Sports
Scottie Scheffler targets third Players title with ailing McIlroy defending
Scottie Scheffler hits from the 18th fairway during the second round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl. Friday March 14, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The Players Championship has made a habit of delivering high drama at an iconic venue which suits a wide array of golfers, and this week’s edition promises more of the same as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler bids for a rare third victory in the event.
Among other leading contenders are World No. 2 and defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who is looking to shrug off a back injury that led to a later arrival at TPC Sawgrass following his withdrawal from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, and fifth-ranked Justin Rose, who won his 13th PGA Tour title last month at the Farmers Insurance Open.
The elite field is one of the strongest in the game with the top 10 golfers in the world rankings — and 47 of the top 50 — assembled at Sawgrass for the tournament’s 52nd edition.
However, Scheffler will command much of the fan interest as he hunts his 21st career tour title at a venue where he triumphed in 2023 and 2024. Only golfing great Jack Nicklaus has won the PGA Tour’s flagship event three times, and Scheffler will be looking to match him.
“I don’t know if my approach to this tournament has changed very much, but I think it suits my game because you have to play a variety of shots,” Scheffler said ahead of Thursday’s opening round when he will play alongside World No. 3 Tommy Fleetwood and 14th-ranked Justin Thomas in a marquee grouping. “I think that’s something that I’ve always enjoyed about the game of golf is being able to try to curve the ball different directions and hit different spins.”
While Scheffler has not quite replicated his dominant form from last year so far this season, he can still point to a victory at The American Express in January and two other top-10 finishes in his five starts.
“When it comes to my golf game and my expectations of myself, my expectations are based around what I want for me mentally on the golf course as being committed to what I can do, and controlling that aspect,” said the 29-year-old Texas resident. “Throughout this season I’ve been really good in some spots and then some other spots I feel like I can improve in terms of my commitment to the shot.”
Scheffler has long admired the varied test of golf at TPC Sawgrass where surprise winners, such as Craig Perks and Fred Funk, and expected champions, like Tiger Woods and McIlroy, have emerged triumphant.
“When you look at this golf course, you see a variety of winners, and you also don’t see one style of player winning this tournament a bunch of times,” said Scheffler. “It’s so unique in a sense of, the way modern golf is kind of trending … this place you kind of take some steps back where the areas to hit into are small.
“And there’s certain holes where you can definitely take advantage of your length if you’re a longer hitter. But there’s also some holes where you got to get the ball in play, and you have to be able to curve the ball both directions.”
Two-time champion McIlroy will command just as much fan interest as Scheffler but his tournament prospects were still hanging in the balance after he arrived at TPC Sawgrass late Wednesday afternoon to test his back and swing on the practice range.
The Northern Irishman is the defending champion; he won the 2025 tournament in a playoff with J.J. Spaun.
McIlroy pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday before the third round after feeling “a small twinge” in his back while warming up in the gym. Prior to arriving at Sawgrass on Wednesday, he had been at home recovering and receiving treatment.
Rose, 45, will be bidding for his second PGA Tour win this season after romping to victory by seven strokes at the Farmers. Like Scheffler, Rose relishes competing at Sawgrass where he has recorded three career top-10s in 20 starts, including a T4 in 2014.
“It’s a course that I love, actually,” smiled Rose. “It’s one of the best courses that we play on tour. I think it’s very fitting for this championship. It suits all types of players.
“But it’s tricky as well. I feel like it’s a venue that I’ve sort of would like to figure out a bit better this year, that is for sure. I’ve had some good weeks here, some great rounds, but I would love to put four together this week.”
Englishman Fleetwood, the 2025 FedEx Cup champion, will make his ninth Players appearance and will aim to improve on a best finish at TPC Sawgrass of T5 in 2019.
“It’s just nice to be back,” he said. “It’s always a tournament that everybody gets really excited about. I think the biggest compliment you can give the golf course is that everybody holds it very high on their list, and I think that there’s always a wide spread of opinion.
“There’s been some big tournaments already this year but I think The Players, where it sits now, always marks the start of a big period coming.”
This week, a field of 123 golfers will tee it up at TPC Sawgrass in pursuit of a winner’s check for $4.5 million. Traditionally, the field totaled 144 but it was shrunk this year to a base of 120 players. With Brooks Koepka eligible for the tournament based on his return to the PGA Tour through the Returning Members Program, two more players were added to make it an even 41 threesomes for the first two rounds.
–Mark Lamport-Stokes, Field Level Media
Sports
Quadir Copeland, NC State too strong for Pitt
Mar 11, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) reacts after scoring in the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images CHARLOTTE — Quadir Copeland collected 24 points and eight assists in North Carolina State’s 98-88 victory over Pitt in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
Ven-Allen Lubin racked up 18 points, Paul McNeil Jr. had 15, Tre Holloman notched 14 and Darrion Williams and Matt Able both scored 12 as the Wolfpack shot 60.8% from the field. NC State made 13 of 23 shots from 3-point range.
Seventh-seeded NC State (20-12), which won for only the second time in eight games, will meet No. 10-ranked and second-seeded Virginia in Thursday’s first quarterfinal.
Cameron Corhen poured in 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting for No. 15 seed Pitt (13-20), which had won four of its previous six games. Nojus Indrusaitis, who hit five 3-point shots, and Omari Witherspoon each scored 19 points and Barry Dunning Jr. added 11 points, but the Panthers’ 57.1% shooting wasn’t enough.
The Wolfpack scored 22 of the first 30 points of the second half to create a 73-58 lead on a Pitt team that pulled off an upset of Stanford a day earlier on a last-second shot off a rebound.
Pitt used an 11-3 run to close the gap and later trailed 78-72 with more than 10 minutes to play before Terrance Arceneaux’s 3-point shot resulted in his only basket of the game.
By the game’s eight-minute mark, NC State had five players with double-figure point totals and soon after Williams joined them by bagging his fourth 3-pointer on four attempts. Later, Copeland made a nifty move to the lane to score and expand on NC State’s 88-83 edge.
Both teams shot over 61% in the first half, which ended with NC State holding a 51-50 edge. The teams combined to make 16 of 25 shots from 3-point range prior to the break.
As a result of the shooting success, there were only three offensive rebounds in the opening half. NC State held a 16-7 scoring edge from the free-throw line.
Pitt made 12 of its first 18 shots from the field, including 8-for-12 on 3s, and led 34-25. But the Wolfpack got rolling, with McNeil’s three 3-pointers contributing to a surge of less than four minutes that produced a 10-0 run on the way to a 43-40 lead.
–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Tisch family seeking to transfer Giants ownership to children
Jan 9, 2020; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch talks to reporters after the press conference introducing new head coach Joe Judge (not pictured) at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-Imagn Images New York Giants co-owners Steve, Jonathan and Laurie Tisch have requested to transfer their ownership stakes in the franchise to their children’s trust, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.
The move by the siblings comes less than two months since Steve Tisch’s name appeared approximately 440 times in the Epstein Files. The trio own 23.1% of the team but would no longer have any interest if the transfer is approved, according to a memo dated March 11 that was obtained by both ESPN and The Athletic.
“Prior transfers to these Trusts were completed pursuant to 2023 and 2024 Finance Committee approvals,” the memo states. “The Sellers now propose to transfer their entire remaining interests, totaling 23.1% of the Club, to the Trusts. … Following the transactions, the Sellers will no longer own any interest in the Club.”
The Giants told ESPN on Wednesday that they had “nothing to add” in response to the proposal.
Steve Tisch came under heavy scrutiny when documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice displayed numerous emails between Tisch and Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August of that year and his death was ruled a suicide.’
Epstein was charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008 and became a register sex offender. A heavy amount of Tisch’s interactions with Epstein came in 2013, according to documents.
Tisch and Epstein often conversed about different women with Tisch expressing interest in meeting some of them.
Tisch released a statement in January admitting he corresponded with Epstein but said he never went to the “Epstein Island” location in the Caribbean.
“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” Tisch said. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”
The late Preston Robert Tisch purchased 50% of the franchise in 1991 to co-own the team with the Mara family.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Iowa State runs roughshod over Arizona State in Big 12 tourney
Mar 11, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (5) protects the ball during the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images Milan Momcilovic scored 21 points and Joshua Jefferson added 20 points and 12 rebounds as No. 7 Iowa State walloped Arizona State 91-42 on Wednesday in a Big 12 Conference tournament second-round game in Kansas City, Mo.
The fifth-seeded Cyclones (26-6) advance to play fourth-seeded Texas Tech, No. 16 in the latest AP poll, in the quarterfinal round on Thursday afternoon.
Iowa State led by as many as 33 points in the first half and by 29 at halftime as it held the 12th-seeded Sun Devils to 31.8% shooing from the floor while forcing 15 turnovers that led to 18 points for the Cyclones.
The second half was not much better for Arizona State, as Iowa State eventually expanded the margin to 49 points, with the margin of victory the largest in Big 12 tournament history.
Blake Buchanan added 17 points for the Cyclones, while Tamin Lipsey scored 11.
Santiago Trouet led Arizona State (17-16) with 13 points and was the only Sun Devil in double figures. Maurice Odem, who came into this tournament averaging more than 17 points per game, scored just two on Wednesday after producing nine in a win over Baylor on Tuesday.
The Sun Devils lost to Iowa State twice in the past five days by a combined total of 70 points.
Iowa State set the table early on, scoring the game’s first seven points before going upon 13-2 on a layup by Momcilovic at the 13:28 mark of the first half. Lipsey’s 3-pointer with 9:20 to go in the half stoked the margin to 14 points. A jumper from beyond the arc by Jamarion Batemon on the break after a steal by Lipsey put Iowa State ahead 27-10 with 7:51 left.
The Cyclones continued to expand on the lead as Momcilovic hit a free throw and then a 3-pointer, the latter with 4:03 still to play before halftime, to go up 33-10. Iowa State’s run eventually reached 16 consecutive points and built the lead to 40-10 before a jumper by Massamba Diop ended a six-minute scoreless stretch for the Sun Devils.
Bryce Ford’s jumper with 1 second left cut Arizona State’s deficit to 45-16 at the break.
Momcilovic led Iowa State’s attack with 12 points while Buchanan and Bateman added nine each before halftime. No player had more than four points for the Sun Devils in the first half as they shot just 7 of 22 from the field and missed all 10 of their 3-point attempts.
–Field Level Media
Quadir Copeland, NC State too strong for Pitt
Reports: Tisch family seeking to transfer Giants ownership to children
