LEVERKUSEN, Germany -- Bayer Leverkusen fired Sami Hyypia as coach Saturday after an alarming mid-season slump and turned to the Finns former coaching partner Sascha Lewandowski to secure Champions League qualification. The Bundesliga club said in a statement that the former Liverpool defender Hyypia was being released "with immediate effect" following Fridays 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Hamburger SV. Lewandowski stepped back to resume coaching Leverkusens youth side after securing Champions League qualification with Hyypia last season. He has been charged with securing at least fourth place in the Bundesliga to repeat the feat this time around. "He helped us out in a critical situation once before when he worked alongside Sami Hyypia following the release of Robin Dutt," Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voeller said. "Were firmly convinced he will succeed again." Leverkusen previously drew with bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig and is in danger of losing fourth place, with both Wolfsburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach in a position to overtake on Saturday. "This decision was more than difficult because Sami did a brilliant job over the last two years," Voeller said. Leverkusen was second at one point in the Bundesliga but had a severe change in fortune after the winter break with only three wins from 12 league games this year. It has also endured humiliating losses to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and second-division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup. "What he and his coaching staff achieved with the team in the first half of the season was well beyond expectations and earned him praise from all sides," Voeller said. "Thats why the current slump is even more painful for us. The dramatic events of the last few weeks leave us no other choice but to bring about a separation. We want to and have to try everything to save the season." Assistant coach Jan-Moritz Lichte was also released. "Its not an easy situation for me now to take Samis place," Lewandowski said. "We had responsibility for this team together for more than a year. So you cant take over without regret that the former partner couldnt realize his dreams." Kicker magazine said that Thomas Schaaf (former Werder Bremen coach), Markus Weinzierl (Augsburg), Armin Veh (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Jos Luhukay (Hertha Berlin) are all possible candidates to take over from next season. Hyypia is the seventh coach to lose his job in the Bundesliga this season, following the dismissals of Bruno Labbadia and his successor Thomas Schneider at Stuttgart, Thorsten Fink and his successor Bert van Marwijk at Hamburger SV, Michael Wiesinger at Nuremberg and Mirko Slomka at Hannover. Custom Vancouver Canucks Jerseys . Case in point: LeBron James vs. Ben McLemore. 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Todd Bertuzzi Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Clippers chose not to speak publicly about owner Donald Sterling before they faced the Golden State Warriors for Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday.Windermere, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Jordan Spieth started Sundays final round with a 7-shot lead, and it only grew from there. Spieth closed with a 6- under 66 and he cruised to a dominating 10-stroke victory at the Hero World Challenge. Spieth finished at 26-under-par 262. After setting the 54-hole scoring record, he easily broke the tournaments 72-hole scoring mark as well. Davis Love III (2000) and Tiger Woods (2007) had set the old mark of 266 at Sherwood Country Club. It was interesting, I never had that before, Spieth said about playing with a big lead. It got off to a dream start. I went 3-under through the first four (holes) and from there it made it a lot easier. I was able to coast on the hard holes and got an eagle there at seven to really step out front, and then the back nine, I just tried to enjoy every single hole. Spieth dominated at Isleworth Golf & Country Club as he set the record for largest margin of victory in event history and he became the first player in tournament history to win in wire-to-wire fashion with no ties. Henrik Stenson finished a distant second at 16-under-par 272 after a closing with a 3-under 69. Patrick Reed (68) and Keegan Bradley (70) shared third place at minus-15. Jason Day matched Spieths 66 and that helped the Australian grab fifth place at 14-under-par 274. Rickie Fowler (68) and Justin Rose (71) tied for sixth at minus-11. Tournament host Tiger Woods overcame at triple-bogey at the 13th en route to carding an even-par 72. He shared 17th place at even-par 288. It feels good to have that rush again. I didnt hit the ball probably as well as I would like, certainly my short game was awful, but the good sign is I played four straight days with no pain and I was able to hit the golf ball as hard as I wanted to, said Woods, who was limited to eight events in 2014 due to back problems.dddddddddddd I was cutting corners, carrying bunkers again. Its nice to have my numbers up to that again. Over the holidays, I can refine it, Woods added If there was any question as to whether someone could catch Spieth, the 21- year-old ended that discussion quickly. He rolled in a 10-footer for birdie at the first. Spieth followed with a 7-foot birdie effort at three and drained an 18-foot putt for birdie at the fourth. That burst pushed his lead to 10 strokes. After Bradley inched within eight of Spieths lead, Spieth poured in an eagle try at the seventh to move to 25-under par, and he followed with a pair of pars. I looked at the board after nine and saw (the lead) was 11 making the turn, which is kind of ironic because I did that in college looking at the board going off 10 tee, so that was a cool experience doing that here in this tournament, said Spieth, who won a college event at Isleworth. Around the turn, Spieth made birdie at 10 and followed that with three pars in a row. Spieth knocked his approach shot over the green at the 14th and hit a poor chip back off the front of the green. He chipped on and 2-putted for a double- bogey. At the par-3 15th, Spieth bounced back with a 6-foot birdie effort. He also birdied the 17th and closed with a par at the last to wrap up the dominating win. NOTES: Spieth earned $1 million for the win ... Spieth was also the youngest winner in event history ... Prior to his win in Australia, Spieth shared third place at the Dunlop Phoenix, where he ended one shot out of a playoff ... Last years champion Zach Johnson closed with a 3-under 69 and he shared eighth place at 9-under-par 279 ... Harris English and Matt Kuchar will defend their title next week at the Franklin Templeton Shootout, the final event of 2014 for the PGA Tour. 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