Sports
Jon Rahm wishes Patrick Reed 'nothing but the best' after LIV departure
Aug 24, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Jon Rahm of Legion XIII reacts to making his putt on the 18th green in a playoff hole during the finals of the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship at The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images As the league’s two-time defending individual champion, Jon Rahm has quickly become the face of LIV Golf.
That makes the Spaniard’s opinion on the uncertain state of LIV amidst a valuable one as the tour kicks off its 2026 season this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Brooks Koepka sent shockwaves when he left LIV last December and made his PGA Tour return over the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open. Patrick Reed, while not yet back with PGA officially, announced his LIV departure last week and is set to return to the more prominent tour later this year.
The PGA Tour announced a “returning member program,” the criteria of which made only four LIV players eligible for immediate reinstatement: Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Australian Cameron Smith and Rahm.
Instead, Rahm elected to stick with LIV for a third season as the captain of defending team champion Legion XIII. But Rahm admitted he doesn’t hold any ill will towards Reed for his decision.
“I think each one is going to do whatever he thinks is best for them. At this point, I just wish him nothing but the best of luck. Hopefully it all goes well,” Rahm said when asked about Reed’s decision on Monday. “We’re free to choose where we want to play golf. At least that’s how it should be. And he’s made his choice, obviously. Nothing really against him. He’s been playing fantastic golf, and if he wants to go back, he should have the chance to do so.”
This week’s event in Riyadh also marks the beginning of a new era for LIV, which will move from 54-hole events to the more traditional 72 holes this season.
The hope is that this change will allow for LIV events to begin counting for points in the Official Golf World Rankings, which they have not since the league’s 2022 launch.
A decision on that front is reportedly expected soon from OWGR’s board, potentially paving an easier path for LIV competitors to qualify for major championships.
Rahm, a two-time major champion, sees the change as a positive on all fronts.
“I’m happy about it. I would say I was one of the people that pushed for it. So obviously I’m happy about it,” Rahm said. “I think the more golf we play, the better for stronger teams and stronger players, and I think it will benefit us four individuals and as a team.”
Another potential LIV change this season is the league pushing for the DP World Tour to stop fining competitors for missing events due to LIV event conflicts.
That’s affecting Rahm more than many, as he said recently that he’s been fined approximately $3 million for missing DP events since joining LIV ahead of the 2024 season.
“I don’t know what it may be or what it’s going to look like, but I’m happy to see that looking for a path forward for LIV players to be able to play on both tours and not to get penalized,” Rahm said. “The fact that they’re looking at a positive way to figure it out, I think it’s only good for us, and I think it’s good for the DP World Tour as well.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
NWSL roundup: Kiki Van Zanten's brace leads Houston to rout of Boston
Mar 21, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA;
Houston Dash midfielder Kat Rader (22) celebrates after scoring a goal in the second half against the Boston Legacy FC at Shell Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images Kiki Van Zanten scored a brace for the Houston Dash in an impressive 3-0 victory against the visiting Boston Legacy on Saturday.
Van Zanten scored in the 43rd and 59th minutes to give the Dash a commanding lead and match her scoring total in 17 NWSL matches last season for Houston.
Katherine Ann Rader added the final goal in the 65th minute for Houston (2-0-0, 6 points), which is in pursuit of its first playoff berth since 2022 and just the second in 13 seasons.
Boston (0-0-2, 0 points), which got four saves from Casey Murphy, is still looking for the franchise’s first win. The Legacy’s inaugural season kicked off with a 1-0 home loss to Gotham FC on March 14.
Gotham FC 0, North Carolina Courage 0
Gotham FC and North Carolina Courage combined for 23 shots (four on goal) but played to a draw in Harrison, N.J.
The Courage (1-0-1, 4 points) completed nearly 170 more passes (459-290) and had three of the four shots on goal, two from Ashley Sanchez. Kailen Sheridan was tasked with just one save.
Gotham FC (1-0-1, 4 points) got three saves from and held 59% of the possession despite being outshot 13-10. Rose Lavalle had the side’s lone shot on goal. Ann-Katrin Berger made three saves to maintain the scoreless draw.
Angel City 3, Bay FC 1
Sveindís Jonsdottir had a brace as Angel City FC defeated Bay City FC in San Jose, Calif.
Gisele Thompson also found the back of the net in the 32nd minute on an assist from Jonsdottir for Angel City (2-0-0, 6 points), which is atop the standings two weeks in with a plus-six goal differential.
Taylor Huff had the lone goal in the 56th minute for Bay FC (1-1-0, 3 points) on an assist from Cristiana Girelli.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hot start helps Hyo Joo Kim take 5-shot lead at Fortinet Founders Cup
Apr 27, 2025; The Woodlands, Texas, USA; Hyo Joo Kim of Korea hits a tee shot on the first hole during the final round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim improved her grip on the lead to five strokes with a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday at the Fortinet Founders Cup in Menlo Park, Calif.
Kim, a seven-time winner on the LPGA Tour and the 2015 Founders Cup champion, led by two shots after the opening round and four through Friday’s play. The 30-year-old shot 6 under for the first six holes on Saturday and is 17-under 199 after three rounds at Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club, which is hosting the event for the first time.
World No. 2 Nelly Korda, competing for the first time since winning the weather-shortened Tournament of Champions to open the 2026 season, is five strokes back at 12 under after she matched Kim’s 66.
Kim, ranked No. 8 in the world, had an adventurous round with only seven pars. She started on fire with birdies at Nos. 1, 3 and 4 before an eagle at the par-5 fifth hole to get to 16 under for the tournament. Another birdie followed at No. 6, then the first of her three bogeys on the day to make the turn in 31 shots.
“The start up to hole 6, I believe, was unbelievable golf and I can’t even believe it,” Kim said. “I had a lot of birdies and (an) eagle, too. But I did also have some bogeys I shouldn’t have done. The start felt like almost a game.”
The back nine included birdies at Nos. 10 and 13 sandwiched around two bogeys and her seventh birdie of the round at the par-4 No. 16.
Kim hit eight of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation on Saturday.
Korda carded 33 on both the front and back nines in her bogey-free round. Birdies came at Nos. 2, 7, 8, 10, 16 and 18.
“It’s nice to have a clean scorecard wherever you play,” Korda said. “Doesn’t matter. With kind of how tough it is off the tee and into the greens, just really happy with my round today.”
She needed only 27 putts in hitting 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
China’s Ruixin Liu (66 on Saturday) and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (65) are tied for third at 11 under.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, who leads the Race to CME Globe standings, is tied for fifth at 9 under with three others: Australia’s Karis Davison (69), Japan’s Erika Hara (67) and South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi (69).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fresh off historic blowout, No. 1 Florida takes aim at No. 9 Iowa
Mar 20, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Florida Gators center Olivier Rioux (32) dunks the ball in the second half against the Prairie View A&M Panthers during a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images Florida began pursuit of a second straight national championship by trouncing Prairie View A&M by a whopping 59 points, the second-largest winning margin in NCAA Tournament history.
That margin of victory couldn’t have been comforting for Iowa.
The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes take aim at a major upset when they face the top-seeded Gators on Sunday night in a second-round South Region game at Tampa, Fla.
“They’re talented at all five positions for Florida,” Iowa star guard Bennett Stirtz said on Saturday. “Yeah, our hands are going to be full, but we’re going to take full advantage of the opportunity, and to be the best you’ve got to beat the best.”
Iowa (22-12) registered a 67-61 first-round victory over eighth-seeded Clemson on Friday for its first NCAA tourney win since 2021. The Gators (27-7) romped 114-55 over Prairie View A&M with only Loyola Chicago’s 111-42 win over Tennessee Tech in 1963 representing a worse beatdown.
In other words, Florida plays a much-faster pace than the Hawkeyes, who are more comfortable in halfcourt sets.
Iowa coach Ben McCollum isn’t paying much attention to whether the game is slowed down or resembles a track meet.
“If it’s slow or fast is irrelevant, it’s just a matter if we can put the ball in the basket more than they do,” McCollum said of the pace. “I don’t think we probably focus on it as much as most people think. I think it just naturally happens.”
Meanwhile, the Gators will have a pro-Florida crowd in Tampa for the second straight game and coach Todd Golden is certainly relishing that aspect.
“It’s a great advantage of finishing where we did and being able to stay close to home and playing in Tampa and something that we definitely don’t take lightly,” Golden said.
Last season, the Gators squeaked out a 77-75 win over two-time defending national champion UConn in the second round. It was one of four victories by six or fewer points in the title run, including a 65-63 victory over Houston to win the national title.
Golden said this season’s Gators are more ready to battle their way through the tournament than last season’s edition.
“I believe we’re more prepared this year, obviously going through last year’s tournament,” Golden said. “Just the ups and downs that we had earlier on in the season. We’ve been able to get through some adversity and get back to playing together, playing the right way, having really good success.
“So, coming into the Tournament, I feel like we’re more comfortable, better prepared. I believe our guys had a great mentality after this week’s practice going into the game (Friday) night and played with great purpose and intent. I expect to try to do that again against a really good Iowa team.”
The Gators were ready for their first game, shooting 64.3% from the field and outrebounding the Panthers 54-20. Seven Florida players scored in double digits.
Florida knows the task will be tougher Sunday. The players are focusing on Stirtz, the honorable mention All-American who was just 4-of-17 shooting while scoring 16 points in Iowa’s win over Clemson.
“Bennett is a great player,” Florida guard Boogie Fland said. “Just got to contain him, no threes, and all team defense.”
McCollum, who is coaching Stirtz for the fourth straight season at a third different school, is expecting a bounce-back from Stirtz.
“They’re paying attention to him pretty heavy and it’s pretty contested,” McCollum said. “I’m not overly concerned with it. Obviously, he’s going to have to be able to score for us to win to a certain level, but he doesn’t need to go have 30 points for us to do that.”
–Field Level Media
NWSL roundup: Kiki Van Zanten's brace leads Houston to rout of Boston
Hot start helps Hyo Joo Kim take 5-shot lead at Fortinet Founders Cup
