In team sports, athletes get a built-in support system thanks to teammates going through the same journey as them most of the time. 

In golf, it’s you, the ball and the course – no matter what kind of team you have behind the scenes. And for those elite players, like Michelle Wie West, who has been playing LPGA Tour tournaments since she was 12 years old, it can be tough navigating a professional world at the onset. 

To that end, West teamed up with Ford to launch “Power Her Drive,” a new mentorship platform designed to support LPGA rookies on and off the course. It’s a program built on Wie West’s own experience as a teenager trying her hardest to make an impact on the course, while dealing with everything else that comes with being a professional athlete. 

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CBS Sports reporter Amanda Balionis, former LPGA player Michelle Wie West and Golf Channel reporter Kira Dixon laugh during the Golden Bear Pro-Am prior to the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club on May 28, 2025, in Dublin, Ohio. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“This is probably the easiest yes I’ve had when it comes in terms of sponsorship,” Wie West said in a recent call with FOX Business ahead of “Power Her Drive” debuting at the Ford Championship, which begins in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 26. “This really, deeply aligns with my passion. Now that I’m retired and in my post-retirement career, hosting my tournament, having juniors involved and mentorship was a big part of it as well. I think what Ford is doing is amazing. Since our early conversations, it was very clear it wasn’t just about logos – it was about empowerment.

“Golf is an individual sport, and this is what I tell the juniors all the time: you have to lean into community. You have to lean into your support group.”

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Wie West said she was lucky to have her parents as a strong support system, but since they didn’t expect their daughter to be as successful as she was at an early age, the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open winner admitted, “It was the blind leading the blind a lot of the times.”

So, with women’s sports in general seeing unprecedented growth, Wie West’s passion was one Ford immediately wanted to help out with in their partnership. 

LPGA player Michelle Wie West plays her shot from the 14th tee during the Golden Bear Pro-Am at Muirfield Village Golf Club on May 28, 2025, in Dublin, Ohio. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“I think this all started with the idea that we were very committed to becoming the official vehicle partner for the LPGA Tour. But then we started exploring it more deeply. How can we do this in a very unique way?” Lisa Materazzo, Ford’s global chief marketing officer, said to FOX Business. 

“We don’t want to just sponsor the tournament. It’s very important, so I don’t want to downplay that at all, but we saw an unmet need when we began speaking with the LPGA and an opportunity for deeper connection with the athletes. Really authentically supporting their development, and this to us felt very right for Ford, to demonstrate that we have this unique commitment to the players and the LPGA, and more broadly, this sport and women’s sports in general.”

“Power Her Drive” will begin with a Class of 2026, featuring a bright group of LPGA Tour rookies: Camille Boyd, Briana Chacon, Hailee Cooper, Laney Frye, Melanie Green and Yana Wilson. 

As these rookies look to cement themselves as winners, or even stars, on the LPGA Tour, “Power Her Drive” plans to help them deal with what comes off the course, including brand sponsorships, financial advice and more. 

Michelle Wie hits a tee shot during the first round of the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic at the Ocean Club Golf Course on Jan. 25, 2018, in Paradise Island, Bahamas. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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“The score on the leaderboard is what you see, but there’s so many layers behind that,” Wie West added. “I hope with our partnership, people will kind of see the peeling of the onion and see the support these players are getting. We’re going to go through and talk about personal brand building, talk about leadership skills. Even though it’s an elite individual sport, you’re still a leader of your own team – your caddy, your trainer, etc. I think all of this is going to be so much fun to go through with the rookies.”

Materazzo added: “We are a big business – we’re a 122-year-old big, global brand. We know how to do these things, we know how to operate in a business environment. So, we can help those young golfers build their brands… If we can make other pieces of it an easier lift, that makes us, in theory, proud and very humble to be a part of that journey for them.”

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Americans who are planning for their retirement can get bigger Social Security benefit checks by delaying their application for benefits until after they reach full retirement age.

The monthly benefit payments to Social Security beneficiaries are determined based on their full retirement age (FRA), which varies based on the year a worker was born. 

For workers born in 1960 and after, the FRA is 67, while the FRA is reduced by two months for each year before 1960 until it reaches 66, which is the FRA for those born from 1943 to 1954.

Those who want to continue working beyond their FRA and choose to delay claiming their Social Security benefits can incrementally increase their monthly benefits by continuing to work, with benefits increasing by 8% per year until they reach age 70, when the benefit is maximized.

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Social Security beneficiaries’ monthly checks are based on when they claim benefits. (iStock)

Workers can claim Social Security benefits as early as age 62, though they have their benefit amount reduced. 

For example, a person whose FRA is 67 and claims early when turning 62 would see the monthly benefit reduced 30%, lowering every $1,000 in benefits to $700. It would also affect their spouse’s benefit by 35%, reducing $500 in benefits to $325.

Those who are receiving Social Security benefits and have reached their FRA can choose to suspend their payments temporarily or until they reach age 70, when they will automatically resume. 

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Beneficiaries can boost their Social Security benefits by delaying a claim, with the maximum benefit available at age 70. (iStock)

Benefit amounts resume their annual growth during the period that the beneficiary has suspended benefits, which can allow them to receive larger benefit checks than they received before the pause once benefits are resumed.

While a beneficiary has suspended their benefits, their future monthly benefits grow at a rate of about 8% per year, or 0.666% on a monthly basis.

Married couples should be aware that voluntarily suspending Social Security benefits also suspends spousal benefits, which are up to 50% of the spouse’s benefits unless they’re divorced.

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Social Security beneficiaries may temporarily suspend their benefits, which can allow their monthly benefit to grow after their FRA until age 70. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Beneficiaries who suspended their benefits may request the resumption of their benefits before they turn 70, when they automatically begin again.

Suspending benefits also means that Medicare premiums cannot be deducted from Social Security benefits, which means the beneficiary would be billed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

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Regeneration firm Urban Splash will bring a bring a leisure, entertainment, food, drink and retail space to the site

Planning approval has been given to redevelop the former Cole Brothers department store in Sheffield city centre. The city council has waved through plans for the landmark 1960s building which closed in 2022.

Regeneration specialist Urban Splash was appointed by Sheffield City Council to transform the Grade II listed property, with designs coming from AHMM. Proposals include turning the lower and ground floors into leisure, entertainment, food and drink and retail space, while the upper floors will become flexible workspace.

A rooftop terrace will also accompany a restaurant and bar – accessible from the ground floor via the main lift – through repurposing of the building’s plant room. Urban Splash says the scheme will open up the property’s Barker’s Pool and Cambridge Street frontages to create outdoor dining areas, taking cues street seating on Division Street.

Sian Stanhope, development manager at Urban Splash said: “We are thrilled with this decision, which paves the way for bringing this much-loved building back into use for the people of Sheffield. We understand the significance of Cole Brothers, and at the heart of our proposal is a commitment to re-establishing it as a place for the city.

“Over the past year we have already introduced a range of successful meanwhile uses, hosting organisations and events including BBC Sounds, the Crossed Wires Festival, Jarvis Cocker and the FORM careers fair. Planning approval allows us to evolve that momentum into something permanent – creating new places to eat, shop and work, with lively ground floor uses and flexible workspace above to support Sheffield’s growing business community.”

Urban Splash says it is now speaking with businesses looking for space at the building.

Richard Lace, the company’s head of commercial lettings, added: “Planning approval means we can move forward with discussions with occupiers, engaging with likeminded organisations who want to be a part of bringing Cole Brothers back to life.”

Coun Ben Miskell, chair of Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “This is an important milestone in the ongoing regeneration of Sheffield city centre. The former Cole Brothers building holds a special place in the hearts of many residents, and we welcome plans that will sensitively restore and reinvigorate it for a new generation.”

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A joint amicus filing, a filing by parties with a strong interest in a case, also came from several groups, including the Chamber of Progress. The tech advocacy group, funded by and representing Google, Apple, Amazon, Nvidia and many other tech companies, said they shared concerns over the government punishing Anthropic for public speech.

We all know that crude oil and gasoline prices have jumped up as a result of the Iran war. And to me, it’s a small price to pay for a small bump up in energy costs in order to defeat the barbaric terrorist regime in Iran, and literally change the course of history. Yet economists are still trying to figure out what, if any, impact there will be on inflation and output.

I’ve seen recession scenarios, inflation scenarios, stagflation, you name it, it’s all out there. And I’ve seen lots of comparisons with the oil shock of the 1970s and the early 1990s. Maybe even the Russia shock of 2022. Let me counsel caution, though, in relying on these past episodes to forecast the future. For one thing, this oil shock looks to be very brief. To quote President Trump “the war will be over very soon, because there’s practically nothing left to target.”

When it’s all said and done, this war might last only four to five weeks, not enough duration to really have any significant impact on the economy. You might see a whiff of energy inflation in the March CPI number, but people are going to look through it. It won’t last. Actually, the exchange value of the dollar has gone up, not down. And unlike the 1970s, there’s no supply shock, because most of our oil is now produced in America and Canada. In fact, the most important thing to remember is how much more oil we produce today than we did way back then. “Drill, baby, drill.” Pure genius from Mr. Trump.

Oil production in the 1970s remained under 10 million barrels a day. Today it’s nearly 14 million. And we don’t have wage and price controls today, or long lines at the pump, because of Trumpian deregulation. So we don’t actually have supply shortages today, we don’t really need Middle Eastern oil, although we are subjected to world oil prices. Gasoline is up about 50 cents a gallon. Big deal. Yes, temporarily that will slightly cut into middle-class wallets and pocketbooks, but it’s also important to remember that as oil producers, the higher price actually benefits parts of the population. It’s not all one-sided lost consumer disposable income anymore.

Now here’s another point, interest rates have not changed significantly. In prior oil shocks, it seemed like rising inflation drove up interest rates, which in turn drove down the economy. The 10-year treasury has hovered just around 4 percent, slightly above. And the 30-year mortgage has stayed around 6 percent. So, we haven’t had a real oil supply shock. We haven’t had a real interest rate shock. And it is likely that energy prices will fall below prewar levels.

Therefore, Mr. Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill with tax cuts, deregulation, and “drill, baby, drill,” will continue to provide tailwinds for the economy once this war is over. And for investors, I say look through the temporary disruption.

Mr. Trump’s Operation Epic Fury is changing the course of the Middle East and the rest of the world toward freedom. And freedom in the Middle East and everywhere else will bring greater prosperity. So for investors, look through the war and see the enormous prosperity that lies on the other side.