Golf
Spieth in a 3-way tie for the lead in Bahamas
NASSAU, Bahamas – Jordan Spieth rallied from a rugged start for a 6-under 66 on Friday that gave him a share of the lead with Jimmy Walker and Bill Haas going into the weekend at the Hero World Challenge.
Spieth feels like he’s on vacation in the Bahamas. On the golf course, it’s all business.
Coming off two bogeys in five holes, he responded with three consecutive birdies and then an eagle and two more birdies on the back nine.
Stenson’s score sends him to top of leaderboard
SUN CITY, South Africa – Henrik Stenson made five birdies on his back nine to shoot a 5-under 67 Friday and take a one-shot lead after the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
After bogeying three consecutive holes before a two-hour rain delay, the Swede came back out to pick up five shots between the 11th and 17th holes for an 11-under total of 133. Jaco van Zyl of South Africa was second after a 68, with American Robert Streb shooting the best round of the day for a 66 to sit another shot back in third.
Greinke, Diamondbacks get $206.5 M, 6-year deal
Zack Greinke will still pitch in the NL West. But surprise – with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks unexpectedly won the Greinke sweepstakes, beating out the rival Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants for the free agent ace Friday night. He reached agreement on a $206.5 million, six-year deal, sources told The Associated Press.
The major league earned-run average leader and runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award boosted the Dodgers to their third straight division title this season. Then, the 32-year-old righty opted out of his contract, leaving $71.5 million on the table– and wound up with the richest deal, by yearly average, in baseball history.
Greinke was the second former AL Cy Young winner to get a mega-contract this week. David Price joined the Boston Red Sox for $217 million over seven years. The moves came as teams prepared to head this weekend to the winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee.
Greinke’s new deal contains deferred money. The $34.4 million average will be the sport’s highest.
Home run king Bonds hired by Miami Marlins
MIAMI – Steroids-tainted home run king Barry Bonds will return to baseball full time as hitting coach for the Miami Marlins.
Bonds’ playing career ended in 2007. He has worked in recent years as a guest instructor for the San Francisco Giants in spring training. He’s the career leader in home runs with 762 and is a seven-time NL MVP.
He joins the staff of Don Mattingly, who recently became the Marlins’ seventh manager since June 2010. Among the players Bonds will tutor will be $325 million slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
Soccer
FIFA ethics court bans arrested VPs Napout, Hawit
ZURICH – FIFA vice presidents Juan Angel Napout and Alfredo Hawit have been banned from soccer after being indicted on bribery and racketeering charges.
The FIFA ethics committee says judge Joachim Eckert applied the provisional bans, which were requested by ethics prosecutor Cornel Borbely.
Napout, the president of the South American confederation CONCACAF, and Hawit, president of North and Central American and Caribbean body CONCACAF, were arrested in pre-dawn raids at a Zurich hotel Thursday.
They were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly taking millions of dollars in bribes from television and marketing rights.
Napout, from Paraguay, and Hawit, from Honduras, are resisting extradition to the U.S.
Associated Press
