The best NHL free agents still seeking new contractsThe best NHL free agents still seeking new contracts
There are significant names still available, including some who could be game-changers for the right team.
There are significant names still available, including some who could be game-changers for the right team.
TONY FINAU GOES BACK-TO-BACK, WINS ROCKET MORTGAGE Tony Finau earned two wins in his first 211 PGA TOUR starts. In the last two weeks, he has doubled that total. Finau won the Rocket Mortgage Classic by five strokes over a trio of players, finishing 26-under at a lively Detroit Golf Club. Across his back-to-back victories at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic, the father of five has gone 43 under par. Finau went 64 holes without a bogey in Detroit but didn’t miss a beat after carding 4 on the par-3 11th Sunday, responding with three birdies in his final seven holes and earning a comfortable walk up the 72nd hole as fans cheered “Tony! Tony!” in appreciation. Finau accrues 500 FedExCup points for his efforts and moves to No. 7 with one event remaining before the Playoffs, as he becomes the first player to win back-to-back TOUR Regular Season events since Brendon Todd in 2019. “All I wanted to do this week was show that I’m a winner and a champion,” said Finau in an emotional greenside interview Sunday afternoon. He did just that. WYNDHAM WRAPPING REGULAR SEASON The Regular Season wraps up at the Wyndham Championship with no shortage of drama set to unfold around the top 125 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List as players jockey for their place in the FedExCup Playoffs. Kevin Kisner returns to defend after winning a six-man playoff a year ago. Will Zalatoris headlines the field in North Carolina. Past FedExCup champions Billy Horschel and Justin Rose are also in the field. East Carolina alum Harold Varner III, U.S. Presidents Cup captain Davis Love III (who won his third Wyndham Championship in 2015 at age 51), past PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im and European major champs Danny Willett and Shane Lowry will all look to win the final Regular Season event in Greensboro. For a second week in a row, the TOUR will compete at a Donald Ross design. Sedgefield Country Club has Ross’ typical small and undulating greens and will be the perfect test for those trying to make it to the first of the three-event FedExCup Playoffs. The Wyndham Championship will mark the final television broadcast for longtime analyst and nine-time TOUR winner Sir Nick Faldo. VIDEO OF THE WEEK MIC CHECK “I’ve been getting shown a lot of love actually even from the TOUR guys congratulating me. I’m like, ‘You guys know who I am? This is crazy. I know who you are!’” – Wyatt Worthington II on his reception since earning a spot in the Detroit GC field by winning THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Golf Invitational presented by Rocket Mortgage. “It means everything. Every day I’ve played golf, I thought about playing on the PGA TOUR, it was nothing else. Today it could get a little emotional tonight, but it’s definitely been a dream, it’s been a road and hopefully next season I’ll be out here full time.” – Tom (Joohyung) Kim after shooting a course-record 63 to finish seventh and secure his PGA TOUR card via top-125 non-member FedExCup points. BY THE NUMBERS 4 – Siblings Patrick, Nick, Caroline and Jack Cantlay are all following their own paths in the golf world. Read more about the siblings and how the eldest, Patrick, has inspired his family. 314.597 – FedExCup points for Austin Smotherman, who sits 125th on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List with one event left in the Regular Season. 29 – Number of spots Stephan Jaeger jumped on the FedExCup (No. 123 to No. 94) with a fifth-place finish in Detroit, as the six-time Korn Ferry Tour winner secures his first Playoffs berth. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.
Sunday at Saratoga, favorite Rockemperor held off Arklow by a half length to win the Bowling Green Stakes (G2) with L’Imperator third. Also on the card, Gunite won the Amsterdam Stakes (G2). Get the results, charts, and photos here.
The Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable franchise in sports as Sportico estimates the NFL team is worth $7.64 billion.
All aboard the Tom Kim train. The 20-year-old South Korean (birth name Joohyung Kim) produced a dynamic double in Sunday’s final round at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Not only did Kim match a Detroit GC tournament course record with a 9-under 63, but he acquired enough non-member FedExCup points to clinch his PGA TOUR card for 2022-23. Kim now holds 417 non-member FedExCup points, which would place him No. 97 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List if he were a member. By earning equivalent points to No. 125 after next week’s Wyndham Championship, he will earn his card for next season. There is not a scenario where 29 players could pass him next week. “It means everything,” said Kim of earning a PGA TOUR card for next season. “Every day I’ve played golf, I thought about playing on the PGA TOUR, it was nothing else. It could get a little emotional tonight, but it’s definitely been a dream. It’s been a road.” Kim stood T24 entering the final round in Detroit, knowing a strong finish could allow him to make an appreciative scheduling change and remove the Korn Ferry Tour Finals from his calendar (an alternate avenue to earn his TOUR card next month). He delivered with seven birdies and a hole-out eagle from 126 yards at the par-4 10th, moving safely inside the top 10 on the leaderboard. Kim received a sponsor exemption into the Rocket Mortgage Classic, his eighth TOUR start of the season. He had already earned Special Temporary Membership by surpassing the No. 150 position on last season’s FedExCup via non-member points, with three top-25s highlighted by a solo third at the Genesis Scottish Open earlier this month. As a non-member, Kim will not be exempt into the FedExCup Playoffs unless he wins next week’s Regular Season-ending Wyndham Championship. His showing in Detroit, though, ensures that his non-member FedExCup points will exceed No. 125 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List upon the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship. Kim turned pro in 2018 and has already won twice on the Asian Tour and twice on the Korean Tour. He arrived in Detroit at No. 39 on the Official World Golf Ranking. The kid who adopted the American name Thomas due to his fascination with the television series “Thomas the Tank Engine” is now set to assume well-deserved status as a PGA TOUR member.
DETROIT – With his second PGA TOUR victory in as many weeks at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, there is almost no scenario in which Tony Finau will not make the U.S. Presidents Cup Team, which will take on the International Team at Quail Hollow Club, Sept. 21-25. Still, he figures he has work to do even after shooting 26 under par to blow away the field at Detroit Golf Club. That’s because only six players will make the team on points, leaving U.S. Captain Davis Love III (who missed the cut at the Rocket Mortgage) to pick the other six. “To make those teams is really hard,” Finau said after beating Patrick Cantlay, Taylor Pendrith and Cameron Young by five. “There’s so many great players. I think one of the great players, Cameron Young, was chasing me down today. You’re going to see these guys win a lot, they’re amazing golfers. So, for me, I have that goal every year to make these teams on points.” Finau has a handful of fellow multiple winners this season ahead of him in the Presidents Cup standings, including Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns and Xander Schauffele. Cantlay, who posted his TOUR-leading 10th top-10 finish in Detroit, is up there, as is Justin Thomas. With two victories in two weeks, Finau is up to sixth in the standings, just behind Thomas. The top six in points through the BMW Championship, the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs, will make the team automatically. Love makes his six picks the Monday after the TOUR Championship, Aug. 29. “I’ve been selected in the past,” Finau said. “One of my goals is to make the Presidents Cup team by points. These last two weeks I think were huge in earning my spot. I think everybody earns their spot to a certain extent, but I truly want to earn my spot by earning enough points to just qualify for the team this year. I’ve got a couple more tournaments to kind of prove myself.”
Saturday at Del Mar, Royal Ship won the San Diego Handicap (G2) by 2 1/4 lengths over favorite Country Grammer with Stilleto Boy third. Also on the card, American Theorem won the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1). Get the results, charts, and photos here.
The San Francisco 49ers and star wideout Deebo Samuel agreed to a three-year extension that includes $58.1 million in guarantees.
Los Angeles Angels starter Reid Detmers became the first pitcher in seven years with a no-hitter and an immaculate inning in the same season, achieving the latter against the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
Jacob deGrom, who has not pitched for the Mets since July 2021, will make his season debut Tuesday against the Nationals, according to manager Buck Showalter.