A place of comfort

AKRON, Ohio (AP) ― Tiger Woods finds out over the next two weeks if his season is over or just getting started.The first stop is Firestone, where Woods is an eight-time winner and the defending champion. After that, he heads to Valhalla Golf Club for the PGA Championship, where he won in 2000 on his way to an unprecedented sweep of the majors.At stake is a chance to extend a season already cut short by back surgery.“I would like to win these two events and not have to worry about anything,” Wood

GolfJuly 31, 2014

Korea to hire foreign coach for national soccer team

South Korea will seek to hire a foreign head coach to fill the vacancy on the men’s senior national football team, the sport’s technical director said Thursday.Lee Yong-soo, who was named the new head of the technical committee at the Korea Football Association last week, said at a press conference that he has narrowed down candidates for the top coaching job in South Korean football to three foreign nationals.“We’ve short-listed three coaches based on specific criteria, and all three are from o

SoccerJuly 31, 2014

New-look committee to meet over head coach

Technical director Lee Yong-soo (Yonhap)The new-look technical committee at the Korea Football Association will hold its inaugural meeting to go over candidates for the coaching vacancy on the men’s senior national team, officials said.The KFA named Lee Yong-soo, a popular television analyst and a university professor, as its new technical director last Thursday.At his inaugural press conference on Monday, Lee announced seven new members of his technical committee, vowing to take steps to help i

SoccerJuly 30, 2014

McIlroy ready to get back to work

AKRON, Ohio (AP) ― The claret jug is not out of sight. Rory McIlroy is just trying to get it out of his mind.McIlroy had plenty of fun with golf’s oldest trophy after his wire-to-wire win in the British Open. He celebrated with friends in England, took the jug out for a night on the town in Belfast with his buddies, and brought it with him when he returned home to Florida. And yes, it’s with him at Firestone this week at the Bridgestone Invitational.“I’ve sort of been taking pictures of it besid

GolfJuly 30, 2014

‘God of Vault’ out to prove versatility

Yang Hak-seon, the South Korean gymnast known as the “God of Vault,” is determined to prove he’s more than a one-trick pony.In an interview last weekend during practice at the National Training Center in Seoul, Yang, 21, said he’d like to win titles in rings and floor exercise at the upcoming Asian Games at home.“I think I have a chance to win medals in floor exercise and rings,” Yang said. “I felt that way after competing at the Korea Cup in April.” Olympic vault champion Yang Hak-seon (Yonhap)

More SportsJuly 29, 2014

Recovered from illness, Serena ready for return

Serena Williams (MCT)STANFORD, California (AP) ― Serena Williams finally realized what happened days later, when she was allowed to get out of bed.Williams said she was barely aware of how sick she was as she tried to play through a viral infection that caused her to lose equilibrium during a women’s doubles match with sister Venus at Wimbledon. It was only later, when she was able to clear her head, that she realized the seriousness of her situation.“It was interesting and I was scared after,”

More SportsJuly 29, 2014

Military exemption again issue at heart for Asiad

For South Korean male athletes, the prospect of gaining exemption from their mandatory military service through their athletic achievements can be a double-edged sword.An Asian Games gold medal or an Olympic medal of any color will do the trick. Some have thrived in such circumstances, motivated by the chance to avoid disruption to their careers. Others have crumbled under pressure, unable to reach deep into their reservoir of strength to get over the hump.When South Korea on Monday announced it

More SportsJuly 29, 2014

Giant slayer

SAN FRANCISCO (Yonhap) ― Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up his 12th win of the Major League Baseball season on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants, holding the National League West rivals to three earned runs in six innings. Ryu also struck out seven and walked one in his six frames to improve to 12-5 for the year. His ERA went up slightly from 3.39 to 3.44.Ryu is well ahead of the pace from his rookie season in 2013, when he didn’t get his 12th win until Aug. 13. He ended la

BaseballJuly 28, 2014

Korea finishes 3rd at International Crown

Spain’s Belen Mozo lifts Beatriz Recari after making a birdie on the 16th hole on Sunday. (AP-Yonhap)South Korea finished in third place at the inaugural International Crown on the LPGA Tour on Sunday in Maryland.At Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, a suburb of Baltimore, South Korea picked up four points in the singles matches on the final day of the competition, for a four-day total of 10 points. South Korea won two singles and lost two others.Spain, which won all four of its singles mat

GolfJuly 28, 2014

‘No rush to name head coach’

Lee Yong-soo, freshly minted as South Korean football’s new technical director, said Monday he is in no rush to fill in the head coaching vacancy on the senior national team.Lee, 54, was named the new head of the technical committee of the Korea Football Association last Thursday. The committee’s main responsibility is to nominate head coaches for national teams in different age brackets. The position on the senior team has been vacant since Hong Myung-bo resigned earlier this month in the wake

SoccerJuly 28, 2014