Tiger Woods to hold news conference on Monday before the Masters

Tiger Woods will speak before he plays in the Masters.

Woods is scheduled to hold his first news conference in nearly five months on Monday, April 5, according to a tentative interview schedule that Augusta National released Wednesday.

It will be his first news conference in nearly five months, and his first time facing a room full of reporters since he crashed his SUV into a tree on Nov. 27, setting off shocking revelations of rampant infidelity.

The Masters only recently began conducting a news conference on Monday of tournament week, usually a player with only moderate news interest because most of the media aren’t there yet.

Woods is the only player scheduled for an interview that day. Given the sensational nature of his downfall, what he says could trump the NCAA basketball championship game held later that night.

Arnold Palmer, one of the most popular players in golf history, suggested that Woods be more open with reporters.

“It’s up to him to do and say whatever he feels he needs to do to redeem the situation, put it in the proper place,” Palmer said. “ … I suppose the best thing he could do would be open up and just let you guys shoot at him. And that’s just my thought.”

The last time Woods held a news conference was Nov. 15 after he won the Australian Masters in Melbourne for his 82nd career victory. His middle-of-the-night accident occurred 12 days later.

Woods typically has his press conference at the majors on Tuesday.

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JURISPRUDENCE

Former major league star Dwight Gooden has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs and leaving the scene of an accident.

The former pitcher for the New York Mets and New York Yankees had a child in his vehicle at the time of the two-vehicle crash around 9 a.m. Tuesday, Franklin Lakes (N.J.) police Capt. Joseph Seltenrich said.

Police wouldn’t say whose child it was, but they said no one was hurt.

Gooden also was charged with child endangerment and motor vehicle violations, authorities said. They wouldn’t release details, including the type of drugs.

Gooden, 45, was released on his own recognizance until a municipal court hearing. It was unclear whether Gooden, who has waged a well-publicized battle with alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, had an attorney.

The driver of the other car, Ronald Schmidt, of Franklin Lakes, said he recognized Gooden right away.

“I looked at him, and I knew it was Dwight Gooden,” Schmidt told WABC-TV in New York. “I think he was surprised I recognized him, [and] he shook my hand.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it’s not commenting on an attorney’s statement that a request for a DNA sample from Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been withdrawn.

Bureau spokesman John Bankhead said that he could not comment on a statement by Ed Garland, an attorney for Roethlisberger who told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the bureau withdrew its request a week ago.

Roethlisberger is accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student at a nightclub in Milledgeville on March 5. Roethlisberger has not been charged, and Garland has disputed the assault claim and hired his own team to investigate.

ETC.

Pang-Tong win pairs title

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Olympic silver medalists Pang Qing and Tong Jian won their second pairs title at the World Figure Skating Championships in Turin, Italy.

Pang and Tong’s strong routine to “Impossible Dream” easily secured the title, even though she doubled one of their side-by-side jumps. The Chinese pair finished with 211.39 points, more than six points ahead of two-time defending world champs Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany.

Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, second after the short program, settled for a second straight bronze after she fell on their throw quadruple salchow — the hardest element attempted by any of the pairs.

U.S. champions Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett were seventh while Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig finished ninth.

Pang and Tong’s other world title came in 2006, against a watered-down, post-Olympic field. But this competition was no breeze. Olympic champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were the only big names missing here.

Earlier, Olympic bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi took the lead in the men’s competition, dazzling the judges with huge jumps and speedy steps in his short program. Canada’s Patrick Chan was second, followed by France’s Brian Joubert.

U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott is sixth and two-time world junior champion Adam Rippon is seventh. Olympic champion Evan Lysacek isn’t competing at worlds, and neither is silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko.

Justine Henin advanced to the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open by beating Jill Craybas, 6-2, 6-2, in Key Biscayne, Fla. Henin double-faulted five times and struggled with inconsistent groundstrokes. But she saved seven of eight break points while converting five of six.

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More than two thoroughbreds die a day from injuries at North American racetracks, according to early results from a monitoring system launched amid the high-profile deaths of Barbaro and Eight Belles.

Preliminary numbers from the Jockey Club’s equine injury database covering a one-year period beginning Nov. 1, 2008, show that one of every 500 thoroughbred starts at North American racetracks resulted in a fatal injury.

Based on the 378,864 starts in the study, that represents 773 deaths. The study only counts injuries involving thoroughbreds, leaving out fatalities to other breeds or those that happen during morning training.

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Florida State’s outside legal costs while unsuccessfully challenging part of an NCAA penalty that took away a dozen of former football coach Bobby Bowden’s victories totaled more than $172,000. The university paid the Gray Robinson law firm of Tallahassee for representing it in appealing part of the NCAA penalty and to defend a public records suit brought by media organizations.

The university spent $70,000 of boosters’ money to appeal the penalties and more than $102,000 in tax dollars to unsuccessfully fight the public records requests. The school provided its legal costs Wednesday.

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The first 40 finishers in the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage have tested clean of any illegal substances, including winner Lance Mackey, who has acknowledged using medical marijuana in past Iditarods.

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