Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. — Rory Sabbatini began the day with a big lead, turned back a challenge on the back nine and shot an even-par 70 Sunday for a one-stroke victory in the Honda Classic.

Sabbatini sank a two-foot par putt on No. 18 to finish at 9-under 271. He earned his first PGA Tour title since the 2009 Byron Nelson Championship and sixth overall.

Y.E. Yang birdied the final hole for a closing 66 to finish 8 under. Jerry Kelly, who played with Sabbatini and Yang in the final threesome, shot a 67 and took third at 7 under.

Former Kansas University golfer Gary Woodland placed in a tie for sixth place with a 278 (71-68-68-71). He earned $184,538.

Golf

Pappas prevails in Bogota

Bogota — Brenden Pappas won the Bogota Open on Sunday when lightning wiped out the third round, reducing the Nationwide Tour event to 36 holes.

The 40-year-old South African had rounds of 67 and 66 to finish at 9 under at Bogota Country Club.

Auto Racing

Tire gamble pays off for Edwards

Las Vegas — Carl Edwards is off to the best start of his career and credits “a gift” from Tony Stewart for his first win of the season.

Stewart had the dominant car Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but had to shuffle his strategy when a penalty on pit road crippled his chances. Edwards crew chief Bob Osborne took note of what Stewart was doing, then used it to get his own driver into Victory Lane.

Stewart was the leader when he was penalized for leaving his pit stall with the air hose still attached to his Chevrolet. Crew chief Darian Grubb had to call for a two-tire stop to get Stewart back into the lead, the entire field saw it work, and Stewart was backed into a corner.

He had to take four tires on his final stop, most everyone else took two, and the longer time spent on pit road shuffled him too far back to make it back to the front.

Edwards, in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford, pulled away for the win, while Stewart, who dropped to 22nd after the four-tire stop, was unable to chase him down and finished second.

College Basketball

Bradley fires coach Les

Peoria, Ill. — Jim Les was fired Sunday as Bradley’s basketball coach, ending a nine-year run that featured an upset of Kansas University in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

The Braves were only 12-20 this season, including 4-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Hansbrough leads All-Big East

Providence, R.I. — Notre Dame’s Ben Hansbrough was the lone unanimous selection to the All-Big East team on Sunday.

The 6-foot-3 senior guard was joined on the six-man first team by Kemba Walker of Connecticut, Austin Freeman of Georgetown, Ashton Gibbs of Pittsburgh, Marshon Brooks of Providence and Dwight Hardy of St. John’s. The first team is comprised of the league’s top six scorers and was chosen by the conference’s head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players.

MLB

White Sox, Thornton agree

Glendale, Ariz. — With job security out of the way, White Sox lefty Matt Thornton can now turn his attention to proving he should be Chicago’s closer.

The All-Star reliever agreed to a $15 million, three-year contract Sunday that adds two years and $12 million to his previous deal.