GOLF SHORTS

Woods has cortisone shot in right ankle

ORLANDO, Florida (AP)—Tiger Woods had a cortisone shot in his right ankle 10 days ago

to relieve lingering soreness. By Tuesday, he was back to work hitting balls and filming a

commercial.

Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, said Woods had intended all along to have the shot after

the Chevron World Challenge, which ended Dec. 5. Woods has nearly two months off before

his next tournament at Torrey Pines.

“This was always the plan,” Steinberg said. “He’s looking at 2011 as a big year for him.”

At this year’s Masters, Woods revealed he ruptured the Achilles’ tendon in his right leg in

December 2008 while recovering from knee surgery. Steinberg says it still causes soreness,

prompting the cortisone shot.

Steinberg spoke in response to Internet chatter that Woods had torn his Achilles while skiing.

He said Woods has not skied in more than three years.

Woods posted two tweets Tuesday of photos from his EA Sports shoot at Isleworth, referring

to one as a “tough day at the office.”

Woods is coming off the first winless season of his career, although he showed strong signs

of turning his game around at the Chevron World Challenge. He lost a four-shot lead on the

final day and was beaten by U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell in a playoff.

Top NY court upholds dismissal of golf ‘Fore’ suit

By MICHAEL VIRTANENALBANY, N.Y. (AP)—Slices, hooks and other errant shots are a

common hazard on the links and a golfer can’t expect to get a warning shout of “Fore!” every

time a ball comes his way, New York’s top court ruled Tuesday in dismissing a personal

injury lawsuit.

Dr. Anoop Kapoor and Dr. Azad Anand were playing on a nine-hole Long Island course in

October 2002 when Anand was hit in the head while looking for his ball on a fairway, blinding

him in one eye. The seven judges on the state Court of Appeals, siding with lower courts,

said Kapoor’s failure to yell in advance of his errant shot from the rough did not amount to

intentional or reckless conduct.

The court cited a judge’s finding that Anand was not in the foreseeable zone of danger and,

as a golfer, consented to the inherent risks of the sport.

“The manner in which Anand was injured—being hit without warning by a ‘shanked’ shot

while one searches for one’s own ball—reflects a commonly appreciated risk of golf,” the

judges wrote.

They also broadly outlined the test under New York case law for determining when another

golfer crosses the line and could be sued.

“A person who chooses to participate in a sport or recreational activity consents to certain

risks” that are inherent to that activity, the judges wrote. “However, a plaintiff ‘will not be

deemed to have assumed the risks of reckless or intentional conduct or concealed or

unreasonably increased risks.”’

Anand, a neuroradiologist, was unable to work after he was hit by Kapoor’s sliced shot, said

Steven Cohn, Anand’s attorney. Cohn argued that the case should not be dismissed without

a trial, that the foreseeable zone of danger differs with the skill of the golfer and there were

disputed questions of fact in this case.

Calls to Cohn and Kapoor’s attorney, William Hartlein, were not immediately returned

Tuesday.

The men, frequent golf partners, were playing at the Dix Hills Park Golf Course with another

friend, Balram Verma, in 2002, according to court papers. After hitting a second shot on the

first hole, each set off to find his ball.

Anand testified that he was hit as soon as he found his ball and turned around, about 15 to

20 feet away from Kapoor.

Verma testified that Anand was about 20 feet away from Kapoor and about 50 degrees away

from the intended line of flight for Kapoor’s shot.

Kapoor testified that Anand was farther away and at an angle of 60 to 80 degrees. He said

he shouted the warning when he realized the ball was headed toward Anand. Neither friend

said he heard it.

According to the British Golf Museum, the term “fore” may have come from forecaddie,

meaning someone employed to go ahead of players to see where their balls land. In his

1881 “The Golfer’s Handbook,” Robert Forgan wrote that a golfer shouts the word “to give

the alarm to anyone in his way.”

Sean O’Hair gets into Masters through ranking Dec 20

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP)—Sean O’Hair is the only American among 12 players not already

exempt for the Masters who qualified through the world ranking.

There are no tournaments the rest of the year, so the final 2010 ranking became available

Monday.

Among other criteria, the Masters invites players who are in the top 50 at the end of the

year. The ranking is mainly for players who are not PGA Tour members and have fewer

avenues to qualify, such as winning a tour event or getting into the FedEx Cup finale.

O’Hair started the year No. 15 and did not win a tournament or reach the Tour

Championship. He ended the year at No. 43. The other 11 qualifiers include Francesco and

Edoardo Molinari, Robert Karlsson, Charl Schwartzel and Ryo Ishikawa.

That brings to 91 the number of players who have qualified for the Masters, which has the

smallest field of the four majors. Augusta National prefers to keep its field at about 100.

Players still can qualify for the Masters by getting into the top 50 a week before the

tournament, or winning a PGA Tour event that offers full FedEx Cup points.

The Masters will be played April 7-10, with Phil Mickelson the defending champion and Tiger

Woods trying to end his longest drought without a major or a green jacket. Woods last won

the Masters in 2005, and he has gone 10 majors without winning