PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tiger Woods added two more tournaments Wednesday to a schedule that is not much different from previous years except for the timing.
Woods entered The Players Championship and the AT&T National, which benefits his foundation.
It was the second straight week that Woods made an early commitment to a PGA Tour event, allowing for more time to promote his appearance. For years, the world’s No. 1 player waited until the last few days before signing up.
Last week, Woods beat the deadline by eight days for entering the Quail Hollow Championship, which starts April 29. He signed up for The Players Championship, which starts May 6, nine days ahead of the deadline.
Woods missed five months while caught in a sex scandal that shattered his image and cost him three major endorsements. He returned at the Masters, where he tied for fourth.
Armstrong will return to New Mexico race.
Lance Armstrong is returning to the Tour of the Gila.
The seven-time Tour de France champion competed in the New Mexico event last year and has decided to return for next week’s five-day race, held in the Silver City area.
Armstrong will be joined by his friend and teammate, Levi Leip-heimer, who claimed two stage victories in winning last year’s Tour of the Gila overall title. Armstrong finished second.
Cubs move ace to bullpen.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella made a bold move, inserting temperamental ace Carlos Zambrano into a shaky bullpen that threatened to derail Chicago’s season.
Chicago’s bullpen was 1-6 with a 6.15 ERA and three saves in seven opportunities heading into Wednesday night’s game against the New York Mets. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Kansas City Royals were the only teams with a higher bullpen ERA.
Piniella also has another starter ready to go, with all-star right-hander Ted Lilly expected to come off the disabled list this weekend, probably on Saturday at Milwaukee.
“I understand the situation,” Zambrano said.
The burly righty said Piniella told him the move was temporary.
• Starter Cliff Lee‘s long-awaited debut in Seattle is tentatively set for April 30.
Footnotes.
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall says running back Harvey Unga hopes to return to school in time to join the Cougars for his senior season. Unga, BYU’s all-time leading rusher, withdrew from classes last week, saying he had violated the school’s strict honor code.
• Arizona State is vacating 44 of its 49 victories from the 2007 baseball season and will be reducing scholarships as part of self-imposed sanctions for violating NCAA rules.
• Philadelphia Flyers forwards Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne have been ruled out for tonight’s playoff game against the host New Jersey Devils.
• Venus Williams (knee) will not play for the U.S. in the Fed Cup semifinals against Russia this weekend. The Associated Press
