UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO UNDER FIRE FOR SCOTLAND TRIP
albuquerque» The state auditor’s office is reviewing the spending of public money by the University of New Mexico’s athletic department on a 2015 golf trip to Scotland that included the athletic director, other employees and boosters, the agency confirmed Wednesday.
Athletic director Paul Krebs is drawing criticism as more details about the international junket emerge following a series of public records requests filed by journalists, some of which netted documents with large swaths of information that had been blacked out.
Krebs has said the $65,000 trip was meant to strengthen relationships with donors, but critics argue that it should have been paid for by the university’s independent fundraising arm, not with athletic department money.
Albuquerque television station KRQE reported this week that Krebs revealed to the university’s acting president that public money was used to pay for the trips of at least three boosters.
Tiger wants to compete again
● jupiter, fla.» Tiger Woods said he had fusion surgery on his back because he could no longer tolerate the pain and that he wants to get back on the PGA Tour.
Woods had the fusion surgery in April — his fourth surgery on his back dating to the spring of 2014 — and said it provided “instant nerve relief.”
Woods said he did everything possible to get ready for the Masters and was “ready to go.”
• USGA executive director and chief executive Mike Davis insists the association’s focus is going to be on golf and not politics when it conducts the U.S. Women’s Open at a golf course owned by President Donald Trump in less than two months.
Some fans and politicians criticized golf ’s governing body for not moving the marquee women’s tournament from Trump National after lewd comments by Trump about women from 2005 surfaced during the presidential campaign.
Pro Bowl returns to Orlando
● orlando, fla.» The Pro Bowl will return to Orlando in 2018, being played there for the second consecutive year.
Orlando will host the Pro Bowl on Jan. 28, 2018. The game will be televised on ESPN and ABC. Last season, the NFL played its all-star game in Orlando for the first time in front of a near-sellout crowd at Camping World Stadium.
The 2018 game will feature the AFC vs. NFC format, which returned last season.
NBA All-Star Game to Charlotte
● charlotte, n.c.» The NBA AllStar Game will be coming to Charlotte in 2019, two years after the city was to host the event.
The NBA announced the game will be played at Spectrum Center, home of the Charlotte Hornets.
The All-Star Weekend festivities in Charlotte are set for Feb. 15-17, 2019.
• Hal Childs, a former assistant general manager for the New York Knicks and public relations director for the Golden State Warriors and Seattle Mariners, died of complications from heart disease. He was 84.
Messi loses court appeal
● madrid» Soccer superstar Lionel Messi has lost his court appeal over a tax-fraud conviction in Spain.
The court confirmed the 21-month prison sentence handed to Messi for defrauding tax authorities of 4.1 million euros ($4.6 million) from 200709. He is not expected to go to prison because sentences of less than two years for first offences are usually suspended in Spain.
Footnotes.
Arizona State won the NCAA women’s golf championship for the eighth time behind individual champion Monica Vaughn and Linnea Strom.