GOLF

Hickson beats Vermont golfer in a playoff to capture New England PGA Championship

John Hickson of Topsham defeated Ron Philo of Stowe Mountain Club in Vermont on the second playoff hole today to win the New England PGA Championship at Pine Hills Golf Club in Plymouth, Mass.

Both Hickson, the pro at Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Philo finished the 54-hole tournament with a score of 2-under-par 214, then played the 18th hole twice in the playoff. Each parred the first hole and had a birdie putt on the second. Philo missed his birdie try and pushed his par putt to the left, giving Hickson two putts for the title.

TENNIS

WINSTON-SALEM OPEN: Andy Roddick advanced to the quarterfinals at Winston-Salem, N.C., beating Santiago Giraldo, 6-1, 6-3.

NEW HAVEN OPEN: Fourth-seeded Marion Bartoli advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 win over Klara Zakopalova at New Haven, Conn.

U.S. OPEN: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic was seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open for the first time, followed by defending champion Rafael Nadal and five-time winner Roger Federer, as the tournament followed the ATP rankings for the men’s singles seedings.

GYMNASTICS

U.S. WOMEN: Rebecca Bross will miss the world championships after dislocating her right kneecap, although agent Brandon Swibel said she is expected to make a full recovery in time for the 2012 season.

Bross is having surgery today in Dallas to reset and stabilize the kneecap, which she dislocated on her vault landing at the U.S. championships last Saturday. Swibel said Bross should be able to resume gymnastics in about two months.

VOLLEYBALL

OLYMPIAN INJURED: American Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Todd Rogers will miss the rest of the 2011 season with a knee injury that will require surgery.

Rogers said on his blog that he had a slight tear in his meniscus for much of the summer and aggravated it during a tournament in Finland over the weekend. He will have surgery Friday and be out for about a month.

Rogers and Phil Dalhausser won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

CYCLING

SPANISH VUELTA: Joaquin Rodriguez won the 116-mile fifth stage and Sylvain Chavanel kept the overall leader’s red jersey at Valdepenas de Jaen, Spain.

USA PRO CYCLING CHALLENGE: George Hincapie emerged from a six-rider group to win the crash-marred second stage at Aspen, Colo., while Tejay Van Garderen became the third race leader in three days.

BASEBALL

LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES: Bruno Ruiz hit a ninth-inning homer as Mexicali, Mexico, advanced to the international-bracket final with a 2-1 win over Maracay, Venezuela, at South Williamsport, Pa.

• Ben Askelson homered in the seventh inning to lift Billings, Mont., to a 1-0 victory over Huntington Beach, Calif., in the U.S. semifinals.

 

— From staff and news services