In Brief

GOLF

Another win for South Africa:
Tourney with $10 million purse

The Sunshine Tour will make leading golfers choose between the world’s richest tournament in South Africa and Tiger Woods’ charity event in California beginning in 2012.

A new $10 million World Golf Championships event to be hosted by the tour was heralded by Sunshine commissioner Gareth Tindall on Tuesday as the launch of “a world tour” and “the most significant thing that has happened to South African golf in its history.”

Tindall, emboldened by Charl Schwartzel’s Masters victory on the 50th anniversary of Gary Player’s first green jacket, said the Tournament of Hope underlined the shift in player power away from the United States.

The date and venue for the new WGC event — just the second outside the U.S. after Shanghai’s HSBC Champions — had not been finalized, Tindall said, but organizers are looking at the first week of December.

That would put the tournament with the world’s biggest purse on a collision course with Woods’ Chevron Challenge, co-sponsored by the PGA Tour.

Also: Denver Broncos Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway played a starring role in bringing two Super Bowl titles to the Mile High City. Once again, Elway came up big — on another green field no less — as he helped his home golf course land a major PGA Tour event.

Elway announced that Cherry Hills Golf Club will host the 2014 BMW Championship, an event that serves as the third in a series of four FedEx Cup playoff competitions. The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 1 to 7, 2014.

MISCELLANEOUS

Serena gets back on court;
return to competition not set

Serena Williams grabbed her racket and got out on a tennis court in Florida, saying it was her “first day back” after a series of health problems, including blood clots in her lung.

The 13-time Grand Slam singles champion and former No. 1-ranked player has not played an official match since she won the title at Wimbledon in July.

Shortly after claiming her fourth singles championship at the All England Club last year, Williams cut her foot on glass at a restaurant, an injury that led to two operations. The second surgery was in October, and she said she spent 10 weeks in a cast and 10 weeks in a walking boot.

The 29-year-old American then was diagnosed in February with blood clots in her lung. After that, she said she needed treatment for a hematoma — a gathering of blood under the skin — on her stomach.

Williams has not said when she might return to competition.

Also: The UNLV baseball team blew a 5-1 lead, and pitcher Brady Zuniga was hospitalized after taking a line drive to the head in a 6-5 loss to UC Riverside in Riverside, Calif.

The Rebels (22-13) gave up five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, including a Kyle Boudreau two-run single.

In the midst of the Highlanders’ rally, Zuniga got hit by a line drive off the bat of David Andriese, leading to a 15-minute delay. Zuniga was conscious but was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Ryan Scott was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run single in UNLV’s four-run first inning, and Brandon Bayardi went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne landed the sponsorship he needed to enter the Sprint All-Star Race next month at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bayne gained an automatic berth into the All-Star race, but Wood Brothers Racing didn’t have sponsorship to put Bayne in the $1 million event. Good Sam Club, a sister company of Camping World, signed on to sponsor Bayne in the May 21 All-Star race and this week’s Sprint Cup event at Talladega Superspeedway.

Mississippi starting linebacker D.T. Shackelford has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will be out six to eight months.

Shackelford, a junior, made 48 tackles last season, including nine for a loss and five sacks while splitting time between linebacker and defensive end.

New Orleans Hornets forward David West had successful surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee and is expected to recover fully.

West has been out since tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament during the Hornets’ victory at Utah on March 24. He is not expected to return to the court until next season.

Barcelona and Manchester United moved a step closer to a rematch of the 2009 Champions League final as both clubs claimed victories to reach the semifinals.

Park Ji-sung secured a 2-1 home win for Manchester United over English Premier League rival Chelsea. United advanced 3-1 on aggregate in the home-and-home series.

Barcelona had no problems protecting its 5-1 lead from its first meeting with Shakhtar Donetsk, winning 1-0 in Donetsk, Ukraine, to set up a likely semifinal against Spanish archrival Real Madrid.