GOLF
Malnati wins in Mississippi
Peter Malnati won for the first time on the PGA Tour, closing with a 5-under-par 67 to capture the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss. Malnati finished at 18 under in a rain-soaked tournament that was forced to complete play Monday. Malnati was one shot behind going into the final round but closed with five birdies over his final 12 holes to beat William McGirt and David Toms by one stroke. The event at the Country Club of Jackson was delayed five times either by rain, lightning or darkness. The final day was a long one for several golfers, with some playing as many as 30 holes. It was a crowded leaderboard throughout Monday’s marathon round, with about 15 players moving in and out of contention. Roberto Castro led through the first two rounds but shot a 3-over 75 in the third round and finished at 16 under. Bryce Molder (Conway) closed with a 69 to finish tied for fourth with a 16-under 272 and earned $154,570.
BASEBALL
Pujols has foot surgery
Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is recovering after having surgery to repair the plantar plate in his right foot. The team announced Monday that Pujols is expected to resume full baseball activities in 4½ months, which would be late in spring training. The surgery was last week in Charlotte, N.C. New Angels General Manager Billy Eppler said Pujols will spend the winter rehabilitating in the Kansas City area. The 35-year-old first baseman hit .244 with 40 home runs and 95 RBI this season and made the All-Star team. He reached the 40-home run mark for the seventh time overall and first since 2010, when he played for St. Louis. Pujols spent most of the final month of the season as the designated hitter while slowed by a toe problem.
The Minnesota Twins have won the bidding for negotiating rights to slugger Byung Ho Park, a 29-year-old first baseman who hit 105 home runs over the past two seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization. Major League Baseball announced Monday the notice from Park’s team in the KBO, the Nexen Heroes, that Minnesota’s bid was the highest. The posting fee was not disclosed by either MLB or the Twins, who said they wouldn’t comment on the process “out of respect” for Park and the Heroes. Per MLB rules, the Twins have a 30-day exclusive negotiating period to sign Park to a contract. In the interim, Park will remain under control of the Heroes.
The Washington Nationals and Houston Astros are on the way to sharing a new spring training site in 2017. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred was in attendance Monday at a ground breaking ceremony for the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. When the $144 million complex opens, it will end an 18-year absence of spring training baseball in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos left the area in 1997. The Nationals currently train up the Florida coast in Viera, more than an hour from any other team. The Astros are now at a site in the Kissimmee region.
New York Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson will miss the annual GM meetings to undergo an unspecified medical procedure, a week after fainting during a news conference at Citi Field in New York. Mets assistant general manager John Ricco made the announcement Monday at the start of the four-day session. Ricco said Alderson did not want to make public the details. Ricco adds the procedure originally was scheduled for earlier during the team’s postseason run but was delayed when the team reached the World Series. Ricco said, “I don’t want to portray it, though, as something extremely urgent about it.” New York will be represented at the meetings by Ricco, vice president of player development and amateur scouting Paul DePodesta and special assistant to GM J.P. Ricciardi.
ATHLETICS
Illinois fires AD
Illinois has fired Athletic Director Mike Thomas as it prepares to release the final report from its investigation into mistreatment of players. Interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson said Monday that the report found no wrongdoing by Thomas. But she said, “A change in leadership was needed in order to move forward.” Thomas’ firing follows allegations by former football, women’s basketball and women’s soccer players that they were mistreated by coaches. Football coach Tim Beckman was fired over the allegations and lawsuits filed by players in the other two sports are ongoing. Thomas came to Illinois from Cincinnati in 2011. He replaced Ron Guenther.
TRACK AND FIELD
Russia accused of cheating
Russia’s status as a sports superpower and its participation in track and field events at next year’s Olympics came under threat Monday after a report accused the Russians of widespread, state-supported doping reminiscent of the darkest days of cheating by the former East Germany. The findings by a commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency were far more damaging than expected. It means that two of the world’s most popular sports — soccer and track and field — are now mired in scandals that could destroy their reputations. The WADA investigation’s findings that Russian government officials must have known about doping and cover-ups, with even its intelligence service, the FSB, allegedly involved, threatened to severely tarnish President Vladimir Putin’s use of sports to improve his country’s global standing. Russia hosted the last Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 and will hold the next World Cup in 2018. The 323-page report said that in Russia, “acceptance of cheating at all levels is widespread.”
MISCELLANEOUS
Fantasy leaders plead in N.J.
Making a case they hope will resonate with states across the nation, representatives of the fantasy sports industry told New Jersey lawmakers Monday that regulators should not treat them the same way as casinos because success in their industry relies more on skill than on chance. Their testimony to an Assembly committee was clearly aimed beyond the confines of the state: New Jersey’s gambling regulations are considered the strictest in the nation, and a favorable determination could clear the way for daily fantasy sports in much of the rest of the country as regulators look to New Jersey for guidance. Last month, Nevada required fantasy sports companies to obtain a gambling license, and several states including, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York and Georgia, have considered enacting their own rules. New Jersey officials, backed by a Monmouth University legal expert, said at the hearing they may have to change the state’s Constitution if the state deems daily fantasy sports to be gambling, legally defined as games of chance. “It’s a form of entertainment, not gambling,” said Jeremy Kudon, who represents DraftKings, FanDuel and the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. “Fantasy sports is a game of skill, not a game of chance. You need to understand the skills of different players. It depends almost entirely on the amount of time, research and talent — otherwise known as skill. Chance is not a material effect in the contest.” Several lawmakers were clearly skeptical of such claims. “It is clear that chance is a material factor into the outcome,” Assemblyman Troy Singleton said. “I know a ton of people who are skilled in drafting. But at the end of the day, if Tom Brady breaks his leg, it doesn’t matter how skillful you were in drafting Tom Brady. I’ve lost to my wife a number of times in daily fantasy sports, and I know she doesn’t have as much skill.”