Sports
Stewart Cink inches closer to major win at Regions Tradition
Stewart Cink takes his second shot from the rough along the No. 4 fairway during the third round of the 2025 Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club, Saturday, June 21, 2025, in Akron, Ohio. Stewart Cink is inching toward his second career PGA Tour Champions major title, as the veteran on Saturday shot a 1-under-par 71 to clear the field by three strokes headed into Sunday’s championship round at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala.
Cink took home his first major championship just two weeks ago when he won the Senior PGA Championship in Bradenton, Fla.
Despite not matching the heights achieved through his first two rounds, when Cink totaled 16 birdies over two days, his round nevertheless allowed him to expand his lead after leading by two at the conclusion of Friday’s round, and it came in difficult windy conditions.
“Overall today it was just a lot harder day to score out there,” Cink said. “I wasn’t quite as sharp either as I was the first couple days, but sometimes the golf course, you know, it just turns on you a little bit. The wind direction on a lot of the holes was awkward and it was difficult to pick out a lot of the gusts in the direction of it.”
Cink’s lead growing came in part because closest competitor Charlie Wi suffered a miserable round on Saturday, clunking home four bogeys and two double-bogeys on the way to a 5-over 77.
Cink moved to 15-under for the tournament by kickstarting his day with three birdies over his first five holes. His birdie on the fifth was sandwiched by two bogeys, and he closed his front nine 1 under. On the back nine, he balanced a double bogey with two birdies (the latter coming on Hole 18) to finish his day a stroke under par.
“The birdie at the last was nice,” Cink said. “That was some pretty good shots. But the double on the 15th hole was, that’s what happens when you hit a whole bunch of bad shots in one hole, you get a bad score, and I did.”
Cink, who grew up 120 miles northwest of Birmingham in Florence, Ala., has had a large, supportive gallery thanks to that proximity.
But the 72-hole event held at Greystone Golf and Country Club was more unkind to most of the other major challengers on Saturday. South Africa’s Retief Goosen (74), Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (75) and Czechia’s Alex Cejka (74) had all been in a tie for third, and none could reach par, falling further behind Cink’s pace.
Just three golfers are within five shots of Cink after a day of high scores. Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie is closest at 12 under after his 5-under 67. He had seven birdies to go along with two bogeys to match his low round for the tournament.
“This is the beauty of the game of golf, isn’t it, that age is just a number in the game of golf,” Montgomerie said. “If it was any other sport, you would be well gone by now.”
Doug Barron (69) and New Zealand’s Steven Alker (71) are tied for third at 10 under.
Four golfers are tied for fifth at 9 under alongside Goosen and Cejka: Matt Gogel (68), South Korea’s Y.E. Yang (70), Ken Tanigawa (70) and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen (71). Jaidee is T11 while Wi is T15.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cherie DeVaux Makes History with Kentucky Derby Win at Churchill Downs
Cherie DeVaux made history on Saturday by becoming the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. However, with a horde of media surrounding her at her backside stable Sunday morning, she was quick to give the credit to jockey Jose Ortiz.
“It’s almost as if he could script it,” she said.
With an entry that’s known for being a closer, DeVaux said she did not mind Golden Tempo drawing an outside post. He got the 19th gate in the draw, but after scratches, he moved into the 16th. While a ways away from the rail, it helped the colt avoid much of the bumping between horses at the start as they work to get inside position.
DeVaux said she’s not one to give her riders many instructions before a race. She kept it simple: “Don’t overthink it. If you can get out, just get a clear path and make a run.”
Mission accomplished, even if the horse doesn’t quite live up to his name.
“Golden Tempo doesn’t really give Jose any help by just falling back so far,” she added.
While the early front-runners posted blazing quarter times, Golden Tempo ran last in the field for the first three-quarters of a mile. However, as the speed faded, Ortiz had an easy route to the outside, and down the final stretch, he chased down Renegade, the bettors’ second choice, to win by a neck.
Another issue that may have been in Golden Tempo’s favor was not having to load into the gate a second time. That’s something several horses had to do after racing officials scratched Great White at the last minute for dumping jockey Alex Achard and falling over backward while being led to the gate.
“It was a rough trip, everybody was all over the place,” said Luis Saez, who rode seventh-place finisher Commandment. “He ran pretty well and made a nice move, but it was just a tough race.”
Commandment, one of two Derby horses trained by Brad Cox, was the co-second choice in the morning line. At post time, he ended up being the fourth choice at 6-1. Cox’s other horse, Further Ado, ended up the slight favorite over Renegade, with both breaking at 5-1.
Renegade was the morning-line favorite, despite drawing the inside post – a position that had not produced a winner in 40 years. However, the Todd Pletcher-trained colt and Irad Ortiz Jr., Jose’s brother, did everything they could to make some history of their own.
“He got a little roughed and got pushed out of his position,” Pletcher said. “But he kept on going and made his run. He just didn’t get there today.”
With the Kentucky Derby having the largest field of any U.S. thoroughbred race, longshots often find their way to the winner’s circle. Since 2019, the lowest payout for a $2 win ticket was Sovereignty last year, and his bettors still won $17.96.
One of the other big surprises Saturday was the bettors’ interest in So Happy. While he and jockey Mike Smith won the Santa Anita Derby, the colt was given morning line odds of 15-1. That was due primarily to his being sired by Runhappy, who was an excellent sprinter.
Bettors made him the third choice at 5-1.
So Happy stayed among the front pack for the first mile but faded down the stretch to finish ninth.
“He just did too much early on, and we went too fast,” Smith said.
Sports
Wild D Jonas Brodin out for Game 1, F Joel Eriksson Ek also ailing
Apr 7, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Tyler Johnson (90) moves the puck away from Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin (25) and center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) during the second period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin didn’t travel with the team to Denver and will miss Sunday night’s playoff series opener against the Colorado Avalanche.
Forward Joel Eriksson Ek is listed as questionable to play in Game 1 of the Western Conference second-round series.
Brodin, 32, sustained a lower-body injury during Game 5 of Minnesota’s first-round series against the Dallas Stars. He was hurt while blocking a shot by Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen during the second period.
Brodin missed the clinching Game 6 victory on Thursday. He had one assist in the series.
In the regular season, Brodin had four goals and 18 points in 62 games.
Eriksson Ek was hurt in Game 6 when his right leg smacked into the wall. He didn’t practice on Saturday.
Minnesota coach John Hynes was debating what to do about Ek’s spot with his status unclear.
“I’m kind of going through that a little bit right now,” Hynes said. “So, now you kind of go down that decision-making process of what would we do if he’s not ready.”
Ek, 29, had three goals and five points in the Dallas series. In the regular season, he had 19 goals and 51 points in 70 games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cameron Young holds six-shot lead after three rounds in Miami
May 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Cameron Young makes his par putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Romance-Imagn Images Cameron Young shot 2-under-par 70 on Saturday to remain in control through three rounds of Cadillac Championship at Miami.
Young is up six strokes on a group of three golfers, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, at windy Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course.
Young, who’s at 15-under 201, will be looking for his second victory of the season and the third of his career on the PGA Tour during Sunday’s final round.
Scheffler shot 69 to move to second place by the time he finished the round. He’s joined in that position by South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (69) and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan (69).
Young began the round with a bogey on the par-5 first hole but played the next 11 in 3 under.
Scheffler’s round was defined by birdies on three of the four par-5 layouts.
Matt McCarty (69), Ben Griffin (68) and Canada’s Nick Taylor (72) are at 8 under and tied for fifth place. Taylor bogeyed the final hole.
Jordan Spieth took a significant dive, shooting 75 and falling to a tie for 12th at 5 under. He was hurt by two double-bogeys — first on the par-3 fourth hole when he didn’t get into putting position until his fourth stroke and then on the 18th when his approach shot went into the water and he was forced to take a penalty.
Australia’s Adam Scott had the day’s best score with a bogey-free 6-under 66, leaving him at 3 under.
–Field Level Media
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