Tiger to play at Bay Hill

Tiger Woods will return to the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the first time since 2013, when he won the last of his record eight titles at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.

Woods also will tee it up next week during the Valspar Championship in the Tampa area as the 14-time major champion prepares for next month’s Masters.

Woods’ announcement, made Friday on his Twitter account, is the most recent sign the 42-year-old’s latest return from injury is progressing better than many of his previous attempts.

Woods’ legendary career appeared to be in jeopardy last April following his fourth back surgery in the span of three years.

Comeback attempts during each of the past three years were cut short due to an ailing back that had robbed him of the game that allowed him to win 79 PGA Tour events.

This time, however, appears to be different. Woods finished tied for 12th at last week’s Honda Classic and was second in driving distance, averaging more than 318 yards off the tee.

Woods has not won since 2013, but the API could offer him his best chance to date. Starting with his first win in 2000, Woods has dominated at Bay Hill.

At the height of his powers, he won the 2003 event by 11 strokes. In 2008 and 2009, Woods made long birdies putts on the final hole to take home the trophy.

Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith earned his one-game suspension from the team by throwing a bowl of soup at assistant coach Damon Jones, according to a report.

ESPN reported on Friday that the “conduct detrimental to the team” that the Cavs announced before Thursday’s 108-87 loss to the 76ers was indeed broth-based. Smith will return Saturday when the Cavs host the Nuggets, the report said.

—Jake Becker

Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards each scored 26 points and No. 8 Purdue fought back another upset bid by Rutgers, beating the Scarlet Knights 82-75 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals at the Garden.

Corey Sanders scored 23 points, including a baseline jumper in the closing minute to pull Rutgers within 78-75. Sanders scored 74 points throughout the threegame run by the last-place Scarlet Knights.

l Tony Carr found Josh Reaves for a game-winning dunk with 3.1 seconds to play and Penn State may have punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 6968 victory over Ohio State.

Carr had 25 points for the second straight night and the seventh-seeded Nittany Lions advanced to play Purdue on Saturday night.