GOLF
Yu shares hazy Sydney lead
Toxic smoke from bushfires choking Sydney yesterday blighted the Australian Open, with one player complaining that his eyes were burning and he had trouble seeing where his ball landed. The event, a warmup for many on the International team at next week’s Presidents Cup, got under way with haze enveloping the course from fires burning out of control throughout New South Wales. Amateurs Yu Chun-an of Taiwan and Takumi Kanaya of Japan shared the lead on six-under-par 65, with Matt Jones, the 2015 champion, two strokes behind. Taiwan’s C.T. Pan was in a group sharing 102nd on three-over 74. Jones said that the conditions at the Australian Golf Club were some of the worst he had encountered. “I’m not sure what the forecast is, but the smoke’s not good at all. It’s tough to see your golf ball when you’re out there playing, where it finishes. Your eyes do burn,” he said. “I’ve got that cough like you’ve got something in your lungs, phlegm in your lungs or whatever, but it’s not fun. I hope my kids are inside in the hotel room.” Sydney’s air quality index registered levels of pollutants on a par with Beijing. Asked if he had ever played in similar conditions, Jones said not even in China.
GOLF
Reed, Woodland share lead
Patrick Reed and Gary Woodland on Wednesday set the first-round pace at the windswept Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas while tournament host Tiger Woods was four shots back after faltering over the final two holes. Former Masters champion Reed and this year’s US Open winner Woodland fired six-under-par 66s at the Albany Golf Club on the island of New Providence to sit two shots clear of Chez Reavie in the 18-man exhibition event. Englishman Justin Rose, Swede Henrik Stenson and Americans Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler were a further shot back. Woods reached the turn at two-over-par, but made three birdies and an eagle over a four-hole stretch starting at the 11th to claw back up the leaderboard. However, Woods endured a brutal finish when he made bogey at the par-three 17th after he found the front bunker and closed with a three-putt double-bogey from about 12 feet for an even-par 72 that left him in a share of 11th place. Woodland mixed eight birdies with two bogeys to grab the early clubhouse lead, but Reed, playing two groups behind, offset his only bogey with four consecutive birdies from the 13th to join his compatriot atop the leaderboard.
SOCCER
Udinese book last-16 berth
Udinese on Wednesday thrashed Serie A rivals Bologna 4-0 to book a Coppa Italia last-16 clash with Juventus. Goals from Antonin Barak, Sebastien De Maio, Rolando Mandragora and Kevin Lasagna gave the northeasterners their first win since Nov. 11. Bologna were playing without Serbian coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, who is battling leukemia, on the bench. US Sassuolo fell 2-1 to Serie B side AC Perugia Calcio, who wrapped up victory with first-half goals from Pasquale Mazzocchi and Hans Nicolussi, to set up a last-16 tie with SSC Napoli next month. SPAL eased past US Lecce 5-1. Juventus’ four-year reign as Coppa Italia winners was ended last season by Atalanta BC, who went on to lose to SS Lazio in the final. The holders are to play US Cremonese in the next round, after the Lombardy club beat fellow Serie B outfit Empoli 1-0 on Tuesday.
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