SHIMA, Japan (AP) ― Morgan Pressel of the United States shot a 67 Friday to lead the Mizuno Classic at 5 under after the first round.Pressel had five birdies at the Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club to lead Britain’s Laura Davies and Chella Choi of South Korea by one stroke.Kotono Kozuma of Japan was a stroke further back at 3 under in a four-way tie with South Koreans Lee Il-hee and Lee Mi-hyang and Pornanong Phatlam of Thailand.Stacey Lewis of the United States, who won here in 2012, shot a 70

BANGKOK (AP) ― The 2022 Winter Olympics will remain in the traditional February time slot and will not be moved to make way for a rescheduled World Cup in Qatar, the head of the world’s national Olympic committees said Thursday. FIFA is currently considering moving the World Cup to avoid the summer heat in Qatar, including a possible shift to January-February ― a period that would clash with the Olympics.Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees,

South Korea's human rights watchdog said Friday it will investigate charges of illegal surveillance involving a professional baseball club.   An official with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea said the watchdog will start looking into allegations that Choi Ha-jin, former president of the Lotte Giants baseball club, reviewed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of hotels where the team stayed on road trips to inspect his players.   "We haven't received a formal petition to investi

The troubled South Korean baseball club Lotte Giants announced Thursday their president, Choi Ha-jin, has offered to resign, faced with charges that he had been the mastermind behind alleged illegal surveillance of his players during the past regular season.The Busan-based club said Choi has expressed his intent to step down from his post but has not yet handed in his formal resignation.The Giants added that Bae Jae-hoo, the club’s general manager, submitted his resignation letter Wednesday afte

Messi equals Champions League career scoring record

MIAMI (AP) ― A lawyer for the University of Miami’s former pitching coach said Wednesday that Alex Rodriguez admitted to federal investigators he used steroids supplied by the owner of a now-closed South Florida clinic.Attorney Frank Quintero Jr., who represents Lazaro “Laser” Collazo in his defense against charges of conspiracy to distribute performance-enhancing drugs, told the Associated Press that the New York Yankees third baseman confessed to steroids use, according to Drug Enforcement Adm

The troubled South Korean baseball club Lotte Giants announced Thursday their president, Choi Ha-jin, has offered to resign, faced with charges that he had been the mastermind behind alleged illegal surveillance of his players during the past regular season.   The Busan-based Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club said Choi has expressed his intent to step down from his post but has not yet handed in his formal resignation as of Thursday afternoon.   The Giants added that Bae Jae-hoo, the club's

The Samsung Lions pounded the Nexen Heroes 7-1 on Wednesday to even the South Korean baseball championship series at one game apiece.  Veteran slugger Lee Seung-yuop hit a record 14th career postseason home run in the third inning and Yamaico Navarro homered for the second consecutive night at Daegu Stadium, as the Lions went off for 10 hits in Game 2 of the Korean Series.  The teams are now tied at one game apiece in the best-of-seven affair. After a traveling day Thursday, the teams will be ba

With a possible move to Major League Baseball (MLB) for next season on the horizon, the Nexen Heroes shortstop Kang Jung-ho is having himself a fine audition, wielding a hot bat on the biggest stage in South Korean baseball.   Kang belted a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning of Game 1 in the championship Korean Series against the Samsung Lions on Tuesday, helping his club defeat the three-time defending Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) champs 4-2 on the road in Daegu.   Kang has now h

GENEVA (AP) ― FIFA is targeting two options for holding the 2022 World Cup in the winter in Qatar, and organizers think that is “ideal” for the Middle East.After a meeting Monday about five proposals on when to play the tournament, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke quickly moved to slim down the field.“We are getting closer to narrowing the dates for the FIFA World Cup to two options ― January-February 2022 or November-December 2022,” Valcke said in a FIFA statement.Qatar’s organizing committ