GOLF

LIV Golf is playing only for cash, not world ranking points, after the Official World Golf Ranking board determined it could not fairly measure the 48-man league with the other 24 tours around the world.

The OWGR rejected the application from Saudi-backed LIV Golf, first submitted in July 2022 after the league already had played two of its 54-hole, no-cut events.

“We are not at war with them,” Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR board, said when contacted by The Associated Press. “This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them.”

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, European tour CEO Keith Pelley and Keith Waters of the International Federation of PGA Tours previously recused themselves from the LIV Golf decision to avoid any conflict of interest.

The committee that rejected LIV’s application comprised leaders from Augusta National, the PGA of America, the U.S. Golf Association and The R&A, which run the four majors. The majors use the OWGR as part of their qualifying criteria.

LIV Golf, which has two events left in its second season, has 48 players competing over 54 holes with no cut and a $20 million purse, with an additional $5 million awarded in a simultaneous team competition.

Dawson, a non-voting member of the committee, said the OWGR could work around some of the requirements, such as a 36-hole cut and having an average field size of 75 players over the course of a season.

But the committee could not get past what amounts to a closed shop.

LIV Golf League has the same 48 players for the entire season (with alternates in case of injury) and not enough turnover.

GYMNASTICS

SICK: Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton has pneumonia and is in intensive care in a Texas hospital.

Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, shared Retton’s condition in an Instagram post. Kelley said the 55-year-old Retton, who became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title, is “fighting for her life” and not able to breathe on her own.

Kelley started a fundraising campaign on Retton’s behalf for medical expenses. Kelley wrote that Retton does not currently have medical insurance.

Retton was 16 years old when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Retton, who grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.

Retton, a mother of four, currently lives in Texas.

TENNIS

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN: The nation’s longest-running tennis tournament is staying in Cincinnati.

Amid speculation the tournament would move, Beemok Capital announced the Western & Southern Open will be played just outside of Cincinnati for another 25 years.

KOREAN OPEN: Second-seeded Jelena Ostapenko was eliminated in the first round by wild-card Back Da-yeon 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) at Seoul.

Fifth-seeded Sofia Kenin was also beaten by a local player, with 162nd-ranked Jang Su-jeong winning 6-1, 6-4. Jang will next play Emina Bektas, an American who beat Laura Pigossi 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5.

SHANGHAI MASTERS: Ben Shelton advanced to his first Masters quarterfinal by beating fourth-ranked Jannik Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) at Shanghai.

The 21-year-old American, a semifinalist at the U.S. Open, had 15 aces as his serve improved throughout the match.

COLLEGES

FOOTBALL: TCU quarterback Chandler Morris has a sprained MCL in his left knee and likely will miss multiple games.

Horned Frogs Coach Sonny Dykes described the injury as a “week-to-week” issue.

It is the same injury that Morris suffered in the 2022 season opener, when he was out for about a month.

• Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson is expected to be back in the lineup for the Buckeyes’ game at Purdue, Coach Ryan Day said.

However, another key starter, receiver Emeka Egbuka, remains questionable for Saturday’s game in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Henderson, a third-year running back and NFL prospect, was protectively held out of last week’s win over Maryland, although he likely could have played, Day said. Henderson missed five games last season because of a broken bone in his left foot that required surgery.

• Oklahoma wide receiver Andrel Anthony will have season-ending surgery after suffering a leg injury during the 34-30 win over Texas, Coach Brent Venables said.

The transfer from Michigan led the fifth-ranked Sooners with 429 yards receiving through six games.