<table> </table> <strong><span class="subhead">Show me the money</span></strong></p><p>Five different women&#8217;s players have held the No. 1 ranking this season, and the top eight will be playing in the WTA&#8217;s season-ending championship that starts at Doha, Qatar, today.</p><p><strong>Serena Williams</strong>, who won the championship in 2001, comes in with her sense of humor intact, saying: &#8220;I need the money.&#8221;</p><p>Current No. 1 <strong>Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic </strong>and Williams have held the No. 1 ranking. The other five players in the tournament are <strong>Venus Williams, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva</strong>, and <strong>Vera Zvonareva</strong>. The field will be divided into two groups for a round robin, the top two in each group advance. Jankovic, Ivanovic, Kuznetsova and Zvonareva are in one group.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Ballesteros making progress</span></strong></p><p>Doctors in Madrid say golfer <strong>Seve Ballesteros </strong>is conscious, breathing unaided and able to talk to relatives following surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumor on Oct. 24. He has begun to receive rehabilitation treatment in the intensive care unit of the hospital.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Busch makes $100,000 donation</span></strong></p><p>When <strong>Kyle Busch </strong>won the Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway late Saturday evening, he tied <strong>Sam Ard </strong>with his 10th series victory of the season. But Ard was the big winner.</p><p>Ard, 69, is suffering from Alzheimer&#8217;s and Parkinson&#8217;s diseases. His family&#8217;s finances are in shambles. Busch committed $100,000 to help defray medical expenses.</p><p>&#8220;Sam Ard is one of the pioneers of this (series), and to be tied with him at 10 wins is something that&#8217;s pretty spectacular and really, really special to me,&#8221; Busch said. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to try to help him out and see what I can do. It&#8217;s not much, but it&#8217;s something that can try to help.&#8221;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Breaking her record</span></strong></p><p><strong>Joy Johnson </strong>defended her 80-and-over title at the New York City Marathon, trimming nearly an hour off her mark by finishing in 6 hours, 5 minutes and 58 seconds. &#8220;I feel just fine,&#8221; Johnson said from her hotel. &#8220;I had a nice, cool bath.&#8221;</p><p>It was her 21st consecutive marathon and just missed her goal of running in less than six hours. &#8220;Last year I was almost seven hours, and I decided that was too long to be on the road,&#8221; she said.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Horse racing news</span></strong></p><p>A mare carrying a full sibling to Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles was sold for $2.5 million at the Keeneland Sale six months to the day since the filly&#8217;s fatal breakdown at Churchill Downs. The purchase of Away, the dam to Eight Belles, was the highlight of a slow day.</p><p>&#8226;Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown has settled in at his new home at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., over the weekend. His initial stallion fee for 2009 has been set at $65,000.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Elsewhere</span></strong></p><p>&#8226;A second runner has died after running in the New York City Marathon. One was <strong>Carlos Jose Gomes</strong>, a 58-year-old from Brazil, while the other&#8217;s identity and cause of death were not disclosed. The only previous fatality at the race was in 1994.</p><p>&#8226;Ericsson 4, a Swedish yacht with an international crew, won the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, finishing about 12 hours ahead of its nearest rival when it arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. PUMA, a U.S. yacht, was second. The race began in Alicante, Spain, three weeks ago.</p><p>&#8226;A NASCAR fan in her recreational vehicle at Texas Motor Speedway was wounded by a stray bullet Sunday morning when it pierced the motor home&#8217;s roof and struck her in the arm. Police said they believe someone fired a gun into the air.