Weekend Sports in Brief

GOLF

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) -Tiger Woods withdrew from his own golf tournament, citing injuries from a car crash near his Florida home. His decision comes as questions continue to mount regarding what exactly happened in the wee hours of the morning last Friday - questions that most certainly would have been asked of him had he played.

The world's No. 1 golfer posted a statement on his Web site saying that unspecified injuries prevented him from playing in the Chevron World Challenge. He had been scheduled to hold a press conference Tuesday for the tournament, which he hosts annually for a small, invited, field.

Tournament officials said fans who bought advance tickets with the hope of seeing Woods could get refunds beginning next week. Those who keep their tickets will get a 20 percent discount when they buy them next year.

Woods sustained cuts and bruises when he crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree at 2:25 a.m. Friday, outside his home in an exclusive, gated community near Orlando. He was treated at a hospital and released, and has not been seen in public since.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Charlie Weis arrived at Notre Dame flashing Super Bowls rings and talking about outscheming opponents. He leaves one of college football's most prestigious programs without even matching the records of the two men who were fired before him.

Athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced the decision to let Weis go on, and said during a campus news conference that the school has not contacted any potential replacements.

The search for a new coach will begin immediately and will be finished "as fast as we possibly can,'' Swarbrick said.

Notre Dame (6-6) finished the season on a four-game losing streak that made Weis' firing seem inevitable.

On Sunday night, Swarbrick recommended to the Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, that Weis be let go with six years left on his contract. Weis finishes with a 35-27 record in five seasons, third-worst among coaches who worked at least three years at the school.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A private university will pay $7.5 million to provide care to a football player who suffered a severe brain injury in a 2005 game, settling a case that questioned how the school handled a concussion the player allegedly suffered a month earlier.

The family of Preston Plevretes, 23, of Marlboro, N.J., settled their lawsuit against La Salle University, the day it was set for trial in Philadelphia.

The settlement came as the NFL, the NCAA and other governing bodies review rules about when athletes should return to play following concussions, amid research that suggests returning too soon can lead to brain damage.

NFL quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger of Pittsburgh and Kurt Warner of Arizona, who faced off in the last Super Bowl, both sat out Sunday after suffering head injuries, as did Philadelphia running back Brian Westbrook and others.

TENNIS

Serena Williams was fined a record $82,500 for her tirade at a U.S. Open line judge and could be suspended from that tournament if she has another "major offense'' at any Grand Slam in the next two years.

Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock's ruling was released, and he said Williams faces a "probationary period'' at tennis' four major championships in 2010 and 2011. If she has another "major offense'' at a Grand Slam tournament in that time, the fine would increase to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open.

He said Williams is handing over $82,500 right now to the Grand Slam committee, already far more than the previous highest fine for a Grand Slam offense. In 1995, Jeff Tarango stormed off the court at Wimbledon and accused the chair umpire of showing favoritism to certain players in exchange for their friendship. Tarango was fined a total of $43,756, which was reduced to $28,256 on appeal, and barred from Wimbledon the next year.

Williams lashed out at a lineswoman after a foot-fault call at the end of her semifinal loss to eventual champion Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open in September. It was a profanity-laced, finger-pointing, racket-brandishing display in which Williams approached the official with what U.S. Open tournament director Jim Curley called at the time "a threatening manner.''

DOPING

LONDON (AP) - After years of discussion and development, the World Anti-Doping Agency is ready to begin a global program to monitor athletes' blood profiles for evidence of cheating.

Meeting in Stockholm this week to mark its 10th anniversary, WADA is expected to ratify the biological passport system that has been under consideration since 2002.

The project involves collecting and storing athletes' blood samples and monitoring them over time for any variations that could indicate doping - without an actual positive test.

WADA has completed the protocols for a program it hopes can be adopted by federations and countries around the world. The passport system will be up for approval Wednesday by WADA's foundation board.

PRO FOOTBALL

BEREA, Ohio (AP) - Browns Pro Bowl nose tackle Shaun Rogers is done for the season with a lower leg injury.

Coach Eric Mangini said Rogers will need surgery and be placed on injured reserve. The 6-foot-4, 350-pound Rogers was injured in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 16-7 loss in Cincinnati. Mangini did not specify the nature of Rogers' injury, one of four sustained by Cleveland defenders against the Bengals.

Rogers' leg was struck by teammate C.J. Mosley on a running play with 3:39 left. Rogers was hit on the side of the leg and bent over a pile of players.