Sports in brief

GOLF

Woods, Foley to split

Tiger Woods is leaving swing coach Sean Foley after four years and no majors.

Woods said on his website yesterday he will no longer work with Foley, the Canadian whom he hired when his game was at its low point following the upheaval with his marriage. The announcement came one day after another Foley pupil, Hunter Mahan, won The Barclays. Foley also coaches Annie Park of Levittown, the top-ranked college player in the country for USC.

Woods has been coping with back problems for more than a year. He had surgery March 31 to alleviate a pinched nerve, forcing him to miss two majors during his three months of recovery. He missed two cuts, withdrew from another tournament and had his worst 72-hole finish in a major after returning.

He is taking three months off in a bid to regain his full strength. Woods is not scheduled to play again until his World Challenge in Orlando, Florida, the first week in December.

SOCCER

Liverpool signs Balotelli

Liverpool signed Italy striker Mario Balotelli from AC Milan for 16 million pounds ($26.5 million), taking a calculated gamble on a headline-grabbing player known as much for his controversies as his goals.

Nineteen months after ending a 21/2-year spell with Manchester City to play for his boyhood club, Balotelli will return to the English Premier League as a replacement for Luis Suarez -- another of world football's talented but disruptive stars.

COLLEGES

Ewing, Falk donate to Georgetown

Patrick Ewing and sports agent David Falk are donating $3.3 million to Georgetown's new athletics center.

The school said the amount of the gift reflects the uniform No. 33 that Ewing wore at Georgetown and in the NBA.

Ewing played on Georgetown's only NCAA championship team in 1984. The center will be named for his coach at Georgetown, John Thompson Jr., who led the Hoyas for 27 years.