GOLF

WOODS WINS DUBAI IN PLAYOFF OVER ELS Tiger Woods is 2-for-2 for the year. Woods won the Dubai Desert Classic over Ernie Els yesterday,forcing a one-hole playoff against the defending champion with birdies on the last two holes of regulation.

On the playoff hole, the par-5 18th,Woods went just over the green with his second shot. Els put his drive into a grove of palm trees, and then hit his second shot into the water protecting the green. Els missed a 20-foot par putt, leaving Woods to two-putt for par from 6 feet to win.

Woods, who rallied Saturday to grab a share of the lead, won his first tournament of the year last weekend in the Buick Invitational in San Diego, also in a playoff.Yesterday’s victory was Woods’s 57th worldwide – 47 of them on the U.S. PGA Tour.

Els and Woods were tied at 19-under 269 after regulation. Richard Green shot a 68 to finish 18 under and Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) and Anders Hansen (71) came in at 17-under 271. Retief Goosen shot 71 for a 16-under 272. Els, a three-time champion in Dubai, shot a closing 5-under 67.Woods, who was tied for the lead with Hansen after three rounds, closed with a 69 to go with rounds of 67, 66, and 67.

Woods is nearly impossible to beat in playoffs. He’s 13-1 worldwide in official events, including a 4-0 playoff record overseas. His only loss was in 1998 to Billy Mayfair in the Nissan Open.

Yesterday, he struggled with his driver and hooked drives badly on nos. 2, 6, and 8. He saved par twice – with a bunker shot to inches on no. 8, and with a 10-foot putt on the second – but failed to recover on no. 6, missing a 20-foot par putt.The turnaround hole was the 14th. Woods hit his drive into a rocky bank surrounding a pond. He pitched his second over jagged stones into the fairway, left his approach 20 feet short – and then holed the par-saving putt.

Woods received $400,000 for winning the $2.4 million event, where he received a $3 million appearance fee.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

GEORGETOWN HANGS ON TO BEAT PITT Jeff Green matched his career high with 22 points,and no.17 Georgetown overcame a 15-point first-half deficit and survived a late rally yesterday to beat no. 9 Pittsburgh 61-58 for its sixth straight victory.

Georgetown (16-5, 7-2 Big East) was outrebounded 35-23, got only two points from its bench, and for 20 minutes allowed Pittsburgh 7-footer Aaron Gray to look like the next coming of Patrick Ewing. But the Hoyas shut out Gray in the second half and held the Panthers (17-3, 6-3) to four field goals and one free throw during the final 10 minutes.

Georgetown has two victories over top 10 teams during its winning streak, including a January 21 win over then-no. 1 Duke. Pitt has lost three of five – all on the road – after a 15-0 start.

TENNIS

HINGIS FALLS IN PAN PACIFIC FINAL Martina Hingis missed a chance for her first title in her comeback, falling 6-2, 6-0 to Russia’s Elena Dementieva yesterday in the Pan Pacific Open. The second-seeded Dementieva overpowered Hingis in the championship match at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Gymnasium to win her first Tier 1 WTA Tour singles title.

Hingis, who retired three years ago because of foot, heel and ankle injuries, is a four-time winner in Tokyo. She last played in the tournament in 2002.

Hingis, who entered the tournament as a wild card, beat top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the semifinals Saturday, but got off to a sluggish start in the final and never found her game against the ninth-ranked Dementieva.

LJUBICIC DISPATCHES QUALIFIER FOR ZAGREB TITLE Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic defeated Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek 6-3, 6-4 yesterday to win his second title of the year at the Zagreb Indoors. The no. 5-ranked Ljubicic improved to 14-1 this season, winning his fifth career title. He reached the quarterfinals in the Australian Open and won last month in Chennai, India.

HOCKEY

RANGERS’ PRUCHA SIDELINED WITH SPRAINED KNEE Rangers rookie Petr Prucha won’t be able to play for the Czech Republic at the Olympics because of a sprained MCL in his right knee that will sideline him three to four weeks. The 23-year-old right wing sprained his right knee Saturday in New York’s 4-3 overtime victory at Philadelphia that put the Rangers (32-15-8) in first place this late in a season for the first time since 1996.

Prucha left the arena Saturday on crutches and in tears. He was hurt during a knee-on-knee hit by Philadelphia’s Turner Stevenson with 5:33 remaining in the second period. Prucha was an eighth-round pick in the 2002 draft. He has 25 goals, including 12 on power plays, and nine assists in his first 49 NHL games.

– Associated Press