Rusty Tiger Woods takes advantage of some playing time

About all Tiger Woods could say Tuesday about the injuries to his knee and Achilles’ tendon is that he is “good enough to play” in the Players Championship.

Woods says he practiced on the range Monday for the first time since the Masters. His first round of golf since he tied for fourth at Augusta National was on Tuesday at the TPC Sawgrass, though that was only nine holes.

He says his left knee and right Achilles’ tendon are better, but he’ll have to wait and see how it responds in his first tournament in a month. The Players Championship begins Thursday at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., on a course where Woods has not finished better then eighth since winning 10 years ago.

AUTO RACING

Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick disciplined

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick were fined $25,000 apiece and put on probation Tuesday by NASCAR for their actions on pit road at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

The probation for all NASCAR-sanctioned events runs through June 15, a span that includes four Sprint Cup Series championship races and the non-points $1 million All-Star event. It also includes Friday night’s Truck Series race at Dover — an event Harvick entered after his confrontation with Busch.

Busch and Harvick’s on-and-off feuding resumed Saturday night after contact Busch had with Harvick led to Harvick wrecking with teammate Clint Bowyer late in the race.

Afterward, Harvick waited for Busch and then positioned himself to park his car in front of Busch on pit road. Busch pulled onto Harvick’s bumper, Harvick climbed from his car and, just as he threw a punch into Busch’s window, Busch used his car to bump Harvick’s car out of the way.

The empty car turned and hit the inside wall. No one was hurt, but Harvick’s crew members were running down pit road when the car hit the wall.

PRO BASKETBALL

Heat’s Pat Riley, Bulls’ Gar Forman share award for top executive

Miami Heat President Pat Riley and Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman are co-recipients of the NBA Executive of the Year award for engineering overhauls that so far have propelled their teams to the

PRO FOOTBALL

Alan Faneca retires

Alan Faneca, an eight-time all-pro guard, announced his retirement after 13 years in the league.

The former Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets standout played last season with the Arizona Cardinals. Faneca started every game for his last nine seasons and finished with a streak of 144 consecutive games played.

PRO SOCCER

Home Depot Center to host MLS title game

Major League Soccer’s title game will be played Nov. 20 at the Home Depot Center in Carson for the fourth time in nine seasons, the league announced.

The home of the Galaxy and Chivas USA also hosted the title game in 2008, 2004 and 2003. A sellout crowd of 27,000 attended in 2008.

PASSINGS

Former Dodgers, Angels executive Dick Walsh dies

Dick Walsh, former Los Angeles Dodger vice president, general manager of the Angels, commissioner of the North American Soccer League and GM of several convention centers, died Friday in Fullerton. He was 85.

Walsh helped Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley bring the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958 and oversaw the construction of Dodger Stadium. He was named to lead the NASL in 1966, and he returned to baseball in 1968 as executive vice president and general manager of the Angels, a job he held until 1971.

TENNIS

Francesca Schiavone, Maria Sharapova advance in Italian Open

French Open champion Francesca Schiavone got off to a comfortable start at the Italian Open in Rome, beating 18-year-old American qualifier Christina McHale, 6-3, 6-1.

Seventh-seeded Maria Sharapova also had an easy time in her opener, eliminating fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, 6-1, 6-1.

In men’s action, seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych beat Juan Monaco of Argentina, 6-2, 6-2, and 16th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France knocked out Igor Andreev of Russia, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the third round.