Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf will have minor knee surgery in an early setback for an offense counting on the second-round draft pick. Metcalf was held out of Sunday’s preseason game at Minnesota, and coach Pete Carroll said the rookie from Mississippi probably would have a procedure
The pressure is on Minnesota’s offense to improve, and a more productive passing attack will depend partially on a diversified group of targets for Kirk Cousins. Rookie tight end Irv Smith Jr. and backup wide receiver Brandon Zylstra each had touchdown receptions, and the Vikings used a versatile
The league settled the collusion case with Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, yet has continued to take jabs from the two. Doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon either.
Jets coach Adam Gase blames himself for playing Avery Williamson late into the second quarter of Thursday’s preseason game. After Williamson suffered a season-ending injury, Gase decided running back Le’Veon Bell won’t play in the preseason.
Leah Pritchett ended a 26-event winless streak Sunday in the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. Pritchett beat Mike Salinas in the final with a 4.066-second run at 235.72 mph for her eighth career Top Fuel title.
The Braves star was pulled for not hustling, the Nats bounced back in a big way and the Polar Bear growled again — just another day in baseball’s wildest division.
Dwight Howard’s representatives have been given permission by the Grizzlies to speak to teams that might have interest in acquiring the center, including the Lakers, sources say.
MEDINAH, Ill. – Justin Thomas was already nervous. He had probably lingered too long on his phone, reading the good-luck and you-got-this texts from well-wishers who assumed that closing out a six-shot lead on Sunday is a mere formality. JT hadn’t even arrived at the course yet for his final round at the BMW Championship. When he did, some friendly advice was waiting for him from the locker room attendants at Medinah, who evidently decided that a guy who’s won a FedExCup, a major, and multiple PGA TOUR events needed help on how to close out a tournament. OK, it has been a year since Thomas has won. People like him and want him to succeed. But still … Their advice? Talk to your caddie. A lot. Make sure you keep talking. “OK, as long as you stop talking, it’s fine with me,â€� JT thought to himself. Thomas knows all too well that large leads do not come with guarantees. Sure, six-shot leads seem safe – since 1928, just seven 54-hole leaders in PGA TOUR history have lost such a lofty lead. But Thomas remembered the 2017 Sentry Tournament of Champions, when he led by five shots after 13 holes but saw it whittled to one by Hideki Matsuyama before JT closed it out. Matsuyama was at it again on Sunday, going out in 5-under 31 en route to his second 63 of the week. Matsuyama’s first 63, on Friday, had set the course record – one that lasted for 24 hours until Thomas eclipsed it with a magnificent 61 on Saturday that set him up with the huge advantage. Matsuyama was too far away from posing any real threat, but one of Thomas’ playing partners, future Presidents Cup teammate Patrick Cantlay, was offering some high heat. When Cantlay produced his fourth consecutive birdie at the par-5 10th while Thomas bogeyed the hole after an errant second shot with a 3-wood – “Just a bad shot,â€� JT said – the lead was reduced to two shots. Related: Leaderboard | What’s in Thomas’s bag? | FedExCup standings | Meet the top 30 | How it works: TOUR Championship Cantlay had the momentum. “I knew I had to make birdies,â€� he said. But that’s when Thomas flipped the switch. The game was officially on – and that got the competitive juices flowing. In fact, his nervousness to start the day with a six-shot lead was now replaced with the bravado and fearlessness of a closer. “If I have a two-shot lead with eight holes left,â€� Thomas said, “I feel confident I can pull it off.â€� Thomas responded at the par-4 11th by hitting an approach shot from 106 yards to 2 feet. Birdie. Lead now three shots. An errant drive on the next hole posed trouble, but Thomas saved par by rolling in a 14-foot putt. Then, after Cantlay rolled in a birdie putt at the par-3 13th from 15 feet, Thomas responded with his own birdie from inside 12 feet. They matched birdies again at the par-4 15th, before Cantlay finally flinched on the next hole with a bogey. With a four-shot lead and two to play, JT was safely home. “I needed to make any of the putts on 12, 14 or 15 if I really wanted to get some momentum on my side,â€� Cantlay said. “Seemed like him saving par on 12 was big. Then obviously I tried to get one back on 13, and then he made it on top of me. “So he just played really well. It was going to be hard for me to get to 25 under anyway.â€� Indeed, that’s where Thomas ended up, just three shots off the tournament scoring record on a course that normally offers more resistance. In the end, Thomas needed the pressure of being pushed so that he could offer the proper – and winning – response. “It’s always easy when things are going well,â€� Thomas said. “When your back is up against the wall or when you get pressured or put a little heat on you, I think how you respond is sometimes a little bit better or show a little bit more.â€� OK, so talking about leads … in winning the BMW Championship, Thomas now moves to No. 1 in FedExCup points. Under the new Starting Strokes format that will be used at the TOUR Championship, Thomas will start the tournament at 10 under. He’ll lead No. 2 Patrick Cantlay by two strokes, No. 3 Brooks Koepka by three shots, and so on, with the back end of the field 10 shots behind. “I can certainly say 1000% I never slept on a Wednesday lead,â€� joked Thomas. But he knows the opportunity is immense. He’s already won one FedExCup, back in 2017 when he won five times and established himself as one of the world’s top golfers. Only Tiger Woods has won multiple FedExCups. Thomas is in the driver’s seat to join him. Just like six-shot leads on Sunday, though, there will be no guarantees at East Lake. Thomas is taking nothing for granted. Never in his golfing career, even as a junior, has he been given strokes before a tournament. It will be a different format, but the mindset remains the same. Close it out. “There’s nobody in the history of this sport that has experienced it, so nobody knows,â€� Thomas said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be weird. It’s going to be different, I know that. “I know that I’m in a lot better position than I was at the start of the week. I just have to be grateful and thankful for that.â€� More thankful, no doubt, than any locker room advice he may receive the next few days. Don’t worry about JT – he still knows how to win.
Dwight Howard’s representatives have been given permission by the Grizzlies to speak to teams that might have interest in acquiring the center, including the Lakers, sources say.
MEDINAH, Ill. – Those who finished outside the Top 30 in the FedExCup weren’t the only ones suffering heartache at the BMW Championship at Medinah. Tony Finau needed a solo third or better to make the U.S. Presidents Cup Team that will take on the Internationals at Royal Melbourne Dec. 12-15, but with a final-round 69, he got passed by Hideki Matsuyama (63) for third place. With his solo fourth, Finau was on the outside looking in and will need a pick from U.S. Captain Tiger Woods. Related: Leaderboard | FedExCup standings | Meet the top 30 “A little bittersweet,� Finau said of the week. “I played nice. Few guys played better than me this week, and then I’m going to be outside the top eight for the Presidents Cup. I knew what I needed to do this week. I’m proud I gave myself a chance to do that.� Meanwhile, Xander Schauffele (72, T19), Bryson DeChambeau (70, T48) and Patrick Cantlay (65, solo second) secured their first berths on the U.S. Team. “Something I’ve learned is the more you can spend time with the best players in the world, the better your game can get if you draw on the right things,� Cantlay said at Medinah after closing the gap to two strokes through 10 holes before Justin Thomas pulled away on the back nine. The last time Cantlay played a team golf event, he added, was the 2011 Walker Cup. “I really love it and I’ve heard great things about Royal Melbourne,� he said. Meanwhile, it was a big week for C.T. Pan (72, T31), who not only played the first two rounds of the BMW with Woods, he wound up seventh in the final International standings. Pan, of Chinese Taipei, will be a first-time Presidents Cup participant along with Abraham Ancer (70, T28) of Mexico, Haotong Li of China, and Cameron Smith of Australia. Pan, Ancer and Li will be the first to represent their respective countries in the Presidents Cup. “Being able to lock down this spot, that means a lot to me,� Pan said. Among those on the outside looking in at the automatic qualifiers for the International Team was Jason Day, whose final-round 74 left him with a T52 finish at the BMW. Day will need a pick from International Captain Ernie Els to make it to Melbourne. “I would say below average,� Day said, when asked to describe his season. Among the Americans who failed to make the top eight were U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland and Phil Mickelson, who has played in every Presidents Cup since the first one in 1994. Although he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this season, Mickelson has struggled of late, and a final-round 71 at Medinah left him with a T48 finish at the BMW. Captains Woods and Els will make their final four picks to round out their rosters after the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, Oct. 31-Nov. 3. “I’ll play Korea and Napa,� Mickeson said. “… If I play well, I might try to add a couple in Asia to try to warrant a pick. If I’m not playing well, I probably won’t.�
