Briefs | Golf: PGA Tour makes its annual FedEx Cup change

Golf

Tour tries another fix for FedEx Cup: The PGA Tour revamped its FedEx Cup format Tuesday for the third consecutive year of its existence, this one geared toward making sure the winner of the $10 million prize is decided at The Tour Championship.

"We have great expectations for the future of this competition," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.

Tiger Woods was so dominant during the inaugural year in 2007 that he skipped the opening playoff event and could have skipped The Tour Championship season finale and still won. This year, Vijay Singh won the first two playoff events, building such a large lead he mathematically clinched the title before The Tour Championship — he merely had to complete four rounds.

Under the new formula, points that previously had been reset at the start of the four-tournament playoffs will not be changed until The Tour Championship, meaning all 30 players who qualify for the finale will have a mathematical chance to win the FedEx Cup.

Soccer

Manchester United reaches final 16 in UEFA Champions League: Defending champion Manchester United of England led seven more teams into the final 16 of the UEFA Champions League, the top tournament for club teams in Europe.

Man U played to a scoreless draw with Villarreal of Spain.

Nine-time winner Real Madrid of Spain, four-time champion Bayern Munich of Germany, two-time winner FC Porto of Portugal, Lyon of France, Arsenal and Villarreal also advanced to the knockout phase with a game to spare.

Ten of the 16 berths have been filled, as earlier in the competition Juventus of Italy, Barcelona of Spain and Sporting Lisbon of Portugal advanced.

Nicklas Bendtner's 87th-minute goal for Arsenal secured a 1-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine.

Team owner charged: A judge charged the reputed owner of third-division Mexican team Mapaches and four other team members with drug trafficking.

Wenceslao Alvarez was the leader of a group that trafficked cocaine and marijuana from Colombia to Atlanta, the federal Attorney General's office said. The office said the five worked for Michoacan's "La Familia" gang. Alvarez was believed to own Mapaches in the state of Michoacan.

FIFA suspends Peru: FIFA suspended Peru from international play because the government is feuding with the national federation.

Hockey

Burke might work for Maple Leafs: Two weeks after leaving as general manager of the Anaheim Ducks, Brian Burke appeared close to joining the Toronto Maple Leafs as president and GM — a move that has been long rumored. He is an ex-Vancouver Canucks GM.

Tennis

Sharapova is expected to return in January: Maria Sharapova of Russia expects to be back on the WTA Tour at the start of 2009 and defend her Australian Open title after being sidelined since July with an injured right shoulder.

Sharapova's agent, Max Eisenbud, said his 21-year-old client is "on track" to return to action at the Jan. 7-10 exhibition event in Hong Kong that she usually enters to get ready for the Australian Open.

Volleyball

U.S. coach Lang Ping to step down: Jenny Lang Ping, who guided the U.S. women's team to the silver medal in this year's Beijing Olympics, has decided not to extend her contract with the team.

The 47-year-old Lang Ping, who as a player led China to a gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Games, said she was stepping down to spend more time with her family.

Swimming

Phelps discusses fatigue: After winning his sixth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, American Michael Phelps feared he wouldn't be strong enough to win his seventh.

But a mistake by Milorad Cavic of Serbia helped Phelps to prevail in the 100-meter butterfly final.

Phelps, who went on to surpass Mark Spitz's record by winning eight golds in China, discussed his performance in an interview on the CBS show "60 Minutes" that will be broadcast Sunday night.

After winning the 200 individual medley, Phelps expressed his fears to coach Bob Bowman. "I got nothing left," Phelps recalled saying to Bowman, according to an excerpt of the interview released by the network.

Discussing the 100 fly, Phelps pointed to an image of the finish and said of Cavic: "He's picking up his head, so it's acting like a speed bump ... If his head is down, he wins, hands down wins the race."

D'Arcy pleads guilty to assault: Australian swimmer Nick D'Arcy, 21, has pleaded guilty to assaulting Simon Cowley, a former Commonwealth Games gold medalist, in a bar March 30. D'Arcy will be sentenced Feb. 20.

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