NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — This week’s Scottish Open will be different, we can promise you that. For starters, LIV golfers Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are playing. That’s different. Former LIV player Brooks Koepka is competing as a sponsor’s exemption … out of necessity … on the DP World Tour half of the field. That’s different. And yet, one piece of newness simmers in the background, made with fans in mind. 

The holes at Renaissance Club have been shifted around. And in a not-so-subtle way aimed at creating the most compelling product possible from an unchanged golf course. 

Normally, a rerouting of holes may not do much for excitement, particularly for the American crowd across the Atlantic Ocean. Often a rerouting is made out of necessity for a course renovation. But this one is simply to maximize the setting for fans on-site and construe the most excitement for a TV audience. 

In short, a majority of the old back nine at Renaissance — holes 10 thru 16 — will now play as holes 1 thru 7, while holes 1 thru 7 at Renaissance will now operate as holes 10 thru 16. To the Renaissance newbie, that won’t mean much. But to players in the field, it means a final stretch of six holes with zero par-5s, which Rahm was quick to point out Tuesday morning. 

“Haven’t given me a reason yet as to why they changed it,” Rahm said, before doing the tournament’s bidding. 

“Also think it’s quite a thrilling finish,” Rahm continued. “Obviously you don’t have the par-5 on 16, that gave quite a bit away, but with the right wind you have a possibly reachable par-4, a very tricky short par-3, a long par-4, and then 17 and 18. I still think it gives it a good variety and a very exciting finish. I think it could be a really good change.”

He’s not alone. Viktor Hovland was next on stage Tuesday and said he really liked it, and expected it to contribute to a more-exciting finish than the Renaissance of old. 

The previous 16th hole was a downhill par-5 that offered players a bit of a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card late in their back nine. Here’s an easy birdie in the heat of contention. Now that gettable hole arrives well before players make the turn, and the holes spent in contention suddenly aggregate into a wicked route to the clubhouse. 

The new 14th is a drivable par-4 with the right wind, as Rahm said. But if that hole plays downwind, the next hole — a short, tasty par-3 — reveals itself at No. 15, surrounded by bunkers and, now, also encircled by stadium seating. The event has increased the buildout around this hole in years past —adding grandstands, viewing platforms and what amounted to an outdoor food court — but it was always played as the 6th, much too early in the weekend rounds to hold significance. Now, it’ll be where pros hold on for dear life, make a run or stumble when they can least afford it. 

After the 15th comes a long par-4 — which plays as a par-5 for members of the exclusive club — followed by another difficult par-3 (203 yards) and finishing par-4 (483 yards) that often plays into the wind. Rory McIlroy birdied both finishing holes when he came back to win in 2023, a herculean feat considering it took him driver, 2-iron to reach the 18th green. 

And despite McIlroy’s heroics from three years ago, there will be bogeys down the stretch. You can count on it. But more than anything, spectators will be wooed into hanging around the clubhouse with this new finishing stretch. The routing’s proximity to the clubhouse and grandstands should create a more electric scene come Sunday, and should increase the chances of capturing an epic crowd reaction, too, which can seem muted on TV during those windy links days of a Scottish summer. 

All of it outlines a creative strategy that one event is taking to make itself 1, 2 or 3% better each season. Now all organizers need are the best golfers to show up and do their thing. 

Dwight Ramos (with ball) knows how tough it will be moving forward. —FIBA.COM

The path towards a fourth consecutive trip to the Fiba World Cup could be a narrow one for Gilas Pilipinas as it now enters the second round of qualification where it will need to stand tall against three Middle East opponents.

Gilas will need to play with a sense of urgency for the rest of the Asian Qualifiers after ending the first round with a 2-4 record after Monday’s 92-49 road loss to unbeaten Australia in Perth where the Filipinos played without Justin Brownlee.

“If we move on, there’s going to be a lot of teams that are just as good as Australia,” Gilas fan favorite Dwight Ramos said, referring to how playing in the main draw of the World Cup will be if Gilas does advance to the 2027 edition in Doha.

Australia topped Group A carrying an unbeaten 6-0 record, while New Zealand was second at 4-2, followed by the Philippines and Guam, which was eliminated from World Cup qualifying after losing all six matches.

Must-win games

Gilas joins the Boomers and Tall Blacks in the newly-formed Group E where they’ll be accompanied by Group C teams Iran, Jordan and Syria. Iran and Jordan each went 5-1 while Syria posted a 2-4 slate in the first round.

That has put Gilas in a difficult situation going into the next three windows where all games are now considered must-wins with the records from the initial phase of the Qualifiers carried over into the second round.

The top three teams after the second round will qualify for next year’s World Cup, while the fourth-placer may advance if it has a better record or a tiebreaker advantage over its counterpart in Group F.

Group F is composed of Lebanon (5-1), Japan (4-2), Qatar (3-3), South Korea (3-3), China (3-3) and Saudi Arabia (3-3).

Qatar is already assured of a World Cup berth by virtue of being the host nation.

Gilas returns to action in late-August when the second round rolls on. Tentative schedules for the fourth window has Gilas facing Jordan on Aug. 27 and Iran on Aug. 30.

The fifth window will have Gilas against Syria on Nov. 27 and Iran on Nov. 30 while the final window will be in Feb 2027 against Syria and Jordan.

Gilas had a promising start to the first round, when it blew past Guam on both occasions in the first window that also saw the debut of Quentin Millora-Brown. But the February window brought some blues for Gilas when it lost a close one to New Zealand before being blown out by Australia in both games played at home.

The recent window began with Gilas almost pulling one out over New Zealand in Auckland, but fell short in double overtime, 106-102. INQ

Manchester City stars Erling Haaland and Marc Guehi will go head-to-head in the World Cup quarter-final this weekend when England take on Norway

Manchester City had just completed a comeback for the ages to stun Liverpool at Anfield with two goals in the final throes of an all-action contest that will live long in the memory of every Blues fan who watched it.

Bernardo Silva had hauled City level late on and Erling Haaland hit the winner from the penalty spot after the comical scenes of the Norwegian and Dominik Szoboszlai fouling each other as the ball rolled into an empty net before VAR intervened and awarded a spot kick.

As the players were walking off the Anfield pitch, the cameras focussed in on Haaland. The striker felt they were looking at the wrong man. “Go film him, come on he’s there,” said the striker, gesturing to Guehi before wrapping his arms around his team-mate and thrusting him into shot. Guehi wasn’t too interested in the attention but he had just delivered a masterclass on what was only his third City appearance in a cauldron of an atmosphere.

His showing was not lost on Haaland and both players know exactly what they will be facing this weekend on the biggest stage of all as they do battle in a World Cup quarter-final.

England and Guehi meet Norway and Haaland in Miami on Saturday night in what promises to be an electric tie.

Guehi, who arrived at the Etihad in January, has seen up close just how good Haaland is and how difficult he is to stop. The striker has seven goals in the World Cup already and he sat out the final group game against France.

His double in the last-16 saw off Brazil and if England are going to reach the semi-finals then stopping him will be imperative.

Guehi’s pace, quality and tenacity will be key and the City man is relishing the battle that lies ahead. “I know he’ll be up for it,” he said of Haaland.

“It’ll be a challenge, but it’s good to see some familiar faces and try and do our best and try and get a win. It’s going to be fun, it will be fun.”

Novak Djokovic defeats Felix Auger-Aliassime in the longest Wimbledon quarter-final in history at five hours and 15 minutes, to set up a meeting with Jannik Sinner in the final four at SW19.

READ MORE: Djokovic wins five-set epic to set up Sinner semi-final

Available to UK users only.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Tuesday that it would lift restrictions on Russian athletes to allow them to compete in team events and in qualifying competitions.

It all comes ahead of qualifying events for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and just two months after the IOC lifted restrictions for Russia’s ally Belarus, whose athletes would be allowed to compete again without any restrictions and with their national symbols.

Russia has been shut out of international sporting competitions since it launched an invasion in Ukraine that began the war in 2022.

The IOC suspended Russia’s Olympic Committee in 2023, after Russia unilaterally recognized regional sports organizations in the four Ukrainian territories that Russia illegally annexed in 2022.

Russian athletes were still able to compete as neutral athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics and at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, but only if they are proven to not support the war and have no affiliation with Russia’s military or security forces.

IOC chief: Athletes ‘should not pay the price’ of war

In a statement, the IOC said that a thorough analysis by its Legal Affairs Commission had found that the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) no longer included any regional sports organizations in territories falling under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine as its members.

IOC president Kirsty Coventry told reporters that the IOC opposes “any kind of violence and war and will continue to support Ukraine,” but she also said that it wasn’t right that athletes “should pay the price for this.”

Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev welcomed ‌the IOC’s decision, saying it should clear the way for Russian athletes to make a full return to the international sporting ‌stage.

“Our country’s return to the Olympic family is a green light for international federations to reinstate all our athletes,” Degtyarev said.

No flag or anthem for now

The IOC said, however, that Russians will still go through strict anti-doping procedures in order to “address the lack of confidence in the global sporting community relating to the return of Russian athletes to international competition.”

The IOC also said it would not organize IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.

The ban on the Russian national anthem being played and the flag being displayed has also been kept in place for now.

“We made it clear that all athletes had the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games. This is what this decision speaks to. It allows Russian athletes to take part in sports competitions. We thought it was really important for athletes to have that possibility,” Coventry told ‌a press conference.

“It was very clear when we strengthened our neutrality bylaw that selection would not be based only on sports performance, but also ability to serve as role models,” she added.

Edited by: Zac Crellin

Alexandra Eala of the Philippines waves to the crowd after losing the women’s singles fourth round match against Jasmine Paolini of Italy at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, July 6, 2026.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Alex Eala left Wimbledon disappointed with her fourth-round exit. But she bowed out knowing that playing against the world’s best in one of the toughest tournaments had a positive impact on her game.

The 21-year-old Filipino superstar admitted there were moments she wished she could take back in her 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Jasmine Paolini, but she viewed the match as another lesson in the small margins that separate the game’s top players.

“Yes, of course there are things that I would have liked to do differently,” Eala told journalists after the match. “But in the end, I think that’s just tennis. That’s also what’s beautiful about tennis. Every match, it’s different. You’re always finding solutions; the opponent is always finding ways to make you uncomfortable.”

Experince helped

Paolini milked her experience to blunt Eala’s craftiness and controlled the match during the crucial stretches, foiling several break points the Filipino collected.

“I think Jasmine did that pretty well today,” Eala said. “She really went for her shots. She definitely made me feel uncomfortable in certain moments of the match.”

Eala acknowledged her serve was below the level she managed earlier in the tournament but refused to dwell on it.

“My serve was not as good today as maybe other matches,” she said. “But I have days like that. Everyone has days where they don’t play their best tennis. I understand that’s part of the job. I don’t think I’m going to be playing the best tennis of my life every single day.”

Winning record

Instead, Eala took satisfaction in how she managed the match despite not playing at her best.

“With that being said, I’m really proud of how I handled things,” she said. “I think I just have to move forward and continue with my progress.”

Her Wimbledon campaign reinforced what has become one of the defining themes of her breakout season—that she can consistently challenge the sport’s elite. In an 11-game stretch against opponents ranked in the top 10 in the world, Eala has gone 7-4, highlighted by victories over some of the biggest names on the WTA Tour.

Against Paolini, Eala said the difference came down to execution in critical moments rather than any glaring gap in ability.

“It’s very fine details,” she said. “With tennis and matches that are tight, it sometimes can depend on one point or two. I think it’s how you manage yourself during those moments.”

Rather than focusing on individual mistakes, Eala said her evaluation centered on whether she remained committed to the tactics she and her team prepared.

“Looking back, did I stick with my game? Did I stick with the game plan? Did I do everything I could at that moment?” she said. “I think that’s all you can really do is do your best.” —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER SPORTS DESK INQ

The Minnesota Vikings did virtually nothing to enhance their interior offensive line this offseason, rolling with last year’s pair of guards, Donovan Jackson and Will Fries, while promoting Blake Brandel to center after Ryan Kelly’s retirement. Now, according to ESPN, that unit is the club’s “x-factor” in 2026.

ESPN determined every NFL squad’s x-factor this week, and for Minnesota, that’s the iOL.

The Vikings’ Interior Offensive Line Has to Pay Off

ESPN: Vikings X-Factor: Interior Trenches

In an article that claimed the Vikings have the sport’s 22nd-best roster heading into 2026, Seth Walder noted the iOL as the x-factor: “X factor for 2026: Interior offensive line. Will Fries struggled last season at guard after signing a big free agent contract, with a sixth percentile pass block win rate.”

“But he boasts upside, as does fellow guard Donovan Jackson, Minnesota’s first-round draft pick in 2025. Blake Brandel played 347 snaps at center last season in his first time playing the position in the NFL. He is expected to start there again in 2026.”

The interior offensive line was a problem for the Vikings about half a decade ago but has largely stabilized since Kevin O’Connell took over in 2022.

Walder added, “How those three players improve could play a big role in how much offensive success the Vikings have this season.”

Donovan Jackson

Jackson produced a commendable rookie campaign, finishing just under 60.0 per Pro Football Focus. He also navigated a broken wrist right away in his career, playing 14 of an eligible 17 games.

From the Walder observation, it’s all about Jackson taking the next step. He played steady enough to give fans hope for a promising career; no one will be too surprised if he shows up in 2026 and balls out.

Jackson also said last month that he’s more prepared as a sophomore: “I feel like last year I was a headless chicken trying to learn a foreign language with this playbook. Another year under my belt, I come out here, and I’m trying to get better with certain details.”

Will Fries

Fries is in a different boat. He must elevate his game in 2026. While that may sound blunt, it’s accurate. The Vikings invested heavily in him, not for an adequate starter, but for a cornerstone player. After his initial season in Minnesota, he still has much to prove.

Fries’ stellar performance with the Indianapolis Colts in 2024 is the caliber of player Minnesota believed they were acquiring. His 2025 season wasn’t a complete failure, but it certainly didn’t justify his substantial contract. PFF assigned him an overall grade of 61.8, which is merely passable.

However, passable is insufficient for an annual salary of $18 million. That grade should be closer to 71.8, not 61.8. This is the stark reality of his contract. If Fries makes strides in 2026, the investment will begin to look justified, bringing collective relief. But if his performance remains the same or similar, the situation will quickly become uncomfortable next offseason.

The Vikings require the dominant Fries from his Colts tenure; they paid a premium for that level of play.

Blake Brandel

Brandel has unexpectedly emerged as one of the most intriguing players on the roster.

Just a few years ago, such a statement would have seemed odd. Since joining the Vikings in 2020, Brandel has primarily served as Minnesota’s versatile offensive line backup — a reliable utility player capable of stepping in at guard, tackle, and even center when needed.

Now, though, the Vikings are giving him a genuine audition at center, a decision that speaks volumes. Minnesota notably passed on signing a veteran center in free agency or drafting one early. The move follows Brandel’s performance last season when he filled in for Ryan Kelly, who missed nine games due to concussions. Brandel showed improvement as the weeks progressed, apparently convincing Kevin O’Connell and Wes Phillips to continue this experiment.

Should Brandel perform as a Top 15 center, the Vikings’ trust will be validated. They might even consider a preemptive contract extension. A two-year extension at approximately $6 million per season could prove to be a shrewd move if he solidifies his position as a starter by September.

While Brandel typically begins a season as the flexible backup, this time, the Vikings are treating him as their primary plan at center. He logged a 61.4 PFF mark, not far off the aforementioned Fries. In fact, Jackson, Fries, and Brandel logged similar grades in 2025. Decent, not great.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker