In brief: Woods draws record crowd in Scottsdale
Golf: Tiger Woods helped attract a record, raucous crowd to the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Thursday.
In his first appearance at the TPC Scottsdale in 14 years – and only his second tournament in six months — Woods couldn’t hit the green with three chip shots and was near the bottom of the leaderboard until two key shots on the back nine salvaged a 2-over 73.
It was the first time in his career that Woods shot over par in his first round of the year. And he already was nine shots behind Ryan Palmer, who opened with a 7-under 64 to build a one-shot lead when play was suspended by darkness.
Palmer holds a one-shot lead over Keegan Bradley, who made seven birdies in the morning, and Bubba Watson.
The attendance was 118,461 – more than the Super Bowl will get on Sunday – and broke the Thursday record at the Phoenix Open by just over 30,000.
• Wiesberger races to one-shot lead in Dubai: Bernd Wiesberger made seven birdies on his last 10 holes to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Dubai (United Arab Emirates) Desert Classic.
Lee Westwood and Nicolas Colsaerts were among four players tied for second, along with American Peter Uihlein and Andy Sullivan.
• Jang takes lead in LPGA opener: Ha Na Jang, ranked 21st in the world, shot a 7-under 65 in the second round of the Coates Golf Championship in Ocala, Florida, and opened a four-shot lead over Stacy Lewis heading into the third round.
The start of the round was delayed 90 minutes because of frost, and the interruption prevented about 50 players from completing 18 holes.
Red-hot Blues beat Predators in shootout
NHL: Kevin Shattenkirk scored the winner in the shootout to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Nashville Predators.
Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie, Steve Ott and Ryan Reaves all scored in regulation for the Blues, who improved to 8-0-1 over their last nine games.
Panthers edge Blue Jackets: Sean Bergenheim scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to help Florida snap a five-game losing streak with a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 in Sunrise, Florida.
The Panthers beat Columbus for the first time since Nov. 21, 2007 – a span of 11 games.
• AHL to make westward shift: The NHL’s feeder league will undergo a sizable westward shift, designed to bring five farm teams closer to their parent clubs in a long-anticipated announcement finalized by the American Hockey League. The 30-team AHL will create a Pacific Division next season.
All of the new sites will be in California. Here are the farm club shifts: San Jose Sharks, Worchester, Massachusetts to San Jose; Anaheim Ducks, Norfolk, Virginia, to San Diego; Calgary Flames, Glens Falls, New York, to Stockton; Edmonton Oilers, Oklahoma City to Bakersfield, Los Angeles Kings, Manchester, New Hampshire, to Ontario.
Buckeyes earn upset over No. 16 Terrapins
Men’s basketball: Marc Loving scored 19 points and D’Angelo Russell added 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead Ohio State (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten) to an 80-56 victory over No. 16 Maryland (18-4, 6-3) in Columbus, Ohio.
Jae’Sean Tate, starting his third game in a row, added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Buckeyes, who have won three in a row – including the last two over ranked opponents.
Lakers outlast Bulls in double overtime
NBA: Jordan Hill scored 26 points and forced the second overtime with a clutch jumper, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped their nine-game losing streak with a 123-118 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls.
All-Star Jimmy Butler matched his career high with 35 points for the Bulls, who rallied from a nine-point deficit in 70 seconds late in regulation.
Wayne Ellington scored 23 points for the Lakers.
• Bucks end skid in Orlando: Jerryd Bayless scored 19 points, Jared Dudley and Khris Middleton had 17 apiece and the Milwaukee Bucks ended a 17-game losing streak in Orlando (Florida) with a 115-100 victory over the Magic.
Jury issues delay in Hernandez trial
Miscellany: Opening statements are delayed in the murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez while the judge in Fall River, Massachusetts, sorts out some last-minute jury issues.
One juror was late getting to court, and another sent a note to the judge. The judge is now individually questioning jurors.
• Browns’ Gordon caught drinking: Browns receiver Josh Gordon says his latest trouble with the NFL results from having a few drinks.
Gordon said in an open letter on Medium that he had two beers and two other drinks with teammates on a flight to Las Vegas on January 2, after Cleveland’s season ended.
Part of Gordon’s reduced suspension for testing positive for marijuana last season included a stipulation in which the receiver was not to drink. Gordon says he thought the agreement to not drink ended after the Browns’ regular season but he should have confirmed it.