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
Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.
City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.
As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.
Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.
“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”
City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.
Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.
Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.
And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.
“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
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Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
