Liverpool head coach Arne Slot praised the commitment of Ibrahima Konate after the centre-back cut short his compassionate leave to help relieve their defensive issues.
The France international’s father died last week and he was not due to return until Friday but with Joe Gomez still injured and also no fit recognised right-back, the 26-year-old called to say he would be back sooner than planned and marked his return to the team with the last goal in a 4-1 win over Newcastle.
He broke down in tears after scoring his first league goal at Anfield but was immediately surrounded by his team-mates, including goalkeeper Alisson Becker – who lost his own father almost five years ago – who sprinted 100 yards to join in.
“He had a very difficult two weeks and probably still has a difficult time. We spoke at the end of last week when he said he was planning to be back for the end of this week and it would have meant he could not play this game,” said Slot.
“But when he saw the problems we had defensively he called me early this week and said: ‘I want to be back to help the team against Newcastle’.
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“He came back on Wednesday and trained twice with us. Today, not only he scored a goal but he played a great game and the fans were really appreciative throughout the whole game but definitely at the end when he scored.
“His team-mates were just as appreciative when he came in the dressing room after the final whistle. When he came in, everyone was cheering.
“It is very nice for him to score a goal when he has had such a difficult time and I think this team has shown we are always there for each other in difficult circumstances – that’s what they were for him in the last few days.”
Konate’s goal came after Hugo Ekitike scored twice ahead of Florian Wirtz’s sixth in 10 matches as Liverpool came from behind to win a Premier League match for the first time since April.
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“Everyone should talk about his goals or his actions but for me as a manager I see throughout the last six or seven months a lot of improvement off the ball, ability to keep on going off the ball,” said Slot on Ekitike.
Newcastle’s defeat meant they have not won at Anfield in 32 years.
“We didn’t create a host of chances but we were the better team and deservedly scored,” said manager Eddie Howe, who was not expecting any signings before the close of the transfer window with only Jamaal Lascelles a possible departure.
“Imploded? I don’t know if that is the right word but we could have defended better. You have got to give Ekitike a lot of credit for the second.”
Finn Balor will be in action against Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42. The latter has admitted that he also has demons of his own that he plans on introducing.
The feud between Mysterio and Balor officially began after the former Universal Champion was booted out of The Judgment Day. Mysterio blamed Balor after he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Penta.
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Appearing at the WrestleMania 42 Kickoff Show, Mysterio admitted that he was initially cautious of The Demon, but then got reminded of his own demons. He even stated that Balor has never gone face-to-face with his former stablemate’s demon.
“I was a bit cautious of the Demon… then I remembered who I am. I’m Dirty Dom. Finn Balor has never gone face-to-face with my Demon. I’ve got a few demons of my own.” Mysterio said.
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Finn Balor thinks that WrestleMania 42 will be very painful for Dominik Mysterio
Finn Balor will be out for revenge against Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42. The veteran has warned “Dirty” Dom and admitted that he shouldn’t have trusted Mysterio in the first place.
Speaking on ESPN, Balor said that he couldn’t describe in words regarding The Demon’s return to WWE, but he will make sure that WrestleMania 42 turns out to be “very painful” for Mysterio. Balor said:
“It is not something that I can really describe in words. It is a feeling. It is an emotion. It is an energy. And it is something that I can only tap into very occasionally. It can be very draining. But trust me, it is going to be very painful for Dominik Mysterio,”
Mysterio is the reigning AAA Mega Champion and still has one title around his waist. For a very long time, he was a double champion before dropping the Intercontinental Championship to Penta.
Last year at WrestleMania 41, Mysterio won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time by winning a Fatal Four-Way Match, also involving Balor.
VANCOUVER – Authority, like water, flows downward.
In the history of the National Hockey League, a general manager has never fired a president.
Sometimes an owner may fire both. But since Luigi Aquilini’s family, which owns the Vancouver Canucks, still trusts Jim Rutherford to preside over the entirety of hockey operations, there was an inevitability to Thursday’s dismissal of general manager Patrik Allvin after one of the worst National Hockey League seasons in franchise history.
Widely varying insider reports in recent weeks had the Canucks poised to fire everybody — or nobody. But as the team burned to the ground in mid-winter, the most likely scenario was always that Rutherford, the Hockey Hall-of-Famer, would stay, and Allvin, his hand-picked, first-time GM, would go.
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Head coach Adam Foote? Well, Rutherford said during his enthralling press conference Friday that the next general manager will eventually decide on the coaching staff — and almost everything else in hockey-ops.
Assistant general manager Ryan Johnson, a holdover from previous GM Jim Benning’s regime who impressed Rutherford long before Johnson built the Canucks’ minor-league team into a Calder Cup champion, is the frontrunner to replace Allvin.
As with the probable dismissal of Allvin, the potential promotion of Johnson has been whispered about for months.
Rutherford told reporters the Canucks did not refuse the Nashville Predators’ permission to interview Johnson for their own vacant GM job. Because they never asked.
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“Somebody made that story up,” he said.
And no, the Canucks won’t grant permission for Johnson to talk to other teams until Rutherford concludes his own GM search.
In the meantime, Rutherford told Allvin, highly respected around the NHL for his scouting and player-development chops, that he is welcome to stay with the Canucks in a lesser capacity.
“I’ll give him a little time to make that decision,” Rutherford said. “It’s very emotional now.”
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Other than the marketing impossibility of bringing back everyone after a 58-point season in which the Canucks won nine of 41 home games for their season-ticket holders, there wasn’t any one reason to fire Allvin.
Even if you aggregated the reasons, listing all of management’s biggest errors over the last four years, it would still be difficult to separate Allvin from Rutherford for blame.
This reality was not lost on Rutherford Friday.
“I think that’s a fair comment,” Rutherford said. “In my position, I do have to make some decisions, but he was in charge of most of the things in hockey, making the trades and deciding who’s getting called up and down, and working with the coach and all those things. (But) I take full responsibility for the season. I head up the hockey department, but I don’t make decisions for other people. And Patrik had the opportunity to make his own decisions.”
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Asked near the end of his 33-minute press conference to grade himself, Rutherford said: “I’m not going to put a letter on it. I’m telling you that I’m disappointed. And, you know, I’m disappointed that I couldn’t have done a better job in some areas and made this work a little bit quicker. But I will say we’ve dealt with some situations over the last couple of years that I did not expect to deal with when I came here, and we’ve worked our way through it. They’re behind us now, and I don’t foresee any of those big issues to deal with going forward. So the team should be OK.”
Interestingly, the 77-year-old president also made it clear he will be less involved in hockey decisions with the next GM. Rutherford mentored and promoted Allvin, 51, when he was managing the Pittsburgh Penguins to a pair of Stanley Cups a decade ago.
And four years ago, shortly after Canucks managing owner Francesco Aquilini showed up on Rutherford’s doorstep in Raleigh, N.C., and convinced him to come out of “retirement,” Rutherford poached Allvin from the Penguins and made him the first Swedish general manager in the NHL.
“He’s a friend of mine,” Rutherford said. “I think Patrik’s a great hockey guy, but we felt it was time to make a change and give somebody else the opportunity to sit in that chair.
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“Quite frankly, I had a lot of sleepless nights, and I thought a lot about this in many different ways. It wasn’t easy, and it took me a long time to get to this point.”
As for the working dynamics Rutherford envisions with his next GM, he said: “I’m available for somebody, to anybody, in the organization to ask me questions, ask me for help. But I want the new GM to make all hockey decisions. Now, he may not make decisions about the practice rink because nobody wants to make that decision… or where training camp is or some of the things that a president would do. But as for hockey… he will make those decisions.”
Candid and unvarnished as always, Rutherford dropped a bunch of news grenades during his press conference.
• On $92.8-million centre Elias Pettersson, who just had his second straight 15-goal season: “It’s the same as anything people do in life; preparation is the key to success. And I don’t believe he’s put enough preparation in at this point to be the player he needs to be. But he’s young enough, he’s capable of doing it, and if he does the things he’s told to do, he has a chance to succeed here. But if he doesn’t, you know, the GM is going to have to make a decision.”
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• Discussing the urgency to trade Quinn Hughes in December, which turned the organization sharply towards a rebuild, Rutherford effectively fed the former captain into a wood-chipper: “Some people think Quinn left here because the team wasn’t any good; he was leaving anyways, OK? The best example I can give you is Matthew Tkachuk. He was in Calgary. They had a good team. He wanted to go back to the U.S. and he went. And this is not going to be the last guy, Quinn Hughes, that decides he’s going to leave. And I think I’m close to him; I really like him. I respect what he did in Vancouver. He put on a good show for a lot of years. But guys work towards free agency, and we should respect the fact that he had that option.”
• Rutherford reiterated how poor the Canucks’ dressing-room culture had been, and praised the new one forming since the team came together after the March 6 trade deadline: “It was really bad. The chemistry and the culture in the Canucks dressing room over the last five weeks is the best it’s been since I’ve been here. This team has a chance to move forward, and let every player enjoy coming to the rink and not have to worry about somebody barking at them in practice or picking on them in the room or whatnot. This group is tightly knit. (There are) good veterans left here, good mentors, very good young character players, we’ve got a number of good young players coming. So this team is going in the right direction.”
Rutherford expressed gratitude to Canucks fans, who seem to have embraced the early stages of the rebuild and kept Rogers Arena full most nights despite the 25-win season.
He said there will be “no shortcuts” on the rebuild.
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Someone else will have to take over the transition Allvin began, and Rutherford may not be around when it is finished.
“Despite the way things look right now… I believe this organization’s in a very good place to move forward,” Rutherford said. “I feel that I haven’t done as good a job as I would have liked to, and I would have wished we were in a stronger place by now. But look, where I’m at in my life now, I can do whatever I want and be very comfortable. And I like this franchise a lot, and I want to do what’s right for them. So if I feel comfortable that when we have a good, strong person in place and maybe even potentially two people over time, I would feel comfortable making a decision to leave.”
It is the Canucks first rebuild this century, coming 15 years after the team’s last run to a Stanley Cup Final.
Even before news of Allvin’s firing came overnight from a report in Sweden, Friday was scheduled for player exits. There were six formal press conferences involving waves of Canuck players, many thousands of words spoken.
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“I think it’s really important to learn from this year,” veteran goalie Kevin Lankinen said. “We can’t just wrap this thing and move on. We have to sit down and learn — older guys, younger guys, doesn’t matter — because these are the kind of experiences that if you turn them the right way, you can bring fuel for not just next year but for your whole career. Because this is obviously something that we don’t want to go through again.
“You know, the best time to start a change was probably 15 years ago. But the next best time is right now.”
The main event for tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown has been revealed. This week’s edition of the blue brand will air live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is the final show before WrestleMania 42.
According to a new report from Ringside News, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will headline tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown. Carmelo Hayes won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal last year. Hayes held the United States Championship for several months but recently dropped it and is not scheduled to compete at WrestleMania 42.
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Who will be the last one standing when The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal returns TONIGHT on #SmackDown?! 📍: Las Vegas 🎟️: 📺: 8 ET/7 CT on @USANetwork
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Sami Zayn captured the United States Championship from Carmelo Hayes on the March 27 edition of SmackDown and successfully defended the title against the veteran two weeks ago on the blue brand in their rematch. Zayn will be putting the title on the line against Trick Williams at The Show of Shows this weekend.
Cody Rhodes is set to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42. The American Nightmare will be delivering a message later tonight on SmackDown ahead of their title match.
Tiffany Stratton and Jordynne Grace are also scheduled to compete tonight to determine the number one contender for Giulia’s Women’s United States Championship. Stratton was originally supposed to battle Giulia for the title on SmackDown, but the match was changed ahead of tonight’s show.
WWE legend praises Pat McAfee and claims he has real heat
Wrestling veteran JBL recently suggested that Pat McAfee had real heat with WWE fans after he was inserted into the storyline with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.
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Speaking on the Something to Wrestle With podcast, JBL complimented the former NFL punter and stated that fans were talking about him, which meant he had real heat.
“It just blows me away when a guy gets heat like this, people go, ‘Oh, no, no, no. It’s go away heat.’ No, it’s not. You’re talking about it. If it was go away heat, you would not be talking about it because you would not like it. You would not even mention it. It’s real heat. And people look out there, they want to have heels to my fans. They want to have heels, but they want to be in on it,” he said.
You can check out JBL’s comments in the video below:
It will be interesting to see which WWE star wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal tonight on SmackDown.
Sanjiv Goenka, the founder of the RPSG Group, has opened up about his ventures in cricket and football during an exclusive chat with NDTV’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Rahul Kanwal, in ‘Walk The Talk’. Goenka currently owns the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also has a majority stake (80%) in the historic football club Mohun Bagan Super Giant, which competes in the Indian Super League (ISL). Speaking to NDTV, Goenka reflected on the contrasting performances of the two teams and how the cricket franchise is yet to ‘crack the code,’ unlike the football club.
“In football, we know what needs to be done, but in cricket, we are still not quite there yet,” said the 65-year-old.
The LSG owner explained that while they addressed the loopholes in the bowling department last season and retained their batting core, the batters have struggled to find their rhythm in the ongoing campaign.
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He also quipped that if he knew the exact formula for success in cricket, he would have implemented it long ago.
“If I knew it, why would I not do it?” he added.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant enjoyed a dream 2024/25 season in the ISL, becoming only the second team to complete a Cup and Shield double.
They had also won the Shield the previous year, though they missed out on the chance to win the Cup final, losing 3-1 to Mumbai City FC.
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LSG, on the other hand, made its entry into the IPL in 2022 after the BCCI expanded the tournament from eight to 10 teams.
While the Lucknow-based franchise qualified for the playoffs in its first two seasons, the past two campaigns have seen the side finish seventh both times.
As far as the current campaign is concerned, LSG incidentally sits seventh with two wins from five matches.
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Delhi vs Mumbai IPL 2026: Fans Flood Arun Jaitley Stadium for High-Voltage Clash
PXG staffer Auston Kim, who averages 290 yards per drive, is one of the LPGA’s longest hitters. And her power dictates a special fit. Recently, I had a chance to get some range time with Kim and PXG LPGA tour manager Scotty Kim and got a look into their process when it comes to getting clubs in her bag.
Here’s what I learned.
The bottom of the bag
Auston Kim started the bag with a 58-degree lob wedge, choosing to play PXG’s 3x Forged Sugar Daddy III wedges and opting for a lower bounce C-Grind offering in the lobber. She said she’s never used a 60-degree wedge because she prefers to chip with the 58 degree. At one point, she played just 52- and 56-degree wedges until a round with Hollis Stacey at a junior tournament.
“She looked at my wedges,” Kim said, “and said, ‘What are you doing?’ So she told me to go 50, 54, 58 and I’ve just stuck with it.” Wise advice.
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She continued the wedge set with a 54- and 50-degree S-Grind, also in the Sugar Daddy III wedges. I thought it was interesting that she chose the lower-bounce C-grind in the lobber, but Scotty Kim gave some insight.
“You know I think for her, with the shots that Auston hits around the green, the C-Grind provides some versatility for her,” he said. “Being able to open it up and still have the right bounce to get through the turf and not get stuck.”
Irons
Auston Kim had the PXG 0317ST irons, which are easily some of the nicest irons that PXG has ever made. It’s an iron that has stood the test of time over the years, and hasn’t been replaced yet by PXG, but we hear there may be something new coming soon. The 0317ST heads are what I would consider a “player’s blade.” It’s a narrow-sole option that’s meant to launch a little bit lower and spin a bit more while providing optimal control for the player.
Auston Kim hits her PXG 0317ST 9-iron during play at Shadow Creek.
David Becker/Getty Images
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Since Kim is a player who hits a cut shot and works the ball with plenty of spin, something like the ST provides her the feel, feedback and launch that she wants to feel in control of the ball. “I’m a stock cutter — I have to see the ball work left to right.” she said. She also talked about a recent iron switch that happened purely because Accra no longer makes her old Accra Tour 90 shafts. She’s now in the Accra TZi 95 iron shafts — it’s a fantastic graphite offering for stronger players looking for more of a ProjectX type of feel.
Long game
Kim really shines once you put some metal woods in her hands, and it starts with the hybrid, the hero of our story here. PXG has always made a really good hybrid. Even through a couple years of some iffy metal woods, the hybrids were always a good standout in the lineup. Kim, however, isn’t exactly the normal hybrid candidate. Hybrids are extremely popular on the LPGA, but a lot of that comes out of a need for speed and launch, not something that Kim concerns herself with. For her, it’s more about confidence.
“Personally, I think that I struggle with hitting the ball high sometimes,” she said. “I know I can get it up there, but the 4-iron just doesn’t look good to me. I’ve tried it a bunch before and I just — I believe that a hybrid has more versatility. I just like the look of this better.”
Even as a high-speed player with plenty of ball-striking prowess, the versatility of a hybrid isn’t lost on Auston’s game.
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We had Kim hit a couple fun shots with her PXG Lightning 4-hybrid, and she hit the nail on the head when she talked about how versatile the club is. Hitting it through all windows is stress-free for Kim, and it gives her the confidence behind the ball that she needs to perform on course. With ball speeds reaching 143 mph, she gets plenty of distance out of the club as well. With her stock shot getting to about 80 feet in the air, I challenged her to hit the ball up to 100 feet and then hit it as low as possible. She hit one to 100.9 feet in the air and hit a low stinger to 21.4 feet. Versatility? Check.
She then followed up the Lightning 4-hybrid with a Lightning Tour 5W and Lighting Tour 3W before jumping to her Lighting Tour driver.
Auston Kim and Scotty Kim worked together last fall when the new Lightning product came out and ended up fitting her into a Lightning Tour 9-degree Driver in the PXG FLAT setting with a Fujikura Ventus Velocore+ Black 5-S. Auston Kim works with plenty of spin, so using their Lightning Tour model helps to control her misses a bit better and makes sure that she’s not over-spinning her stock shot. The Ventus Velocore+ Black shaft helps keep up with her aggressive transition and helps stabilize the head through impact. It’s a setup she has a lot of trust in and has plenty of speed. Ranked fourth in driving distance on the LPGA doesn’t come easy, but clearly Scotty Kim has helped her build up a workhorse here.
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Auston Kim has got PLENTY of power.
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“I already liked Black Ops a lot, and when I first tried the Lightning Tour that was — I mean I saw an immediate jump in ball speed and carry so it was a no-brainer,” Auston Kim said.
Mercedes driver George Russell has claimed that Max Verstappen was not really complaining about F1 cars when he was winning with Red Bull in 2022, as he addressed the possibility of the Dutch driver leaving the sport. The 2026 cars have caused a lot of controversy as the new style of racing has its critics.
The new power units introduced in 2026 with a 50:50 split have led to adverse criticism from one side of the fan group, while the other has maintained a conciliatory tone. The new power unit means that drivers are being forced to drive well within themselves in the high-speed sections and are under-driving their respective cars.
This has led to adverse criticism from drivers, with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Fernando Alonso leading the charge. The other side of the coin has seen George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and Kimi Antonelli come out in defence of these cars, with claims that these cars end up inducing more wheel-to-wheel action.
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While that is true, Max Verstappen has emerged as the biggest critic of these cars, as the driver’s plight has been made worse by the fact that Red Bull is also struggling at the same time. As this continues, George Russell has weighed in on the matter and given his opinion.
Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, the Mercedes driver pointed out that Max Verstappen was as vocal when it came to the 2022 cars, even though those cars were also quite stiff on the drivers’ backs and necks.
Russell also pointed out that Verstappen was at a different stage in his career compared to many other drivers, as he had already achieved four titles and would hence want to do stuff that is more fun. He said,
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“Formula 1 is bigger than any driver. So, you know, you wouldn’t want to lose Max because I think we all enjoy racing against Max. And it’s just part and parcel of Formula 1. I didn’t enjoy driving the 22 car when it was porpoising up and down, killing everybody’s backs. The car was big, it was heavy, the high speed corners, it wasn’t very pleasant to drive around. But he didn’t have the same complaint because he was winning.”
He added,
“Now, the complaints that he has currently are different to the complaints of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren because we’re at the front end of the grid. And this is only natural, and you do understand and recognise the frustration but he’s achieved what most drivers dream of which is winning a championship. He’s got 4 of them.”
George Russell will understand if Max Verstappen leaves the sport in 2026
Talking about Max Verstappen, George Russell felt that the Dutch driver had already broken most records in F1. He didn’t strike as someone who was pursuing records in his career, and that has never been his aim.
Russell compared where he was in his career and where Max Verstappen was in his career at that point and felt that he could understand if the Red Bull driver decided that it was time to leave the sport at the end of 2026. He said,
“And at the end of the day, I guess you get to a point in life that you want- there’s not really much more for him to achieve in Formula 1. You know, he’s ticked all the boxes, maybe he can go after the records, but knowing him as I do and knowing drivers who have won or achieved similar things; at one point, you want to do what puts a smile on your face. And if driving the Nordschleife- I can totally understand why driving the Nordschleife puts a smile on his face.”
He added,
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“But my goal now is to become a Formula 1 world champion. If I have 4 of them under my belt, I’d probably be doing the same. So, you know, he’s in a very different stage of his career. And yeah, I think you’d understand if he stayed and you’d understand if he weren’t.”
Max Verstappen does have an exit clause in his Red Bull contract in 2026, and if he does appear not to be in the right frame to continue racing, then he might end up taking a sabbatical or retiring from the sport.
“And I’ve never been this scared in my life,” he said, “to go out and play.”
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Morikawa’s post-round comments on Thursday sound frightful. And yet, Morikawa is hanging around at the RBC Heritage event, a week after hanging around at the Masters, and about a month after he was forced to withdraw from the Players Championship. The latter looked alarming. Morikawa had taken a practice swing on his second hole at TPC Sawgrass, grabbed his lower back and was done. Because of the injury, he missed three weeks.
At Augusta National, though, he played 11-under golf over his final three rounds and tied for seventh. And at Harbour Town Golf Links, he’s kept things going. Thursday, he shot a four-under 67, Friday a 68, and he’ll be in the mix for the weekend. Of course, backs are fickle, and he’s being cautious. After his first round, he told reporters that he was swinging at about 50 percent.
“The body is probably slightly better than that,” he said. “It’s hard to trust the body right now. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling. I had never experienced anything like it until about a month ago.
“There’s just no trust, and that’s the hardest thing, to say go fire at the shot when you’re trying to play in a tournament because essentially for me I’m trying to last throughout the entire week.”
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The concern is what he can handle. For the past three years, he’s battled injuries to his back, but troubles then started in the gym, never on the golf course.
But a few weeks ago, he said he needed to play in the Masters and that he’d find a way to protect his back “a little bit more.”
“There was a point where it was like, OK, let’s stop pushing to see how far we can get,” Morikawa said, “and let’s see what I can just work with.”
The Masters, he said, was a mini-win.
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“I said it last week: It was one of the best tournaments I could have asked for,” Morikawa said. “Grinded it out, obviously got on some nice runs Saturday and Sunday at the end of the rounds.
“But yeah, this week hopefully we can put together rounds like this and see where we stack up come Sunday.”
On Thursday, he played bogey free. Friday, he played four-under golf over his final nine holes. He said he’s “dinking it around, slapping it.” He said he thought about not playing, but Harbour Town “is one of the flat test courses out here.”
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A question, though, is what the weeks ahead will look like. The Masters started a six-week stretch that features three signature events and two majors, and the hope, he said, was to play everything. But time at home might be needed. There, he can experiment.
“I feel like I’m swinging a little bit better in the motion, at least, but I wouldn’t say I’m putting more effort into it because, like I said, I need to be at home to say, OK, let’s turn up the gears.” Morikawa said.
“If I do feel a little uncomfortable, at least I’m home, I’m not trying to play a tournament where I essentially need to make it 72 holes.”
Thankfully for him, only 36 remain at the RBC.
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Winning and a $3.6 million first-place check wouldn’t hurt, either.
“I want to be very healthy,” Morikawa said. “I don’t want to be limping around and being scared of taking a golf ball out of a hole or teeing it up, and unfortunately that’s just where I’m at right now.
“I need to be comfortable in these uncomfortable situations, and these last two weeks are helping me slowly get over it.”
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell looks toward the scoreboard during second-half action at Soldier Field, Oct 15, 2023, in Chicago. The sideline moment captured O’Connell assessing game flow as Minnesota navigated in-game adjustments against the Bears, with late decisions shaping the tempo and outcome during a tense divisional road matchup. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
Quarterback is the most important position in the sport. It’s also one of the most important positions in collective sports. We’re also tired of hearing that. Every person who watches football for more than 3 games will hear that at least 100 times. And this is also a position that the Vikings just can’t get right. Which, well, we also know.
The Vikings are still searching for the true heir to Fran Tarkenton. Countless head coaches and general managers have tried, and in multiple avenues. Trade for one, sign one in free agency, draft one early, take a flyer on one later in the Draft. Safe to say neither has panned out.
Some have produced great seasons, like Randall Cunningham, Brett Favre, and Sam Darnold. Others brought stability to the position for some time, like Daunte Culpepper and Kirk Cousins. But none were able to take us to the promised land.
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History Shows the Cost of Waiting on Quarterback Calls
Since the 2011 CBA between the NFL and NFLPA, having a good quarterback in a rookie contract has been the meta. QBs have always dominated early draft picks, but that dominance has skyrocketed in the last 15 years. In this period, the Vikings have used three first-round picks on quarterbacks.
Christian Ponder was almost an instant bust. Teddy Bridgewater started well, but a nasty knee injury derailed his career. And J.J. McCarthy lives somewhere in between.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) is pictured during a Dec 10, 2015 road game versus the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The primetime matchup was tightly contested before Arizona secured a narrow 23-20 victory late, handing Minnesota a difficult defeat. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images.
Like 99% of young quarterbacks, he is inconsistent. His lows were very low, but he also had some darn great moments. The bigger problem is that we don’t know enough. Injuries are a part of this, as they should be, but he does not have an injury problem.
And I know it’s weird to say that about a player with just 10 starts in two years. However, injuries are also very random, and neither one of his is connected in any form. His torn meniscus had nothing to do with someone falling on his ankle and spraining it. And neither caused him to hit his hand on someone’s helmet during a throw.
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The plan in 2024 was clear. They signed Sam Darnold, whom they saw as a capable starter, while developing McCarthy behind the scenes. A torn meniscus meant McCarthy couldn’t take advantage of that “redshirt” season.
Darnold reviving his career added a lot of fuel to the discussion. For 2025, they wanted someone to compete with McCarthy, but missed on the two QBs they wanted. Sam Darnold chose the stability of a longer contract with the Seattle Seahawks, while Daniel Jones saw in Indianapolis a QB battle he would have a better chance at.
With a very underwhelming season by McCarthy (and most of the team, to be fair), the Vikings once again looked to add competition. But this time, the former Michigan won’t be the presumed starter.
Kyler Murray didn’t have the career the Cardinals hoped for when they selected him 1st overall in 2019, but he’s a talented QB who is only 28 years old. He wouldn’t sign if he weren’t going to be the starter. This means the Vikings will have to decide on McCarthy with little evidence.
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Dec 22, 2019; Seattle, Washington, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) passes the ball against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half at CenturyLink Field. Arizona defeated Seattle 27-13. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
To me, there are three ways this season can go. Starting with the two extremes, Murray can have a phenomenal season. I’m talking MVP candidate, deep playoff run, phenomenal. In this instance, giving him a long-term contract becomes a no-brainer, and McCarthy is on the trade block. Or he can struggle mightily, opening up the doors for McCarthy to start again.
Although I’d obviously prefer the first scenario, both at least tell you something. Either you have Murray long-term, or McCarthy becomes the starter, and you have more games to watch his growth (or lack thereof).
The worst possible scenario is Murray starting and having an “okay” season. He won’t be good enough to lead the team somewhere or justify a new contract, and also won’t be bad enough for O’Connell to consider a mid-season change.
The new GM would have to decide on McCarthy’s fifth-year option without even seeing him play. The only evidence would be him practicing with backups during the season and KOC’s opinion on his mechanics and development.
And that’s how you delay a decision. A very important one, by the way. I’m not saying the Vikings shouldn’t have signed Murray. Quite the opposite, actually. For the league minimum, not signing him would almost be malpractice. But it doesn’t change the fact that, unless we see an extreme scenario, the 2027 offseason will have the same discussion.
Manny Pacquiao claims to have received a definitive response from Floyd Mayweather, who recently claimed their upcoming rematch is an exhibition.
Their second encounter is set to take place at The Sphere, Las Vegas, on September 19, with the original announcement stating it would be a professional bout.
As such, fans were all under the impression that Mayweather would be putting his 50-0 record on the line, only for the American to swiftly lower everybody’s expectations.
As it happens, Mayweather already had two non-competitive affairs scheduled with Mike Tyson and Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis, though an official announcement regarding these exhibitions is yet to emerge.
In any case, Pacquiao fully expects to face his old rival later this year, reportedly telling journalist Lance Pugmire that “the fight is on”.
Speaking with ProBox TV, Pugmire recalled his conversation with the Filipino and reported his understanding that Mayweather has agreed to a professional contest.
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“Pacquiao reached out to me [on Tuesday] – we talked on WhatsApp, actually – and he said: ‘The fight is on. Floyd has come to the table; everything’s fine. We’re good to go’.
“We know that Floyd always wants things on his terms, so he’s going to ‘formally’ announce it whenever he’s ready to.
“But, according to Pacquiao, they are happy with where they’re at right now with this deal, and having the confirmation from Floyd that the fight is going to be a real fight.”
More recently, ‘Money’ has been involved in a series of exhibitions while Pacquiao ended a near four-year layoff last July, holding then-WBC world welterweight champion Mario Barrios to a controversial draw.
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