Team USA learning this isn’t the NBA gameTeam USA learning this isn’t the NBA game
Two exhibition losses are concerning, but it’s too early to panic. However, the Americans must adjust to the style of international play in order to right the ship.
Day: July 13, 2021
Report: 76ers engaging teams on Ben Simmons tradeReport: 76ers engaging teams on Ben Simmons trade
The 76ers have said over and over and over they wouldn’t trade Ben Simmons (even while discussing trading Simmons).
Report: Clippers, Bulls expected to be pursue Lonzo Ball in free agencyReport: Clippers, Bulls expected to be pursue Lonzo Ball in free agency
With Lonzo Ball’s future in New Orleans in doubt, the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers each will reportedly pursue him in free agency.
How players will handle a 17-game seasonHow players will handle a 17-game season
There are a handful of players who have already endured 17 games in one season — including Jerry Rice. Here’s what he and other had to say about it.
Club foot reason for Jon Rahm’s TOUR-winning short swingClub foot reason for Jon Rahm’s TOUR-winning short swing
SANDWICH, England – U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm has revealed his distinctive shorter swing is a direct result of being born with a club foot. Rahm, the favorite for this week’s Open Championship at Royal St George’s, explained how the restriction of movement in his right ankle has necessitated the swing he has now used to win six times on the PGA TOUR. “I have the swing I have, and I’ve gotten more mobile and stronger in some parts of my swing so that might slightly change it, but I have certain unique parts and certain unique, let’s say, physical limitations that let me swing the way I swing, and I don’t deviate from that,” Rahm explained. “I was born with a club foot on my right leg, which means for anybody that’s sensitive about that, my right leg up to the ankle was straight, my foot was 90 degrees turned inside and basically upside down. “So when I was born… they pretty much broke every bone in the ankle and I was casted within 20 minutes of being born from the knee down. I think every week I had to go back to the hospital to get recasted, so from knee down my leg didn’t grow at the same rate.” Rahm also revealed his right leg is a centimeter and a half shorter than his left leg and he’s spent the majority of his golf life adapting his game around his own unique swing rather than searching for something others might term more clinical. “What I mean by limitations is I didn’t take a full swing because my right ankle doesn’t have the mobility or stability to take it. So I learned at a very young age that I’m going to be more efficient at creating power and be consistent from a short swing. If I take a full to parallel, yeah, it might create more speed, but I have no stability,” he added. After claiming his first major championship last month at Torrey Pines, Rahm enters The Open in red hot form – 44 under in his last 12 worldwide rounds. All signs point to the Spaniard having a great chance to become just the seventh player to win both Open’s in the same year. Only Bobby Jones (twice – 1926, 1930), Gene Sarazen (1932), Ben Hogan (1953), Lee Trevino (1971), Tom Watson (1982) and Tiger Woods (2000) have managed the incredible feat. Rahm’s previous best Open Championship finish is a tie for 11th in 2019 but with a seventh-place finish at last week’s Scottish Open he continues to trend towards doing much better. And with the major drought over, the shackles are off. “It would be pretty incredible to win both Opens in one year. It would be amazing. I did have a sense of relief after winning the first major. I felt like for the better part of five years, all I heard is major, major, major just because I was playing good golf, as if it was easy to win a major championship,” Rahm said. “But the fact that you are expected to win one means nothing… I still come with the same level of excitement obviously and willingness to win… It would be pretty incredible to be able to win The Open. Nobody (from Spain) after Seve has been able to do it, so to give Spain that, that would be pretty unique, as well.”
Monday’s ruling could spark a settlement of the St. Louis relocation caseMonday’s ruling could spark a settlement of the St. Louis relocation case
Things did not go well for the NFL on Monday in a St. Louis courtroom. Specifically, things didn’t go well for the Commissioner and several owners; the presiding judge has found enough potentially fraudulent behavior to justify probing their financial records for the purposes of eventually assessing punitive damages. As one source with thorough knowledge [more]
Power Rankings: Barbasol ChampionshipPower Rankings: Barbasol Championship
Each additional event on the PGA TOUR schedule rewards 300 FedExCup points to its winner, a two-year membership exemption and spots in the next editions of THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA Championship and many other invitationals, but because the Barbasol Championship is positioned inside the final fifth of the season, it feels like so much more is on the line. After this week’s doubleheader that includes The Open Championship, only four events will remain to determine the field for the Playoffs, the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and other considerations domestically and internationally. Keene Trace Golf Club’s Champions Trace Course outside Lexington, Kentucky, hosts the Barbasol for the third time. Like The Open, this tournament was canceled in 2020, so Jim Herman has been the defending champion for two years. For a recap of how he prevailed in this shootout, where Keene Trace challenges most and other details, scroll past the projected contenders and others to consider. POWER RANKINGS: BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP OTHER TO CONSIDER • Mito Pereira … After missing the cut in his PGA TOUR membership debut at the Rocket Mortgage, he manufactured a T34 at the John Deere to get on the board. Now he can look around Keene Trace and feel like he’s back on the Korn Ferry Tour where he won three times to earn the automatic promotion. Six of his old fellow members have capitalized on the special exemptions extended, so it’s time to flex again. • Richy Werenski … Perfect for this position because he shared runner-up honors here in 2018 and finished T24 in 2019. His scoring average in those eight rounds is 67.375. However, a T25 in Detroit two weeks ago is his only cut made in five starts. No doubt he has the firepower but he has more trouble just lighting the fuse. • Kevin Tway … This is a long time coming, but the form is respected. He went 22 months without a top 25 before a T14 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and then validated with a T23 at the John Deere Classic. • Josh Teater … The Lexington native and resident answered a T40 here in 2018 with a T6 in 2019. Always among the most accurate off the tee, he’s signed for a slew of red numbers but his playing time has been limited due to conditional status. He’s dangerous because he’s overlooked when reviewing the big picture. It would be fun if he broke through in his backyard and Sergio Garcia won The Open on the same day so that fans would try to figure out who’s who in the celebratory photos. When PGA TOUR-caliber talent descends on any course for the first time, the general rule of thumb is that most require only one loop to find a reliable pulse of the property. Short of something funky tee to green, the uncertainty lies primarily in the nuance on the putting surfaces. Yeah, whatever. In its debut in 2018, Keene Trace surrendered a scoring average of 69.905. It was the lowest clip among all par 72s of stand-alone competition and Troy Merritt recorded a one-stroke victory at 23-under 265. (The field consists of 132 golfers.) The following year, Herman posted 26-under 262 that underscored an even lower scoring average of 69.589. After the 2018 field converted 43 eagles, the 2019 gathering pummeled the course for a TOUR-record 114. (The previous mark of 95 was established at TPC Summerlin in 2008.) The 2019 field hit 13.35 greens in regulation and connected for par breakers on 4.54 of those chances on average. Herman co-led with 15.75 GIR per round and ranked 14th in paying them off with two eagles and 24 birdies. He squared only two bogeys all week and led the field in scrambling. When a course is vulnerable from the air, as Keene Trace most definitely is, there almost always is an inverse relationship between greens hit and putts required. The size of the greens and weather conditions impact total GIR, while sections and undulations on the targets affect how many strokes needed to finish the holes. Keene Trace is no different in that its one-putt percentage of 37.39 and three-putt avoidance measurement of 3.57 percent were 12th- and ninth-lowest of all courses during the 2018-19 season. The bentgrass greens again will top out at 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. However, the course also slotted 11th-lowest in conversion percentage inside 10 feet. This is where Herman went to work. He was second in the field within that range, missing on only three of 66 attempts of which he was 25-for-28 outside three feet. So, with knowledge of the greens entering its third edition for enough to do damage, and with the stock formula of hitting GIR and sinking putts proven in a shootout, this is a sprint near the end of a marathon. In a juxtaposition of the elements, while Royal St. George’s is forecast to be dry all week, central Kentucky will not be. After a cooperative opening round, a reasonable threat of inclement weather will move in by Friday and will loiter into the weekend. Daytime highs will fall into the low 80s and wind likely will be a factor only as energy nears. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings (The Open) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Barbasol); Sleepers (The Open); Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.
8 Colts who can earn their first Pro Bowl selection in 20218 Colts who can earn their first Pro Bowl selection in 2021
These Colts could earn their first Pro Bowl nod in 2021.
Expert Picks: The Open ChampionshipExpert Picks: The Open Championship
How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments. The first fantasy golf game to utilize live ShotLink data, PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf allows you to see scores update live during competition. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s The Open Championship in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. For more fantasy, check out Rookie Watch, Qualifiers and Reshuffle. THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create your team, click the “Leagues” tab and search for “PGA TOUR Experts.” After that? Pick your players and start talking smack. Want to represent the fans against our experts? SEASON SEGMENT
Matt Nagy believes Eddie Goldman will be at training campMatt Nagy believes Eddie Goldman will be at training camp
Nose tackle Eddie Goldman‘s status is a question mark heading into Bears training camp. Goldman, who opted out of playing in 2020, was an unexcused absence from the team’s mandatory minicamp last month. Goldman didn’t opt out ahead of the July 2 deadline to do so, but a report from Brad Biggs of the Chicago [more]