EA Sports has acknowledged it made “an unfortunate mistake” by censoring Colin Kaepernick’s name from YG’s song “Big Bank” used in the soundtrack fro “Madden NFL 19.”
The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is clearly something that Steve Pearce is embracing. The right-handed hitter led Boston’s furious surge back from an early 4-0 deficit by belting three home runs, the second of which was a three-run rocket that sparked an eight-run bottom of the fourth inning.
Kaepernick’s name was scrubbed from Big Sean’s verse on “Big Bank.”
Saturdays best racing comes from Moonee Valley and Randwick. Mitchell Lamb from tab.com.au has run the form and settled on his best bets of the day here.
This Nationals lineup might be finally starting to reach its full potential. They sent 12 batters to the plate and scored six runs without the benefit of an extra-base hit during their offensive outburst in the second inning against the Reds.
RENO, Nevada — During a post-round conversation on Thursday lasting slightly less than four brutally honest minutes, Bill Haas pulled no punches when describing the current state of his golf game. The sound bites included such things as: “I’m frustrated.� “It’s been a disappointing year in a lot of ways.� “This year I’ve been below average.� “I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.� Haas has every justification for feeling this way. Regarded as one of the PGA TOUR’s most consistent performers during the last decade, the 2011 FedExCup champ is experiencing his first sub-par season. Consider this: Just one top-10 finish in 22 starts, the fewest since his rookie season in 2007. Three top-25 finishes, the fewest ever since joining the PGA TOUR. Nine missed cuts, most since 2009. That year was the last time he did not play in the Masters and The Open Championship — until this year. It was also the last time he failed to qualify for the majority of the World Golf Championships events. As a result, Haas entered this week’s Barracuda Championship with his FedExCup Playoffs streak in jeopardy. He’s one of 13 players who have made the Playoffs in each of the first 11 years, but right now he’s 145th in points and needs a big move down the stretch to climb inside the top 125 following the Wyndham Championship. Just as alarming, Haas is in danger of losing his full status on TOUR. His five-year exemption for winning the FedExCup expired two years ago, and his exemption for his last TOUR win (in 2015) expired last season. Unless he makes the Playoffs this season, he’d have to play out of the Past Champion category — or he could try to regain his card through the Web.com Tour Finals. “My goal obviously is to try to make the Playoffs and do some good there,� the 36-year-old Haas said. “But I just haven’t played well enough to put myself in a good position to do that. That’s the reason I’m here. “Hopefully these next couple of weeks, I can figure something out.� He’s been trying to do that for quite some time now, alas with no success. Some may point to the mid-February car crash during Genesis Open week when Haas’ golf game started to suffer. Haas was a passenger in a car driven by a member of the host family in which he was staying that week. The driver, 71-year-old Mark Gibello, died on the scene, and Haas immediately withdrew from the tournament, to heal the physical wounds to his legs as well as the mental wounds from the tragic death of a friend. Haas returned a month later and soon posted his only top-10 of the season, a T-7 at the RBC Heritage. He said Thursday that his current struggles have nothing to do with the accident. “Nothing that certainly give me a reason I shouldn’t be able to play good golf,� he said. “I don’t think I was the same right afterwards physically, but I think I’ve worked my way through that.� In truth, his results had been trending poorly before the accident. He missed his last cut of the 2017 calendar year at The RSM Classic (perhaps a foreshadow, as he usually plays well in that event), then missed his first two cuts upon resuming his schedule in 2018. Generally a fast starter, he was already outside the top 125 bubble going into Riviera; never before in his FedExCup career had he been lower than 70 at that point of the season. As to what specifically has gone wrong in Haas’ game, well, pretty much everything. In Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, he currently ranks 107th. In the previous five seasons, he’s never ranked lower than 34th, and in his career, he’s previous low ranking was 75th. He also ranks 161st in Strokes Gained: Putting, again his career-worst ranking in that category. “The putting hasn’t been good, without question,� Haas said. “This year, I have not been sharp hitting the golf ball. If you don’t hit it good and you don’t putt well, then you’re not going to do well. It’s just something I’m trying to work through and figure out. But if I knew the answer, I wouldn’t do it. I would do better. “I’ve always been average at everything, you know? I’ve always been pretty good. But this year, I’ve been below average at my iron game, my putting, my chipping hasn’t been as good. I think there was one year my irons weren’t as sharp, but I was one of the top ones in scrambling. If you hit bad irons but scramble well, it doesn’t really matter. But when all facets of your game are struggling, it adds up to some missed cuts.� Adding to his frustration is that he’s not even seeing incremental improvement, despite all the time and energy he’s devoted to finding a solution. “I feel like I’ve worked harder this year than I’ve ever worked and I haven’t seen the results,� Haas said. “That’s been the hardest thing and that’s what I’m struggling with. I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, but that’s the reason I’m going to keep working at it today and tomorrow and hopefully something clicks.� Unfortunately, it did not click for Haas on Thursday. His round started out promising — two birdies in his first three holes, as he knocked his tee shot at the par-3 11th to 10 feet, then hit his approach at the par-4 12th to inside 6 feet. But he couldn’t ride the momentum, failing to capitalize on a couple of other opportunities. His round then stalled before losing steam completely at the finish, with two bogeys in his last three holes. On his last hole of the day, the par-4 ninth, he hit a terrific drive, 304 yards to the middle of the fairway. But with a sand wedge from 123 yards, he found a greenside bunker and failed to get up and down. Finishing with five points in the Modified Stableford scoring system, he’ll have to make up ground Friday in order to reach the weekend. Otherwise, he’ll leave Montreux with no FedExCup points and presumably drop a few more spots in the standings. All in all, Thursday pretty much reflected the entire frustrating, perplexing season for one of the TOUR’s most consistent and gentlemanly players. “It’s golf,� Haas said, throwing one last punch at himself, “and it’s beating me right now.�
Coach Mike Tomlin provided few details about Antonio Brown’s injury but classified the ailment as “minor.”
The strongest. The fastest. The slowest. The players rated 99 overall. We break down everything you need to know as “Madden NFL 19” hits shelves.
RENO, Nev. — Booking a place in the FedExCup Playoffs is no easy task, especially for those sitting precariously close to the top 125 bubble with only a few weeks left in the TOUR’s regular season. With 27 of the top 125 in the FedExCup standings playing the Barracuda Championship, the event offers an opportunity to solidify their position. For those on the outside looking in — 56 players ranked from 126 to 200 are in the field at Montreux Golf & Country Club — it’s a chance to spoil the party and extend the 2017-18 season beyond the Wyndham Championship. Seamus Power and Aaron Baddeley are on opposite sides of the bubble at the moment, but both managed to make positive strides to stay on the right side of the top 125 after the first round. “It’s professional golf,” said Power, who began the week at No. 123 in the current standings. “It’s not as if I wouldn’t like to play well every other week of the year. [Making the Playoffs] is somewhere in the back of your mind, but as long as it’s not affecting the way you play, it’s not that big of a deal.” Power opened with 8 points (3-under 69) in the Modified Stableford event to move up two spots to No. 121 in the projected standings. As if playing with the season on the line wasn’t difficult enough, Power had to deal with a group of hornets that stung him multiple times on the 1st hole — his 10th of the day — as he was searching for Corey Conners’ golf ball. Power managed to birdie two of his next three holes after the incident before suffering two untimely bogeys as the wind began to freshen. “I got swarmed by five or six of them and they stung me quite a bit,” Power said. “A couple got under my shirt and stung me. I’ve been stung before, but never anything like that.” While Baddeley didn’t have to deal with insects at Montreux, he had to contend with the possibility of missing out on The Northern Trust following a stretch of eight missed cuts in his previous 11 starts. Sitting at No. 135 entering the tournament, Baddeley opened with 14 points (6-under 66) to move up 30 places to No. 105. He sits just three points behind current leader Ollie Schniederjans, who amassed 17 points, in second place. Even with the possibility of missing out on the Playoffs for the second straight season looming — Baddeley had advanced to at least The Northern Trust in his previous 10 seasons before last year — the Aussie said he isn’t sweating the possibility of the season coming to a close at the Wyndham Championship. “I’m not stressed, to be honest,” Baddeley said. “Whether you go to Web.com Tour Finals or whether you finish in the 126 to 150 category, you’re going to get starts and my game’s in a good spot.” Baddeley attributed his strong play to the Modified Stableford format that puts a premium on birdies and eagles, and lessens the penalty for a big number that could crater a round most weeks. “I think there’s times where you might go for a shot that you might not or go for a couple of extra pins,” Baddeley said. “… It’s the way the format is. The more birdies the better.” NOTABLES With Montreux playing at anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 feet, Michael Thompson (10 points) noted the elevation change and wind made for some interesting club selections on Thursday. “It sometimes feels like we’re taking forever to figure out our number. You just have to be patient and crunch the numbers. We started with 5 percent for elevation at the beginning of the round and moved it to 10 percent. Then you factor in the wind. We try and keep it simple, but there’s definitely some additional math involved.” Despite missing the cut in his previous two appearances at the Barracuda Championship, Ollie Schniederjans was in complete control of his game on Thursday, closing with an eagle and three birdies over the final eight holes to finish with 17 points. He attributed his strong start to getting comfortable with his approach shot distances and throttling back a bit. “I was just coming out extremely aggressive. But my game is coming around. I feel in control of my swing for the first time in a while.” Chris Stroud posted 7 points in the opening round with the same putter he used to win last year’s Barracuda Championship. Prior to this week, Stroud had relied on a conventional-length TaylorMade Spider before returning to an Odyssey White Ice D.A.R.T. with Matt Kuchar’s preferred Arm-Lock grip. “I literally just got it rebuilt back the way it was when I won here last year. I’m going to see if I can make a big run at the FedExCup.” Aaron Baddeley and Tom Lovelady were the only two players in the field who made a big enough move on Thursday to crack the projected top 125. Baddeley moved up 30 spots to 105 while Lovelady improved five spots to 124. QUOTABLES Instead of taking a week off, I kind of wanted to get on a roll, play a little bit before the [PGA Championship] and roll into next week with some rounds. And that was a really good one here.We can show him out here that the TOUR is thinking of him and is with him. That’s what it’s all about. Golf seems very small right now in comparison.
