GOLF
Kuchar grabs one-shot lead
Matt Kuchar fired a bogey-free seven-under 64 on Thursday to seize a one-stroke lead over Spain’s Sergio Garcia in the first round of the USPGA Tour Northern Trust Open. Kuchar’s seven birdies on Los Angeles’ par-71 Riviera Country Club layout included three to open his round. Garcia, runner-up at the European Tour’s Qatar Masters last month, teed off on 10 and also opened with three birdies. His lone bogey of the day came at the 13th, but he picked up four more birdies on his inward run — capping his 65 with a birdie at the ninth as fog from the Pacific Ocean drifted across the course that had been bathed in sunshine all day. Journeyman Brandt Jobe — playing in the first group off the first tee — had set an early target with a five-under 66 that left him in third when darkness halted play with 18 players yet to complete their rounds.
GOLF
Van Zyl leads by two shots
Jaco van Zyl of South Africa shot a six-under 66 to hold a two-stroke clubhouse lead at the Africa Open in East London, South Africa, on Thursday, before the wind-affected first round was suspended because of darkness. Van Zyl was among the 84 players from the 156-man field to complete the round, with strong winds causing a delay of nearly three hours midway through the day. Adilson da Silva of Brazil joined Van Zyl on six-under by rolling in a birdie putt on nine just as the siren sounded to end the day’s play at 6:55pm. John Parry of England shot a 68 to be Van Zyl’s nearest challenger in the clubhouse.
SOCCER
Maradona a father again
Diego Maradona is a father again after his long-time partner Veronica Ojeda gave birth to a boy, who has been named Diego Fernando Maradona Ojeda. Jorge Auruccio, Ojeda’s lawyer, said the baby weighed 3.2kg and was born on Wednesday at 11:57pm in a Buenos Aires hospital. He said the mother and child were in “perfect” shape. The 52-year-old Maradona has two daughters from his marriage with Claudia Vallafane — Dalma and Giannina. The Argentine great has two other children he has never recognized as his, although courts in paternity cases have ruled he is the father.
CYCLING
Froome leads in Oman
Tour de France runner-up Christopher Froome took the overall lead in the Tour of Oman after finishing second in the fourth stage on Thursday. Froome, a Sky Pro Cycling rider who was 13th overall after the third day, finished four seconds behind stage winner Oliver Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha, who won the 143.5km ride from Samail to Jabal Al Akhdhar. Two Tour de France winners followed; Cadel Evans of BMC finished 22 seconds back in third, while Alberto Contador of Saxo-Tinkoff came in 27 seconds back in fourth. With two stages remaining, Froome led Evans by 24 seconds for the overall lead, with Contador a further second back.
CYCLING
French agency snubs UCI
The French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) will not carry out tests on the Paris-Nice stage race this year, citing a disagreement with the International Cycling Union. “Given the serious mistakes that were made before ... the AFLD has considered ... that it could not lend its support to the international federation in carrying out tests on the Paris-Nice race,” the AFLD said in a statement on Thursday, without elaborating.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB