Raiders quarterback Derek Carr suffered a broken fibula less than two months ago, but teammate Donald Penn said his team leader told him he’s ‘almost 100 percent’ recovered from the injury.
Adam Scott has completely revamped his scheduling focus as he tries to add more majors, another PLAYERS Championship and the coveted FedExCup to his career resume. Scott, the 2004 PLAYERS champion and 2013 Masters winner, carved out a very successful five-year stint in the majors from 2011-2015 by placing his focus on targeted practice and course reconnaissance in the lead up. But after having more success in bunches on the PGA TOUR and a poor run in the majors in 2016 the former world No. 1 has taken stock and reevaluated his plans. Starting in 2011, in a run of 19 majors, Scott won the Masters, had two runner-up finishes, a 3rd, a 4th, two 5ths, and eight additional top-15 results. He made every major cut from the 2011 Open Championship through to the 2015 Open Championship. He failed to contend in any of last year’s majors, though. Major events are important to me. … I really want to win more majors before my time runs out. He did, however, win in back-to-back weeks at The Honda Classic (where he defends this week) and the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. And then he performed impressively in the FedExCup Playoffs, finishing no worse than eighth in the four Playoffs events en route to a third-place finish in the FedExCup. “Last year especially but even the year before my results in the majors where trending the other way whereas for a few years they were the best,” Scott said. “Other than not winning on every chance I had … my results were better than most everyone else over a four-to-five-year period. Last year was not good and you have to look at everything and figure out why. “I played good in blocks of tournaments last year that weren’t the majors while I didn’t play so good in the majors that weren’t blocks of tournaments. So, I think playing in blocks suits me a little better now.” This year, he will play the week before the biggest events: the Shell Houston Open the week prior to the Masters, the Wells Fargo Championship leading into THE PLAYERS, the FedEx St. Jude Classic prior to the U.S. Open, the Scottish Open prior to the Open Championship and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational prior to the PGA Championship. Scott hasn’t played the week before the Masters since 2010, when he finished T14 at the Shell Houston Open before finishing 18th at Augusta National. His lone appearance at the FedEx St. Jude Classic came in 2007. He finished seventh, then missed the cut at Oakmont. His last appearance in the week leading into an Open Championship was in the 2009 Scottish Open and he has played the week leading into THE PLAYERS Championship in just two of the last six seasons. A lot has happened in the life of the now-36-year-old Scott since he put together his previous assault plan on the big events in 2011. He is married and has a two-year-old daughter Bo Vera with another child on the way. Earlier this year, he parted ways with his brother-in-law, Brad Malone, in a coaching capacity. “It was time,” Scott said. “I saw the trends. Major events are important to me. It is a good time to take stock. I really want to win more majors before my time runs out.” “There have been lots of changes in my life both on the golf course and off the golf course, in all the categories – my family, caddie, coaches, the whole thing. “Preparing the way I was had kind of expired and I had to reevaluate and refresh the whole system. The environment is different at home, it is a different kind of energy output. “There is more output at home than it used to be when I would practice a hell of a lot in the lead up to majors. I feel I can be more productive doing a week’s preparation at home, then playing an event and doing some practice at that event with clear focus before heading to the majors.” His caddie situation is also a big part of the switch. Steve Williams, who was on the bag for his Masters triumph in 2013 and 13 of Tiger Woods’ 14 majors, has gone into semi-retirement. He now shares duties with David Clark, but the transition between the two wasn’t as fluid as Scott would have liked. Williams caddied at the majors in 2016 but this year he will also carry the bag at the lead-up events to get more in tune. “I learned last year it’s tricky for the caddie to know how I’m playing if they haven’t seen me play for eight weeks,” Scott explained. “That is critical going into a major so Steve will caddy the week before the majors so he’s fresh with that information. I feel really good about where everything is this year. I feel I know what the outcome is going to be more so than last couple of years.” To play or not to play immediately before a major championship has long been debated. Only seven players since 1939 — Ralph Guldahl, Art Wall, Lee Trevino, Sandy Lyle, Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy — have won the week before winning a major championship and gone on to win the following week. Scott isn’t worried about this, pointing to a year ago when he went back-to-back at a TOUR event into a WGC. “I don’t have a problem with being competitive and I hope to always compete hard in every event I play,” the 13-time TOUR winner said. “It’s more of a rhythm on the course thing. Just to have it a little more established before going into a major. It’s a comfort feeling. For me and for Steve. “I am going to stick with it. If it doesn’t work at the Masters I am not going to throw it out. I’ll give it a fair chance. I see a lot of positives from this schedule change on and off the golf course. Hopefully it all works out and I sound like I know what I am doing.”
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The return home to Thailand for reigning Rolex Player of the Year Aria Jutanugarn is just one of the things to watch this weekend as the LPGA Tour begins its two-event Asia swing on Thursday with the 11th edition of the Honda LPGA Thailand. The event at the Siam Country Club’s Pitaya Old Course in Chonburi, Thailand, also will mark the return to the competition for South Korea’s Inbee Park, who makes her first start on the LPGA since winning a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Honda LPGA Thailand boasts the strongest field of the season’s first three tournaments with 18 of the top-20 ranked players in the Rolex Rankings set to compete.
The relatively slow start to the season for Jonathan Toews has been buried by his recent surge. The captain is in prime form at the right time for the Blackhawks, reminding the Minnesota Wild that their postseason path will likely lead to Chicago. Toews had three goals and two assists, and the Blackhawks beat the rival Wild 5-3 on Tuesday night for their second win over the Western Conference leaders in less than two weeks.
Jerry Dipoto knows that the Astros are favored to win the American League West, and if baseball analysts aren’t talking about Jose Altuve’s budding powerhouse, they’re focused on the Rangers. Why not? They’ve won the AL West two years in a row.
Auston Matthews or Patrik Laine?
