Vonn risking injury by early return to hills
ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria — Lindsey Vonn is taking “a lot of risk of doing more damage” to her right arm when she returns to World Cup skiing this weekend, nine weeks after breaking her right upper arm.
Surgery has made the arm more vulnerable to another fracture if she has to break a fall, the four-time overall champion said on Thursday. “For the rest of my career there will definitely be a lot of risk,” Vonn said. “The plate is stable but obviously above the plate my arm is susceptible to another fracture.”
Vonn suffered the injury in a training crash in Colorado while recovering from a left knee injury that ended her last season in February.
Thomas joins PGA ‘59 Club’
HONOLULU — Fresh off his victory on Maui, Justin Thomas joined the “59 Club” on the PGA Tour by making a 15-foot eagle on his last hole at the Sony Open for an 11-under 59.
Thomas holed a 10-foot par putt on the eighth hole to keep his hopes alive for a 59 at Waialae Country Club. From a deep fairway bunker on the par-5 ninth, Thomas hit a 5-iron to 15 feet and wasted no time making the putt.
Tough draws set for tourney
MELBOURNE, Australia — Six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic drew a difficult first round opponent in Fernando Verdasco, while Roger Federer’s fall in the rankings complicated his chances at Melbourne Park as he ended up in same quarter as top-ranked Andy Murray, No. 5 Kei Nishikori and No. 10 Thomas Berdych.
Six-time women’s champion Serena Williams, aiming for an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title, drew a challenging first-round opponent in Belinda Bencic and also had No. 9 Johanna Konta, No. 17 Caroline Wozniacki and No. 6 Dominika Cibulkova in her quarter. Top-ranked Angelique Kerber will open against Lesia Tsurenko.
New CEO for Tennis Canada
TORONTO — Michael Downey is returning in July to the helm of Tennis Canada.
The organization appointed Downey chief executive officer, a role he held from 2004 to 2013. He left the job to become CEO of the British Lawn Tennis Association.
Downey succeeds Kelly Murumets, who left the organization last year.
Watson wins Manning Award
NEW ORLEANS — Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson has been named the first repeat winner of the Manning Award, which is presented to the top college quarterback.
He led Clemson to its first title since 1981 by passing for 420 yards and three TDs. This season, Watson passed for 4,593 yards and 41 TDs to go with 629 yards and nine touchdowns rushing.