Tiger Woods to skip Torrey Pines

Tiger Woods won’t be starting his 2012 season at Torrey Pines. Instead of his traditional PGA Tour start in San Diego, Woods has agreed to play in a tournament in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Woods will play in the Jan. 26-29 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship along with current No. 1 Luke Donald and defending champion Martin Kaymer, Abu Dhabi organizers said Wednesday.

The move is somewhat surprising for Woods, taking appearance money for the European Tour event instead of playing what he considers one of his favorite PGA Tour courses. He’s won seven times at Torrey Pines as a pro, including his 14th and last major at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Woods has been starting his season at Torrey Pines, when healthy, since 2006. He missed the 2009 and 2010 tournaments because of injuries.

Former Olympic gymnastics coach banned

A former Olympic gymnastics coach accused of sexually abusing two athletes in the 1980s has been banned for life by USA Gymnastics and his place in the federation’s Hall of Fame revoked.

Don Peters, head coach of the 1984 U.S. women’s Olympic team, was declared “permanently ineligible” after a disciplinary hearing by USA Gymnastics last week. Peters has already resigned from his coaching and director positions at his SCATS gym in Huntington Beach and his ban will be published in USA Gymnastics’ magazine and on its website.

Two former gymnasts told the Orange County Register that Peters sexually abused them in the 1980s, when they were teenagers. In a Register story on Sept. 25, Doe Yamashiro, a former U.S. national team and SCATS member, said Peters began fondling her in 1986, when she was 16, and had sexual intercourse with her when she was 17. A second woman, who asked that her name not be used, told the Register that Peters had sex with her in 1985 when she was 18.

The alleged abuse can’t be prosecuted under California law because the statute of limitations has expired.

Peters was one of the country’s top coaches in the 1980s, and his SCATS gym produced several national team members. He was head coach of the U.S. team at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where the Americans won eight medals, including Mary Lou Retton’s gold in the all-around.

Forrest Gregg has Parkinson’s disease

Green Bay Packers great Forrest Gregg, a man celebrated for his durability on the football field, is facing a difficult challenge away from the gridiron.

Nicknamed “Iron Man” for playing in a then-record 188 consecutive NFL games during his Hall of Fame career, Gregg told the Associated Press he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Although the cause of the debilitating neurological disorder is unknown, Gregg, his family and his neurologist say his disease may be related to numerous concussions he suffered during his playing career in the 1950s at SMU and from 1956 to 1971 with the Packers and Dallas Cowboys.

Gregg’s symptoms include hand tremors, a stooped posture, shortened stride and softened voice.

The Angels on Wednesday promoted Justin Hollander from player development and scouting assistant to director of baseball operations, a position in which he will report to new General Manager Jerry Dipoto.

Hollander, 33, has been with the club for four seasons, working closely with department heads in several aspects of baseball operations, including arbitration, statistical research and advance scouting. Before joining the Angels in 2008, he worked for one year as an associate attorney in San Diego.

— Mike DiGiovanna

Terry Francona won’t become the Chicago Cubs’ next manager.

The former Boston Red Sox manager didn’t rule out joining a team in 2012 but he removed himself from consideration for the Cubs job and said he’d take a step back after not getting the St. Louis Cardinals gig.

Francona told ESPN that after failing to get the St. Louis Cardinals’ managerial job (Mike Matheny was hired), he decided to “take a step back, take a deep breath, figure out what I do want to do.”

Cardinals coaches Mark McGwire and Dave Duncan are staying with St. Louis under new manager Mike Matheny.

McGwire joined the Cardinals as hitting coach under former manager Tony La Russa for the 2010 season. Duncan was La Russa’s pitching coach with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and the Cardinals. They were announced Wednesday as coaches under Matheny, who succeeded La Russa following the team’s World Series title last month.

Third base coach Jose Oquendo, who had been among the six candidates for the managerial opening, will return for his 13th season.

Steve Dilbeck, the primary contributor to The Times online Dodgers blog, was honored by his peers in the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America’s Los Angeles-Anaheim chapter on Tuesday night.

For meritorious coverage of the sport over the years, Dilbeck was voted the winner of the Bob Hunter Award. The award is named after the late Bob Hunter, the longtime baseball writer for the Los Angeles Examiner and Herald Examiner.

Dilbeck started covering the Dodgers for the San Bernardino Sun in the 1980s. A traveling beat writer for seven years, he was in the Dodger Stadium press box for Kirk Gibson’s home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. He was later a columnist at the Los Angeles Daily News.

Dilbeck has been blogging for The Times since 2010.

— Dylan Hernandez