MIRAMAR BEACH, Florida — Greg Sankey arrived at the SEC’s spring meetings Monday with a message for anyone expecting a breakthrough on the College Football Playoff: the SEC has time, and it intends to use it.
Every other power conference has picked a side on whether to expand the CFP from 12 to 24 teams. The SEC might be filled with varying opinions, but the conference’s leadership is still thinking.
“I do not anticipate any decisions on the College Football Playoff — just so we’re clear, so we can tamp that down,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday evening, the day before the conference’s annual spring meetings were set to begin in Florida. “We have time. We’ll have informed discussion.”
That means the biggest story hovering over the sport will likely stretch into at least June, as the SEC remains the lone power conference not yet to publicly support expanding the format from 12 teams to 24 as early as the 2027-28 season. The SEC has long resisted expansion beyond 16 teams, but several athletic directors and coaches have expressed interest in renewing discussions initially sparked by the Big Ten last fall.
What is expected behind closed doors in a beachside resort in the Florida Panhandle is a wide range of opinions. CFP executive Rich Clark will present to coaches and athletic directors on Tuesday, covering the current 12-team format and selection process — a point of contention a year ago — before walking through the pros and cons of expansion.
Sankey pushed back on the cost of expanding to 24 teams, specifically the prospect of eliminating conference championship games to clear calendar space for a December playoff start.
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The CFP’s executives — 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame‘s athletics director — are not scheduled to meet until June.
Sankey has publicly supported expansion, but he offered last week that he prefers 16 teams. He reiterated Monday, however, that a decision from the SEC is tied to the coaches, athletic directors and presidents.
“I’ve never said, even last year, that we’re opposed to some number other than 14. I’ve told my colleagues that,” Sankey said. “I’m not an opponent of 24 or 28. We have to inform the decision-making. I think we did a good job informing our position last year on 16. We’ll consider other ideas, certainly, this week and moving forward.”
Sankey shared Monday that the SEC has studied expansion and how a 24-team playoff could affect the regular season, a point of debate among the sport’s leadership. He pointed to Oklahoma‘s upset of Tennessee on Nov. 1 as an example, a signature win that propelled the Sooners into the CFP.
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Would it carry the same weight in a 24-team field? Might teams with spots already secured sit starters late in the season?
“When you start to quantify, you look at a certain number,” he said. “What are games that may have mattered in a smaller number under the scarcity principles of 12? All of those games are high-leverage games for Oklahoma. Where you go to 24, and maybe one or two of those games don’t matter in the same way.
“Rivalry games will matter, I would argue. But, hey, if you’ve got somebody that needs to rest (at the end of the regular season) because they’re in at 24, those are things that we want to try to understand. I think you can quantify that because we’ve done some of that work for our own purposes.”
Most of Sankey’s 40-minute session with reporters focused on the CFP and governance. While discussing the CFP debate, he reflected several times on his 2020 work with a CFP subcommittee that explored expanding beyond a four-team field. The committee consisted of three commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, and it studied playoff models for five-, six-, eight-, 12-, 16-, 32-, and 64-team formats. They landed on 12.
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He said that experience can still inform the future, even as the portal, NIL and revenue-sharing have fundamentally reshaped the sport and its prominent issues.
“There was never one variable that was, ‘We’re going to expand just because of this,’” Sankey said. “That was never in there. There were a set of issues that were part of the presentations that informed the decision-making.”
SEC coaches and athletic directors enter this week split on the CFP format, according to a CBS Sports survey conducted last week. At least three athletic directors and three head coaches prefer a 24-team playoff, and seven ADs and seven coaches expressed they are at least open to discussing an expansion to 24, including an outdated proposal discussed last year between the Big Ten and SEC to move to 16 with a commitment to expand to 24 within three years.
While compromise might be on the table among the SEC contingent, a 16-team playoff appears to be a no-go for the Big Ten. Big Ten athletic directors and coaches unanimously supported 24 at its annual meetings last week. The ACC and Big 12 voiced their support for the Big Ten’s model earlier this month.
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“We’ve had zero conversation about 16,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said after the conference’s annual meetings outside Los Angeles. “Plan B is what we have now (12 teams), what we negotiated … we would stay with what we have.”
The coaches themselves have also weighed in.
Earlier this month, the American Football Coaches Association formally recommended expanding the playoff field to its maximum. Their proposal was tied to tightening the postseason calendar so it doesn’t conflict with the transfer portal in January, while also allowing a uniform season start date in late August — a spot historically labeled Week 0.
The latest 24-team format proposed includes only one automatic qualifier spot reserved for the highest-ranked Group of Six champion. The remaining 23 teams would be seeded based on the Selection Committee’s rankings, a point of contention among SEC schools since last spring, when the conference demanded tweaks to the committee’s strength-of-schedule metrics.
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The Big Ten and SEC hold decision-making power to change the CFP format, though they must consider the opinions of the other FBS conferences and Notre Dame before making a final decision. If the two conferences are unable to commit to a shared vision, the playoff will remain at 12 teams.
The deadline for a decision from the CFP’s executives is Dec. 1.
Belgium and Egypt drew 1-1 in their World Cup opener on Monday after a second-half Belgian equalizer spoiled Mohamed Salah‘s 34th birthday.
Emam Ashour opened the scoring early in the first half in Seattle, before Romelu Lukaku came off the bench after the hour to force Egypt’s Mohamed Hany into an own goal.
The draw leaves both teams level at the top of Group G, ahead of the match between Iran and New Zealand.
The result means seven-time Africa Cup of Nations champions Egypt’s wait for a first victory at a World Cup goes on.
This is their fourth participation in the global showpiece and with fixtures to come against Iran and New Zealand, they will hope to break that hoodoo in North America.
For Belgium, this tournament is likely the last chance for the remnants of their golden generation to better their third-placed finish in Russia eight years ago and finally win silverware.
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Veterans Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Lukaku are the main protagonists of that group still involved in Rudi Garcia’s squad.
Ashour’s belter
With all eyes in the Pacific Northwest on Salah and De Bruyne, it was the ex-Manchester City playmaker that created the first moment of note in the match when he dragged a sharp effort narrowly wide in the seventh minute.
However, it was Ashour who upstaged the pair just before the hydration break when he received the ball in a similar position to De Bruyne but his sweetly-struck effort left Courtois no chance as it whistled into the bottom-right corner.
It was just the second time in their history that Egypt had taken the lead in a World Cup match — after Salah opened the scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in 2018.
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De Bruyne came within inches of levelling early in the second period when he whipped a close-range free-kick over the Egyptian wall, only to see it rocket off the outside of the post.
Salah responded at the other end as he ghosted into the box but had his downward header punched away by Courtois with Ashour getting his follow-up effort all wrong.
The match became stretched as both sides came close on a couple of occasions, including a screaming left-footed volley by Belgian captain Youri Tielemans.
With 65 minutes gone, Rudi Garcia decided to send on Lukaku.
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The change immediately paid dividends as Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer showed his predatory instincts to dash in on a Thomas Meunier cross, with his presence enough to destabilize Hany who put through his own net.
Salah departed the field with 15 minutes remaining as Egypt sought to shut up shop and ultimately held out for a point.
For at least one golfer at this week’s U.S. Open, just making it into the field is a massive win.
Because the last time J.B. Holmes played a major championship round, it was an abject disaster.
It’s worth spelling out the details of just how miserable things were that day, just how sour the major-championship taste left in his mouth, to understand why booking a tee time this week — at Shinnecock Hills, in the big, bad U.S. Open — is so cool and meaningful.
To that round, then. It was Sunday of the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, and Holmes teed it up with a real chance to win. He entered Sunday solo third, six shots off the pace of leader Shane Lowry, set to go in the penultimate pairing alongside World No. 1 Brooks Koepka.
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“It’s tough to finish off a major. It’s a tough test,” Holmes said after that third round. “So we’ll see what [Lowry] does tomorrow and I can go out and hopefully put up the number and give him something to look at.”
Even though he was past the Ryder Cup form of his earlier career (Holmes was part of the 2008 U.S. team that dominated at Valhalla), there was reason to believe that Holmes could be a problem in contention. He’d closed out the star-studded Genesis Open earlier that year, his fifth PGA Tour win. And he’d been a mainstay on Tour for more than a decade, persevering through multiple brain surgeries and a slew of complications.
This was just the latest in a winding trail for Holmes, whose background was the stuff of tall tales: Growing up in Campbellsville, Ky., he made the Taylor County High School golf team as an eight-year-old third-grader.
“I lettered for 10 years,” he said in an interview at Portrush. “I don’t know if that’s a record.”
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And now he was on the brink of a breakthrough.
Can you tell which high school golfer is eight-year-old J.B. Holmes?
Instead, though, Holmes’ number to look at became noteworthy for an entirely different reason. He hit his final-round opening tee shot out of bounds, leading to a double, and things only got worse from there. As Portrush was battered with wind and rain, Holmes stacked up six bogeys, four doubles and a triple against just a single birdie, shooting 41 on the front nine and 46 on the back nine and signing for 87, the worst round of the day by seven. He plummeted from third to T67, costing himself hundreds of thousands of dollars and valuable ranking points in the process.
Holmes didn’t speak to reporters post-round, which was understandable but left his only post-mortem to Koepka, who was on a slow-play crusade at the time and spent the day frustrated by Holmes’ sluggish pace. (In his defense, it’s tough to shoot 87 with any real speed.)
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“It’s not that he takes that long. He doesn’t do anything until his turn. That’s the frustrating part. But he’s not the only one that does it out here,” Koepka said before adding the ultimate backhanded compliment: “It was slow, but it wasn’t that bad for his usual pace. I thought it was relatively quick for what he usually does.”
So that’s how we eulogized Holmes’ big chance: as a slow, expensive sideshow. But the worst thing about Holmes’ no-good, very-bad Sunday is that he never got a chance at redemption. One of the beautiful things about competitive golf is that there’s always another tournament where you start at even par, blank scorecard in your pocket — but Holmes never got another. After playing 20 majors between 2014 and 2019, his world ranking slipped as he fought injuries and poor form. That major round appeared destined to be his last.
Until now.
That’s because last week Holmes, now 44, made it through Final Qualifying at The Lakes Golf and Country Club in Ohio, surviving a four-for-three playoff to advance to what will be his 10th U.S. Open.
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The start will be his first on the PGA Tour — or any tour, as far as I can tell — since July of last year, when he missed the cut at the ISCO in his home state of Kentucky. He made 21 starts on Tour from 2021-2024 and made just three cuts. It’s been more than six years since his last top 20. In other words, there shouldn’t really be any expectations for Holmes.
So what has he been up to? Our best clues come from his press conference at last year’s ISCO.
“Mostly been hanging out with the boys, my two little boys and just being dad,” he said, referring to his three- and seven-year-old sons, Beckett and Tucker. “It’s not necessarily the golf part of it, it’s more of I don’t want to not be there for them. They’re only kids once, they’re learning a whole lot at this age and I want to be there for that and try to raise good human beings.”
But his sons will no doubt be proud of their dad who, 20 years after his rookie PGA Tour season, will tee it up at his national championship.
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It’s not that he has to go low. Defining success solely by his scores at Shinnecock Hills — a famously brutish U.S. Open site — would miss the point. Holmes is a mega longshot even to make the cut. We don’t know what to expect from his golf game. He probably doesn’t either.
But we know he’s already earned a dose of redemption. He’s earned the right to make more major memories.
And if you’re teaching your kids life lessons, perseverance seems like a worthy one to show them firsthand.
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha has explained why he was overcome with emotion after his heroic performance against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The 40-year-old goalkeeper was named Man of the Match after producing seven saves to help Cape Verde secure a historic 0-0 draw against the European champions in their first-ever World Cup match.
Speaking after the game, Vozinha revealed that his tears were not only about football but also about family.
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“I cried after the game because I grew up with my grandparents when I was a kid, and they could not be there. They passed away a few years ago. My mum could not be here either for a visa issue, and the money we had to pay for it. We did not manage to do this in time,” he said.
Vozinha’s emotional story touched football fans around the world after his outstanding display against one of the tournament favourites.
Making his World Cup debut at the age of 40, the veteran goalkeeper stood firm as Spain dominated possession and created several scoring opportunities. However, Cape Verde’s captain refused to be beaten, making seven important saves and keeping a clean sheet.
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His performance helped Cape Verde earn a famous point in Group H and marked a dream start to the country’s first appearance at the World Cup.
The small island nation, with a population of just over 500,000 people, showed great determination and discipline throughout the match to frustrate the Spanish side.
While Spain will be disappointed not to have taken all three points, the night belonged to Vozinha, whose journey from dreaming of the World Cup to becoming a national hero captured the hearts of football fans.
The final whistle brought tears of joy and emotion for the goalkeeper, who was thinking about the family members who helped shape his life but were unable to witness the biggest moment of his career.
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For Vozinha and Cape Verde, the historic draw against Spain is a result that will be remembered for many years to come.
Spain were left shell-shocked after being held to a frustrating stalemate by Cape Verde in their 2026 FIFA World Cup clash. The two sides faced each other in Group H at the Atlanta Stadium on Monday, June 15.
La Roja dominated possession throughout the game but had very little to show for it. Cape Verde valiantly defended across the 90 minutes, with 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha making multiple saves to keep his side in the game. Ferran Torres’ effort struck the woodwork towards the end of the first half, but the Spaniards failed to be clinical going forward, ensuring that Cape Verde sealed a historic point.
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Without further ado, let’s take a look at five talking points from the FIFA World Cup clash:
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#5 Spain dominated possession but were uninspiring going forward
Spain came into the game as the favorites to secure all three points and demonstrated excellent control of the ball, garnering a possession rate of 74 percent compared to Cape Verde’s 26 percent. The former also completed a mammoth total of 734 passes (92 percent accuracy), while the Blue Sharks completed only 205 passes with an accuracy of 73 percent.
However, Luis de la Fuente and Co. were unable to break down Cape Verde’s low block, only landing seven shots on target from an attempted 27 (xG of 2.29). They also missed both their big chances and will need to be more clinical going forward in the FIFA World Cup to avoid similar upsets.
#4 Cape Verde’s game plan worked to a tee
After qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their nation’s history, Cape Verde were undoubtedly the underdogs heading into their clash against La Roja. However, Bubista’s tactics worked to a tee as Spain were unable to break down the former’s stubborn defense.
Cape Verde’s backline were at their very best, with Vozinha making seven saves to keep his side in the game. Moreover, centre-backs Roberto Lopes and Diney Borges were outstanding and made multiple clearances, recoveries, and interceptions each, ensuring their nation picked up their first-ever FIFA World Cup point.
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#3 De La Fuente’s decision not to risk Yamal and Williams backfired
Spain superstars Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams were both nursing hamstring injuries heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Despite recovering and rejoining team training this week, La Roja boss Luis de la Fuente indicated both wingers would play limited roles against Cape Verde.
This backfired as Spain looked underwhelming going forward without Yamal and Williams. However, upon Yamal’s introduction in the 71st minute, La Roja were rejuvenated as the 18-year-old was a constant threat down the right wing. Meanwhile, Williams was subbed on in the 87th minute for a short cameo.
However, both stars didn’t have enough time to help the Spaniards break the deadlock. Had they started the FIFA World Cup match, De la Fuente’s men could have potentially walked away with all three points.
#2 Ferran Torres and Mikel Oyarzabal struggled to make an impact
In Yamal and Williams’ absence, Ferran Torres and Mikel Oyarzabal were included in the starting XI. However, both forwards struggled to make an impact, which resulted in Spain being held to a stalemate.
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Torres hit the woodwork, despite being five yards out from goal in the 41st minute, before Oyarzabal was unable to convert the follow-up. The former missed one big chance, completed none of his two dribbles, lost eight duels, and delivered none of his four crosses.
Oyarzabal also became the first footballer on record since 1966 to play the first 30 minutes of a FIFA World Cup match without making a single touch.
#1 Spain can’t afford to slip up further in FIFA World Cup
Following their stalemate against 67th-ranked Cape Verde, Spain are currently at the top of Group H with one point. However, with Saudi Arabia and Uruguay also in their group, La Roja cannot afford to drop points again going forward in the FIFA World Cup.
They will aim to bounce back in their next fixture against Saudi Arabia on June 21.
Rosedale Cemetery, in the working-class New Jersey suburb of Linden, not far from New York City, houses a gravesite unlike any other: a 36-ton, life-size granite replica of a 1981 Mercedes-Benz 240D. The hulking monument marks the resting place of Raymond Tse, a car-lover who was only 15 when he died in 1983. Tse’s older brother, David, commissioned the Mercedes, complete with Ray’s name on the license plates, for a reported fee of $250,000, and had it installed behind the mausoleum where Ray is interred.
Not all the graves at Rosedale are so conspicuous. When John Matthew Shippen Jr. was buried there in 1966, he was commemorated only by a slab of concrete demarcated by a number. No name, no birth or death year, no acknowledgment of Shippen’s deeply important place in golf history. Just a random numeral — 70 — assigned by the cemetery’s record-keepers.
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IF YOU’RE UNFAMILIAR with Shippen, that’s kind of the point. For decades, he was the trailblazing golfer who time forgot — but who is certain to get some shine this week. That’s because the U.S. Open is for the sixth time returning to Shinnecock Hills Golf Club (est. 1891) on Long Island’s East End. In the first of those editions, in 1896, Shippen, then a 16-year-old assistant professional at Shinnecock, represented his club in a 35-player field made up largely of Scottish and English pros. Shippen’s youthfulness was not what made his appearance in the second-ever U.S. Open notable — his race was.
Shippen was born in Washington, D.C., in 1879 to a Shinnecock Indian mother and Black father. When John was 9, his father, John Sr., a Presbyterian minister and former slave, moved the family to the Southhampton, N.Y., area after he’d been assigned a ministry on the Shinnecock Indian Nation.
John Jr. began caddying at Shinnecock Hills, a course he’d helped build as a member of the crew that cleared the land. He was a fast study and a fine player. By 16, he had ascended to an assistant-pro role and soon after found himself in the field at the 1896 U.S Open, aided by Shinnecock members who covered his entry fee. Playing alongside Shippen was another trailblazer with the Shinnecock membership’s backing: Oscar Bunn, a Shinnecock Indian who, like Shippen, caddied at the club and developed an aptitude for the game.
John Shippen in 1913.
getty images
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Shippen and Bunn would become the first Black and Native American golfers, respectively, to play in a U.S. Open, though their starts didn’t come without resistance. When the other pros in the field learned that golfers of color would be competing, they threatened to boycott the championship. USGA president Theodore Havemeyer didn’t blink, proclaiming the event would proceed even if only two players remained on the tee sheet. The protesting pros stood down, and on July 18 the competitors dug in for the one-day, 36-hole contest.
In the morning round, Shippen shot 78 on the 4,400-yard setup, good enough for a six-way share of first at the midway point. His stellar play continued in the afternoon … until it didn’t. On the short par-4 13th — the same hole on which Phil Mickelson would melt down 122 years later, in the 2018 U.S. Open — Shippen missed right onto a sandy path. Things got uglier from there. Years later, Shippen, as quoted in Pete McDaniel’s “Uneven Lies: The Heroic Story on African-Americans in Golf,” said, “I kept hitting the ball along the road, unable to lift it out of the sand and wound up with an unbelievable 11 for the hole. You know, I’ve wished a hundred times I could have played that little par-4 again.”
An 11. Seven over.
It’s silly to play the what-if game in golf, but, in this case, hard to resist. Shippen signed for an 81 in the second round to finish at 159, seven behind the winner, Scottish pro James Foulis. If Shippen had made par at 13 instead of a mess, who knows — today he might have his own wing at the World Golf Hall of Fame.
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***
SHIPPEN WASN’T ONLY the first Black club professional but also the first American-born club pro, period. He played in five more U.S. Opens, his last in 1913, when another longshot, Francis Ouimet, famously prevailed at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. It would be another 35 years before another Black golfer would play in a U.S. Open (Ted Rhodes, 1948, Rivera); another 46 years before a Black golfer would make a cut at the U.S. Open (Charlie Sifford, 1959, Winged Foot); and another 87 years before a Black golfer would win a U.S. Open (Tiger Woods, 2000, Pebble Beach).
Soon after Shippen’s U.S. Open debut at Shinnecock Hills, he landed the head-pro role at the Maidstone Club, just east of Shinnecock, before transitioning into the same job at Aronimink, the Philadelphia-area club that hosted the PGA Championship earlier this year. In 1924, Shippen took another head-pro post, settling into a club at which he would spend the bulk of his career: Shady Rest Country Club in Scotch Plains, N.J., where he taught golf and built clubs for 36 years.
Shady Rest, which opened three years before Shippen came aboard, was the first Black-owned country club in the U.S. The property offered nine holes of golf cut into a hillside and so much more: horseback riding, croquet, skeet shooting, a baseball diamond and tennis courts, where greats Althea Gibson and Ora Washington honed their games.
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Shady Rest, which opened three years before Shippen came aboard, was the first Black-owned country club in the U.S.
Shady Rest also had a lively social scene and was a popular venue for many top Black musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. Shippen, who lived on the second floor of Shady Rest’s clubhouse, was central to the club’s growth, as a manager, steward and ambassador. He never lost confidence in his game, either, challenging any comers a dollar that they couldn’t outdrive him. Few could.
Shippen lived to 88, spending his final days at a Newark nursing home, apparently with little savings. He was buried about 10 miles south, at Rosedale Cemetery, beneath an unmarked gravestone, which would remain unmarked for the next 29 years. It’s hard to fathom such an important figure in the game’s history resting in anonymity, but such was Shippen’s fate. The nondescript grave was symbolic of a larger injustice: the golf world’s general lack of recognition of Shippen’s accomplishments and contributions.
That began to change on Feb. 14, 1991, when the Newark Star-Ledger published an article by sportswriter Jerry Izenberg that detailed Shippen’s story and unheralded place in history.
“Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since his death,” Izenberg wrote, “but the life and times of John Shippen shamefully remains a patch of rarely recalled history. This comes to mind this morning because school systems everywhere are celebrating Black History Month but, in the town, where John Shippen died in 1968 nobody speaks his name, and no historical plaque marks his passing. Maybe there are too many other heroes whose stories are easier to tell or maybe there are times when it is simpler to create ersatz ones. It takes a little work to piece together his remarkable story.”
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Scotch Plains residents Ruby and Thurman Simmons were prepared to do that work. When the Simmons were tipped off to Izenberg’s piece by a history professor of Ruby’s, honoring Shippen’s legacy became their calling. By this point, the course was owned and operated by the town of Scotch Plains and had been renamed Scotch Hills Country Club. The Simmons presented Shippen and Shady Rest’s stories to the city council and began a years-long lobbying campaign that resulted in an annual tournament, youth academy and foundation, all in Shippen’s name.
In 2015, the clubhouse underwent a $1.1 million restoration. In 2019, the township dedicated a room in the clubhouse to Shippen’s memory, filled with memorabilia, artifacts and news clippings. In 2021, the course was rechristened again, returning to its original name. “It is time, in my opinion, to right a wrong,” Scotch Plains Mayor Josh Losardo said at the time. The following year, the National Park Service granted Shady Rest a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Shippen’s resting place also got the respect it deserved.
Shady Rest’s restored clubhouse……and the room commemorating John Shippen.
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***
IN THE EARLY DAYS of Thurman and Ruby Simmons’s quest to commemorate Shippen, Thurman couldn’t get past Shippen’s unremarkable burial site. “The haunting image of an unmarked grave at Rosedale Cemetery lingered in his mind, a stark reminder of Shippen’s forgotten history,” Ruby wrote in “A Golf Legend,” her and Thurman’s 2024 memoir of her and her husband’s pursuits.
Yet another wrong that needed to be righted, and Thurman dedicated himself to the cause.
“I thought I’m gonna do some research and try and find out where he is,” Thurman told me in a phone interview the other day; he’s 82 now and said he tires quickly. But over a 25-minute conversation, it was clear his passion for honoring Shippen has not waned.
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That research, over weeks, led Thurman to an old friend who owned a funeral home. As luck would have it, the home had Shippen’s resting place in its records.
“So I went to the cemetery and I asked in the office, where is John Shippen located?” Thurman continued. “They said, ‘Well, he’s over in this area called Sunny something.’”
That would be Sunnyside, a plot with hundreds, if not thousands, of graves on the northwest side of the 125-acre property. “So I went over there and walked the whole area for about an hour or so,” Thurman recalled. “Finally, I found a slab of concrete, and there was a number, 70.”
Shippen’s number. Thurman had found him.
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Ruby’s recounting of her husband’s discovery offers more color. Again, from the couple’s memoir: “As he returned home, bursting through the door, he shouted to me: ‘I found the marker!’ The words hung in the air, resonating with the weight of the journey, and the significance of the revelation. Shippen, once lost in obscurity, now had a marker, a beacon to guide future generations to the remarkable story of the first American-born golf pro.”
Thurman took his find to the township, along with an ask to properly commemorate Shippen with a tombstone. “I went back to my committee, and I told them what I did,” Thurman said. “And they said, ‘Why do you want to do that?’ I said, ‘Because John Shippen did what he did over 100 years ago. He should be recognized in the world of golf. They hemmed and hawed, and they finally okayed it. It cost $800 to put the tombstone there. And that was it.”
You can visit the site. Shippen’s light-gray granite headstone stands about 3 feet tall, just to the right of a cedar tree and a stretch of unmarked graves. His stone reads:
JOHN SHIPPEN 1879 — 1968
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THE FIRST AMERICAN BORN AFRICAN-AMERICAN GOLF PROFESSIONAL
GOLF PRO SHADY REST COUNTRY CLUB 1924 — 1960
In the bottom righthand corner, in smaller type, are a letter and three numbers that signify the grave’s location but also serve as a reminder of its formerly unidentified status: S-4-12-70.
Shippen’s headstone at Rosedale Cemetery.
Alan Bastable
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Thurman said he was satisfied with the headstone. He also takes great pride in all that he and Ruby have been able to do to honor Shippen’s legacy. But, he said, so much more still needs to be done. A college event called The John Shippen has been awarding a PGA Tour and LPGA exemption since its 2021 founding, but Thurman would like to see a professional event in Shippen’s name that annually moves from state to state. He’d like to see a Shippen statue installed in front of the Shady Rest clubhouse. And generally, he’d like to hear Shippen’s name mentioned more frequently alongside the game’s other Black pioneers.
“It’s a shame that the golf world still don’t know who Shippen was,” Thurman said. “People who teach young kids about golf only talk about Tiger Woods, Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, Mr. [Pete] Brown — they don’t talk about Shippen. … I watch golf on TV a lot. They don’t hardly mention that man’s name. They mention everybody else.”
That will not be the case this week as the U.S. Open returns to Shippen’s old stomping grounds. Shippen look-backs, like the one you’re reading, will be published by many media outlets. But one week of attention, Thurman will tell you, cannot make up for decades of neglect.
“We wanted to correct this here wrong,” Thurman said of his and his wife’s mission to shine a light on Shippen. “The man should get his due for what he did.”
Tiny Cape Verde pulled off a stunning result in its World Cup debut, shutting out heavily favored Spain. An impressive performance by 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha helped Cape Verde play one of the favorites to win the tournament to a surprising 0-0 draw. The final score is the biggest shock of the tournament so far, with Spain a -1200 favorite to win the match by some bookmakers. “The team tried,” said Spain midfielder Rodri. “It’s about fine-tuning those chances we created because against a team that sits back so much you’re not going to have many, and you know you have to take them. It’s that simple.”
Cape Verde actually had a chance to win the game, but Diney Borges’ late header was saved by Spain keeper Unai Simon.
European champion Spain’s roster is filled with superstar players. But they were frustrated by the underdogs from Cape Verde, with Vozinha pulling off a string of saves before halftime.
Barcelona forward Ferran Torres came closest to scoring for Spain, hitting the bar with shot and later forcing a save from Vozinha on another well-struck ball.
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The keeper also denied Pedri and pushed away another potential score late in the half.
Cape Verde — a group of islands with around half a million inhabitants — is playing at its first World Cup.
The 2010 champion Spain is aiming to win the World Cup for a second time, but coach Luis de la Fuente warned on Sunday that Cape Verde could be one of the surprise teams of the tournament.
Cape Verde continued to defend stubbornly in the second half and not even teenage star Lamine Yamal could turn the game Spain’s way after he entered the match.
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The result exposed Spain’s overreliance on Lamine in terms of attacking input. The teenager looked the likeliest to break the deadlock after coming on, but he also looked a bit rusty after getting his first playing time in nearly two months.
Spain may have also missed a trick by not bringing on Borja Iglesias as a substitute – a decision which is being heavily criticised considering the Celta Vigo forward’s prowess inside the box.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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Mohamed Salah’s Egypt led Group G favourites Belgium at half-time after a fierce drive by Eman Ashour put the Pharaohs ahead at the Seattle Stadium on Monday, with the seven-time African champions still chasing their first victory on football’s biggest stage. Follow our live commentary.
Starting XIs of Belgium – Egypt
Belgium: Courtois – De Cuyper, Mechele, Ngoy, Meunier, Castagne – Onana, Tielemans – De Bruyne, Doku, Trossard, De Ketelaere
The Pharaohs’ fans will have enjoyed the first-half display at the Seattle Stadium. Photo: Albert Gea, Reuters
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Half-time!
Some chaotic Belgian defending and a missed punch by Courtois twice gives Egypt the chance to score a second, but the Red Devils evenutally clear and that’s it for the first half.
Egypt are deservedly ahead and just 45 minutes away from their first ever World Cup win. Belgium, with zero shots on target, have some work to do.
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Doku’s shot flies over the crossbar!
Belgium have their best chance yet, the ball falling to Doku after ricocheting inside the Egypt box.
The Belgian forward is slightly off balance and his shot flies over the bar.
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Chance for Trossard
A rare gap in the Egypt defence frees Doku on the right. He cuts back to Trossard whose effort misses the target.
Fatouh is booked
Doku breaks on the right flank and his taken down by Egypt’s Fatouh, who is promptly booked.
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Courtois saves!
Zico takes a shot from a tight angle but Courtois fends it off with a fine save. Egypt are brimming with energy.
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Shobeir denies De Bruyne
Ashour, who’s all over the pitch, is fouled in defence. But De Bruyne takes a shot anyway, which Shobeir palms away with a flying save.
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Match resumes after drinks break
We’re off again after a short hydration break; a chance for Belgium to regroup after falling behind.
A great day for Ashour to score his first international goal. Photo: Lee Smith, Reuters
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Egypt take the lead (1-0)! What a goal!
Emam Ashour has given Egypt the lead with a stunning strike from outside the penalty box!
A great ball from Mo Salah and an even better strike by Ashour, who fires a low shot into the left corner past a hapless Courtois.
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Castagne booked
The Belgian defender is shown a yellow card for bringing down birthday boy Salah.
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Mo Salah turns 34 today. Photo: Agustin Marcarian, Reuters
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Yellow card
Attia brings down Ngoy and is booked for halting a potential Belgium counter-attack.
VAR cancels Belgium corner
De Ketelaere wins the first corner of the match for Belgium… only for VAR to rule it a goal kick for Egypt.
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Chance for De Bruyne!
A clever pass finds Kevin De Bruyne with space outside the Egypt box. He blasts a shot just wide of Shobeir’s right post.
Egypt won’t want to let him have another go.
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Egypt start well
Bright start from the Pharaohs, who may have been piqued by talk of their passive, defensive style of play.
Salah, who turns 34 today, is looking lively at N.10.
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Off we go!
Belgium, in their traditional red shirts and black shorts, get the ball rolling. Egypt are in white.
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Lukaku on bench
Romelu Lukaku is starting on the bench for Belgium.
That’s no surprise after his injury-plagued season for Italian side Napoli.
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Egypt make their World Cup debut on Monday, hoping to clinch a maiden win and qualify for the knockout stages for the first time in four participations. But standing in their way are Group G favourites Belgium, who rank among the tournament’s outsiders.
The Red Devils feature remnants of the “golden generation” that reached third place in 2018, including Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois, though coach Rudi Garcia has overseen a gradual transition towards a younger core led by Jeremy Doku, Amadou Onana and Charles De Ketelaere.
They are expected to dominate possession, while Egypt defend deep and look to their two best players – forward Mohamed Salah and striker Omar Marmoush – to create scoring opportunities with fast breaks. The Pharaohs will take encouragement from the last meeting between the sides, when they claimed a 2-1 victory in a friendly in Kuwait in November 2022.
Monday’s match features the two strongest teams in Group G, which also includes Iran and New Zealand, meaning the game is not necessarily a must-win for either side.
Ireland’s Ciaran Nallon and Megalon K stormed to victory with a blistering double clear in 34.77 seconds in the CSI5* 1.50m PremiuMares Jump-Off class at the Longines Global Champions Tour of Ramatuelle, St. Tropez.
With 16 combinations competing in the class, just 0.13 seconds separated the winner and runner-up, Germany’s Katrin Eckermann and Iron Dames Cascajall NRW, who clocked 34.90 seconds.
France’s Cédric Angot and Gandor du Fief secured third place with a superb clear round in 37.04 seconds.
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With Eckermann leading when Nallon entered the arena for the jump-off, he knew exactly what was required. The Irish rider threw everything at the challenge aboard Megalon K. Every distance was attacked, every turn committed, and the huge-striding gelding devoured the ground. As they flashed through the timers, the scoreboard revealed the unbelievable 34.77 seconds.
“I’m super proud of our mare, she tried her heart out and with the whistles from hospitality I knew I was in with a chance as I galloped to the last.
“If I hadn’t been watching Katrin’s (Eckermann, eventual runner-up) round I don’t think I’d have taken the risk!”
Pender & Lynch
Fresh from last week’s LGCT Grand Prix runner up in Cannes, Michael Pender looked determined to continue his incredible form aboard HHS Cyprus. Unfortunately, the Barnes red oxer claimed another victim and four faults in 44.69 seconds ended his challenge.
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For Denis Lynch, the challenge was effectively over before it had begun. A rail at the very first fence aboard Chicago immediately put him on the back foot, eventually finishing on 4 faults in 38.88 seconds.
Jul 29, 2025; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell talks with tight end T.J. Hockenson (87) during the teams training camp at the Minnesota Vikings Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
In the context of NFL football, being a “meathead” is a great compliment. That basic idea is doubly true upon remembering that the focus of the discussion involves a fullback.
In the 5th Round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Vikings drafted Max Bredeson. Much of the reaction to the selection swirled around the FB being a teammate of J.J. McCarthy at Michigan. After all, McCarthy showed up on the Zoom call following the selection, verbally expressing enthusiasm about the draft pick. Since then, a decent bit has happened, including Vikings mandatory minicamp. OC Wes Phillips bestowed the descriptor while chatting with the media following one of the recent practices.
The Vikings’ New FB is a “Dirtbag” and a “Meathead”
For a little while, the Vikings have needed to get tougher. Kevin O’Connell’s team has always been a high-flying, high-skill crew. Seldom, though, have these Vikings been rugged enough.
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Part of the solution has been found in acquiring certain personnel. Think tight end Josh Oliver, somebody who stands out for his massive size even among NFL athletes. So, too, do running back Jordan Mason and right guard Will Fries offer much to like due to their ruggedness. All three of these guys are meant to allow Minnesota better play bully ball.
Jan 4, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) hands the ball off to Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason (27) against the Green Bay Packers during the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
More recently, there was the move for wide receiver Jauan Jennings. Jennings stands at 6’3″ and roughly 215 pounds. Even better, Jennings offers a grit and a nastiness that means being able to bulldoze defensive backs.
Kyler Murray had referred to Jennings as a “dirtbag,” a descriptor meant to highlight the physicality that Jennings plays with on Sunday. Phillips then stepped in front of the Minnesota media the next day, allowing me to ask about the comment. Phillips wanted some reassurance that being a “dirtbag” was a compliment. Since it was, Phillips was glad to adopt the term, even applying it to somebody else a few minutes later.
Indeed, a few minutes later, Phillips took on a question about Max Bredeson, allowing Phillips to reaffirm the value of boasting a “dirtbag” who is also a “meathead.”
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“Max is probably another dirtbag,” Phillips said before explaining that the term is “absolutely” a compliment. Not long afterwards, the Vikings’ OC referred to the FB as a “meathead” who “loves ball” and who is “very smart.” Since “he’s all about ball” and is “a physical guy,” Bredeson is impressing the coaching staff.
Jan 1, 2024; Pasadena, CA, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) and tight end Max Bredeson (44) during the first half against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2024 Rose Bowl college football playoff semifinal game at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
In all likelihood, the Minnesota Vikings will remain a pass-first team. Doing so will mean rolling with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jauan Jennings for a large portion of the snaps. Well and good.
But then there’s the young lad lining up at fullback. Max Bredeson isn’t guaranteed of anything since he’s a 5th-Round fullback. What’s clear, though, is that he has a ton of supporters inside TCO Performance Center. Watching him a minicamp means seeing somebody who moves well and who appears poised to take on a hearty workload.
Quite possibly, Bredeson will force the Vikings to adopt a more balanced attack than in recent seasons. Seeing Bredeson clear running lanes for Mason could mean more emphasis on 21 personnel.
Bredeson, the meathead, will look continue impressing once he’s allowed to toss the pads on in training camp and in the preseason.
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