Williams wins amateur honor

Golf: Moscow High School graduate Chris Williams, who currently plays for the University of Washington, has clinched the Mark H. McCormack Medal – given to the No. 1 player in the R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking.

The honor earns Williams starts at the 2013 U.S. Open and the 2013 British Open.

The medal is presented annually by the The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after the U.S. Amateur Championship and the European Amateur Championship have been played.

The 2013 U.S. Open will be held June 13-16 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., and the British Open is scheduled for July 18-21 at Muirfield in Scotland.

Williams made it to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Championship last Friday before losing 4 and 2 to Steven Fox. None of the other top five golfers played well enough to catch him.

Williams moved to No. 1 after winning the Western Amateur earlier this summer.

WAC boss focused on life without football

Colleges: The commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference says it has become apparent the league won’t have enough football members to compete after this season, and his focus now is trying to keep the WAC together for other sports.

“It doesn’t mean we’ve given up on the idea of football for the future, but it’s apparent we don’t have enough members in 2013 to play football,” Jeff Hurd told The Associated Press on Monday.

That means Idaho and New Mexico State will have to play as FBS independents next year. Idaho has already announced its intention to do so. The WAC’s five other football members — Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, Texas State, Utah State and Texas-San Antonio — leave next year. Denver Post