FOOTBALL

Troubled former quarterback Ryan Leaf sent to prison after rehab center incident

Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf is in prison after threatening a staffer and violating his therapeutic plan at a Montana drug treatment center.

Leaf was serving nine months of a five-year sentence at the Nexus Treatment Center after pleading guilty to burglary and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

Montana Department of Corrections documents released Thursday say Leaf told his roommate he wanted to drag a program staffer by his hair. Leaf also wrote that he wanted to throw the staffer against the wall and smash his glass into the man’s head.

Adult Community Corrections Division administrator Pam Bunke wrote that Leaf was too great a security risk to leave in a community setting.

A disciplinary hearing was held Jan. 9. A hearings officer found him guilty and said Leaf is not right for a therapeutic environment.

GOLF

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Lanny Wadkins is returning to the broadcast booth as lead analyst for the Champions Tour.

Golf Channel said Wadkins will make his debut Friday at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii. He will be the lead analyst for the 22 events on the Champions Tour that Golf Channel televises.

Wadkins was lead analyst for CBS Sports from 2002-06 until being replaced by Nick Faldo.

ABU DHABI CHAMPIONSHIP: With Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods struggling, fifth-ranked Justin Rose and unheralded Jamie Donaldson had 5-under 67s for a one-shot lead after the opening round.

McIlroy, playing with new clubs following his multimillion dollar sponsorship deal with Nike, finished with a 75 and risks missing the cut. Woods shot an even-par 72.

HUMANA CHALLENGE: Phil Mickelson opened his season with an erratic even-par 72 in La Quinta, Calif., leaving him nine strokes behind the first-round leaders.

Jason Kokrak, Roberto Castro and James Hahn topped the leaderboard at 9-under 63.

BOXING

IBF: Yoan Pablo Hernandez has called off his IBF cruiserweight title defense against Eric Fields of the United States after breaking his left hand while sparring. The Cuban-born champion was scheduled to fight Fields in Germany on Feb. 2.

BIATHLON

WORLD CUP: Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia claimed her first biathlon World Cup victory of the season after a perfect race in a 7.5-kilometer sprint in Italy. Kuzmina, who won gold in the event at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, started 32nd but shot cleanly and crossed the line 16.7 seconds ahead of Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

SENIOR BOWL: Former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson plans to travel to Mobile, Ala., for the Jan. 26 game to show and tell NFL teams he’s open-minded.

Robinson is expected to practice and play as a wide receiver, but says playing running back, returning kickoffs and punts, and even playing cornerback are options. He set an NCAA record for QBs with 4,495 yards rushing in his career.

— From news service reports