Sports
Rory McIlroy: Bringing back LIV players 'good business' for PGA Tour
May 8, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Rory McIlroy eyes his line on 18 during the second round of the Truist Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Rory McIlroy is softening his stance on the return of players from LIV Golf to the PGA Tour, acknowledging Friday that bringing back more defectors from the breakaway circuit could be a net positive.
With the future of LIV in doubt after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced it is pulling its financial backing after this year, McIlroy was asked his reaction to how that could impact the PGA Tour.
“It’s a question if (players) do want to come back,” McIlroy said after ending the second round of the Truist Championship tied for eighth in Charlotte. “Obviously we have seen the quotes over the last few days. And, you know, it seems like … it all depends on what happens to LIV.
“But if it is a scenario where they have the option to come back and play on the traditional tours, you know, I think (PGA Tour CEO) Brian Rolapp has said anything that makes this Tour stronger, anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger, I think everyone should be open to that. That’s just good business practice.”
The six-time major champion added, “I think everyone sort of knows my views on LIV and where it stands in the game of golf. I don’t think I need to rehash any of that. It’s never been for me and, look, it doesn’t mean that LIV is going to go away. They’re going to go and try and find alternative investment, whatever that may look like.
“But when one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks that you’re too expensive for them, that sort of says something.”
Earlier this year, five-time major winner Brooks Koepka accepted the terms of the PGA Tour’s Returning Member Program and came back from LIV. The requirements included “heavy and appropriate limitations to both tournament access and potential earning that we believe properly holds returning members accountable for substantial compensation earned elsewhere.”
The offer was made to golfers who won a Players Championship, Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open or Open Championship between 2022-25. Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith were the other players eligible per those criteria.
Commenting on LIV players in general, McIlroy said Friday, “I was probably too judgmental with the guys that went because I was seeing it from my point of view and maybe not seeing it from other points of view. But again, I’m not going to judge anyone for not wanting to play on the PGA Tour. …
“Does that mean that they go play DP World Tour maybe. If that’s a pathway, that would make the DP World Tour stronger, and I would be delighted with that, because that’s my home Tour, at the end of the day.
“But … if you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, (the PGA Tour) is the place to be. And if you don’t want to play here, I think that says something about you.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hall of Famer Wade Boggs declares his cancer 'null and void'
May 8, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Former Boston Red Sox player Wade Boggs waves to the crowd prior to a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images Baseball Hall of Fame member Wade Boggs has announced he is cancer-free.
“I’m a cancer survivor now. Prostate cancer is null and void. Thank God,” the former third baseman said on Friday, citing a recent checkup.
He shared the news after taking part in a ceremony on Friday night at Fenway Park celebrating the 125th anniversary of the team’s first home game. Boggs threw out the ceremonial first pitch alongside other Red Sox greats David Ortiz, Petro Martinez, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk and Carl Yastrzemski.
Boggs was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 2024 and subsequently underwent radiation and hormone treatment in Florida.
Boggs shared a post on X on Nov. 13, 2024, announcing that he had completed his treatment, thanking his medical team and expressing gratitude for the support he received.
“Praise God! Had my last treatment this morning, now it’s in the hands of God ??,” he wrote at the time. “Can’t thank my family, friends and my fans for your continued support throughout this difficult time. Also my wonderful team at Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute ??????.”
Boggs credited early detection for his diagnosis and encouraged young men to get screenings.
“It’s a process that you have to go through, and I encourage all young men to get your PSA tests,” Boggs said Friday. “Please go out there. Because mine, it wasn’t even on the radar. It was a 3.3, and they don’t even start talking about it until it gets to four. But I had the bad one, and we caught it early. … I had my checkup a month ago, and I’m completely cancer-free.”
Boggs, 67, played 18 MLB seasons with the Boston Red Sox (1982-92), New York Yankees (1993-97) and the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-99). The Red Sox and Rays have both retired his number.
Boggs was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005 on the first ballot, garnering votes on 91.9% of ballots.
He was a five-time American League batting champion, 12-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove Award winner and eight-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He won a World Series in 1996 with the Yankees. In his career, Boggs hit .328 and joined the 3,000-hit club, finishing with 3,010 to go with 1,513 runs, 118 homers and 1,014 RBIs.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Four different players score to give Inter Miami win over Toronto FC
May 9, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Inter Miami CF midfielder Lionel Messi (10) battles for the ball with Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio (21) during the first half at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images Rodrigo De Paul, Luis Suarez, Sergio Reguilon and Lionel Messi each scored to lead visiting Inter Miami to a 4-2 win over Toronto FC on Saturday.
Messi had two assists as Miami (6-2-4, 22 points) made sure it wouldn’t repeat last week’s stunning 4-3 home loss against Orlando City when it surrendered a 3-0 lead.
Emilio Aristizabal scored a brace for Toronto (3-4-5, 14 points).
The Herons took a 1-0 lead when De Paul’s free kick from 25 yards out in the 44th minute ricocheted off the wall and his one-time right-footed shot hit the post and went in.
Suarez gave Miami a 2-0 advantage when he finished Messi’s pass with his left foot in the 56th minute. The Herons took advantage of the space created when Toronto forward Raheem Edwards remained down on the pitch.
In the 73rd minute, Miami went up 3-0 when Messi returned a pass to Reguilon who scored his first MLS goal.
Miami poured it on at 4-0 when De Paul connected with Messi in the middle of the box in the 75th minute.
Aristizabal trimmed Miami’s lead to 4-1 in the 82nd minute. Toronto trailed 4-2 on Aristizabal’s header on a Kobe Franklin pass in the 90th minute.
Early in the match, Toronto had its chances. Alonso Coello’s free kick from outside the box in the eighth minute skipped through the Miami wall, but Dayne St. Clair made the save.
In the next few minutes, Toronto continued to press as Malik Henry, Markus Cimermancic and Deandre Kerr had shots go wide of the target.
Miami’s offense started to build late in the first half when a Messi shot sizzled beyond the near post in the 38th minute.
Moments later, St. Clair made a diving punch save of a Daniel Salloi shot to preserve Miami’s 1-0 lead at halftime.
The 47th minute featured Luis Suarez forcing a turnover at midfield which set Messi up for a 2-on-1 run. Messi drew in both defenders and slipped a pass to Suarez on the wing, whose shot from inside the box was off target.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Wings out-race Fever to season-opening victory
May 9, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots the ball while Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Arike Ogunbowale scored 22 points, Paige Bueckers and Odyssey Sims tallied 20 apiece and the Dallas Wings opened the new season with a 107-104 win over the Indiana Fever on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Jessica Shepard racked up 13 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for Dallas, which burned Indiana with 25 fastbreak points.
Sims, a crucial part of Indiana’s playoff run last season, led the Wings with 12 points after halftime and made one of two free throws in the dying seconds of regulation. Caitlin Clark missed a 32-footer and Indiana fouled Bueckers on the rebound, but Bueckers missed both foul shots with 1.4 seconds left, giving the Fever one last chance.
With Clark smothered by defenders on the inbound play, Kelsey Mitchell uncorked a 3 to tie but it bounced off the rim.
Mitchell powered the Fever’s comeback with 11 of her game-high 30 points coming in the fourth. Aliyah Boston had 23 points and Clark tallied 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds while shooting 2-of-9 from deep in her first WNBA game since July 15, 2025, due to a season-ending groin injury.
Neither team led by more than nine as two efficient offenses went tit for tat. The Wings shot 59.1% from the field and 12 for 23 from 3-point range, while the Fever made 51.9% overall but just 7 of 24 3-point attempts.
Clark left the bench in the waning minutes of the third period and returned wearing a black wrap around her lower back. She reentered the game and hit the final layup of the third to forge a tie at 80. That gave Clark 10 points for the third and put her past 1,000 points in her 54th career game.
Clark was not part of the Fever’s first lineup for the fourth quarter but emerged from the locker room soon after, presumably after further treatment.
Sims’ fastbreak layup made it 97-90 with four minutes and change to play, but Mitchell clawed the Fever back with a 3-pointer, one free throw and a three-point play to get it to 99-97 Dallas. Bueckers responded with a 20-footer.
Boston missed the second half of a pair of free throws but stole the rebound from Bueckers and laid it in to cut it to 101-100. Then the Fever forced their second five-second violation of the quarter, but came up empty on offense.
Alanna Smith scored for Dallas and Sims hit a shot over Clark to make it 105-100 with 36.4 seconds left.
After the Fever pushed in front early in the second on consecutive 3-pointers by Cunningham and Boston, No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd responded with the first points of her career on a corner 3, and Ogunbowale’s triple restored the tie game at 35.
But Fudd finished her WNBA debut with just those three points and one steal in 18 minutes.
Neither team led by more than five points until the final minute of the half, when Aziaha James knocked down two 3-pointers and Ogunbowale added one in between to build a 60-51 Dallas lead.
–Field Level Media
