Carr’s groove has the Raiders off to their first 3-0 start since 2002, which is when Rich Gannon won the MVP and led the Raiders to their last Super Bowl.
The loss of his brother, one of three children Murray’s parents adopted, has weighed on him.
Since 1983, what has happened in Vegas has stayed in Vegas. This is the 39th edition of the Shriners Children’s Open. Just like the city and the Strip, the tournament also has undergone many teardowns and rebuilds, literally and competitively, but it’s been a 72-hole competition only at TPC Summerlin now for 14 consecutive years. However, if America’s Playground yielded the success experienced inside the ropes the last two years especially, casinos would struggle to stay in business. Scroll past the projected contenders for an explanation, how the course sets up and more. Defending champion Martin Laird, Marc Leishman, Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed, Harris English and Dunhill Links champion Danny Willett will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. “Golf in a dome” is a familiar phrase when the subject matter is the relative simplicity of professional golf in the desert, but “funnel for the cup” should be as well given how easy TPC Summerlin has played. After the par 35-36—71 averaged just 68.859 in 2019, the scoring average dropped to 68.343 last year. The 2020 average established TPC Summerlin’s record low as a par 71 (2009-present) and it was the lowest of all par 71s on the PGA TOUR in the last 16 completed seasons. The 2019 average is the second-lowest of all par 71s of the last 10 seasons. Last year’s 36-hole cut of 7-under 135 set a PGA TOUR record for lowest in relation to par. However, since the 2019-20 season, 36-hole cuts in non-majors have been reduced to low 65 and ties. Had the previous iteration of low 70 and ties been in play, last year’s cut would have landed at 6-under 136 because only 66 survived the newest cut line. That nuance notwithstanding, to determine why scoring has plummeted even at a tournament where it’s always been low thanks in part to favorable weather conditions, one of the reasons concerns the tallest rough around the perimeter. For the fourth consecutive edition, it’s trimmed to two inches, which is down an inch from the previous length. Directly correlated to that are greens-in-regulation splits of about 75 percent, or 5-10 percent higher than what was customary through 2017. Because the bentgrass greens that run at just 11½ feet on the Stimpmeter are the same, all returning participants already are warm upon arrival in the context of their experience. Scoring has been so golfer-friendly over the years that it’s mildly surprising the TPC Summerlin hasn’t surrendered a sub-60. In fact, there have been only two 60s in tournament history – J.J. Henry in 2013 and Rod Pampling in 2016. Matthew Wolff carded last year’s low aggregate – a 61 in the third round – before going on to lose in a three-way playoff from which Martin Laird emerged with the trophy. The Scot’s path to victory was as balanced as you’re going to witness. He was second in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green but just 20th in Strokes Gained: Putting and T10 in putting: birdies-or-better. He also finished a mere T15 in par-4 scoring, but he co-led in par-5 scoring at 4.00 with three eagles (all on the ninth hole), six birdies and three pars. TPC Summerlin can stretch to 7,255 yards and it’s unchanged since last year’s open-book quiz. With another solid field in town and a bevy of Korn Ferry Tour graduates carrying momentum into the new season, the field average will come to rest well under par once more. Cooler air than in recent years could govern distance off the tee marginally, but that’s fact over friction. After a daytime high of about 80 degrees in the opening round, it might not hit that number again as light winds will rotate to push in from the north by the weekend. If any of the clouds that form release moisture, it might not even reach the ground. 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 TUESDAY: Sleepers; Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Ranking
From best (and worst) case scenarios and odds for every round to bold predictions and big names to know, our baseball experts get you ready for the postseason.
We asked our experts to break down October’s best storylines.
Sahith Theegala is the latest player to make a quick transition from the college game to the PGA TOUR. He was college golf’s consensus player of the year in 2020, sweeping the Haskins, Hogan and Nicklaus awards. Now he is a PGA TOUR rookie and coming off a T8 finish in his second start of the new season, at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. He held at least a share of the lead in each of the first three rounds before shooting 71 on Sunday. The top-10 finish – his third in his last four starts between the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR – also earned Theegala a start in this week’s Shriners Children’s Open. A new driver has played a large role in his recent success. He made adjustments to that club after missing the cut in the first event of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. They paid immediate dividends. Thanks to an extra 15-20 yards off the tee and a narrowed dispersion, he finished in the top-10 of the next two events to earn his TOUR card. “It’s a longer driver. I’m like, if I’m going to hit it off line, I might as well hit it a little bit farther and funny enough I’m hitting it way straighter,” he said after his first-round 64 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. “So that helped a little bit, seeing something new. Still getting comfortable with the driver, only had it a month now. But it’s been really nice to see some of the work paying off and being in more fairways.” Theegala finished 10th in driving distance (317.1 yards) and 19th in fairways hit (60.7%) last week, a solid combination. Several changes were made to Theegala’s Ping G425 LST driver to dial in the cut he likes to play off the tee and eliminate the dreaded double-cross. Ping’s Korn Ferry Tour rep, David Bray, installed a new shaft in Theegala’s driver – True Temper’s Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 6.5 – and made it 45.25 inches long, 0.75 inches longer than Theegala’s previous shaft. The shaft was “tipped” 1.5 inches – Bray said he usually tips players’ drivers about an inch — to control the spin and dispersion of Theegala’s shots, as well. “Tipping” a shaft means removing length from the clubhead end instead of the grip end. This makes the shaft stiffer and also increases its resistance to twisting. Braylso added hot melt to the toe of the club to promote a fade. Also known as “rat glue” by gearheads — owing to the similarity between the properties of the substance and the material found in glue traps — hot melt is injected into clubheads via a hot glue gun with a long nosel. The changes dropped about 500 rpms off Theegala’s tee shots, to about 2,500, and an increase of 3-4 mph of ball speed. “He hits a high ball to begin with. This just controlled the spin for him,” Bray said. “He likes to cut the ball, so he’s going to have more spin, but this is more penetrating. It’s not ballooning on him. I would say he probably picked up 3-4 more mph because he was hitting it more in the center of the clubface than the heel misses he had before. “It just builds confidence. For these guys, everything starts with driving. When you’re struggling with driving, you press with every other part of your game.” Theegala has found a club that fits him off the tee, and is exhibiting the potential he displayed during his promising college career.
The Mets will not pick up manager Luis Rojas’ option for next season, ending his tenure with the team at two seasons.
Umpire Joe West, who broke the record for most games umpired in May, has told MLB he is retiring after the postseason.
Mookie Betts and the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers had four of the top-10-selling jerseys in Major League Baseball this season.
Urban Meyer said Monday he apologized to his Jaguars players, his family and the team’s owner after a viral video surfaced showing a young woman dancing close to his lap.
