GOLF

Alex Noren and Webb Simpson each shot a 4-under 66 at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to lead the Honda Classic on a day so tough for scoring that Tiger Woods had his best day in his return and didn’t break par.

Woods had only one bad hole, a double bogey on the par-5 third round, and was four shots behind. Only 20 players managed to break par.

The PGA champion, Justin Thomas, and Louis Oosthuizen were among those at 67. Rory McIlroy, after salvaging a par on the 16th hole when he thought his ball was in the water, wasn’t so lucky on the 18th hole. He hit into the water and made double bogey for a 72.

LPGA: Minjee Lee of Australia, a three-time Tour winner, finished with a superb eagle putt to be among the four leaders – with Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda and Moriya Jutanugarn – after the first day of a tournament at Chonburi, Thailand.

EUROPEAN: Eddie Pepperell, Gregory Havret, and Aaron Rai made the most of calm early-morning conditions to set the pace in the opening round of the Qatar Masters at 7-under-par 65 at Doha.

TENNIS

BOUCHARD SUIT: The United States Tennis Association was found mostly liable for when a Canadian player, Eugenie Bouchard, slipped on a wet locker-room floor at the 2015 U.S. Open and hit her head, suffering what she said was a “serious head injury” that changed the course of her career.

A jury in New York found Bouchard was partially at fault for what happened. It determined the USTA was 75 percent to blame and Bouchard was 25 percent to blame. What that means will be decided in another phase of the trial to determine damages, starting Friday.

OPEN 13: Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka hobbled out of the second round with a recurrence of his left knee problem, retiring when trailing 6-4, 1-1 against Ilya Ivashka at Marseille, France.

DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS: Second- seeded Garbine Muguruza overcame Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-2 to seal her place in the semifinals at United Arab Emirates.

SOCCER

WORLD CUP: Sepp Blatter, the former FIFA president who was banned from soccer roles because of financial misconduct, renounced a combined bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico, and endorsed Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid.

Blatter tweeted that “Morocco would be the logical host! And it is time for Africa again!”

POLICE DEATH: A riot police officer died in Bilbao, Spain, of cardiac arrest after clashes involving Russian soccer fans before a Europa League match between Athletic Bilbao and Spartak Moscow, raising concerns less than four months before the World Cup in Russia.

HORSE RACING

HALL OF FAME: Jockeys Robby Albarado, Corey Nakataki and Craig Perret are among 10 finalists on the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame ballot.

Also on the ballot are thoroughbreds Blind Luck, Gio Ponti, Havre de Grace and Heavenly Prize, and trainers Mark Casse, John Shirreffs and David Whiteley.

GYMNASTICS

COACH FIRED: British Gymnastics fired men’s coach Eddie Van Hoof after investigating misconduct and saying the situation is “untenable.”

Van Hoof, who led the men’s program since 2005, was initially suspended in November.