By The Associated Press

Published: Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Updated: Monday, February 8, 2010 11:10 AM CST

Here's a look at weekend sports in brief around the world.

MIAMI, Fla. (AP) — Who Dat won the Super Bowl? The New Orleans Saints, that’s who.

Ain’t kidding.

Put away those paper bags forever: Drew Brees and the Saints are NFL champions, rallying to beat Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in the Super Bowl.

Brees tied a Super Bowl record with 32 completions, the last a 2-yard slant to Jeremy Shockey for the winning points with 5:42 remaining. The Pro Bowl quarterback was chosen Super Bowl MVP.

New Orleans’ lowly ranked defense made several key stops, an onside kick sparked their second-half comeback, and Tracy Porter’s 74-yard interception return on a pass from Manning, of all people, clinched it.

GOLF

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even with a big lead, Steve Stricker expected a tough day. Everyone else expected him to win.

Turns out both sides were right.

Stricker watched a six-shot lead slip to two after just five holes at Riviera before he steadied himself and closed with a 1-under 70 for a two-shot victory over Luke Donald in the Northern Trust Open.

Stricker won for the fourth time in his last 15 PGA Tour starts and moved up to No. 2 in the world ranking. He has eight tour victories overall.

Stricker didn’t make it easy on himself, having to grind for pars as Donald kept pouring in birdies. But after Donald missed two short birdie attempts, Stricker fired off two straight birdies to restore a comfortable margin. He finished at 16-under 268 and earned $1.152 million to go over $25 million for his career.

Donald birdied the 17th to again trim the lead to two shots, but that was as close as he ever got. He closed with a 66. Dustin Johnson had a 66, and J.B. Holmes made a late surge for a 67 to tie for third at 13 under.

Phil Mickelson, trying to become the first player to win three straight years at Riviera, had a 73 and finished 14 shots behind.

Dubai Desert Classic

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Dubai Desert Classic for his 16th European tour title, beating England’s Lee Westwood with a 4-foot par putt on the third hole of a playoff.

Westwood missed a 5-foot par putt on the third extra hole.

Both players closed with even-par 72s to finish at 11-under 277. Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (73) was third, a stroke back.

Tom Watson closed with a 68 to tie for eighth at 6 under.

Moonah Classic

FINGAL, Australia (AP) — Jim Herman won the Moonah Classic for his first Nationwide Tour title, birdieing the first hole of a playoff with fellow American Chris Kirk.

Herman and Kirk closed with 2-under 70s to finish at 11-under 277 at Moonah Links. Herman earned $126,000 in the event also sanctioned by Australasian tour.

American Robert Gates, the New Zealand Open winner last week in his Nationwide debut, shot a 66 to finish third at 10 under.

OLYMPICS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Convicted ex-Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee was reinstated as a full member of the International Olympic Committee, a boost for South Korea’s bid to host the 2018 Winter Games.

Lee’s rights were restored by the IOC executive board following a recommendation of the ethics commission, several IOC officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the decision hadn’t been announced.

Lee voluntarily gave up his IOC rights after being indicted in 2008 in a financial and tax evasion case. The South Korean government pardoned Lee last year, clearing the way for his return to the IOC.

Lee’s reinstatement is a lift for South Korea’s latest campaign to host the Winter Games.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The IOC opened a formal investigation into a doping case that could lead to the stripping of gold medals from a U.S. women’s relay team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee executive board set up a disciplinary commission into the case of Crystal Cox, who ran in the preliminaries of the winning 4x400 team in Athens.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said late last month that Cox had admitted to using anabolic steroids and accepted a four-year suspension and disqualification of her results from 2001 to 2004.

TENNIS

LIEVIN, France (AP) — The United States has secured a spot in the Fed Cup semifinals after teenager Melanie Oudin beat Julie Coin to give the Americans a 3-0 lead over France.

Oudin defeated Coin 7-6 (3), 6-4 in just over two hours in the first reverse singles match.

Oudin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the opening singles matches Saturday to give the U.S. a commanding lead in the best-of-five series.

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia successfully defended his Zagreb Indoors title by beating Michael Berrer of Germany in three sets.

Cilic won 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in 2 hours, 38 minutes.

It’s the 22-year-old Croatian player’s second title this year and fifth of his career.

AUTO RACING

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick is expected to announce whether she will enter the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

JR Motorsports has said it will be up to Patrick to decide if she wants to make her NASCAR debut in the Feb. 13 second-tier series race at Daytona.

She wanted to wait until after her stock car debut to make a final decision.

Patrick rallied from a midrace spin in Saturday’s ARCA race at Daytona to finish sixth.