Veteran QB Philip Rivers was in some new colors, but he wasn’t the only one. Check out the top photos, videos, quotes and notes from the NFL on Thursday.
Aric Almirola has now drawn three poles over the last six races with NASCAR’s new format.
Expanding the tournament would be prudent, but any alterations should also keep the long-term picture in mind.
NASCAR has announced race details for its August 15-16 event at the Daytona International Speedway road course, including an additional chicane.
MSU would benefit from Xavier Tillman’s return, but will carry national hopes into 2020-21 regardless.
Veteran QB Philip Rivers was in some new colors, but he wasn’t the only one. Check out the top photos, videos, quotes and notes from the NFL on Thursday.
The shoes worn by a host of PGA Tour players this week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational have special meaning because of the young people who designed them.
A breezy day on one of the PGA TOUR’s most penal courses isn’t the ideal setting for a struggling player, but it brought out the best in two of the game’s biggest names. TPC Southwind was softened by rain, but Thursday’s scoring average still was just a quarter-stroke under par. The Bermuda rough is difficult to judge, an inconsistent breeze rustled the trees and no course on TOUR has had more water balls since 2003. Brooks Koepka made it look easy in the first round of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, displaying the bravado that brings out his best when conditions are toughest. Koepka matched his career-low round with a 62 Thursday at TPC Southwind. It gave him a two-shot lead over Rickie Fowler and Brendon Todd. RELATED: Full leaderboard Todd has already won twice this season after a remarkable comeback from a prolonged slump. Koepka and Fowler, on the other hand, are winless. Koepka ranks outside the top 125 in Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Putting this season, but on Thursday he was among the best in the field in those facets of the game. He missed just four greens and led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach (+3.36). He was fourth in Strokes Gained: Putting (+3.11), as well. “I never felt like I had to work too hard today, which is different than it has been,” Koepka said. He couldn’t have regained his form at a better time. Not only is he facing a fortnight of title defenses, but he’s 136th in the FedExCup with just three weeks remaining in the regular season. Koepka has just one top-10 this season and has finished outside the top 60 in his past three starts. Last week’s missed cut at the 3M Open may have been a blessing in disguise. It allowed him to work with his coaches, Claude Harmon III and Pete Cowen. It was Koepka’s first time seeing Cowen since THE PLAYERS. Koepka also added another coach to his stable. He started working with putting coach Phil Kenyon this week, as well. Koepka has been struggling with a left-knee injury – he had stem-cell treatment after last year’s TOUR Championship, but re-injured it at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES – but Cowen recently told the Daily Mail that the knee isn’t the culprit. “When you get an injury as bad as that you’re never 100% right again,’ said Cowen. ‘But I don’t think it’s a problem. That’s finding excuses for the fact he’s swinging it badly. We don’t need excuses, we need to sort it out.” Koepka, who thrives on criticism, appreciates the Englishman’s frank talk. “With Pete, it’s more psychological. He’ll beat me down,” Koepka said. “He’ll jump on me. I enjoy that, when someone tells I can’t do something.” Fowler also played well Thursday after struggling with his iron play and putting this season. Fowler is 89th in the FedExCup standings and in danger of missing the BMW Championship for the first time in his 11-year career. He’s never finished worse than 43rd in the FedExCup, but he has more missed cuts (five) than top-10s (two) this season. His results since the Return to Golf have belied that inconsistency, as he sandwiched two top-25s between three missed cuts, including an 81-68 roller-coaster in his last start at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Fowler started working with swing coach John Tillery last fall. He saw quick results, finishing in the top 10 in his first two starts of the calendar year. Those remain his only top-10s of the season. Some more work with Tillery before arriving at TPC Southwind resulted in Fowler’s best round since January. Fowler ranks 96th in Strokes Gained: Approach this season after finishing in the top 50 in that statistic from 2015-18. But it hasn’t just been his ball-striking. He’s also 75th in Strokes Gained: Putting, a statistic he led in 2017. Over the last four seasons, Fowler has the third-highest Strokes Gained: Putting per round (+0.52) among players with at least 200 ShotLink-measured rounds. He was in the top 10 in both Strokes Gained: Approach and Putting on Thursday. He hit 13 greens, didn’t miss a putt inside 10 feet and holed three from outside 15 feet. His only bogey came on his last hole of the day, when he missed the fairway left and decided to lay up short of the green. “Today was an accumulation of the work last week and just freeing myself up and simplifying thoughts and just playing golf versus working on the range,” Fowler said. “I was able to get a lot of good work with the putter last week and get myself back into some better positions to free up the putter. I was pulling a lot of putts, I was kind of tense with it, so it’s nice to see things kind of pay off.”
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Defending champion Brooks Koepka matched his career-best with an 8-under 62 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over Rickie Fowler in the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Koepka had nine birdies and a bogey on a windy day at TPC Southwind, a week after missing the cut in Minnesota in the 3M Open. Koepka also will defend his PGA Championship title next week at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, and his coaches helped him realize last weekend how much he was favoring his injured left knee. He sure seemed to have found something at TPC Southwind, where he turned in his lowest round of the year and best in seven events at this course. This was his eighth time shooting under par in his last nine rounds here. RELATED: Full leaderboard Fowler, who last missed the cut at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, chipped in from 30-feet to tie Koepka for the lead with a hole to play. But Fowler two-putted for bogey after putting his tee shot in the left rough on his final hole to finish at 64 and tied with Brendon Todd. Sung Kang shot 65. Justin Thomas shot a 66 and was tied with Matt Kuchar, Chez Reavie and Max Homa. Jon Rahm, playing his first event since becoming No. 1 in the world with a win at the Memorial, shot 70. Rory McIlroy also could move back to No. 1 with a win. He opened with a 73. Koepka, teeing off in the next-to-last group, made clear his injured left knee won’t slow down his title defense. He birdied his first four holes to shoot up the leaderboard and went to 4 under to share the lead with Bryson DeChambeau after rolling in a 23-footer for birdie on the par-3 No. 4. Koepka bogeyed No. 7. when he missed a 10-footer. But he hit his tee shot on the par-3 No. 8 within 7 feet and made the birdie putt. He used his putter again for a second straight birdie, rolling in an 18-footer on No. 9 to make the turn with the best front nine of the day with a 30 that tied him for the lead at 5 under. DeChambeau’s renowned power off the tee put him into trouble on his back nine. He bogeyed No. 5 after hitting his tee shot into the left rough, and he wound up in the right rough on No. 6 after a 382-yard drive. But DeChambeau put his shot within 4 feet but had to settle for par. Koepka kept rolling. He birdied two of his first four on the back nine, and he sunk a 7-footer on No. 13. He had a chance for eagle on the par-5 No. 16 but had to tap in for birdie. He finished with a 67.
As they sit atop the West with games about to restart, how did the Lakers arrive at this point in the second year with LeBron?
