Sports
Defending champ Aldrich Potgieter sad to see Rocket Classic's farewell
Jul 17, 2026; Southport, ENG; Aldrich Potgieter reacts to his eagle on the 17th green during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images This week on the PGA Tour feels like a juxtaposition of debuts and farewells, the new and the fading.
Days after 21-year-old Jackson Koivun won for the first time as a pro, the tour arrives at a tournament won last year by a 20-year-old in South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter. But this young talent won’t be coming to Detroit much longer.
While Detroit Golf Club will introduce its new $16 million renovation this week, Thursday will mark the start of the final edition of the Rocket Classic.
The tournament won’t be part of the 2027 season as the PGA Tour continues to reshape its schedule.
“I mean, it’s sad to see the tournament not being here next year,” Potgieter said. “I think having some of the golf course changes, it looking so good and playing so nicely … it’s kind of sad to not have it again.
“I’m happy they got a new nice golf course for the members out here to enjoy as well and I’m looking forward to see what it’s going to play like this year.”
Potgieter said he’ll cherish the memories of getting across the finish line for his first PGA Tour win last year, when he beat Chris Kirk and Max Greyserman in a playoff.
For the time being, the focus for players like Potgieter (No. 64) is to stay inside the top 70 of the FedEx Cup points standings. Only the Rocket Classic and the Wyndham Championship remain in the regular season before the top 70 players qualify for the first leg of the playoffs.
Koivun vaulted to exactly 70th place this past week when he beat Scottie Scheffler by three shots to win the 3M Open in Minnesota. The former No. 1 amateur in the world and Auburn star was making his third start since turning pro.
The job’s not finished, but Koivun is in prime position to qualify for the playoffs mere weeks into his pro career.
“Being 70 is great,” Koivun said. “It’s a good and bad spot, but it gives me an opportunity to go earn making the playoffs. Just to have that opportunity to even have a chance at that is just so awesome. Not really changing my game plan. If I can just go play eight solid rounds of golf, I hopefully can sneak into that top 70.”
Detroit Golf Club will play as a par-70 course after years as a par-72. Nos. 7 and 17 were transformed from par-5 holes to par-4s measuring 505 and 537 yards, respectively.
“Visually it’s far more dramatic than it was,” said Cameron Young, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 3. “This is a very old-school golf course and felt very familiar to me to kind of Northeast golf. Everything’s kind of right in front of you. It’s flatter than at home in New York, but yeah, it’s always a place I really liked.
“… I think it’s going to be a bit more challenging. There’s some more fairway bunkers in play and with the greens being expanded, there’s going to be some more hole locations.”
Scheffler is taking the week off, but other notable names in the field include Russell Henley, Chris Gotterup, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, Si Woo Kim of South Korea, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Jordan Spieth. Brooks Koepka was in line to make his tournament debut but withdrew on Tuesday and is in danger of missing that top 70 in his first season back on tour from LIV Golf. He’s 84th.
“I feel very confident in my game,” Clark said. “You know, we’re coming into playoffs, last few events, so hopefully keep the momentum going and really put a nice cherry on top of an amazing season.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners place OF Luke Raley (forearm) on 10-day IL
Jul 3, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners right fielder Luke Raley (20) takes a swing during an at-bat against the Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images The Seattle Mariners placed outfielder Luke Raley on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a left forearm strain, while outfielder Stuart Fairchild was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma.
Raley’s move was retroactive to Friday, when he was out of the lineup with continued discomfort from a forearm flexor tendon injury.
Raley, 31, is batting .225 with 15 home runs and 39 RBIs in 95 games this season. He is a career .230 hitter with 63 home runs and 173 RBIs in 478 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2021), Tampa Bay Rays (2022-23) and Mariners.
Fairchild, 30, was batting .158 over 14 games with the Cleveland Guardians this season before he was designated for assignment in June. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners on July 5.
Fairchild is a career .221 hitter with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs in 291 games for six different clubs, including three games for the Mariners in 2022.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sydney Taylor's trey in final second lifts Sky past Aces
Aug 1, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky guard Sydney Taylor (12) celebrates with guard Natasha Cloud (9) after scoring a game winning three-pointer against the Las Vegas Aces during the second half of a WNBA game at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Rookie Sydney Taylor drained a 3-pointer Saturday with 0.9 seconds left and the Chicago Sky rallied to nip the visiting Las Vegas Aces 84-83.
A’ja Wilson drove for a layup with 3.2 seconds remaining that gave Las Vegas (20-9) a two-point lead. After a timeout, Taylor slipped around a screen and got off a clean look from the left wing for the last three of her team-high 29 points.
Natasha Cloud added 11 points for Chicago (11-18), which improved to 6-1 in its last seven home games and won for the first time in five games decided by three or fewer points. DiJonai Carrington came off the bench for 10, including a pair of foul shots that tied the game at 81 with 43.9 seconds on the clock.
Wilson starred in defeat for the Aces with a game-high 36 points and 12 rebounds. Jackie Young added 18 points and 11 boards, while NaLyssa Smith contributed 17 points.
The Sky, who outscored Las Vegas 29-18 in the fourth quarter, won despite making only 40.3% of their field goals.
The pregame storylines centered around the beginning of a five-game road trip for Las Vegas, while Chicago was hoping to carry over some momentum from a fourth-quarter comeback in its Thursday night home win over Connecticut.
Young got the Aces off the mark early with 10 first quarter points, helping them establish an 18-11 lead after draining a 3-pointer at the 2:15 mark. They took a 20-16 edge to the second period.
The Sky fought back in the second quarter to tie the game at 24 on Cloud’s 3-pointer with 6:26 remaining. However, Las Vegas was able to restore a five-point lead before Taylor’s floater with 1.5 seconds left sliced its lead to 40-37 at halftime.
Young’s 3-point play at the 1:58 mark of the third quarter gave the Aces their largest lead at 61-48. Even after Courtney Vandersloot played beat the buzzer with a jumper, Las Vegas still owned a 65-55 margin going to the fourth period.
Chicago’s Kamilla Cardoso tied Wilson for game-high rebounding honors with a dozen.
Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray led all players with nine assists.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Unheralded Yealimi Noh charges into third-round lead at AIG Women's Open
Apr 26, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Yealimi Noh prepares to putt on the 18th hole during the final round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images It has been a trying 2026 LPGA campaign for 25-year old Yealimi Noh.
The six-year pro entered play this week at the AIG Women’s Open in Lytham St. Annes, England, with three consecutive missed cuts, two of which were in major championships.
Noh’s fortunes have changed with a 2-under-par 69 in the third round of the Women’s Open to lead the final major of the year at 7-under 206 through three rounds at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club.
Noh carded rounds of 67 and 70 to open the tournament to sit just two shots off the pace set by South Korea’s Haeryn Ryu. Her status looked bleak Saturday after taking a bogey 6 on the par-5 seventh hole to fall six shots off the pace of the fast-starting Ryu.
However, Noh made an unlikely birdie at the par-3 ninth hole, which was the start of three consecutive birdies for the one-time LPGA Tour winner. The San Francisco-area native added another birdie at 16 while charging into the lead.
Ryu cooled off and struggled to a 3-over 74 and plummeted into a five-way tie for second place at 4 under for the tournament.
“I don’t know, golf is just crazy,” Noh said about her turnaround from recent struggles. “It’s been making me realize it more and more. It only takes one round for your whole mindset and whole game to change.
“Yeah, I had a really rough couple months. Not even just missing cuts, but just not playing good golf or rounds. And Thursday, I was just really happy to shoot under par and just really set me up for the week.”
Ryu, who is seeking her third consecutive major this season, is tied in second place with Germany’s Esther Henseleit, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki and Lucy Li.
Noh, who had 26 putts in her round, appeared to salvage the day with an early break.
“I had a little bit of a rough start a couple bogeys on the front nine,” she said. “Actually a chip-in par save on the second, which was nice. Yeah, I just fell out of tempo a little bit and then got it together for the back nine, and it was really solid. Had some good par saves.”
Ryu got to 9 under with birdies at the third and fourth holes, then bogeyed six of her next 10 holes. After hitting 31-of-36 greens and converting 2-of-3 from the sand over the first 36 holes, Ryu stumbled to 11-of-18 and 0-of-2 respectively on Saturday.
She still will take a positive attitude into Sunday. Two major titles will do that.
“Before I got the major win and then always I’m doing like more pressure and want to more not good for my mindset,” Ryu said. “But these days, after got two wins, I’m still calm because this is a major. Yeah, it’s such a different (feeling than) before I got two wins.”
Henseleit posted the best round of anyone in the top-7 with a 4-under 67.
She went out in 31 and only needed 26 putts on Saturday, knocking in several of considerable length.
“I mean, you have so many long putts so your speed has to be really good,” Henseleit said. I feel like if there is a strength in my putting the speed control on the long ones is that, so I guess it kind of suits my game.”
Li carded a 2 under 69, while Thitikul shot an even-par 72 and Kuwaki shot a 1-over 73.
The day’s best round belonged to Japan’s Ayaka Furue, who carded a 6-under 65. She moved up six spots and is tied for eighth place at 2-under 211.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda shot her second 1-over 73 of the week and is at 1 over for the tournament, tied for 16th place.
–Field Level Media
Mariners place OF Luke Raley (forearm) on 10-day IL
Sydney Taylor's trey in final second lifts Sky past Aces
