PITTSBURGH — Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward underwent surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus in his right knee and will need about six weeks of recovery time before beginning offseason workouts.

The surgery was done Wednesday, but was not disclosed until coach Mike Tomlin's season-ending news conference Thursday.

Ward missed three games this season because of the injury, including the Dec. 30 game at Baltimore. He returned to make a game-high 10 catches for 135 yards in the Steelers' 31-29 AFC playoff loss to Jacksonville on Saturday.

Tomlin said Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu may need surgery on his right knee, but will wait to see if rest cures the problem.

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates will break ground on their new baseball academy in the Dominican Republic on Jan. 22.The academy will be built on a 46-acre site in El Toro the team recently bought. It will serve as the headquarters for the Pirates' Latin American operations and as the base for their Dominican Summer League team.

HONOLULU — K.J. Choi is accustomed to starting strong at the Sony Open, closing with a birdie for a 6-under 64 that gave him a one-shot lead Thursday and his sixth consecutive opening round in the 60s at Waialae Country Club.That Choi was atop the leaderboard was no surprise. He also opened with a 64 last year and wound up in a tie for fourth.

LOS ANGELES — Christopher Bowman, the former U.S. figure skating champion dubbed "Bowman the Showman" for his flair on the ice, died Thursday of a possible drug overdose, authorities said. He was 40.Bowman was pronounced dead at 12:06 p.m., said Coroner's Lt. Joe Bale, who wasn't immediately able to provide more details about the possible drug overdose. Bowman's body was found at a motel in the North Hills section of Los Angeles and an autopsy was planned for this weekend, Bale said.Bowman, a former child actor, was one of figure skating's bigger personalities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Immensely talented, with a gift for performance that few others could match, he won the U.S. men's figure skating titles in 1989 and 1992, and was runner-up in 1987 and 1991.He also won a silver medal at the 1989 world championships, and a bronze the next year. He skated in the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics, finishing seventh in 1988 and fourth in 1992.