Sports
Scottie Scheffler heads field, makes debut at Minnesota's 3M Open
Jul 19, 2026; Southport, ENG; Scottie Scheffler lines up a putt on the ninth green during the final round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Scottie Scheffler wasn’t about to take three weeks off before the FedEx Cup playoffs commence.
The World No. 1 golfer chose to fly from England to Minnesota and compete for the first time at the 3M Open, where he’ll be far and away the favorite when the tournament tees off Thursday in Blaine, Minn.
Scheffler missed the weekend at the Genesis Scottish Open — his first missed cut in about four years — before tying for fourth at the Open Championship last week at Royal Birkdale. There are three tournaments to go before the playoffs, and while Scheffler certainly doesn’t need a points boost as he leads the FedEx Cup standings, he didn’t want rust to gather.
“This is a tournament that I haven’t played before, so excited to be here,” Scheffler said. “This might be my first time in Minnesota. I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually been to this state before.
“For me it was good scheduling. Like I said, we had two weeks in the UK, and three weeks off before the Playoffs didn’t seem like the most ideal way to set up my schedule. This was a tournament that I’ve heard a lot of good things about and so far everything seems pretty true, which is nice. So I’m excited to get the week started and yeah, play some golf.”
Most players of Scheffler’s caliber are taking at least one week off after the UK swing. That leaves the Texan as the most notable player at TPC Twin Cities by a mile. He’s the +260 favorite to win at DraftKings and +275 to win at BetMGM; defending champion Kurt Kitayama is a distant second at +2400 and +2500, respectively.
The thing is, Scheffler went 0-for-4 at the majors for the first time since 2023 and has not won a tournament of any stripe since January. He’s atop the FedEx Cup standings despite that.
“One of the things I like in this game, one of the things that I’ve always kind of prided myself on is the consistency,” he said. “That’s something that shows that I’m playing some pretty good golf. It just hasn’t been quite good enough to win some tournaments.
“I haven’t played any great golf yet, but I’ve played some nice golf over the course of the season.”
Last year, Kitayama squeaked into the weekend at 6-under-par when the cut line was at 5 under. He proceeded to fire an 11-under 60 on Saturday and a 65 on Sunday to win by one stroke over Sam Stevens.
Kitayama posted a remarkable 13 birdies in 18 holes on the front nine of the third and fourth rounds.
“I feel like I had a few more wedges maybe on the front nine,” Kitayama recalled. “I hit those close on the weekend. Back nine maybe (played) a little tougher. You know, coming down the stretch, maybe (played) a little more conservative.”
Other notables in the field include Scottish Open champion Tom Kim of South Korea, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, Max Homa and Canada’s Corey Conners. They’ll take on a par-71, 7,431-yard track that has produced winning scores in the high teens or low 20s under par most years since the tournament’s inception in 2019.
Aaron Wise, a former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, will continue his comeback after taking off nearly two full years to address his mental health. After missing his first six cuts of 2026, he’s made his last three, including a T3 finish at the ISCO Championship and a T15 at the Corales Puntacana Championship, alternate events opposite the Scottish and The Open.
“It’s just a matter of … the days are stressful, so how do you then calm yourself down, how do you even deal with the stress as the day’s going on,” Wise said. “Keeping your mind in a good frame to where you feel like you can go keep hitting good shots and keep playing well, and on top of it, enjoying it.
“Even though it’s stressful, we’re supposed to like being out here. We started playing golf because we love the game.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Astros turn to Peter Lambert in bid for sweep of reeling Marlins
Jul 11, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Peter Lambert (38) comes off the field after he pitches against the Texas Rangers during the third inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images A spate of unrelenting injuries to the rotation resulted in 14 different pitchers making starts for the Houston Astros this season, with Ronel Blanco joining that group on Monday when he made his season debut after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Hayden Wesneski, slated to make a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Thursday, should be next to return for Houston.
The Astros claimed their three-game interleague series against the Miami Marlins with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday behind Tatsuya Imai.
Five Astros have made at least 10 starts, a collection that doesn’t include ace Hunter Brown, who returned from an extended stint on the injured list in mid-June.
“Some of those guys that we’re getting back have pitched out of the bullpen, so as we continue to map out the next couple of weeks and consider adding some pitching at the deadline, with all those pieces, would they fit,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.
“We’re going to move some things around so we can make this work.”
Right-hander Peter Lambert (8-5, 3.03 ERA) is scheduled to start on Wednesday as the Astros pursue the series sweep.
Lambert is 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA in three starts this month and has allowed one run or fewer in each start, including on June 17 against the Baltimore Orioles. He worked six innings in that game and surrendered one run on three hits and three walks with a season-high 10 strikeouts over six innings.
Lambert is 1-0 with a 6.35 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Marlins. In his previous start against Miami on May 2, 2024, he allowed four runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings and did not factor into a 5-4 loss with the Colorado Rockies.
Right-hander Sandy Alcantara (10-5, 3.89) has the starting assignment for Miami.
Alcantara has produced a quality start in all three starts this month, going 1-1 with a 2.14 ERA. He went 7-0 with a 2.98 ERA during a seven-start stretch before a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on July 10.
He did not factor into the decision of a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers last Friday after allowing one run on three hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.
Alcantara has faced the Astros once previously. He surrendered six runs on nine hits and one walk with five strikeouts over seven innings in an 8-2 home loss on Aug. 4, 2025.
All-Star shortstop Otto Lopez returned from a two-game injury hiatus (finger) for the Marlins, which allowed Miami manager Clayton McCullough to tinker with his lineup.
Lopez batted leadoff for the ninth time this season and finished 0-for-3 with two walks. McCullough is aiming to build protection around left-handed hitting Kyle Stowers with the right-handed hitting Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez, plus switch-hitting Xavier Edwards.
“Just trying to have Stowers be shielded as best I can from left(-handed pitching), and if they are going to throw left on Stowers, then at least you have Otto and (Hernandez) around him, X (Edwards) behind him,” McCullough said.
“Before Otto got hurt, I was thinking about potentially going this route with hitting him (leadoff), hitting Bert (third). If people still want to bring in left on Stowers to try to mitigate some of his slug, at least they’re going to have to go through Bert and X before they get to (lefty Liam) Hicks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jason Day (back) withdraws from 3M Open
Jul 17, 2026; Southport, ENG; Jason Day watches his shot from the second tee during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Australia’s Jason Day withdrew from the 3M Open on Wednesday due to a back injury.
Day, 38, missed the cut at The Open Championship last week and withdrew during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 18, also with a back injury.
The former World No. 1 is a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour, including his lone major title at the PGA Championship in 2015.
Charley Hoffman, 49, replaced Day in the field for the 3M Open which begins Thursday at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minn. He has missed the cut in 13 of his 14 PGA Tour events this season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Charlie Woods' U.S. Junior run ends with bogey in playoff
Charlie Woods watches his tee shot during the 109th Florida Amateur Championship at The Club at Admiral’s Cove on June 11, 2026, in Jupiter, Florida. Charlie Woods’ run at the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur ended early Wednesday with a bogey on the first playoff hole.
The 17-year-old son of Tiger Woods fell shy of advancing to match play at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.
Charlie Woods was one of 14 golfers in the playoff, competing for two spots in match play. The Florida State commit went 76-70 in stroke play, topping his previous performances of 80-74 in 2025 and 82-80 in 2024.
Woods was 6-over-par through five holes in Monday’s round before rebounding strong and playing his next 31 holes in 1-under par.
In Wednesday’s playoff, Woods’ tee shot at the par-5 first hole found the middle of the fairway, about 270 yards from the hole. With two players ahead of him having already carded birdies, he went for the green in two but found thick rough. His pitch ended up on the fringe and his birdie chip slid past the hole, ending his day.
Eli Wessel, Hudson Kutchma and Leo Gao birdied to advance to the second playoff hole, where Wessel and Kutchma made pars to move on to match play.
Woods is heading into his senior season of high school and is expected to sign with the Seminoles, where he will join No. 1-ranked junior Miles Russell in the 2027 recruiting class. Russell shared medalist honors this week and entered match play as the No. 2 seed.
Woods entered the week ranked No. 174 by the American Junior Golf Association.
–Field Level Media
Astros turn to Peter Lambert in bid for sweep of reeling Marlins
Jason Day (back) withdraws from 3M Open
