The group stage is ending, who will teams face in the knockouts once they qualify?

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Jun 27, 2026

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1:18 am ET

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2 min read

For the last few years it’s taken a pair of binoculars to see anything wrong with Scottie Scheffler’s golf game. Still, he left last week’s U.S. Open bemoaning one troubling trend: all season long he’s been, by his standards, a slow starter, spotting the leader strokes before playing catch-up on the weekends.

“This year I haven’t had many 36-hole leads. I haven’t had any 54-hole leads,” he said.

Well, that didn’t last long.

Just five days later, Scheffler owns the 36-hole lead at the Travelers Championship. After a Thursday round of six-under 64 he set the place on fire Friday morning, making 11 birdies against just a single bogey en route to 10-under 60 and a two-round record at 16 under par.

He leads by two over Viktor Hovland, who could only manage 9-under 61.

Scheffler’s right about his season-long trends: he’s top-three in scoring average for his second, third and final rounds on Tour this year but just 57th in his first rounds. This week he’s improved on both his Thursday and Friday marks.

Scheffler had a few interesting takeaways following the birdie barrage.

Mostly he was dismissive of his own dominance, writing off the difference between a good vs. great round as the matter of a few holed putts.

“Some days they’re kind of hanging on the edge and not quite going in, and then other days they’re finding the bottom of the cup. Today was a day definitely which most of them were finding the bottom of the cup,” he said.

Scheffler would have become the second player in Tour history to break 60 twice, though he admitted doesn’t remember all that much about his 59 at TPC Boston in 2020.

“I wish my golf memory was a little better, to be honest with you. I remember the end of that round, the birdie putt I made on 18, but outside of that, I don’t really remember a whole lot.”

He joked that shooting 59 here wouldn’t have been all that impressive anyway, knowing Jim Furyk has shot 58.

“It was kind of funny. It was like, ‘Yeah, it would be cool to shoot 59, but somebody has already shot 58 here, so it’s not even the course record,’” he said. “You know, Jim kind of takes away a little bit of the special 59 when you are losing still.”

And he shared a favorite saying from the golf world.

“The old adage in golf is you have to be really smart or really dumb. I don’t want to call myself dumb, but like, my long-term memory is not as sharp. Maybe it’s a little bit easier to kind of put some things behind me,” he said. He added that he will occasionally go back and watch old footage of his golf swings when he needs clues — “searching for feels and kind of things that you like — but mostly he enjoys staying in the present.

Finally he gently dismissed another golf cliche: that it’s hard to back up one great round with another good one.

The 2026 NHL Draft got underway on Friday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo — home of the Buffalo Sabres — and while drafts usually provide their share of surprises, the first overall pick was not one.

The Toronto Maple Leafs “earned” the top pick after an abysmal 2025-26 campaign, and they used it to select Penn State star Gavin McKenna.

The 18-year-old from Whitehorse, Yukon, has been the presumptive top dog in the 2026 NHL Draft class for years at this point.

TOP NHL PROSPECT GAVIN MCKENNA CHARGED WITH ASSAULT IN DOWNTOWN PENN STATE INCIDENT, COURT DOCUMENT SHOWS

The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Penn State’s Gavin McKenna with the first-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

However, despite new Leafs GM John Chayka meeting with McKenna at his home, the team was tight-lipped about their decision.

But, in the end, he was always going to be the guy to hear his name called first this year, just not before Justin Bieber made an awkward announcement.

Maybe don’t skip the run-through next time, Biebs.

Nonetheless, the pick stands: Gavin McKenna is a Toronto Maple Leaf.

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The Leafs certainly have some needs to address. Their goaltending is questionable (though that’s difficult to fix quickly through the draft), and the blue line could use some added size. This draft featured several players who could have helped in that regard, including Albert Smits out of Europe and Chase Reid of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

But, in the end, McKenna is the kind of ultra-talented player you take regardless of your needs.

He posted 51 points (15G, 36A) in just 35 games at Penn State last season, so even if he’s not a top-line winger, he’s going to help fill out the Leafs’ second or third lines very nicely.

Gavin McKenna (left) poses with singer Justin Bieber, who announced the Toronto Maple Leafs’ pick. ((Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images))

McKenna’s going to have to make an impact quickly as the team looks to turn things around in a hurry under new coach Jim Hiller, and he’ll have to do it under pressure.

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But he can handle it. He’s dealt with tons of attention so far in his career, and even some considerable off-ice distractions to throw down a solid freshman season and set himself up nicely to be the No. 1 pick.

After McKenna, the San Jose Sharks selected Sweden’s Ivar Stenberg with the No. 2 pick, while the Vancouver Canucks used the No. 3 pick on Caleb Malhotra, son of ex-NHLer and current Canucks coach Manny Malhotra.

The plans of incoming boss Maresca and how City intend to replace some modern-day greats feature in this week’s list of questions.

Following the signing of Elliot Anderson, could the club still pursue another midfielder? Are players like Nico Paz, Ayyoub Bouaddi, or Felix Nmecha on the radar, despite their different profiles and positions? (Jim)

Hi Jim, yes the club could absolutely move for another midfielder. As we’ve reported, Sandro Tonali is one of the players that they have been looking at that was seen as in addition to Elliot Anderson rather than instead of him. City’s midfield is still a puzzle that needs sorting this summer and there could be several moving pieces so Hugo Viana has to be alive to pouncing for at least another midfielder. That doesn’t mean they definitely will sign one but it has been on the radar for a while.

In terms of the names you mention, Nico Paz looks to be unavailable given Real Madrid’s ownership of him. Felix Nmecha has been linked to City before because of his history coming through the academy, although as far as I’m aware he isn’t a player of interest to the Blues. That leaves Ayyoub Bouaddi, who is increasing his burgeoning reputation at the World Cup with dark horses Morocco.

At 18, Bouaddi is an exciting young talent and City will have been aware of him for some time given their scouting presence in France, but there are also warning signs that this could be a classic auction engineered for the best clubs to bid against each other – especially if Bouaddi impresses even more this summer and those aren’t the situations City like to get themselves into.

Since Omar Marmoush’s form has fallen below Man City standards now, is there a likelihood of him going out on loan or transfer? City need good support for Erling Haaland. (Obi Ojechi)

Marmoush is another interesting player to watch at the World Cup. He had a year that frustrated both himself and the team, with memories of his excellent start fading fast as he struggled to push Erling Haaland for a place in the team. It can be a thankless task to be deputy to the best No.9 in the world and there is a shelf life, so this is a summer where Marmoush and City both have to consider what is best and the World Cup could tip the balance in terms of clubs making offers.

It is of course entirely plausible though that Marmoush stays, and City aren’t actively looking for a replacement as they prioritise other areas of the pitch. City and Marmoush can’t afford the next season to be like the last one, but with other changes and a new coach there are plenty of reasons to suggest it can be different if there is willing on both sides.

Will the new manager give more access to the first team to academy players? (Martin P)

Hi Martin, it’s an interesting question in as much as I’m not sure if the suggestion is that Pep Guardiola did or did not give access. They were physically in another building, but were also more involved in training than many youth teams at other top clubs and there were plenty of minutes given to homegrown players.

Maresca will obviously have a big interest in the academy but you suspect he will also like having experienced players to count on given his frustrations at Chelsea. I think if Maresca continues with a similar approach to Guardiola that would suit nearly everyone.

Hi Simon, if City end up selling several homegrown players this summer, could that influence the club’s recruitment strategy? Do you think future transfer targets will be more focused on homegrown players to help maintain the squad registration requirements? Thanks! Alfa

Ah, the dreaded quotas. We wrote about this a few days ago, although I do think while it is obviously something that needs to be taken into consideration it usually all works out in the end. As far as association-trained players go the fact that Elliot Anderson, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi have come in works for City but it is the club-trained players that are the issue – especially if, as you suggest, James Trafford and Rico Lewis leave.

One of the reasons these things have rarely been a problem under Guardiola is that the manager preferred small squads, so we will see if there are changes with Maresca. There is Nico O’Reilly and Phil Foden to bank on though, and then you wonder if being homegrown could help a few academy players to earn spots on the fringes of the squad as opposed to those who wouldn’t be eligible; it won’t have a major say though.

Is the club looking to sign a right-back this summer? If so, are there any names being discussed? Is Givairo Read a player the club are interested in? (Jim)

Hi Jim, yes as we’ve reported for a while now right-back is a position of interest and so is Givairo Read. I think the last week has been pretty telling in terms of where City are at with right-backs. They didn’t offer a strong challenge to Chelsea on Marco Palestra at around £45m and then had no interest in Malo Gusto at £75m.

For a while now, several people around the Etihad have spoken of Matheus Nunes as though it is his shirt to lose so he will be treated as the first choice right-back. Because of that, City want to push him but they won’t be wanting to spend a small fortune on someone who won’t be expected to come straight into the first team.

Paying a transfer record for Anderson, is it that there are no other alternatives or is he really worth that much? (Gildas)

Time will tell, Gildas. I think it’s a good price though, and a City record is very different from a British record. You have to ask yourself how much Bernardo Silva will cost to replace, and how much multiple Premier League teams – Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea in recent years – have been willing to pay for top midfielder players. It is the same ballpark as what City have paid for Anderson, who they think deserves to be counted in that bracket.

I’m willing to be very wrong but I think he will prove to be worth the money and a good value signing – but it needs time to assess it properly.

It’s the argument that tears the Anglophone world apart. There is so much uniting us all but how can we possibly see that until this most divisive of beefs has been squashed? How can I, a Brit, and you, based on our analytics likely a reader for America, ever see eye to eye if we cannot agree on what to call the world’s greatest sport? Football or soccer. It can only be one.

Or can it?

To really understand why everyone on my side of the Atlantic is so angry about this, we must first do some etymological investigation. Indiana Jones but with dictionaries. We know where football comes from, that all makes sense. There’s a football. There’s a ball. Apply one to the other and you have your sport.

Soccer though, what’s that all about? Well like all the best stories — Brideshead Revisited, Harry Potter, The Inbetweeners — the story of soccer is the story of the English education system. We will, however, have to come back to that after a potted tour through the social history of this sceptred isle from which I write. Now, some formative version of what we would come to know as football/soccer/futbol has been played in the country for centuries. 

If instead you’d like to explore the origins of soccer in America, “The Billion Dollar Goal” tells the story of U.S. soccer’s long road to relevance, culminating in the iconic 1989 strike that ended a 40-year World Cup drought and changed the sport in America, not to mention how the game came to be called soccer in America. Stream “The Billion Dollar Goal” now on Paramount+