Casey runs away with match play tournament

The guy in a red shirt and a swoosh turned in a record-setting performance to win the World Match Play Championship on Sunday, just as everyone expected. Paul Casey said his choice of apparel was merely a coincidence.

A tournament that began with Tiger Woods going for his sixth straight victory ended with Casey plowing through everyone in his path to capture the richest prize in golf ($ 1.88 million) and send the Englishman to the Ryder Cup with the biggest win of his career.

Casey never trailed in his final 71 holes of a marathon week at Wentworth in Virginia Water, England, winning the final five against Shaun Micheel for a 10-and-8 victory, the largest margin of the final match in the 43-year history of the HSBC World Match Play Championship.

PGA Tour

Ben Curtis excels in taking home the best possible going-away presents from disappearing PGA Tour events.

Curtis, start-to-finish steady on a day when the leaderboard was filled with higher scores than the previous three days, claimed a lame-duck tour event for the second time in three months by winning the 84 Lumber Classic by two shots in Farmington, Pa.

Curtis shot a 2-under 70 to finish at 14-under 274 and earned $828,000 for his third tour title. The 2003 British Open winner won the last Booz Allen Classic in June, and then won the fourth and last 84 Lumber Classic.

Charles Howell III shot a 72 to finish second.

Champions Tour

Bob Gilder shot a 7-under 65, the lowest round of the day, to overcome a three-shot deficit and successfully defend his Constellation Energy Classic title in the final year of the Champions Tour event in Hunt Valley, Md.

Jay Haas (68), Brad Bryant (68) and Don Pooley (70) tied for second, two strokes back.

-- The Associated Press