Woods set to play at Torrey Pines, Riviera
Tiger Woods is playing twice in California over the next six weeks as he begins another comeback on the PGA Tour from back surgery.
Woods announced Thursday he will play the Farmers Insurance Open on Jan. 25 at Torrey Pines, the San Diego course where he has won eight times. That includes the 2008 U. S. Open, his 14th and most recent major.
He also said he will play the Genesis Open at Riviera in Los Angeles that starts Feb. 15. Riviera is where Woods played his first PGA Tour event as a 16-yearold amateur. He last played in 2006, though it now is back in play because the Tiger Woods Foundation runs the tournament.
“I’m very excited to be back at Riviera,” Woods said. “To be able to play in an event that I used to come to as an amateur, as a junior and now as the tournament host, that is on one of the most historic sites in all of golf, it’s a dream come true.”
The schedule is similar to the one last year when Woods was returning from back surgery. It just didn’t last long.
He played in the Bahamas against an 18-man field with no cut, said he was feeling good about his health and his game, and then resumed a PGA Tour schedule at Torrey Pines. But he missed the 36-hole cut for the first time in San Diego, flew to Dubai and withdrew after opening with a 77 because of back spasms.
Two months later, Woods had fusion surgery on his lower back — his fourth back surgery in three years — and was out the rest of the year until he returned at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and tied for ninth, 10 shots out of the lead. LEISHMAN STARTS YEAR RIGHT » Coming off his best year, Marc Leishman got off to an ideal start in 2018 with eight birdies and a 6-under 67 for a one-shot lead in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii.
Leishman ran off four straight birdies around the turn and holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. He was one shot ahead of Brian Harman and Jhonattan Vegas. Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Si Woo Kim shot 69s.
Tennis
MURRAY, WILLIAMS WITHDRAW FROM A US TRALIAN » Andy Murray needed only a couple of days in Australia to realize the hip prob- lemthat has kept him out of competitive tennis since Wimbledon was not going to improve in time for the season’s first major.
Defending champion Serena Williams also has withdrawn from the Australian Open, saying she is not ready to return to tournament tennis. Williams was pregnant with her first child when she won last year’s tournament at Melbourne Park, the 23rd Grand Slam singles title of her career. She gave birth to her daughter, Alexis, in September.
Murray, the five-time finalist, withdrew two days after pulling out of a tuneup event in Brisbane before his first match.
Confirmation of his absence came hours after Kei Nishikori announced that he, also, would not have enough time to fully recover from a torn wrist tendon before the Australian Open starts Jan. 15 in Melbourne.
Williams played in an exhibition tournament last week in Abu Dhabi.
“After competing in Abu Dhabi I realized that although I ams uper close, I’m not where I personally want to be,” Williams said. U.S. FALLS AT HOP MAN CUP » Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic advanced Switzerland into the Hop- man Cup final with straight-set singles victories over their American opponents in Perth, Australia.
Federer beat Jack Sock 7- 6 (5), 7-5 before Bencic defeated CoCo Vandeweghe 7- 6 (6), 6- 4 to give Switzerland a winning 2- 0 edge and first place in Group B. SHARAPOVA IN SEMIFINALS » Maria Sharapova beat Zarina Diyas 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the Shenzhen (China) Open semifinals along with top- seeded Simona Halep. She will next play defending champion and No. 6-seeded Katerina Siniakova. CILIC ADVANCED IN INDIA » Topseeded Marin Cilic advanced to the Maharashtra Open semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over PierreHugues Herbert in Pune, India. Cilic will meet Gilles Simon after the Frenchman ended Spanish qualifier Ricardo Ojeda Lara’s run with a 6-2, 6-3 win. Kevin Anderson of South Africa and France’s Benoit Paire also advanced.
Skiing
MILESTONE FOR HIRSCHER » Marcel Hirscher won a slalom in Zagreb, Croatia, to match Italian great Alberto Tomba’s tally of 50 men’s World Cup wins.
The six-time overall champion from Austria became only the fourth male skier to reach that mark, also joining Hermann Mai er (54) and Ingemar Stenmark (86).
On the women’s circuit, only Lindsey Vonn ( 78), Annemarie Moser-Proell (62) and Vreni Schneider (55) have passed the 50-win milestone.
Hockey
U.S. LOSE SIN WORLD JUNIOR SEMIFINALS» Filip Gusta vs son made 29 saves and Sweden had a three-goal third period to beat the United States 4-2 in the world junior hockey semifinals in Buffalo, N.Y. Sweden, the only unbeaten teamin the tournament, will face Canada in the title game tonight. Drake Batherson had a hat trick as Canada beat the Czech Republic 7-2.
The U.S. was trying to become the first country to win back-toback gold medals since Canada claimed five straight from 200509. The Americans have never won a goldmedal on home ice.
Soccer
SURGERY FOR HEATH » U.S. women’s teamplayer Tobin Heath had minor ankle surgery and is out for up to 12 weeks. U. S. Soccer said Heath’s surgery will keep her out of January training camp with the U.S. women’s team.