A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against Tiger Woods and his caddie, Joe LaCava,
claiming he suffered injuries from the caddie pushing him out of the way during the Valspar Championship that Woods played two years ago.
The civil complaint, filed Tuesday in Pinellas County, alleges Brian Borruso tried to take a selfie
as Woods approached his tee shot left of the 13th green in the third round at Innisbrook,
and that LaCava “intentionally shoved” Borruso and caused him to stumble and fall into the crowd. Josh Drechsel, the lawyer representing Borruso,
said the lawsuit was filed two years after the tournament to get a better understanding of the injuries, which were described in the suit as “either permanent or continuing.”
Mark Steinberg, the agent for Woods at Excel Sports Management, did not immediately reply to a text seeking comment. LaCava said he had no comment.
Drechsel, meanwhile, issued a public plea for evidence from fans who might have been at the 13th green that day and witnessed the incident.
One video Drechsel has shows LaCava approaching the fans with his left arm extended saying, “You’ve got to back it up.” The lawsuit says Borruso went to the hospital to be treated for his injuries. Drechsel asked the PGA Tour for video from the tournament but the tour told him it was unable to provide any without a court order.
Hockey
Ex-NU women’s goalie named GM of Swiss men’s team
Florence Schelling, a former Northeastern University goalie and four-time Olympian who won a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games for Switzerland’s women’s hockey team, was named general manager of one of the nation’s top men’s professional teams, SC Bern. At 31, Schelling becomes the first woman elevated to such a high-profile front-office personnel position of a men’s pro hockey team in Switzerland. Schelling, who spent part of her career playing in men’s professional leagues, is also familiar with the Swiss league after serving as an analyst for Swiss TV.
Lafrenière ranked as top prospect
Alexis Lafrenière, as expected, maintained the top spot in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s final ranking of draft-eligible prospects. What remains uncertain for the 18-year-old, 6-foot-1-inch, 200-pound forward and hundreds of fellow prospects is learning when and by whom they will be selected. Forward Quinton Byfield and defenseman Jamie Drysdale, both from the Toronto area, were ranked second and third among North American prospects. Forward Tim Stuetzle, the German professional league’s rookie of the year, was ranked as the top European prospect. When play ended, Lafrenière was leading the Quebec Major Junior League with 112 points (35 goals, 77 assists) in 52 games. He was the league’s rookie of the year in 2017-18, when he scored 42 goals – the most by a rookie since Sidney Crosby scored 54 in 2003-04. Lafrenière would have the opportunity to become first Quebec-born player selected with the first pick since goalie Marc-Andre Fleury by Pittsburgh in 2003. The NHL draft, scheduled to take place in Montreal in late June, has been postponed. So has the draft lottery to determine the top seedings and weeklong pre-draft combine in Buffalo, New York. The draft can’t feasibly be held until the playoffs are completed or the entire season canceled.
NFL
Bridgewater a ‘perfect fit’ with Panthers
Carolina Panthers first-year head coach Matt Rhule said Teddy Bridgewater’s familiarity with the team’s offensive scheme made him the “right fit” at quarterback for the Panthers and ultimately led to Cam Newton’s release. Bridgewater, who signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Panthers, spent the 2018 season working under new Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady with the New Orleans Saints and the two developed a close player-coach relationship. “His relationship with Joe, knowing the offense, the things that he has done in this offense just made sense to us,” Rhule said, who pointed out Newton was a “great quarterback who can play in any system,” but added that Bridgewater’s built-in knowledge of Brady’s playbook — one that helped LSU win a national championship last season — will be helpful for the Panthers in what is expected to be a dramatically shortened offseason because of the coronavirus pandemic and the need for social distancing.
Miscellany
Bryant’s book debuts as best-seller
Kobe Bryant is back atop the best-seller lists, days after the late Los Angeles Lakers superstar was selected to the Hall of Fame. The latest release from Bryant’s Granity Studios, “The Wizenard Series: Season One” will debut at No. 1 on The New York Times’ middle-grade hardcover list that will be published April 19. Earlier this week, it had already hit No. 1 on Amazon’s bestseller list for children’s basketball books. Bryant and daughter Gianna were among nine who died in a helicopter crash in late January . . . Former Texas Rangers star Josh Hamilton was indicted by a Tarrant County grand jury on a felony charge of injury to a child after his 14-year-old daughter accused him of beating her. Hamilton, 38, remained free on bond after he turned himself in to authorities on Oct. 30. If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of two to 10 years . . . The trial date for a gender discrimination case filed by the US women’s national soccer team has been pushed back to June 16. Players for the team filed a lawsuit against US Soccer last year under the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They allege they have not been paid equitably when compared to players on the men’s team and have asked for more than $66 million in damages. The trial date was originally set for May 5 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Additionally, the April 20 pretrial conference was moved to June 1 . . . North Carolina State accepted a recommendation for its NCAA case involving recruiting violations tied to former one-and-done star Dennis Smith Jr. to go through the new independent investigation process for complex cases. The NCAA created the IARP following reform proposals from the commission led by former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the wake of a federal corruption investigation into college basketball. NC State was charged last summer with four violations, including ex-coach Mark Gottfried individually under the provision of head-coach responsibility for violations within his program. Notably, a government witness testified he delivered $40,000 to ex-assistant Orlando Early for Smith’s family in 2015 . . . The NCAA granted DePaul guard Jalen Coleman-Lands a sixth year of eligibility. Coleman-Lands, who spent his first two seasons at Illinois before sitting out the 2017-18 season after transferring to DePaul, played in all 32 games this past season and led the Blue Demons with 63 3-pointers while averaging 11.1 points. He was limited to nine games the previous season because of a broken left hand in his first year competing at DePaul.
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Source: USA Today