HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP)
-- Aaron Baddeley began the day in the most perfect place he could imagine, on Harbour Town's lighthouse closing hole speaking about his Christian faith.
He called on that faith hours later Sunday on the same hole, repeating part of a New Testament verse as he stood over the winning 6-foot par putt in the final round of the Verizon Heritage.
"I said, 'This is for you Jesus,' and knocked it in," Baddeley said.
Baddeley won his first PGA Tour title, rallying with two late birdies and finishing off Jim Furyk with a scrambling par on the 18th.
Baddeley was tied with Furyk entering the round, had a two-shot lead by the fifth hole, then was down by that many to Furyk after No. 11.
But the 25-year-old Australian proved unflappable, birdieing two of the hardest holes on the PGA Tour -- the 14th was statistically the hardest par 3 on tour last year and the 15th was the hardest par 5 -- to move in front for good.
Baddeley shot a 1-under 70 to finish at 15 under, a stroke ahead of Furyk (71) and two ahead of Vaughn Taylor (66) and Billy Mayfair (69).
"This is a stepping stone of the big picture," Baddeley said.
For his golf career, it's winning majors. For his life, it's following his faith.
Golf fans might best know Baddeley as the young hotshot in the golf commercial, driving a convertible with young female fans yelling his nickname, "Badds." It's an image the first-time winner says he's not fully comfortable with and one he expects will change over time.
"My scores don't dictate who I am," Baddeley said.
He aspires to use his golf career as a ministry to reach others. He celebrated his one-year anniversary this past Saturday. He eagerly agreed to the early morning service during The Players Championship, not knowing if he'd make the cut at Harbour Town.
Two days earlier, Baddeley closed his second round with an unlikely eagle at the famous lighthouse hole.
"At the 18th hole this morning, he was giving amazing testimony," said Baddeley's wife, Richelle. "Ten hours later, he's holding the trophy. So, it was great."
Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open winner seeking his first victory since the Western Open last summer, was seemingly in the clear when his birdie on No. 10 and Baddeley's miscue on No. 11 put him up by two shots. However, Furyk missed a 5-footer for par on the 12th hole and could not match Baddeley's touch at the end.
Furyk had his chances to tie after Baddeley chunked a chip shot at the par-3 17th and made bogey. But Furyk followed by missing a 10-foot par putt to remain one back.
Again on the 18th hole, Furyk had a tying 12-foot birdie putt, but slid it left. Baddeley, who missed the green when his second shot went long and right, then won with the 6-foot par putt that caught the right edge of the cup and dropped in.
"I just needed some of those putts on the back nine to go in," said Furyk, who finished second at Harbour Town for the second straight year.
"The putt at 18, could have been the best putt I hit all week," Furyk said.
 This is a stepping stone of the big picture. -- Aaron Baddeley
Baddeley raised his arms in triumph after his winning putt, Richelle squealing happily alongside the green.
Baddeley won $954,000 and, perhaps more importantly because he was ranked 158th on the money list coming in, gained a tour exemption through 2008.
He has three victories in Australia, winning the Australian Open as an 18-year-old amateur in 1999 and successfully defending his title as a professional in 2000.
Baddeley also won the 2001 Greg Norman Holden International, and finished 10th on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2002 to qualify for the PGA Tour. He has twice been a runner-up, in 2003 at the Sony Open and a year later in the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.
The golfer who kicked himself the most was probably Ernie Els.
Els was the only one of the world's top five players on hand after last week's Masters. He got himself back in the mix with 65 on Saturday and, with five top 10s in seven previous appearances here, seemed the logical choice for a thrilling final-round charge.
Els' shot-making skill was evident right away. After cracking his drive in the woods right of the first fairway, he punched a mid-iron through a narrow opening between two trees to about 5 feet of the cup. The birdie moved him within three shots of the lead as he stepped the par-5 second, a hole where he'd gone eagle-birdie-birdie the first three rounds.
This time, Els drove it out of bounds -- remember, the Big Easy blew the 2003 Verizon Heritage while leading when he went OB on No. 16 -- and made bogey.
Els rebounded with three more birdies on the front to close within two shots of Furyk and Baddeley. Els, though, could not mount a charge to get closer. He missed birdie putts inside of 10 feet on the ninth and 10th holes. His chances ended for good after bogeys on Nos. 12-13.
Still, Els' 71 left him tied for seventh at 10 u

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)
-- The New Jersey Devils' improbable goal of winning the Atlantic Division title is now within their grasp.
Brian Gionta extended his points streak to 14 games and Patrik Elias had two goals to lead the surging Devils to their 10th straight win, 5-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
The Devils and Flyers each have 99 points, good for a fifth-place tie in the Eastern Conference. Both are one point behind the Atlantic Division-leading New York Rangers. The three teams each have one game remaining.
It was a remarkable turnaround for the Devils, who were in danger of missing the playoffs before beginning the streak.
"It was far-fetched to think about the title," Martin Brodeur said after making 25 saves for his 42nd win. "We just went about our business. It took us all these games in a row to put us in this position."
Scott Gomez and Jamie Langenbrunner also scored for the Devils, who own the longest winning streak in the NHL this season. The Devils' all-time record is 13 straight wins from Feb. 26-March 23, 2001.
No one contributed more than Gionta, who has 10 goals and 12 assists in his 14-game streak.
"We focused in and wanted to finish strong in the last 10, 11 games," Gionta said. "We'll see what happens. Things still have to happen for us to get the title. We just need to take care of what we need to take care of."
Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers, who lost twice to the Devils in a span of four days.
"We had a lot of shots but we didn't have a lot of great chances," Flyers forward Mike Knuble said. "They did a great job of keeping us to the outside. They've won a lot of games and here they are."
Gionta and Elias scored first-period goals to stake the Devils to a 2-0 lead.
Gionta put in his own rebound at 5:56 for his 46th goal, tying the Devils' season mark set by Pat Verbeek in the 1987-88 season.
Gionta took a feed from Gomez and fired a close-in shot on Robert Esche, who made the initial stop. The puck landed behind the goalie and Gionta backhanded the rebound into the net before Esche could recover.
Elias connected from the right circle late in the period as he took a blue-line feed from Brad Lukowich and hit the far side of the goal.
Gomez scored at 2:24 of the second to increase the Devils lead to 3-0. Esche was replaced by Antero Niittymaki following that goal.
"They've got everything working for them right now," Esche said. "They are really clicking."
The goalie change provided a quick spark for the Flyers as Gagne got his 46th goal 30 seconds later.
The Flyers' hopes for a comeback victory faded when Langenbrunner put New Jersey up 4-1. In the third, Elias scored his second goal to increase the lead to 5-1.
"Everyone is doing their job right now," Elias said. "We're doing the things we have to do and we're playing good hockey. We're feeling good about ourselves."
Notes: Elias' first goal was his 500th career point. ... Devils C Sergei Brylin played in his 600th game. ... The Flyers scratched C Peter Forsberg for the fifth time in the last six games. He returned Saturday in the Flyers' 4-1 win over the New York Rangers after missing four games with a groin injury. ... Gionta's scoring streak is one shy of the club record set by Elias in the 1999-2000 season. ... The Devils took the season series from the Flyers 5-3. ... Lukowich had three assists. ... Devils defenseman Colin White injured his groin and did not return for the third period.

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. (AP)
-- Two children were injured in a scramble to grab cash being dropped from a helicopter as part of a promotion after a minor league baseball game.
About $1,000 in cash was dropped Saturday from the helicopter over Fifth Third Ballpark's outfield as children lined the outfield fence.
After the cash was dropped, the children scrambled. A 7-year-old boy was trampled and taken to a hospital, while a 7-year-old girl got a bloody lip after being pushed onto the ground.
The boy, Tino Rodriquez, of Grant, suffered bruises to his chest and back, said his grandmother, Rita Rodriquez.
"Doctors said he got trampled pretty good," she said.
The cash drop took place after the West Michigan Whitecaps' 3-0 win over the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays. It was the first time the Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers had conducted such a promotion.
"It's for fun and games," spokeswoman Katie Kroft said. "This is why we have everybody sign a waiver."
Tino's grandfather, Ruben Rodriquez, said he was surprised that children as young as 5 were allowed to participate with others as old as 12.
"It was tiny kids against big kids," he said. "It's like playing football. You can't put a 12-year-old versus a 7-year-old."

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Albert Pujols hit three home runs, including a winning drive that erased a ninth-inning deficit and put an exclamation point on the St. Louis Cardinals' first homestand at new Busch Stadium.
Then he did a little dance a few steps in front of home plate before teammates mobbed him.
"Hey, you get a walkoff home run, you get to do whatever you want," Pujols said after his two-run drive Sunday gave St. Louis an 8-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds. "You need to be excited about it. You don't get too many of those, so you need to enjoy them when they come."
Pujols' eighth homer came on a 1-2 fastball from David Weathers (0-1) and traveled an estimated 441 feet, ending a game that had five lead changes. His second career three-homer game and sixth game-ending homer topped off a 4-2 opening homestand at the $365 million ballpark. He matched career highs with five RBIs and four runs.
"There's a new memory for new Busch," manager Tony La Russa said. "It'll be tough to top that one."
Pitcher Jason Marquis, who hit .310 last year with a homer and 10 RBIs, got a chance to pinch hit because of Jim Edmonds' sore shoulder, and he led off the ninth with a pinch single. The only doubt on Pujols' blast was whether it would stay fair, and it ended up about 10 feet fair and in the second deck.
Pujols relished the moment, although he wasn't interested in comparing this game to his other three-homer game, at Chicago on July 20, 2004.
"It doesn't remind me because that was two years ago," he said. "I hit three in spring training and I don't even care. Hopefully, tomorrow I hit three more and forget about today. Who knows?"
Rich Aurilia's two-run double in the eighth, one batter after right fielder Juan Encarnacion botched a potential double-play flyout when he dropped the ball, had put the Reds in front. Aurilia had three hits, and Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns homered on consecutive at-bats in the fifth for Cincinnati, which lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Pujols and Scott Rolen connected on consecutive at-bats in the bottom of the fifth for the Cardinals. Pujols has 14 multihomer games, including two this season -- on opening day at Philadelphia.
Encarnacion was relieved that Pujols had a third homer in him.
"I just dropped it, no excuses," Encarnacion said. "He made me feel much better."
Weathers, who had been 3-for-3 in save opportunities, said Pujols hit a pitch that wasn't inside enough. He refused to work the NL MVP carefully.
"Not at all, not at all, I don't pitch that way," Weathers said. "He's a great hitter, but if you make your pitch, you can get a double play. It was just a bad pitch and he hammered it."
Mark Mulder and Bronson Arroyo, pitchers who have combined to hit three homers this season, gave up two long balls apiece and failed to get the ball out of the infield in their at-bats. Both labored through five shaky innings.
John Rodriguez added a two-run triple for the Cardinals.
Dunn hit a two-run shot on a full count with two outs in the fifth for his seventh homer. He had five hits on the Reds' trip, all of them homers, going 5-for-21 with 10 strikeouts. Kearns, who is 8-for-17 in his last four games with two homers and seven RBIs, also connected on a full count for his fourth homer and a 4-2 lead for the Reds.
The Reds victimized three pitchers in the eighth, with Quinton McCracken's leadoff pinch homer coming off Adam Wainwright and Aurilia's double coming against Braden Looper (1-0).
Both teams were again without their starting center fielders. Edmonds missed his second game with right shoulder soreness after receiving a cortisone shot on Friday night, and Ken Griffey Jr. missed his fourth straight start for the Reds with stiffness behind his right knee.
Both could return to the lineup on Monday. Reds manager Jerry Narron said Griffey had been available to pinch hit.
Arroyo, the first pitcher in major league history to hit a homer and earn a victory in each of his first two starts, labored for 94 pitches and is 0-2 with an 8.55 ERA in six career appearances against St. Louis. He allowed five runs, six hits and three walks with three strikeouts and was hitless in two at-bats.
Notes: Dunn and Kearns were the last duo to hit consecutive homers against the Cardinals, doing it in the regular-season finale at old Busch Stadium on Oct. 2, 2005. ... The last time the Cardinals hit consecutive homers also came in that game, by Reggie Sanders and Chris Duncan. ... Mulder was struck below the right knee on a comebacker in the fourth and limped around for a few minutes before resuming. He doesn't expect it to affect his next start.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Helped by the absence of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant put on his usual one-man offensive show and the Los Angeles Lakers easily clinched a playoff berth.
Bryant made a late-season case for league MVP honors, scoring 43 points in a 109-89 rout of the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
"It doesn't really seem like we're overly jumping for joy, but it is a great accomplishment for us," he said. "We came from last season when we didn't make it. This season nobody expected us to make it and here we are."
The Lakers are back in the postseason for the first time since losing the 2004 NBA Finals to Detroit. Their seeding has yet to be decided, but they could face Phoenix in the first round.
"It is good to be back in the playoffs again. That's an important step for this club because of the number of young players we have that haven't been in the playoffs," said coach Phil Jackson, who was let go after losing the 2004 championship.
The Suns rested Nash and Raja Bell because of thigh-related injuries, leaving Shawn Marion to carry the load in Phoenix's first loss to the Lakers this season. He had 29 points and Leandro Barbosa added 16 before fouling out early in the fourth. Boris Diaw had 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his second straight triple-double and fourth of the season.
"They execute the same way. It's just that when Steve and Raja Bell come back, they have more waves to throw at you and they do it for 48 minutes," Bryant said.
The game was over shortly after it started because the Suns shot a woeful 37 percent from the floor and couldn't stop Bryant, who notched at least 40 points for the 27th time this season. He sat down for good with nearly six minutes left.
"We were dead and lifeless. It looked like it was Easter morning," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It was one of those games that they kind of knew we didn't need, and this was our third game in 3� days, and it looked like it."
Bryant made the game's first three baskets -- on a driving layup, a steal and fast-break dunk and a 3-pointer. He also had a block of Marion and scored 25 points by halftime.
"To get smacked like that is not easy," the Suns' Brian Grant said. "We needed Steve and Raja to get healthy. Even Shawn needs a rest before the playoffs start."
The Lakers led by 13 after one quarter and by 21 at the break after scoring the first nine points of the second period.
"We really hustled, we got after them, played with a high energy level and rebounded the ball extremely well," Bryant said.
Bryant finished 11-of-28 from the floor and made 20 of 23 free throws as fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" during the nationally televised game.
"I really appreciate the support. It just shows a lot of love," he said. "I don't go out and try to play for that. I go out to try to help us put W's on the board."
Grant, a former Laker, would naturally pick Nash over Bryant for MVP.
"If you could give two MVPs out, I would say give it to both of them," he said. "But since there's only one, I've got to go with Nash, just because I play with him and I've seen all the things he can do to really help this team evolve and help players evolve."
Nash could only watch in street clothes from the bench, getting booed when his face appeared on the overhead scoreboard. He and Bell didn't talk to reporters after the game.
The Suns' roster is crowded with injuries days before the playoffs begin. Nash, who missed his second straight game, has a right thigh contusion; Bell has a left thigh strain; Amare Stoudemire underwent season-ending knee surgery 1� weeks ago; Kurt Thomas is out for the rest of the regular season because of a stress fracture in his right foot; and Dijon Thompson had right knee surgery last month.
"We were trying to work on some stuff out there. We weren't worrying about what they were doing," Marion said. "We lost, but at the same time, we were trying to see about certain matchups out there. We didn't get a win, but I think we got some stuff accomplished that we wanted to work on."
The Lakers stopped a couple of losing streaks against the Suns: four straight games at Staples Center and seven overall -- the longest Los Angeles slide in series history.
Jackson used the blowout to get everyone some playing time with only Wednesday's game against New Orleans left before the playoffs open.
Lamar Odom, coming off consecutive triple-doubles, added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Smush Parker had 12 points and Kwame Brown 10.
Los Angeles led by 26 points in the third before Phoenix cut it to 13 early in the fourth. The Suns never got under double digits.
Notes: The Suns won the season series 3-1. ... Lakers C Chris Mihm remained out because of a severely sprained right ankle, with Jackson saying Sunday wasn't the time or the game to bring him back. ... Kareem Abdul-Jabbar celebrated his 59th birthday at the g

NEW YORK (AP)
-- The New York Knicks took out an insurance policy on Larry Brown's contract that would free the team from paying the remainder of the coach's contract if he's forced to resign due to health issues, the New York Daily News reported Monday.
The newspaper, citing an anonymous league source, reported that the Knicks made the move when Brown signed his record five-year, $50 million contract. The newspaper also said the contract would not prevent Brown from taking another NBA or college job if he and the Knicks part ways.
The 65-year-old Brown, a former Indiana Pacers coach, didn't travel to Detroit, where the Knicks lost 103-97 on Sunday. He was hospitalized Thursday night in Cleveland with a stomach ailment after becoming ill during the Knicks' 91-87 loss to the Cavaliers. He returned home Friday, but assistant coach Herb Williams ran the team in a 97-80 loss to Milwaukee.
It wasn't known if Brown will coach the final two games of the regular season: Monday at home against Charlotte or at New Jersey on Wednesday. The Knicks are 22-58, the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
Williams said he spoke to Brown during the past few days and said he sounded "OK" but didn't discuss whether Brown would return.
"It probably depends on how he feels," Williams told the newspaper. "At this point, it's no use to rush him back. He has to take care of himself."