Tiger Woods goes to New Zealand extremes
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, April 24 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods took a break from the golf course to win stock car race in New Zealand and drop twice from the country's highest bungy jump.
Woods went "down under" to serve as best man for his caddie and old friend Steve Williams, a champion driver in New Zealand when he is not on the tournament circuit with Woods, the BBC reported.
Woods participated as a driver in three races Monday in the Huntly Celebrity Classic. He was a blocker in the first race, won the second and emerged unscathed from the third. The event was a fundraiser for a charity Woods founded to help children.
Williams and Woods each jumped twice from the Nevis Highwire, a cable car platform suspended 400 feet above the Nevis River.
Woods, whose father has cancer, is expected to return to golf with the U.S. Open in June.
Appleby moves up 7 in World Golf Rankings
PHILADELPHIA, April 24 (UPI) -- Stuart Appleby climbed seven spots to No. 25 in the latest Official World Golf Rankings thanks to his win Sunday at the Shell Houston Open.
The top 20 had plenty of movement this week. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson remained the No. 1 and 2 players in the world. Former world No. 1 Vijay Singh slipped to fourth and was replaced in third place by two-time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen.
The next eight players were unchanged with Ernie Els in fifth, followed by Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk, David Toms, Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Chris DiMarco and Jose Maria Olazabal.
Henrik Stenson climbed two spots to 13th this week. South African Tim Clark remained in 14th, while Bob Hope Chrysler Classic winner Chad Campbell slipped two places to 15th.
Geoff Ogilvy and David Howell both inched up one place to 16 and 17, while eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie fell two notches to 18th.
Kenny Perry and Darren Clarke exchanged positions from last week with the injured Perry up to 19 and the Ulsterman down to 20th.
NFL cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. arrested
LOS ANGELES, April 24 (UPI) -- Carolina Panthers cornerback Ricky Manning Jr., who signed a $21 million offer sheet with the Chicago Bears Friday, was charged with assault in Los Angeles.
Manning, 25, a former star at UCLA, was arrested around 3 a.m. Sunday after a fight with a patron in a Denny's Restaurant. Police were called after Manning and several acquaintances began to tease a man working on a laptop computer, WSOC-TV, Charlotte, N.C., reported.
Manning allegedly punched the man in the face and fled with the others, who had allegedly beaten and kicked the man, in a Range Rover that was stopped by police. The man was knocked unconscious but later identified Manning as his attacker and the football player was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Manning was arrested and charged with assault after a bar fight in the same Westwood Village neighborhood in 2002.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Manning, who signed a five-year pact with the Bears, posted bond and told his agent he was not involved in the altercation. The Panthers have until Friday to match the Bears' offer.
House for Reggie Bush's family probed
LOS ANGELES, April 24 (UPI) -- The Pacific 10 Conference is investigating whether USC running back Reggie Bush's family was rented a large home at below-market rates.
Bush's family reportedly moved out of the 3,000-square-foot house in Spring Valley, Calif., after a reporter for Yahoo! Sports talked to athletic officials at the University of Southern California.
Bush, a Heisman Trophy winner, is expected to be the No. 1 pick in Saturday's NFL draft. He announced in January that he would turn pro, giving up his final year of collegiate eligibility.
The house was purchased not long after it was completed in 2005 by Michael Michaels, Yahoo! Sports reported, describing him as having ties to a sports market company. Michaels is believed to have tried to steer Bush to an agent, Dave Caravante.
NCAA rules bar student athletes and their families from receiving any valuable gifts from agents. If Bush is proved to have violated regulations, USC could face penalties including forfeiting games that he played in.
