his death. She is processing it in a private way. It's obviously devastating on so many levels."

Gaddy defended McNair as a great husband.

"When Mechelle is ready to speak, she will let people know that. We can't justify anything that people are starting to find out, but the one thing that we can say, that I know for sure, is that Steve loved his family," Gaddy said.

A memorial service is set for Thursday night in Nashville, with the funeral Saturday in his native Mississippi.

The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback was being remembered Wednesday at the stadium where he played much of his career. The Tennessee Titans opened LP Field for fans to watch video highlights of McNair's 13-year NFL career and look at photos of the quarterback. There was also a book for them to write messages that will be given to the family.

McNair was known as "Air McNair" for his passing prowess at Alcorn State in Mississippi. In 2000, he helped lead the Titans to the Super Bowl, where they ended up a yard short of a touchdown on the last play of the game when they trailed by seven points.

He spent the last two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before retiring from the NFL last year.