On Sunday afternoon, Texas’ and Nebraska’s women’s volleyball teams will face each in the regular season for the first time in a decade. There wasn’t this kind of gap between matches before, however: the Longhorns and Huskers have an intense rivalry spanning decades, tied in part to the creation of the Big 12. At the Players Era Volleyball Showcase in Las Vegas on Aug. 30, the two will jump right into the new season by renewing that rivalry.

Nebraska and Texas had their first meeting back in 1981, less than 10 years after each program had begun, and just like on Sunday, it was hosted in neutral territory. The two played a pair of matches in the Oral Roberts Invitational on Oct. 17, with Texas winning both: the Longhorns would eventually be crowned the 1981 champions in the final season playing under the Associate for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women banner (AIAW), while the Huskers’ program was already part of the NCAA at this point; 1981 would mark the lone campaign that the team wasn’t invited to the 20-team NCAA Division I tournament at the end of the regular season, and this despite its fourth-straight unbeaten season in Big 8 conference play.

Senior Bergen Reilly, Nebraska’s star setter, is on the 2026 preseason watch list for AVCA’s Player of the Year honors. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

In the 1982 Oklahoma Invitational, Nebraska would collect its first win against Texas, 3-1, but that would be the last victory for the Huskers against the Longhorns until Nov. 5, 1988 — both teams were already powerhouses by then, with Nebraska losing in the national championship in 1986 to Pacific, and Texas winning its second title later in ‘88. Nebraska would once again lose the national championship game in 1989, this time to Long Beach State — it took until 1995 for that to change… and against Texas.

That squad, led by First-Team All-American and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Co-Player of the Year Allison Weston, was playing for more than just a championship in the moment. It was also playing for bragging rights within a soon-to-be-formed conference. For the 1995 championship, Nebraska was representing the Big 8, and Texas the Southwest Conference, but that was a temporary arrangement: Texas was one of four schools that had committed, back in Feb. 1994, to join the Big 8 and make it the Big 12 in 1996. Nebraska and Texas, two mainstays of women’s volleyball in the midwest, two of the teams that had shown the sport could thrive outside of the West Coast, would now be in the same conference vying for supremacy.

Nebraska won 31 straight matches to end the season: the Huskers won the opening game, lost the second to Stanford, and then didn’t taste failure again. Texas was the No. 2 team in the country and had won its two previous national championship games, while Nebraska was hoping that, for the Huskers, the third time would be the charm. It was, and now these two would be in the same conference going forward.

Texas’ 2023 national championship came at the expense of longtime rivals, Nebraska, just like the Huskers’ first title in 1995 went through Texas. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

And what a run the pair had in the Big 12. Nebraska would win the conference in 1996. Texas would win it in ‘97. The Huskers would then take it in 1998 through 2002, and again from 2004 through 2006 — this stretch was interrupted by a single Big 12 regular season championship by Kansas State, but flanking that were a pair of Nebraska national championships, in 2000 and 2006. In 2007 and 2008, Texas and Nebraska tied for conference championship, then the Longhorns won it outright in ‘09. The Huskers would once again come out on top in 2010 — it was their final year in the Big 12, as now it was their turn to switch conferences. Nebraska joined up with the Big Ten in 2011, and remains there to this day.

With Nebraska gone, Texas, somewhat unsurprisingly, dominated the Big 12 in the Huskers’ absence. The Longhorns won 12 of 13 Big 12 conference regular season titles before leaving for the SEC in 2024, with national championships in 2012, 2022 and 2023 and three national title losses, as well. That 2023 championship came against Nebraska, which the Longhorns also defeated in the regional final in the delayed 2020 season as well as in 2021 — the two no longer had conference games, but still played the occasional non-conference matchup and faced each other on the sports’ biggest stage on multiple occasions. 

All-time, the two have been evenly matched, with Nebraska ahead 25-23 thanks to dominating in Big 12 conference play, 2-12, making up for the initial losing streaks to the Longhorns in the 80s. The pendulum has swung back in Texas’ direction, though, with the Longhorns winning seven of the last 10 matchups between the two.

Only one of Nebraska or Texas could come out on top in the Big 12, and more often than not it was the Huskers. (Corbey R. Dorsey/NCAA Photos via Getty Images photos)

Nebraska had its own post-Big 12 success even if direct competition against Texas hasn’t gone as well of late, becoming national champions in 2015 and 2017, while losing in the 2018, 2021 and 2023 championship matches. The Huskers were the favorite for the 2025 title, and came into the regional final against Texas A&M undefeated before the Aggies upset them and ended their season, as well as the chance to be the second-ever Nebraska squad to achieve an undefeated championship season, joining the 2000s Huskers. Maybe not coincidentally, the last two undefeated teams standing in Division I last season were Texas and Nebraska, with the Longhorns losing on Halloween to … Texas A&M.

Texas’ 2023 victory over Nebraska for the national championship marks the last time the two have faced each other, though, until this weekend, when the No. 2 Longhorns and No. 1 Huskers square off. There is the rivalry to consider, as well as the shocking way 2025 ended for both: both teams lost in their respective regional finals in significant upsets, with 1-seed Nebraska falling to 6-seed Texas A&M and 1-seed Texas to 10-seed Wisconsin. A win against a longtime rival — one the other hasn’t seen in a few years now — would help to wash away the taste of that defeat. But as has so often been the case with the Longhorns and Huskers, only one of these teams is going to walk away on top.

Northern Illinois went west, Sacramento State moved east and the Pac-12 is actually back. 

Ahead of the 2026 college football season, 22 teams changed conferences. Five of the Group of Six leagues experienced changeover, while the Power 4 remained the same. 

But two years ago, UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington joined the Big Ten; Arizona, ASU, Utah and Colorado went to the Big 12; and Stanford and Cal became members of the ACC. Then in 2025, three more teams changed conferences. 

Now, ahead of the 2026 season, let’s do it again. 

To help you keep up with the trends, and remember who each team will compete against for conference titles, here’s a look at who came, who went and who remained in each FBS conference. 

Additions: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State

Holdovers: Oregon State, Washington State

After a season in which Washington State and Oregon State were the only two teams representing the Pac-12, the conference has expanded to eight Division I football schools. Colorado State, Utah State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Boise State came over from the Mountain West. Texas State also made the move to the Pac-12 from the Sun Belt Conference. The Pac-12 will include nine schools for college basketball season as Gonzaga came over from the West Coast Conference, but doesn’t have a football program.

Boise State and San Diego State are two of five Mountain West teams to join the Pac-12. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)

Additions: North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, University of Texas-El Paso, 

Holdovers: Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, Wyoming 

Losses: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State

After losing five teams to the Pac-12, the Mountain West was replenished with three teams from different conferences. North Dakota State is the headliner. The 10-time FCS national champions come over from the Missouri Valley Football Conference for its debut season in the FBS. Northern Illinois enters from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and University of Texas-El Paso transfers from Conference USA. 

After 80 years in the MAC, Northern Illinois moved to the Mountain West. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Additions: Sacramento State

Holdovers: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Kent State, Ohio, Toledo, UMass, Western Michigan

Losses: Northern Illinois

The changes to the MAC are simple. Northern Illinois moves to the Mountain West and Sacramento State replaces them, keeping the total at 13. Sacramento State comes over from the Big Sky Conference. 

Additions: Louisiana Tech

Holdovers: Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Louisiana, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Troy

Losses: Texas State

Similar to the MAC, the Sun Belt made a one-for-one trade. Texas State joined the Pac-12 and Louisiana Tech replaced them from Conference USA, keeping the Sun Belt’s total at 14.

Holdovers: Delaware, FIU, Jackson State, Liberty, Kennessaw State, Middle Tennessee, Missouri State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State, Western Kentucky

Losses: Louisiana Tech, UTEP

Conference USA lost Louisiana Tech and University of Texas-El Paso, and did not replace them as their total dropped from 12 to 10 members.

Holdovers: Army, Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Rice, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UTSA

The AAC remained the same heading into the 2026 college football season. It produced a CFP team last year as Tulane earned the 11th seed in the 12-team bracket. Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA joined the AAC as recently as 2023 as the conference has expanded to 14 teams for football. 

While the Power 4 conferences also avoided any change heading into the 2026 season, it’s still worth refreshing who’s where. 

Holdovers: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Washington, and Wisconsin

The Big Ten didn’t experience any change ahead of the 2026 season. The 2026 season marks the third season in which former Pac-12 schools Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington will compete in the 18-team Big Ten. 

Oregon and Washington went from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten ahead of the 2024 season. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Holdovers: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF, Utah, and West Virginia

The Big 12 didn’t add or lose any teams heading into the 2026 season. The 2026 season marks the third year in which former Pac-12 schools Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah joined the league. It’s also the fourth year of BYU, Cincinnati, UCF and Houston coming over to the Big 12 as the conference has expanded to 16 teams. 

Holdovers: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt

The SEC didn’t experience any change ahead of the 2026 season. This will be the third season in which Oklahoma and Texas compete in the conference after coming over from the Big 12 to make a 16-team league. 

Holdovers: Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest

The ACC didn’t make any moves ahead of the 2026 season. The 2026 season will be the third year in which Stanford and Cal compete in the 17-team ACC. 

The Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings will square off in the final preseason game for both teams. We don’t expect much in the way of snaps from starters tonight, but a lot of these players are having their last chance to make a case for a roster spot – whether on the final 53 or the 16-man practice squad. Week 1 is officially just around the corner, Broncos Country!

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. Mile High time on Friday, August 28, 2026 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado. You can also check local Broncos radio network affiliate stations. Join the discussion in the comments section below.

Vikings at Broncos live updates

The 2026 Tour Championship continues on Saturday with the third round at East Lake Golf Club. You can find full Tour Championship tee times for Saturday’s third round at the bottom of this post.

Tour Championship Round 3 tee times: What to know

Viktor Hovland missed the fairway on 3 at East Lake Golf Club. And 12. 

And that was it on Friday during the Tour Championship’s second round. Afterward, a reporter called him “a fairway-finding machine.” And the reporter wanted the scoop on how Hovland was doing it. 

Only Hovland couldn’t help. 

“Great question,” he said. “Don’t even know, but I found something that seems to be going straight, so very happy with that.”

Indeed. Along with hitting 12 of 14 fairways on Friday, Hovland shot a four-under 66, and he’s tied for the lead entering Saturday’s third round. There, he said he hopes whatever appeared Friday reappears Saturday. It’s not the best place to be, but if “something” somehow shows up again, he won’t turn it away.  

“It’s just what’s kind of annoying is, if I have a good feeling, I would be able to sustain it week in and week out,” Hovland said. “Now I haven’t been doing that. Like last week, I drove it awful. The week before, not so great either. It’s not like I’ve changed too much since those last few weeks, but I’m driving it better this week. So you’ve just got to take advantage of it.

“Then hopefully when I have some time off, I can really get to work.”

You can watch Saturday’s third round of the 2026 Tour Championship from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET on Golf Channel, and then 3-7 p.m. ET on CBS. PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will provide exclusive early streaming coverage starting at 12:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, in addition to featured group and featured hole coverage.

Check out the complete Round 3 tee times and pairings for the Tour Championship below.

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2026 Tour Championship tee times for Saturday: Round 3 (ET)

Tee No. 1

11:55 a.m. – Robert MacIntyre 

12:07 p.m. – Kristoffer Reitan, Hideki Matsuyama 

12:19 p.m. – Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele 

12:31 p.m. – Si Woo Kim, Rory McIlroy 

12:43 p.m. – Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood 

1:01 p.m. – Min Woo Lee, Alex Fitzpatrick 

1:13 p.m. – Alex Smalley, Tom Kim 

1:25 p.m. – Russell Henley, Jacob Bridgeman

1:37 p.m. – Ryan Fox, Akshay Bhatia 

1:49 p.m. – Sam Burns, Gary Woodland 

2:07 p.m. – Adam Scott, Ludvig Åberg 

2:19 p.m. – Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick 

2:31 p.m. – Cameron Young, Scottie Scheffler 

2:43 p.m. – Collin Morikawa, Chris Gotterup 

2:55 p.m. – Ryan Gerard Viktor Hovland

GM Nolan Teasley is probably going to have some opportunity to pull off a trade or two over these next few days. At the very least, the Vikings’ cap space and draft picks will allow for an addition(s) if a compelling trade possibility emerges.

Teams around the NFL are moving into a tough weekend. What has been a 90-player roster is going to get shrunk down to 53 players. As Kevin Patra points out, there are going to be close to 1,200 players who are told to pack their bags. Pretty reasonably, teams will seek to add value out of player departures when possible, trying to pull off a trade before needing to accept a cut. Could the Vikings actually accommodate some swaps?

The Vikings’ Cap Space and Draft Picks

At least a few things are needed to pull off a trade.

Most obvious, perhaps, is that there needs to be at least a pair of teams willing to pull off a deal. During cut weekend, there’s going to be no shortage of sellers for the Vikings to consider. Every single team has dozens of players who are getting shown the door; extracting value by recouping a pick(s) for one of these players is a better outcome than moving on for no value coming back. So, that end of things shouldn’t be an issue.

What remains to be seen is if the Vikings will want to be buyers. If so, then they’ll at least have the assets to bring talent to town.

Over the Cap explains that the cap space is a reasonably rotund $22.4 million. Upon first glance, Minnesota is sitting in a really healthy spot, but do note that the cap space will shrink down after the offseason’s top-51 cutoff gets lifted.

Still, though, there’s going to be enough open cap space to bring in talent. Think a touch below $20 million with the potential to create significantly more if the Vikings venture into extensions (see: Van Ginkel, Andrew).

Next up are assets. Sometimes, NFL teams do the player-for-player thing that appears to be more common in hockey, but picks are often the preferred currency in football trades. Minnesota is sitting atop a good cluster for the 2027 NFL Draft (credit to Spotrac):

• 1st
• 2nd
• 3rd
• 3rd (Jonathan Greenard Trade)
• 5th
• 5th
• 6th
• 6th (Jalen Nailor Compensatory Pick)
• 7th

The Nailor 6th is a likelihood rather than a certainty. Minnesota has some cap nerds in the front office who specialize on the issue, so they’ll have a very good educated guess on how likely that Nailor pick is. The point here isn’t that the Vikings can send this pick out; they can’t do so since it hasn’t been awarded yet. What can occur, though, is a bit more freedom with the other 6th due to the expectation of seeing the Nailor comp pick arrive before the ’27 draft.

Later on today, the Minnesota Vikings will take on the Denver Broncos in the third and final preseason game. All eyes will be on the quarterbacks. Afterwards, Minnesota will need to begin sorting through the carnage that is roster cuts.

Presumably, teams are calling about acquiring J.J. McCarthy. Presumably, the Vikings are calling other teams about acquiring players who could fill an unfilled role on Minnesota’s roster.

The Vikings play the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. That game occurs on Sunday, September 13th. Much remains to be determined between now and then.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

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The Week 0 college football schedule takes place on Saturday, Aug. 29, and it will begin in Ireland before concluding in Las Vegas. Eight games involving FBS teams are on the slate, two of which are outliers when observing the Week 0 college football odds. No. 14 USC is the only ranked team in action, as it is a 38.5-point favorite over San Jose State, while Florida State is favored by 31.5 points over New Mexico State. The other six games all have single-digit college football spreads as you have varying options to make college football bets on. Visit our DraftKings promo code review and get $200 in bonus bets as a new user after $5+ in wagers here:

UNC vs. TCU (-8.5) kicks off the 2026 college football season as Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels will face the Horned Frogs in Dublin, Ireland. Another intriguing contest has FCS powerhouse, North Dakota State, which won 10 championships at that level, making its FBS debut as the Bison (-7) host the JSU Gamecocks. Before locking in any Week 0 college football picks, be sure to see the latest college football predictions from SportsLine’s proven model.

The model simulates every FBS game 10,000 times. It is on a 31-19 run on top-rated CFB money-line picks since the 2024 season, and it has been upgraded for the 2026 season to even better factor in the transfer portal. Anybody following its college football betting picks at sportsbooks and on betting sites could have seen strong returns. 

Now, it has turned its attention to the latest college football odds for Week 0 and locked in picks for every FBS matchup. Head here to see every pick.

New to sports trading? Visit our Kalshi promo code review and get a $25 bonus after $25+ in trades with the Kalshi promo code CBSSPORTS:

Top college football predictions for Week 0 

One of the top college football picks the model is recommending for Week 0: Virginia (-4, 51.5) covers against NC State in a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff. UVA’s nine ATS wins last year were only topped in the ACC by national runner-up Miami. The Cavs should relish this game being relocated from Rio de Janeiro to Virginia, considering NC State’s road woes. The Wolfpack went 0-4 ATS as a road underdog in 2025, making them the only Power 4 team to fail to cover as road dogs over at least four games. Add in that NC State is also on an 0-4 ATS run on season openers, while the Cavs are 6-1 ATS over their last seven season openers versus unranked squads, and the model has UVA covering more than 50% of the time, while the Over 52.5 hits more than 50% of the time as well.

Another Week 0 prediction: New Mexico State (+31.5, 53.5) goes on the road and covers at Florida State. FSU enters this season on a down note, as it went 2-7 over its last nine games of 2025, not only outright but also versus the spread. The team then added QB Ashton Daniels in the offseason, who is hoping the third school’s the charm after struggles at Stanford and Auburn. Daniels is 5-18 as a starter and has the fourth-worst passer efficiency (116.5) in FBS since 2023. Meanwhile, NMST has covered in three straight as an underdog and is 5-2 ATS over its last seven when the other team is favored. The Aggies cover in more than 70% of simulations, and the Under is the slight value on the total since the model is projecting 53 combined points. See which other picks the model likes here.

How to make college football picks for Week 0

The model has also made the call on who wins and covers in every Week 0 college football game, including an underdog that it says will win outright. You can only get every pick for every game at SportsLine.

So what college football picks can you make with confidence, and which underdog pulls off a shocking upset? Check out the latest college football odds below, then visit SportsLine to see which teams win and cover the spread, all from a proven computer model that is on a 31-19 run, and find out.

College football odds for Week 0

See full Week 0 college football picks, odds, predictions here

Saturday, Aug. 29
(odds subject to change)

North Carolina vs. TCU (-8.5, 46.5)
San Jose State at USC (-38.5, 61.5)
NC State at Virginia (-4, 51.5)
Jacksonville State at North Dakota State (-6.5, 46.5)
Sacramento State at Eastern Michigan (-9.5, 53.5)
New Mexico State at Florida State (-31.5, 53.5)
Hawaii at Stanford (-4, 48.5)
Memphis at UNLV (-4.5, 56.5)

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca spoke about Jack Grealish after the winger was left out of the squad to face Palace

Jack Grealish appears close to leaving Manchester City again after being left out of the squad to take on Crystal Palace. Having come on as a second-half substitute in the Community Shield against Arsenal and the Premier League opener against Bournemouth, Grealish did not travel to Selhurst Park with the City squad amid transfer interest from Everton and Aston Villa.

City have not expected to keep Grealish for the season but he is still under contract and there have been no agreements with other clubs as the deadline closes in. Enzo Maresca has said since he took over that it is his duty to coach Grealish while he remains a City player and it is still a possibility that he stays at the Etihad.

However, Maresca spoke to Grealish on Thursday when it was decided that he would not be part of the matchday squad for the Palace game as the possibility for him to leave – likely to be on loan again – rises again. “We’ll see what happens in the next 48-72 hours,” the manager said when asked about it afterwards.

City did not miss Grealish despite their bench looking inexperienced as Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland both scored twice. Palace started well in front of their own fans but the Blues bossed the game from that point.

“I think the performance overall was good. We struggled for the first five or ten mins because we were pressing in the wrong way and then we adjusted something. We were in control. We scored four and could probably could have scored more and we didn’t concede chances.”

CommBank Stadium will play host to Friday’s
Round 26 NRL game between Penrith Panthers and
Canterbury Bulldogs. The game kicks off at 8:00 pm with Penrith Panthers heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Penrith Panthers vs.
Canterbury Bulldogs
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Friday August 28, 2026 at 8:00 pm

Where: CommBank Stadium

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

Penrith Panthers vs Canterbury Bulldogs Odds

Penrith Panthers vs Canterbury Bulldogs Preview

Penrith remains second after a disciplined 22-14 win over Melbourne and can move closer to securing a home qualifying final with another victory. Canterbury revived its season by beating St George Illawarra 44-14, but the Bulldogs still enter the round two points outside the top eight. Jack Cole replaces the suspended Jack Cogger at five-eighth for the Panthers, while Enari Tuala returns on Canterbury’s wing and Jack Underhill comes onto the bench for the injured Kurt Mann. The Bulldogs produced a 32-16 upset in Round 6, so Penrith will not lack motivation. Nathan Cleary’s control, the Panthers’ defensive consistency and an eight-match home winning streak against Canterbury give the hosts the stronger foundation, although the Bulldogs’ desperation should keep the contest physical and competitive.

Texas Tech has reportedly brought in former Florida State QB Thomas Castellanos via the transfer portal and a 5th year of eligibility.

What does this mean for the Red Raiders?

On today’s episode of Locked On College Football, I talk about ACTUAL GAMES as NC State gets ready to take on Virginia.

Can the Wolfpack overcome an insanely veteran Virginia offensive line?

Week 0 brings a welcome sight of relief for college football fans across the country: real, tangible, and meaningful football games.

I get the season going with my first ‘Best Bets’ segment of the 2026 season. Photo Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images

00:00 Quarterback speculation at Texas Tech
04:07 Backup quarterback dilemma
06:47 Home field advantage for big games
11:09 Scheduling the big ACC game
14:58 Key for NC State: Pressure Bo Pribula
22:15 College football predictions
23:50 New FBS Programs Discussion
26:22 Memphis quarterback decision and UNLV game

/ @lockedoncollegefootball  

Justin Rose put himself in contention for the Tour Championship after a scintillating 65 in Friday’s second round in Atlanta.

The Englishman fired five birdies in a blemish-free round to move to seven under and give himself a chance of winning 10 million dollar (£7.3 million) FedExCup play-off series finale at the halfway point.

He is three shots off joint leaders Ryan Gerard and Viktor Hovland, who are on 10 under and one clear of Collin Morikawa and Chris Gotterup on nine under.

Rose hit birdies at the sixth, eighth and 11th hole to make his move up the leaderboard and then added more at the 15th and 18th to card a five-under-par 65.

Rose’s Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick joined him on seven under after going round in 67.

A birdie at the second was quickly followed by bogey at the third, but it was on the back nine where things got better for the Yorkshireman.

He birdied the 10th and then finished strongly with back-to-back gains to finish his round to put himself in contention over the weekend.

Rory McIlroy has work to do if he is to add a fourth title to his collection as he sits way back on tied for 23rd.

The Masters champion is seven shots off the lead after an up-and-down 69 left him on three under.

A birdie on the first gave promise of launching an attack at the top of the leaderboard, but it quickly dissipated as he struck a double bogey on the third and then followed it up with another bogey at the fourth.

A birdie at the sixth did some repair work as he made the turn at one over and a three at the par-four 12th brought him level for the round.

But he bogeyed the next before rescuing his round with birdies at the 16th and 18th to card a one-under 69.

Scottie Scheffler is in better shape as he is on eight under after a round of 67 which contained six birdies and three bogeys.

Cameron Young is also on eight under after firing the round of the day – a sublime 62.

Young peppered his scorecard with six birdies in seven holes and finished with an eagle three on the par-five 18th to put himself in the mix.