As part of his negotiated separation agreement with the University of Louisville, men’s basketball coach Chris Mack will receive a $4.8 million buyout, sources told ESPN. Associate head coach Mike Pegues has been named interim coach.
Charlotte forward Gordon Hayward will miss Wednesday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers after the team placed him in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Louisville joins Maryland as another high-major basketball program with a midseason vacancy. Here are the potential replacements for Mack.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Top-ranked Jon Rahm closed with an eagle on the tougher South Course at Torrey Pines for a 6-under 66 on Wednesday, trailing leader Billy Horschel by three strokes after the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Rickie Fowler hits all 18 greens, shoots 66 at Farmers | Dustin Johnson shoots 68 on South Course after long layoff Horschel shot a bogey-free 9-under 63 on the North Course and led Michael Thompson by one stroke. Of the 30 players who shot 67 or better, 26 played the North. Rahm’s was the best score on the South by one over Luke List, Peter Malnati and Cameron Tringale. The players switch courses Thursday and play the final two rounds on the South. Taking advantage of the North’s shorter distances and more forgiving rough, Horschel made five birdies on the front nine, highlighted by a 25-foot putt on the par-4 second hole. The 35-year-old from Florida is seeking his first non-match play victory on the PGA TOUR since April 2018. “I told my caddie, ‘Let’s just go out there, no expectations, and just enjoy,’” Horschel said. “And I think we did a really good job of that. My game is in a really good spot.” Thompson also played bogey-free, putting him one shot ahead of Stephan Jaeger and Kevin Tway. Rahm’s strong start in San Diego is no surprise: The world No. 1 got his first PGA TOUR victory at Torrey Pines in 2017, and he won last year’s U.S. Open on the South Course for his first major. “Doesn’t shock me,” Horschel said when told of Rahm’s impressive round. “I think he won a U.S. Open on that course, last I checked. He’s a really good player. There’s a reason why he’s the No. 1 player in the world.” Rickie Fowler, Doug Ghim and Francesco Molinari also shot 66s, all on the North. Rahm said the conditions were “relatively easy,” even on the South. He stumbled with two bogeys on the back nine before finishing strong, crushing a 280-yard approach shot on the par-5 18th to 12 feet for eagle. “It was probably one of the best swings I’ll make all year,” Rahm said. “That 3-wood was absolutely perfect.” Horschel tied for 36th at the Sony Open in Hawaii two weeks ago, but he nearly had to skip Torrey Pines because of a persistent upper-body muscular injury that has required daily treatment. He didn’t decide to play for sure until he felt good when he woke up on Wednesday morning. “Thankfully (with) all the work we’ve done and everything I felt, it never got any tighter,” Horschel said. “It’s actually felt like it’s a little bit looser right now. Hopefully we got through the tough of it and now we’re on the downhill side and I don’t have to worry about it anymore.” Horschel, who won the BMW PGA Championship in England last September on what is now called the DP World Tour, had two top-10 finishes in his first 11 career starts at Torrey Pines. His excellent start came two days after he dressed up as a human target and allowed kids to hit balls at him in a stunt widely enjoyed on social media. Thompson is seeking his first win since July 2020, and he played another excellent round after finishing in a fifth-place tie at the Sony Open. Thompson is a PGA TOUR veteran, but he is getting plenty of double-takes around the TOUR while rocking a thick, long beard that he started growing before last year’s playoffs. “I haven’t been mistaken for anybody,” said Thompson, whose wife told him to keep the look. “It’s just more people think I’m a rookie because I look so different. You know, I’ve probably gotten more comments of, ‘What hockey team do you play for?’” The Farmers Insurance Open being played Wednesday through Saturday to avoid a television conflict with the NFL’s two conference championship games on Sunday.
For the second consecutive season, the College Basketball Invitational will play a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament at Daytona Beach, Florida. The field will increase from eight teams in 2021 to 16 teams this season.
SAN DIEGO – Rickie Fowler played Wednesday alongside the player who sent the PGA TOUR scrambling for extra clubhead speed, but slowing down was key for him in his 6-under 66 at Torrey Pines’ North Course. Fowler hit all 18 greens in a bogey-free round that left him in a tie for fifth, three shots behind leader Billy Horschel. It’s the fourth round of his career where Fowler has hit all 18 greens in regulation. It may be tempting to swing all-out when playing alongside Bryson DeChambeau, as Fowler did Wednesday, but Fowler’s controlled approach was key, even if it resulted in shorter shots. “I felt like I was swinging at about 60% and took about three hours to get to the top of my backswing,” he said. “That would roughly be the feelings of it. Just tried to be … a lot more deliberate, not trying to rush things.” Patience has been key for Fowler in the last few years. It’s been nearly three years since his last PGA TOUR win, at the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open. Once ranked as high as fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking, he started this week at No. 101. He missed the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his career last year. While DeChambeau, the TOUR’s longest hitter in each of the last two seasons, was swinging out of his shoes Wednesday, Fowler was focused on being slow and steady. He said he would add speed once he was comfortable with his swing changes. “I’m trying to stay a bit more controlled. So for now I just need to make sure the club’s at least in a little better spot and everything’s working together a little bit better,” he said. “Just trying to make sure we are doing things right.” This is Fowler’s second start of the calendar year as the PGA TOUR swings through his native Southern California. He grew up an hour away in Murrieta, California, and the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines was his first major. He missed the cut at last week’s The American Express, his first event in nearly 2 ½ months, citing poor iron play that didn’t allow him to keep up with the low scores that are requisite out there. “It was my iron play that really kind of killed me,” he said. “And a place like that out in the desert, it’s not really good to be putting for par, you’ve got to be making birdies out there. I think we turned it around all right and off to a little better start this week.” This isn’t the first time this season that Fowler has seen flashes of his old self. He arrived at Torrey Pines ranked 55th in the FedExCup after a third-place finish at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT in the fall. It was his best finish since the 2019 season, and he called it one of the best ball-striking performances of his career. Fowler played twice more before his first child, a daughter named Maya, was born in November. Becoming a parent meant he had to be more efficient with his practice time during the holidays, but parenthood also adds perspective that can be especially helpful during trying times. “I feel like things are very close and in a good spot,” he said, “but heading in the right direction, too.” Perhaps slowing down has sped up Fowler’s progress.
As David Ortiz gets his Cooperstown call, we asked those who played with, against and covered him to tell their best Big Papi stories.
A few close calls, a couple upsets and other results helped answer some questions in men’s basketball on Tuesday night.
Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski told TMZ on Wednesday that if he was forced to decide whether to play in 2022 or retire, he’d say no to returning.
Cameron Champ isn’t a normal professional golfer, so it makes sense that his club setup is far from average. In 2020-21, Champ ranked No. 3 in driving distance on the PGA TOUR, averaging 317.1 yards per drive. He ranked nearly last in another category, though. Out of 200 players, Champ ranked 199th in launch angle; the TOUR average for launch angle off the tee is 10.52 degrees, whereas Champ averaged just 6.85 degrees on his drives. That means Champ hits the ball quite low, especially for his speed. His shots fly like a low bullet, which is great for windy conditions but not so great for holding greens with irons. As such, Champ makes a few unique adjustments to his equipment setup compared to other TOUR players. You can check out GolfWRX’s deep dive into Champ’s bag here. The most notable difference, for example, is that Champ uses two 4-irons. In previous years, Champ used a combination of Ping iBlade irons (4-PW) and Ping i500 3- and 4-irons. Ping’s iBlade irons are commonly used among better players and TOUR players since they look like blade irons, featuring thin toplines and compact shapes, but they add a touch of forgiveness due to their cavity-back designs. The i500 irons — first released in 2018 — use metalwood-like technology on their faces to help players hit the ball higher and farther. “You watch him hit his 4-iron and his flight doesn’t make sense,” explained Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates, regarding Champ’s ball flight in 2019 and why he uses two 4-irons. “It comes out really low and it kind of stands up, and you’d expect that flight to carry like 215 yards, and it’s going 255 yards. I can’t even comprehend it. “Cameron plays an i500 4-iron (21 degrees) that’s built to 3-iron length. The i500 has metalwood technology in the face, so that metalwood technology is going to allow for some more flex in the face at impact; that means higher ball speeds, higher launch, a little less spin … It’s basically a 4-iron that plays exactly like a 3-iron would play for him. Then he goes into an iBlade 4-iron (21 degrees).” Compared to the iBlade irons, Ping’s i500 models also have a larger profile, thicker toplines, slightly more offset, and offer more forgiveness on off-center hits. That’s due to their multi-material, hollow-bodied construction that had C300 maraging steel faces and 17-4 stainless steel bodies, helping achieve more flex on the face at impact to boost speed and height across the face. For Champ, he used the i500 long irons to take advantage of higher ball flights. He relied on the i500 4-iron to help hold greens on approach shots, and he used the 3-iron as a driving iron replacement since he hit it farther and higher than a normal 3-iron. At the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open, though, Champ showed up with all-new Ping i525 irons to replace his previous i500 3- and 4-irons. Ping hasn’t replaced the i500 irons in its retail lineup since 2018, but with Champ revealing the new i525 designs, that could change sometime in the future. For now, they’re just prototypes. While Ping hasn’t yet commented on the new designs, GolfWRX caught up with Champ ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open to get his initial thoughts on the i525s. “They’re good. They look kind of similar to the previous irons, but they have a little bit more defined look, which I like,” Champ said Tuesday at Torrey Pines. “And they sound better too. I have nothing negative to say about them. For me, they’re pretty much the same (as the i500s). That’s why I put them in. As long as they do what I need them to do, I can care less what it is. “But yeah, they’re good. The sound is one thing. Definitely maybe a little bit softer on the face, which I like. You can feel it easier. But for me, for the ball flight that I want, it comes out perfectly.” Based on Champ’s review of the unreleased and previously unseen Ping i525 irons, they look, sound and feel better than the i500 models released four years ago. Champ also revealed the ridiculous distances that he hits the two new irons. “The 4- is like my 3-iron, and the 3- is basically like my 2-iron, or 1-iron, which is basically like my driving iron,” Champ explained. “But my 4- is my 250-260 shot, depending if it’s on grass or tee. Then the 2-, we bent it strong because it’s a driving iron. Obviously (at Torrey Pines) it’s not going to go that far, but I’ll fly it 265-275 and then it rolls. “I really don’t play a 3-wood. I have it in the bag; this week, I might need it on one hole, but generally I don’t have a 3-wood. I just use (the i525 driving iron).” Although average players can only dream about hitting irons those kinds of distances, they may want to take note of the club choices Champ makes. Most club players could benefit from the more forgiving and higher-launching long irons that Champ uses, since most players could use more height on their shots. Be on the lookout for more details on the new i525 irons as information becomes available from Ping.
