Sports
Caddie fired after PGA starting-time gaffe finds new job
Jul 31, 2020; Truckee, CA, USA; Caddie Austin Gaugert during the second round of the Barracuda Championship golf tournament at Old Greenwood. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-Imagn Images The caddie who was fired after a late tee-time arrival at the PGA Championship is on a new bag this week.
Austin Gaugert gained notoriety when Garrick Higgo was a minute late to start his first round at Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia two weeks ago.
Higgo was penalized two strokes and wound up missing the 36-hole cut at the major by just one shot. He fired Gaugert the following Monday and brought back former caddie Nick Cavendish-Pell.
Gaugert shouldered the responsibility for the controversial penalty following his dismissal.
“As a caddie, you try to do everything you can to prepare your player for competition and I fell short of that,” he wrote on Instagram. “Garrick was understanding throughout the situation and handled it with professionalism and class. This has happened to players before and will again. Garrick handled a difficult situation with grace, and I wish him nothing but success moving forward.”
Gaugert has moved forward. He is caddying this week for Dylan Wu at the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
Wu, who missed the cut in his five previous events, opened with an even-par 70 at Colonial Country Club on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Retired players to receive share of $14M
Aug 21, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles (31) reacts after his basket against the Washington Mystics in the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images Retired WNBA players with at least five years of experience are entitled to a share of a $14 million pool, Front Office Sports reported Friday.
The “Veteran Recognition Payment” was included in the new collective bargaining agreement that was agreed to by the league and players’ union ahead of the 2026 season.
Players who were in the league for five to seven years are due a lump sum of $30,000, while those who played eight to 11 years will receive $50,000 and those who suited up for 12 or more years will get $100,000, per the report.
About 280 players who retired before the start of the current season reportedly are eligible. That includes eight-time All-Star and 2012 Most Valuable Player Tina Charles, a 14-year veteran who retired three days before the start of the 2026 campaign.
In addition, any retired player who won the MVP award but played fewer than 12 years will qualify for the $100,000 payment, per the report. That would include two-time MVPs Cynthia Cooper and Elena Delle Donne along with Maya Moore and Yolanda Griffith.
“I’m sure there are a certain number of (retired players) who it will make a real impact on their lives,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo told FOS. “For the current players to kind of appreciate the history of the game and where they are now as a result of some of the women who came before them, that was magnanimous and certainly a surprise.”
According to the CBA, the payments are expected to be distributed before the end of the calendar year.
–Field Level Media
Sports
French Open doubles match ends after sign causes injury
May 25, 2013; Paris, FRANCE; A general view of a tennis ball on a clay court before the 2013 French Open at Roland Garros. Mandatory Credit: Matthias Hauer/GEPA via Imagn Images A French Open women’s doubles match ended Friday when a player tripped over an advertising sign near the baseline and crashed into a wall.
Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, 24, sustained a leg injury on the incident at Court Six at Roland Garros in Paris.
Sonmez was chasing down a lob in the first set when she collided with a sign near the court boundary and lost her balance before falling headlong into the wall. She visibly was shaken and appeared to be in considerable pain as the medical staff responded immediately.
Zeynep Sonmez running for a ball and trips over an advertising sign at the back of the court.
She got injured and had to retire from her doubles match.
What is Roland Garros doing at this point to protect the players?
This is getting ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/V6npUQZ0MS
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 29, 2026
With Sonmez unable to continue, the second-round match ended after just 17 minutes with Sonmez and Germany’s Tatjana Maria trailing 2-0 against Ukrainians Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina.
Sonmez lost her first-round singles match earlier this week 6-4, 6-4 against Australia’s Daria Kasatkina.
Sonmez is ranked No. 66 in the world and owns one singles title on the WTA Tour, prevailing at Mexico’s Merida Open in October 2024.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Stephan Jaeger (back) WDs from Charles Schwab Challenge
May 24, 2026; McKinney, Texas, USA; Stephan Jaeger plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Stephan Jaeger withdrew from Friday’s second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge with a back injury.
Jaeger, 36, carded a 5-over 75 in Thursday’s opening round at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
He finished tied for ninth at last week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson and is 84th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
The Germany native has one PGA Tour title to his credit, coming at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open.
–Field Level Media
Report: Retired players to receive share of $14M
French Open doubles match ends after sign causes injury
