Sports briefs: Sept. 28 | Lexington Herald Leader

College football

Tebow out of UK hospital, status uncertain for LSU

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was out of the hospital and back home Sunday, recovering from the concussion he sustained during the Gators' 41-7 victory at Kentucky. Tebow was released from the University of Kentucky Hospital on Sunday morning. He was held for precautionary reasons. Coach Urban Meyer spent the night in the hospital with Tebow.

"Tim is doing fine this morning," Meyer said. "His CT scans came back and indicated that Tim suffered a concussion. Our medical and athletic training staff will continue to monitor him to determine how much rest and recovery he needs. We will have additional information and updates this week."

Tebow flew back to Gainesville with his family and Meyer on Sunday afternoon.

The top-ranked Gators (4-0) are off next week, then play at LSU on Oct. 10. It might be several days, maybe longer, before Tebow's status becomes clearer for what could be the toughest game on the defending national champions' schedule.

But his return home was welcome news for Florida players, coaches and fans who watched Tebow lay motionless on the field at Commonwealth Stadium. "Everyone is concerned about Tim, and our thoughts and our prayers are with him and his family," said defensive coordinator Charlie Strong.

■ Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower will have knee surgery to repair ligament damage. Coach Nick Saban said Sunday that an MRI confirmed that Hightower had damage in his left knee. He did not say if the sophomore inside linebacker might return this season. He was injured in the first quarter of Saturday's 35-7 win over Arkansas. Hightower started 12 games as a freshman.

Golf

Pernice wins his Champions Tour debut

Tom Pernice Jr. became the 15th player to win in his Champions Tour debut, holing a 35-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Nick Price and David Frost in the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C. Pernice, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, closed with a 3-under 69 to finish at 13-under 203 on the Prestonwood Country Club course.

Pernice is the third player this year to win in his debut, following Tom Lehman, who teamed with Bernhard Langer in the Liberty Mutual Legends, and Senior PGA winner Michael Allen. In the 2007 SAS Championship, Mark Wiebe won his tour debut. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player also won in their first senior starts.

■ Sophie Gustafson is finally an LPGA Tour winner again, cruising to a four-stroke victory over top-ranked Lorena Ochoa in the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge on Sunday in Danville, Calif. The 35-year-old Swede shot a 4-under 68 and finished at 20-under 268 to win her first title since the 2003 Samsung World Championship.

■ Garrett Willis won the WNB Golf Classic on Sunday to lock up a spot next year on the PGA Tour, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over Chad Collins in Midland, Texas.

■ Japan's Daisuke Maruyama ended a four-year title drought by winning the Asia-Pacific Open in Kyoto, Japan. The former PGA Tour player held the overnight lead and only managed a 3-over 74 in tough conditions in the final round on Sunday.

Horse Racing

Mineralogist, Make Note win at Belmont

Mineralogist and Make Note won the $100,000 divisions of New York-bred stakes for 2-year-olds on Sunday at Belmont Park.Mineralogist was a dominant winner in the Joseph A. Gimma for fillies, beating Sugar Trade by 3¾ lengths. Make Note pulled off an upset at 9-1 in the Bertram F. Bongard, rallying to beat Come From Behind by two lengths.

Both Mineralogist and Make Note will likely make their next starts Oct. 24 at Belmont Park on New York Showcase Day.

■ Monmouth Park closed its season Sunday with Elvis Trujillo winning his first riding title at the New Jersey track. Trujillo finished with 129 victories, followed by Eddie Castro. Trainer Bruce Levine won a second straight title with 46 winners.

UK Sports

Volleyball sweeps past Arkansas

A balanced offensive attack lifted No. 17 Kentucky to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-21) sweep of Arkansas on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. UK, which improved to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in Southeastern Conference onference play, played in front of 1,606 fans.

UK's offensive attack posted 49 kills, and was led by junior Lauren Rapp's match-high 12. Junior Sarah Mendoza added 10 kills and sophomore Gretchen Giesler had nine.

Tennis

Krumm WTA's oldest winner since King

Japan's Kimiko Date Krumm became the oldest winner of a WTA Tour tournament since Billie Jean King in 1983, beating second-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-3, 6-3 for the Korea Open title on Sunday. Date Krumm turns 39 on Monday. King was 39 years, 7 months, 23 days when she won at Birmingham, England. The title was Date Krumm's first in 13 years and eighth of her career. Formerly ranked No. 4 in the world, she quit tennis in 1996 before returning last year.

The last word

Another weekend of upsets in college football continued to make it tough on voters in the sport's top-25 polls. Barker Davis of The Washington Times said:

"This was one of the toughest weeks I can remember in my 10 years of being a pollster, because after the top three there simply weren't any other squads that merited a top-10 ranking, much less a No. 4-5-6."