RiverKings’ Randazzo earns SPHL honor
The SPHL on Friday announced that
of the Mississippi RiverKings has been selected as the Easton Defenseman of the Year in a vote of league coaches, general managers and media representatives.
Randazzo, in his third season with the RiverKings, led all the league’s defensemen with 38 points and 31 assists, and his plus-27 rating was tied with teammate
for best in the SPHL. Randazzo was also second among blue-liners with 11 power-play assists and 134 shots. He was chosen to the All-SPHL first team for the second consecutive season.
Tiger Woods will end the speculation about his game by letting everyone see for themselves.
He said Friday he will play next week in the Masters.
Golf’s biggest attraction and four-time Masters champion played two practice rounds at Augusta National this week before announcing on his website that he would end his twomonth leave on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I’m playing in the Masters,” Woods said on his website. “It’s obviously very important to me, and I want to be there. I’ve worked a lot on my game, and I’m looking forward to competing. I’m excited to get to Augusta, and I appreciate everyone’s support.”
Woods was last in a golf tournament Feb. 5 at Torrey Pines. He hit a sand wedge some 30 yards over the green, duffed a chip coming back, bladed the next one too hard and made double bogey. One tee shot later, he withdrew because of tightness in his lower back, saying that his “glutes didn’t activate” after a delay in cool, foggy weather.
Woods has played in two tournaments this year and completed just 47 holes. His short game was bad at the Phoenix Open, where he shot a career-worst 82 and missed the cut by nine shots. And he didn’t get out of the first round at Torrey Pines.
A week later, he said his game and his scores were unacceptable. “I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I’m ready, I’ll be back.”
Woods played an 18-hole practice round Tuesday at Augusta, and he played again at the club on Friday, according to his agent.
He will have gone nine weeks without competition when he hits his opening tee shot Thursday, which is not unprecedented for Woods. He went nearly five months without playing when he returned in 2010 from a crisis in his personal life. He tied for fourth that year.
Scrutiny might be even greater this time around.
The last time Woods took an extended break before the Masters, he had won his previous tournament at the Australian Masters and was No. 1 in the world after a sevenwin season. Now, his game has been in disarray over injuries, physical limitations and another change in coaching.
He hasn’t won a tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational in August 2013. He hasn’t finished under par in 14 months, dating to the 2014 Dubai Desert Classic. And he has plunged to No. 104 in the world, his lowest ranking since Sept. 29, 1996, a week before he won the first of his 90 professional tournaments worldwide.