In brief: Garcia plays shot from Bay Hill tree

Golf: Sergio Garcia provided an amazing highlight Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla., when he climbed some 15 feet into an oak tree and played a shot back out to the fairway.

The Spaniard already was having a rough time at Bay Hill – he made a 9 on the par-5 sixth hole – when his tee shot at No. 10 sailed right into the trees. Not only did it get stuck in the tree, it came to rest at the base of two large limbs.

Garcia was playing with William McGirt, who was having a hard time believing what he was seeing.

“I knew they were looking around the tree,” McGirt said. “I didn’t know they were looking in the tree. I looked over and Sergio is up in the air, and I’m trying to figure out what in the hell he’s going to go. He called for a club. He’s hugging the tree. And the ball comes flying out.

“Are you kidding me?”

The small crowd cheered when Garcia’s caddie handed him a club. Maybe it was a tree-iron.

Play was suspended Sunday due to storms that hit the area. Tigers Woods, who led by three strokes had finished two holes. Play will resume today at 7 a.m., with coverage by the Golf Channel.

Associated Press

Costa Rica asks FIFA for replay

Soccer: Costa Rica is asking soccer’s governing body for a replay of Friday’s World Cup qualifier against the United States men, won 1-0 by the Americans during a snowstorm in Commerce City, Colo.

Costa Rican Football Federation Treasurer Rolando Villalobos said in a statement Sunday that documentation had been sent to FIFA to back the claim, including photographs and videos.

The Costa Rican federation said the climatic conditions threatened the physical integrity of the players, left the sidelines and markings on the field largely not visible and led to the entry onto the field of snow-clearing personnel, which it said was not permitted.

Associated Press