Sports
Report: Viktor Hovland done for '24 due to injury
Aug 25, 2024; Castle Rock, Colorado, USA; Viktor Hovland hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament at Castle Pines Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images Viktor Hovland will not play again in 2024 as the world No. 8-ranked golfer recovers from an undisclosed injury, according to Bunkered.co.uk.
Hovland, 27, withdrew from the BMW PGA Championship last month and will not play in the final stretch of events on the DP World Tour. Despite Hovland having played in only two DP World Tour events, bunkered also reported that a spokesman confirmed that Hovland will remain eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup due to the medical reasons preventing him from satisfying the four-event requirement.
Still, the undisclosed injury would mark the end of a very disappointing year on the course for Hovland, who entered 2024 ranked fourth in the world after capturing the FedEx Cup championship and closing out 2023 with five consecutive top-10 finishes worldwide.
He then decided to tinker with his swing, and the result was highly inconsistent performances throughout the first half of the year. After a T22 at The Sentry to open the season in January, Hovland posted only one top-20 finish in his next six starts, including a missed cut at the Masters. Along the way, he withdrew from multiple events, citing the desire to work on his swing at home rather than struggle on the course in competition.
The Norwegian was in competition late on Sunday at the PGA Championship until settling for third. After that came more inconsistent results, with a T15 at the Memorial his best finish over a six-event streak that included missing the weekend at the U.S. Open.
Hovland did kick off his FedEx Cup defense with a T2 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
“It feels like it’s been a lot of peaks and valleys. I mean, it’s just not that fun to play golf when you don’t know where the ball is going,” Hovland said before the BMW.
“I do pride myself in trying to make the best out of it, but it gets to a point where you kind of lose that belief — you just see a shot, and that’s not good enough. I can try to grind my hardest. I can try to chip in from there. But you do that too often, too many times during the course of a round or a tournament, it’s too much to overcome.
“And I feel like it’s a waste of time for me to be playing golf if that’s where I’m at. I’d rather be off the golf course and work on it, trying to figure out why I’m doing those things.”
Hovland went on to finish T26 at the BMW and T12 at the Tour Championship, which is shaping up to be Hovland’s final competitive round of 2024.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Texas Tech title wagers surge after Brendan Sorsby injunction
Brendan Sorsby looks to throw during the Texas Tech football team’s spring game, Friday, April 17, 2026, at Jones AT&T Stadium. In an ironic twist, the injunction that opened the door for Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby to play next season despite previously placing bets on his own team has led to a surge of wagers backing the Red Raiders to win the national championship.
Texas Tech was being offered at +2000 by BetMGM before Monday’s ruling. Following the injunction being granted, those odds shortened to +1700 and the book reported that 35% of all money wagered on the national championship winner during that time backed the Red Raiders.
They still have only the 11th-shortest odds, but the heavy action has had an impact on the national title market.
Ohio State remains the title favorite at +600, followed by Notre Dame at +700 and Indiana and Texas both at +750. Texas Tech remains +2000 at DraftKings, where Ohio State leads the way at +650 followed by Notre Dame, Indiana and Texas at the same odds as BetMGM.
Sorsby, 22, opened at +2500 at BetMGM to win the Heisman Trophy next season. Those odds have also shortened, as he is now being offered at +2000 with 3.6% of all money wagered backing him.
The current Heisman favorites are fellow quarterbacks Arch Manning from Texas and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr, who are both being offered at +750, followed by Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss at +900. No other player has shorter Heisman odds than Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin at +1100.
The fallout from Monday’s ruling continues to reverberate throughout college sports, with multiple schools contemplating boycotting competing against the Red Raiders in any sport.
It stems from the temporary injunction issued on Monday in Lubbock County, Texas, by district judge Ken Curry that restores Sorsby’s eligibility. It also said the NCAA cannot prevent him from “practicing, playing or otherwise participating on Texas Tech’s football team for the 2026 season.”
That’s despite Sorsby being ruled ineligible by the NCAA after it found he had bet about $90,000 on college and pro sports in a four-year span, including on his team when he attended Indiana in 2022. His appeal to the NCAA was denied last Friday.
The NCAA immediately appealed Curry’s ruling to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas in Amarillo.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Avs’ Gabriel Landeskog wins Masterton Trophy, Messier Leadership Award
May 24, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) warms up before a game against the Vegas Golden Knights in game three of the Western Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog received the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and the Mark Messier Leadership Award on Tuesday to become the first player in NHL history to win both awards in a career — let alone the same season.
The Masterton Trophy is awarded annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” The Professional Hockey Writers Association awards a $2,500 grant to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund in the name of the award’s recipient.
The Messier Award, introduced in 2006-07, goes to the player who “exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.”
Landeskog, 33, missed three seasons (2022-23 through 2024-25) due to a knee injury that required multiple surgeries, including a cartilage transplant. His absence between games lasted 1,032 days before he returned to action in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The 2025-26 season was his first full one since he was a 30-goal scorer for the Avs in their 2021-22 Stanley Cup campaign. Landeskog tallied 14 goals and 21 assists over 60 games during this regular season to help Colorado win the Presidents’ Trophy, then added six goals and five assists in 13 postseason games.
In a 12-season NHL career spent entirely with Colorado, Landeskog has amassed 606 points (262 goals, 344 assists) in 798 games. He became the Avalanche’s captain after his rookie season, the youngest captain in league history at that time (19 years, 286 days).
Landeskog called the Messier Leadership Award “a huge honor” in comments given to NHL.com.
“Obviously it goes without saying that no leader is going to sit here and take the honor and accept the award on his own,” he said. “It’s because of my teammates that allowed me this opportunity, and even though I’m the one wearing the ‘C’ on my chest, it’s leadership by committee.
“There are plenty of guys in that locker room with ‘A’s on their jerseys or no letters on their jerseys. Guys bring so much to the table. We all lead in different ways.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
England F Bukayo Saka (Achilles) not yet '100 percent'
Dec 10, 2022; Al Khor, Qatar; France midfielder Adrien Rabiot (14) and England midfielder Bukayo Saka (17) fight for the ball during the first half of a quarterfinal game in the 2022 FIFA World Cup at Al-Bayt Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Yukihito Taguchi-Imagn Images
Four years ago, at the tender age of 21, Bukayo Saka scored three goals in four World Cup matches to help England reach the quarterfinals.
But when might Saka take the field for England in this World Cup cycle?
Manager Thomas Tuchel preached patience on Tuesday as Saka, 24, continues to deal with an Achilles injury diagnosed in March while playing for Arsenal in the Premier League.
Tuchel asserted that Saka could, if necessary, compete in England’s friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday in Orlando, but he suggested it might not be ideal considering the goal is for the electric forward to be ready for England’s Group L opener against Croatia on June 17.
“We still have to take care a little bit with Bukayo, who had an injury in the March camp and carried it through to his club campaign,” Tuchel said in a news conference.
Similar to Arsenal, England has been managing Saka’s injury by limiting his training time. He participated in Tuesday’s practice, but not Monday’s.
“He is at the moment not able to do every training session through the week and then play,” Tuchel said. “He is available for tomorrow, but he needs management to be fully, fully 100 percent — which he is not. But he is on a high level.”
Saka played on a regular basis for Arsenal, the Premier League champion, despite his injury. His last match was on May 30 when Arsenal faced Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final and lost on penalty kicks. Saka started and played through the 82nd minute.
He has not scored since May 5, when he produced the match’s lone goal when Arsenal defeated Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their semifinal.
–Field Level Media
