If Colts owner Jim Irsay is to be taken at his word, then his organization just hired the greatest general manager of the millennium. Chris Ballard made quite an impression on Monday.
Report: Hardy applies to play in Spring League
Cruz: Giants boat trip ‘definitely wasn’t worth it’
Kansas forward Carlton Bragg has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and remained suspended indefinitely Monday from the third-ranked Jayhawks. Lawrence municipal court administrator Vicki Stanwix confirmed that Bragg was given a notice to appear in court after police said they found two glass smoking devices with residue inside. The paraphernalia was found last month while university police were investigating a reported rape at McCarthy Hall, which houses the basketball team on campus.
Fisher: Did more with less talented Knicks team
Just when the Giants wide receivers thought they were out, Victor Cruz pulled them back in. The veteran admitted his teammates’ trip to Miami "definitely wasn’t worth it."
Poll: Pats most disliked NFL team, Cowboys next
And just like that, fans in attendance at the Greenest Show on Grass have even more reason to whoop and holler. Not that they ever really need any motivation at the most attended tournament in the history of the PGA TOUR. Fresh off a punctuating eagle to secure his breakthrough victory at the Farmers Insurance Open, Jon Rahm struts into the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, site of his T5 as an amateur in 2015. More importantly, it’s contested in the backyard of his college stomping grounds. The 22-year-old Spaniard won 11 times in his career at Arizona State University. He’ll face off in the 132-man field that includes fellow wunderkind Justin Thomas, 23, he of the three titles already this season. The combined age of Rahm and Thomas is still eight months younger than ASU legend, WMPO all-time earnings leader and three-time tournament champion, Phil Mickelson, who is making his 28th appearance, the last 27 consecutively. The defending champion is built for the course no matter its construction. He’s scored 14-under 270 in all three of his visits, finishing a respective T4, T2 and P1. Rested and recharged since sweeping Aloha Swing. Placed T17 here in 2015, and then missed last year’s cut, but now leads the PGA TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green. First trip since a T7 in debut in 2015. Since winning in Australia in November, he’s placed T6 (Hero), T3 (SBS) and solo third (Sony), but has dropped to sixth in the OWGR. Proclaimed his arrival when he didn’t fade en route to a T5 in his only prior start here in 2015. In addition to plethora of weapons, he’s now managing his emotions like a veteran. The redesign didn’t do anything to deter his trend of what is now four consecutive top 20s. Scored 8-under 276 in the last two. Opened 2017 with a T3 at Kapalua. Flashed all of his assets to produce a T15 in his only prior visit in 2015. Top 20s in all five starts (with varying field sizes) to begin the 2016-17 season. Shares course record (60) and tournament record (28-under 256), but both pre-redesign. T11 last year, though. Healthy and hungry with T21 and T14 in last two weeks. Continues to sustain noticeable form. He’s launched 2017 with a T6-T6-T20 run. Perfect in all six trips to TPC Scottsdale with three top-six finishes and a T17 last year. It’s all come together as a newlywed and in the last season of a multi-year exemption. Three top 10s already this season; T4 last week. Four top 25s in five tries at the WMPO. Three top 20s to begin 2017, the best a T4 at Torrey Pines last week. Currently 17th in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Finished T22 in his debut at TPC Scottsdale in 2015. Always a tweener to appear on this page, he’s coming off a T14 at the Farmers to end a drought. Also 5-for-5 here with a T15 (2012), solo ninth (2014) and solo third (2016). Added a T20 at the Farmers to his sparkling early-season slate. Sits 15th in strokes gained: tee-to-green and T14 in scrambling. He’s 6-for-7 at TPC Scottsdale. The ASU product may be playing the best golf of his life right now, but he’s still chasing his first top 10 at TPC Scottsdale. This is his 16th consecutive appearance. The kind of tee-to-green surgeon you’d expect to have success here, and he has. Top 15s in the last two editions. Overcame recent inconsistency with a T6 at Waialae. The 2015 winner placed T41 last year while learning the duties of a defending champ. Returned from the holiday break at Torrey Pines and missed first cut in nine months. POWER RANKINGS: WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN RANK PLAYER COMMENT You’ll find Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, Matt Kuchar and many more in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. When diving into what yields success at TPC Scottsdale, a par 35-36=71 measuring 7,266 yards, we’re encouraged to focus on just the last two years. One of Tom Weiskopf’s objectives during his redesign of the course in 2014 was to retain a scoring average worthy of the test, at the same time producing winners well into double digits under par. He’s 2-for-2. Last year’s field essentially parred the track at 71.030, but it officially was the first time the scoring average was over par since 2005. (TPC Scottsdale’s clip in 2015 was 70.752.) The iron game matters more on the still-maturing, TifEagle Bermudagrass greens. Last year’s field average just over 11 greens in regulation per round, down more than one as compared to the last edition before Weiskopf got to work. The 2016 field also averaged 41 feet, 5 inches on approach, the second-longest measurement of any course all season. Yet, TPC Scottsdale isn’t entirely a second-shot test. Weiskopf’s strategic bunkering has reeled in distance of the tee measurably, thus emphasizing the full tee-to-green skill set. So, while mainstream attention tilts toward the enclosed, par-3 16th hole, the guys chasing the trophy also will be pursuing balance throughout. Before outlasting Rickie Fowler in a playoff last year, defending champion Hideki Matsuyama led the field in greens in regulation and strokes gained: tee-to-green. He also ranked T6 in proximity and T3 in bogey avoidance. Brooks Koepka built the model with similarly impressive splits en route to his breakthrough title here in 2015. Phenomenal weather is in store all week. Seasonable high temperatures at right around 70 degrees will be accompanied by sunshine and barely a breath of wind. It’s always a challenge for PGA TOUR officials to get 36 holes in the books in two days what with one course hosting 132 golfers in limited daylight hours at this latitude in early February, but they’ll have every opportunity this week. Rob Bolton’s writing schedule PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Comfort Zone, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Ownership Percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf and One & Done presented by SERVPRO * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks, which also publishes on Tuesdays.
The St. Louis Cardinals were stripped of their top two picks in this year’s amateur draft Monday and ordered to give them to Houston along with $2 million as compensation for hacking the Astros’ email system and scouting database, the final step in an unusual case of cybercrime involving two Major League Baseball teams. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred also banned former St. Louis executive Christopher Correa for life as he ruled the Cardinals must give the 56th and 75th draft choices in June to Houston.
It took Jon Rahm four tournaments to secure a PGA Tour card out of college, and 12 events as a pro to deliver his first PGA Tour victory. The 22-year-old from Spain roared out of the pack to shoot 30 on the back nine at Torrey Pines, one of the toughest racks on the PGA Tour, and finish with a birdie and a 60-foot eagle putt to win the Farmers Insurance Open. Rahm grew up in Barrika, a town of about 1,500 in the Basque country of northern Spain.
