If NASCAR wants to ban the Confederate flag at its events, changing policy isn’t the answer. It’s going to need the support of its drivers, who hold far more sway over fans.
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Reigning Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton completed his first laps of a Formula One car since February on Tuesday at a private Mercedes test at UK circuit Silverstone.
Edge rusher Dee Ford has experienced disappointment two seasons in a row after getting so close to Super Bowl titles. He explains how to use that pain to help the 49ers become even better in 2020.
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Plenty of quarterbacks are having their own private workouts with their receivers. The Colts are having their own version of a rookie minicamp. Via Zak Keefer of TheAthetic.com, Colts rookie quarterback Jacob Eason has been working out with a pair of draft classmates (second-rounder Michael Pittman Jr. and sixth-rounder Dezmon Patmon) in Southern California. The [more]
For the first time in just under three months PGA TOUR golf returns at the storied Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. The home of Ben Hogan and the plaid jacket hosts the return to golf with a bumper field four your (television) viewing pleasure. Sure, some new protocols are in place during these pandemic times, but the ultimate goal of getting the ball in the hole as quickly as possible remains. It’s time for air high fives, waves and hat tips directly into the camera, and perhaps a little more broadcast interaction with players than we’ve seen before. RELATED: Featured Groups, tee times | First step into golf’s new normal | Power Rankings THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER They call it the “Horrible Horseshoeâ€� at Colonial and it usually hits you early in your round. The two longest par 4s on the course with the longest par 3 sandwiched right there in between them. It starts at the 483-yard par-4 third before hitting the 247-yard par-3 fourth and finishes with the 481-yard par-4 fifth. Since 2003 these three holes have played to a scoring average of +0.479 strokes over par. Last season it was +0.582 with the 5th, at +0. 273 the equal toughest hole on the course. Since 1983, the Horrible Horseshoe has played to a combined score to par total of 7,613-over par while the other 15 holes have played a combined 1,113-under par. Come through there without dropping a shot and you’ve no doubt made a move in the right direction up the leaderboard. LANDING ZONE Last season at Colonial Country Club the 441-yard 18th hole played fractionally under par but came after six straight holes of an above par average. If you need to make your play on the final hole you need to thread the needle down the treelined fairway to give yourself the best look at a green guarded by water on the left side. Laying back for accuracy wasn’t the best move a year ago as players who hit their tee ball 280-plus averaged under par but those who left it short of that mark averaged over par. Here’s a look at where tee shots landed in 2019. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Wade Stettner: “Dry weather is forecast all week as high pressure stalls across northern Texas. Temperatures will warm back into the upper 90s from Thursday through Sunday. Humidity levels will be low this week so it will be more of a dry heat. Breezy conditions are expected on Wednesday with lighter winds forecast from Thursday through Sunday.â€� For the latest weather news from Fort Worth, Texas, check out the PGA TOUR Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK First of all, the mission was to not shank the first seven balls I hit on the range, trying to make contact with the ball, and then slowly just try to get the rust off. BY THE NUMBERS: ISLAND GREEN EDITION 1: Rank in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green for the last two winners of the Charles Schwab Challenge. (Justin Rose, Kevin Na) 2: Number of players in the field who share the cumulative scoring record on the Horrible Horseshoe (holes 3-5) at Colonial Country Club. Since complete records began in 1983 just five players are -2 in their career on the stretch including Branden Grace and Patrick Reed who line up this week. Reed has 12 rounds, Grace just four. 4: Defending champion Kevin Na has four rounds of 63 or better at the Charles Schwab Challenge, the most of any player at the event in the last 37 years. 10: Last season Colonial CC had just 10.05percent of players make birdie or better when hitting approach shots out of the rough. This marked the third lowest Birdie or Better percentage from the rough all season. 13: The number of players who haven’t recorded a bogey or worse on the Horrible Horseshoe at Colonial CC in the last 37 years. That’s just 1.7percent of 768 total players. 75: Percentage (75.43%) of greens hit in regulation from inside 125 yards last season at Colonial Country Club. This made them the second toughest to hit on TOUR from close range. SCATTERSHOTS Floyd Tribute: As part of ongoing efforts to amplify the voices and efforts underway to end racial and social injustice, the PGA TOUR has set aside an 8:46 a.m. tee time that will feature no players. The time has been set aside at both Colonial Country Club (Charles Schwab Challenge) and TPC Sawgrass (Korn Ferry Tour Challenge), as 8:46 has become a universal symbol for the racial injustice faced by the black community. There will also be a one-minute moment of silence at that time, which will begin with three horn blasts coordinated through PGA TOUR Rules Officials. Players on site will be asked to pause for reflection as a demonstration of support for the TOUR’s commitment to addressing racial and social injustices. Star studded field: The field includes each of the top-five players in the Official World Golf Ranking and also contains FedExCup leader Sungjae Im and 44-time winner Phil Mickelson. There are 101 players in the field that have won on the PGA TOUR, making the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge the first tournament in the FedExCup era other than THE PLAYERS Championship to showcase 100 or more TOUR winners. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, No.2 Jon Rahm and No.3 Brooks Koepka will play together over the opening two rounds. “It’s hard to say anymore who’s the best in the world after not competing for three months,â€� Rahm said. “It all depends on who’s prepared the best or who’s handled the situation the best or who even handles these new rules on the PGA TOUR the best. It’s just a ranking. It’s a continuously moving thing, and since we’ve been stopped, I don’t think those numbers matter a lot anymore. I think we only can come back and prove that we deserve that spot.â€� New Normal: This week marks the first TOUR event under the new health and safety measures put in place to continue the fight against COVID-19. Played without on-site fans and with multiple social distancing and hygiene protocols the Charles Schwab Challenge marks a chance for the new “normalâ€� to be put into practice. The TOUR’s health and safety plan has been developed over the better part of three months with input from PGA TOUR medical adviser Dr. Tom Hospel, an expert in infectious diseases from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and the Federal Coronavirus Task Force, as well as other specialists and laboratory directors and in consultation with the other professional sports leagues. Testing protocols – including a mobile laboratory in partnership with Sanford Health – will ensure the TOUR will not take valuable resources from the communities in which it plays. While most are on the outside hoping for a look in via broadcasts later in the week, a select few are inside the grounds. Here is a firsthand account of how things went down in the lead up to the tournament. Honoring Frontline Workers: Despite a three-month break, the TOUR, its tournaments and players have not stopped making an impact including significant COVID-19 relief ($36 million) and funds for other meaningful organizations. That work continues this week as the Charles Schwab Challenge has created a charitable platform, “Rise to the Challengeâ€�, to engage golf fans at home while also raising money for COVID-19 relief and DFW charities through autographed memorabilia and one-of-a-kind experiences. Additionally, the tournament will feature names of local frontline workers alongside the players’ names. The 148 players in the Charles Schwab Challenge field will represent 148 different frontline workers from across North Texas who have been working tirelessly since the pandemic began – often at the risk of their own personal health and safety – to meet the needs of those most directly impacted in the Fort Worth area. Palmer pace setter: Colonial member Ryan Palmer has been given the honor of hitting the first shot on the PGA TOUR in nearly three months. The veteran four-time TOUR winner was chuffed when asked to be the official restart of the season after the COVID-19 break. There was a time when Byron Nelson had the same honor on an annual basis in the Charles Schwab Challenge. Colonial Country Club aka “Hogan’s Alleyâ€� dates back to 1946 and holds the distinction of being the longest-run event on the PGA TOUR to be contested on the same course.
The Players Coalition has gathered the signatures of more than 1,400 current and retired athletes, coaches, general managers and staff members from the NFL, NBA and MLB in support of a bill to end qualified immunity for police.
How do you produce live golf in the age of COVID-19? It’s complicated. Sean McManus, Chairman of CBS Sports, said the network will use roughly half its normal on-site personnel, including Jim Nantz with a robotic camera instead of Nick Faldo, who will be in Orlando with Frank Nobillo. Staff in New York and Los Angeles will also be contributing. “It’s one of the great challenges that I’ve ever seen in my 35 years,� Nantz said. “This is the most complicated production plan I’ve ever been involved in,� McManus added. Golf was already the hardest sport to produce. Now it’s exponentially harder, but the network is embarking on an 11-week run of coverage in which they’re figuring it out on the fly. This week’s show has been more than two months in the making, McManus said. Among the never-before-attempted features will be a mid-round confession cam, in a tent, featuring a robotic camera and a single question on a cue card for players to (hopefully) answer as they play through. Necessity is the mother of invention, McManus said, and with no fans and no roars, it was time to explore new audio sources. The broadcast will acknowledge current events – the pandemic, the ongoing protests for racial justice – but provide much-needed counterprogramming. “I think our nation maybe needs a bit of a distraction,� McManus said. Nantz called this week “an opportunity for the TOUR to create a wider fan base than it’s ever had before.� FedExCup No. 2 Justin Thomas echoed that sentiment. Ryan Palmer, a member at Colonial Country Club, said, “We need live golf. America needs it. We need live sports. I think this week is going to be a very special, huge week for the sporting world.� We need it because we have had almost nothing but sports rebroadcasts and “The Great British Baking Show� and far too much terrible news to watch for nearly three months. The Schwab will pull in golf fans, yes, but also sports fans and anyone just looking for something different. “I think we’ve all exhausted every one of our favorite shows,� said Brandel Chamblee, the Golf Channel analyst, who will also ramp back up this week. “By now, we’ve done everything there is to do around the house. I think everybody’s honey-do lists are checked off and completed. “Sporting events bring us together in a way nothing else does,� he added. “It gives us something somewhat trivial to talk about, but entertaining nonetheless, and allows all of us to have loyalty. It’s not life or death. It’s raw entertainment, but in it, you know, there’s inspiration. So it just galvanizes us. … I expect the ratings to be colossally high.� Indeed, it’s almost hard to overstate the importance of this Return to Golf. We’ve missed the percussive thwap and eye-popping parabola of a Rory McIlroy drive. We’ve missed the terrible tension of a jam-packed leaderboard on a late Sunday afternoon. Heck, we’ve even missed the “mashed potatoes� guy. (OK, maybe not so much him.) Scientifically, what we’ve been missing is mirror neurons, which are what happen when we watch golf, listen to a concert, or even read a novel. To the extent that we’re familiar with an activity, some percentage of our premotor cortex kicks in even as we observe it. Simply put, as Rory sizes up a putt to win on a steamy day in Texas, our palms, too, are sweating. Sports bring us together? Oh, yeah, they do – on an empathic level. “There’s the empathy of almost being in the mind of the athlete,� said UCLA neuroscientist Marco Iacoboni, an expert on mirror neurons, “and then there’s sharing that empathy with other people watching that athlete – we’ve been missing that big-time. It will be nice to get that back.� We’ve also been missing the element of surprise; fans like watching talent, yes, but also want to be surprised by luck – a crazy bounce, for example, to give the underdogs and/or less skilled a chance. Iacoboni calls it the you-never-know-what-is-going-to-happen factor. Meanwhile, real life goes on, and continues to surprise us all. “I’m 61 years old,� Nantz said, when asked about current events, “and I consider this to be perhaps the most important time in history in my lifetime. We just have to get this opportunity right. We can’t let this moment pass without real and meaningful progress when it comes to equality, diversity, justice, love and empathy, and I hope to express that at the top. “… I think the golf TOUR being back in action,� he added, “it comes at a very important time in our nation’s history. It’s a chance to get people to actually watch something together, root together, unify together, and I hope that that can be achieved.�
