AP Sports SummaryBrief at 5:33 p.m. EST

AP source: Correa spurns Mets, reaches $200M deal with Twins

A person familiar with the negotiations says Carlos Correa has agreed to a $200 million, six-year contract that keeps him with the Minnesota Twins after failing to complete deals with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. The deal for the All-Star shortstop is subject to a successful physical. Correa agreed Dec. 13 to a $350 million, 13-year contract with the Giants, who called off a news conference a week later over concerns with a right ankle injury. Correa agreed that night to a $315 million, 12-year deal with the Mets, who also had concerns about the ankle. The agreement with the Twins could be worth $270 million over 10 seasons if Correa remains healthy.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2023: Tennis sans Serena starts in earnest

The 2023 Australian Open will be the first Grand Slam tournament to be held since Serena Williams walked away from tennis with a farewell at the U.S. Open shortly before her 41st birthday. And so the sport will will get a real taste of what a post-Serena world looks like on a big stage. Williams will be missed. By spectators. By executives from the tours, tournaments and television. By other athletes. But tennis will need to move on. It won’t be easy. But all sports do need to take steps forward even when superstars leave.

Damar Hamlin’s toy drive: What’s the plan for the $8.6M?

NEW YORK (AP) — Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin plans to support young people through education and sports with the $8.6 million in GoFundMe donations that unexpectedly poured into his toy drive fundraiser after he suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of a game last week. The Giving Back Fund is a nonprofit that helps athletes and celebrities manage their charitable giving. They will host the “The Chasing M’s Foundation” Charitable Fund. A GoFundMe spokesperson said they will transfer the donations that have come in since Hamlin’s injury. Hamlin’s marketing representative, Jordon Rooney, said he and his family are humbled by the “tremendous support” and will communicate with donors over time.

Doctors: Bills’ Hamlin in good spirits, undergoing testing

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bills safety Damar Hamlin is described as being in good spirts, while undergoing testing for a second day at a Buffalo hospital to determine what led to him going into cardiac arrest during a game last week. Hamlin posted a note on social media saying he’s not quite home yet, a day after being transferred from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center to Buffalo General Medical Center. The tests being conducted on Hamlin also will determine when he can be discharged.

Dawgs for 3?: Georgia has chance to make football history

Kirby Smart didn’t really want to discuss his Georgia Bulldogs’ chances for a three-peat on the morning after they won their second straight College Football Playoff championship game. He couldn’t deny that he’s already thinking about next season and and Georgia’s chance to do something unprecedented. The Bulldogs have more national championships than total losses over the past two seasons, and they’re headed into 2023 with the opportunity to be the first team in the AP poll era to win three straight title.s

AP Top 25 Reality Check: Record churn in rankings … again

For the second straight season, a record number of teams that started the season ranked in the AP Top 25 finished it unranked. Georgia was a unanimous No. 1 in the final Associated Press college football poll after winning its second consecutive national championship. Missing from the final rankings were Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Miami and 12 other teams that were in the preseason poll. That is a 15-team turnover from the first poll to the final poll. It is also one more than there was in the 2021 season, which had been the most ever.

New admission rules could spark ‘Prime Time’ at Colorado

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The University of Colorado has initiated a pilot program that makes the credit review for transfer students a more seamless process. It may have been the move that ultimately lured Deion Sanders to Boulder. In the new landscape of college football, transfers make all the difference. But because of its stringent admissions rules, Colorado was struggling to adjust to those new realities. The charismatic Sanders is coming to Boulder, but not before this initiative was put in place to assure some of those inequities were fixed. By removing a potential stumbling block, Colorado has a chance to consistently win, just like in the days of Bill McCartney when the Buffaloes captured their only national title.

Bears GM Poles expects Fields to be starting QB next season

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles says he expects Justin Fields to be the team’s starting quarterback next season and just about slammed the door on drafting one with the No. 1 overall pick. Poles left it slightly ajar Tuesday by saying he would have to be “blown away” to take a passer. Quarterbacks such as Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Kentucky’s Will Levis are among the top prospects available in the draft. Fields emerged as one of the NFL’s most exciting players in his second season. But he was drafted by former general manager Ryan Pace. The Bears finished 3-14 in one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

Yedlin, Zimmerman praise embattled US coach Berhalter

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — National team defenders DeAndre Yedlin and Walker Zimmerman have praised U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter for bringing the Americans together at the World Cup even as he’s currently under investigation by U.S. Soccer for a 1991 incident during which he kicked his now wife. The U.S. Soccer Federation said it learned of the allegation against Berhalter on Dec. 11 and hired a law firm to investigate. The federation says Berhalter and his wife Rosalind had “spoken openly” about the matter, and Berhalter admitted kicking her during an argument after a night of drinking in 1991 before they were married.

Column: Morikawa the latest case study in a bizarre collapse

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Collin Morikawa is the latest player to tie a PGA Tour record for losing a six-shot lead in the final round. AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson was there for five of the last six such collapses and says this one was bizarre. It wasn’t a slow leak like so many others. Morikawa played beautifully at the Sentry Tournament of Champions for 69 out of 72 holes. Jordan Spieth has lost leads himself and says it’s not as easy as it looks. He says players can feel as though they are supposed to win. And if they lose, it’s the worst feeling in the world. Ferguson says Morikawa should bounce back. He is playing too well to let this linger.