Off the wire

LeBron OK to practice

LeBron James has been cleared to practice with the Los Angeles Lakers after they return from their upcoming two-game road trip. The Lakers gave the latest update on James’ groin injury Wednesday. James strained his groin on Christmas. He will have missed 13 consecutive games by the time Los Angeles returns from the road this weekend, matching the most games ever missed in one season by the fourtime NBA MVP. The Lakers only say James will “progress towards a return to game play” after he rejoins practice next week. He will be sidelined for at least four weeks, the longest stretch he has been out in his 16-season NBA career. The Lakers (24-21) beat Chicago on Tuesday to improve to 4-7 without James.

Royals pitcher suspended

Kansas City Royals pitcher Eric Skoglund has been suspended for the season’s first 80 games after testing positive for two performance-enhancing substances. The commissioner’s office said Wednesday that the positive tests were for selective androgen receptor modulators S-22 (Ostarine) and LGD4033 (Ligandrol). Royals General Manager Dayton Moore said in a statement Skoglund “unknowingly made a mistake” and “we remain proud of who Eric is as a person and will support him as an organization.” Skoglund was 1-6 with a 5.14 ERA last season. The 26-year-old lefty was in the rotation in April and May, missed the next three months because of an elbow sprain and pitched well in September. The 6-7 Skoglund made his big league debut in 2017, going 1-2 with a 9.50 ERA in 7 games. Skoglund is the first player to be suspended this year under the major league drug program. Ten players were suspended under the program last year, including Robinson Cano, Jorge Polanco and Welington Castillo.

Rangers closer retires

Texas Rangers right-handed closer Shawn Tolleson has retired after a setback in his attempted return from Tommy John surgery. Tolleson made the announcement Wednesday, three days before his 31st birthday. He strained his right flexor tendon during a throwing session last week. He made the last of his 215 major league appearances with the Rangers on July 27, 2016. He missed the rest of that season with back issues before signing with Tampa Bay as a free agent. Elbow soreness during spring training led to ligament reconstruction surgery in May 2017, and he spent all of last year rehabbing after returning to Texas on a minor league deal.

Dou wins in Bahamas

Zecheng Dou birdied the final three holes Wednesday for a two-stroke victory in the Web.com Tour’s season-opening Bahamas Great Exuma Classic. Dou shot a 2-under 70, holing a 55-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th at Sandals Emerald Bay to finish at 18-under 270. Three strokes ahead entering the round, the 21-year-old Chinese player rallied after bogeying three of the first six holes on the back nine. Dou earned $108,000 for his second Web.com Tour title. Ben Kohles (64) and Steve LeBrun (65) tied for second, and Steven Alker (66), John Oda (70), Rob Oppenheim (68) and Willy Wilcox (69) were another stroke back.

Lowry ties record with 62

Shane Lowry tied the course record with a 10-under 62 Wednesday in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Championship, an impressive showing for a player who lost his card on the PGA Tour last year. Lowry rolled in 10 birdies to take a three-stroke lead in the European Tour’s first event of 2019, with Louis Oosthuizen in a three-way tie for second place with Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Richard Sterne. Down to 75th in the rankings and now 3½ years without a victory, Lowry is adjusting to life back as a full-time European Tour player after failing to successfully juggle his commitments on both sides of the Atlantic in 2018. The Irishman said he is reaping the rewards of a lengthy spell of practice in Dubai at the start of the new year after not playing competitively since November.

Woods starts next week

Tiger Woods is starting another year at Torrey Pines, this time with higher expectations. Woods announced Wednesday that he will play in the Farmers Insurance Open next week. He has won the tournament seven times, and Torrey Pines is where he won the U.S. Open in 2008. Woods tied for 23rd a year ago when no one — himself included — was sure what to expect. He was coming off a fourth back surgery, this one to fuse his lower spine. This will be his first PGA Tour event since he won the Tour Championship last September to cap off a comeback year.

NHL, PA give up on Cup

The NHL and NHL Players’ Association have given up on the possibility of staging the next World Cup of Hockey in September 2020. The league and PA announced that conclusion in separate statements Wednesday. The sides met earlier in the day in Toronto to discuss the World Cup as part of collective bargaining talks after meeting last week in Las Vegas. Not holding the World Cup in September 2020 is consequential because it was tied to the potential of labor peace in hockey. Owners or players could choose this September to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement and end it Sept. 15, 2020. The current CBA runs until 2022 unless one side chooses to terminate it early.

Michigan St. president out

Michigan State interim President John Engler submitted his resignation Wednesday amid public backlash over his comments about women and girls sexually assaulted by now-imprisoned campus sports doctor Larry Nassar. Engler, who had resisted earlier pressure to resign, announced his plans in an 11-page letter to Dianne Byrum, chairman of Michigan State’s board of trustees. His sudden reversal tops off a stormy period for the university under Engler and is the second time a Michigan State president has left during the Nassar scandal. The final straw for the university’s board came last week when Engler told The Detroit News that Nassar’s victims had been in the “spotlight” and are “still enjoying that moment at times, you know, the awards and recognition.” Nassar is now serving decades-long prison sentences for sexually assaulting patients and possessing child pornography.

Match-fixing scheme arrests

Four tennis players are in French custody on suspicion of helping an organized gambling syndicate believed to have fixed hundreds of low-tier matches. They are suspected of working for an Armenian who police call the “Maestro.” Police believe the Belgium-based kingpin may have paid more than 100 players from at least half a dozen countries. The detentions are part of months of digging by police working across Europe to unravel a massive match-fixing scheme. Sources close to the investigation told The Associated Press that four French players were in custody Wednesday. They said at least one suspect told investigators that he fixed around two dozen matches for the Maestro. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss details publicly. Investigators have also questioned other players in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, and Bulgaria and are looking around Europe.

Four bobsledders banned

Four Russian bobsledders have been banned until 2020 for their part in organized doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The four include

Alexander Zubkov, who carried Russia’s flag at the opening ceremony for the Sochi Games and won two gold medals which have already been stripped for doping. All have been banned for two years by the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, which accepted an earlier Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that they were part of a scheme to swap steroid-tainted samples for clean urine. The sanctions bar them from any role in the sport, which in Zubkov’s case would include his role as president of the Russian Bobsled Federation. The other Russians banned are Alexander Kasyanov, Aleksei Pushkarev and Ilvir Khuzin.