Newsmakers

Practiced Thousands of fans lined fairways and TV network helicopters circled overhead as Tiger Woods played his first round of golf in Australia in 11 years today. Woods joined Australian veteran Craig Parry for a practice round at the Kingston Heath course near Melbourne, site of this week’s Australian Masters. The tournament will be Woods’ fourth in Australia but his first since the 1998 Presidents Cup.

Received Real Madrid soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted libel damages from a tabloid newspaper that claimed he drank heavily and danced at a nightclub while recovering from a foot injury in Los Angeles. Ronaldo, who says he does not drink alcohol, received an undisclosed amount of compensation and an apology from the Daily Mirror when the case came before the High Court in London.

Fired The Memphis Tigers fired football coach Tommy West, saying the school wants to go in a different direction after the season. Athletic director R.C. Johnson said at a news conference that he met with West and told the coach of the university’s decision. He also asked West to stay through the end of the season.

Arrested Former football star Lawrence Taylor has been released on bond following his arrest in a Miami-area traffic accident. According to Miami-Dade County jail records, Taylor was charged Sunday with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, a second-degree misdemeanor. He was released on $500 bond later that night. A Florida Highway Patrol spokesman says Taylor was involved in a hit-and-run crash Sunday in Hialeah. Taylor told investigators he thought he had hit a guard rail. There were no injuries and troopers didn’t conduct a sobriety test.