GOLF

Harris English finished with a 10-foot birdie to cap off an ideal Friday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions with a 6-under 67, giving him a two-shot lead in Kapalua, Hawaii, over a quartet of players that includes defending champion Justin Thomas.

English was at 14-under 132, two shots ahead of Thomas, Collin Morikawa (65), Daniel Berger (65) and Ryan Palmer (67).

English is among 16 players at what is usually a winners-only event who didn’t win last year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic that wiped out three months on the tour schedule, anyone who reached the Tour Championship qualified this year. English did everything but win, going from No. 369 in the world to among the top 30.

SOCCER

ENGLAND: The English Premier League warned clubs on Friday that disciplinary action will be taken over breaches of coronavirus rules amid a sharp rise in cases, including 10 Aston Villa players being forced into isolation after testing positive.

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The outbreak at Villa threatens its Premier League games next week, but the team was able to contest its FA Cup match against Liverpool on Friday, using only youth players in a 4-1 loss in the third round.

In games, players have become more lax and the league wants them to minimize contact. Clubs were told in a letter from the league that handshakes, hugging and shirt-swapping should stop, in an attempt to limit the risk of COVID-19 spreading – particularly with a more transmissible variant of the disease circulating in England.

However, some Villa and Liverpool players were seen exchanging jerseys as they left the field at Villa Park.

The government has allowed professional sports to continue despite England being placed into its latest lockdown this week and some players being involved in high-profile flouting of national rules over Christmas with parties.

• In another FA Cup third-round match, Wolverhampton beat Crystal Palace 1-0, thanks to Adama Traore’s powerfully struck shot in the 35th minute.

BASEBALL

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MLB: Right-hander Jhoulys Chacin and the New York Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract.

Chacin, 33, would get an $800,000 salary in the major leagues if added to the 40-man roster.

Chacin was 1-0 with a 7.20 ERA in five innings over two relief appearances for Atlanta last season. He is 78-87 with a 4.04 ERA in 226 starts and 51 relief appearances over 12 seasons with Colorado (2009-14), Arizona (2015), Atlanta (2016, ’20), the Los Angeles Angeles (2016), San Diego (2017), Milwaukee (2018-19) and Boston (2019).

• Left-hander Stephen Tarpley was claimed by the New York Mets off waivers from the Miami Marlins.

The 27-year-old was 2-2 with one save and a 9.000 ERA in 11 innings over 12 games last year, striking out 11 and walking eight. He was designated for assignment Sunday when the Marlins agreed to an $850,000, one-year contract with free agent left-hander Ross Detwiler.

TENNIS

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ABU DHABI OPEN: Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens injured her ankle when she landed on an advertising board during a match against Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Open in the United Arab Emirates and had to retire.

Flipkens won the first set 7-5 and was trailing 5-4 in the second when she jumped to play a shot and landed on the advertising board behind the baseline. Her left ankle twisted underneath her.

SKIING

MEN’S WORLD CUP: French skier Alexis Pinturault stretched his lead at the top of the overall standings by winning a giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland, posting the fastest time in both runs.

Pinturault finished 1.04 seconds ahead of Filip Zubcic on the icy Chuenisbargli course. Marco Odermatt was third, 1.11 back, to retain a small lead over Pinturault in the season-long giant slalom standings.

TRACK AND FIELD

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U.S. INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: The USA Track & Field indoor championships have been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event was scheduled to take place Feb. 20-21 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

OLYMPIC MEDALIST SUSPENDED Olympic long jump silver medalist Luvo Manyonga was provisionally suspended in a doping case and could be banned from the Tokyo Games.

The South African long jumper – who had his 30th birthday on Friday – is the latest world champion to be investigated regarding whereabouts rules. The cases include missing out-of-competition doping tests or failing to update details of where they can be contacted by sample collection officials.

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