The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani was sentenced Thursday to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account.

Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced to four years and nine months in federal court in Santa Ana after pleading guilty last year.

He was ordered Thursday to pay $18 million in restitution, with nearly $17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the IRS. He was also sentenced to three years’ supervised release on top of the prison sentence and ordered to surrender to authorities by March 24.

“The magnitude of the theft — $17 million — in my view, is shockingly high,” U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb said upon issuing the sentence.

Golf

Clark grabs Phoenix Open lead >> Wyndham Clark saved par after hitting his tee shot into the water on the par-4 17th hole and shot a bogey-free 7-under 64 to take a one-shot lead in the first round of the Phoenix Open.

Clark was the best of the bunch, on a day win in which 24 players shot 68 or better before play was suspended by darkness.

Lee Hodges and Taylor Moore each shot 65 and were one shot back.

Kupcho, Koerstz Madsen share LPGA lead >> Jennifer Kupcho found more joy in golf in 2024 and she carried that into her first LPGA event this season, shooting a 6-under 65 to share the first-round lead with Nanna Koerstz Madsen at the Founders Cup in Bradenton, Fla.

13-year-old shoots 75 at Qatar Masters >> A 13-year-old golfer shot 3-over 75 in the first round of the Qatar Masters, giving himself a chance to make the cut in just his second appearance in a European tour event.

Daniil Sokolov, a Russian national who represents Qatar, was tied for 105th when play was suspended at Doha Golf Club. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Brandon Robinson Thompson were tied for the lead on 6-under par.

College football

Ohio State’s Day gets $12.5M a year in new deal >> Ohio State coach Ryan Day, who led the Buckeyes to the national championship almost three weeks ago, agreed to a seven-year contract valued at $12.5 million a year.

The deal would make Day the second highest-paid coach in the country behind Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($13.3 million).