The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 23

TennisD2 BaseballD3-5 NBAD6 Auto RacingD7 GolfD8-9 ScoreboardD9 Horse RacingD10 The indianapolis Star fjf IndyStar.comsports Monday, April 11, 2005 Section Arena Football League player dies from game injury. D2 Tribe improves to 4-0. D5 KNICKS 113, PACERS 112 2005 MASTERS 17 LI Tiger Woods earns his most personal title, defeating Chris DiMarco in a Masters playoff while thinking of his ailing father Mriane Jaackla The Star Tough turnover: Stephen Jackson of the Pacers turns the ball over after stumbling on a drive to the basket late in overtime. He finished with 27 points. Putback at buzzer stuns Pacers 9th major crown moves him into a tie for 2nd most I'M By Phil Richards phil.richardslf indystar.com AUGUSTA, Ga.

Golfs deadliest closer closed with high drama beneath the tall pines Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club. Tiger Woods holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden death playoff to win the 69th Masters. Woods stabbed his fist into the air. He hugged caddie Steve Williams and shook Chris DiMar-co's hand while all around the 18th green, revelry raged. Genius wears green.

Woods has won four Masters titles at age 29. Try that one on for size. When defending champion Phil Mickelson helped Woods into the traditional green jacket a few minutes later, Woods had equaled Arnold Palmer. Only Jack Nicklaus, the Masters master, has won more, with six. Woods couldn't hide his emotion.

The tears came freely, and he had to wipe See Masters, Page D8 Sweetney scores game-winning basket forKnicksin OT. By Mike Wells mike.wellsgiindystar.com The loss hurt worse than the sharp elbow Stephen Jackson took to his head. The Indiana Pacers were in position to extend their season-long winning streak to seven games against a New York team that had lost nine straight and already made its summer plans. It's hard to beat a team, though, when you forget fundamentals such as stopping dribble penetration and Todav'S boxing out for a game Atypical Masters resumes Woods' historic march Who: Pacers The Pacers couldn't stop Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury from penetrating, and they failed to put a body on forward Mike Sweetney under the basket at the end of the game. UGUSTA, Ga.

This wasn't (41-35) at Raptors (31-45) Tipoft 6 p.m. Radio: WIBC-1070 AM just another milepost on Tiger Woods' inexorable march toward golf history. This wasn't just another coolly efficient, ho-hum, Tiger-blew-out-the-field Masters victory that lacked emotion or serious drama. No, this cr wasn't like that at all. This Masters, the fourth of his career and ninth major victory at the tender age of 29, was very different and very special for a few reasons: Sweetney's putback on Marbury's missed layup at the buzzer gave New York a 113-112 overtime victory on Sunday afternoon at Conseco Fieldhouse.

"New York deserved to win," a disgusted Rick Carlisle said afterward. "They were the more determined team over a 53-min-ute period. We could never get anything going defensively. When you tempt fate by not being able to stop people and you rely on your shot making on offense, you're going to run into situations like this a lot of the time." With 73 seconds left, Marbury Bob Kravitz Jsff Haynes Getty Images Because it came at a time when his father, Earl, was stuck back in the family's rented house in Augusta, battling cancer and various other ailments, and was unable to make it to the course the entire week; Because it came at the end of an 0-for-10 majors drought, the longest of See Kravitz, Page D8 For you, Dad: Tiger Woods gives his familiar celebratory arm pump after making a 15-foot putt in a sudden-death playoff, earned his fourth Masters title, saying he's glad his ailing father could witness it, even if he wasn't at the course. He SUNDAY'S KOLE-BY-KCLE BEP01T FDR TIGER WOODS AND CHESS DiMARCO.

D8 See Pacers, Page D6 CHAMP CAR NASCAR NEXTEL CUP Gordon wins for grieving team Bourdais drives to victory, asks for shot to repeat Rally from 4 laps down soothes owner Hendrick 4-" Sebastien Bourdais wants Long Beach officials to remain with the Champ Car racing series. Next race What: SamsungRadio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway When: Noon Sunday TV: WXIN-59 Radio: WNDE-1260 AM, FM Inside Never too old: Warren Johnson, 61, wins in NHRA Pro Stock. D7 7.4f ffmry By Steve Ballard steve.ballardindystar.com LONG BEACH, Calif. If this was to be the last Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the Champ Car World Series, it was perhaps appropriate that it was won by a team that has been coming here since the beginning. Newman-Haas Racing, a fixture at Long Beach since it became a CART event in 1984, had been shut out of victory lane since Mario Andretti won for the third time in four years in 1987.

The wait ended Sunday as Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais passed Paul Tracy on the 38th of 81 laps on the 1.968-mile street circuit and went on to record the 11th win of his 33-race Champ Car career. "I think they are pretty happy to bring the Long Beach trophy back home," Bourdais said of Hendrick's son, Ricky, was among those killed in the crash. Before making it to victory lane, Gordon said, he was focused on driving the car, especially after going four laps down very early because of a vibratioa Once he saw Hendrick, the rest of the implications surfaced. "When he popped his head in there, it hit me like a ton of bricks." In winning the race, Gordon did the same to everyone else. He seemed out of it after going so far back so early, but worked his way back onto the lead lap with 223 laps to go and never stopped closing on the lead.

Fourth on a restart with 46 laps to go, he wasted no time. He followed third-place Mark See Gordon, Page D7 fll if By Hank Kurz Jr. Associated Press MARTINSVILLE, Va. Jeff Gordon said he came to Martinsville Speedway to do his job, and as he climbed from his car into an embrace with Rick Hendrick in victory lane, doing it well never felt better. Gordon won the Advance Auto Parts 500 on Sunday, turning NASCAR's first visit to the track since a Hendrick Motor-sports plane crashed nearby last fall into a tribute to 10 team members and friends who were killed.

"When you've got a guy like Rick Hendrick that you respect so much and you've seen what he's been through, the ups and downs through his life and especially here last year, for him to poke his head in there and say 'thank you, thank you, thank you, team owners Paul Newman and Carl Haas. "It has been (18) years. A long time. I'm sure they are delighted." Bourdais, runner-up Tracy and third-place finisher Bruno Jun-queira took advantage of being on the podium to lobby race organizers to keep Long Beach on the Champ Car schedule. The contract is up this year and the Indy Racing League has its eye on the See Bourdais, Page D7 thank you, thank and with that tremble in his voice, that impacts you," a choked-up Gordon said.

"That tells you how meaningful this was." Nick Latum Getty Images Coming back: Jeff Gordon earns his second win of the season and moves to sixth in the Nex-tel Cup standings..