USC names Kwok interim athletic director

Denise Kwok will serve as USC's interim athletic director, university president Carol Folt announced in an email to the Trojan athletic department on Wednesday.

The announcement comes six days after former USC athletic director Mike Bohn's stunning resignation from the position.

Kwok has served in the USC athletic department since 2004, most recently as the executive senior associate athletic director for student-athlete development. The role encompasses athletic admissions, academic advising and diversity, equity and inclusion programming.

Former Penn State and Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour, former Duke deputy athletic director Mitch Moser and former Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg will serve as part of an interim leadership team for the athletic department, Folt announced, along with several members of her administration, including incoming USC provost Andrew Guzman.

“This team brings depth, experience, and great expertise in championship-level Division I intercollegiate athletics, including NIL, recruiting and facilities management, operations, marketing, finance, and Big Ten conference processes and procedures,” Folt said in the email. “They will augment the leadership and staff in our department and provide a broad national perspective on changes taking place nationally.”

Wake Forest beats USC for golf title

Lauren Walsh closed out her match against Brianna Navarrosa with a conceded par on the 16th hole and Wake Forest won its first women's golf championship by beating USC 3-1 on Wednesday in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Wake Forest lost to Duke in the 2019 national final and had a school-record five tournament wins this season with a veteran-led team.

The Demon Deacons had USC on the ropes early at Grayhawk Golf Club, jumping out to big early leads in two matches.

Two-time ACC player of the year Rachel Kuehn, who won twice during the regular season, beat Amari Avery 6 and 4. Emilia Migliaccio then closed out Cindy Kou 4 and 2, leaving the stage to Walsh.

The senior from Ireland had a 4-up lead through five holes and hit her tee shot to about 20 feet on No. 16 after Navarrosa rallied to within 3 down. Navarrosa chipped it close for par and Walsh hit her putt just past the hole, sending the Demon Deacons rushing onto the green after Navarrosa conceded.

Mimi Rhodes rallied from an early 2-down deficit by winning five of six holes and had a birdie putt on the 17th green with a 2-up lead over Christine Wang when Walsh clinched it.

Catherine Park, the corunner-up in the individual championship, beat Carolina Lopez-Chacarra 3 and 2 in USC's lone bright spot as its bid for a fourth national title came up short.

The Trojans finished as the national runner-up for the sixth time, a day after knocking off reigning champion Stanford in the semifinals.

• Josh Hahn and AJ Salgado drove in four runs each, Kelly Austin struck out 12 batters, and No. 7 seed UCLA routed third-seeded Washington 17-4 in seven innings at the Pac-12 Tournament of baseball.

UCLA (28-24-1) defeated USC on Tuesday and has won Pool C to advance to the semifinals on Friday. Washington (33-17) and fourthseeded USC play for second place today, with a possible semifinal berth on the line.

Bowman cleared to race in Coca-Cola 600

Alex Bowman was cleared to return to racing this weekend for the CocaCola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after missing four events with a fractured vertebra.

Bowman was injured April 25 while competing in a sprint car race in Hendrick Motorsports' teammate Kyle Larson's new racing series in West Burlington, Iowa. He was NASCAR's

Cup Series points leader at the time of his injury and has dropped to 17th in the standings while sidelined.

NASCAR granted Bowman a waiver to participate in the playoffs should he qualify. He is five points out of the 16th and final qualifying position with 13 races remaining in the regular season.

Bowman on Tuesday drove a Cup car for 170 laps during a NASCAR-approved medical evaluation test at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

Josh Berry subbed for Bowman in all three points races Bowman missed with a best result of 10th at Dover on April 30. He also competed in Sunday's nonpoints NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, finishing 15th after winning the All-Star Open.

Vu, Henderson win in LPGA Match Play

Lilia Vu and Brooke Henderson, the only players from the top 10 in women's golf to enter the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play, both delivered victories at North Las Vegas' Shadow Creek in the opening session of pool play.

Vu never trailed in a 4-and-3 victory over Lauren Hartlage, winning two holes early and closing her out by winning four straight holes at the end.

Henderson took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole and relied on mistakes by Yaeeun Hong and won, 3 and 2.

Vu reached the semifinals a year ago during her rookie season on the LPGA Tour, a tournament that sparked confidence in her the rest of the season. She returns as the No. 1 seed with two victories this year, becoming a major champion last month at the Chevron Championship.

Danielle Kang is a member at Shadow Creek with plenty of match play experience from the Solheim Cup and the recent International Crown. That didn't help her Wednesday, falling to Muni He in 17 holes.

He birdied the ninth hole and never trailed again in a 2-and-1 win. Her next match in group play is against Alison Lee, another Shadow Creek member.

Janet Lin, another top seed in her pool, was 2 up over Karis Davidson of Australia until making bogeys on six of her next 10 holes. Davidson won, 5 and 4.

Jennifer Kupcho, who won the final version of the Chevron Championship last year in the California desert, lost 4 and 3 to Carolina Inglis.

Steelers add Golden

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Markus Golden to a one-year contract, giving them depth behind star edge rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.

Golden, 32, has spent most of his eight seasons in the NFL with Arizona, racking up 47 sacks in 111 games with the Cardinals and New York Giants.

Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus dies

Fusaichi Pegasus, the 2000 Kentucky Derby winner, has died. He was 26.

He was euthanized at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., due to the infirmities of old age, the farm said Wednesday.

Nicknamed “Fu Peg,” he was purchased as a yearling for $4 million by Fusao Sekiguchi at the 1998 Keeneland July sale. He was trained by Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale.

Fusaichi Pegasus won the San Felipe Stakes and Wood Memorial before winning the 2000 Kentucky Derby as the 2-1 favorite, the first time a favorite had won since 1979.

Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, Fusaichi Pegasus won the Derby by 1½ lengths over Aptitude. He also became the highestpriced horse purchased at public auction to win the Derby. He finished second in the Preakness.

He retired with six wins in nine career starts and earnings of $1,994,400.

He began his stud career in 2001 at Ashford, with Coolmore paying a reported $60 million for his stallion rights, a record at the time.