John Rollins kicked off the new McGladrey Classic with his best round of the year, a seven-under 63 at Sea Island to take a one-shot lead over David Toms and newcomer Troy Merritt on Thursday.
Motivated by a talk from his wife and a meltdown that knocked him out of the FedEx Cup playoffs, Rollins birdied four straight holes late in his round, starting with the tight 14th along St Simons Sound and ending with a 6-iron to three feet on the par-three 17th. Nearly half the field broke par in gorgeous weather along the Georgia coast, a flawless start to a tournament making its debut in the US PGA Tour’s Fall Series.
Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson ordinarily wouldn’t play the week after the Ryder Cup, except that they live at Sea Island. Kuchar just moved to this picturesque piece of land known as the Golden Isles and slept in his home for the first time on Wednesday.
Getting over a Ryder Cup hangover might take longer than that.
There could not be two weeks any different for those who were in Wales last week, which includes tournament host Davis Love III, a vice captain at the Ryder Cup.
Sunshine was abundant. And except for about 400 people following Love, Kuchar and Johnson, it was relatively quiet.
“Definitely an intimate feeling,” said Love, who opened with a 70.
Kuchar, who leads the tour money list and is closing in on the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average, moved about the Seaside Course easily and was challenging for the lead until his drive on the par-four 16th came up about a yard short of clearing the creek, leading to a double bogey. He still managed a 67, though he’s not sure how.
Johnson also was groggy, although he gave himself enough chances to shoot a 70.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later