Brian Rolapp says he’s been keeping up with current events. 

But any news the PGA Tour’s CEO had regarding a potential accelerated return of LIV Golf players to his tour was only old news. 

In announcing details of a new format coming to the PGA Tour in 2028, Rolapp said Tuesday that the PGA Tour would not re-introduce its “Returning Member Program” to bring back one-time Tour pros who had joined LIV. Rolapp had also said that last month at the Tour Championship, but in the weeks since, LIV has filed for bankruptcy, leading to speculation that its players may be seeking to leave.

But those pros will continue to face a one-year suspension — and not be brought back quickly under a series of fines and penalties, as had been outlined in January under the Returning Member Program. Only Brooks Koepka took the offer, though under its specifics, it had also was available to Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith. 

About 250 words into his comments on Tuesday, Rolapp, unprompted, explained the decision this way:

“Before we get to your questions on this announcement, I will briefly address LIV because I know it has been in the news recently, and I expect it may come up today,” he said. “As I said a few weeks ago in Atlanta, there are really three things when it comes to anyone who wants to compete on the PGA Tour. 

“One, the PGA Tour is built on meritocracy. Every player, whether they are a member or want to become one, must earn their place. Two, we are a membership organization; we have rules, and those rules exist for lots of reasons, including fairness and competitive balance. Rules matter, and they must be enforced.

“Which brings me to number three, accountability and discipline. These are essential elements for any sports league and are certainly for the integrity of the PGA Tour and the sport. It’s what holds the Tour together. Those are guiding principles for us. 

“In terms of where we are today, we are not currently contemplating a returning-member program like the one you saw in January. Everyone at the PGA Tour, myself included, has been focused on what is best for the organization. The items approved by the boards yesterday are part of the progression in building the optimal competitive model for the future.”

Later in the press conference, Rolapp was also asked whether the Tour’s Future Competition Committee had any thoughts on bringing back LIV players.  

“Yeah, I think the Future Competition Committee was really just focused on the competitive model that we’ve been discussing over the past few months,” he said. “Again, it’s almost repetitive, but it’s worth saying again, really leaning into meritocracy, balancing that with what you’ve seen today about winning and what that means in career milestones.

“So I think it’s also — we’ve also, which we haven’t announced today, but we’re also thinking through and haven’t made any decisions on how the DP World Tour will fit into that. You notice that’s not part of the announcement. That’s very much under discussion both internally and as we continue our discussions with the DP World Tour.

Manchester United fear JJ Gabriel could walk away from the club on his 16th birthday next month to sign for a club in Europe – after he indicated his desire to leave Old Trafford this week.

There are concerns that United will be powerless to stop Gabriel from leaving on October 6 and signing for an overseas club, using his Irish passport to circumvent rules that normally afford United greater protection.

The prodigiously talented 15-year-old should have been in line to become United’s youngest-ever player this week, with a place in the matchday squad against Brighton in the Carabao Cup on the cards. But Gabriel tossed that chance away when he refused to train this week and his camp told club bosses he wanted to leave with immediate effect, asking United to tear up his registration. That is something club insiders claim they can’t do anyway.

The final straw appears to have been Gabriel being snubbed for a Champions League debut against the minnows of Sabah last Thursday, when he was instead named in the UEFA Youth League squad and scored a hat-trick at Leigh Sports Village.

A star-studded line-up will take to Wentworth for the Celebrity Pro-Am tournament ahead of the BMW PGA Championship.

A total of 40 teams, each comprising three amateurs and one pro, will be in action across two shotgun starts, at 7.30 and 1pm.

Famous faces including former England cricketer Stuart Broad and ex-Olympian Sam Quek – both teaming up with Rory McIlroy – will take to the course with ex-Wales and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale and former England goalkeeper Joe Hart taking part in the afternoon session.

Ex-Chelsea player Eden Hazard will play alongside fellow former Premier League royalty in John Terry and Robbie Fowler, while comedian Michael McIntyre and presenter Paddy McGuinness have been teamed with Andy Sullivan and Jenni Falconer.

Here are all the celebrities and tee times for Wednesday’s action:

BMW PGA Pro-Am 07:30 shotgun start

BMW PGA Pro-Am 13:00 shotgun start

For Josh Allen, the grass is most definitely greener across the street.

As the Buffalo Bills moved closer to their first regular-season game Thursday in their new Highmark Stadium, the quarterback looked forward to not having to deal with the added wear and tear his body previously experienced playing on the artificial turf of the team’s now-demolished old facility.

“I’ve gotten numerous, numerous burns on my legs from artificial turf, to the point I can’t sleep at night because it’s bubbling over. It’s very painful,” Allen said, noting he still feels it after the Bills practice on the turf inside their fieldhouse. “If I could snap my fingers and make every field grass, that’s what I would do for sure.”

The new Bills stadium and Allen’s comments reflect an increasingly heated debate in the league over whether teams should play on artificial turf or natural grass. It follows a World Cup in which tournament organizers mandated converting seven NFL stadiums from turf to grass, only to switch back to artificial surfaces for the pro football season.

Players Overwhelmingly Support Grass

NFL players and their union overwhelmingly favor natural grass and are perplexed about why the league’s billionaire owners can’t do what FIFA did for the World Cup.

“It’s a little bizarre, but what can you expect?” 49ers defensive lineman Nick Bosa said.

As with most debates, it’s about money. Though the NFL does not provide cost figures, it’s widely accepted that artificial turf is much more affordable than grass, which requires year-round maintenance and constant resodding. NFL grass fields generally have a lifespan of about seven events.

Artificial fields also require some maintenance to replace infill, and generally have a lifespan of between three to seven years.

That still doesn’t square with players, even as the NFL continues trending toward artificial surfaces.

“Natural grass isn’t out of reach. Prioritizing players shouldn’t be either!” Colts running back Jonathan Taylor posted on his X account with the hashtag “WorthTheCost.”

With Buffalo, 16 of the NFL’s 30 facilities will feature grass this season, including Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, which is made up of 95% grass and reinforced with polyethylene fibers.

Of the 18 NFL facilities built since 2000, 11 have artificial surfaces, and those don’t include Carolina and Tennessee, which recently made the switch to turf. Cost and maintenance appear to play more of a factor than geography, with six of the NFL’s seven coldest markets and all three Florida-based teams featuring grass surfaces.

Where there is consensus is that NFL playing surfaces are far more advanced today than 50 years ago when several teams, starting with the Houston Oilers, played on AstroTurf — essentially a thinly padded carpet laid over concrete or asphalt.

NFL/NFLPA Set Standards For All Fields

Nick Pappas, the NFL’s director of field surfaces, said the advancements in turf technology are night and day since the AstroTurf era. The focus now, he said, is the NFL and NFLPA working with all turf manufacturers to establish standards for surfaces based on player feedback and metrics from testing conducted by the league.

This led to the league and union jointly releasing a series of standardized playing surface requirements each facility must meet by 2028. The list of criteria covering both playing and practice surfaces includes minimum standards for impact, traction, and guidelines for when to resurface.

The objective is to achieve as much consistency as possible across all 30 NFL playing surfaces, whether grass or artificial.

“The goal is that we take the emotions out of the material makeup,” Pappas said. “What the composition of the field is should only be secondary to how the field performs.”

In the past, Pappas said, the guidelines for field composition were easy to comply with, leading to teams choosing their turf by cutting the best deal with a manufacturer. Now, the league and union are having manufacturers present their products for testing before being certified.

“That’s really the course correction,” Pappas said. “It’s, bring us a product once you believe you’ve met (the criteria). And then we’ll run it through the wringer and get it in front of our athlete and ensure that we feel comfortable putting it into play.”

The NFL cites its own studies in saying there has been no significant difference in injury rates when comparing artificial turf and grass over the past three seasons. And last season’s lower-extremity injury rate was half of the average level that occurred from 2018-22.

And yet players, and even some NFL owners, prefer grass.

That was the case in Las Vegas, where Raiders managing general partner Mark Davis cited player safety as one reason to install grass despite moving into an indoor facility.

The same applied in Buffalo, where owner Terry Pegula considered installing natural grass in the team’s old facility before electing to wait until the new one was built.

Already Resodding In Buffalo

The Bills have encountered a few hiccups in making the switch, and that’s despite installing heating coils, grow lights and ventilation systems to spur growth. The team recently elected to resod its entire field ahead of schedule after divots and worn areas became exposed after just two preseason games and two practices.

The Bills elected to resod after their final preseason game to take advantage of a three-plus-week window before their home opener. And they’re expected to resod the field at last once more before the season is over.

Pappas called it a trial and error process, because there’s a learning curve involved to determine how grass reacts to a new environment.

“Obviously, we were seeing a grass that maybe didn’t have the strength that everybody had hoped for and was pulling apart a little more than expected or preferred,” said Pappas, who personally inspected the Bills’ field before and after the team’s preseason finale last month. “They’ll continue to adapt and make adjustments as they need to. … And I do anticipate things will continue to improve.”

The NFLPA, meantime, applauded the Bills for installing grass in the first place, and sticking with it despite the additional costs involved.

Cost isn’t an issue as far as Bills President Pete Guelli is concerned.

“I understand the economics of why people want an artificial turf field,” Guelli told The Associated Press. “But if you’re really putting your players first, there’s no other choice but grass.”

Reporting by the Associated Press.

Sep 9, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) pitches during the fifth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

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Nigeria’s Falconets will face England in the Round of 16 of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026 on Thursday, September 17.

The match will be played at Stadion Miejski Bielsko-Biała, with kick-off at 3:00 p.m. local time in Poland and 2:00 p.m. Nigerian time.

The Falconets, coached by Moses Aduku, reached the knockout stage after a big 10-1 win over New Caledonia in their final Group F match.

Nigeria had earlier lost to Spain and played a goalless draw with China before securing their place in the last 16 with the win over New Caledonia.

Nigeria have a strong history at the U-20 Women’s World Cup. The Falconets have reached the final twice, finishing as runners-up in 2010 and 2022. However, they are still searching for their first title.

England also qualified for the knockout stage after finishing second in Group B. The Young Lionesses recorded a 5-1 win over Tanzania but lost 2-1 to Brazil.

Defender Rachel Maltby was one of England’s key players in the group stage after scoring a hat-trick against Tanzania.

### Previous Meetings

Nigeria and England have faced each other several times at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The two teams played 1-1 draws in 2008 and 2010, while Nigeria won 2-1 in 2014.

In the 2014 meeting, Loveth Ayila scored Nigeria’s equaliser before Asisat Oshoala converted the winning penalty.

Thursday’s game will be another important meeting between the two teams, with the winner moving into the quarter-finals.

### Match Details

Competition: FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026 – Round of 16
Match: England vs Nigeria
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2026
Venue: Stadion Miejski Bielsko-Biała, Poland
Kick-off: 3:00 p.m. Poland time / 2:00 p.m. Nigerian time
Stakes: Winner advances to the quarter-finals.

The Falconets will now look to build on their strong win over New Caledonia and secure a place in the quarter-finals.

GAA Rounders has a good problem: growth.

More clubs, more teams and more players are exactly what the sport wants. But continued growth also means more fixtures, more travelling, greater demand for referees and increased pressure on suitable venues.

At some point, simply adding more games to the existing calendar becomes increasingly difficult.

📅 A Completely Different Championship Calendar

One possibility would be to stop running Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Championships simultaneously across much of the summer.

Instead, the national club season could be divided into two concentrated Championship blocks.

🎯 Get the Championship Sorted in December

This might be as important as anything else in the proposal.

Registration, grading, Championship groups and fixtures should be dealt with as early as possible.

Clubs could also declare their availability for Saturday Championship games during the registration process.

The objective would be simple: enter January knowing what your Championship season looks like.

Players can plan. Clubs can book pitches. Travel can be organised. Referees have advance notice.

⚾ Seven Games Doesn’t Have to Mean Seven Weekends

This is where Championship hubs and double-headers could fundamentally change the calendar.

Imagine an eight-team Senior Mixed Championship containing:

Limekiln • Carrickmacross • Glynn Barntown • Erne Eagles
Cuchulainn • Breaffy • Galway Rapparees • Kilmeena

Each team plays every other team once. That’s seven matches per team and 28 group fixtures.

Seven matches sounds like seven Championship weekends.

It doesn’t have to be.

Saturday 10 April – Championship Day One

Every team plays twice. Crucially, every team remains at the same venue for both games.

Saturday 24 April – Championship Day Two

Saturday 8 May – Championship Day Three

After three Championship days, every Senior Mixed team has completed six of its seven group matches.

Saturday 15 May – Final Group Round

That’s the complete 28-match Senior Mixed round robin.

🎪 Make Championship Hubs Proper Events

There is no reason these venues should only contain Senior fixtures.

Add Intermediate and Junior games.

Suddenly you have something potentially much more interesting.

Instead of teams travelling across Ireland for one isolated game, a Championship hub could bring Senior, Intermediate and Junior teams together at one venue.

With two suitable pitches, games could run throughout the day.

Junior players get to watch Senior Championship Rounders. Clubs from different counties and regions actually get to meet. Players can stay after their own games and watch others.

These become Championship Days, not simply appointments in a fixture list.

🗓️ Rounders Needs to Use Saturdays More

If the sport continues to grow, another question has to be asked.

Why are we trying to squeeze so much Championship Rounders into Sundays?

This does not mean forcing clubs to play on Saturdays.

But where both teams agree, Saturday should be regarded as a normal Championship playing day.

Clubs could declare Saturday availability when registering in December, allowing the CCC to incorporate Saturday fixtures into the original programme.

🏆 June & July – Men’s and Women’s Championship

Once Mixed concludes, attention switches completely to the Men’s and Women’s Championships.

5/6 June to 17/18 July provides a defined seven-week block.

The same principles apply: Championship hubs, double-headers where necessary, Saturday fixtures where clubs agree and Senior, Intermediate and Junior games brought together where practical.

There may also be opportunities to coordinate Men’s and Women’s fixtures for clubs fielding teams in both competitions, potentially reducing travel further.

🌍 Give August Back to the Regions

Finishing the national Championships by mid-July opens another major opportunity.

Make August Regional Rounders Month.

Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster could run competitions appropriate to their own areas.

🏆 Regional Cups
⚾ One-day blitzes
🌱 Development competitions
🤝 Social Rounders
🆕 Competitions for new teams
👦 Juvenile/adult club events

A team eliminated from the All-Ireland Championship would still have competitive Rounders ahead of it.

More importantly, regional competition could become a genuine part of the development pathway.

🌱 Should Junior Rounders Become Regional?

This is potentially the biggest change of all.

Does a developing Junior team really need to travel around Ireland during the group stages of an All-Ireland Championship?

Perhaps Junior should have a completely different structure to Intermediate and Senior.

Four Provinces. Four Semi-Finalists.

Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster could each run their own Junior competition.

The winner or qualifying team from each province advances to the national stage.

The semi-final pairings could be drawn or rotated rather than permanently fixing the same provinces against each other.

Why Regional Junior Rounders?

Junior should be the grade where it is easiest for teams to participate and develop.

Regionalising the opening stages could mean less long-distance travel, lower costs, more local rivalries, easier access to venues and potentially easier referee allocation.

It would also give every region something meaningful to build.

A provincial Junior competition isn’t simply another competition squeezed into the calendar. It becomes the route to an All-Ireland semi-final.

What About Provinces With Fewer Teams?

The obvious challenge is that Junior participation will not necessarily be evenly distributed between Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster.

One province might have a substantial competition while another has only a small number of entrants.

That would need flexibility. A minimum number of teams could be required for a standalone provincial competition, with a combined or cross-regional qualifying structure available where numbers are particularly low.

The principle remains the same: reduce barriers locally while retaining an All-Ireland prize nationally.

📈 Give Every Grade a Purpose

🚪 Don’t Arrive Cold Into Junior Championship

There is another potential change worth considering.

A new team entering Junior in 2027 could be required to have demonstrated competitive activity by participating in either a recognised regional cup competition during 2026 or an approved Winter League during 2026/27.

The objective isn’t to prevent new teams from playing.

It’s to give them a better route into competitive Rounders and avoid teams giving walkovers 

🌟 September – Representative Rounders

With national club Championships completed in July and regional competitions taking place in August, September becomes a natural home for representative Rounders.

The Inter-County could become a genuine culmination of the competitive season, with players having the national and regional competitions behind them before representing their province. The game has to move to inter county.

📆 The Season at a Glance

💭 What Are We Actually Trying to Fix?

This isn’t simply an argument for playing the existing Championship faster.

It’s an argument for using the available calendar differently.

There will be challenges. April weather has to be considered. Pitch availability has to be considered. Referee numbers remain critical. Provincial Junior participation will not be perfectly balanced.

Those details would need to be stress-tested before any new format was introduced.

But the central question is still worth asking.

As GAA Rounders grows, do we keep stretching the existing Championship model further into the calendar?

Or do we redesign the calendar around the sport Rounders is becoming?

This is a SportsNewsIreland opinion and discussion article exploring possible future competition structures. The dates and fixture examples are illustrative and do not represent an announced GAA Rounders competition format.

Lionel Messi has been included in Argentina’s squad for the October international break, despite announcing his retirement from international football last month.

The 39-year-old forward is expected to make a farewell appearance when Argentina face Benin Republic at the Estadio Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires.

The match will give Argentine fans the chance to say goodbye to their captain on home soil before he finally ends his international career.

Messi’s last competitive appearance for Argentina came on July 19, when the team faced Spain in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.

Argentina lost the final 1-0 to Spain, missing the chance to win the World Cup for a second consecutive time. Messi scored eight goals during the tournament.

The upcoming match against Benin Republic will allow the Inter Miami star to have one final appearance in front of his home supporters.

### Messi’s Remarkable International Career

Messi has enjoyed a record-breaking career with Argentina since making his senior debut against Hungary in August 2005.

He is Argentina’s all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, with 125 goals in 207 appearances.

The forward has also helped Argentina win four major international trophies.

His honours include the 2021 and 2024 Copa América titles, the 2022 Finalissima and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Messi also scored 21 goals in 34 World Cup appearances across six consecutive tournaments from 2006 to 2026.

The farewell against Benin Republic is expected to mark the end of one of the longest and most successful international careers in football history.

Mikel Arteta has said Max Dowman is a joy to watch and insists Arsenal ‘know the talent that we have’.

Dowman scored twice as Arsenal beat Ipswich Town 4-2 at Portman Road to progress to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

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The teenager became just the second 16-year-old to score a brace for aPremier League side in any competition, after Wayne Rooney for Everton against Wrexham in 2002.

Dowman has not played a minute in the Premier League so far this season, but provided a reminder of his thrilling talent at Ipswich.

His first was a brilliant individual effort to open the scoring, as Dowman picked up possession, skipped past an outstretched Ipswich leg and fired home. He added a second after half-time with a composed finish and Arteta was full of praise for the Hale End talent.

Arteta hailed an ‘unbelievable’ performance from Dowman and believes the winger is getting better and better.

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“He was unbelievable again; some of the actions and connections that he can give us on the pitch are just a joy to watch,” Arteta toldarsenal.com.

“He was really efficient; he’s getting more and more active in action; he can sustain for longer periods, and we know the talent that we have.”

“‘Go again’: Arteta praises attitude after road triple and says Dowman was ‘unbelievable again’ in 4-2 win”

Arteta also reflected on a big week for his side after a third consecutive victory on the road, after wins at Napoli and Sunderland.

“The last week has been tough in Napoli, in Sunderland then coming here again. But again look at the attitude of the players, the desire they showed, and that’s what we have to do – go again.”

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It also means travel for our supporters, something Mikel is delighted to see.

“Unbelievable again, thank you so much everybody for travelling, creating an incredible atmosphere, supporting and making the players feel that this is an important competition that we want to go through and try to win it.”