What are scouts, coaches and executives talking about in Las Vegas? We have the latest intelligence and buzz-worthy items from the MGM Resorts Summer League.
Joey Logano will start Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the pole after qualifying was canceled at Daytona International Speedway.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia will be honored by Major League Baseball at Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Mets All-Star leads MLB in batting and is a throwback to a different era.
Joey Logano is the Cup Series points leader and therefore he’s in the No. 1 spot for Saturday night’s race at Daytona.
Former New England Patriots linebacker and current ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi is recovering after suffering a stroke Thursday, his family said in a statement.
BLAINE, Minn. – Sam Saunders knows there are plenty of other people who would like to be living their dream on the PGA TOUR like he’s been doing for the last five years. He understands. He’s been there, too. But the truth is, this season just hasn’t been much fun. And at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago, when Saunders shot 80 on Sunday to finish dead last among the players who survived the 54-hole cut, he hit rock bottom. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to play golf anymore. “It sounds so whiny because so many people would give anything to be playing on the PGA TOUR, and I get that,â€� Saunders said. “It’s a wonderful life and it’s a wonderful career, but I was happy when I was with my wife and kids. I was happy when I was hanging out at the hotel and the house. “The second I got to the golf course I was pretty miserable. You just feel horrible out there and it’s frustrating. You don’t want to be playing bad golf and you certainly don’t want to be playing bad golf in front of a bunch of people and cameras. It’s just not fun.â€� A new driver and a few adjustments after working with putter guru Joe Toulon have things headed in a more positive direction, though. And not coincidentally, Saunders finds himself tied for second at the midway point of the 3M Open, four strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau. Related: Tee times | DeChambeau ties course record | Finau finding comfort zone “The guys at Callaway, I mean, we spent three hours together and they really made every effort to get me in a club that I felt really comfortable with and it’s made a huge difference off the tee last week and this week,â€� Saunders said.  “But most importantly this week has been the putter. … I’ve seen a couple putts go in these two days and it’s a welcome surprise.â€� And Saunders, who has made 14 birdies and just four bogeys this week, needed something positive to happen after missing six cuts in his last seven starts. Interestingly, it has come at a golf course originally designed by his late grandfather, Arnold Palmer. “The putting, it frees up everything,â€� Saunders said. “When you start making some putts, you drive the ball better, you hit your irons better, you chip better. It all does always come full circle to that.â€� Speaking of coming full circle, Saunders has five starts left to make a push to keep his card. He ranks 188th in the FedExCup and needs to earn enough points to get inside the top 125 after the Wyndham Championship to retain full playing privileges for the 2019-20 season. Otherwise, he’ll have to head to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and try to finish among the 25 money leaders there. “I guess solo second would lock up a job for next year, but I’m not thinking about it that way,â€� Saunders said. “I really just want to try and win a golf tournament and hopefully I have a chance on Sunday this week.â€� Saunders knows he has lots of friends and family – and some people he might not even know – who are genuinely pulling for him. He tries to use the many text messages of support as inspiration as he confronts the final weeks of the regular season head-on. “I feel good again, I feel normal, back to my happy self, smiling on the golf course, which you’ve got to do,â€� Saunders said. “It’s an effort sometimes, it really is. We all go through it at times, but I definitely feel like me again and excited about the way I’m playing golf and know that this is what I want to do, I want to play out here and I’m not done yet. “I’ve got a lot left to accomplish out here.â€�
It was among the most disturbing images of the first half of the baseball season, when a small girl was struck by Albert Almora Jr.’s foul ball in Houston. Since then, pressure on MLB to address fan safety has intensified.
BLAINE, Minn. – When Bryson DeChambeau got his first look at TPC Twin Cities on Tuesday, he thought 14 or 15 under might end up being the winning score at the inaugural 3M Open. Turns out, he only needed two rounds to get there, though. Not four. So DeChambeau has to readjust his goals now after Friday’s course-record-tying 62 left him at 14 under and leading by four. The bogey-free round of 9 under matched Scott Piercy’s number on Thursday, a performance that DeChambeau said “opened the floodgates a little bit.â€� It was also the lowest score the 25-year-old has ever shot on the PGA TOUR. “Certainly, me doing that today inspires me to even do better over the weekend,â€� DeChambeau said. “I know I can do it. I know I still left a couple out there, lipped out a couple short putts. Although I made a lot of putts, I’m not going to take that for granted.â€� Charles Howell III, who played with DeChambeau and Keegan Bradley in the first two rounds, finished with a 66 that included a pair of eagles, one of which came courtesy of a wedge from 80 yards on the par-4 seventh that sucked back into the hole. As good as his own round was, though, Howell came away impressed. “Well, playing with Bryson, it was ‑‑ it was a good round,â€� Howell said when asked about his 5-under tally. “Not great. It was great playing with a guy going low out there, especially coming to a new venue where you quite don’t know what to expect. “You see these guys keep pressing and pressing like he was doing. He kind of drug Keegan and I along with him.â€� Bradley couldn’t quite keep pace with DeChambeau and Howell, shooting a 68 that left him 4 under for 36 holes. But he added to the highlight reel when he drained an improbable 61-footer at the second hole, his fourth birdie in the last five holes. Howell said seeing DeChambeau play so well set the tone for the round. “Bryson was obviously, he had two great days of putting, so it’s nice as a golfer to see balls going in the hole and see guys going low and doing well,â€� Howell said. “Yeah, and whatever you may want to call that, drafting, whatever it may be, it matters I think, yes.â€� DeChambeau has not made a bogey this week. He’s finding fairways, nine in each of the first two rounds, and was spot-on with the putter on Friday, making five birdie putts of more than 19 feet. “Whenever I can roll a couple putts in from 20 feet or more, that gives you a lot of confidence for the game,â€� DeChambeau said. “And when you’re striking it well and driving it where you’re looking, that’s obviously very positive. “I know it’s cliche to say that, but it’s just what it is unfortunately. Kind of get into a rhythm a little bit, the zone, and it just feels good sometimes.â€�Â
In part one of a two-part series, ESPN explores the dangers of youth basketball — and how the culture of perpetual competition is jeopardizing the futures of the very stars it hopes to create.
