Sports
Gary Player rips round snub with grandsons: 'We made Augusta'
Honorary starter Gary Player reacts on the first tee during the first round of the 2025 Masters. (Michael Madrid-Imagn Images) Gary Player lashed out at the current leadership of Augusta National after the three-time Masters champion was denied of his request to play a fourball round with his grandsons.
Player, 90, is one of three honorary starters for the first major of the year, which he became the first non-American to win in 1961.
“I have been an ambassador for Augusta for all these years, yet they won’t let me have one round of golf in my life with my three grandsons,” Player told Golf Monthly. “All the courses that have hosted the Open (Championship), the U.S. Open and the PGA (Championship) would oblige, but they won’t do it at Augusta.
“My grandsons are dying to know about their grandfather’s episodes on that golf course. It is just this current management there.
“But these are the times we live in, and I accept it, but I accept it with sadness. When I go there, I feel like I am walking on to a golf course in heaven. I tread very carefully and I love Augusta so much — but I don’t like all the rules.”
Player’s 52 Masters appearances are more than any other player in history, and he began serving as an honorary starter in 2012. During his playing career, the World Golf Hall of Fame member was part of the “Big Three” along with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
He added two more green jackets in 1974 and 1978, with the Masters serving as the site of three of his nine career majors. As a past champion, Palmer has playing privileges at the course. However, unlike Palmer and Nicklaus, Player was never granted membership at Augusta National that would enable him to bring guests to play alongside him.
He previously has criticized his lack of playing privileges at Augusta, saying in 2023 that he was “disillusioned” about the difficulty of playing the course with a guest. At the time, he ranked the Masters last among the four majors.
Player’s son, Wayne, reportedly also received a lifetime ban from Augusta after holding up a pack of golf balls in a marketing stunt during a 2021 ceremony honoring Lee Elder.
“There are a lot of things that have made Augusta what it is, but the part we played was a prevalent part of my career,” Player told Golf Monthly. “(Co-founder) Bobby Jones was a wonderful man and a wonderful asset to a wonderful tournament, as was (member) President (Dwight D.) Eisenhower as was (co-founder) Clifford Roberts. Those three people, they basically made Augusta.
“Then Arnold, Jack and I came along, and we fought it out every year, and then we made Augusta thanks to the coverage and publicity we generated around the Masters, whether the club likes to admit it or not. They won’t admit it, but we made Augusta.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ukrainian sees appeal for reinstatement dismissed
Vladyslav Heraskevych of Ukraine poses with his helmet after appearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport following his disqualification from the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics for wearing a helmet in tribute to athletes who have died amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine. MILAN — The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday dismissed an appeal by Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych to be reinstated in the Milan Cortina Olympics after he was disqualified over his “helmet of remembrance.”
The 27-year-old was removed from the Olympic program on Thursday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that imagery on the helmet — depicting athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 — breached rules on political neutrality.
“The CAS ad Hoc division dismissed the application and found that freedom of expression is guaranteed at the Olympic Games but not on the field of play which is a sacred principle,” CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb said, reading from a statement following an eight-hour hearing.
Heraskevych, who was seeking reinstatement or at least a CAS-supervised run ahead of the final two runs set for Friday evening, said he would look at his legal options now.
“CAS has failed us. We will consider our next steps,” Heraskevych told Reuters.
The case has dominated headlines in the first week of the Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry meeting the athlete on Thursday morning at the sliding venue in Cortina d’Ampezzo in a last-minute attempt to broker a compromise and have him race without the specific helmet.
The IOC instead offered that he wear a black armband and display the helmet before and after the race but said using the helmet in competition breached its rules on political protests and slogans in the field of play.
In a statement, CAS said the IOC guidelines for athletes’ expression in the Games were fair.
“The Sole Arbitrator found these limitations reasonable and proportionate, considering the other opportunities for athletes to raise awareness,” CAS said.
“The Sole Arbitrator considers these Guidelines provide a reasonable balance between athletes’ interests to express their views, and athletes’ interests to receive undivided attention for their sporting performance on the field of play.”
Ukraine’s Olympic Committee has backed its athlete, who is also the team’s flagbearer for the Games and also displayed a “No War in Ukraine” sign at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, days before Russia’s invasion. Heraskevych has received support from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
CAS was established in 1984 by the IOC as an independent judicial authority to settle sports disputes worldwide.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
Sports
Oklahoma State takes on TCU facing tough hill for tourney bid
Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz shouts at Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Anthony Roy (9) during a BIG 12 men’s college basketball game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) and the BYU Cougars at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz knows his Cowboys must make the most of all their remaining games to have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
The hill they must climb starts Saturday when the Cowboys (16-8, 4-7 Big 12) face TCU (15-9, 5-6) in a Big 12 game in Stillwater, Okla.
Oklahoma State only has one road win in the Big 12 since Lutz took over last season. Three of the Cowboys’ last seven games are on the road and two of the remaining home games are against No. 9 Kansas and No. 3 Houston.
That makes the game with the Horned Frogs a must-win after being swept in Arizona, 84-47 against No. 1 Arizona Saturday and 85-76 against Arizona State Tuesday.
The Cowboys trimmed the deficit in the latter game to 69-68 late, but the Sun Devils scored nine straight to lead by 10 with 1:35 left.
“The game was lost way before then when we turned the ball over 17 times and gave them 26 points and gave up offensive rebounds for 24 points,” Lutz said. “In this league, you can’t give people 50 points. You can’t spot people 50 points and expect to win. So that’s on us.”
Arizona State shot just 40% from the floor and hit only 23.8% from behind the 3-point line (5 of 21) but made 28 of 35 free throws and outrebounded the Cowboys 45-34, including grabbing 19 offensive boards.
Lutz knows how steep a hill the Cowboys face the rest of the way.
“This is not a two-hand-touch league. This is a tackle football league,” Lutz said. “If you’re not going to fight and you’re not going to scrap and you’re not going to rebound, you got no shot.”
The Horned Frogs may have saved their season with a 62-55 upset of No. 5 Iowa State Tuesday.
Coach Jamie Dixon’s decision to start highly recruited sophomore forward Micah Robinson for just the second time this season paid off in a big way.
Robinson poured in 17 points, had five rebounds and two steals, and made two sensational dunks down the stretch to put the Cyclones away.
“It definitely means a lot,” Robinson said of the opportunity to start. “It shows the trust the coaching staff and my teammates have in me. It meant a lot to be able to come out there and compete.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Raptors waive veteran G Chris Paul
Jan 2, 2026; Mesa, AZ, USA; Chris Paul in attendance during the HoopHall West Tournament at Skyline High School. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Toronto Raptors waived 12-time All-Star guard Chris Paul on Friday.
The move was expected after Toronto acquired Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers as part of a three-team deal with the Brooklyn Nets at last week’s trade deadline. The trade for Paul, in the eyes of the Raptors, was done for financial reasons.
Paul, 40, plans to retire at season’s end.
Signed to a one-year, $3.6 million contract last offseason, Paul rejoined a Clippers franchise with which he spent six seasons from 2011-17. This season, he averaged 2.9 points, 3.3 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 16 games off the bench. He has not played in a game since Dec. 1.
Paul ranks second in NBA history in assists with 12,552 and second in steals with 2,728, trailing only Basketball Hall of Famer John Stockton in both categories.
Paul, then with New Orleans, was named Rookie of the Year in 2006. He is a four-time All-NBA first-team selection, five-time NBA assists champion and six-time steals champion. A member of seven first-team All-Defensive teams, he also was the MVP of the 2013 All-Star Game.
Paul won Olympic gold medals with the United States in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012 and was named to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team in 2021.
He played with New Orleans for six seasons, then was traded to the Clippers in 2011. He later played for the Houston Rockets (2017-19), Oklahoma City Thunder (2019-20), Phoenix Suns (2020-23), Golden State Warriors (2023-24) and San Antonio Spurs (2024-25).
Paul has career averages of 16.8 points, 9.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 1,370 games (1,314 starts). He has not won an NBA title, getting to the Finals only once when his Suns lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021.
–Field Level Media
Ukrainian sees appeal for reinstatement dismissed
Oklahoma State takes on TCU facing tough hill for tourney bid
