As he looks to defend his title at Augusta National, follow Tiger Woods’ Friday round at the Masters shot by shot.
Kim Ng has been qualified to be a general manager in Major League Baseball for years, and she knew it. Now, she gets her chance with the Miami Marlins. It took far too long.
The Patriots again find the odds stacked against them Sunday night against the Ravens — and with good reason.
AUGUSTA, GA. - Ernie Els is not in the least bit surprised to see eight of his former International Presidents Cup team in the hunt for a Green Jacket at the Masters. The legend knew he had a special bunch of men in Melbourne late last year. And he warns those already writing off those who he led down at Royal Melbourne in Australia, to do so at their potential peril. His men know how to fight. History shows his International team was rundown in singles by Tiger Woods and his U.S. side in one of the most exciting Presidents Cups on record, but not before the young International studs showed they can match it with their American counterparts. They had taken an unexpected 10-8 lead to Sunday before getting overcome 16-14. Unlike many Cups of the past, this team was punching hard the entire time. RELATED: Leaderboard | Nine things to know: Augusta National Golf Club "If you listen to the coverage not many people are giving these guys a chance but let me tell you they have shown their capabilities and have found some enormous confidence in themselves in recent times," Els told PGATOUR.com. "Some of them were very green when we came to Melbourne but they were keen to learn and develop their game and that was on an Alistair McKenzie course at Royal Melbourne so it's not surprising to see them contending now. They learned patience on his greens. "Hopefully they keep the doggedness for the weekend, which I am sure they will, as they have all got a chance to win the Green Jacket now and that would be great." Six of his 12-man side sit inside the top 10, two of whom are part of a tie for the lead, with two others trending towards also being part of the weekend. The second round is not yet complete after earlier rain delays. But as it stands the International men are looking good. Australia's Cameron Smith and Mexico's Abraham Ancer pushed their way to the top of the leaderboard after playing a round and a half Friday. Smith's 67-68 featured an incredible finish in his second round where he stiffed a 7-wood to a foot at the par-5 15th and made eagle before making birdie on each of the last three holes following. Ancer shot 68-67, rebounding from an opening bogey in his second round. They're joined at the top by Americans Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas. Thomas should know Smith well. The Australian came back from three holes down to beat him in singles during the Presidents Cup. South Korean Sungjae Im finished off rounds of 66-70 to be just a shot off the lead. Joining him among others are Japan's Hideki Matsuyama who had three holes left to play on his second round when darkness halted play. And just another shot further back at seven under sat C.T. Pan and Louis Oosthuizen. Pan had two holes left to negotiate at days end while veteran Oosthuizen has six holes left. Els pointed to the months following his teams close loss in Melbourne as proof the individuals were ready to take what they learned as a team into their own game. Smith won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. Im won the Honda Classic. Adam Scott, who would have likely been up there with his teammates if not for a freakish break that saw his ball rebound off the flagstick at the par-5 15th into the water, won The Genesis Invitational in February and Marc Leishman, who sits just five off the pace at four under with four holes left in his second round, won the Farmers Insurance Open. "We all learnt a hell of a lot. We didn't feel like we lost in many ways because we felt like we played as one and unlocked something special," captain Els said. "Immediately after the Cup the guys won numerous tournaments and contended everywhere. It went quiet because of the COVID break which is a shame but it's nice to see they are back at it, and great to see them play well." Smith remembers the week in Melbourne fondly. Els had fired him up by leaving him out of the contest on the opening day and he did all he could to atone. Teamed with Im for two sessions for a 0-1-1 record, he came to singles itching to prove himself. He did that by coming back from three down to beat Thomas 2 and 1. "It was a great week. We’ve all become best of mates and it’s good to see the guys right up there. Abe finished five or ten minutes before me, so we were giving each other fist pumps just now," Smith said. "I just like being tested. I feel like my game is best when I have to think a lot and hit the right shots. It’s obviously good to be in contention on a weekend, and I feel like I’ve been there enough where I can have a good crack at it." For Ancer, the week was huge. It began with him becoming the star of his team, forging a 3-0-1 record in team play, and ended with him up against Woods in singles. It was an epic battle that Woods would ultimately claim but Ancer left with his experience tank full. "I’ve always said that experience in Melbourne definitely prepared me or helped me feel a lot more comfortable, really, in any scenario I get put in," Ancer admits. "The amount of pressure that you feel there, the excitement, every putt counts so much. That whole week was big for me and my career. I felt like it’s helped me tremendously." Ancer has even more motivation after watching his close friend and fellow Mexican Carlos Ortiz become the first from their country to win on the PGA TOUR since 1978 with his triumph at the Vivint Houston Open. Ancer was already at Augusta National and stopped his preparation to watch the tournament. "Carlos inspired me. It was awesome watching him. I was here at the locker room watching him. I was going to go play the back nine, but I was like, I’ve got to go watch my boy win this thing," Ancer explained. "I’ve never been that nervous watching somebody else play. I was actually freaking out there a little bit. It was awesome. I got pumped up. That day, I ended up practicing until dark here. I was really excited, and it motivated me, too." The last International team eligible player to win the Masters was Australian Scott back in 2013. It was part of a six year run where Trevor Immelman, Angel Cabrera and Charl Schwartzel also claimed the title.
The Panthers officially ruled out running back Christian McCaffrey for Sunday's game against the Buccaneers. Coach Matt Rhule said he's "hopeful" McCaffrey can return for the Week 11 game against the Lions. McCaffrey injured his shoulder at the end of Sunday's loss to the Chiefs. He returned for one play before leaving for good. The [more]
Warren Sharp breaks down some of the notable Week 10 games from an analytics and betting perspective. (Rob Schumacher/The Republic via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
Pro Football Hall of Famer and Heisman winner Paul Hornung has died at the age of 84.
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Justin Thomas vividly remembers his first round at Augusta National. He recalls what else was happening in his golfing life, that he was a freshman at Alabama, and that he played with Jeff Knox, the best golfer amongst Augusta National members. Rounding out the foursome: Thomas’ Alabama teammates Lee Knox (Jeff's son) and Bobby Wyatt. "It was straight after I think our first event in Puerto Rico, and we were so excited," said Thomas, who shot a second-round 69 to reach 9 under par, tied atop the Masters leaderboard with Dustin Johnson (70), Abraham Ancer (67) and Cameron Smith (68). "... It felt like a tournament round you’re getting ready for, you’re nervous on the first tee. We had a great day." RELATED: Leaderboard | Nine things to know: Augusta National Golf Club Johnson (world No. 1) and Thomas (world No. 3) will never be mistaken for one another, even if their first names are separated by only one letter. But they have this in common: Each has one major to his name, and each initially struggled to find his A game for the Masters. That's not uncommon; learning the nuances of the course is a rite of passage for almost everyone not named Fuzzy Zoeller, who remains the only first-timer to win (1979). "I think it’s taken me a little bit to get over, not - I guess maybe the fear of Augusta National," said Thomas, whose T12 finish last year was the first he'd begun to play to his potential. "... I kind of go back to that (first) round, like, dude, remember you made six birdies when you were a freshman in college. I would hope you’d be able to handle it your fifth appearance now." While this weekend will present a different kind of nerves for Thomas, there may be similarities to his first time here. It was February 2012 - not far from November on the golf calendar - and it was wet and scoreable, and Thomas really, really wanted to play well. In the end he threw in some mistakes with his six birdies and shot even. He was low man in the group and was especially excited to beat Knox, whom he calls Mr. Jeff, because "he tears this place up." Still, that first flush of success didn't immediately translate once he'd earned a coveted Masters invite. He scheduled practice rounds with players like Tiger Woods and Fred Couples, soaking up as much knowledge as possible, but finished T39 as a rookie in 2016, then T22 and T17 the next two years. He was improving, but not exactly by leaps and bounds. Today, Thomas says he just needed to learn where to miss, where to be aggressive, and that he didn't need to do anything superhuman. He also had to shed that fear factor. His Ryder and Presidents Cup teammate Johnson got off to an even slower start here. He was T30 in his rookie year in 2009, then got worse with a pair of T38s in 2010 and 2011. Not until Johnson committed to a new level of precision with his wedges, and improved his putting, did he begin to figure out how to play what is often referred to as a second-shot course. Today, the world No. 1, expects to contend for the green jacket. His T2 finish last year, one behind Tiger Woods, was one of four top-10 finishes in the last five years. He might have had another top-10 in 2017 but slipped on some stairs and hurt himself, leading to a WD. Many experts had pegged Johnson as the clear pre-tournament favorite that year. He had just won three times on TOUR, including two WGCs, and climbed to No. 1 in the world. In that respect what's happening this week, or what could happen, has been a long time coming. As with the roughly half the field that didn't finish the first round Thursday, Johnson began his Friday early, with a 4:05 wakeup call. Then it was straight back out to the back nine. He hasn't been great on the greens, with 32 putts in the second round, and bogeyed the par-5 15th. But otherwise, he said, he's been mostly pleased, especially with his two 2s at the testy 12th hole. "It’s been a long day," he said, when asked to name his best shot so far this week. "I mean, both the shots I hit on 12 today, I like. I made birdie both times. So I take that any day of the week." Now the top two Americans in the world have a chance to take a quantum career leap even if it's taken a little extra perseverance to get here. They'll take that any day of the week, too.
Dustin Johnson wasn’t a surprise leader after the first round of the Masters. The other two co-leaders were.
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