Aston Martin Formula One principal Otmar Szafnauer said he had a long-term contract and no intention of leaving as he faced a grilling in Brazil on Friday about reports he could move to Renault-owned rivals Alpine.
HOUSTON (AP) — Martin Trainer was in rare territory Friday. Not only did he play well enough to stick around for the weekend, he found himself leading the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open. RELATED: Leaderboard | Scottie Scheffler gets mad, sets course record in Houston Trainer holed a pair of long birdie putts and three short ones in a bogey-free round at Memorial Park for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot lead over Kevin Tway. The second round would not be completed until Saturday morning as the tournament tried to catch up from a long weather delay at the start of the tournament. While the cut would not be made until then, it was virtually certain four-time major champion Brooks Koepka who would miss for the second straight week. That’s a part of golf Trainer knows all too well. He won the Puerto Rico Open in 2019 as a rookie, and then it was all downhill after that. Trainer has made only nine cuts in 70 starts on the PGA TOUR since then, and one of those was the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua that had no cut. He had missed seven in a row dating to the 3M Open in July. And then the 30-year-old Trainer showed up at Houston and made the game look simpler than it has for the last two years. “Last week I hit the ball really well for the first time in a long time and I just didn’t putt very well,” Trainer said. “So I figured if I could somehow do both those at the same time — to be fair, every single player says that every single week. But for me, it had been such a long time coming. It really was a grind for a long time. “So now to finally be able to put it together … you have to hope that this is the week.” No need telling that to Tway, who won at the start of the 2018 season and has only one other top 10 over his next 72 events on the PGA TOUR. Tway had a pair of eagles in his round of 64, holing a 60-foot chip on the par-5 third hole and then holing out from 107 yards in the fairway on the par-4 13th. He was tied for the lead until missing a 5-foot par putt on the 17th hole. Jason Kokrak was 8 under with seven holes left. Adam Long was another stroke back after a 67. The low round of the day belonged to Scottie Scheffler, who had a 62 and was in the group four shots behind that included fellow Texas Longhorn Kramer Hickok. To see Trainer’s name atop the leaderboard was a surprise considering how many cuts he has missed and how discouraging it can get. Sure, there were times he pondered his future in the game. His exemption from winning in Puerto Rico runs out after this season. But he always had hope, and he knew that while it’s hard to win on the PGA TOUR, he had done it before. “It is demoralizing when you keep missing cuts over and over again,” Trainer said. “It’s been tough at times for me the last couple years not playing well, but now that I figured out a little bit of ball-striking, dropped some putts, it really can turn around that quickly. “So I’m just grateful that that’s happening to me this week and hopefully I’ll keep it going.”
Honda, who made headlines only a few years ago for Formula One power unit failures and grid penalties, expressed amazement on Friday at how many engines usually rock-solid Mercedes were going through this season.
HOUSTON – Scottie Scheffler got mad. Then he went low. A course record didn’t seem likely after a frustrating start to his day. Finishing up his delayed first round, he missed a 5-foot par putt on the last hole to sign for a 2-over 72. A poor tee shot to start his second round and another early bogey put him over the edge. “Anger can go a few ways on the golf course,” he said. “You can use it and get even more frustrated and more pissed off and you start thinking negatively. I used that anger today as a positive.” Scheffler finished Friday by signing for the lowest score in the short history of this renovated rendition of Memorial Park, which is in its second year hosting the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open. Scheffler’s 62 bested the previous record – set by three players in last year’s final round – by a stroke. It also was Scheffler’s fourth round of 62 or lower since the start of the 2019-20 season (his rookie year), the most on TOUR in that span. That includes a 59 shot in last year’s FedExCup Playoffs. Scheffler leapt from outside of the cut line and into contention. At 6-under 134 (72-62), he’s four back of leader Martin Trainer. Scheffler is seeking his first PGA TOUR win, and it’s about the only thing missing from the 25-year-old’s sterling resume. He was the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and 2020 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. He has qualified for the TOUR Championship in both of his seasons and has finished in the top 10 in the past three majors. He capped his Ryder Cup debut by birdieing the first four holes in his Singles match with Jon Rahm to dispatch the World No. 1, 4 and 3. Winning may have been far from Scheffler’s mind after Thursday’s start, however. He double-bogeyed his third hole to fall to 3 over. He thought he’d sorted out his swing after a quick range session between Friday’s rounds. Then he duck-hooked his tee shot off the first tee. A bogey on the fourth hole was the last straw. “After I bogeyed No. 4 I basically told myself I’ve had enough of this crap,” he said. “That’s what I told my caddie, too, walking down the fifth fairway. Hit a nice putt on six and just kind of turned the round around from there.” He birdied six of seven holes from Nos. 5-11, then added birdies at 15 and 17. He missed just four fairways in the second round after hitting fewer than half in his opening round. His 12 greens hit were three more than in the opening round. “This golf course can be pretty challenging from the Bermuda rough and you’ve got to hit the ball in play,” he said. “If you’re hitting it in the rough to elevated greens that you can’t hold just because you’re hitting knucklers out of the rough, so it was very important to get the ball in the fairway.”
A “rapidly changing” world of college athletics, including new NIL rules and ongoing conference realignment, shows that the NCAA has greatly lost its power, according to former North Carolina coach Roy Williams.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Tiffany Eckert and her children have seen the dark side of war that few of us ever will see. On May 8, 2005, her husband, U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Gary “Andy” Eckert of Toledo, Ohio, died from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near the Humvee in which he was traveling in Samarra, Iraq. Andy was 24, Tiffany only 23, a young mother to a daughter, Marlee, then 20 months, and a month-old son, Myles. Tiffany Eckert will be 40 in December, having spent nearly half of her life as a military widow. Marlee and Myles are now in high school, and there are reminders each day, some subtle, some not, about the giant hole in their lives left by their father not being here. Tiffany told her family’s story Wednesday night on the eve of the inaugural Folds of Honor Cup at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club. (The event would be contested the next day, Veterans Day, beneath blue skies.) The clinking of glasses and echoes of conversation ceased as she spoke of loss, gratitude and her tough, sometimes awkward moments as a single parent – even just being the only female on her block who shovels her own driveway in winter. It was a message of hope, an awakening for all those with “conventional” lives: Don’t take for granted the little, yet poignant daily moments that so easily pass on by. “When I speak about ‘our side of war,’ I talk about the real-life moments, the ones that everyone else might take for granted,” Tiffany said a day later, seated inside a quiet room in the Lake Nona clubhouse. “When I’m trying to play catch with my son, we look at each other, and it’s unspoken. His dad would have been better at this. Or when Myles learned how to shave. I bought him a razor and said, ‘Do you want me to help you?’ He told me, No, I’ll figure it out,’ and he did. But his dad should have been there for that.” Both Marlee and Myles have been helped greatly by being Folds of Honor educational scholarship recipients. The Folds was started by Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, an F-16 fighter pilot who flew three combat tours in Iraq. He’s also a PGA professional, motivational speaker, and author whose life changed one night in 2006. He was a passenger on United #664 to Grand Rapids, Michigan, watching out his window in tears as the flag-draped casket of Army Cpl. Brock Bucklin was lowered down the cargo ramp. Bucklin’s twin brother, Brad, was on that flight, escorting his brother home one last time; Brock’s family watched from the tarmac, among them his 4-year-old son, Jacob. In was a transformative moment for Rooney, compounded by his anger and frustration when half the flight’s passengers stood up and nonchalantly departed the aircraft after they’d been asked to respectfully remain seated as the casket was lowered off the plane. There were no connecting flights for anyone to catch. That anger mixed with the sadness of seeing a young boy outside who never would go fishing with his father, or attend a baseball game. How could Rooney “undo” just a small part of this family’s pain? Later that year, Rooney and his dad, John Rooney, held a tournament at a Michigan golf course they owned called Grand Haven (now American Dunes). The event raised about $8,700. They kept going, and today, the Folds has distributed more than 35,000 educational scholarships (most at the $5,000 level) totaling more than $160 million. The Folds is rated a 4-star (out of 4) charity by Charity Navigator, with nine cents on every dollar generated going to scholarships. Thanks to big fundraising events such as the Folds of Honor Cup, 7,000 scholarships will be awarded in 2021. Forty-one percent of the scholarships awarded are given to minority recipients. Rooney and his foundation not only are changing lives, but raising awareness for a tremendous need. Out of 2.5 million dependents of military members killed or disabled, nine of 10 receive no federal education assistance. “That’s where the Folds of Honor steps in,” Rooney said. “The world we live in, it’s so easy to forget that freedom isn’t free, especially as conflict winds down. People don’t realize the true lasting impact, when it comes to the context of the Folds of Honor, are the families. “To be able to create events like this one that give people a vehicle to understand what the Folds is, and give back, makes Veterans Day much more meaningful than just saying, ‘Thank you for your service.’ If you are truly thankful, if you love your country, then what better way to invest in the future of our families who have been impacted in conflict?” On this Veterans Day at Lake Nona, a mix of celebrities and athletes played in fivesomes alongside foundation donors and military members. There were Navy Seals and Army Rangers and Air Force fighter pilots, veterans of conflicts in Vietnam as well as Iraq and Afghanistan. General John W. “Jay” Raymond of the United States Space Force played. The Tavistock Group, which owns two of Orlando’s top golf properties (Isleworth and Lake Nona), generously donated the golf course for the day. LPGA Hall of Fame golfers Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam played. (Sorenstam donated the auction hit of the cocktail party: two nights at Spanish Bay, a foursome at Pebble Beach, a private lesson, and the chance to join her when she is honored at The Langley, a prestigious California event. The winning bid for the Folds eclipsed $30,000.) Athletic standouts Ken Griffey Jr., Charles Woodson and Johnny Damon played, as did actor Michael Pena and singer Javier Colon. Air Force Academy grad Kyle Westmoreland, who will play the Korn Ferry Tour next season, was there. Television personality Bret Baier was on hand to join Rooney for a few national morning hits on Fox & Friends, helping to push the Folds’ Squadron program, which asks patriots to make recurring donations of $13 a month. As many as 1,000 new Squadron members might sign up on a day like this. Every penny means something. Baier, a good player who carries a GHIN index of 2.8, hit the ground running early Thursday after taking a redeye flight from Phoenix. It was a small sacrifice to be there to honor the many military heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Baier was a reporter covering the Pentagon on 9/11, and he traveled the world with the military. “I really came to respect the sacrifice and service, not only of the men and women who serve, but their families,” Baier said. “A day like this is special. I’m playing with three veterans, and hearing their stories. One served in Vietnam. There are Bronze Star winners out here. It’s really awesome. I think it’s important to take those times to say, ‘Thanks,’ and Veterans Day is one of them, honoring the living, breathing veterans who are serving now. And Memorial Day is the day that we remember all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.” Nancy Lopez had to reapply her makeup before the clock had struck 8:30 a.m., having teared up at a beautiful rendition of the national anthem performed by Yolanda Stallworth, ROTC Air Force Detachment 159, a junior at the nearby University of Central Florida. The morning’s Opening Ceremonies were filled with patriotic moments. Against the backdrop of the 18th fairway and glassy Lake Nona, bagpipers from the City of Mount Dora’s Pipes and Drum corps played “Amazing Grace,” as well as hymns from each of the country’s military branches. There was a 21-gun salute. Taps pierced the air, sounded on a singular trumpet, something that takes place every day at 1300 hours at the two courses with which Rooney is affiliated, The Patriot in Owasso, Oklahoma, and American Dunes in Grand Haven. (The 1300 is tied to the 13 purposeful folds in an American flag.) Half a dozen members of the Patriot Parachute Team soared in hot with trailing flumes of orange smoke as they landed in full sprint on the 18th fairway. It was a ceremony that filled the heart. “When I hear our national anthem, I don’t think I’ve ever not teared up,” said Lopez, who met Rooney at a long-ago Vince Gill tournament and fell in love with his foundation’s mission. “The men and women who have lost their lives for this country, they loved this country, and were doing what they could to protect us. If you can’t understand it, it baffles me. I thank them. Today, on Veterans Day, I thank them for giving us so much.” Rooney once pinned pictures of his young scholarship recipients to the refrigerator at home in Oklahoma, where he lives with his wife, Jacqy, and their five daughters, all of whom make sacrifices themselves when their dad hits the road for yet another appearance or speaking engagement. Some 14 years after the Folds was created, Rooney is seeing those young students graduate from college. They are an impressive group, and collectively doing amazing things. One recipient attending the Folds of Honor Cup was Do’Monique Noel . She is only 18, but when she stepped on campus at the University of Central Florida this fall, she already had earned 61 college credits, the equivalent of an Associate’s degree. She is a Biomedical Sciences major who will graduate in 2023, and wants to become a pediatrician. Donna Noel, Dominique’s father, is a retired Army E-8 master sergeant. Being a Folds of Honor scholarship recipient means the world, and allows her to attend college debt-free. “To be able to go to college and having this scholarship, it really takes a lot of the weight off my shoulders,” Noel said. “I’m very thankful. It’s an honor to be here, especially on Veterans Day. I’m appreciative of all those who have served their country.” Tiffany Eckert also continues to be grateful. Her son, Myles, has had learning challenges and once struggled in school. Tiffany was told she needed to find a life track for him, as he would not be attending college when he got older. His Folds scholarship allows the family to pay for a tutor, and he now is on track to attend college. Marlee’s scholarship allows her to attend one of the top private high schools in the Toledo area, and she is thriving. An excellent student with a high GPA, she will have great choices for colleges. As for Tiffany, she is upholding the last promise that she made to Andy. In the final conversation they would share, just hours before an IED detonated near his Humvee, Andy told his young wife that he had a bad feeling about his situation, and that he knew he would not be coming home. He also told Tiffany that he loved her more than anything, and that she was the smartest person he’d ever met. Andy told her that she needed to have a college education, and that their children needed to have good educations, as well. In the fall of 2020, Tiffany, her own Folds of Honor scholarship in hand, enrolled at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She is majoring in Human Development: Family Studies, with a minor in Gerontology, essentially the study of human development across a lifespan. While coaching local high school teams in rowing and broomball (similar to hockey, played on ice), Tiffany is taking six classes and maintains a 4.0 GPA. She is on the Dean’s List and will graduate early. Most beneficial, she says, is that her studies have helped her to learn about herself, and how to better cope with grief. “I am healing parts of myself that I would have never realized,” she said. “I’m finding it’s helping me to become an even better person.” Best of all, being in school is helping her keep the promise she made to her husband some 17 years ago, before her world, and that of her children, was completely rocked from its foundation. “I’ve found healing,” she said. “It’s more than just a scholarship. The Folds is making an investment.” The heroic work truly takes a village, and it doesn’t stop here. To learn more about the Folds of Honor, visit foldsofhonor.org
Could another Tiger Woods comeback be on the horizon? Justin Thomas said it’s possible as Woods continues to progress in his recovery from his February car accident. “I know that he’s going to try,” Thomas said on the “No Laying Up” podcast. Woods told Golf Digest earlier this year that his physical rehabilitation from the accident has been “more painful than anything I’ve ever experienced.” According to Thomas, Woods has been able to maintain his trademark sarcasm and sense of humor during the tedious process, though. “It’s groundhog day. Every day is exactly the same for him,” Thomas said. “He’s able to be a dad again, which is most important. He’s still his sarcastic a-hole self, so nothing’s really changed there. So I’m glad to see he’s as chipper as always.” A recent photo of Woods at one of his son’s golf tournaments showed him standing without crutches. Woods, who won his 15th major at the 2019 Masters and a record-tying 82nd PGA TOUR victory later that year at the ZOZO Championship, was recovering from a back procedure when he was involved in a serious car accident in February in Southern California. Thomas did say that Woods won’t compete again, however, if his game can’t meet his standards. “I don’t see him ever playing if he can’t play well,” Thomas said. “He doesn’t strike me as a guy that’s going to play at home shooting a bunch of 75s and 76s and he’s like, ‘All right, I’m gonna go give Augusta a try this year.’ That’s just not gonna be him. “But at the same time, I know how determined he is. I know he’s gonna want to at least try to give something again. Obviously, I hope he does. But at the same time, as long as he can be a normal dad again, that’s the No. 1 priority again and the rest is a bonus.” Woods is scheduled to host his Hero World Challenge on Dec. 2-5 in the Bahamas.
What to watch for in every game. Bold predictions. Fantasy advice. Key stats to know. And, of course, score predictions. It’s all here for Week 10.
The preseason DII college basketball tournaments are in the books. Here are a few things to watch as the DII men’s and women’s basketball season officially opens Nov. 12.
Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the first and only practice session for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix ahead of Friday afternoon’s qualifying session.
