United have yet to enter the January transfer window and with Carrick’s deal expiring at the end of the season, there’s a reality where he plays no role in any incomings or outgoings in his brief stint.
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This summer spells a significant one for United who will appoint a permanent manager that will have the responsibility of deciding the future of several players currently on loan away from the club, including Rashford.
The 28-year-old joined Barcelona last summer on a season-long loan and hasn’t shied away from admitting his desire to sign a permanent deal with the Spanish giants. With the forward currently set to return to Manchester upon the campaign’s end, club icon Teddy Sheringham claimed Rashford’s past issues with former managers will play no part in the possible reunion with his boyhood club.
Speaking exclusively toManchester Evening News, via Mr Q, the former striker discussed whether he’d welcome a return for the club’s loaned players. He said: “I think there are a few players like that, Sancho, Rashford, and Hojlund, who are out on loan at the moment.
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“When a new manager takes over, everyone has a clean slate.” Rashford and Carrick were team-mates at United for the latter’s final three seasons at the club and Sheringham insists the outside public are unaware of the sort relationship the interim boss has with Rashford and the other players out on loan.
He explained: “You don’t know the situation or what relationship Michael Carrick has with all these players. He might have a way of making them perform. So it’s great that they’re still attached to Manchester United and that Michael Carrick has that option and has them at his disposal.
“Get them back in and see where their mindset is. They’re obviously good players, so give them another chance if they want it, and all is forgiven. That’s the way I see it.” Given Carrick’s immediate impact on the United squad, there have been murmurs on whether hierarchy would offer him the permanent job should the positive results asked.
Sheringham admitted that the club may decide to go down the route of hiring an experienced manager, but believes Carrick’s attitude fits what United need. The ex-England striker said: “Listen, they might go down either line, but I like the fact that Michael Carrick is in there.
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
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Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.
“He knows the club, understands the supporters and what they want from a football team. He has the backing of Sir Alex Ferguson and can tap into his experience. I know it’s very early days, but I think it’s a really good fit.
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“I like his demeanour around the place, and I presume he’s strong enough to handle things when they start getting tough. He’s been there and done it, and seen it all as a player, so I wish him the best of luck.”
Gyms could provide vital to support governments and the healthcare systems to tackle obesity / shutterstock_Amorn Suriyan
Trade associations from around the world have joined forces to lobby governments and health systems on the importance of prescribing lifestyle interventions, including physical activity and nutrition, alongside GLP-1 medications.
The World Obesity Federation, UK Active, the Health and Fitness Association, AUSactive, Exercise New Zealand and Fitness Industry Council of Canada have worked together to outline a global framework for integrating prevention, treatment and long-term health outcomes.
The message of the statement is that obesity medications are not a standalone solution and reliance on medication alone may lead to poor long-term outcomes, including loss of muscle mass, diminished functional capacity and widening health inequalities.
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Richard Beddie, CEO of Exercise New Zealand, said although GLP-1 therapies can be a significant tool in addressing obesity if they’re not paired with strength training and other lifestyle changes, “the result will be increased long-term health costs for the health system and worse health outcomes for individuals.”
The organisations call for a wraparound approach that combines pharmacological treatment with sustained investment in physical activity, nutrition and supportive environments. The organisations have also committed to advancing evidence-based, integrated approaches that combine medication with physical activity and nutrition support.
“Medication is only one piece of the puzzle,” said Zach Weston, executive director of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada. “For these therapies to deliver true, sustainable health outcomes, they must be anchored by the professional guidance and supportive environments found in our fitness centres.
“Our facilities are more than just places to exercise; they are essential community hubs for maintaining the muscle mass and functional capacity that are often at risk during rapid weight loss.
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“By integrating fitness infrastructure into the global rollout of these medications, we ensure that patients aren’t just losing weight but are gaining the strength and long-term vitality necessary for a healthier life.”
Almost three billion adults worldwide are overweight or living with obesity and the figure is projected to rise to four billion by 2035.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which collaborates with The World Obesity Federation, published its policy on GLP-1s in December 2025.
European knockout rugby takes centre stage again this weekend with Leinster, Ulster and Connacht all facing huge tests in the EPCR Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup. Leinster welcome Sale Sharks in a heavyweight Champions Cup clash, while Ulster and Connacht are both in Challenge Cup action against French opposition. Below is a full look at the expected handicap lines and match predictions for all three fixtures.
Leinster v Sale Sharks prediction, handicap and preview
Competition: Investec Champions Cup Date: Saturday Time: 5:30pm
Leinster look capable of putting up another huge score this weekend. They were ruthless in the previous round and, on current form, they have the firepower to blow most teams away once they get on top physically. Sale Sharks deserve real credit for being the only away side to win in the Round of 16, but this is a much bigger challenge altogether.
The injuries to Luke Cowan-Dickie and Bevan Rodd are major setbacks. Against a Leinster side that can dominate at the set-piece, flood the breakdown and punish mistakes with ruthless efficiency, those losses could be badly exposed. Leinster’s depth, pace and power should tell over 80 minutes, especially if they build scoreboard pressure early.
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Sale will need a near-perfect display to stay in touch, but it is hard to see them living with Leinster for the full contest. The Irish province should control territory, possession and the physical battle.
Expected handicap: Leinster -20
Prediction: Leinster to win comfortably
Likely margin: 30 to 40 points would not be a surprise
Ulster v La Rochelle prediction, handicap and preview
Competition: EPCR Challenge Cup Date: Friday Time: 8:00pm
This looks one of the ties of the weekend. Ulster at home always makes life awkward for any visiting side, but La Rochelle bring serious pedigree and huge motivation into this one. With their season having lacked consistency, there is every reason to think Ronan O’Gara will send his team out with full focus. Winning this competition would go a long way towards rescuing their campaign.
Ulster will believe they have a real chance if they can bring energy, accuracy and emotion from the first whistle. Ravenhill under the lights can be a serious venue when the home side get momentum, and that makes this far trickier than a straightforward French power game.
La Rochelle probably shade it on raw quality and big-game experience, but not by much. This feels like one that could swing on discipline, maul defence and who handles the pressure better in the final quarter.
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Expected handicap: La Rochelle -5
Prediction: Too close to call with confidence
Verdict: Genuine toss-up
Montpellier v Connacht prediction, handicap and preview
Competition: EPCR Challenge Cup Date: Saturday Time: 12:30pm
Connacht come into this game in excellent form after five straight wins, but this is a serious jump in class. Montpellier have far greater power, depth and top-end quality than the teams Connacht have been beating, and that is what makes this fixture so difficult to assess positively from an Irish perspective.
Connacht have shown real resilience and confidence in recent weeks, and there is no question they are playing with belief. Even so, Montpellier at home is a different proposition entirely. Their physicality through the middle of the pitch, combined with the ability to turn pressure into quick scores, means they can put teams away in bursts.
For Connacht to stay in the contest, they will need to start well, manage territory intelligently and avoid letting the game become a loose, broken-field battle dominated by the hosts. On paper, though, Montpellier look too strong.
Expected handicap: Montpellier -16
Prediction: Montpellier to win
Likely margin: Somewhere around the handicap looks about right
European rugby weekend predictions summary
Leinster look the most straightforward call of the three Irish provinces this weekend and should have too much for Sale Sharks in the Champions Cup. Ulster against La Rochelle has all the ingredients of a classic and feels the hardest match to confidently pick. Connacht’s recent run deserves respect, but Montpellier away in the Challenge Cup looks a step too far.
Best bet on the handicap: Leinster -20
Hardest game to call: Ulster v La Rochelle
Most dangerous away trip: Connacht at Montpellier
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Expected Handicaps & Predictions – Champions Cup Weekend
Harry Maguire will remain at Man Utd for an eighth season but his time at the club has featured some painful lows as well as some memorable highs. He reflected on that in Ireland this week.
Harry Maguire can remember the day he hit rock bottom. It had been building up for a couple of years, but at Hampden Park in September 2023, it all became too much, if not for Maguire, then for his family at the very least.
He was a half-time substitute in the fixture between Scotland and England, and so low had his reputation sunk that his every touch was greeted with cheers from the Scottish fans. The same had happened when he came on for Manchester United at Arsenal a week earlier.
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This was where Maguire now was. The world’s most expensive defender, in the team of the tournament in the European Championship in 2021, but now considered such a figure of fun that his mere presence on the pitch gave encouragement to opposition supporters. It had gone from abuse to mockery.
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Maguire played pretty well in that game but still scored an own goal. Afterwards, he tried to work out why he had gone from a cult hero in 2018, loved for being one of the lads and serenaded for drinking the vodka and the Jäger, to the most derided and abused footballer in the country.
“Sometimes it did cross my mind at the time just thinking, ‘Why? I don’t know why it has done this. I don’t know where it’s come from’,” he said.
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“My form dipped a little bit, yeah, of course, everyone does that in their career. But I was in a situation where I was just a lad from Sheffield playing for such a huge club.
“I thought this is what happens – this is the fault of the club not performing well. But when you look back it probably did go a little bit too far. At the time, I can remember thinking I just don’t know how this has really happened. I don’t know how it’s changed so quickly.”
It was still before 9am when a punctual Maguire strode into the Fitzgerald Suite in Carton House, taking up a seat on a plush sofa with the grounds of an idyllic rural retreat visible from the bay windows behind him.
The 33-year-old held court for 25 minutes on the highs and lows of an Old Trafford career that is unlike any other. Maguire can sometimes be formal in interview situations, but this was a figure who looked relaxed and at ease. It was more in line with his reputation as the funniest player in the squad.
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It is the first time he has returned to Ireland with his club side since being booed at the Aviva Stadium when playing for United in a pre-season friendly in 2023.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package
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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.
Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.
A year earlier, he had been jeered by United fans in Melbourne, while he was given the same treatment in Las Vegas in 2023. It was the middle of a slump that it felt like Maguire might never recover from. United stripped him of the captaincy and tried to sell him to West Ham that summer, and had a deal been reached over his wages, he would have gone.
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Then came the Scotland game in September. Maguire insists that being so laid back meant he usually shrugged off the struggles and the abuse, but for his family it wasn’t so easy. Mum Zoe took to social media after that game to label the treatment of her son as “disgraceful”.
Maguire asked his mum not to put the post out, but she told him she wasn’t listening to him on this occasion and went public. Then the tide began to turn, helped by an improvement in his own performances. Now the 33-year-old has just signed a new contract, taking him into an eighth season at Old Trafford, and he is the poster boy for the kind of character and resilience needed to make it at United.
“I think there’ll be a lot who want to maybe just close the book and just go elsewhere and restart their career,” Maguire said of that period.
“I think it’s probably broken them a little bit earlier. I think it got to a point where it got really that low, the mocking and the abuse – if you want to call it abuse – that there was only one way it could go.”
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Maguire believes there was a three or four-year period around his move from Leicester City to United when he was in the conversation to be the best centre-back in the world. That culminated with the Euros in 2021 and, like several of his international teammates, he struggled after a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy in the final, having also seen United lose the Europa League final to Villarreal in the same manner.
It was also a season that unravelled spectacularly at club level. Maguire was sent off in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s final game, a 4-1 defeat at Watford, and the way his form collapsed left him feeling regret for letting the Norwegian down. The appointment of Ralf Rangnick as interim manager only made matters worse.
“I was coming off the back of two big final defeats. The Euros on penalties, Europa League on penalties. I probably just didn’t handle that as well as I should have,” he said.
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“I think there were so many lads who struggled in that period after the Euros. When you’re Manchester United captain and when you’re a central defender, you can’t get away with that. You can’t get away with struggling.
“There were lots of different things in that season. Losing Ole was a big, big loss. I felt a lot of responsibility for that as performances leading up to Ole losing his job weren’t good enough.
“The back end of the season was a mess. It really was a mess. I was the captain, and I took a lot of the brunt for it. We were all over the place, the back six months of that season.
“It wasn’t to do with Ralf, it was more to do with how us as players and as a squad handled it. I just felt like we didn’t handle it as well as we should have with an interim manager coming in, compared to how we’ve handled it this time under Michael.”
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Maguire’s slump would eventually end with him losing the captaincy, unceremoniously dumped by Erik ten Hag in favour of Bruno Fernandes. He admits to “anger and disappointment” at that decision at the time, although his form since losing the armband has improved again.
But his Old Trafford career survived and as he looks ahead to what he hopes will be a title challenge, he rightly takes pride in the fact that he has lasted so long, pointing to David Beckham and Wayne Rooney for inspiration as players who also emerged from their own dark days at United.
“When you play at the top level, unless you are one of the superstars and a world, world-class player, you have ups and downs and you have things that you have to deal with,” Maguire said. “That’s why you see so many players have two or three years at the top, then they drop off and they wander off and go into a different country and you don’t hear too much about them again. To play at the top, you’ve got to deal with the ups and downs.
“I always looked to the experience with players like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney and how they overcame it. They were unbelievable, world-class players, so if it happens to them, it can happen to anyone.
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“I just kept my head down. I have great self-belief, more importantly, that I’m a top player, and I believe that. I think that’s what helps me when things are tough.”
Mark Calcavecchia, the winner of the 1989 Open Championship, was allegedly removed by Augusta National Golf Club security for using his phone this week at the Masters.
Golfweek spoke to Calcavecchia, who didn’t deny taking out his phone out on the grounds, which is automatic dismissal.
Mark Calcavecchia of the United States plays his shot from the ninth tee during the continuation of round one on day two of the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands Golf Club in The Woodlands, Texas, on May 3, 2025.(Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
“I’ve got nothing negative to say about Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters, so I think we should literally hang up right now,” he said.
While Calcavecchia, 65, isn’t a previous Masters winner, he did play in the event 18 times during his career from 1987-2008. He even finished in second place in 1988.
Winners of the three other majors like Calcavecchia had do get a five-year exempt invitation to play in the Masters, and then they become “honorary invitees” for life.
But the rules are the rules, especially at Augusta National. No one is above the law on the premises, and the Masters official website says so when it comes to cell phones.
Mark Calcavecchia plays his shot from the fourth tee during the first round of the Boeing Classic at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge in Snoqualmie, Wash., on Aug. 9, 2024.(Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
“The use of any device for phone calls, emails, text messaging, or to record and/or transmit voice, video or data is strictly prohibited,” the website reads.
Augusta National does provide phone service on the grounds. Designated phone banks, where AT&T provides service as a “champion partner” with the Masters, are found on the course to make phone calls if needed.
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Any other technological form of communication is strictly forbidden, and Calcavecchia is paying the price.
Mark Calcavecchia of the United States plays his shot from the ninth tee during the continuation of round one on day two of the Insperity Invitational 2025 at The Woodlands Golf Club in The Woodlands, Texas, on May 3, 2025.(Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
It’s the unfortunate reality for some who don’t abide by the rules, but the Masters is all about logging out and living in the present, adding to the wonder and mystique that is the first golf major of the golf season.
Dec 8, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Calgary Flames at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
All eyes will be on Peter DeBoer as he takes his place behind the New York Islanders’ bench for a crucial tilt against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
The Islanders (42-31-5, 89 points) parted ways on Sunday with Patrick Roy, their head coach of two-plus years, after an ill-timed four-game losing streak near the tail end of the season.
The last time New York took the ice, 36 saves from goaltender Ilya Sorokin weren’t enough to keep out the high-flying Carolina Hurricanes, who prevailed 4-3 on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C. The Islanders managed just 16 shots on goal in Roy’s last stand.
“We all love Patty and wish that we could have done better over the last 10 days,” Islanders center Mathew Barzal said after practice on Monday. “You look in the mirror and there’s chances that I missed. … As competitors, you feel disappointment, just thinking you could have done more.”
The bad string of results dropped the Islanders outside a playoff spot. They sit three points behind the Ottawa Senators, who occupy the second Eastern Conference wild-card position, and trail the Philadelphia Flyers by three points for the third slot in the Metropolitan Division. All of those teams have four games remaining.
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The Islanders will hope DeBoer’s postseason pedigree gets them over the hump. With a 97-82 record in 179 playoff games, DeBoer ranks fifth all-time in postseason wins — the most of any coach without a Stanley Cup. DeBoer reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 with the New Jersey Devils and in 2016 with the San Jose Sharks but lost in six games on both occasions.
“After 18 years in this league, I’d like to say that I think I have really strong beliefs on how a team needs to play, what’s important to winning and what’s important to winning in the playoffs,” said DeBoer, who had been out of a job since the Dallas Stars fired him after a loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the 2025 Western Conference finals. “I have a lot of non-negotiables on those things.”
The new-look Islanders will hope to claim both points against a battered Maple Leafs team entering the second night of a back-to-back. Toronto (32-32-14, 78 points) dropped a third consecutive game on Wednesday, an uninspired 4-0 loss to the visiting Washington Capitals.
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Toronto, eliminated from playoff contention last week, already was dealing with the absence of captain Auston Matthews for the remainder of the season. Now the Maple Leafs will find themselves even thinner on Thursday.
Brandon Carlo, Dakota Joshua and goaltender Anthony Stolarz all left the Washington game with injuries. None of them will play on Thursday.
In Stolarz’s place, Berube confirmed that 24-year-old Artur Akhtyamov would get his first NHL start. Akhtyamov has appeared in one game, making five saves in relief for Toronto against the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 13.
“He has a great personality. He has played well down there (in the AHL), and he is a competitor,” Berube said of Akhtyamov. “He really has fast reflexes and is competitive as hell. I like the kid a lot.”
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Berube also indicated that center Luke Haymes, 22, would make his NHL debut against New York.
The Islanders, in turn, hope defenseman Tony DeAngelo can suit up for his first game since March 24, when he sustained a lower-body injury.
Today Toulon Golf is releasing their newest Small Batch putter; the Small Batch Columbus. The SB Columbus is a celebration of what many in the golf world view as the greatest Masters victory in the history of the tournament: Jack Nicklaus in 1986.
As Jack’s last “I’m still here” moment, the 1986 Masters is still talked about every single year, and is remembered by an iconic photograph where he raises his putter to the sky in a now infamous outfit. But that putter? There was a much bigger story to it. That’s the story of the new Toulon Golf Small Batch Columbus.
In 1986 Jack Nicklaus took home the trophy using a MacGregor Response MI 615 ZT. A putter that you can buy for about $40 on eBay. ZT standing for Zero Twist, which yes, was an early contender for the current Zero Torque trend that we see widely adopted in the modern game.
The idea behind Zero Twist was that if you could build the putter large enough with the hosel in the right spot, the putter would be more stable through the putting stroke and provide a better chance of rolling in putts. Again, yes, the same story we’re given today with super low-torque toe-up style putters. The irony though, is Jack was playing terribly heading into the Masters.
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As part of this Small Batch project, the Toulon family enlisted the help of Clay Long. Clay is an iconic, Hall-of-Fame level club designer, junkie, nerd, and one of the greatest personalities behind the scenes in the game of golf. He’s actually the one who designed the putter that won in 1986.
Sean Toulon and Clay Long in Clay’s workshop
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In a video on the Toulon Golf website, he tells Preston Toulon that they had no idea the putter was going to go in play. Jack’s first introduction to the putter was an accident. As an owner of MacGregor at the time, Jack didn’t regularly attend sales meetings. But in 1985, he decided to join. As part of that sales meeting Jack was going to go into the shop to see their new high tech woods-sanding robot. Yes you read that right. On the way to check it out, Clay stopped him and showed him the new Response lineup, including the 615. Jack’s first impression: “Is this a joke?”
Fast forward through a phone call from Jack showing interest in the putter after testing at home, making him some finishes in black rather than silver, and the putter going in play for a couple lackluster tournaments before the Masters including some several missed cuts, Jack shows up to Augusta with the putter. MacGregor was already thrilled with what their sales numbers were with the putter having had success at the PGA Show earlier in the year, and Jack having played the putter on tour. They were actually expecting Jack to swap the putter back out for an old George Lowe model. Instead, he wins.
Clay Long’s signature adorns one side of the specially crafted headcover for the Toulon Small Batch Columbus
Toulon Golf
His victory in 1986 is still considered one of if not the best Masters moment in the history of the tournament. He wasn’t playing well. He wasn’t leading on Sunday, in fact he started 6 strokes back of the leader. Nothing about that day was supposed to end with him winning the Masters. Just like nothing about the MacGregor Response series was supposed to set sales records for a company with a dying putter lineup. But odds be damned, they did it. And the Small Batch Columbus celebrates that triumph.
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The Small Batch Columbus is a nod to the original design, with tweaks for the modern game. Although the original 615 ZT was more than 35% larger than a traditional blade shape, the SB Columbus is about 30% smaller than the putter Jack used to win. That being said, it still dwarfs a normal sized blade like the Toulon Golf Boston you see pictured here with it.
The size comparison of a Toulon Boston from their 2026 Collection Series to the new Small Batch Columbus
Jake Morrow / GOLF
In order to maintain a “normal” size and feel, they needed to figure out how to keep the putter at about 360 grams of weight. The original putter was made out of aluminum, but it was very fragile. As Sean Toulon states to Clay in their story video, “It wouldn’t have passed the BGLT or ‘Big Guy Lean Test’”. To combat that, and to stay true to the Toulon Golf Small Batch process, they constructed the face and hosel out of 904L Stainless Steel. 904L is a wonderful material that finishes beautifully, but it takes a long time to mill which makes it more expensive, so it’s reserved for Small Batch type projects.
The Toulon Golf Small Batch Columbus pays homage to Jack’s triumph at the 1986 Masters
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The back of the putter is then done in 6061 anodized aluminum to save weight. Toulon isn’t new to the world of multi-material construction, but they did have to be very careful about how the two pieces matched up to each other in a couple of ways. The first one being that they physically needed to match up well. There’s nothing worse than a beautiful project turning into a nightmare with a terrible seam or a visible difference in the lines of the pieces. Not here. The SB Columbus has beautiful lines between the materials that match perfectly with the same curves, lines, and flow as one another. The other big thing is matching the color. Since they are different metals, they react to finishing differently. It’s not super easy to match the exact color between two metals, especially when you’re talking about a black finish. It’s pretty easy to see when one black didn’t get quite as dark or tinted as another black. But again, they absolutely nailed the details here.
The Toulon Golf Small Batch Columbus cavity design mimicks the original design of Jack’s 1986 Masters winning MacGregor ZT MI 615
Toulon Golf
The sole of the putter features some Azaleas, a common nod to Augusta National. Some are paint-filled in their typical pink color and others are sort of shadowed in the background to give the design some nice depth without getting busy. The SB Columbus logo stands proud in the very center, with the ‘86 markings making their way into the lettering as the ‘b’ in Columbus.
The sole design of the Toulon Golf Small Batch Columbus features some large pink Azaleas to tie in Augusta National
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As you rotate the putter to the topline, you’ll see the a nod to the same alignment features on Jack’s original winning putter as well as a Toulon variant of the cavity markings from Jack’s old putter including the (86) marking where the old (ZT) marking used to be. The face is then finished off in their triple cut fly mill in a silver finish. It looks beautiful behind the ball. You can see the loft on the face, and the alignment cross in the back of the flange doesn’t distract at all.
Clay’s signature as well as the Small Batch icon come together on top of the TRIPLE fly cut face of the Small Batch Columbus
Toulon Golf
The one thing you’re probably asking is “Well how does it roll?” I have to say, it’s lovely. It’s a nice firm feeling putter off the face. It’s got a great click to it, and a very commanding sound and feel into the hands. For such a large putter, you’d be worried that the player would lose feel, but not in this case. It’s a wonderful feeling and actually rolls quite well too. I would say probably 70% of Small Batch putters never make it out of the case, but there’s a few collectors out there who believe in the idea of tools not jewels, and this could certainly make a very fun tool.
The Toulon Golf Small Batch Columbus is available now on their website at toulongolf.com. In the Small Batch package the player will also receive a signed certificate of authenticity with a matching shaft band.
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Toulon Golf x Clay Long – 2026 Small Batch Columbus
This Toulon Golf x Clay Long Small Batch collaboration celebrates the triumph at the Masters in 1986. Toulon has partnered with legendary club designer Clay Long, the designer of the winning putter in ’86, to celebrate the victory and bring a piece of history into your hands.
The Pedigo Submission Fighting athlete goes toe-to-toe with promotional newcomer Kenta Iwamoto in a welterweight submission grappling battle.
Ahead of their rematch, Dante Leon shared what he expects from the Japanese ground game specialist and his plans to take a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head rivalry.
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Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
“I’m sure he feels like he can give a better performance, and he wants to redeem himself from the last match. And with respect to that, I have to show up and be better,” the 30-year-old martial artist told ONE Championship during a pre-fight interview.
Leon vs. Iwamoto will be one of many exciting fights at ONE Fight Night 42 inside the Lumpinee Stadium.
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Dante Leon’s keys to victory against Kenta Iwamoto at ONE Fight Night 42
Iwamoto is aggressive, well-rounded, and capable of staying one step ahead — but Dante Leon has the tools to shut all of it down.
The starting point is top control. Leon’s crushing top pressure has been the foundation of his best performances in ONE Championship, and against an opponent who operates with the fluency and physical intensity that Iwamoto brings, establishing dominant position early is everything.
The Canadian’s ability to pass guard with precision and settle into suffocating top control removes Iwamoto’s most dangerous scrambling opportunities before they can develop.
From there, the back becomes Leon’s primary destination. His ability to hunt the back from almost any position — off scrambles, off guard passes, off failed submissions — is what makes him so relentless to contain.
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Once he secures that position, Iwamoto faces a finishing threat that has proven too much for everyone Leon has caught there.
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire card, live in U.S. primetime, for free this Friday, April 10.
Tyson Fury is set to make his highly anticipated return to the boxing ring this Saturday against Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a bout he insists will play out before a sold-out crowd.
However, the heavyweight champion remains uncertain whether his father, John Fury, will be among the spectators.
The fight marks Fury’s comeback after reversing a retirement decision for the fifth time, ending a 16-month hiatus from the sport.
The event, broadcast live on Netflix from north London, has been subject to weeks of speculation regarding ticket sales. Despite this, Fury confidently predicted a full house.
Tyson Fury does not know if his dad will attend his fight this weekend (Getty Images)
“Let’s just say it’s been a very busy few months with the boxing scene all around the world and especially in the UK. There have been a lot of big fights on, but ‘Gypsy King’ always sells out,” Fury told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“On the night there will be over 60-odd thousand at Tottenham, which is full capacity. The tickets have not been as fast as say the two days I sold out Wembley at 94,000, but it has gone over the past month or so, so we’ll be at full capacity on the night.”
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Addressing his father’s stance, Fury explained: “He’s not happy. He wanted me to retire in 2020 after I beat Deontay Wilder. He is just not happy and doesn’t want me to box.”
He added, “I think when it’s your kids and when it’s your close relatives, you feel very concerned for the individual and he has got his opinions, he just doesn’t want me to do it, he never wanted me to do it for the past six years.”
Despite his father’s disapproval, Fury remains resolute.
Tyson Fury with opponent Arslanbek Makhmudov in February (PA Wire)
“At the end of the day, every man must bear his own cross and it’s my destiny to do,” Fury said.
When asked if his father might still appear at the last minute, Fury conceded, “he might do, but he didn’t come to the Usyk II fight, so I’m not holding my breath.
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“My dad will do what my dad will do and there is nothing I can do about it. He is his own person. If he turns up, great, and if he doesn’t, also great.”
Amid the rhetoric and rabble rousing of JD Vance’s promotional tour of Budapest in support of the “fantastic” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the significance of one of the venues may have been lost on many.
The US vice president addressed a pre-election rally on Tuesday at the the MTK Sportpark in Budapest. The venue, opened in 2025, is used by various sporting departments of the MTK Budapest club, whose football team are one of Hungary’s most successful, with 23 national titles. MTK’s president is Tamas Deutsch, a Member of European Parliament and member of Orban’s Fidesz party.
Vance targets EU while campaigning for Orban in Hungary
“I don’t think that is accidental staging,” Gyozo Molnar, a professor of sociology of sport and exercise at the University of Worcester, and originally from Hungary, told DW.
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“The stadium is Orban’s preferred arena, quite literally. More broadly, the vast network of football clubs, academies, and infrastructure projects across the country represents a material patronage network that ties local communities and local elites to Fidesz. That has electoral consequences, particularly in rural constituencies.”
Heavy state influence in Hungarian clubs
MTK are far from alone in having strong ties to the state. Though not necessarily directly controlled by Fidesz, every club in the top division is somehow influenced by the party, either by politicians appointed to executive roles, by arms of the state with stakes in the club or by provision of funds.
The most important revenue stream has been the TAO corporate income tax program. Introduced in 2011, this allows corporations to write off donations to clubs in selected sports as a tax deduction, sometimes up to 100%. This has seen billions funneled to government-backed clubs and contracts for construction reportedly handed to those close to Orban and his government. Hungary is consistently ranked as the most corrupt nation in the 27-member EU, with which it has a strained relationship, and is also ranked among the poorest in the bloc.
Hungary: Europe or an authoritarian path?
Orban defended TAO in a 2020 interview with Hungarian sports daily Nemzeti Sport.
“Until the introduction of the TAO, the world of entrepreneurs and sports did not maintain any relationship with each other,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a normal attitude to regret spending money on sports fields or for children to play sports.”
Nevertheless, Fidesz have also developed interests in clubs in several surrounding countries, including Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Ukraine. Molnar says this combines Orban’s loves of football with maintaining political power – and is another vote winner.
Clubs abroad help increase diaspora vote
“Ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries have been able to vote in Hungarian elections since Fidesz introduced simplified naturalization and extended the franchise in 2010. The diaspora vote has historically overwhelmingly favored Fidesz,” he said.
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“Investing in football infrastructure in these communities, such as stadiums, academies and youth programs is a tangible, visible form of patronage that reinforces the message that Orban’s government cares about Hungarians beyond the country’s borders.”
While some clubs’ ownership structures, both in Hungary and abroad, are opaque, last season’s runners-up, Puskas Akademia, have been built, funded and controlled by Orban from their foundation in 2007.
The Pancho Arena has hosted Israel matches in recent yearsImage: Denes Erdos/AP Photo/picture alliance
Named after Ferenc Puskas, Hungary’s greatest-ever footballer and member of the Mighty Magyars side that lost to West Germany in the 1954 World Cup final, Puskas Akademia are Orban’s pet project. He built them a stadium too. The Pancho Arena, named after the nickname given to Puskas while he played for Real Madrid, is a 3,800-capacity arena, holding double the population of the town of Felcsut, where Orban has a property.
David Goldblatt, now a visiting professor at Pitzer College, Los Angeles, went to the stadium, on the outskirts of Budapest, in 2017. After handing a copy of a book he’d written on football a decade earlier to Orban through an intermediary, he became the first foreign journalist for more than a decade to interview the prime minister, who was first elected to the post in 1998.
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Orban a lover of football and its power
Goldblatt said that, although it has clearly been weaponized politically, Orban’s love of the game shone through.
“He really is obsessed with football — playing it, watching it, thinking about it. He really, really, really loves football,” Goldblatt told DW, adding that Orban played in Hungary’s fourth tier and formed the basis of his party’s central control from a Fidesz five-a-side game.
As well as his grip on the club game, Goldblatt said that Orban’s funding and promotion of the national team has enabled him to tell a useful story.
“It’s a great and powerful narrative for an ultranationalist with victimhood tendencies that the Hungary national football team offers. Once the absolute pinnacle of global football, then a terrible shadow of its former self. This has, in Orban and Fidesz’s hands, turned into a narrative about how great Hungary once was before the communists crushed the great football tradition.
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“‘Make Hungarian football great again’ is what he said to me. I think he actually had baseball caps with that on.”
Champions League final a crowning moment or bitter pill
As well as their involvement in Hungary’s national team and all of the country’s top clubs, Orban and Fidesz have built more than 25 stadiums around the country, the biggest of which — the Puskas Arena in Budapest — is to host the Champions League final, European club football’s biggest game, on May 30.
Germany played Hungary at the Puskas Arena in Budapest in 2024Image: Michael Memmler/Eibner-Pressefoto/picture alliance
Molnar said Orban sees this “an enormous validation of his entire sport-as-nation-building strategy” and would find not being in power for the final a bitter pill to swallow.
“If he were to lose on April 12, the Champions League final would arrive under a new government, and that would be a bitterly symbolic loss for him, someone else cutting the ribbon on his legacy project,” he said.
Orban has been a regular attendee at major football finals for decades and may well be at one of the stadiums he built on May 30 whatever happens in the coming days. He has made himself the key figure in Hungarian football, as well as society, and the stakes are high for the sport.
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“If Orban wins, that event becomes a coronation of his football legacy. If he loses, it becomes an awkward inheritance for a new government that will have to decide what to do with the infrastructure, the networks, and the political economy of sport that Orban has spent a decade and a half constructing,” Molnar added.
“Either way, Hungarian football after April 12 will tell us a great deal not just about sport, but about whether populist nationalist projects can be unwound through democratic means.”
Edited by: Chuck Penfold
This article was originally published on April 9, 2026. It was amended later the same day to reflect the fact that JD Vance spoke at the MTK Sportpark in Budapest and not the Groupama Arena as previously reported.
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