The torture of Qualifying School or a return to the more humble surrounds of the Challenge Tour beckoned. The weeks away from his newborn son could have been rendered a waste of the most precious time in anyone’s life.
Through the back of the green in two lusty blows, it was now down to touch, feel and nerve. Penge coaxed his chip to five feet, a decent effort.
The birdie putt was straight up the slope to the target. He had holed thousands of such putts on his way to joining Europe’s elite tour; now he needed one more to keep his fledgling career afloat.
He stroked the ball with an assured touch and it duly disappeared.
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“I was so relieved,” he said. “My body was shaking, I felt really emotional.”
He promised himself a good meal that night, fortification to complete a job only half done. This was his 10th week in the past 11 striving for the Race to Dubai points that would leave him in the top 114 places in the DP World Tour standings.
In that intensive closing stretch of the season he had posted his best finish at the Irish Open where he shared 12th place, but missed six cuts. In Incheon last weekend he still needed to climb around 30 places on the leaderboard to complete the job.
A third-round 69 gave Penge, who had begun his pro career on the lowly EuroPro tour in 2017, a sniff of keeping his card. A bogey-free front nine on Sunday was completed in two under par but a big finish was still required.
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He was not going to win, the title was a duel between Tom Kim and eventual champion Ben An, which was just the contest the home fans wanted to see. Penge’s battle, though, was way more intense and pressurised.
The Clitheroe-based Englishman responded with three birdies in the last five holes. A closing 67 elevated Penge to a share of 22nd and brought enough points to finish 110th in the standings.
His playing privileges were secured with just four places to spare. “It’s probably the best I’ve played all year,” he smiled.
“To play the way I did under the pressure I was under, I’m pretty speechless right now and just over the moon that it is done.”
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After such a marathon stint, his thoughts turned immediately to home. “My son was born four months ago and I feel like I’ve been with him for about a week,” he added. “These times are worth it.”
Penge won last year’s Challenge Tour Grand Final. He is a talented player, who enjoyed a fine amateur career including victory in the prestigious McGregor Trophy.
But all of those who spent last week scrapping for their cards are highly skilled golfers trying to cope with the unique pressures of an unforgiving individual sport.
“I suffer with performance anxiety as it is,” Penge admitted. “It is just who I am as a person, it is how I was born.
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“Certain scenarios I find really tough when I’m out on the course.”
He revealed that before that final round he had woken in the early hours and engaged in long phone conversations with his wife and coach. They told him that “it didn’t matter” and that “there was more to life than this”.
Penge added: “The pressure that us guys have to deal with is immense, especially when you are trying to keep your card out here.
“This was my first year and I don’t want to fall back. I feel like I deserve to be here and feel like I’m good enough to be here.
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“The past six weeks have been a bit nervy but what I did was was just work as hard as I possibly could, that’s all you can do and hope that takes care of everything else.”
Ultimately it did, but others were less fortunate. Surviving on tour can be a brutal business, as fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell can attest.
The 33-year-old from Oxfordshire has won twice on tour. He played each of the last 11 weeks of the regular season in an effort to keep his card.
Pepperell was tantalisingly close, firing a closing 68 in Korea to finish 34th in the tournament but climbing only four spots to 120th in the standings.
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He can reflect on what might have been from so many of the tournaments in that closing stretch. What if he had not taken nine at the 16th in the second round of the Alfred Dunhill Links when he was lying a comfortable 20th on the leaderboard?
But that is the brutal nature of professional golf in the strata below those chasing major titles and Ryder Cup berths. It is what gives the game its sporting integrity, what makes it worth watching, even when titles are not on the line.
SunSport’s DAVE KIDD says Erik ten Hag’s time at Man Utd is up… and explains what’s wrong with all the potential candidates to replace him.
THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.
And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.
If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.
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The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.
He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.
None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.
Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.
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And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.
Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.
Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.
Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.
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Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.
Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.
Thomas Tuchel would also have been a popular and gettable option – but England got in there first.
Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.
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Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.
Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.
Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.
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Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.
Ferrari and Toyota have received double Balance of Performance breaks ahead of this weekend’s World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain as they attempt to overhaul points leader Porsche
The Ferrari 499P and the Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercars will go into the Bahrain 8 Hours lighter and with more power than last time out in the WEC at Fuji last month.
Porsche, which leads the drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings, has gained weight under the latest Hypercar class BoP released on Tuesday after Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer triumphed in Japan to go 35 points clear in the championship.
The 963 LMDh has, however, received a power increase for the eighth round of the series on Saturday in which it will bid to convert on its 10-point advantage in the manufacturers’ standings.
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Ferrari and Toyota have respectively received reductions in minimum weight of two and five kilogram, while their baseline maximum power figures have been increased by 10 and 6kW, equivalent to 13 and 8bhp.
The minimum weight for the Ferrari is now 1053kg and 1065kg for the Toyota, while their power maximums under 250km/h (155mph) stand respectively at 510 and 499kW (683 and 669bhp).
Each manufacturer has lost out on Power Gain, a new component of the BoP introduced at the Le Mans 24 Hours WEC round in June in an attempt to level the speeds of the cars above 250km/h.
Ferrari now has a negative figure of 0.9% after a 2.2% reduction and Toyota’s positive figure has been reduced by 1.2% to 4.2%.
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#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The Porsche has had minimum weight increased by 7kg to 1056kg and its power upped by 2kW to 214kW. Its Power Gain figure is unchanged at 0.2%.
Vanthoor, Estre and Lotterer require only four points in Bahrain to take the drivers’ title no matter what their closest rivals do, even though more points are on offer for the race than at a regular six-hour WEC race.
They would win the title with eighth place even if the second-placed Ferrari crew of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina take the 38 points for victory and the extra point for pole position.
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Ninth place would be sufficient if the Ferrari wins without claiming pole.
The Japanese carmaker, however, has a deficit of only 10 points in the manufacturers’ classification.
A victory for one or other of its GR010s would give it the title: even if the Penske factory Porsche finishes second and takes the point for pole, Toyota would win on countback.
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Peugeot’s second-generation 9X8 LMH has received another break under the BoP.
It will run at the maximum power of 520kW (697kW) allowed in Hypercar and is only 1kg above the minimum weight of 1030kg.
The Alpine A424 LMDh, which scored a maiden WEC podium last time out in Fuji, has had its minimum weight increased by 4kg and power decreased by 1kW.
Track action for the final round of the 2024 WEC on the Bahrain International Circuit begins at 12:15 local time on Thursday with the opening, 90-minute session of free practice.
Manchester United are in talks about appointing Sporting manager Ruben Amorim as Erik ten Hag’s replacement.
Dutchman Ten Hag was sacked on Monday following the side’s poor start to the season.
Amorim, 39, is a highly regarded coach who has won two Portuguese league titles with Sporting – including their first in 19 years – since joining in 2020.
The extent of the talks over Amorim are not known.
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It is also not clear whether other alternatives remain in the frame to take the Old Trafford job.
However, Amorim is now becoming the leading candidate.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Portuguese Amorim said he was expecting a question about the Manchester United job but was not prepared to talk about it.
United have appointed Ten Hag’s assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy as interim manager but have so far refused to clarify how long the Dutchman will remain in charge, or whether he will definitely be in post for Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie with Leicester at Old Trafford.
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The club has already ruled out Van Nistelrooy conducting a pre-match press conference on Tuesday. Ten Hag spoke about the EFL Cup game after Sunday’s defeat by West Ham.
Jasmine Jasudavicius may not have hit her peak yet, but she’s looking to get to the top as soon as possible.
Although she’s only seven fights into her UFC career with a total of 14 pro bouts, Jasudavicius (11-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is 35 and knows she can’t fight forever. A few stumbles could set her back into an impossible timeline.
“This is my time. I understand my window is short. I’m older,” she told MMA Junkie Radio. “I know I’m not going to have a long career, a 10-year, 20-year career in the UFC. So I know my window is short and I’m here to make the best of it.”
Jasudavicius returns Saturday at UFC Fight Night 246 as she battles fellow promotion-ranked flyweight Ariane da Silva (17-9 MMA, 6-6 UFC). The event takes place at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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While she thinks her skills are already title challenger-ready, it’s just a matter of getting repetitions in and proving herself to the UFC. Saturday’s bout is the next step in doing that.
“I know my skill set is there, but it’s just the opportunities,” Jasudavicius said. “I’ve got to wait for them to line up. Hopefully soon. … A title shot is a title shot, but also any loss that I’ve ever had, I’d love to obviously avenge that. If one of them ever owned a title, then I’d love to take it from them. It’d be kind of the dream. But other than that, whoever has a title, that’s who I want to get matched up with.”
A proud Ontarian, Jasudavicius is excited to represent Canada three provinces away. She’s one of eight home country fighters competing on the card.
“I can see martial arts growing just around,” Jasudavicius said. “There are so many more people just in the gym than there was even a year ago. It’s growing exponentially. I understand that I’m one of the people kind of putting themselves out there in front of everyone, presenting martial arts. I am grateful that people can get inspired and I can be part of the growth of martial arts.
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“It’s a wonderful journey and everyone should at least try martial arts for a little bit regardless of if they fight or not. But I think it’s so good it’s growing and it’s growing exponentially in Canada.”
A new episode of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is released every Monday and Thursday. You can stream or download all episodes over at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, OmnyStudio, and more.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Show up or get shown out. That’s the motto heading into November.
With more than half of the 2024 college football season in the books, programs that have not proven to be perennial powers are flexing their resilience.
Iowa State is 7-0 for the first time since 1938. Indiana is 8-0 for just the second time since 1967. BYU is 8-0 for just the second time since 1990. Army is 8-0 for the first time since 1996. All four programs could end this season undefeated, and that includes the Hoosiers, who will play Ohio State on Nov. 23 in the Shoe.
And all of that is happening while Vanderbilt has earned its first top 25 ranking since 2013 and Boise State boasts a tailback who might come close to breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing total (2,628). Normally, these programs would simply make for good stories — like UCF running the table in 2017 or TCU running the table in 2010. Each ended their seasons undefeated with wins in a New Year’s Six Bowl, but neither had the opportunity to play for the national title in the Bowl Championship Series or College Football Playoff era.
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This season, that comes to an end.
At least one of these programs – Iowa State, Indiana, BYU and Army – will earn entry into the 12-team CFP if they finish the regular season unbeaten. Odds are that it will be either BYU or Iowa State, who could meet for the first time this season in the Big 12 title game and be one of the four highest-ranked champions. Not bad in a season where Alabama has faltered, Florida State has been abysmal and Oklahoma and USC have simply been mediocre.
With that said, let’s get to my updated CFP projections:
1. Oregon: Bye (would then play the winner of 8. Clemson vs. 9. BYU)
2. Georgia: Bye (would then play the winner of 7. Texas vs. 10. Texas A&M)
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3. Miami: Bye (would then play the winner of 6. Penn State vs. 11. Tennessee)
4. Iowa State: Bye (would then play the winner of 5. Ohio State vs. 12. Boise State)
5. Ohio State (Big Ten championship runner-up) vs. 12. Boise State (highest-ranked Group of 5 champion)
This matchup involves the most prolific tailback in the sport in Ashton Jeanty and perhaps the most talented set of tailbacks on one team in TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. Jeanty rushed for 192 yards against an Oregon team that is the consensus No. 1 team in the country. Going up against the Buckeyes would make for an exciting matchup.
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Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty leads the country with 1,376 rushing yards this sason. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
6. Penn State (one of the top-12 teams) vs. 11. Tennessee (one of the top-12 teams)
If Ohio State has the best set of tailbacks in the sport, then Penn State has the second in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The tandem has helped lead Penn State to a 7-0 start to the season, while Tennessee possesses the best tailback in the SEC in Dylan Sampson, who rushed for over 100 yards in the Vols’ win against Alabama.
Backup Penn State QB Beau Pribula threw for 98 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 28 yards in place of an injured Drew Allar against Wisconsin. (Photo by Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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7. Texas (one of the top-12 teams) vs. 10. Texas A&M (one of the top-12 teams)
This matchup might be the most anticipated of this projected CFP field with the Longhorns and Aggies meeting for the first time this November since 2011. That game could also decide which team earns entry into the SEC Championship Game. Mike Elko’s Aggies remain undefeated in SEC play as the season enters November.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers completed 17 straight passes in its win over Vanderbilt.(Photo by Carly Mackler/Getty Images)
After a devastating loss to Georgia to open this season, the Tigers have rampaged through their schedule. Meanwhile, the Cougars are off to an 8-0 start for just the second time since 1990. Between quarterbacks Cade Klubnik and Jake Retzlaff, this CFP matchup could come down to who scores 40.
Cade Klubnik has led Clemson to a 6-1 record this season. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him at @RJ_Young.
BALLON D’OR were forced into an awkward moment as Real Madrid failed to collect their award.
The Spanish giants were named Club of the Year after winning LaLiga and the Champions League.
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Real Madrid left their award uncollectedCredit: AFP
But not a single club representative was present as Real Madrid boycotted the awards ceremony.
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Real Madrid appear to have boycotted the show following reports Vinicius Jr would not be scooping the top prize.
The winger was amongst the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or following an impressive campaign in which he scored 24 goals and registered 11 assists.
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