Off the wire

GOLF Bae leads Sony Open

Sang-Moon Bae made seven birdies in pristine conditions along the shores of Oahu for a bogey-free 63 and the early lead Thursday at the Sony Open in Honolulu. Bae needed every one of them to stay ahead of Chris Kirk, who is in his group. Kirk rallied for a 29 on the back nine of Waialae Country Club and was one shot behind among the early starters in the first full-field event of the year. Bae and Kirk had a better-ball score of 56. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) was in a group at 66 after a five-birdie, one-bogey round. Adam Scott, with surfer Benji Weatherly taking over as his caddie this week, was in the group at 67. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) had three birdies and a bogey for a 2-under 68. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) and David Lingmerth (Razorbacks) were still on the course late Thursday.

Raphael Jacquelin shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 in extremely windy conditions on South Africa’s east coast to take the first-round lead at the Volvo Golf Champions on Thursday. Jacquelin was the only player in the 36-man field not to drop a shot around Durban Country Club for a one-stroke advantage over defending champion Louis Oosthuizen. Darren Clarke, whose last title was at the 2011 British Open, was tied for third on 69 alongside Victor Dubuisson. Race to Dubai leader Thomas Bjorn was last after a 7-over 79 which included two double bogeys on the back nine, giving last month’s big-money winner at Sun City a tough start on his return to South Africa. Only 16 of the 36 players managed to break par in the testing conditions, with Denmark’s Bjorn, Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez and South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel all struggling.

FOOTBALL

HOF finalists announced

First-year nominees Derrick Brooks, Tony Dungy, MarvinHarrison and Walter Jones were among the 15 modern-era Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists in voting announced Thursday night. Brooks was a linebacker with Tampa Bay; Dungy coached Tampa Bay and Indianapolis, leading the Colts to a Super Bowl title in 2007; Harrison was a receiver for Indianapolis; and Jones was an offensive tackle with Seattle. Former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan also was selected a modern-era finalist along with defensive end/ linebacker Charles Haley, defensive end/linebacker Kevin Greene, receiver Andre Reed, running back Jerome Bettis, receiver/returner Tim Brown, safety John Lynch, guard Will Shields, cornerback/ safety Aeneas Williams, kicker Morten Andersen and former San Francisco owner Edward De-Bartolo Jr. Punter Ray Guy and defensive end Claude Humphrey were announced as senior nominees in August. The 46-member selection committee will vote Feb. 1 in New York, with a minimum 80 percent required for induction. The modern-era finalists were chosen by the selection committee from a list of 126 nominees that was reduced to 25 semifinalists. Each finalist received a minimum vote of 80 percent.

BASEBALL Verlander has surgery

Tigers ace Justin Verlander underwent muscle repair surgery Thursday after injuring himself last month during offseason conditioning. Dr. Bill Meyers in Philadelphia performed the operation on Verlander, who is expected to need six weeks of rehab before being evaluated again. The first workout for Detroit’s pitchers and catchers at spring training is scheduled for Feb. 14. The first spring training game is Feb. 25 against Florida Southern College. The team did not identify the “core muscle” that was repaired, but called the surgery successful. General manager Dave Dombrowski said he expects Verlander to participate in spring training and “be in a position to compete” at the beginning of the 2014 season. Verlanderwent 13-12 last year with a 3.46 ERA for the AL Central champions.

Free agent Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has arrived in the United States to meet with major league teams. Big league clubs have until 5 p.m. on Jan. 24 to sign the star 25-year-old right-hander. Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year for the Japan Series champion Rakuten Golden Eagles, who made him available under the new posting system. He is being represented by agent Casey Close and plans to have a physical in the U.S. that can be reviewed by major league teams. Under the new posting system, the fee payable to the Japanese club is capped at $20 million and the player can negotiate with all big league teams willing to pay the posting amount.

After missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, the Texas Rangers are lowering the price of advance individual tickets on more than 90 percent of the seats at Rangers Ballpark. The team also said Thursday that all seating sections will be subject to dynamic pricing this season. That policy applied last year to only two sections, about 20 percent of the seats. Adult ticket prices could be adjusted higher or lower for certain games based on market demand and factors such pitching matchups, day of the week and weather. The team also said 28 of its 81 home games are designated as more expensive premier games. That is down from 36 last year. Texas opens at home March 31 against Philadelphia.

Dan LeBatard has been kicked out of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for one year and barred from future Hall of Fame votes after the Miami Herald columnist turned over his 2014 ballot to a website that allowed readers to choose the selections. The decision was made Thursday by the BBWAA board of directors, a day after Le Batard said he let deadspin.com cast his ballot. The BBWAA said in a statement that it “regards Hall of Fame voting as the ultimate privilege, and any abuse of that privilege is unacceptable.”

BASKETBALL Ward decision up in air

Prosecutors say they need more time to decide whether to grant former Auburn basketball player Varez Ward admission into a pretrial diversion program after he was accused of point-shaving. Assistant U.S. attorney Susan Redmond told U.S. Magistrate Wallace Capel Jr. in a pretrial hearing Thursday that they hoped to have a decision by next week. Ward was not present at the hearing. Ward’s trial was postponed until Feb. 10. The point guard was arrested in June on bribery and conspiracy charges, accusing him of trying to fix a January 2012 game against Arkansas. He pleaded not guilty.

MOTOR SPORTS Fans to decide format

Fans will again decide the format of the exhibition Sprint Unlimited exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway. The race Feb. 15 will allow fans to vote on three major elements via NASCAR.com and the use of the NASCAR Mobile application. Voting for each element will close at different times on race day. Fans will vote on how the three segments of the race are broken down, the starting order and the final segment restart order. For the final segment restart order, fans can decide between the fastest lap during the first two segments, most laps led during the first two segments and determined by mandatory pit stop results.

Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske have both tweaked their team names headed into the 2014 seasons. Ganassi has dropped “Earnhardt” from the formal name of his NASCAR organization. His team will now be known as Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, the name it used before a late 2008 merger with Dale Earnhardt Inc. The signs at the shop have already been changed to drop Earnhardt from the name. Penske, meanwhile, wants all of his teams to be called Team Penske. His NASCAR organization had used Penske Racing, while IndyCar had been Team Penske.

Sports, Pages 20 on 01/10/2014

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