By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
Sports
Off-and-On Again UCLA Hoops Peaking at the Right Time
It has been quite the season for the Bruins, both on and off the court.
Most of the headlines this season, beyond the gym, have involved head coach Mick Cronin.
From questioning his squad’s toughness to kicking Steven Jamerson out of a game to doubting his team’s potential, the seventh-year coach has been borderline embarrassing.
Through it all, though, UCLA has persevered and seems to be peaking at the right time.
The Bruins’ tournament resume got a big boost this week after knocking off Illinois on Saturday and dismantling USC on Tuesday night.
Donovan Dent had a big week. Against Illinois, he played 42 minutes, finishing with 14 points, including the game-winner to cap the upset.
He followed that up with a 30-point performance against the crosstown rivals.
More impressively, over the last two wins, he has dished out 22 assists without turning the ball over in 80 minutes of court time.
The two-game winning streak has improved UCLA’s record to 11-6 in Big Ten play and 19-9 overall.
Winners of seven of their last 10 games, the Bruins seem to have righted some of their woes following a tough two-game swing through the State of Michigan.
The trip to the Great Lakes State is certainly no picnic this season as both the Wolverines and Spartans look like legitimate challengers in March.
But a pair of lopsided losses by an average of 26.5 points in the two contests could have signaled the end for UCLA.
Instead, the Bruins got themselves off the mat with a pair of impressive performances.
This UCLA team enters March with seven of its nine losses coming against Quad 1 opponents, and only one of them at Pauley Pavilion.
If Dent can start finding his shooting stroke consistently—especially on threes—it will be a big lift for the Bruin offense.
The senior point guard has connected on only 24.1% of his triples this season.
That makes his performance against the Trojans all the more promising, as he knocked down five of six from distance.
He ranks fifth in the nation with 7.2 assists per game, but his threat to score from outside will open things up more for the likes of Tyler Bilodeau and Trent Perry.
Perry has stepped up recently as the sophomore guard has reached double figures in nine of his last 10 games, while averaging 15.2 points per outing during that stretch.
UCLA’s offense is averaging 78.0 points per game, ranking 136th nationally, but 77.6% of the team’s scoring has come from five players.
The Bruins could use more production from their bench down the stretch.
UCLA does not have any bad losses this season, with a neutral-site loss at the hands of California being the worst on the resume.
That loss could loom large down the stretch as the Bears are a fellow bubble team and the head-to-head result could come into play.
The homecourt overtime loss to Indiana would fall into that same category. But UCLA has a chance to erase all bubble talk with a strong finish to the regular season.
Each of the final three games on the schedule would be Quad 1 wins today.
Trips to Minnesota and USC sandwiched around a visit from Nebraska give UCLA the chance to make a statement before they head to Chicago for the Big Ten Tournament.
The Bruins need to continue their current surge. They are right smack dab in the midst of the huge NCAA bubble, but the opportunity is there to separate themselves from the pack.
UCLA had high expectations heading into the season, and they still have time to deliver on them. This is a talented team with the potential to make a lot of noise in March if they click.
The Bruins seem to be getting hot at the right time, but just how hot remains to be seen.
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
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Cody Rhodes began the promotion of Elimination Chamber: Chicago by appearing on live television outside WWE. However, Rhodes made a botch that didn’t go unnoticed.
Stephanie Vaquer is one of the biggest stars in WWE today even though she only joined the company in 2024. Vaquer is the reigning Women’s World Champion and will defend her title against Liv Morgan at WrestleMania 42.
Thanks for the submission!
Speaking on ESPN’s Get Up, Cody Rhodes fell victim to La Primera’s surname. The American Nightmare mispronounced Vaquer’s last name, just like other stars such as Nikki Bella, Naomi, Michael Cole and Wade Barrett.
“I mean, we’re officially on the road to WrestleMania. WrestleMania in Las Vegas, which will be the biggest it’s ever been. This one, all the marbles, all the chips. It’s been unpredictable. Right now, we just have Roman Reigns versus (CM) Punk. Liv Morgan versus Stephanie Vaquer (he says Vakor). The big, big, big, big time main event for the other night. It’s up in the air. You’ll see it at the Elimination Chamber,” Rhodes said. [H/T TJR Wrestling]
Watch the video below around the 4:37 mark.
Cody Rhodes will be competing at Elimination Chamber: Chicago. He is set to battle LA Knight, Jey Uso, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans and Randy Orton for a shot at Drew McIntyre and the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42.
Cody Rhodes opens up about using ‘Raheem’ line on SmackDown
In an interview with Jonathan Hood on Under The Hood, Cody Rhodes finally opened up about his viral promo acknowledging “Raheem” as his nickname or middle name, whichever it is. The meme has been going around social media for years, but it was the first time Rhodes acknowledged it on WWE television.
Rhodes revealed that he was hesitant to use the line before his wife, Brandi Rhodes, encouraged him to use it.
“I had told her that I might say it. I felt bad because I told her and then she said, ‘Oh, you have to say it. It’s funny.’ I didn’t wanna come at Roman or Punk in an adversarial way. I’m not wrestling either of you. You guys are wrestling each other and it’s awesome. I wanted to come at it with a little bit of levity because I knew others were gonna come at it from a different perspective, and I thought that was funny,” Rhodes said. [H/T WrestlingNews.co]
The American Nightmare also didn’t mind some backlash online for embracing the joke since he did some “field testing” beforehand.
Read all the hottest WWE news from Sportskeeda by choosing us as your preferred source. Click HERE.
Edited by JP David
Sports
From Baramulla to the brink of history: Auqib Nabi’s defining Ranji Trophy season | Cricket News
J&K’s Auqib Nabi (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist Lav)
Hubballi: Auqib Nabi — a name that has echoed across the Indian domestic circuit over the past couple of seasons — is one the Karnataka camp will want to forget in a hurry.The 29-year-old seamer from Baramulla ripped through Karnataka’s formidable batting line-up on Thursday, pushing Jammu & Kashmir to the brink of a historic maiden Ranji Trophy title. Nabi, however, played down his heroics, insisting that his approach was based on keeping things simple, even if his bowling proved anything but.
With pronounced swing, late movement and the ability to hit the seam consistently with a strong wrist position, Nabi kept Karnataka’s leading run-getters under relentless pressure on Day 3 of the final.Coming into the title contest with 55 wickets this season — including 21 across the quarterfinal and semifinal — Nabi is two wicket short to surpass Uttarakhand spinner Mayank Mishra (59 wickets) to become the leading wicket taker of the competition.Outlining his approach, Nabi said the J&K attack operated with a collective plan.“In our team, all of us follow the same plan, sticking to a particular line and length. Even if the batters try to go after us, we continue to bowl in the same channel,” he explained.Much of the build-up to the final centred on Nabi’s anticipated contest with KL Rahul, and the seamer acknowledged the attention surrounding the duel.“I was confident because I have been taking wickets. I went in with a positive frame of mind and just wanted to keep it simple. Before the match, I got a lot of messages about getting Rahul out, but I just wanted to bowl in a good channel and not focus on the batter,” he said.Nabi emphasised the importance of wrist position in generating movement, a technical aspect that has become central to his success.“Wrist position is very important. If you have a straight wrist, everything else becomes easier. The ball moves with the wrist, so a straight wrist is very important for a fast bowler,” he said.With the visitors now within touching distance of their first Ranji Trophy triumph, anticipation is building. Prominent personalities from J&K are expected to arrive in Hubballi on Friday on what could be the eve of a historic moment.For Nabi, the possibility of lifting the trophy represents the fulfilment of a long-held ambition.“When I represented J&K for the first time, it was my dream to win a trophy, especially in red-ball cricket. Growing up, I always knew we hadn’t won a trophy, so this means a lot,” he said.
LAWRENCE, Kansas — When Big 12 schedule-makers unveiled the slate in September, Kelvin Sampson’s eyes gravitated toward the trial by fire that Houston just exited: Feb. 16 at No. 4 Iowa State, Feb. 21 vs. No. 2 Arizona and Feb. 23 at No. 14 Kansas.
“Spurs on Monday, Oklahoma City on Saturday, turn around and play Marcus Sasser’s [Detroit] Pistons,” Sampson says with a twinkle in his eye to perhaps hide the frustration in his soul.
Houston had Iowa State dead to rights in the second half before the Cyclones’ role players like Nate Heise and Jamarion Batemon hit some gigantic treys to rally Iowa State to a 70-67 victory. Five days later, Houston had Arizona right in its crosshairs before petering out down the stretch to one of the National Championship frontrunners. Some 48 hours after that, Houston had to walk into Allen Fieldhouse to play Kansas. The Jayhawks, fresh off a frustrating home loss to Cincinnati, used an 11-0 burst at the end of the first half and a 16-3 surge early in the second half to run away with a 69-56 win.
Houston got Hilton Magic’d, Zona’d and Big Monday’d in a week-long stretch. For the first time since 2017, Houston has lost three games in a row, and yet, Sampson walked into Monday’s postgame press conference itching to preach positivity.
“We’re not gonna go jump off with the bridge ’cause we lost this game,” Sampson says. “I knew what we were walking into, but I was really, really proud of our guys.”
Maybe that’s a public front — Sampson is never cool with Ls — but there’s some truth laced into the sermon. There is such a thing as schedule losses in hoops, and catching an irritated Kansas on Big Monday (a spot that Bill Self entered a mind-boggling 40-0) looks like a schedule loss if there ever was one.
Houston’s starting backcourt of Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp and Kingston Flemings combined for 28 points on 35 shots, by far the worst performance of the season for the best trio of guards that you can find in college basketball. Sampson did note that Sharp was nicked up after a bad fall against Arizona, and Uzan is fighting an ankle injury.
“I took Milos and Emanuel out for a reason; they had nothing, they were dead,” Sampson said. “Sharp guarded his butt off. I think he played 35 minutes on Saturday. Milos played 38 minutes [against Arizona]. That was why I took them all out with eight minutes to go. They just had no legs. But that’s the schedule we had to play.”
The three-game slide all but knocks Houston out of the Big 12 Championship chase. The Cougars trail Arizona by two games in the loss column with three to play. The Cougars have a 0.1% chance of earning the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, per CBB Analytics.
But is it time for panic about Houston’s hopes in March? As usual, it’s complicated.
Potential hot spots emerging
Just 27% of Houston’s offensive shots come at the rim. This Cougars team is more jump-shot reliant than any other high-major team in college basketball, so when you play a third game in eight days, and the legs are gone, nights like Monday can emerge.
Seventeen of Houston’s 66 (26%) shots against Kansas came at the rim. The Cougars took 39 jumpers and shot just 23% on ’em, the second-worst showing this year according to Synergy.
Sampson pointed to dead legs, and the eye test and data unequivocally back up those claims. Houston missed short on a ton of jumpers.
You can win with a jump-shot heavy diet like this when you offensive rebound at a very high level. Houston preaches offensive rebounding as well as anybody in the country, and big man JoJo Tugler owns the No. 1 offensive rebounding rate in Big 12 play. Tugler is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. He’s revered for his defense, but his consistent first-half foul trouble is hurting Houston’s offense in a real way. The Cougars need his offensive rebounding in the worst way, serving as a “get out of jail free” card when jumpers are coming up short.
Tugler sat out the final 10 minutes of the first half with two fouls. At that point, Houston had five offensive rebounds. For the final 10 minutes, Houston corralled just one offensive rebound.
- Houston’s offensive rebounding percentage when Tugler is on the floor, per hoop-explorer: 23.6% (No. 3 in America)
- Houston’s offensive rebounding percentage when Tugler is off the floor, per hoop-explorer: 18.8% (No. 83 in America)
“JoJo is a lot like those old gunslingers like Daryle Lamonica, Kenny Stabler, Jim Plunkett, Sonny Jurgensen, Billy Kilmer or Johnny Unitas,” Sampson says. “Dudes got two little bars in front of their face. They go play and throw three or four interceptions and six or seven touchdowns. But if you try to take away their interceptions and make them be more pinpoint or not nearly as aggressive, they’re probably not gonna throw touchdown passes, either. It’s probably a bad analogy. But it’s hard to get JoJo to not play aggressive. A lot of his fouls are probably unnecessary. Believe it or not, since this freshman year, he’s gotten a lot better.”
Sampson is right. Tugler is “only” averaging 5.5 fouls per 40 minutes this season. That’s the best mark of his career. But the constant foul trouble for Houston’s best defender and best offensive rebounder has become a burr in Sampson’s saddle.
“We’re a much, much better team, and he’s on the floor,” Sampson said. “When you go back and look at the game when we beat Duke [in the 2025 Final Four], he was the best friend on the floor last five minutes. He’s really important to us.”
The shot diet for Houston is not changing, largely because of the personnel. Houston does not have a backdown threat who can hunt mismatches in the mid-post area. The Cougars have been one of the worst post-up offenses in college basketball this season, so Sampson has largely ditched it from Houston’s offensive arsenal.
This team is going to take a ton of jumpers from here on out. A jumper from Sharp, Uzan or Flemings is a better shot than a Tugler post-up at this point, but it makes the offensive rebounding and Tugler’s availability even that much more vital down the home stretch.
Reason for optimism
There are three pretty simple reasons to be bullish on Houston in March:
- Sampson is the coach.
- This backcourt is unbelievable.
- Houston plays ridiculously hard.
Enough said.
“I think these three games, even though we’re disappointed, we lost them, it’s not the end of the world,” Sampson said. “I don’t know if anybody had to play three straight games like this. We just ran out of steam.”
Sports
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup: Abhishek Sharma half-century for India against Zimbabwe – best shots
Having been dismissed for three consecutive ducks, Abhishek Sharma returns to form with a half-century off 26 balls in India’s T20 World Cup Super 8s match against Zimbabwe.
MATCH REPORT: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Super 8s – India v Zimbabwe
Available to UK users only.
Welcome to Bag Spy, a GOLF series devoted to understanding the crucial equipment choices that define a player’s bag. With the help of players and/or their expert fitters, we dig deep beyond the photos to examine setups, specs and the thinking behind them. In this installment, GOLF Associate Equipment Editor Jack Hirsh takes you inside Tony Finau’s bag and new equipment setup for 2026
***
While last week’s feature in this spot, Rickie Fowler, is a certified gear nerd, Tony Finau is the other end of the spectrum.
Ping Tour Rep Dylan Goodwin said Finau is a “man of few words” when it comes to his equipment. When it works, it works and he doesn’t need to question it too much. If it doesn’t, he tries something else.
Ping’s Kenton Oates said the Tour team built Finau a total of just five clubs one season, which was likely the fewest of any player on the Ping staff.
“It maybe puts a little more pressure on us as a staff when he does come in to get it right, because you know he doesn’t want to be testing during the year,” Oates told GOLF. “If he is testing product throughout the year, then it’s probably frustrating to him, since that’s really something he doesn’t want to do. So we just got to make sure that we get everything down at the beginning of the year.”
He prefers to do most of his club work in the offseason.
;)
Jack Hirsh/GOLF
“He’ll usually come in here two or three times from like November 1 till that first event of the year, whether it be Hawaii or in the desert or wherever he starts up,” Oates said. “But once we get going in the season, he doesn’t make a lot of changes at all.”
That doesn’t stop Finau from having one of the more unique bags on the PGA Tour with his heavy swingweights, huge grips and a new Ping prototype putter. He’s also made a few more tweaks this year and he’s started to see some progress after recording just one top-10 in 2025.
One of those tweaks, switching to Ping Prototype Scottsdale Tec Ally Blue Onset putter, has paid off in a big way. Finau ranked 155th in Strokes Gained: Putting after his first two events but has rallied up to 58th. That’s after finishing 111th in the category last year. He led the field in putting at Pebble Beach during an 18th-place finish.
Keep reading below to dive into one of the more unique setups on the PGA Tour.
Breaking down every club in Tony Finau’s bag
Ball
Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot
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Andrew Redington/Getty Images
For Finau, the golf bag starts and ends with golf ball and for much of his professional career, that golf ball has been Titleist’s Pro V1 Left Dot.
Finau is one of the most well-known Left Dot players, which is a Customized Performance Option (CPO) version of the standard Pro V1. Compared to the retail version, the Left Dot is lower flying and lower-spinning, but has the same, softer feel that Pro V1 players prefer.
For an ultra-high spin player like Finau, that’s a perfect recipe.
“I think equipment starts with the golf ball, not with the clubs, not with the woods, not with any other piece of equipment. It starts with the golf ball. I’ve always been a believer in that,” Finau told Titleist. “The Left Dot golf ball is right for me because I’ve always put a lot of spin on the golf ball … and right away, it caught my eye because of the ball flight. I think if you can control your ball flight, you can control the distance. And it’s been such a reliable ball flight for me from the first time that I hit it … I can count on the golf ball in crosswinds, into the wind, downwind. I know how far the golf ball is going to go.”
Finau did experiment with Titleist’s new Pro V1x Double Dot prototype golf ball from last summer until January, but made the switch back to the Left Dot at the American Express.
He also has an interesting tradition of marking his golf balls with his children’s and wife’s initials. He told Titleist he’ll usually start with his son, Sage, and change out depending on how the round is going.
“It’s a cool way to keep my kids involved, and they’re always with me on the golf course,” he said.
The Greatest Combination of Speed, Spin and Feel
Titleist Pro V1 Golf Balls
Pro V1 golf balls are the optimal premium performance choice for most players and the most played model in golf.
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Pro V1 is recommended to players who are looking for mid-trajectory flight, very low long game spin and maximum short game spin, with softer feel.
Comparison to Pro V1x
Due to its unique dimple pattern, Pro V1 has a lower flight than Pro V1x. A softer gradient core produces a softer feel and slightly less spin than Pro V1x.
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Driver
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Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Specs
Ping G440 LST
Loft: 9.0˚ @ 7.75˚
Trajectory 2.0 Setting: Big Minus (—)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black Velocore+ 7-X
Length: 45.25″
Tipping: 1″
CG Shifter: 35 g, neutral
Hot Melt: 5 g, toe
Swingweight: D8+
Finau has already made a mid-season tweak, going from a 7.5˚ Ping G440 LST to 9˚ head in the Big Minus setting. Finau is a high-spin player, but with the lower-lofted head, he was seeing his misshits drop to 2200 while good strikes were around 2500.
Those are not atypical numbers on the PGA Tour, but Finau has plenty of speed in the tank, so he values control. While he typically cruises around 180 mph ball speed, Oates describes him as having one of the biggest governors on the PGA Tour.
“If you brought him to the range, in three golf swings, he could have 200 mph of ball speed,” he said.
Because of that range, Finau is more comfortable with the 9˚ head that produces a spin range around 2700 and 2400 on misses to help him stay in control.
That was also the driving factor behind a move to the Fujikura Ventus Black with VeloCore+ last season.
“He wasn’t happy with his driving, and he had started testing a few different shafts, and he ended up liking the stability of the Velo+,” Oates said. “So he went into that at Travelers last year.”
You’ll also notice Finau prefers a rather beefy D8+ swing weight for his driver and that actually carries over to his irons two, with them sitting at D6+. The reason was mainly feel-based and has to do with a change Finau made with his grips a few years ago. We’ll get into that change below, but basically, Finau made his grips lighter, which raised the swingweight.
“He liked that feeling,” Oates said. “Then we walked through kind of what that would look like downrange from a ball-flight standpoint. Obviously, the heavier the clubhead, the easier it is to fade it. It’s a little bit easier to release because you have more mass down there. So he mentally liked that as well.”
PING G440 LST Custom Driver
The G440 driver family (MAX, LST, SFT) is optimized to deliver more ball speed through multiple advancements, including PING’s deepest CG in a driver to date and a shallower, thinner face, while continuing to ensure the game-changing forgiveness expected from a PING driver. The G440 LST (Low Spin) design appeals to players with faster swing speeds, providing lower spin and more control in 9° and 10.5° lofts with the three-position back weight.
HIGHLY FORGIVING
Lighter head weight allows for heavier back weight.
FASTER FACE
Shallow, thinner, face increases ball speed for more distance, higher launch.
SOUND DESIGN
New shaping, carbon crown and internal ribs produce muted impact experience.
FREE-HOSEL DESIGN
Saves weight to lower CG, increase forgiveness. Allows for more heel-side face flexing for consistent ball speed across face.
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore
3-wood
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Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Specs
Callaway Paradym Ai-Smoke Triple Diamond T
Loft: 14˚ @ 13˚
Lie: 59˚
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
Length: 42.5″
Tipping: 2″
Swingweight: D5
Finau used more shallow-faced 3-woods for much of his career until a few years ago, when he realized he wasn’t using 3-wood off the deck much. That was when he was first drawn to Callaway Triple Diamond T fairway wood shapes and he’s used one since.
“With the height he can hit it and the distance he can hit it, he really likes a deep 3-wood, and that head is just a little bit deeper than anything we had,” Oates said.
Uniquely, the Triple Diamond T Fairway Woods are specifically designed for Jon Rahm, who also prefers a deeper-faced 3-wood, along with a beveled sole to help him get it through the turf. Both Rahm and Finau are still playing the Paradym Ai-Smoke Model that’s now two-seasons old.
Ping has started working on a deeper-faced club for that spot in the bag, their Ping Mini Proto, which debuted at the Sony Open. Finau has been testing it, but at this time, he’s got a very unrelatable problem.
I think the thing that we struggle with there is it might just go a little bit too far right right now,” Oates said. “But we’ll continue to work on that.”
Utility Iron
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Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Specs
Nike Vapor Fly Pro 3-iron
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI-105 X Hybrid
Probably the most famous club in Finau’s bag and with the return of Brooks Koepka on the PGA Tour, one of just a handful of Nike clubs left in pro golf.
Finau has had this Nike Vapor Fly Pro 3-iron since 2016, his lone year on staff with the Swoosh before they exited the hard goods business. But it actually disappeared from the bag for a few seasons before jumping back in during the 2020 season.
Ping has plenty of options to replace this club, including their current iDi driving iron, which is in the bag of Viktor Hovland, but that club, and many before, might be too forgiving for Finau, Oates said.
“The thing we run into with our crossovers and clubs in that space is they’re a little bit more forgiving and they go a little bit higher, which is great for the everyday player,” Oates said. “Unfortunately, Tony doesn’t really need the extra help with the height.”
Oates isn’t sure how many Vapor Fly Pro heads Finau has left, but he brings in four or five every year to have the specs checked. Safe to say, until he finds a better option, this club isn’t going anywhere.
Irons
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Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Specs
Ping Blueprint T 4-PW
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130 X
Lofts: 22.25/26/29/32.5/37/41/45
Lies: 61/61.5/62/62.5/63/63.5/64
Length: 36.88″ 7-iron
Swingweight: D6-D7+
This is actually a spot where Finau has done some tinkering.
For nearly his entire career, Finau has played the Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 TX shaft in his irons, but during his offseason at the end of last year — unbeknownst to Oates or the Ping Tour team — Finau did some testing on his own and switched to the KBS $-Taper 130 X.
That’s actually why there is loads of lead tape on his clubs now, because with the new shaft, the clubs swing-weighed lighter.
“KBS shafts in general are slightly counterbalanced compared to most every other iron shaft,” Oates said. “So whoever installed those did a great job and they got it back to swing weight — so they had to add the lead tape.”
Had Ping made the change, Oates said they simply could have changed the weight screws in the toe of the club to bring them back to D6+, but the lead tape accomplished the same thing.
Finau has almost exclusively played a full set of muscle-back irons for his whole career with the exception of 2024, when he played the Blueprint S cavity-back iron. While he finished second in Strokes Gained: Approach that season, Finau looked at specific yardages and saw he was actually better with the original Blueprints (he was fifth in Approach in 2023) and switched to the Blueprint T blades he has now.
Unlike the modern trend on the PGA Tour, Finau plays that same blade through the entire bag.
“Tony Finau’s ability to hit a properly-hit 5-iron — where he’s not hung back, he’s just down on top of it, thumping it and sending it up to the clouds — is one of the biggest gifts that he has. He can launch and spin a 4- and 5-iron like nobody in the world,” Oates said. “Not a lot of players from 230 can hit a 4-iron spinning at 5200 and have it get there. And then when it does get there, it’s going to land close to the hole and stop.”
You may notice his lie angles are fairly standard, if not slightly upright, despite his distinctive low hands address position. His irons aren’t flatter on account of both his 6’4″ height and his preference to see the club upright.
“I think a little bit of his visual, like he’s a player that’s put the club down like that and wants to see the toe where it is, which is a little upright,” Oates said, before adding that it also helps him with a left start line. “He’s always played his best golf when he starts it a little left of his target and cuts it back. So I think the upright lie angle just forces it over to the left a little bit.”
For the accomplished golfer who relies on control and precision, Blueprint T delivers a single-piece, 8620 carbon steel forging that puts a premium on workability, trajectory control and superb feel.
PING Blueprint T Custom Irons
SHORTER HEEL-FACE
Allows the hosel transition to blend smoothly into the top rail, creating a clean, distraction-free appearance at address. The narrow soles enable consistent turf interaction from all conditions.
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Save for the slight MOI boost from tungsten toe screw and tip weights, it’s a purely forged iron, concentrating mass through the impact zone to ensure a pleasing sound and feel with the workability to take on any shot.
Jockey Tip: The lofts match the Blueprint S and i230 irons to allow golfers to create blended sets within PING’s precision iron offerings.
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore
Wedges
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Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Specs
Ping S259 (50/S @ 49, 56/S @ 55), Titleist Vokey SM11 (60T)
Shafts: Nippon Modus 3 Tour 125 Wedge
Lie: 65-65.5˚˚
Length: 35.75″, 35.5″, 35.25″
Swingweight: D8
Like many on the Ping staff, Finau has made a quick and easy transition into the new S259 wedges for his gap and sand wedge, but he remains using a Titleist Vokey T-Grind for his lob wedge, having recently updated to the new Vokey SM11.
“Those middle two wedges in s259, they look a little cleaner,” Oates said. “They capture the ball visually a little bit better with that cleaner transition in the hosel. They feel, if anything, probably a little softer than s159, and they just have the same great performance: low launch, high spin.”
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore
Putter
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Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Putter: Ping Scottsdale Tec Ally Blue Onsett
Loft: 3˚
Lie: 70˚
Length: 35″
Toe Hang: 5˚
Grip: SuperStroke 2.0 Pistol
For most of his career, Finau has stuck with more traditional Anser-style blade shapes, with his preferred head being a wide-body Anser 2D.
But last summer, he started experimenting with mallets and landed on a Ping PLD Milled Ally Blue Onset putter. That switch was short-lived, but it sent Finau down the rabbit hole that eventually led him to try the head shape again at the Farmers’ Insurance Open this year. This time, it was Ping’s prototype Scottsdale Tec platform.
He actually tested two models that week.
“Tony gravitated towards the Ally Blue Onset again and the Ketsch 4, which has a hosel he had used in the past on a blade putter,” Goodwin said. “After going back and forth between the putters, the Ally Blue Onset ultimately matched better to his stroke and delivered the face at impact more consistently. As a result, his start line improved, and he liked the contrast between the white finish of the head and the black sight line, which he found easier to line up with.”
Finau’s T11 at Torrey Pines was his best finish since a T5 at the 2025 Genesis, so clearly he was onto something.
Two weeks later, at Pebble Beach, he led the field in putting, gaining more than eight shots on the greens for the week, the first time in his career.
What makes the switch more interesting is that not only is this the first non-blade to get some staying power in Finau’s bag, it’s also the first putter with a non-milled face.
However, the putters sounded the same to him, so he didn’t mind the softer feel of the insert. Clearly, it’s been working thus far.
Grips: Lamkin UTX Midsize (+4 wraps + 3 RH)
;)
Jack Hirsh/GOLF
As we mentioned before, Finau is one of the few pros using mid-sized grips, but he builds them up even further with an additional four wraps of tape across the hole grip and three more for the right hand.
But that tape job pales in comparison to what gripping his clubs was like 2-3 years ago when he had an aggressive build up of wraps every inch until there were maybe 10 wraps at the bottom end of the grip. This results in a grip that essentially had no taper.
Relief came for Ping’s builders when Finau decided to switch to a midsize grip and use fewer wraps. That led to heavier swing weights since Finau’s previous grip was so heavy that Ping needed to add a ton of weight to the head to keep it from feeling counterbalanced.
A little over a decade ago, Cristiano Ronaldo did not want to contemplate life after football.
Those close to him warned he was living on a treadmill, and that when he retired, he might collapse unless he had built something to sustain him. He listened, and business became a way to continue to be relevant but also to give his family, who had put their own ambitions on hold, projects aligned with their passions.
The first step was symbolic. In 2016, Ronaldo partnered with a hotel group to open a property in Madeira.
Gradually, he began not only investing his wages but enjoying the process, the meetings, the strategy.
He still harboured dreams of making a Hollywood film, but discovered a similar satisfaction in building companies – applying the same discipline he had devoted to his body.
On the pitch, that obsession turned him into the most prolific goalscorer in history after the age of 30. Off it, it was shaping a second career.
According to the 2025 Forbes ranking, Ronaldo generated almost £210m on and off the field. Of that, just over £50m came from his non-football business interests – a very diverse portfolio.
He has increasingly channelled his activity through his investment and lifestyle companies, with holdings in a water brand, healthy-living app and a recovery products company, as well as underwear, fragrances and footwear.
As well as ownership stakes, he has high-profile partnerships with leading brands, has opened gyms across Portugal and Spain, and launched a range of watches.
And the portfolio keeps expanding.
Ronaldo co-founded a hair-transplant clinic group now operating in Spain, Portugal, Oman and Italy. One of its clients was his mother Dolores Aveiro.
What began with that first hotel in Funchal evolved into a joint venture launched in December 2015 and initially valued at more than £65m. There are now properties in Lisbon, Madrid, New York and Marrakech.
In December 2024, at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, Ronaldo said if he ever owned a club, he knew how to fix structural flaws he saw in some of Europe’s giants.
And now he has taken a 25% stake in Almeria, who are owned by Al Khereiji – key to his move to Al-Nassr following his exit from Manchester United.
The treadmill was always going to stop one day, but he now has something to replace it.
The 2026 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches kicks off Thursday with the first round at the Champion Course at PGA National. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the tournament on Thursday, including full Cognizant Classic TV coverage, streaming details and Round 1 tee times.
How to watch Cognizant Classic on Thursday
Last season, Shane Lowry didn’t end his winless drought, but he did perform well on the PGA Tour. He earned two runner-up finishes amid 12 top-25 finishes. One of those top-25s came at last year’s Cognizant Classic, where he finished T11.
In two starts so far this season, Lowry has continued his steady stretch of play with a T8 at the AT&T Pebble Pro-Am and a T24 at last week’s Genesis Invititional.
Now the 2019 Open champion turns his attention back to PGA National’s Champion Course, where he hopes to secure his first Tour victory since winning the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Rory McIlroy.
Lowry’s tournament begins on Thursday at 7:21 a.m. ET.
You can watch the first round of the Cognizant Classic on TV via Golf Channel beginning at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday. PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will provide exclusive streaming coverage starting Thursday at 6:45 a.m. ET, as well as featured group and featured hole coverage all day long.
Below you will find everything you need to know to watch the first round of the 2026 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
With an ESPN+ subscription, you gain access to PGA Tour Live, where you can stream the best PGA Tour events live from wherever you want.
Get ESPN+
How to watch on TV Thursday
Golf Channel will provide first-round TV coverage of the 2026 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches on Thursday from 2-6 p.m. ET.
How to stream online Thursday
You can stream the first round of the 2026 Cognizant Classic via PGA Tour Live on ESPN+, which will offer streaming coverage starting at 6:45 a.m. ET on Thursday in addition to featured group and hole coverage.
2026 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches Round 1 tee times (ET)
Tee No. 1
6:45 a.m. – Taylor Moore, Harry Higgs, Hank Lebioda
6:57 a.m. – Matthieu Pavon, Adam Hadwin, Doug Ghim
7:09 a.m. – Lee Hodges, Matt Wallace, Mac Meissner
7:21 a.m. – Brendon Todd, Kevin Streelman, Vince Whaley
7:33 a.m. – Steven Fisk, Nico Echavarria, Kevin Yu
7:45 a.m. – Davis Thompson, Stephan Jaeger, Webb Simpson
7:57 a.m. – Nick Dunlap, K.H. Lee, Chad Ramey
8:09 a.m. – Adrien Saddier, Paul Waring, Christo Lamprecht
8:21 a.m. – Jimmy Stanger, Neal Shipley, Jeffrey Kang
8:33 a.m. – Austin Smotherman, Jordan Smith, Chandler Blanchet
11:35 a.m. – Mark Hubbard, Eric Cole, Alex Smalley
11:47 a.m. – Gary Woodland, Brandt Snedeker, David Lipsky
11:59 a.m. – Emiliano Grillo, Kevin Roy, Danny Walker
12:11 p.m. – Michael Brennan, Ryan Gerard, Max Homa
12:23 p.m. – Brooks Koepka, Will Zalatoris, Daniel Berger
12:35 p.m. – Tom Kim, Michael Thorbjornsen, Rasmus Højgaard
12:47 p.m. – Patton Kizzire, Andrew Putnam, Kristoffer Reitan
12:59 p.m. – Haotong Li, Marcelo Rozo, Davis Chatfield
1:11 p.m. – Jesper Svensson, Kensei Hirata, Luke Clanton
1:23 p.m. – Isaiah Salinda, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, A.J. Ewart
The Las Vegas Raiders are expected to select Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft. However, the New York Jets are rumored to be interested in trading up and potentially selecting Mendoza in the draft.
The Hoosiers quarterback was asked by sports show host Jake Asman, who said he wished Mendoza was selected by the Jets. Mendoza replied:
Thanks for the submission!
“We’ll see what happens!”
•
NFL fans reacted to Mendoza’s comments on potentially being drafted by the Jets.
Looking to predict NFL playoff Scenarios? Try our NFL Playoff Predictor for real-time simulations and stay ahead of the game!
“Not even the Raiders can screw up this pick.”
“Jesus wouldn’t do that to him. He’s a man of god lol.”
“I wish we would get him. He’s a nice kid. He’s gonna make an awesome quarterback in the NFL.”
“Don’t jinx my Hoosier like that! He deserves better than to be a Jet.”
“He’s just doing that to make you happy. He knows where he’s headed.”
It’s highly unlikely the Raiders will give up the chance to draft the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, but if they do, it will need a considerable offer from the Jets.
Also Read: Fernando Mendoza gets brutally honest on being picked by Jets in 2026 NFL Draft
Raiders coach Klint Kubiak wants to select a “winner” in NFL draft
Fernando Mendoza helped the Hoosiers to a 16-0 record, leading them to their first championship. Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said the team wants “winners” like Mendoza.
“Excited to keep learning about him and it’s not just me, it’s our entire coaching staff,” Kubiak said. “I want all of our coaches to get involved, especially at that position. I want everybody’s input, but obviously he’s been successful. He had a lot of success last year. He won a national championship and that’s what you want. You want a winner.”
While Mendoza helped the Hoosiers to the National Championship, Kubiak is coming off a Super Bowl-winning campaign with the Seattle Seahawks as their offensive coordinator in 2025.
Edited by Chaitanya Prakash
PGA National’s Champion Course, home of the Bear Trap, used to be one of the most fearsome annual tests on the PGA Tour. Not so anymore.
Over the past few years, a key course maintenance decision has taken the bite out of the course. The result? Winning scores at the Cognizant Classic have been skyrocketing.
And some PGA Tour veterans are not happy about it. Billy Horschel took to social media to announce his displeasure and explain who is to blame for the easy conditions at PGA National, while Shane Lowry opened up on the topic during his pre-tournament press conference.
Here’s what you need to know.
Why Cognizant Classic winning scores have skyrocketed
When the Cognizant Classic, then known as the Honda Classic, moved to PGA National’s Champion Course in 2007, it immediately proved a tough challenge for the PGA Tour’s best. Look no further than the winning scores.
Mark Wilson won the inaugural PGA National Honda Classic with a final score of five under. At the 2008 Honda, Ernie Else finished at six under to take home the trophy.
From 2007-2020, only three Honda Classics ended with a winning score in double digits under par. Camilo Villegas hit 13 under in 2010, five strokes better than runner-up Anthony Kim. Rory McIlroy reached 12 under for his 2012 victory, two shots better than co-runner-up Tiger Woods. Rickie Fowler matched McIlroy’s winning score in 2017 with a four-shot margin of victory. All the other winning scores during that stretch were in the single digits under par.
Wave of WDs from Cognizant Classic hints at PGA Tour’s potential future
;)
But as the new decade began, something changed at PGA National. Suddenly, all of the winning scores were double digits under par. Over the past three years, the problem has gotten worse.
Chris Kirk won in a playoff in 2023, having tied Eric Cole through 72 holes with a score of 14 under. In 2024, Austin Eckroat reached 17 under to win the Cognizant. Last year, Joe Highsmith shot a 19-under 265 to capture the win.
So what gives? According to several PGA Tour players, the culprit is a course maintenance decision. While PGA National features mostly Bermuda grass on its surfaces, as many Florida courses do, in recent years, the Bermuda has been overseeded with rye grass in winter.
While the overseeding makes the course look better, it also makes it far easier for players to navigate shots from the rough than if the grass were purely Bermuda. That makes the risk of missing the greens or fairways far less severe.
As a result, players have started going low with ease during the Cognizant Classic.
Billy Horschel puts blame on PGA National for overseeding course
Horschel, an eight-time PGA Tour winner, has plenty of experience playing PGA National on Tour. In his long career, Horschel has made 13 starts at the Cognizant Classic/Honda Classic.
In his first 11 events at PGA National, Horschel’s best score was 7 under in 2017, which earned him a T4. His next best score during that stretch was 2 under.
But in 2024, Horschel cruised to a final score of 12 under. However, unlike with McIlroy in 2012 and Fowler in 2017, who won with the same score, Horschel finished T9, five shots short of the lead.
;)
Why Billy Horschel’s iron change is one you can learn from | Tour Report
On Wednesday, Horschel publicly shared his opinion on the recent changes at PGA National on social media.
In the replies to an X video discussing the Cognizant Classic and PGA National, Horschel responded to a user who called the overseeding of the Champion Course a “disgrace”.
In his response, Horschel laid the blame for the overseeding issue at the feet of the “owners of PGA National.” According to Horschel, the PGA Tour would prefer the course to not be overseeded, but it’s not up to them.
“Unfortunately, not the [PGA] Tour’s fault. Owners of PGA National do it. Tour have tried to state why it shouldn’t be overseeded but end of the day it’s out of their hands,” Horschel wrote.
He continued by arguing that the PGA Tour should fight for “complete control” over host courses in the future.
“1 thing going forward that we need to do is make sure we have complete control of the setup of all Tour courses,” he wrote.
Shane Lowry on PGA National: ‘It was a little bit too easy last year’
After a rash of withdrawals ahead of the tournament, Shane Lowry is arguably the biggest star still in the Cognizant Classic field. As a local resident, Lowry cherishes this event, its host course and the ability to sleep at home and spend time with his family during tournament week.
He explained as much in his press conference on Wednesday at the Cognizant Classic. But he also spoke in some detail about the easier course conditions in recent years.
“I like that the rough is a bit thicker this year. It was a little bit too easy last year, I thought,” Lowry began. “I don’t want to exactly see 59s around here, but yeah, I hope the scoring is a little bit more difficult this year and it plays like it used to.”
Moments before Ryder Cup win, Shane Lowry delivered epic pep talk
;)
Lowry explained that that he when he first moved to Florida, he struggled adapting to playing Bermuda grass, joking, “I wish it was overseeded back then.”
Then a reporter asked Lowry how different the current PGA National setup is from its heyday of single-digit winning scores.
“Yeah, I don’t think it is that. I think it’s like probably — it’s probably going to play easier than that, which I don’t like. I’d prefer to see it — look, I’m a member of a few courses down here, and all Bermuda, and the golf courses this time of year are incredible. The Bermuda golf courses down here are unbelievable,” Lowry said.
Sports
SA vs WI: Proteas do India a favour, sink Windies to keep T20 World Cup semifinal race alive | Cricket News
West Indies’ Sherfane Rutherford walks off the field after his dismissal during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between West Indies and South Africa, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad. (PTI Photo)
South Africa moved closer to a semifinal spot in the T20 World Cup with a commanding nine-wicket win over West Indies in their Super 8 match on Thursday at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, extending their unbeaten run in the tournament.The Proteas combined disciplined bowling with controlled batting to register their sixth straight win, while ending West Indies’ unbeaten streak. The two points also strengthened India’s position in the group, as a South Africa loss would have complicated the hosts’ qualification scenario.
The defeat also impacted the West Indies’ net run rate, which dropped to 1.791 from 5.350.After being asked to bat, West Indies were reduced to 83 for 7 as Kagiso Rabada (2/22) and Lungi Ngidi (3/30) ran through West Indies’ top and middle order. A lower-order partnership between Jason Holder (49 off 31) and Romario Shepherd (52 not out off 37) added 89 runs for the eighth wicket, helping the side recover to 176 for 8.In reply, South Africa chased down the target in 16.1 overs. Captain Aiden Markram remained unbeaten on 82, while Quinton de Kock made 47 and Ryan Rickelton scored 45 not out.The chase was set up in the powerplay itself, where South Africa scored 69 runs in six overs. De Kock and Markram added 95 runs in 7.5 overs, striking 16 boundaries, including six sixes. De Kock hit four sixes and four fours in his 24-ball innings before being caught by Holder at long-on. Markram brought up his fifty with a single off Gudakesh Motie and later shared an unbeaten 82-run stand with Rickelton. He finished the match with a straight boundary off Holder.“We actually bowled pretty well, obviously the powerplay was a big thing for us, to get off nicely. The partnership with Quinny [set things up],” said Markram, who was named Player of the Match.“The second innings was good to bat on, it was slightly tacky early on and the guys bowled pretty well early on.”Earlier, West Indies had started quickly. Shai Hope (16 off 6) hit Keshav Maharaj for two sixes and a four, while Brandon King (21 off 11) attacked Marco Jansen as the side reached 29 in just over two overs.Rabada removed Hope, caught behind while fishing outside off. Shimron Hetmyer (2) was dropped by Corbin Bosch at mid-on but was dismissed three balls later, miscued off Rabada. Ngidi then dismissed King and Roston Chase (2) in the fourth over, leaving West Indies at 44 for 4.Sherfane Rutherford (12) hit Bosch for a six but fell next ball, top-edging to de Kock. Ngidi’s third wicket was Rovman Powell (9), reducing the side to 71 for 6. Matthew Forde (11) later fell to Bosch after hitting a six.Holder and Shepherd then rebuilt. Holder struck 22 runs in one over off Jansen before being run out off the penultimate ball of the innings. Shepherd carried on to ensure a competitive total.“Losing so many wickets in the powerplay cost us. We were 40-50 short. Must commend the guys in the bottom half for giving us a chance, never know things could have changed,” Hope said.“The way we play our cricket, there will be a loss, aim was to get it out early. Next game will be quarter-final.”
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