Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III during a news conference after announcing that he would skip his senior year at Baylor and enter the NFL draft Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock says if he were the Browns, he “would do whatever it takes to get there” to get Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III in the draft a little more than two months from now.

During a lengthy conference call Wednesday, Mayock praised Griffin’s arm strength, athletic ability, pocket awareness and ability to take a hit.

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British Open champion Darren Clarke has appointed Phil “Wobbly” Morbey, who used to caddie for former world number one Ian Woosnam, as his new bagman.

ISM, Clarke’s management team, said that Morbey would launch his partnership with the 43yearold at next week’s WGCAccenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Arizona.

The world number 54 announced in January that he had split up with John Mulrooney, the caddie who helped him land his first major championship at the Open in July.

Northern Irishman Clarke has been out of sorts since his victory at Sandwich, his best result a 20thplace finish at the Volvo Golf Champions tournament in South Africa last month.

He and Mulrooney parted company after the player slumped to rounds of 72 and 81 to miss the cut at the Abu Dhabi Championship two and a half weeks ago.

Morbey spent 14 years as caddie for Woosnam and was with the Welshman when he won the 1991 US Masters.

The defending overall champion underwent surgery in Basel, Switzerland, after partially tearing cartilage in his right knee during his super-combined victory in Russia on Sunday.

He said upon return to Croatia on Wednesday that the best case scenario would be returning on March 10 at the World Cup slalom race in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

Kostelic holds a 70-point lead over Beat Feuz of Switzerland in the overall standings. The Croat clinched the super-combined title with Sundays victory.

The church has placed an ad in Montreal newspapers in hopes of an eighth-place finish and a spot in the playoffs. The ad shows the Eastern Conference standings with every team listed except the Canadiens. In eighth place, the final playoff spot, it simply says, “Let Us Pray.”

Faced with declining church attendance, the Archdiocese of Montreal is known for its clever campaigns to solicit funds each year. T

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It could have been even better for both of them, however.

Cabrera-Bello had the chance to achieve the European Tour’s first-ever 59 when he stood on his 12th tee nine under par.

It left him needing four more birdies to achieve the magic figure, but the 27-year-old Canary Islander parred in for a 63 and a two-stroke lead over German Marcel Siem and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson.

World number two McIlroy was deep in the pack at one over after eight, but a birdie on the difficult ninth sparked him into life and by the time he almost holed-in-one on the 15th – Scot Stephen Gallacher did make an ace there – he was up to five under.

Two glorious shots to the 564-yard 18th gave him an opportunity to close with an eagle, but the 2009 winner – it was his first professional victory – had to be content with two-putting for another birdie.

Cabrera-Bello told European Tour Radio: “Just for a second after the birdie on number two (his 11th hole) I tried to do the maths on what I needed for 59.

“Then I told myself to stop being foolish and don’t be too greedy.

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I would be remiss if I did not mention UK’s obliteration of #8 Florida last night. They are just amazing. Almost too much talent, if that’s possible. Last week Anthony Davis averaged 7.5 blocks per game. Blocks! That’s absurd. Chad Ford has four of the team’s starters ranked in the top 30 for this year’s draft. Do you think they make fun of Doron Lamb (37th in Ford’s rankings), because he’s the only starter not expected to be drafted into the first round?

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Although you need to pack lightly, you still need to take all of your essentials including golf clubs. You can rent or buy golf clubs in Ireland, but it will cost a lot more than other places. If you travel to Ireland to golf on some of the famous courses, then you might as well take any advantages you can get by golfing with your own clubs. Read more info…

St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota Hockey, the organization that governs amateur youth hockey in Minnesota, voted unanimously this weekend to adopt tougher penalties for illegal checking.

Players who engage in illegal checking or boarding will now receive a mandatory five-minute major penalty. In the past, referees could opt for a lesser, two-minute minor penalty for an illegal check. The new rule applies to all amateur youth players. The group that oversees high school hockey players recently announced a similar rule change.

The changes come in the wake of 16-year-old Jack Jablonski’s paralyzing injuries after being checked during a game in December. Jablonski, a sophomore at Benilde-St.

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The 14-time major winner will compete at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the first time, choosing to play the European Tour event instead of the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open, which he has won six times.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s start to the tournament in the United Arab Emirates, Woods said he was entering this season the fittest he has been in a while.

‘It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been physically fit,’ Woods said on Tuesday, as he prepares to ‘give it a full season’ in his bid to regain the world number one ranking.

When asked when he last felt this fit during January, Woods said: ‘I don’t know, probably eight, 10, 12 years ago.’

Woods, the world number 25, broke a two-year drought without a win when he took out the Chevron World Challenge in December last year.

A win against a strong field at Abu Dhabi could lift him into the world’s top 10, and he said the quality of opposition excited him.

‘The guys who have played here have said these wonderful things,’ Woods said, preparing to take on the likes of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer.

‘This is a new event for me.

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The Wizards, who started the season with eight consecutive losses, were trounced by the Philadelphia 76ers 103-83 on Monday, for their seventh road loss in as many tries this year.

Assistant Randy Wittman will take over on an interim basis for the remainder of the season beginning with the Wizards hosting the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.

“We felt the team had become unresponsive and we will look to Randy to provide a different voice and a change in philosophy moving forward,” Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld said in a statement.

“We were disappointed in the lack of development of our players at this point in our rebuilding plan.”

Wittman, 52, was head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for two seasons and later directed the Minnesota Timberwolves for two-plus seasons.

He has a 100-207 record as a head coach and served as the Wizards’ lead assistant since the 2009-10 season.

“We have struggled as a team at times this season, but we have also seen a great deal of potential from our young players and glimpses of what we can accomplish together as a team,” Wittman said.

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Saturdays post-round interview of PGA newcomer Matt Every by the Golf Channels Kelly Tilghman sparked a controversy after the discussion veered toward Everys 2010 arrest for marijuana possession and his ensuing three-month PGA Tour suspension. A suspension that cost him a chance to retain his PGA card, sending him to the Nationwide Tour last season.

In a scene that was more awkward than combative, the 28-year-old Every sat across from Tilghman and said exactly what was on his mind.

Asked about the suspension, he answered: It was all right.

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The WWE is only days away from their second-biggest PPV event of the year. Some may argue Summerslam is a bigger show, but I have always preferred the Royal Rumble.

A few days ago, I discussed the Rumble winner favorites from the Blue Brand. Topping that list were Sheamus, Wade Barrett and Randy Orton.

Now it is time to cover the Red Brand. Here are favorites to outlast 30 WWE Superstars from Raw!

For the record, the WWE has not officially announced anybody for the Royal Rumble match on Raw. Only a few wrestlers from SmackDown have talked about winning the Rumble.

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The Los Angeles Galaxy’s David Beckham is drawing to a close his four-year contract with Major League Soccer. FILE: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

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Former England captain David Beckham will be returning to the LA Galaxy on a fresh contract to be formally announced on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

However, there was no immediate confirmation by the Galaxy on Wednesday.

Beckham’s five-year deal with the Galaxy concluded on Dec. 3

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Seeding for the tournament will be decided on the International Rugby Boards (IRB) rankings at the end of 2012 and former captain Dallaglio, an “ambassador” for the 2015 event, said what happens over the next few months will have a huge impact on Englands hopes.

“While performance and development are the buzzwords at the moment, results are key,” Dallaglio told reporters at the opening of the new Twickenham headquarters of the 2015 tournament.

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Steve Stricker became the first PGA Tour winner of 2012 with a threeshot victory at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Maui.

The 44yearold carried a fivestroke advantage into the final round at Kapalua’s Plantation Course and although Martin Laird, Webb Simpson and Jonathan Byrd all put him under significant pressure, he did enough to close out the win.

A birdie at the 18th gave Stricker a closing round of 69 his fourth sub70 score of the event as he finished 23 under.

Stricker had started the day nervily, with no birdies in his first seven holes and a bogey at the parfour sixth.

But he picked up strokes at the eighth and ninth, as well as three more after the turn to keep him ahead of the pack throughout.

Scotsman Laird was second on 20 under following a sixunder round of 67 ending the day with four birdies in the last five holes while Simpson and Byrd were one shot further back after signing for 68s.

KJ Choi and Keegan Bradley also found some impressive January form, each carding eight under for the day.

Choi finished on 15 under, tied for fifth with Harrison Frazar.

After sealing the victory, Stricker told Sky Sports 1: “It was tough but I never let up today.

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