By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
Sports
GCU Basketball Making Grand Entrance into Mountain West
Welcome to the Mountain West, Antelopes!
The 2025-26 Grand Canyon men’s basketball team is making quite the entrance into their new conference this season.
MW was a step up in competition and physicality for Bryce Drew and his GCU squad, but they have handled the challenge well thus far.
That success has been abundantly evident in the back half of January.
Grand Canyon upset Utah State on the 17th, when the Aggies were ranked 15th in the NET, becoming the highest-ranked NET victim the Lopes have ever taken down.
They did it by locking down the sharp-shooting Aggies and limiting them to just 36.2% from the floor.
GCU followed up that performance in perhaps the program’s greatest back-to-back regular-season wins by beating San Diego State four days later.
Those two wins came in the middle of a two-and-a-half-week stretch that saw the Antelopes go 5-1, including a win over Boise State, creating a logjam atop the league standings.
The win streak came to an end in overtime at Nevada on Tuesday night.
(Side note on that matchup in Reno with Steve Alford’s Wolf Pack: It marked the first time that a pair of Indiana Mr. Basketballs coached against each other collegiately.)
GCU was a bit shorthanded, with starters Brian Moor Jr. and Caleb Shaw both out with injuries, but still gave the Pack all they could handle in the OT loss.
The lack of depth was evident in the box score as the Lopes bench was outscored 41-2 by Nevada. GCU’s starters played 92% of the game’s minutes.
Grand Canyon’s bench has been a huge reason for the team’s success this year. The Lopes are 11-1 when their bench outscores the opposition.
The loss tightened the top of the league standings even more, as five teams now sit within two games of each other.
Another key to the success of Grand Canyon in conference play has been the play of Makaih Williams.
The junior guard has been a bench performer for the most part, and has seen his scoring average in league play jump to 15.9 points per game compared to 10.7 in nonconference contests.
The play of Jaden Henley also can’t be overlooked. The senior guard transferred to GCU this season and has been impactful. He currently leads the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game, while also collecting 5.5 rebounds per outing.
His scoring average ranks fifth-highest in the conference, and his rebounding total is 10th in the league, among the best for backcourt players.
The biggest factor in the Antelopes’ success so far this season has been their stifling defense, limiting opponents to just 40.9% from the field. Over the last 11 games, they have held opponents to 38.8% shooting from the floor.
Grand Canyon’s effective FG defense is tied for 24th best in the nation at 46.7%, allowing opponents only 23.1 made FGs per game. That ranks them in the Top 25 in that category nationally.
We still have plenty of basketball left to play, but the Lopes have done a great job of adjusting to the Mountain West, giving themselves an opportunity to make some noise down the stretch.
And as the rest of the league is discovering, Global Credit Union Arena has proven to be a tough place to play. The Lopes are 9-2 at home this season, including a non-conference win over USC.
In only their first season, Grand Canyon looks to have some staying power among the best in the Mountain West.
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
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Luke Littler is not feeling any pressure after losing his opening match in the Premier League last week.
The 19-year-old was beaten on night one in Newcastle by Gian van Veen, who gained some revenge for his heavy World Championship final defeat in January.
Things do not get much easier for Littler in Antwerp on Thursday as he faces Luke Humphries in the opening match.
The pair have embarked on a great rivalry in the last two years and faced each other nine times in last season’s tournament alone.
Littler most recently beat Humphries in the World Masters final at the start of the month, where his opponent called him “the greatest dart player to ever live”.
Littler was due to speak to the media on Wednesday afternoon but the press conference was cancelled at short notice, without reason.
However, in a short interview with Sky Sports, he said: “Every stage is different in my opinion.
“I’m not under any pressure and I don’t need to put pressure on myself.
“I know I lost to Gian on night one, but last year I lost to Michael van Gerwen as well.
“There’s still 15 weeks left, so as long as I get into the top four, that’s all that matters.”
Van Veen believes ending his Littler hoodoo last week will set him up for a successful campaign.
The Dutchman was soundly beaten in the final at Alexandra Palace in January and then went down to him in the Saudi Arabia Masters later in the month.
But he defeated Littler in his Premier League debut before going on to lose the final against Van Gerwen.
Van Veen said: “I think the most important part is to win your first game, especially playing in this for the first time.
“It’s something you don’t want to do, spend three, four weeks not winning any games, and then it starts getting to you.
“So I think that was the most important part. But also to get one over Littler.
“I said it last week as well. Luke Littler is not someone you want to lose five or six matches in a row against, because then next time he will be 2-0 up against you already.
“So you need to bite back at him a couple of times. That’s what I did last week. So I think that’s going to help my campaign for the coming weeks as well.”
Van Veen will face off against Gerwyn Price, Van Gerwen takes on Josh Rock and Jonny Clayton versus Stephen Bunting completes the quarter-final line-up.
 "Sushil Kumar")
Kumar and others are accused of fatally assaulting Dhankar and his friends over an alleged property dispute in May 2021 | Photo: PTI
A Delhi court on Friday dismissed Olympian Sushil Kumar’s bail plea in the murder case of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar at the Chhatrasal Stadium here.
Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Kumar was hearing the bail application filed by the celebrated Olympian wrestler.
Kumar and others are accused of fatally assaulting Dhankar and his friends over an alleged property dispute in May 2021.
According to the post-mortem report, Dhankar had suffered cerebral damage from the impact of a blunt object. Two of his friends were also injured in the alleged assault.
Kumar was arrested in May 2021 and a sessions court granted him a week’s interim bail for his knee surgery on July 19, 2023.
The trial court, in October 2022, framed charges against Kumar under the Indian Penal code (IPC) sections dealing with murder, criminal conspiracy, intimidation and rioting with a deadly weapon. Charges were also framed under the provisions of the Arms Act.
The trial court had noted that after being abducted and brought to the stadium, Dhankar was severely assaulted by several accused persons with baseball and hockey sticks.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Feb 06 2026 | 6:29 PM IST
Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees got elected as a first-ballot Hall of Famer this year. Brees announced his retirement in 2021 after two decades in the NFL.
While Brees has been away from the field for the last five seasons, the former quarterback said that he contemplated coming out of retirement during the 2025 season.
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In an appearance on the “New Heights” podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, Brees said that he thought about coming out of retirement after Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix‘s season-ending ankle injury against the Buffalo Bills. However, the former Super Bowl winner rejected the idea due to his shoulder and wrist issues.
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“I’ve had some conversations,” Brees said. “Had some moments. I would say this, like, my body feels great, my mind sharp as ever, shoulder and wrist, not having it, and like, to the point where there was a moment this year where, literally, I was drinking a tequila and something happened where I thought there might be a chance I would play that week.
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“I literally switched to water, and I started thinking about going to bed early and getting up the next day and, like, get my body nice and loose, and going out and throwing to see if I could even pull it off… I really think I’d still be playing if I if the shoulder and the wrist wouldn’t have, wouldn’t have started to let me down.”
Brees played 12 games for the Saints in his final NFL season, leading the team to a 9-3 record.
Broncos coach Sean Payton sends heartfelt message to Drew Brees after HOF induction
While Broncos coach Sean Payton couldn’t call on Drew Brees after Bo Nix’s injury, he praised his former quarterback after his Hall of Fame induction. He shared a heartfelt message for Brees in an X post:
“He came when most were leaving…Set a bar so high for all of us….He lead immediately…. He’s OUR 1st Ballot HOF QB! Congratulations Drew Brees. Also, Congratulations to Your wife Brittany, Baylen, Bowen, Callen and Rylen. It was an honor to have coached you.”
Payton coached Brees for the majority of his 15 seasons he was with the Saints.
Edited by Chaitanya Prakash
MILAN — Jon Cooper wants to rip up your opinion column on Team Canada’s iffy Olympic goaltending before it’s even written.
“I understand people have to write about stuff. But our guys go through a wall for them and they do the same for us,” Cooper says, during the coach’s most impassioned answer since touching down in Milan.
“To me, it’s not a story. I don’t know where it comes from.”
Where it comes from is, Canada’s presumptive starter, Jordan Binnington, having a horrible season in the NHL. The St. Louis Blues netminder’s eight wins, 3.65 goals-against average and .864 save percentage rank last among the 12 Canadian goalies who have appeared in at least 20 games.
Where it comes from is, projected No. 2, Logan Thompson (19-16-4), being an excellent late bloomer who won his Stanley Cup ring as a backup and who has never backstopped an NHL team past Round 2 of the playoffs.
Where it comes from is, Darcy Kuemper (14-11-9) losing more games than he’s won this season with Los Angeles, never appearing in best-on-best action, and running with a pedestrian .900 save percentage.
Heck, not one of Canada’s three options in net has won more games than he’s lost in 2025-26.
Surefire Hall of Famers like Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, and Carey Price, they are not.
“To me, Carey Price goes down as one of the greatest goalies, for sure, of his generation and of all time. He was a winner. We have those guys,” Cooper argues.
“Some of these guys may not go down as generational goaltenders, but they’re Stanley Cup winners. They have championship pedigree. They’ve made the big saves at the times they’ve needed to. I watched that in Darcy Kuemper in my own building in Tampa (during the 2022 Cup Final). I watched it in Jordan Binnington. I’ve watched Logan Thompson the last two years. Like, they’re as good as anybody. And what they’ve done for us not only last year but as teammates, I mean, we have all the faith in the world in them.”
Binnington was a non-story story heading into 2025’s 4 Nations Face-Off as well. All he did was gain confidence as that sprint of a tournament rolled on. Then stand on his head in a next-goal-wins versus Team USA, making 31 stops, six of them in the fourth period.
“He made probably three or four all-world saves early in overtime to allow us to score the goal,” Connor McDavid said that golden night. “So, all credit to him, honestly. Hopefully, some of those haters will back off him, because, honestly, he played great.”
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Which is why Cooper (who leaned on Binnington exclusively in ’25) and general manager Doug Armstrong (who owes his own Blues Cup ring to Binnington) will likely give him the gig until he loses it.
“He proved everything I felt about him, right? The biggest stage, at the biggest moment, at the biggest time, he delivered,” Cooper says. “There’s just some guys that got the it factor.”
Clutch can trump statistics and analysis.
Which is why Armstrong, too, is ear-muffing the doubters.
“Well, I just go back to January last year, hearing the same things, and saw how that turned out,” Armstrong says. “So, it made me quite comfortable.”
Inside and outside the Milano bubble, everyone is at ease with Canada’s firepower up front. Rolling McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Sidney Crosby at centre ice is murderer’s row stuff.
But if the favoured country gets undone by a lack of saves, more ink will be spilled.
“Everyone always just says how they think the goaltending is the weakest part,” Thompson says. “It’s been the word for the last couple of years. I don’t see it that way. I don’t think we see it that way. But for some reason, everyone else does.”
Unlike the 4 Nations, the Olympic tournament allows more time for goalies to be switched out or lose their footing. Heck, Canada opens with a back-to-back against Czechia (Thursday) and Switzerland (Friday), so two guys will get a look off the hop.
Remember, Curtis Joseph started in net for Canada in 2002, gave up five goals in a loss, then got supplanted by Brodeur, who backstopped the country to gold.
In 2010, Brodeur started the tournament only to be replaced by Luongo for the gold medal game.
As long as one stud seizes the net — and provided that goalie is identified early enough — Canada will be fine.
“I’m not worried about it,” Thompson says. “I’m just out here having fun in practice, and if my number is called, I’ll be ready to go.
“Excited to go out there and prove everyone wrong.”
Adds Kuemper: “We just all prepare like we’re going to be playing. And whoever gets a nod, we’re there either to play or to support the guy. And that’s part of a team game.”
So what if Binnington has lost his past six starts and 11 of his past 12 in North America? Who cares if he’s posted a sub-.880 save percentage in 10 of those?
He is treating the tournament like a fresh slate and the criticism as fuel.
“That’s something I’ve used as motivation. That’s just part of sports, is people are going to doubt you, and it’s how you handle it. For me, it’s just staying in my own process and building my game and trying to get better every day, every year, and seeing where it takes me,” Binnington says.
“This is a completely different environment. It’s been in the back of our minds or in our minds for the last six, eight months plus. The moment is here, and it’s about just letting go, playing free and playing your style.”
For the sake of a nation, that style must resemble the winner-take-all version of Binnington and not his recent regular-season style.
“There’s always something to talk about out there. I think for us, it’s just sticking together and whoever’s in there is just supporting and pushing each other. It’s been fun so far,” Binnington says.
“We’re just working at it day to day, and we’ll see how it all plays out.”
Sep 27, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday (7) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday will miss Opening Day due to a broken hamate bone in his right hand, general manager Mike Elias announced on Wednesday morning.
Holliday, who sustained the injury during live batting practice last Friday, will undergo a procedure to address the issue on Thursday. His timeline for recovery likely will be measured in weeks, per Elias.
Holliday, 22, batted just .242 with 17 homers and 55 RBIs in 149 games last season.
He is the top overall pick of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft and the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday. New acquisition Blaze Alexander likely will take the younger Holliday’s place in the field.
Also on Wednesday, Elias announced third baseman Jordan Westburg is nursing a right oblique injury. The injury, however, is not expected to prevent Westburg from playing at the start of the regular season.
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The conflict over biological males in girls’ sports in California re-entered the national spotlight over the weekend. The debate’s flames were fanned by a large-scale protest at a state high school sports meeting, and then a controversial outcome at a girls’ track and field meet the next day.
The state has become the nation’s biggest epicenter for the issue, and the target of a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly violating Title IX for its transgender eligibility policies.
Internally, many of the state’s residents have continued to dissent from the state for those policies. That dissent culminated in a flashpoint on Friday when dozens of female athletes and their families rallied outside a California Interscholatic Federation (CIF) council meeting in Long Beach to protest.
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‘Save Girls Sports’ activists hold a rally outside a CIF council meeting in Long Beach, California on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Courtesy of Sophia Lorey)
California Family Council outreach director Sophia Lorey told Fox News Digital it was their largest rally yet, as they’ve held several in recent years.
Local California girls who have been impacted by male competitors in their sports took to the podium to speak out against the CIF for not changing its policies. A total of 16 speakers, comprised of high school athletes, family members politicians and activists spoke at the rally.
Many of the speeches have since gone viral.
Former Jurupa Valley High School student athlete Hadeel Hazameh had to graduate early after speaking out in the fall against a trans teammate on her track and field, and volleyball team.
Arroyo Grande High School student athlete Celeste Duyst recalled an alleged experience of a biological male trans athlete watch her and other girls change in the locker room.
California GOP state assemblymembers Kate Sanchez and David Tangipa showed up to give speeches in support of the girls as well.
Meanwhile, Democrat state assemblymember Josh Lowenthal also showed up to film a Facebook video mocking the protesters, claiming the Republicans in attendance “don’t actually care about women.”
“We all know they don’t actually care about women,” Lowenthal said.
Inside the meeting, protesters on both sides of the issue spoke emotionally about the topic. But Lorey told Fox News Digital that the council members at no point addressed the issue of protecting girls’ sports, or even made eye contact with the speakers.
Singer and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Tish Hyman delivered a boisterous speech condemning the CIF council members.
“Martin Luther King did not march so these trans people, or whatever they are, can use our civil rights to push trans drugs on kids!” Hyman yelled.
Crean Lutheran High School student Reese Hogan went viral last spring when she stepped onto the first place spot on a medal podium at a CIF postseason meet, right after the trans athlete who finished above her stepped off. Hogan spoke in the meeting about having to repeatedly compete against the male athlete.
“On May 4th, 2024, May 10th, 2025, May 17th, 2025, May 30th, 2025, and January 31st, 2026, I competed in meets where I lost to a male athlete competing in a girl’s track and field. These are not isolated incidents, they are repeated moments where female athletes like were directly affected by policies that ignore reality” Hogan said.
Speakers in support of trans athletes in girls’ sports, including a local trans student, also delivered speeches to the council members, that Lorey said went unaddressed.
Taylor Starling speaks at a “Save Girls Sports” rally in California (Courtesy of the California Family Council)
“This national focus to only brings extreme scrutiny and harm to these students,” the trans student said. “I myself was subject to extreme protest, sometimes hundreds of students protesting against me.”
ACLU of Southern California attorney Kristen Burzynski argued “sports should be for all kids,” at the meeting.
“This is not about fairness. It’s not about protecting girls. It’s about making life harder for young people who are already being pushed to the margins,” Burzynski said. “Transgender students are not trying to cheat or steal trophies. They just want to play with their friends.”
The day after the meeting, a prominent transgender athlete for Jurupa Valley High School won first place in the girls’ triple jump at the VS California Winter Championships. The athlete also won second place in the girls’ long jump.
Fox News Digital is not disclosing the name of the trans athlete in this specific story at the request of the athlete’s mother when we reached out for comment. However, previously the mother and athlete have spoken out publicly and the athlete’s name is widely reported and known.
News of the trans athlete’s victory quickly spread across social media.
Activists across the country have spoken out to further condemn California leadership for enabling such incidents to occur.
New York Times bestselling author Dr. Naomi Wolfe shared news of the incident on X, writing “I just can’t stand this anymore.”
Great Britain Olympic Medalist Sharron Davies wrote in response to the news on X, “Remember 95% of 15/16 boys world records are faster than elite female world records. This is just cheating.”
Former U.S. gymnast and XX-XY Athletics co-founder Jennifer Sey wrote, “How many girls has this one boy pushed off the podium?”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the CIF and Jurupa Unified School District for comment.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a podcast conversation with Charlie Kirk last March that he believed males competing in girls’ sports is “deeply unfair” but has not taken any action or even any verbal initiative to address the situation.
In September, Newsom’s office provided a statement to Fox News Digital in response to the complaints by athletes and parents, suggesting the responsibility falls on the CIF, CDE and state legislature, but not on him.
“CIF is an independent nonprofit that governs high school sports. The California Department of Education is a separate constitutional office. Neither is under the Governor’s authority. CIF and the CDE have stated they follow existing state law — a law that was passed in 2013 and signed by Governor Jerry Brown (not Newsom) and in line with 21 other states. For the law to change, the legislature would need to send the Governor a bill. They have not,” the statement read.
On April 1, the California state legislature blocked two bills that would reverse the current law which allows males in girls’ sports.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is slated to release an upcoming memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery,” Feb. 24, 2026. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Every Democrat voted against it, with Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur arguing that one of the bills “is really reminiscent to me of what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. We are moving towards autocracy in this country. In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life.”
Zbur said this while in the presence of a descendant of a holocaust survivor, who had to excuse herself from the chamber, according to Sanchez.
“She stood up and left because she was just so disgusted with the comparison,” Sanchez told Fox News Digital.
Newsom made no public statement at the time encouraging any of his fellow Democrats to support the bill. At that point, Newsom had already made his first public statements disputing the “fairness” of trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, in the first episode of his podcast after he was pressed on the issue by the late Charlie Kirk.
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Newsom’s office provided a transcript of an apparent exchange between him and a reporter on April 2, the day after the bills were blocked, in which the governor said he “didn’t pay any attention” to the bills. He added that he was preoccupied with Los Angeles wildfire recovery.
“Well, I didn’t pay any attention to the committee yesterday. I was, literally, spent most of the day talking about LA fire recovery with our teams. And progress is being made there, by the way, but we’re starting to run up into some of those ‘abundance’ conversations around permitting that’s already starting to take shape, where most of my focus was yesterday,” Newsom said when asked about the failed vote and the general issue of males in girls’ sports.
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced 19 new investigations into educational entities suspected of violating Title IX.
Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD) in Riverside, California was at the very top of investigations that ED announced on Jan. 14.
Meanwhile, one of the state’s largest public universities, San Jose State, was determined to have violated Title IX in its handling of transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming from 2022-24. SJSU receives the majority of its operating budget from state appropriation, with state funding accounting for approximately 52% of its total budget, per the university.
The university has an ultimatum to comply with a series of resolution terms, or it could face a loss of federal funding and a potential lawsuit itself.
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India concede late to lose 1-3 to Belgium in FIH Men’s Pro League 2025-26 | Other Sports News
India let in two goals in the final quarter to suffer a 1-3 defeat to Belgium in their Rourkela leg of the FIH Men’s Pro League 202526 match here on Wednesday.
Nelson Onana (23rd minute), Thomas Crols (53rd) and Arno Van Dessel (57th) scored for Belgium while Shilanand Lakra (29th) was the goal-scorer for India.
The two sides were locked 1-1 at the half time as well as at the end of the third quarter, before Belgium pumped in two goals in the final 15 minutes.
It was an extremely competitive first quarter with both sides hardly making any mistakes at the back.
Belgium earned an early penalty corner in the 4th minute. However, Alexander Hendrickx’s drag-flick was stopped heroically by India’s first rusher Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Four minutes later, India too got their first penalty corner but the home side couldn’t capitalise on the occasion.
While Belgium were having more possession, India did well to hold their ground and launch quick counter-attacks in search of goal-scoring opportunities.
In the 14th minute, Belgium won another penalty corner but this time Tom Boon’s powerful attempt went narrowly wide off the target as the scores remained level.
The game opened up in the second quarter. Belgium were awarded a penalty corner in the 21st minute but Indian goalkeeper Pawan made a brilliant acrobatic save to deny Alexander Hendrickx a goal.
Moments later, Belgium’s Thomas Crols was through on goal but Pawan stepped out and made another crucial save to protect his goal.
In the 23rd minute, Belgium found the opening goal as they did well to make an interception to win possession in a dangerous position. Thomas Crols passed the ball to Onana who found the net with a simple finish.
India stepped up their attack and made some crucial circle entries in the following minutes. In the 29th minute, the hosts made another attack and won a penalty corner. Amit Rohidas’s hit was initially stopped by the first rusher, but Shilanand Lakra did well to quickly pounce on the ball and slot it into the net to score the equaliser.
Belgium continued to dictate possession in the third quarter. However, India were resilient with their defending and maintained their composure at the back.
In the 38th minute, Belgium won another penalty corner but Alexander Hendrickx was denied yet again, this time by Jarmnapreet Singh, who showed great skill to make a save on the goalline to keep the scores level.
In the 53rd minute, India broke into another strong counter-attack as Nilakanta Sharma played a brilliant pass to Karthi Selvam but the forward couldn’t take a shot on goal in time and was stopped by the Belgian backline.
Seconds later on the other end of the field, Belgium launched an attack from the left flank as Lucas Balthazar played the perfect pass into the circle from the baseline to Thomas Crols, who struck the ball into the bottom right corner to take the lead for the visitors.
In the 57th minute, it was Thomas Crols again in the spotlight as he set up the ball for Arno Van Dessel who did well to sneak the ball into the net and seal the victory for Belgium.
This week’s 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am will see Rory McIlroy, in his season debut, taking on World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. But it will also feature a full field of amateur golfers sporting much higher handicaps than the Tour pros.
Golf-obsessed celebrities, star athletes, politicians and business executives will compete in a concurrent pro-am tournament alongside the pros. Fortunately, the PGA Tour has provided handicaps for all amateur participants, giving us an insight into just how good these stars are at golf.
Here’s what you need to know.
Notable celeb handicaps at Pebble Beach Pro-Am
While there are no true hackers in the Pebble Pro-Am field this week, handicaps run the gamut from 0 to 18. There are a whopping 11 amateurs with an 11-handicap.
But first, let’s start with the scratch players. Three amateurs are sporting 0-handicaps at Pebble Beach this week: Brian Ferris, Johno Harris and Chris Solomon.
There’s only one entrant holding a 1-handicap, country music star Jake Owen, but he carries more star power than the trio of scratch golfers.
Rory McIlroy spikes ‘fifth major’ movement, makes surprising NFL admission
;)
Prominent business executives dominate the best handicaps at the pro-am, so we have to jump further down the list for our next celebrity. That would be former NFL quarterback Alex Smith, who will play with a 7-handicap this week.
NFL star Travis Kelce is also in the field, and he’s rocking a 10-handicap, the same as former NBA star Pau Gasol. NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young will play to a 13.
Two major politicians are also in the field. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a 10-handicap, is playing this week, as is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rice, a 13-handicap, is a member of Augusta National.
Check out the full list of amateur participants at the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, along with their handicaps, below.
2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am amateur handicaps: Full list
Brian Ferris (0)
Johno Harris (0)
Chris Solomon (0)
Jake Owen (1)
David Abeles (2)
Ted Fike (2)
Ryan Smith (2)
Thomas Laffont (3)
Charlie Allen (4)
Pat Battle (4)
Stu Francis (4)
Kris Galashan (4)
Dan Rose (4)
Ernesto Bertarelli (5)
Murray Demo (5)
Jimmy Dunne (5)
Doug Mackenzie (5)
Stephen Reyes (5)
Jeff Rhodes (5)
Ping Duan (6)
David Hudson (6)
Charles Kelley (6)
Derek Larson (6)
Nathaniel Taylor (6)
Jerry Yang (6)
Julie Frist (7)
Philippe Laffont (7)
Phillip McCrorie (7)
Fred Perpall (7)
Hank Plain (7)
Jamie Sahara (7)
Alex Smith (7)
Barry Sternlicht (7)
Bryce Currie (8)
Donald Harrison (8)
Annesley MacFarlane (8)
Pat Monahan (8)
Shantanu Narayen (8)
Tom Nelson (8)
Paul Salem (8)
Geoff Yang (8)
Nikesh Arora (9)
Egon Durban (9)
Lee Styslinger III (9)
Andrew Wilson (9)
Ron DeSantis (10)
Pau Gasol (10)
Patrick Hamill (10)
Travis Kelce (10)
Todd Wagner (10)
Harris Barton (11)
Edward Herlihy (11)
Matt Horner (11)
Greg Johnson (11)
Rob Light (11)
Anthony Noto (11)
Greg Penner (11)
Chris Reyes (11)
George Roberts (11)
Bill Rogers (11)
David Solomon (11)
Kelly Grier (12)
Joe Kernen (12)
Jin Roy Ryu (12)
Jerry Tarde (12)
Heidi Ueberroth (12)
BJ Jenkins (13)
Mary Meeker (13)
Condoleezza Rice (13)
Steve Young (13)
Jeff Paraschac (14)
Greg Henslee (15)
Robert Isom (15)
Bob Sternfels (15)
Chuck Schwab (16)
Michael Xie (16)
David Kohler (17)
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David Beam (18)
Guru Gowrappan (18)
The Minnesota Vikings featured a pretty scanty cornerback room in 2025, consisting of Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, Jeff Okudah, and Fabian Moreau, getting away with it as Brian Flores’s group finished the season ranked No. 3 in defensive efficiency. Now, with free agency 26 days away, CBS Sports‘ Ryan Wilson believes the group could add another prominent name: Kansas City Chiefs corner Jaylen Watson.
Watson fits the Vikings’ free-agent radar as Flores seeks steadier cornerback play in 2026.
Watson will hit the open market in March if the Chiefs don’t re-sign him, and there’s a small chance that Minnesota takes the plunge.
Jaylen Watson Could Fit Brian Flores’ Cornerback Blueprint
After the Vikings clear cap space, defensive backs could be in their purview for free agency.
Ryan Wilson: Watch for Vikings in Jaylen Watson Sweepstakes
Wilson took to CBS Sports airwaves this week, outlining ideal landing spots for some of the league’s top free agents.
For Watson, he said, “I love the idea of Brian Flores getting his hands on Jaylen Watson in Minnesota. There will be competition, and that will only drive his price up.”
Kansas City drafted Watson in 2022 from Round 7, and he’s blossomed into a true success story. Money is tight, though, for the Chiefs, and they may not have that cash to offer him a second contract.
The Stats for Watson
Playing for the Chiefs in four seasons, Watson has accrued 53 games while starting 29. In 2025, he became a full-time starter, logging 15 inside Kansas City’s first down year in eons. Here’s Watson’s passer-rating-against resume:
2025: 79.0
2024: 75.4
2023: 103.6
2022: 103.9
The man also played 868 snaps in 2025, the mark of a dependable defender. He’s also tall at 6’2″ and 200 pounds.
Watson’s Pro Football Focus history:
2025: 74.1
2024: 69.6
2023: 68.5
2022: 61.2
Chiefs analysts don’t expect Watson back in 2026. Arrowhead Addict‘s Braden Holecek opined last week, “Like many defensive backs, the Chiefs are unlikely to offer Watson a second contract. He has been a valuable asset to their defense, but with several other roster holes, limited salary cap space, and a history of addressing the cornerback position through smaller moves, it’s likely that Watson will be paid handsomely elsewhere.”
“Of course, that could change depending on the team’s approach to Trent McDuffie’s future. There should be a healthy mix of contenders and rebuilding teams showing interest in Watson.”
The Contractual Price
If the Vikings are interested in Watson — many teams will pursue him — the price is right between affordable and expensive.
Spotrac projects his next contract to pull down $12.5 million per year, meaning a deal for three years and $38 million likely awaits him on the open market. Per the statistics mentioned above, Minnesota or any other team would get a true bang for their buck.
For now, the Vikings’ salary cap situation is messy, starting the offseason about $40 million in the red. Once they release a few players and restructure some veterans’ contracts, players like Watson can become fair game.
Watson’s isn’t as young as one might expect for a 2022 draftee; he’ll turn 28 in the fall.
Los Angeles Rams-themed media seems to believe Watson could end up on Sean McVay’s team. Turf Show Times‘ Evan Craig wrote last week, “Watson will be a hot commodity in free agency this offseason and is likely to sign a rich deal with whichever team is interested. He has undoubtedly priced himself out of K.C., who probably won’t miss him much, given their recent history of replacing important pieces at CB without skipping a beat.”
“If Matthew Stafford does return in 2026, the Rams’ front office must do everything possible to maximize the roster around him. Los Angeles hasn’t quite made a blockbuster move to put the team over the top in several seasons. Now is the time to (reasonably) break the bank and take advantage of the rest of Stafford’s career.”
The Rams fell one step short of the Super Bowl last season, losing to the eventual champion Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship.
Craig concluded, “Adding Watson to the mix would be essential to the defense, as the cornerback position has been a problem area for years. The Chiefs’ retooling this offseason could be a godsend for the Rams if they opt not to re-sign the Washington State product.”
Alternatives if Not Watson
Suppose the Vikings wish to add another cornerback, but Watson doesn’t tickle their fancy. Several alternatives will be available, whether in free agency or the draft. The list might look like this:
- Montaric Brown (JAX)
- Brandon Cisse (Rookie, South Carolina)
- Mansoor Delane (Rookie, LSU)
- Cordale Flott (NYG)
- Colton Hood (Rookie, Tennessee)
- Jermod McCoy (Rookie, Tennessee)
- Greg Newsome II (JAX)
- Alontae Taylor (NO)
- Aveion Terrell (Rookie, Clemson)
- Tariq Woolen (SEA)
That list represents players who could reasonably start Week 1 alongside Murphy Jr. and Rodgers.
Watson is most known for size and length, which could fit in well inside Flores’s defense.
Match Details
Fixture: (1) Alex De Minaur vs Stan Wawrinka
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Date: February 12, 2026
Tournament: Rotterdam Open
Round: Second Round (Round of 16)
Venue: Rotterdam Ahoy, Netherlands
Category: ATP 500
Surface: Hard (Indoor)
Prize Money: $2,931,612
Live Telecast: USA – Tennis Channel | UK – Sky Sports | Canada – TSN
Alex De Minaur vs Stan Wawrinka preview
Alex De Minaur will take on Stan Wawrinka in the second round of the Rotterdam Open.
De Minaur has made a good start to the season. After a quarterfinal exit in the United Cup, he reached the last eight of the Australian Open in Melbourne. The 26-year-old defeated Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Bublik in the initial few rounds, but lost to Carlos Alcaraz, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.
The Australian started his campaign in Rotterdam by cruising past Arthur Fils in the first round. He defeated the Frenchman in straight sets, 7-6(3), 6-2. De Minaur is the top seed this year and will be expected to make a deep run.
Meanwhile, Stan Wawrinka has made an amazing start to the new calendar year. Apart from a runner-up finish in the United Cup, he also reached the third round in Melbourne. The Swiss star defeated Laslo Djere and Arthur Gea, but lost to Taylor Fritz in four sets.
Wawrinka entered Rotterdam after a second-round exit in Montpellier. He started his campaign with a confident win against Thijs Boogaard, 6-3, 6-4. The 40-year-old won 90% of his first serve points and saved three break points in the previous encounter.
Alex De Minaur vs Stan Wawrinka head-to-head
De Minaur leads the head-to-head against Wawrinka 1-0. He defeated the Swiss veteran at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters.
Alex De Minaur vs Stan Wawrinka odds
BetMGM sources all the odds. (To be updated)
Alex De Minaur vs Stan Wawrinka prediction
De Minaur has secured runner-up finishes in Rotterdam consecutively for the last two years. He lost to Jannik Sinner in 2024 and Carlos Alcaraz in 2025. The Australian will be eager to achieve success this time around.
Meanwhile, Wawrinka is competing in Rotterdam for the last time in his career. He won the event in 2015 and also secured a runner-up finish in 2019. The Swiss star will be determined to go out on a high.
De Minaur will bring his exceptional court coverage and shot-making ability to the fore. Meanwhile, Wawrinka will rely on his serve, tactical acumen, and fighting spirit on the court.
Considering their recent results and match intensity in the last few months, De Minaur should be able to solve this round. He’ll be up against one of the best timers of the tennis ball, but should be able to stamp his authority and come out on top.
Pick: De Minaur to win in straight sets.
Alex De Minaur vs Stan Wawrinka betting tips
Tip 1: Match to have fewer than 20 games.
Tip 2: Wawrinka to save more than five break points.
Edited by Aman Mohamed
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