Exasperated by his poor putting, Tiger Woods headed home after one of those rare weeks in which he did not win a tournament.
He finished two strokes behind winner Henrik Stenson in third place Sunday, unable to make a successful title defense at the Dubai (United Arab Emirates) Desert Classic before a gallery that included Roger Federer and Michael Schumacher.
Woods can take consolation in knowing his streak of seven straight victories on the PGA Tour is still alive, but he knows there's work ahead.
"That's one of the worst putting weeks I've had in a long time," said Woods, who shot a 3-under-par 69 to finish at 17-under 271. "I'm going to go home and just kind of figure it out. Hopefully get my putting organized before I compete again.
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Stenson (68) began the day two shots behind Ernie Els (71) at Emirates Golf Club. But Stenson, a Swede who lives in Dubai, had five birdies to finish at 269. Els was a shot back, and Woods shared third with Niclas Fasth (68).
Aaron Baddeley birdied three of the final four holes and took advantage of Jeff Quinney's late collapse for a one-stroke victory in the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Ariz. Baddeley trailed Quinney by three shots with four holes to go but birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th holes en route to his second PGA Tour victory. The 26-year-old Australian won the Verizon Heritage last year.
Woods, Roger Federer and Thierry Henry will team in an endorsement deal with Gillette that will put the trio in TV commercials around the world. Gillette executives declined to say how much the golf, tennis and soccer stars will be paid. Woods already endorses an array of products, and last year renewed his deal with Nike that will pay him about $30 million a year.
Al Thornton scored 21 points and Florida State upset No. 8 Duke 68-67 in Durham, N.C.
, to snap a 15-game losing streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Toney Douglas added 15 points and Uche Echefu had 12 for the Seminoles (17-6, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who overcame a 17-point deficit to claim their first victory on the Blue Devils' fabled home floor. Greg Paulus finished with a career-high 23 points for Duke (18-5, 5-4), which has lost two straight in the final seconds and now must beat rival North Carolina on Wednesday to avoid their first three-game losing streak since 1999 -- when the Blue Devils lost their last game of the 1998-99 season and dropped their first two in 1999-2000.
Mia Johnson scored 22 points and three other Michigan State players also scored in double figures in the Spartans' 80-70 victory over Illinois in East Lansing, Mich. Aisha Jefferson had 19 points and seven rebounds, Alyssa DeHaan added 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Rene Haynes scored 11 points for Michigan State (17-6, 8-2 Big Ten). Lori Bjork scored 19 points for Illinois (16-6, 6-4).
Danyel Crutcher added 10 points, Jenna Smith snared a game-high nine rebounds and Lacey Simpson came up with eight assists.
Carly Benson hit 4-of-7 shots from 3-point range and finished with 22 points as Michigan (10-14, 3-8 Big Ten) claimed a 61-49 victory over Northwestern in Ann Arbor, Mich. A.
J. Glasauer had 18 points and five steals, Sara Stutz added 14 points and Kristin Cartwright had a game-high 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (6-18, 0-11).
Jessica Davenport took advantage of an injury to Iowa's tallest player to score 22 points to lead No.
5 Ohio State past the Hawkeyes 85-49 in Columbus, Ohio. Brandie Hoskins added 16 points, six assists and four rebounds, Star Allen had 11 points and Marscilla Packer 10 for the Buckeyes (21-1, 10-0 Big Ten), off to their best start ever. Wendy Ausdemore had 12 points and Lindsey Nyenhuis 11 for the Hawkeyes (11-12, 3-7), who have lost five in a row.
Sylvia Fowles had 23 points and 20 rebounds and No. 7 LSU (21-3, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) beat South Carolina for the 10th straight time, 49-46, in Columbia, S.C.
Melanie Johnson led South Caroliina (13-11, 3-6) with 11 points.
Devanei Hampton had a big second half to finish with 22 points and 14 rebounds and No. 21 California (18-5, 8-4 Pac-10) ended a 14-game losing streak to host Stanford (Calif.
), beating the eighth-ranked Cardinal 72-57. The Cardinal (19-4, 11-1) lost to Cal for the first time since Feb. 16, 2001.
Courtney Paris tied Oklahoma's career double-doubles record with 41 points and 19 rebounds, and the No. 9 Sooners (18-3, 8-2 Big 12) held Oklahoma State without a field goal for more than 10 minutes in a 78-63 win in Norman, Okla. Rashidat Sadiq scored 16 points to lead Oklahoma State (15-7, 3-6).
Martina Hingis won her record fifth Pan Pacific Open title, beating 19-year-old Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2 in Tokyo. Hingis, who lost to Elena Dementieva in the final last year, relied on solid groundstrokes to beat the fifth-seeded Serb in just over an hour.
Marcos Baghdatis won his second career title by beating defending champion Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 at the Zagreb (Croatia) Open.
The second-seeded Cypriot saved four break points in the opening set -- one with an ace and two others with service winners.
A record 450 horses have been nominated for the 2007 Triple Crown races, including 2-year-old champions Street Sense and Dreaming of Anna and 32 nominees from trainer Todd Pletcher. The previous record for early nominations, which carries a $600 fee to be eligible for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, was 446 set in 2003.
New York Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek broke his left leg and will be out four-to-six weeks, the team said. Martinek, who recently returned from a broken foot that sidelined him for nine games, was injured again Saturday in the Islanders' 4-2 victory at Montreal. The fifth-year player came off the ice on a stretcher in the first period after he was checked into the boards behind the Islanders net by Canadiens left wing Guillaume Latendresse.
Charel Allen scored 26 points and host Notre Dame (14-8, 5-4 Big East) hit 33-of-39 free throws to beat West Virginia (15-8, 6-4) 77-67. Allen also had nine rebounds, and Ashley Barlow added 17 points and eight boards for the Irish.
Oscar Salazar homered and had five RBI to lead Venezuela to a 13-3 victory over Mexico in the Caribbean Series in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Salazar, who had a brief stint with the Detroit Tigers in 2002, hit a two-run homer in a seven-run first inning and a bases-loaded triple in a five-run sixth.
Compiled from wire reports.
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