The No. 11 Texas Longhorns’ Cinderella story in the NCAA Tournament came to a heartbreaking end on Thursday night, as Trey Kaufman-Renn’s tip with 0.7 seconds left on the clock gave No. 2 Purdue a 79-77 lead to advance to the Elite Eight.
It was a thriller to the end in this Sweet 16 matchup between a team that needed to play in the First Four to kick off the tournament, and one of the higher seeds in March Madness.
The Longhorns’ Dailyn Swain made a clutch and-one layup with 11 seconds left that allowed him the opportunity to tie the game at 77 apiece if he made his free throw. He nailed it with the pressure on, but the Boilermakers had 11 seconds to get up court and potentially win the game.
Trey Kaufman-Renn of the Purdue Boilermakers dribbles the ball against the Texas Longhorns during the first half in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 26, 2026, in San Jose, California.(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
It was Braden Smith finding his way to the lane and putting up his own layup. However, the ball didn’t have the correct English off the glass, as it started to roll off the rim.
But Kaufman-Renn, who positioned himself underneath the basket, tipped home the game-winning bucket, giving himself 20 total points to help Purdue move on and keep their tournament dreams alive.
There was some discourse on social media, though, as an overhead shot of Kaufman-Renn’s tip showed a potential foul, as he was hooking the arm of the Longhorns player jostling for the rebound.
Either way, no whistle blew, and the Boilermakers were celebrating, while the Longhorns couldn’t believe their season came to a close in that fashion.
Trey Kaufman-Renn of the Purdue Boilermakers shoots the game-winning shot against the Texas Longhorns during the second half during the second half in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 26, 2026, in San Jose, California.(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
This was a back-and-forth game throughout the 40 minutes on the court, as both teams traded the lead, especially in the second half. The largest lead any team had was Purdue at only seven points, while Texas’ lead never got higher than four.
But it’s because both teams were shooting well, with Texas making 52% of its shots (29-of-56), while Purdue poured in 48% (30-of-62).
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Looking more into the box score, every Boilermakers starter had at least 10 points, while Fletcher Loyer (18), and Braden Smith (16) doing crucial work in the backcourt to help the winning cause.
Meanwhile, Texas’ Tramon Mark left it all out on the court, shooting 11-of-15 for 29 points, including 5-of-7 made from beyond the arc. Swain also just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, while tallying five assists.
Trey Kaufman-Renn of the Purdue Boilermakers celebrates with teammates after making the game-winning shot against the Texas Longhorns during the second half in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 26, 2026, in San Jose, California.(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Purdue now awaits the winner of Arkansas and Arizona to see who they must play to earn a spot in this year’s Final Four, which will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
WASHINGTON, D.C. —Jordan Scott had no shortage of options regarding where he’d play college basketball. A consensus top-100 recruit with offers from across the country, he was looking for a differentiating factor. He found them during his visit to East Lansing for Michigan State Madness in October 2024.
Other programs have preseason fan events and hallowed student sections like the “Izzone.” But Scott found something more.
“[Tom Izzo] being a huge part of the community here, for lack of better words, you don’t see that everywhere — you don’t see that anywhere besides here,” Scott said. “He trusts his community, and his community trusts him. … Just comparing this place to other places, it was like night and day, just how they do things here. It’s a special culture.”
It’s a trust Izzo built over 43 years — 31 as the head coach — and a trust that is becoming increasingly rare. Izzo is the second-longest tenured active head coach at one school, behind only close friend Greg Kampe’s 42 years at Oakland University.
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“I’m not sure anybody will stay in one place 31 years,” Izzo said, mentioning Purdue’s Matt Painter as one he hopes proves him wrong. “I’m fortunate to have the job I have. I am fortunate for the 31 years of success. I do not think people are going to stay in the same place like Jim Boeheim did. Mike Krzyzewski had a long run there.”
In an era when players and coaches change colors more often than not, the on-court bona fides of the four coaches in the nation’s capital for Friday’s Sweet 16 are unimpeachable. Izzo, Rick Pitino, Dan Hurley and Jon Scheyer have combined for 2,026 Division-I wins, five national championships and, including this year, 37 Sweet 16s. For as good as the players are — and in Cameron Boozer, Zuby Ejiofor, Jeremy Fears Jr. and Tarris Reed Jr. and others, they are very good — the coaches are driving the star power for this 2026 NCAA Tournament East Regional site.
Each is a pillar of the sport, each in his own way. And the careers of Izzo and Pitino show the fork in the road that Scheyer and Hurley face as they build their own Hall of Fame résumés.
“I think that’s what makes it exciting, right?” said Scheyer, who is 38 and in his fourth year at the helm of his alma mater. “It’s going to be an exciting atmosphere, high-level basketball, high-level coaching for sure. … I just keep going back [to] having great respect and admiration, at the same time having great confidence when you step on the floor. That’s what I want our players to have, too.”
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The winding backroads to the HOF
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Scheyer’s sideline opponent, Pitino, was a forebearer of this era of movement. He got his head coaching start at Boston University, left for an assistant role with the Knicks, returned to the college ranks as Providence’s coach, left for the Knicks’ head role and then resigned to take the top job at Kentucky — all within a seven-year stretch.
He’d leave for the NBA one more time, taking the Celtics job, but not after lifting a Kentucky program mired in scandal to a 1996 NCAA title and a 1997 runner-up finish. But after four unsuccessful years in Bean Town, he returned to coach Louisville from 2001-2017, when he was fired amid multiple scandals (it was later re-worded to a resignation after a lengthy legal battle). After a brief stint in Greece, he returned to coach Iona and, in 2023, got hired by St. John’s.
“I’ve loved every place I’ve lived,” Pitino said. “I’m a different guy. I’m not a nester. Everybody is different. I don’t want to live in the same place my whole life. I enjoyed Greece probably more than any place I’ve ever lived for those two years, not knowing one person, just exploring all the islands. For me it was great. For Tom, it’s great being in East Lansing. He loves it there. Everybody is different.”
St. John’s is the fourth different program Pitino has led to the Sweet 16. He has mastered the ability to fit into new surroundings while still standing out. After all, beyond the coaching ingenuity, what 73-year-old — let alone a 73-year-old Hall-of-Fame coach — dons an all-white suit for big games, invites Bad Bunny to sit courtside and says his point guard, Dylan Darling, has “balls as big as church bells?”
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“Since he’s 73, you would think that he’s slowing down, but I think he’s only getting better,” Bryce Hopkins said.
“I think that coach still coaching at his age helps keep him young, honestly,” Oziyah Sellers said. “I remember he told me earlier in the year that he wouldn’t know what he would do with his life if he wasn’t coaching.”
Pitino has certainly taken the road less traveled, but perhaps that has given him the edge in identifying and courting players whose careers have taken several turns, too. The Red Storm’s top seven scorers are all former transfers.
“His resume, it speaks for itself,” said Sellers, who started his career at USC and transferred to Stanford before landing with the Johnnies. “He’s succeeded at every school he’s been at, and he’s ‘The Godfather’ in this college basketball world.”
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The open road ahead in youth
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Pitino’s junior by 35 years, Scheyer is his third Sweet 16 in four years as Duke’s head coach. The two are, in some ways, polar opposites. If Pitino is “The Godfather,” Scheyer is the prodigy. They will form the eighth-largest age gap between opposing coaches in any NCAA Tournament game. All Scheyer has known is Duke. He won a national championship as a senior in 2010 and, after a brief pro playing career, returned to Durham to be part of Krzyzewski’s staff before taking over the program in 2022.
Since then? The trajectory has him with the most wins of any head coach in his first four years on the job — and approaching that same record just in March Madness:
Krzyzewski fielded several NBA offers over his 42 seasons leading Duke and declined each. In 2023, Coach K said, “I love Duke, and I love college, especially how it was then. I’m not sure that if it was today, and I was that age, I wouldn’t have gone.”
The “then” Krzyzewski refers to is when top players often spent their entire careers at one program. Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, JJ Redick and Shane Battier stayed for all four years. Jay Williams stayed for three. It’s a long-gone era, and Scheyer knows it. And the transaction-driven nature makes even the offseason more of a grind.
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When asked if he believes coaches will continue into their 70s, as Pitino and Izzo are and Krzyzewski did, Scheyer smiled and shook his head.
“I know from Coach K, initially when you start coaching, you have months, you finish the season, your players aren’t going anywhere, you go to the beach, you go wherever you want for a few months, you come back in the fall, and you’re ready to roll,” Scheyer said. “That’s just not the world we’re in. As you all know, it’s right to recruiting mode the next day, as soon as the season ends.
“But I think it’s incredible what [Izzo and Pitino] have done. … You look at the reflection of both of their teams. They still have the identity of how they’ve always coached: the toughness, the defense, all those things, but they’ve done it a different way.”
After all, the 2020s have been marked by high-profile departures, not just from septuagenarians such as Krzyzewski, Boeheim, Roy Williams and Jim Larrañaga, but from Jay Wright and Tony Bennett, too.
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The exit ramps and left turns not taken
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Hurley could be the best example of the thin line between staying and going — and, as of now, choosing the former. He turned down Kentucky in early 2024 and the Lakers a few months later, though he admits that turning down the Lakers was a difficult decision, one that Izzo, now his Sweet 16 opponent, helped with.
His players were briefly in a lurch. Reed, who had transferred from Michigan just months before the Lakers’ courtship of Hurley, remembers the immense relief of finding out Hurley was staying in Storrs.
“I came to UConn to play for a coach like Coach Hurley,” Reed said. “When Coach said he returned, I remember that first practice when he leaked out to the media, posted it on Twitter, he was ready to go from there.”
Returnees such as Alex Karaban and Solo Ball remember the uncertain few days of that July — long after rosters and coaching searches had formed, leaving them with fewer options if they needed to pack up.
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“Whatever he wanted to do, whatever would make him happy, his family happy, that’s ultimately what we all wanted,” Karaban said. “For him to come back and want to stay at UConn was a blessing for us. We greatly appreciated that. We just want to repay with him with how we play on the basketball court.”
“I thought he was going to be gone, to be honest, when it first came out,” Ball said. “Over time, when you get to know Coach, how he is as a person, all he wants to pour into is college athletes. It’s been great.”
The long road home
Perhaps the difference between staying and going can come down to personalities. Pitino has always wanted to move around. Izzo values the ability to “pump your own gas, wave to a neighbor, be around.” He had the same NBA rumor mill, the same opportunities to jump to marginally bigger college programs.
Or perhaps there’s more. The pressure of one spot can be downright grating. The nationwide monetary arms race gives more programs more opportunities to offer big paydays, better NIL, upgraded facilities and impressive support.
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“It’s nice to be in the same place,” Izzo said. “There’s pressure being in the same place, too. I don’t think most people are going to want to do that. I hope they do. I think it’s good for the university. I think it’s good for the players.”
Future offers will come for Hurley, one of the premier basketball minds at any level, and for Scheyer, who ticks the boxes of youth, smarts and experience coaching NBA players in-waiting. Both acknowledged the immense challenges they face.
“We talked about his opportunity with the Lakers and other places,” Scheyer said of Krzyzewski. “Down the road, that’s something you cross that bridge when you get there. For me, it’s 100% being at Duke, the place I want to be. We have unfinished business. That’s what this is all about for me.”
Hurley admitted it’s been a challenge, that turning down the Lakers two summers ago wasn’t easy and that coaching, period, even as a two-time reigning national champion, wasn’t easy.
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“Listen, I wanted a gap year last year,” Hurley said with a laugh that belied his serious answer. “I don’t know how Coach Izzo has done it. I don’t.
“I hope I’m looked upon when my career’s over, I don’t know that I’ll have his longevity, I can just only hope that people look at me as a coach the way they look at him and the way I look at him.”
Four disparate but remarkably successful coaching paths converge at Capital One Arena on Friday night. By Sunday night, one will continue to the Final Four, and three will return home. Where any of those four paths go — in the short and long terms — could be anyone’s guess.
The mother of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin made an emotional plea this week for increased fire department funding before Gaston County officials after she nearly lost her life in a North Carolina blaze that killed her husband in December.
Mary Lou Hamlin, 69, delivered a heartbreaking account of the Dec. 28 house fire that killed her husband, 75-year-old Dennis Hamlin, and reduced the family home to ruins.
Denny Hamlin looks on prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Concord, North Carolina.(AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)
“I’m sorry, I was trying not to cry,” a tearful Mary Lou Hamlin said as she spoke before the Gaston County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
“Dec. 28 was one of the saddest days of my life. It was the last time I saw my husband of 52 years when I pulled him out of our burning home. In addition to losing my husband, I lost everything from my entire life.”
Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin were found outside the two-story home near Stanley, suffering from what officials at the time called catastrophic injuries. Dennis Hamlin later died from his injuries at a hospital, while his wife was transferred to a specialized hospital in Winston-Salem for treatment of her burn injuries.
“I didn’t understand at the time that the firetrucks were there, but not the water,” Mary Lou Hamlin continued Tuesday.
“There was no water to put out my house. I am advocating for funding to be included on this year’s budget – training on emergency response, additional equipment, staffing as you just heard, are just a few things to help strengthen the fire protection in our area in which funds are desperately needed.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, exits his car after the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2, 2025, in Avondale, Arizona.(James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin’s sister, Lisa Chapman, also appeared before the board, recalling her shock after arriving on the scene.
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“There’s nothing worse than pulling up to the house on fire and seeing everybody standing in the road,” she said through tears. “No water being thrown on the fire.”
Adopt Me is a pet simulator in which you unlock different Pets, fulfill their “Needs”, and help them grow bigger. On March 27, 2026, this Roblox title released its Sugarfest: Jerboa Jam update, which introduced a new limited-time minigame in which you can participate to earn Candy Eggs. Moreover, you can unlock two new pets, several pet wears, and a vehicle.
In this article, we’ll discuss everything that’s important to know about this update.
Patch notes for Sugarfest: Jerboa Jam update in Adopt Me
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On March 27, 2026, the developers of Adopt Me released the Sugarfest: Jerboa Jam update along with these official patch notes:
Sugarfest: Jerboa Jam notes
“Explore Candy Cliffs as Jiggly Jerboas to pick up Cheesecake in Jerboa Jam.
Jerboa Jam minigame
Native to the Candy Cliffs, Jiggly Jerboas burrow through the rock candy to find Cheesecake. Delicious treats sure to feed the entire family.
Collect as much Cheesecake as you can as a Team.
Pick up the Speed Boost to go faster, Jump Boost to jump higher, and Range Boost to be able to collect Cheesecake from further away.
All Boosts stack and last for the rest of the round. Enjoy the speeeeed.
Find the special Cheesecake Tokens to earn a bonus to your final score.
You’re finding Cheesecake as a team and sharing the final score. But the Boosts only work on the Jerboa that picks them up.
A limited-time team minigame where you play as Jiggly Jerboas and collect Cheesecake across Candy Cliffs. The goal is to gather as much as possible to boost your team’s final score.
What are Cheesecake Tokens?
They are special collectibles that give bonus points on top of regular Cheesecake. Collecting them helps your team achieve higher scores faster.
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What rewards can you get from this update?
You can earn Candy Eggs to unlock new pets, pet wear, and a vehicle. One premium pet is also available through Robux.
Iran are among the countries who have qualified for this summer’s World Cup but their participation in the tournament, to be hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada from 11 June, remains in doubt.
They are scheduled to open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles before their final group game against Egypt in Seattle.
Mehdi Taj, the head of Iran’s football federation, then said the country will not travel to the US for what would be a fourth consecutive World Cup appearance.
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“When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America,” Taj said in a post, external on a social media account belonging to the Iranian embassy in Mexico.
Taj said Iran were negotiating with Fifa to hold their matches in Mexico but the governing body appear to have ruled out that possiblity.
Iran, who were beaten 2-1 by Nigeria on Friday, will face Costa Rica in another friendly in Turkey on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the country’s women’s national team players declined to sing the national anthem during an AFC Women’s Asian Cup match, leading to a host on Iranian state TV calling them “traitors”.
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A number of the players had initially sought humanitarian visas to stay in Australia after concerns they would face repercussions for their protest but all members of the team eventually returned to Iran after dropping their bids for asylum.
Alabama guard Aden Holloway, who was arrested on felony drug charges, was granted permission by a judge to leave the state on Friday as his team prepares to face Michigan in the Sweet 16 in Chicago.
It’s unclear whether the travel permission opens the door for Holloway to play in the NCAA Tournament game that is scheduled to tip off at 7:35 p.m. Eastern. Alabama listed Holloway as out on the availability report given to the NCAA on Thursday. That report is allowed to be amended up to two hours before the game.
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The university removed him from campus last week “pending further investigation by the UA Office of Student Conduct.”
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Holloway, Alabama’s No. 2 scorer, was arrested March 16 after authorities found 2.1 pounds of marijuana in his apartment. He was suspended indefinitely following the arrest, but coach Nate Oats has not ruled out the possibility of his return in the NCAA Tournament.
Holloway’s attorney, Jason Neff, had requested his client be allowed to travel “on a trip out of the state” — without specifying where — departing Friday and returning Tuesday. Tuscaloosa County District Court Judge Joanne Jannik approved that travel Friday morning, according to court documents.
If Alabama were to win Friday night, it would play in the Elite Eight on Sunday.
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Additionally, Holloway’s sister, Mila Holloway, is set to play for Michigan in the women’s Sweet 16 on Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas, and could be playing in an Elite Eight game there on Monday.
Among the charges Aden Holloway faces is a count of first-degree marijuana possession, not for personal use, which is a Class C felony and carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $15,000. The amount of marijuana authorities said they found was just below the 2.2-pound threshold for a drug trafficking charge.
Neff has said there is no proof his client was selling the drugs.
The Winnipeg Jets are bringing up two forwards to bolster their squad.
Parker Ford and Danny Zhilkin have been recalled from the Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, under emergency conditions, the team announced on Friday.
Ford has already appeared in 11 NHL games with the Jets this season. Over that span, he has recorded one assist and averaged just under 10 minutes of ice time per game.
Zhilkin has played two games with the team while recording no points this season. He made his NHL debut on Jan. 8.
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The emergency recalls indicate the Jets do not have the requisite 12 forwards available to dress.
Forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter are both out with lower-body injuries while left-winger Morgan Barron is unavailable to play due to a concussion.
The Jets are 30-30-12 on the season, good for sixth in the central division. Winnipeg is set to take on Colorado on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, Sportsnet, Sportsnet+).
It’s hard to have a better MLB regular-season debut than Cleveland Guardians rookie Chase DeLauter.
In the Guardians’ 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday at T-Mobile Park, DeLauter homered twice in his regular-season debut, becoming the sixth player to ever do so. The top prospect debuted in the American League Wild Card Series last fall, so Thursday wasn’t DeLauter’s first taste of big-league action, but he said he won’t ever forget his regular-season debut.
“That’s something I’ll never forget,” DeLauter said of his postseason debut last year. “I won’t forget this one either, don’t get me wrong.”
Cleveland Guardians’ Chase DeLauter jogs the bases after hitting a solo home run against Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert during the first inning of an opening day baseball game in Seattle, Washington, on March 26, 2026.(Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo)
In the first inning, the 24-year-old clobbered Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert’s 85-mph slider 358 feet over the right-field wall for his first Major League home run, giving the Guardians a 1-0 lead.
He became the fifth player in Cleveland’s 126-year franchise history to hit a home run in his first career regular-season at-bat. He is the first Guardians player to do so since Jhonkensy Noel on June 26, 2024.
DeLauter’s second blast of the game came in the ninth inning, when he crushed Mariners reliever Cooper Criswell’s cutter 422 feet into right-center field, providing a key insurance run as he gave the Guardians a 6-4 lead.
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“He’s not from this planet,” reliever Erik Sabrowski said of DeLauter, according to The Athletic.
Cleveland Guardians’ Chase DeLauter jogs the bases after hitting a solo home run against Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert during the first inning of an opening day baseball game in Seattle, Washington, on March 26, 2026.(Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo)
DeLauter finished the night 3 for 5, which tied him with veteran slugger Rhys Hoskins for the team lead in hits. Hoskins was particularly impressed with how unfazed DeLauter was in just his third major-league game.
“Maybe he doesn’t know, maybe ignorance is bliss,” Hoskins said. “But, to have that slow of a heartbeat, in a home opener, obviously their crowd is all charged up because of what this team was able to do last year. So yeah, just super cool.”
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DeLauter is just thrilled to be around the team and available. In DeLauter’s three seasons in the organization, he has only played in 138 games while dealing with a litany of injuries.
Cleveland Guardians’ Chase DeLauter celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run against Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert during the first inning of an opening day baseball game in Seattle, Washington, on March 26, 2026.(Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo)
“I mean, just thrilled to be around the guys,” DeLauter said. “Thrilled to be available. Really excited to just play some meaningful baseball again.”
DeLauter will look to continue his hot start when the Guardians (1-0) play the Mariners (0-1) again on Friday at 9:45 p.m. ET.
There is perhaps no better way to ensure that no one ever mistakes your ball for their own than by playing a TaylorMade Pix golf ball.
The limited-edition designs are stamped all over the golf ball’s surface, making them easily visible no matter how your ball is sitting in the grass or sand.
New TaylorMade Pix ball designs are released a few times each year. Recent designs have included a fire horse and other symbols for Chinese Lunar New Year, chili peppers and even pizza slices.
The designs are available in TaylorMade’s popular TP5 and TP5x golf ball models, both of which include TaylorMade’s 5-layer construction, seamless Tour flight dimple pattern and a soft-tough cast urethane cover. The TP5, though, is specially designed for higher spin and softer feel than the TP5x, which boasts faster ball speed, longer distance and higher launch.
If you love summer vibes, you’ll definitely want to purchase the latest TaylorMade Pix design: flamingos! Each ball features a pink flamingo design, with flamingos pictured in various poses all around the ball.
The ball boxes are fun too, with TP5 sleeves in seafoam green and the TP5x in sand. A tropical beach scene graces the front of each box, featuring a flamingo standing tall in the water at sunset with palm trees in the background.
If you’re already dreaming of summer rounds, start gearing up with these golf balls. But hurry! These limited-edition drops tend to sell out quickly, so make sure to secure your boxes now.
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Shop TaylorMade Pix Flamingo golf balls at Fairway Jockey
As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.
Iran has banned its sports teams from traveling to countries it considers “hostile,” Iranian state TV reported Thursday ahead of Tractor FC’s scheduled soccer game in Saudi Arabia.
The ban announced by Iran’s Ministry of Sports in Tehran didn’t mention the World Cup which starts June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The ministry’s statement singled out the Tractor game against Shabab Al Ahli of Dubai that was set to be played in Saudi Arabia. It’s a playoff game in the Asian Champions League Elite.
“The presence of national and club teams in countries that are considered hostile and are unable to ensure the security of Iranian athletes and team members is prohibited until further notice,” it said.
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The Iran war has impacted the region, with nearly every country in the Middle East sustaining damage from missile hits, drone strikes or shrapnel.
Tractor’s playoff game in Saudi Arabia was the result of the Asian Football Confederation’s draw Wednesday to determine the quarterfinal pairings, a day after announcing that the western zone playoffs that were postponed because of the war in the Middle East have been rescheduled for April 13-14 in Jeddah.
The Saudi city is also slated to host the tournament quarterfinals, semifinals and final from April 16-25, with organizers setting the dates and hoping for peace in the region.
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The Iranian ministry added that the soccer federation and clubs “will be responsible for notifying the Asian Football Confederation of this matter in order to relocate the games.”
Iran’s stance on the World Cup
The Iranian ambassador in Mexico City has said the country was negotiating with FIFA to move Iran’s three group-stage matches from the United States to Mexico after U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged the team from attending the 48-nation tournament, citing safety concerns.
Last week, however, FIFA President Gianni Infantino further dampened Iran’s attempts to move its World Cup matches, saying global soccer’s governing body wants the tournament “to go ahead as scheduled.”
Iranian government and soccer officials have said they do not want to boycott the World Cup but that it is not possible for the national team to come to the U.S. because of military attacks on the country by Israel and U.S. since Feb. 28.
It isn’t hard to spot the potential biggest liability of “The Masters Wait,” Amazon Prime’s new documentary on the inside story of Rory McIlroy’s stirring Grand Slam victory at Augusta National last April.
It’s right there in the credits and paragraph one of the doc’s press release: Firethorn Productions.
Firethorn, a nod to Augusta National’s famed par-5 15th hole, is the name of Rory McIlroy’s production shop, which McIlroy’s team launched to produce content around the five-time major winner. McIlroy is not the first athlete to create a production company. He’s not even the first golfer to do so— Rickie Fowler started his own studio in 2022, following a slew of other famous athletes (LeBron James, Steph Curry, Peyton Manning) seeking to own a piece of their own likenesses and narratives.
For athletes, the benefit of a media apparatus is multifold — launching new TV shows, amplifying their brands, creating a post-career career — but in the case of documentary filmmaking, the goal is usually singular: editorial control.
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The logic is simple. There’s tremendous upside to creating a celebrity documentary: Money to be made from streaming companies, networks and sponsors, fame to be accrued from fans, influence to be generated from telling your story. But there’s also tremendous risk: If you say something the wrong way, or if your story isn’t quite as squeaky clean as it appears, your moment in the sun could quickly turn into reputational suicide, with several weeks of roasting on the coals of the internet.
For the celebrities at the center of these films, editorial control is the skeleton key. If you’d like to make a documentary about, say, John Stamos — that’s fine! Just give him the opportunity to tell you what to include and what to leave out; that way he can ensure his reputation remains intact. In return, the streaming company or network will receive all the access they need to execute the vision for the film, which in many cases would be impossible (or unprofitable) without the subject’s inclusion.
The liability here is that celebrities (and their handlers) often have the risk tolerance of hydrogen-bomb technicians, unwilling to let anything that might encroach within 100 miles of “interesting” into the final edit of the film. This can lead to stories that are bleached of essential texture and subtlety, and present somewhere between uninteresting and unbelievable.
Thisis the result I feared when I heard McIlroy’s company was involved in the production of “The Masters Wait,” which will begin streaming on Amazon Prime on March 30. I worried the greatest sporting moment I have witnessed in the flesh would be reduced to a story that felt flat and preordained. That it would not have any of the nausea, horror and disbelief that accompanied the experience of watching it live. That McIlroy’s approval of the story meant it would be, in some essential way, diminished.
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But I’d made one crucial error in my accounting: the sensibility of the show’s star.
In “The Masters Wait,” McIlroy is jarringly self-effacing and bracingly honest. In his interviews, which were shot over several sessions with director Drea Cooper, McIlroy is not whitewashed or particularly protective of his image. He candidly addresses the lows of his major drought, acknowledging he came to “resent” the majors for their role in the sport. He speaks about his previous major failures with painful specificity, admitting that some of the residual anguish from his 2011 Masters collapse probably still lives in his subconscious. He even shares a story of a previously unreported 2025 Masters Sunday standoff with Bryson DeChambeau that makes both golfers look slightly petty.
“For us, at the outset, it was very much about very clearly setting some ground rules and understanding where everybody sits,” Cooper, the director, told me. “To his credit, we made this film independently. Rory’s contribution was very much about helping with access, helping connect us to others.”
To those ends, McIlroy worked the phones — setting up shoots in Northern Ireland and Augusta with film crews in late 2025, and convincing three famously media-shy characters to participate: Augusta National and Rory’s doting parents, Gerry and Rosie. The latter two voices are the strength of the film.
“After we did Rory’s first big sit‑down interview,” Cooper said, “he turned to me and our producer and said, ‘Look, that was a great conversation. And, you know, I really think this film could benefit from hearing from my mom and dad. So let me see if I can work on them.’ And he did.”
Even McIlroy’s persuasiveness has its limits, though, and caddie Harry Diamond is a glaring absence. Diamond, who is one of McIlroy’s oldest friends, is famously media shy, and turned down his boss’s request for an interview. Diamond’s recounting of one of the most memorable rounds of the 21st century is reduced in the film to CBS’s on-course microphones.
“We tried our hardest. We thought we came close, and then we didn’t, and then we tried again and again,” Cooper said of Diamond. “To Rory’s credit, he asked. But it’s not what Harry does.”
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In the end, McIlroy’s vulnerability is the documentary’s biggest (and most pleasant) surprise. And yet, strangely, McIlroy himself also represents the film’s biggest challenge — which is that his story isn’t yet complete.
Yes, McIlroy’s Masters triumph wasthe culmination of his career to this point. It would be negligent to tell the tale of that Sunday without touching on all the history that preempted it, from McIlroy’s boyhood dreams through to his nightmares of the last decade and a half. But McIlroy’s career didn’t end on that magical Sunday — and he was understandably weary about the documentary being framed through that lens.
“I was probably a little reluctant at the start because I was like, you know, I’m still not finished with my career, and maybe I want to do a documentary at the end,” McIlroy said. “But I talked to a few people who have been through that process, different athletes, and I think the common theme was: It doesn’t have to be a tell-all of your whole life; it can just be a snapshot in time of this certain moment.”
That thinking drives the narrative arc of the story, but it is also explains why the film feels incomplete.
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“It’s a moment in time,” McIlroy said. “It’s a snapshot. It’s not about my entire life. It’s just about my journey to try to complete the Slam. Again, I think it would have been a miss to not document it in some way, and we felt like this was the best approach.”
For those seeking a closer look at the golfer and tournament that tilted the sport on its head, “The Masters Wait”is a thorough and excellent account of that history. But if you want to know how the win really felt, and why it felt that way, a 90-minute look-back does not suffice.
Maybe some day the time will come to capture the entirety of the Rory McIlroy’s story in all its gory verisimilitude. Should that day come, one can only hope a similarly open-minded star arrives to the set to capture it.
;)
;)
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