TALKING POINTS
Tiger Woods’ son shoots 86 in pre-qualifier for PGA Tour event
HOBE SOUND, Fla. — The PGA Tour will have to wait for the 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods. In a pre-qualifier for the Cognizant Classic on Thursday, Charlie Woods took a 12 on one hole and shot 86.
The teenager didn’t make a birdie at Lost Lake Golf Club and tied for 110th among the 112 players who turned in their cards.
The top five and ties from each of four pre-qualifier sites advance to the Monday qualifier, from which four players earn a spot in the Cognizant Classic at PGA National.
Charlie Woods has played the 36hole PNC Championship with his father the last four years in a scramble format.
He ran into trouble early with a pair of bogeys and a double bogey on the par-5 fifth hole. But it was on the seventh, with water down the right side and water behind the green, where the teen’s hopes ended for good. He made a 12.
Woods made the turn in 47 and had two bogeys and a double bogey on the back for an 86. The leading score was a 65, and it took a 67 to advance.
Woods played with Olin Browne Jr., who qualified for the U.S. Open last summer in Los Angeles. The son of three-time PGA Tour winner Olin Browne shot 72.
The pre-qualifier comes with a $250 entry fee for players with no tour status.
Tiger Woods was 16 and already had won the first of three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles when he received a sponsor exemption to play his first PGA Tour event in the Nissan Open at Riviera. He had rounds of 72-75 to miss the cut.
2012 Olympic champ Gabby Douglas pulls out of first meet in 8 years after testing positive for COVID
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Gabby Douglas’ return to competition is going to have to wait.
The 2012 Olympic gymnastics champion pulled out of this weekend’s Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, after posting on social media that she had tested positive for COVID-19.
The 28-year-old Douglas was planning to compete in three of the four events at Winter Cup, her first meet since the 2016 Olympics, when she helped the Americans win a team gold.
Douglas, who is training in Texas, posted on Instagram that she was “crushed” by the development but promised to be back soon.
The Winter Cup is the first major tune-up for American gymnasts hoping to make this summer’s Olympic team.
While Douglas is out, reigning Olympic champion Suni Lee will compete on beam and uneven bars. The meet is her first since the 2023 U.S. Championships. The 20-year-old Lee has been battling health issues for the better part of a year that have limited her training.
Other competitors in Louisville will include former NCAA champion Trinity Thomas and two-time world championship gold medalist Skye Blakely.
Chiefs sign punter Matt Araiza, who was dropped from lawsuit in December after alleged rape
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs are signing punter Matt Araiza, who was dropped from a lawsuit in December that had been filed by a woman who alleged she was raped by San Diego State football players in 2021.
The signing was announced by Araiza’s agent, Joe Linta, and confirmed a short while later by the team.
“I am proud and honored to sign a contract with the Chiefs,” Araiza said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be able to continue my NFL career. I want to thank my family, who have been my rock and my many friends who have been unwavering in their support. I am excited to begin the next phase of my career with the Super Bowl champs!”
Araiza earned the nickname the “Punt God” at San Diego State while earning All-America honors during the 2021 season, when his massive kicks helped the Aztecs go a school-best 12-2 his senior season. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft, but he was released two days after the woman filed her lawsuit.
She alleged that she was 17 and attending an off-campus party in October 2021 when Araiza, then 21, had sex with her in a side yard at an off-campus house. The woman then claimed he brought her to a bedroom, where a group of men took turns raping her, but Araiza has said he never entered the home during the party and left before the alleged rape occurred.
The woman reported the alleged assault to San Diego police the following day, and her lawsuit was filed in August 2022.
Araiza and most of the other players named in the lawsuit claimed that their encounters with her were consensual.
After a month-long investigation, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in December it would not file criminal charges. An audio recording was released of a meeting between prosecutors and the woman in which deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador said she concluded, based on a witness statement, that Araiza “wasn’t even at the party anymore” when the alleged rape could have occurred and he wasn’t visible in videos that were recovered.
Texas regents approve Sarkisian contract extension and raise to more than $10 million
AUSTIN, Texas — Steve Sarkisian is college football’s latest $10 million man.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents on Thursday approved a raise and contract extension for the Longhorns coach that boosts his guaranteed salary to $10.3 million this year and signs him through 2030.
The four-year extension makes Sarkisian one of the highest paid coaches in the country after Texas won the Big 12 last season and earned its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
The contract includes $100,000 annual raises that will push Sarkisian’s guaranteed salary to $10.9 million by 2030. He also gets a one-time $300,000 bonus payment and 20 hours of personal use every year on the school’s private plane.
Sarkisian also is eligible to earn more than $1.5 million in bonuses if the Longhorns win a national championship.
His original contract called for him to get paid $5.8 million in 2024. According to the regents’ agenda, the raises are a 78% overall increase in Sarkisian’s guaranteed compensation.
The contract approval was expected. The extension was announced in January and the board published financial details in their meeting agenda last week.
Texas finished 12-2 and ranked No. 3 last season after a 37-31 loss to Washington in a national semifinal that came down to the final play. The Longhorns won the Big 12 in their final season in the league. Texas moves into the Southeastern Conference next season.
Sarkisian, 49, is 25-14 in his three seasons at Texas.
Peiyun Chien leads by two strokes after the opening round of the LPGA Thailand tournament
CHONBURI, Thailand — Peiyun Chien shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA Tour event in Thailand, the first of three tournaments on the LPGA’s Asian swing.
The 33-year-old Taiwanese player had an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey on the Siam Country Club Old Course at Chonburi southeast of Bangkok. Chien is winless on the LPGA Tour but has had 10 career top-10 finishes, including two top-five finishes in her last six starts in 2023.
“I wish I could play like this every day because golf is tough,” said Chien, who is 113th in world rankings. “I had my best finish last year and I tried to play safer second shots and just tried to make one putt, not too aggressive.”
Sei Young Kim, the 2020 Women’s PGA Championship winner, shot 66 and was in second place. The group tied for third with 67s included Brooke Henderson, Patty Tavatanakit, Jenny Shin and Madelene Sagstrom. Jin Young Ko and Japan’s Erika Hara shot 68 and were in a group four strokes behind Chien.
Defending champion Lilia Vu had a 73.
LPGA tournaments are also scheduled over the next two weeks in Singapore and China.
D-backs announce MLB will produce the team’s games for second straight season
PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks announced on Thursday their games will be produced by Major League Baseball for a second straight season, as sports leagues across the U.S. adjust to the decline of regional cable networks.
The defending National League champions had their games produced by MLB for the final 2 1/2 months of last season after a federal bankruptcy judge granted a motion for Diamond Sports to reject its rights agreement.
“We took time to weigh all of our broadcast options for the upcoming season and how they would each impact our fans,” Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall said in a statement. “MLB Media stepped in last year when we needed them to and ensured a seamless transition for all viewers.