Sports
Lucas Herbert fires 62 for Open lead as penalty knocks DeChambeau back
Jul 17, 2026; Southport, ENG; Lucas Herbert lines up a putt on the 18th green during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Lucas Herbert tied the major championship single-round scoring record with a 62 Friday and will enter the weekend with a two-shot lead at the Open Championship in Southport, England.
Fellow LIV Golf member Bryson DeChambeau was poised to play with Herbert in Saturday’s final pairing, one off the lead, but a lengthy review after DeChambeau’s round resulted in a two-stroke penalty on his fifth hole, knocking him from 7 under to 5 under.
After Herbert set the pace at 8-under-par 132 in the morning, DeChambeau played in the afternoon wave and finished birdie-birdie to post a 66 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. However, he met with R&A rules officials after his round and was determined to have improved his lie in the rough at No. 5 by stamping down on tall grass that could have been in his swing path.
His penalty was formalized more than an hour after his round ended, leaving him with a triple-bogey 7 on the hole and a 68 for the day.
Instead of a narrow lead over a two-time major champion, Herbert will enter the weekend two clear of Cameron Young (67), Ryan Gerard (67) and first-round leader Jackson Suber (69).
Herbert, 30, needed par at No. 18 to shoot the first 61 in major championship history or birdie to make an unprecedented 60, but his 5-foot par save missed centimeters to the left of the cup.
The Australian was soon joined by Sam Burns, who recorded the seventh 62 at a major to catapult to 5 under. Si Woo Kim of South Korea also shot 67 to join Burns and DeChambeau at 5 under.
Branden Grace of South Africa shot the first round of 62 at a major nine years ago, the last time The Open was held at Royal Birkdale. The list has since grown to seven 62s, counting Herbert’s and Burns’ on Friday.
Herbert was asked when he believed he could equal or better the record of 62.
“It’s not a great question because I’m too much of an optimist, and I thought it when I hit it to about 5 feet on the third hole,” Herbert admitted. “I’m a golf nerd anyway, so I know all the numbers, all the records, everything like that.”
Two groups behind him, Burns holed out for birdie from the greenside bunker at No. 18, capping off a birdie-birdie-birdie finish.
Burns’ 62 was a mirror image of Herbert’s. Whereas the Australian tied the major nine-hole scoring record with a 28 on the front nine, Burns went out in 2 under and made six birdies coming in — including a chip-in at No. 16 before the bunker holeout at No. 18.
“Yeah, it was in a good spot in the bunker (at No. 18), which you never know what you’re going to get in the pot bunkers here. So I was happy when I saw that when I walked up,” Burns said. “It was a tricky bunker shot because I had to land it in the fringe there and use the slope down to the hole. Definitely very lucky for it to go in.”
The group tied for eighth at 4 under includes some real threats to make a weekend move. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot a 68 with 16 pars and two birdies. He is joined by hometown favorite Tommy Fleetwood (67), Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (69), England’s Alex Fitzpatrick (67) and Spanish star Jon Rahm (67).
Rahm was given an official code of conduct warning after throwing a club at the 15th hole. He could be subject to a two-stroke penalty if he has another outburst this weekend.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland improved on his opening 72 by five strokes, but left opportunities on the table with eight pars and one birdie on his back nine. His 67 lifted him to 1 under for the week.
Xander Schauffele rebounded from a bogey at No. 17 with a straightforward birdie at No. 18 to shoot 69 and head to the clubhouse at even par. Schauffele extended his run of made cuts at major championships to 19, the longest active streak.
The cut line is expected to settle at 1 over par. Notables who won’t play the weekend include former Open champion Cameron Smith of Australia (2 over), PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai of England (2 over), U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark (3 over), Tom Kim of South Korea (3 over), Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick (4 over) and Australia’s Jason Day (4 over). Jordan Spieth faltered to a second-round 77 and finished 10 over, beating only four players who finished two rounds.
–Field Level Media
Sports
The Defending Champion Knicks Must Navigate a Delicate Offseason
Next season waits for no one, not even a team that’s waited 53 years to once again call itself a world champion.
Thus, even before the most boisterous parade in New York City history Thursday afternoon, the composition of the defending champion Knicks (it is going to take a while to get used to that three-word phrase) was called into question by none other than owner James Dolan.
“If we could bring back the whole team exactly as it is, why wouldn’t you?” Dolan said on WFAN last month. “But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to.
“We’re willing to stretch, but there’s certain things in the NBA that you have to be suicidal to do. And we’re not going to do those. One of those is called the second apron. Cannot go on to the second apron.”
On one hand, it was classic Dolan, raining on the parade before it even began and reminding us all every time he speaks publicly why he so rarely speaks publicly.
On the other, again, the calendar isn’t pausing for the Knicks even as they enjoy long-awaited and much-deserved victory laps. So Dolan may as well have said the quiet part out loud, because the reality of constructing next year’s team must be confronted at some point sooner than later.
If ever a team earned the opportunity to try and run it back, future costs be damned, it’s these Knicks, fresh off a generational championship. And they are as well-positioned as possible to become the NBA’s first repeat winner since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors.
No matter what Vegas thinks, nobody should be betting against the team that authored two of the most incredible single-game comebacks in NBA playoff history on its way to the most dominant postseason run of all-time in terms of point differential.
All five starters are under contract through next year while Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart have player and team options, respectively, for 2027-28.
Things are far less clear when it comes to keeping together the rest of the Knicks’ rotation. Two of their top three reserves — guards Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet — were free agents who opted to return. The one rotation piece that needed to be replaced after he left in free agency was center Mitchell Robinson.
It was asking a lot to bring all three back, even if team president Leon Rose can convince Dolan to forget about the second apron. (For the record, the lack of a mid-level exemption or the ability to include cash in trades are real impediments, but let’s all have a laugh at the idea of the “**** them picks” Knicks being put off by the idea they can’t trade a 2034 first-round pick at next year’s deadline)
Robinson helped. But he’s injury-prone and a liability at the free throw line while Alvarado and Shamet combined to average 15.9 points over 39.9 minutes per game — solid numbers for sure, but even they weren’t must-have returnees.
Rose, who saw a franchise-altering superstar in Jalen Brunson when everyone else saw a run-of-the-mill former second-round draft pick, has also earned the right to find Knicks-worthy supplemental players.
Contributions from all — Robinson, Alvarado and Shamet included — during the NBA Finals embodied the sum-is-better-than-the-parts nature of the Knicks.
Alvarado had eight points in the fourth quarter of Game 4, when the Knicks completed their historic comeback from a 29-point deficit. And of the 34 points Shamet scored in the Finals, 13 came in the fourth quarter.
Rose traded back twice, from picks 24 and 31 overall, and came away with players nobody had on the team needs list. But the Knicks look ready to give Jack Kayil a shot given his summer league showing and 47th overall pick Tyler Nickel could be an extra shooter off the bench.
The Knicks have spent most of the previous 52 offseasons trying to perform facelifts upon one of the league’s most downtrodden franchises. Trying to figure out a way to replicate championship success, even if it requites a slightly different formula, is a far better task — and, as Rose is surely getting to know, far more delicate and challenging.
Sports
5-star WR Moshun Sales highest-rated Indiana recruit ever
Lawrence North’s Monshun Sales poses for a photo Thursday, July 24, 2025, at Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis. Five-star wide receiver Monshun Sales made a verbal commitment to Indiana on Friday.
If Sales signs with the defending champions, he’ll supplant Class of 2022 linebacker Dasan McCullough as the highest-ranked recruit in Indiana history.
Sales, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound rising senior at Indianapolis’ Lawrence North High School, announced his commitment on “The Pat McAfee Show.” He chose the Hoosiers over Texas, Alabama, Ohio State and LSU. According to ESPN, Texas was the most serious challenger as Sales considered his future.
“My decision to commit to Indiana was not an easy one,” Sales said. “The relationships that I made with the coaches and staff at Indiana throughout the process is what made it feel like home. Coach Cignetti has built a winning program, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Sales, originally from Alabama, is a two-way star at Lawrence North. In his junior season, he had 37 catches for 794 yards and nine touchdowns along with 56 tackles on defense. In his sophomore year, he caught 34 passes for 568 yards and seven touchdowns. The team finished 11-1 and was ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 6A that year.
The Hoosiers’ 17-player class includes Brownsburg four-star receiver Branden Sharpe, Noblesville three-star offensive tackle Mason McDermott and Michigan City three-star offensive lineman Jeremiah Jones. Three-star quarterback Jameson Purcell (Maine South HS; Park Ridge, Ill.) has been committed to the program since July 2025; running back Da’Jon Talley Rhodes (St. John’s College; Washington, D.C.) rounds out the skill position talent bound for Indiana in the 2027 cycle.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers vs. Yankees Friday July 17 Best Betting Picks and Props
Jun 21, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Cody Bellinger (35) reacts after striking out in the fifth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The All-Star Break ended Thursday with one game — Phillies-Mets — and the rest of the league is back in the batter’s box on Friday.
Rested and ready, here are a look at tonight’s best bets.
Dodgers at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. ET
Streaks took these teams into the break and set the stage for their first meeting at Yankee Stadium since the 2024 World Series.
The Yankees won four in a row before the break and the Dodgers lost three consecutive games. They also had to address the ailing knee of Shohei Ohtani, who Is expected to play but unlikely to pitch in the three game-set.
Gerrit Cole (3-4, 4.04 ERA), who was on the mound for Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, starts for the Yankees. Cole last pitched July 8 when he allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 3-0 loss at Tampa Bay.
Cole is 4-2 with a 5.01 ERA in eight career regular season starts against the Dodgers.
Roki Sasaki (3-5, 5.33) starts for the Dodgers and is 0-2 with a 5.86 ERA in his past seven starts entering his first career appearance against the Yankees. Sasaki last pitched July 8 and took a no-decision in a 4-3 win over Colorado when he allowed three runs on four hits in six innings.
Yankees Moneyline (outright win) at -108 (FanDuel)
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White Sox at Blue Jays, 7:15 p.m. ET
The White Sox haven’t seen a lot of right-hander Spencer Miles (4-1, 2.85), but he gets the ball in the opener of a seven-game homestand. He has faced the White Sox once, tossing two scoreless innings in relief on April 5.
Chicago’s inconsistent offense led to a downturn in production, but the White Sox swept the A’s in response to a punchless series sweep prior to that at the hands of the Red Sox. Contact rate, and a high strikeout rate, are issues for the group and Miles is capable of missing bats. He has four starts with more than four strikeouts.
Blue Jays P Spencer Miles over 3.5 strikeouts (-132 DraftKings)
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The Defending Champion Knicks Must Navigate a Delicate Offseason
5-star WR Moshun Sales highest-rated Indiana recruit ever
