INDIANAPOLIS – Tyler Courtney and Clauson-Marshall Racing have announced an expanded racing schedule this year that will see Courtney chase his second-straight USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series title.

Courtney will drive the No. 7BC midget with sponsorship from NOS Energy Drink in pursuit of the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series title.

In addition Courtney will also run a flex schedule of USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series and winged sprint car events for Clauson-Marshall Racing this season.

“2020 is going to be a fun year for us,” Courtney said in a press release posted on Twitter. “I am excited to go out and defend our NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Championship, as well as take on the new challenge of putting a win on top of our sprint car. Both challenges are going to be tough, but we have a great team behind us, and I know they are as up for for the challenges as I am.

“We still get to play around in the non-wing sprint car as well at all of my favorite places.”

Courtney has won consecutive championships in USAC competition. In addition to claiming the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series title last year, he also captured the 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series title. He finished second in the National Sprint Car standings last year.

“We are looking forward to being a part of this next step with Tyler,” said Clauson-Marshall Racing co-owner Tim Clauson. “This is exciting not only for him, but for Clauson-Marshall Racing as a company. There is little doubt some of the biggest races include wings, so to be able to add a program that will allow us to be a part of all of grassroots racing’s biggest events, whether that be midgets, non-wing sprint cars and now winged sprint cars, really excites not only the car owner in me, but more importantly, the racer in me.”

Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien was fined $10,000 Monday for his comments about the officiating in Saturday night's overtime loss to the Dallas Stars.

The Canadiens squandered a 3-0 lead in the game, and afterward, Julien said the officials had missed several calls.

"Some people need to be held accountable after this game," Julien said. "We had to beat two teams tonight."

It was a rare outburst for Julien, who is not known to be outspoken about officiating.

"We're up 3-0, we're playing well," Julien said. "We make a bad mistake on giving them the puck on that first goal. But given those situations after that, we could have had power plays. It was such a poorly managed game [by the referees]. ... Let's put it that way."

Julien had a long list of grievances. He said Ilya Kovalchuk's stick was broken by a slash when he had the puck and there was no call. He said a trip on Ben Chiarot was not called, and then Chiarot was penalized when he retaliated with a one-handed slash. There was no call when Max Domi had his lip split open, or when Joel Armia was hooked to the ice during overtime, Julien said.

"We couldn't talk to the official. He was screaming at our players," Julien said. "I told him, when he was close to the bench, that I hoped he watched his games back. He told me to take a hike."

The money from the fine goes to the NHL Foundation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Adam Scott's victory Sunday at the Genesis Invitational ended multiple droughts. Yes, it was his first PGA Tour victory in nearly four years, but it also signaled Scott's return to the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time since 2017.

Scott moved from 14th to seventh in the latest rankings with his two-shot win at Riviera. It's the first time he's been inside the top 10 since he was 10th in May 2017 and marks his highest ranking since he was sixth in the world in November 2016. The former Masters champ entered a slump shortly thereafter, dropping as far as 82nd in the rankings in July 2018, but has been on the rebound ever since.

Three men shared second place behind Scott in Los Angeles: Matt Kuchar went from 20th to 15th, Sung Kang rose from 86th to 54th, while Scott Brown jumped more than 200 spots from No. 369 to No. 157.

Another notable ascent happened well down the leaderboard. Collin Morikawa's T-26 at Riviera was just enough to move him into the top 50 for the first time, as Morikawa rose four spots to No. 49. The jump comes just in time to qualify the 23-year-old for his first WGC event, as Sunday was the final cutoff for the top 50 in the world to qualify for this week's WGC-Mexico Championship.

Jordan Spieth, who qualified for Mexico by returning to the top 50 last week, fell back outside the number by swapping spots with Morikawa, dropping from 49th to 53rd with a T-59 finish. Phil Mickelson's missed cut dropped him three spots to 58th.

Scott's jump was the only change inside the top 10, as Rory McIlroy retained the No. 1 ranking for another week after a T-8 finish at Genesis. Brooks Koepka remains No. 2, followed by Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Cantlay. With Scott now at No. 7, the latest top 10 is rounded out by Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods and Xander Schauffele.

Inbee Park achieved a milestone victory on Sunday in Australia, winning her 20^th career LPGA title.

Park captured the Women’s Australian Open by three strokes, for her first tour win in two years.

The 31-year-old South Korean tied American Cristie Kerr and England’s Laura Davies on the LPGA’s official all-time victory list.

Only Se Ri Pak (25), Lorena Ochoa (27), Karrie Webb (41) and Annika Sorenstam (72) have recorded more LPGA wins by non-American-born players.

Here’s a look at the tour’s all-time wins list, with every player who has captured at least 20 career titles.

Barcelona have threatened to take legal action after it was alleged they paid a third-party company to discredit players, club legends and presidential candidates, among others.

SER Catalunya reported on Monday that I3 Ventures was contracted by the club with the initial idea of helping to clean up president Josep Maria Bartomeu's image.

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Sources have told ESPN that the club have been working with I3 Ventures since the beginning of 2017. The Argentine company, which has bases in Madrid and Barcelona, has received just under €1 million from the Catalan club for running various campaigns.

As well as defending Bartomeu, I3 Ventures, which administers a number of Facebook and Twitter accounts, is also alleged to have attacked people related to the club, including Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.

In a strongly worded response, Barca denied that they or I3 Ventures have any connection to the social media profiles which published the posts that have been flagged.

"We roundly deny any relationship, and furthermore, the contracting of services linked to social media accounts that have broadcast negative or disparaging messages related to any person, entity or organisation that may be, or have been, related to the club," a statement read.

"I3 Ventures, a service provider to the club, has no relationship with the accounts mentioned and, if any relationship was to come to light, the club would immediately end their contractual agreement and bring about any necessary legal action to defend their interests.

"The club demands an immediate rectification of the information published and reserves the right to exercise legal action against those who continue to implicate the club in such practices."

Barca explained that their relationship with I3 involved "monitoring of social media with the aim of analysing both positive and negative messages about the organisation itself."

Among the posts revealed by SER Catalunya, Pique was criticised for his involvement in organising the Davis Cup, while Messi and his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo, were also targeted. However, on many other occasions, campaigns were run in defence of Messi, praising the club's record goal scorer.

Club legends Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol and Pep Guardiola have also been discredited by accounts allegedly run by I3, as have presidential candidates Agusti Benedito and Victor Font.

Benedito responded on Monday when he said he would file a lawsuit against Bartomeu and his board of directors if the allegations were proven.

Font, meanwhile, said the club's board must come out immediately and offer an explanation because the allegations are "extremely worrying."

"It means that, with the club's money, the board of directors have targeted their own members, first-team players, Catalan social entities and media," Font said in a statement.

"This defamation campaign borne from the results of a journalistic investigation stains Barca, shames us club members and makes the club's situation even worse because, in addition to the delicate sporting and economic situation, moral bankruptcy has also been added."

It is the second time in two weeks that Barcelona have made headlines for the wrong reasons off the pitch.

On Feb. 4, Messi engaged in a war of words with Eric Abidal after the Barcelona sporting director suggested Ernesto Valverde was fired because the players were not happy with him.

Clear-the-air talks with Bartomeu the next day helped cool the atmosphere at the club, but tension remains behind the scenes.

Bartomeu has a mandate to preside over the club until 2021 but sources close to the club suggest it is not out of the question that an election takes place this year. Bartomeu, who is in his second term as the club's president, will not be able to stand, but the board of directors will offer an alternative candidate.

Meanwhile, Barca remain in the hunt for two trophies. They are one point behind Real Madrid at the top of La Liga and face Napoli in the round of 16 of the Champions League next week. They were eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Athletic Bilbao.

Shardul Thakur topped India's wickets charts in their T20I sweep of New Zealand, taking eight in five games at 19.62. In the three ODIs that followed, as New Zealand returned the favour, blanking India 3-0, that average of Thakur's went up to 56.75. And through both series, when he was striking regularly and when he was not, Thakur was not the most economical of India's bowlers by a margin - overall only Shivam Dube was more expensive in the T20Is, only Kuldeep Yadav in the ODIs.

Asked about where he went wrong in the ODIs and how he dealt with leaking all those runs, he came across as positive and practical in his self-assessment at an event in Mumbai on Monday. "It's okay to go for runs. Not every time will you end up bowling extraordinarily," Thakur said. "But if you're going to win the game... I think this way, if I'm going to go for 20 runs [in an over] then how can I cut it down to 16 or how can I cut it down to 14 or 15.

"The difference of four-five runs, if we are defending, in the end the [opposition] team instead of needing 10 runs will need 15 runs, or if we're bowling first then we'll have to score those many runs less. That's how I motivate myself, that's what I keep telling myself."

The dimensions of grounds in New Zealand made the tour more challenging for Indian bowlers, he said, but he was confident in his "learnings". "Every ground is different there. If you see Auckland [Eden Park] it's very small in the front [straight boundaries] and in the sides [square boundaries] it is decent - not big, not small, it's decent. Whereas Wellington [Westpac Stadium] was very small on the sides, Hamilton [Sneddon Park] was small on three sides and only one side was big. So these were the challenges we had to face there.

"I think I did well on the tour. One or two games had been up and down for me, but that's okay as long as I learn from it. Whenever I get an opportunity to play there again, I'll make sure that I don't repeat the mistakes that I made now. I don't consider them as mistakes, I will consider them as learnings as it was only my first trip to New Zealand."

Next up for India is a home-ODI series against South Africa, before the IPL kicks off. Thakur, who will turn out for Chennai Super Kings, said hitting form in the IPL would set players up for the busy season ahead but his main focus remained the T20 World Cup in Australia in October. And, he made it clear, he was upbeat about his chances at the show-piece tournament.

"Definitely the IPL is important, and the momentum we gain from IPL will be crucial. There are Sri Lanka T20s coming up after IPL, we're going to Zimbabwe as well, then we're playing the Asia Cup, then we're going into the T20 World Cup. But certainly I have my eyes on the T20 World Cup.

"I believe that the positivity that I bring into the game and the amount of confidence that I have and the way that I'm passionate about the game will certainly help the team to win the World Cup, or at the very least do the job fairly."

KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, the consortium that owns Kings XI Punjab, has purchased the Caribbean Premier League team St Lucia Zouks.

They become the second set of IPL owners to currently run a CPL team, alongside Red Chillies Entertainment, who own both Kolkata Knight Riders and Trinbago Knight Riders. Previously, Vijay Mallya owned both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barbados Tridents.

Mohit Burman, one of the Zouks' new co-owners, said: "We are excited at the opportunity to invest in one of the most exciting sporting tournaments in the world, and we have been impressed by the vibrancy of CPL over the last seven years.

"We visualise taking the franchise to the next level and showcasing St Lucia in the best possible light over the coming years."

St Lucia Zouks, under their current guise, were a late replacement in last year's CPL, after the axing of St Lucia Stars shortly before the tournament. CPL Limited terminated the Stars' participation agreement on August 7, 2019 - just under a month before the team's first scheduled game - and replaced them with the Zouks, as the team had initially been known before their purchase by Royal Sports Club, LLC in 2016.

Last season, the Zouks finished fifth out of six under Darren Sammy's captaincy, with three wins and six defeats.

This year's competition will begin on August 19, with the final scheduled for September 26.

The organisers of the Tokyo Marathon have announced that the March 1 race will be closed to regular participants and open only to elite athletes because of coronavirus fears.

More than 38,000 people were due to take part in the race, but the announcement on Monday means that competitors will be limited to a couple of hundred.

"We have been preparing for the Tokyo Marathon 2020 (Sunday, March 1) while implementing preventive safety measures, however, now that case of COVID-19 has been confirmed within Tokyo, we cannot continue to launch the event within the scale we originally anticipated," organisers said in a statement.

Organisers had previously asked runners from China to defer their entries until 2021 due to the outbreak of the virus.

The option of deferring entry was also granted to everyone affected by Monday's announcement; however, runners are still required to pay the entry fees for the 2021 event.

The marathon is the latest in a long line of sports events to be affected by the outbreak. Most notably, the Indoor World Athletics Championships in Nanjing and the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai were both postponed.

More than 70,000 people have contracted the disease in China and more than 1,700 people there have died.

Barcelona have threatened to take legal action after it was alleged they paid a third-party company to discredit players, club legends and presidential candidates, among others.

SER Catalunya reported on Monday that I3 Ventures was contracted by the club with the initial idea of helping to clean up president Josep Maria Bartomeu's image.

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Sources have told ESPN that the club have been working with I3 Ventures since the beginning of 2017. The Argentine company, which has bases in Madrid and Barcelona, has received just under €1 million from the Catalan club for running various campaigns.

As well as defending Bartomeu, I3 Ventures, which administers a number of Facebook and Twitter accounts, is also alleged to have attacked people related to the club, including Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.

In a strongly worded response, Barca denied that they or I3 Ventures have any connection to the social media profiles which published the posts that have been flagged.

"We roundly deny any relationship, and furthermore, the contracting of services linked to social media accounts that have broadcast negative or disparaging messages related to any person, entity or organisation that may be, or have been, related to the club," a statement read.

"I3 Ventures, a service provider to the club, has no relationship with the accounts mentioned and, if any relationship was to come to light, the club would immediately end their contractual agreement and bring about any necessary legal action to defend their interests.

"The club demands an immediate rectification of the information published and reserves the right to exercise legal action against those who continue to implicate the club in such practices."

Barca explained that their relationship with I3 involved "monitoring of social media with the aim of analysing both positive and negative messages about the organisation itself."

Among the posts revealed by SER Catalunya, Pique was criticised for his involvement in organising the Davis Cup, while Messi and his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo, were also targeted. However, on many other occasions, campaigns were run in defence of Messi, praising the club's record goal scorer.

Club legends Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol and Pep Guardiola have also been discredited by accounts allegedly run by I3, as have presidential candidates Agusti Benedito and Victor Font.

Benedito responded on Monday when he said he would file a lawsuit against Bartomeu and his board of directors if the allegations were proven.

Font, meanwhile, said the club's board must come out immediately and offer an explanation because the allegations are "extremely worrying."

"It means that, with the club's money, the board of directors have targeted their own members, first-team players, Catalan social entities and media," Font said in a statement.

"This defamation campaign borne from the results of a journalistic investigation stains Barca, shames us club members and makes the club's situation even worse because, in addition to the delicate sporting and economic situation, moral bankruptcy has also been added."

It is the second time in two weeks that Barcelona have made headlines for the wrong reasons off the pitch.

On Feb. 4, Messi engaged in a war of words with Eric Abidal after the Barcelona sporting director suggested Ernesto Valverde was fired because the players were not happy with him.

Clear-the-air talks with Bartomeu the next day helped cool the atmosphere at the club, but tension remains behind the scenes.

Bartomeu has a mandate to preside over the club until 2021 but sources close to the club suggest it is not out of the question that an election takes place this year. Bartomeu, who is in his second term as the club's president, will not be able to stand, but the board of directors will offer an alternative candidate.

Meanwhile, Barca remain in the hunt for two trophies. They are one point behind Real Madrid at the top of La Liga and face Napoli in the round of 16 of the Champions League next week. They were eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Athletic Bilbao.