Injured to open camp, the 2019 third-round draft pick made an impact in his first preseason action amid speculation about where he fits on the roster.
Winston made the most of his three drives, connecting with Marquez Callaway on two scores in New Orleans’ win over Jacksonville.
]In his most important showcase yet with the Saints on Monday night, QB Jameis Winston completed 9 of 10 passes for 123 yards and two deep touchdown throws — all in the first quarter.
He was a connoisseur of the close call, an object lesson in losing with dignity, and at odds with his putter. Golf gave Tony Finau ample reason to believe it just wasn’t meant to be. Not for him, and not on the PGA TOUR, the toughest tour in the land. And yet there was an ember that simply wouldn’t die, a stubbornness of belief that despite all evidence to the contrary – eight runner-up finishes and 39 top-10 finishes since his first and only TOUR win in Puerto Rico, in 2016 – he could do this. “I have an extreme belief in myself, and I have to,” Finau said after shooting a final-round 65 and beating Cameron Smith with a par on the first hole of a playoff at THE NORTHERN TRUST at rain-soaked Liberty National. “This game is hard as it is. These guys are so good as it is. If you can’t believe you can beat them, man, it’s just an uphill battle, and I just continue to believe.” How did he do it? How did this extravagantly talented 31-year-old family man bounce back to rocket all the way to the FedExCup standings after so much heartache? In golf terms, he simply hit it better than anyone else from tee to green. Maintenance workers worked to restore playability to the course after nine inches of rain necessitated a Monday finish, and the softness of the course may have further rewarded his distance advantage. But for Finau winning the tee-to-green game is not so unusual. What stood out was his work on the greens, where he gained 2.338 strokes on the field in the final round. He was 16 in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week despite coming into the week at 114th in that stat. His resilience was harder to measure but perhaps even more important. He went into his playoff against Smith with a 0-3 career record in sudden death, and some of the losses were gruesome. Falling to Max Homa at the Genesis Invitational this season? Tough. Losing the Waste Management Phoenix Open last year, when Webb Simpson birdied the last two to catch him and then birdied the first hole of the playoff? Brutal. Finau had seemed to have two hands on the trophy in Phoenix, and afterward his oldest son, a budding golfer himself, was in tears beside the 18th green. Soon the TOUR went on COVID hiatus, leaving Finau to think about what he could have done differently. On Monday he called it his toughest loss. “It’s hard losing,” he said, “and it’s hard losing in front of the world.” A steady drumbeat of questions and endless analysis followed every close call. Finau changed putters, changed grips. He went left-hand low, switched back to conventional. After hitting a succession of spectacular shots but getting little out of it in his third-round 68 at Liberty National on Saturday, he said he was going to have a talk with the flatstick. Instead, given the day off Sunday while Henri dumped nine inches of rain on the course, Finau practiced on the carpet in his hotel room throughout the day. “I would say I putted for maybe an hour and a half total,” he said. “Just kind of five, ten minutes here and there throughout the day. I didn’t really leave my room all day. “I wouldn’t say I found something,” he added, “but I knew I was putting it nicely.” In fact, Finau one-putted seven of his last nine holes for a back-nine 30. Some of these, like his birdies on 12 and 16, were near kick-ins. So was his eagle at 13, set up by a majestic 6-iron that was perhaps the shot of the tournament. But there were knee-knockers from just outside 6 feet to save par at 11 and 18. These are the types of putts he didn’t make in his win drought. And he certainly didn’t convert from over 30 feet, an unexpected bonus, the way he did for birdie at the par-3 14th hole. Meanwhile, leader Jon Rahm, the world No. 1, was finally looking human, going 2 over for his last four holes. Smith birdied the 17th hole to join Finau at 20 under, but sliced his drive out of bounds on the first hole of the playoff, the par-4 18th, all but ending it. Rahm was there to try and buck up a crestfallen Finau at the Genesis. And the shock was so severe at the Waste Management, no one seemed to know what to do. “This one’s going to sting,” Finau’s coach Boyd Summerhays said as they all staggered away. Now, though, Finau didn’t need any consoling at all. He had jumped into pole position in the FedExCup Playoffs, and was off for a celebratory sushi dinner. All those close calls suddenly didn’t matter anymore. “I believe in myself,” he said. “I believe in my team. I haven’t had the wins to maybe have that type of confidence and belief, but you just have to. “I have to believe I can go out there and beat J.T. today, and I can beat Jon Rahm,” he continued. “I have to believe that, and I did, and I continue to do that, and that’s the only reason why I’m sitting here today as the champion.”
Due to a “misunderstanding” on COVID-19 tests “conducted away from NFL facilities,” Cam Newton will remain away from the Patriots until Thursday, the team announced Monday.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league wants to keep the Bills in Buffalo, but in a new stadium, while speaking at Jim Kelly’s celebrity golf tournament Monday.
The Cowboys went virtual on Sunday and Monday after three players, including receiver CeeDee Lamb, were added to the reserve/COVID-19 list.
The Vikings signed pass-rusher Everson Griffen, who ranks seventh all time at the franchise with 74.5 sacks.
Carson Wentz returned to practice Monday three weeks after surgery to remove a broken bone from his left foot.
Keith Mitchell wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders in the rain-delayed final round of THE NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National on Monday. And yet he knew he couldn’t let wild tee shots on 14, 15 and 17 define his day. On the bubble all week for the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs, the top-70 BMW Championship, Mitchell knew he had no choice but to somehow find a way to survive and advance. With a scrambling par on 15 and three closing birdies – the second from deep in the native area on 17 – Mitchell shot 69 to finish T8 at 13 under par, more than good enough. He moved from 101st to 63rd in the FedExCup heading into the BMW at Caves Valley this week. “I was pretty down on myself in the middle of 15 fairway,” Mitchell said, “and to be standing here getting up and down on 15 for par and then birdieing the last three holes to play next week, it took a lot of, I guess just calming my nerves and trying to remember that this is it, I’ve got three holes left to keep playing or I’m going home. “I just decided to stick with it and really that put on 18 just sealed the deal.” Mitchell’s birdie-birdie-birdie finish was the highlight among the group of six players who went from outside to inside the top 70 thanks to their play at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Tom Hoge (T4, 108 to 48 in the FedExCup), Alex Noren (T4, 91 to 43), Erik Van Rooyen (7th, 76 to 45), Harold Varner III (T11, 72 to 56) and Harry Higgs (T16, 80 to 69) were the others. Mitchell said the pressure he felt down the stretch was similar to the pressure he felt late in the day in winning The Honda Classic, his lone PGA TOUR victory, in 2019. “Usually there’s always next week, there’s always next week,” he said. “Well, there is no next week if I don’t birdie those last three holes. It’s very similar.” Notes: Erik Van Rooyan, who won the recent Barracuda Championship, quadruple-bogeyed the par-3 11th hole but rebounded somewhat for a 72 and solo seventh place. “Really happy to go to BMW, obviously,” he said after moving from 76 to 45 in the FedExCup. “That was the goal. But poor day. I hit it really bad, to be honest.” … Harry Higgs shot 68 to finish T16 and move on by a whisker, moving from 80th to 69th in the FedExCup. He admitted he had a hard time figuring out where he stood. “I kind of thought four birdies on the back nine would be in enough,” he said. “Three would have a very good chance. I guess fortunately made three to just scrape by and get in.” … Harold Varner III shot even-par 71 to finish T11 and move from 72nd to 56th and move on. “Today was a grind and just hung in there,” he said. … Alex Noren shot 66 to finish T4, making a massive jump from 91st to 43rd. That puts him just outside the top 30 who will advance to the season-ending TOUR Championship at East Lake. “I’ve never seen a drier course after I don’t know how many inches of rain,” he said. “The greens played softer, but they rolled good. I took advantage of it early and had great round. I’m very, very excited, yeah.” … Tom Hoge had missed four straight cuts and hadn’t had a top-15 finish since April, but shot a final-round 69 to finish T4, jumping from 108th to 48th. “Been struggling coming in here for a few months,” he said. “I haven’t made any cuts. It’s nice to play four good days more than anything. I would have taken this week coming in. I was 108th coming into the week and I was trying to play well. I wasn’t thinking a whole lot of next week and yeah, really excited for next week.”
