Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale on Friday bet $5 million on the Bengals to beat the Rams in Super Bowl LVI, his second giant bet in two weeks on Cincinnati to emerge victorious.
After six AP top-10 teams were taken out by unranked opponents in six days, here’s a recap of what happened and what it means for the future.
What to watch for. Breaking down the matchup. Betting advice. Stats to know. Impact players. Injury updates. Expert predictions. It’s all here for Super Bowl LVI.
Seventy days into the lockout, the commissioner finally spoke. Saturday, with Opening Day at stake, we’ll find out if there is actually reason for hope.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Keegan Bradley (68, 6 under, six off the lead of Sahith Theegala) saw a guy dressed as Santa Claus on the rowdy, par-3 16th hole at the WM Phoenix Open on Friday. It was a funny getup, Bradley said, but there’s a paradigm shift at this tournament that can be serious stuff for those who choose to embrace it. Bradley said he almost goes to another place and time, invoking Fenway Park and his Boston Red Sox. Talor Gooch (64, 8 under) mentioned Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers. Two-time WM Phoenix Open champion Brooks Koepka, who once posed with the Wanamaker Trophy next to NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, was less specific but said he can feel like more than just a golfer here. And that’s a good thing. “It almost feels like a real sport,” Koepka said of the rowdy, say-anything vibe that smacks golfers in the face at the WM at TPC Scottsdale. “Like football, basketball, things like that, soccer.” As we anticipate the Super Bowl this weekend, and amid the ongoing Winter Olympics in Beijing, PGA TOUR pros are getting just what they expected at the WM Phoenix Open: a combination golf course/gladiator pit that can take them out of golf’s sometimes stuffy bubble and transport them to the goal line, free throw line, or into any other sports fantasy. It doesn’t really matter what the sports fantasy is; what matters is that they go with it. “I love it,” said Bradley, a four-time TOUR winner who is 91st in the FedExCup and 90th in the world. “The thing about this week I always tell people is, you’re ready for it, this is the week. It’s not that big of a deal when they boo you; people think it is, but I think, like Brooks says, it’s kind of nice to feel that – like I always imagine that’s what, that’s my only time I get feel like what it might be in Fenway Park for me, you know, my life-long dream. “So I try to enjoy my time in there,” he continued. “But over the years it’s not just that hole anymore, I mean the whole back side is pretty loud and pretty fun.” Is there anything like this week? Not really, Bradley said, although the legendary New York fans at their beloved muni Bethpage Black can provide a similar spice. Gooch, whose seven-birdie, no-bogey round left him four off the pace of early second-round leader Sahith Theegala (64), a sponsor’s exemption out of Pepperdine, cited the “fun energy” here. Rickie Fowler, who won here in 2019, buys into that energy. In fact, he not only pumped the crowd up, he also booed himself after missing the 16th green Thursday, turning his thumb down as the catcalls rained down around him. “I hit it a little heavy,” Fowler said before waiting to see if 1 under (71-70) would make the cut. “You kind of know what you need to do to get a positive reaction or not, and it’s all in good fun. I was hoping it was maybe going to catch the front and somehow move forward, but I messed up, so I had to give myself the thumbs down. Poor execution.” Those who like this tournament’s crazy energy, Fowler continued, tend to come back. Those who love it thrive. Patrick Cantlay (66, 9 under, three back) equated the noise at 16 to “a dull roar” that he tries to mostly ignore. Same for Theegala, 24 who is seeking his first win and said he didn’t make eye contact with anyone on the tournament’s rowdiest hole. You can hardly blame him, for Theegala was in the zone: After starting his round with four birdies on the first five holes, he birdied four of the last six on the back nine to grab the lead by himself, buy three over Cantlay. “We’ll see how it is this weekend,” Theegala said, noting he hadn’t yet played 16 late in the day, around cocktail hour. Like Fowler and others, Theegala, even as a rookie, knows the week is a one-off. So does Gooch. And that knowledge somehow makes the whole thing easier to embrace. “We all love it,” said Gooch, who won The RSM Classic last fall, “but we – I think we all love that it’s not a weekly thing because it’s draining. It’s a lot. It’s a lot of energy when you’re trying to calm your emotions, it’s just not the most conducive environment for that.” Koepka, who intimated that the feisty crowd helps him stay focused, takes a more sanguine view. “Well, first off, I think it brings a whole new group of fans to golf,” he said. “I think that’s important. I think you look at – I mean, I don’t know the numbers, I don’t want to screw it up, but, I mean, it’s pretty much the biggest tournament we have on the PGA TOUR as far as fans, people, the presence. The atmosphere is unbelievable. I love it. “Look, I love when people get rowdy,” he added. “They’re cheering you when you hit it tight and booing you when you hit it bad. If you do something wrong, you deserve to get heckled. If you do something right, they will cheer for you. That’s what makes this event so cool.”
The Ducks center’s slick over-the-net assist is being replicated by advanced gamers and has the video game company considering adding it to the NHL series.
Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 — its modern format — only four of 35 national champions were unranked to start the season. That’s about one in every nine years.
Michigan can help its ever-improving NCAA tournament hopes with a win over a hated rival, and other key weekend topics.
Cobra’s new LTDx drivers build on the platform of the original 2016 LTD series, which was the first driver family to achieve zero CGna — a center of gravity located zero millimeters from the neutral axis of the driver. The new LTDx again features zero CG. In contrast to the LTDx, most drivers have a center of gravity above the axis line, which produces higher spin and a less efficient transfer of energy. Zero CG, according to Cobra, yields low spin and fast ball speeds. The LTDx pairs zero CG with 5,200 MOI. The higher the moment of inertia of a club, the greater the resistance to twisting (particularly on off-center hits), and thus the more forgiving it is. How does Cobra achieve all of the above? By utilizing both new features and improving on existing technology. Key technology PWR-COR Technology: Allows Cobra engineers to position weight low and forward in the clubhead. This yields faster ball speeds and less spin for greater distance. Engineers also added a tungsten back weight (part of 15 grams of combined back weighting) for greater forgiveness as the more weight is spread out in a club head, particularly a driver, the more forgiving it will be. H.O.T Face: Using machine learning and data from thousands of impact simulations, Cobra created 15 different zones of the driver face with optimal thickness for optimal ball speed across the face. Multi-material construction: A lighter, more stable titanium chassis. 30 percent more carbon. The design allowed Cobra engineers to maximize weight savings to distribute more optimally for increased ball speed. CNC milled Infinity Face: Cobra updated its CNC milled Infinity Face. The larger face wraps around the leading edge of the driver for more ball speed on strikes low in the face as well as a more traditional topline. “The LTDx driver lineup reflects our team’s continued dedication to innovation and improved performance. With the introduction of PWR-COR and H.O.T Face technology, our engineers have, yet again, developed innovation that improves CG and MOI while making the face hotter and more forgiving,” said Tom Olsavsky, Vice President of R&D, Cobra Golf. “The resulting LTDx family of drivers are the best we have ever produced, and the three distinct driver models ensure that every golfer can achieve optimized performance for their game. We look forward to seeing the LTDx on Tour and also in the hands of amateurs and weekend warriors at courses globally.” Cobra LTDx driver models Cobra LTDx LS Drivers LTDx LS Spin: Low Launch: Low Forgiveness: Medium “LS” stands for low spin. In order to achieve the aforementioned, Cobra positions weight low and forward for maximum spin and ball speed as well as additional workability in the most aerodynamic model in the lineup. The 460cc LTDx LS features 10- and 3-gram adjustable weights that can be interchanged to dial in trajectory. Cobra’s PWR-COR Technology positions weight low and forward in the LTDx, using a 14g internal MIM steel weight and a 5g 100-percent milled, stainless steel external weight (19g total) to help lower spin and increase speed. LTDx Spin: Low Launch: Medium Forgiveness: High Cobra engineers call the LTDx a “unicorn” club owing to the combination of zero CG and 5,200 MOI. The mid-launching Cobra LTDx utilizes 19g total weight positioned in PWR-COR (14g internal MIM steel weight and 5g external CNC milled stainless steel weight) and 15g total in the back using 5g of tungsten and a 10g fixed back weight. LTDx MAX Spin: Low-Mid Launch: High Forgiveness: Extreme Engineered for maximum forgiveness, the LTDx MAX is Cobra’s draw-biased offering. It’s the highest-launching, highest-spinning member of the family. The 460cc head features a back weight setting and an added weight positioned in the heel that affords golfers maximum draw biasing for ultimate assistance in squaring the face. More specifically, the 10-gram weight can be positioned in the back of the club to deliver the maximum amount of forgiveness that Cobra has to offer. Players can also position the heavy weight in the heel for 11 yards of draw bias. The club’s adjustable hosel can be moved to the “Draw” setting for an additional seven yards of shot correction (18 yards total). All three drivers retail for $499.99. LTDx drivers on TOUR Bryson DeChambeau The TOUR’s longest hitter has put both LTDx and LTDx LS models in play so far this season. Here’s what he had to say about the design: “A lot of (the design improvements) were from last year’s input … I would say we’ve worked really hard on making a driver that works very well for me and for consumers that have some speed. And also, because we understand the upper end of speed, the lower end is going to be helped out quite a bit because we understand the parameters. Once you understand both sides of the coin, you can fit really well in between. “(I’m swinging) a lot freer. The ball’s not going to go in places that I’m not expecting. That’s just what happens with speed, in general, with any product out there. This is where (Cobra is) the first ones to really take the dive and go, ‘OK, let’s try and understand this and make it playable for guys with speed like this.’” A final word on DeChambeau: In a recent Cobra media event alongside World Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire, DeChambeau used a Cobra LTDx prototype to record his all-time high 221 mph of ball speed. Jason Dufner Jason Dufner, who is playing the Cobra LTDx said: “One thing I have been seeing is the strikes have been really consistent off the middle of the face. The last couple models I had, I felt like I had been making good swings but was catching it on the toe a little bit. So these have been really consistent off the middle. I’ve seen really good launch windows to my eye, good spin windows to my eye. “They’ve got three different heads now, so it gives me more options … my particular model has the weight in back, and we put a little more weight in the back so it changes the CG a little bit for me. It makes it launch a little bit higher and spin a little more, which is kind of what I need. I want to have a certain amount of loft so I can get more ball speed. The more loft you have, the less ball speed you’ll have, because it’s not as flat a surface. “For me, with a driver, the most important thing is that when I feel like I make a good swing and hit it off the center, does it do what I want it to do? And I’ve seen that very consistently through the four or five days that I’ve had it. I don’t worry about the mishits as much, because the mishits are mishits. But if you can tighten dispersion a little bit with those, great.” Click here to purchase. Click here to purchase.
Branch didn’t get to live to make a speech at Canton, but the Raiders great was finally recognized for his impact in the NFL.
