Ryder Cup Players Will Get Money to Donate to Charity

Members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team will receive $200,000 from the PGA of America to donate to charities of their choice and golf development programs at their colleges, several sources told the Associated Press Wednesday.

The plan to channel a portion of the PGA’s estimated $17 million in Ryder Cup profit to charities at the players’ discretion comes four months after the revenue issue threatened to divide the U.S. team.

Jim Awtrey, chief executive officer of the PGA, had pledged to work with players and come up with a plan by year’s end.

According to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the players and captain Ben Crenshaw will receive $100,000 each to designate to their charities. They will direct the other $100,000 to their college--or several colleges--for a golf development program designed by the PGA.

Soccer

Iran said it will play a match Jan. 16 at the Rose Bowl only if U.S. officials waive a requirement to fingerprint the Iranian players, which Tehran has denounced as offensive. The match would mark the first time the United States had hosted Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. . . . Clarence Mlokoti, one of the most prominent figures in South African soccer, was shot to death during an attempted carjacking in Soweto. He was 69.

Miscellany

Frank Beamer, whose second-ranked Virginia Tech football team will play No. 1 Florida State for the national championship Jan. 4 in the Sugar Bowl, was voted the Associated Press’ college coach of the year in balloting by AP member newspapers, TV and radio stations. Beamer received 27 of the 84 votes in the AP balloting. Hawaii’s June Jones was second with 19 votes. . . . Jeff Woodruff, who coached running backs at Arizona last season, was hired to replace the ousted Rick Rasnick as football coach at Eastern Michigan. . . . Danny Ragsdale, who broke every Redlands quarterback record this season, was named winner of the Gagliardi Trophy, awarded to the outstanding Division III college football player. The senior from Daniel Murphy High had 3,855 yards of total offense, second in the nation. . . . Rick Dickson, Washington State’s athletic director since 1994, was hired as Tulane’s athletic director.

Don Budge, one of only two men to win tennis’ Grand Slam, was in critical condition for a second day in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., after his car struck a tree in the Pocono Mountains. Budge, 84, suffered a broken leg and might have internal injuries. Former Los Angeles Ram offensive lineman Doug France, who once pleaded guilty to alcohol-related vehicular manslaughter, has been charged again with drunk driving, police in Laguna Niguel said. Prosecutors said France, who played for the Rams from 1975 to ‘81, was driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit, on Sept. 26. France, 46, was arrested after his sport-utility vehicle struck a car on the San Diego Freeway in San Juan Capistrano. No one was injured.

The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team is two matches away from repeating as NCAA champion and can take another step tonight when it faces Stanford in the NCAA semifinals at Honolulu at 9:30 PST. The sixth-ranked 49ers (31-3) are 1-11 all-time against the Cardinal (30-2), including 0-2 in the NCAA tournament. In the other semifinal, No. 1 Penn State (34-1), trying to win its first title, faces No. 3 Pacific (32-2) at 7. . . . All 20,000 seats for Mike Tyson’s 10-round fight against British heavyweight champion Julius Francis on Jan. 29 at Birmingham, England, have been sold. . . . State athletic officials in South Carolina voted to honor all national and international boxing suspensions and make those fighters who were stopped in the previous six months submit neurological tests before gaining fight status. The moves to strengthen licensing regulations come more than a week after Stephan Johnson, a junior-middleweight, died from injuries suffered in a fight at Atlantic City on Nov. 20.

The Arena Football League’s Avengers, who will play their home games in Staples Center, acquired quarterback Scott Semptimphelter from the Nashville Kats for future considerations. . . . Mannie Pineda, a sports columnist for Pasadena newspapers for more than 40 years, died of prostate cancer Tuesday at his daughter’s home in Rialto. He was 91. . . . Michael Johnson’s 400-meter world record of 43.18 seconds has been ratified by track & field’s governing body. Johnson set the mark Aug. 26 in winning the 400 gold medal at the world championships at Seville, Spain.