PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — After a lengthy and uncomfortable-looking range session, Rory McIlroy officially designated himself a “game-time decision” for the Players Championship.

“So, yeah, probably a game-time decision,” the career Grand Slam winner said during a short press availability on Wednesday afternoon. “But all indications are pointing in the right direction, so hopefully good night tonight. The drugs are working wonders, and then just keep it going from there.”

McIlroy has been absent from the typical early-week proceedings at the Players Championship as he deals with back spasms after tweaking something during a warmup session on Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The spasms forced McIlroy to withdraw from the event before his third round on Saturday afternoon, casting sudden doubt on his availability at the Players, where he was scheduled to return as the defending champion.

On Wednesday, he arrived at TPC Sawgrass for the first time after making the quick trip up from Palm Beach, where he had been rehabbing with his physiotherapist. After arriving at the course, he engaged in a lengthy range session, hitting from his wedges all the way up to his six-iron while pausing briefly for pushups and other back stretches.

“I hit up until 6-iron on the range and it felt okay,” he said, cautioning that he was still taking the injury “hour-by-hour.”

McIlroy, 36, has dealt with an impressively clean bill of health throughout his playing career to this point. He said Wednesday that he has only dealt with a similar back injury once before in his career, at the 2023 Tour Championship. 

“I had this at the Tour Championship in 2023, and I remember on Thursday I was in so much discomfort and chipping it around and got through the round, and I remember on Sunday I felt like a whole new person,” McIlroy said. “So I’m hoping that it starts to progress like that.”

The Masters champion said he is not worried about aggravating the injury further by competing this week, though the injury is still causing him some level of discomfort.

“The sensitivity — it’s not even in the back,” he said. “It’s more just the muscles around it. The glutes and the hip flexors — and that’s just a little tight and a little angry.”

As of now, McIlroy is scheduled to tee off at 1:42 p.m. local time on Thursday afternoon in the Players Championship.

“Is it 20 hours until I tee off — or I’m supposed to tee off — tomorrow?” McIlroy said. “So, yeah, we’ll see. I’m taking it sort of hour by hour. But it feels better. That’s all I can say. I couldn’t stand to address the ball on Saturday morning on the range at Bay Hill, and it’s obviously better than that.”

The United States will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. (Image credit: X)

NEW DELHI: Iran’s sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday that the country cannot participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup after the United States killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to a report by Al Jazeera citing Reuters.“Considering that this corrupt regime [the US] has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” Ahmad Donyamali told state television on Wednesday, according to the report.

The latest round of conflict between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran on the other began on February 28. The West Asia conflict has also disrupted global energy supply chains.Ahmad Donyamali said the conditions required for participation in the FIFA World Cup do not exist.“Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist. Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence,” Donyamali said, according to the Al Jazeera report citing Reuters.The United States will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. The tournament will feature 104 matches, beginning at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11 and culminating at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with the final on July 19.All of Iran’s group-stage fixtures are scheduled to be played in American cities, including Los Angeles and Seattle.Donyamali’s remarks came after Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, said in an Instagram post on Wednesday that Iran’s participation in the World Cup would be welcomed by US President Donald Trump.“President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Gianni Infantino said in the social media post.Earlier, Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), also questioned Iran’s participation in the tournament following the recent attacks, saying it would be difficult for the country to approach the competition with optimism.“After this attack [on Iran], we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope. If the World Cup is like this, who in their right mind would send their national team to a place like this?” Taj said on Iranian state television.

The bracket has been released, and the 2026 Big East Tournament — one of the most exciting events in all of sports — tips off on Wednesday in New York. St. John’s will be the No. 1 seed in this week’s tournament after clinching the outright league title during the final weekend of the regular season. After the Red Storm took care of business against Seton Hall in their final game and UConn was upset by Marquette, it opened the door for the reigning Big East Tournament champions to earn the top seed.

UConn finished second in the Big East standings and will be the No. 2 seed. Villanova, led by first-year coach Kevin Willard, will be the No. 3 seed. Seton Hall is the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 seed Creighton in the quarterfinals. The top five teams in the Big East standings all received a first-round bye.

Entering the weekend, only three teams (St. John’s, UConn and Villanova) were in CBS Sports’ latest Bracketology projections. Seton Hall is one of the teams on the outside looking in heading into the final week of the season and will need a strong showing to potentially get back into the conversation to receive an at-large berth.

The first round of the Big East Tournament begins Wednesday with three games on the slate. No. 9 seed Providence will face No. 8 seed Butler in the opening game of the tournament. After that game ends, No. 7 seed Marquette will face No. 10 seed Xavier. 

No. 11 seed Georgetown vs. No. 6 seed DePaul is the final game of the first round.

More conference tournament scores, brackets: ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | SEC

2026 Big East Tournament bracket, scores

Location: Madison Square Garden — New York
Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)  | Follow live: CBS Sports App  

All times Eastern; some start times approximated

First round — Wednesday, March 11
Game 1: No. 9 Providence 91, No. 8 Butler 81 | Recap
Game 2: No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 Xavier | GameTracker
Game 3: No. 6 DePaul vs. No. 11 Georgetown | 9 p.m. on Peacock 

Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 12
Game 4: No. 1 St. John’s vs. No. 9 Providence | Noon on Peacock
Game 5: No. 4 Seton Hall vs. No. 5 Creighton | 2:30 p.m. on Peacock
Game 6: No. 2 UConn vs. Game 2 winner | 7 p.m. on FS1
Game 7: No. 3 Villanova vs. Game 3 winner | 9:30 p.m. on FS1

Semifinals — Friday, March 13
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner | 5:30 p.m. on Fox
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner | 8 p.m. on FS1

Big East Tournament Championship Game — Saturday, March 14
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner | 6:30 p.m. on Fox

Kiran George (PTI Photo/Gurinder Osan)(

NEW DELHI: India had a mixed day at the Swiss Open on Wednesday, with some impressive wins but several early exits. The biggest highlight came from Kiran George, who stunned former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in straight games. Ranked 42nd in the world, Kiran edged past the third seed 23-21, 21-19 in the opening round and will next face Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan. However, Gunawan knocked out former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, defeating him 21-15, 12-21, 21-4 in the round of 32.India also celebrated an upset victory in mixed doubles as Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto beat Denmark’s fourth-seeded pair Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund 21-15, 21-14. They will now take on China’s Gao Jia Xuan and Wu Meng Ying in the next round.Despite these wins, several Indian shuttlers were knocked out early in the Super 300 tournament. In men’s singles, US Open champion Ayush Shetty lost 18-21, 19-21 to Canada’s Brian Yang. In women’s singles, Unnati Hooda was beaten 21-14, 21-14 by Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-Chian, while top seed Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia comfortably defeated India’s Tanvi Sharma 21-11, 21-10 in just 30 minutes.India also faced a setback when HS Prannoy, the 2023 World Championships bronze medallist, gave a walkover to Japan’s Koki Watanabe. In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde were eliminated after losing 19-21, 14-21 to Thailand’s fifth-seeded pair Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat.On a positive note, India’s top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty moved into the round of 16 with a 21-19, 21-19 win over Singapore’s Eng Keat Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo. H Amsakarunan and M R Arjun also advanced after defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh 21-16, 24-22.

Manchester City were thrashed 3-0 by Real Madrid in the Champions League to leave them needing a miracle in the second leg next week

Manchester City saw their Champions League hopes disappear for another year on another horrible night for them at the Bernabeu. Pep Guardiola picked an attacking team to take the game to Real Madrid but instead they were undone by three goals from Fede Valverde in an astonishing first 45 minutes.

Gianluigi Donnarumma gave away a penalty in the second half that could have buried City, but the keeper did get back to his feet to keep Vincius’s spot-kick out. That will give City a glimmer of hope for the second leg, but they were unable to build on that by getting any goals back in Madrid.

An outstanding reaction save from Thibaut Courtois stopped a certain goal from Nico O’Reilly and City had nothing else to offer. Here are the player ratings from the Manchester Evening News.

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Donnarumma: Could possibly have done better on at least one of the goals and gave away the penalty, but a good save to keep City alive. 5

Khusanov: Started really well against Vinicius but lost his way and then couldn’t reassert himself in the game. 5

Dias: Couldn’t keep things together at the back, although he did try to push them forward in the second half. 5

Guehi: Probably his most uncomfortable night in a City shirt, struggling to stay on top of his game and beaten by Valverde for a goal. 5

O’Reilly: Exposed for the opening goal and struggled defensively all game. Improved in midfield but far from his best. 4

Rodri: Not a return to Madrid that he will remember fondly as he could not stop Real from bypassing City’s midfield. 5

Silva: Wasn’t great on set-pieces or corners and couldn’t get on the ball to have an impact. 5

Semenyo: Willing to get on the ball and tried to make something happen in the final third, albeit his touch was loose. 5

Savinho: Didn’t do much wrong and won a couple of free-kicks in dangerous territory but was sacrificed for the system at half-time. 5

Doku: Looked like he was going to have Alexander-Arnold on toast yet he was double-marked out of the game and made some poor decisions in the final third. 5

Haaland: Didn’t offer anywhere near enough, and being taken off before the end tells its own story. 4

Substitutes

Reijnders (for Savinho, 46) Couldn’t influence the game. 5

Cherki (for Semenyo, 70) Tried to make things happen. 6

Ait-Nouri (for Silva, 70) Some good, some bad. Booked. 5

Marmoush (for Haaland, 82) No time.

Not used: Trafford, Bettinelli, Nunes, Alleyne, Ake, Stones, Gonzalez, Foden

Jude Bellingham watched on as his Real Madrid team-mates raced into a 3-0 lead against Manchester City, largely thanks to a top-class showing from Fede Valverde, who bagged a hat-trick

Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham was left speechless after watching team-mate Federico Valverde score an astonishing hat-trick in Wednesday night’s Champions League clash against Manchester City.

Despite missing Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Eder Militao, Madrid were in red-hot form against City. Alvaro Arbeloa’s men stormed into a three-goal lead inside 42 minutes.

Valverde ran onto Thibaut Courtois’ long ball to put the Spanish giants ahead before doubling his tally seven minutes later. Towards the end of the half, the midfielder completed his hat-trick with a sensational goal.

Brahim Diaz’s neat looped ball inside the box played Valverde in, he flicked the ball over Ruben Dias and then Marc Guehi before volleying past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

During the half-time interval, TNT Sports showed Bellingham watching the goal on a screen from the stands and being left jaw-dropped.

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He appeared to watch the goal twice on the screen inside the Santiago Bernabeu before bowing to his teammate.

Things nearly went form bad to worse for Pep Guardiola’s side after Donnarumma brought Vinicius Junior down inside the area. However, the Italian shot-stopper denied the Brazilian from the spot.

Bellingham is currently nursing a hamstring injury, though there is hope that he can return for the return leg at the Etihad Stadium next week.

Mbappe is also thought to be pushing for a return to action for the second leg.

Watch Real Madrid vs Man City on TNT Sports

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Man City have reached the UEFA Champions League round of 16 where they face Real Madrid on March 11. Fans can watch the game on the TNT Sports Prime Video channel.

Mike Tyson is expecting a good fight between 49-year-old Floyd Mayweather and 47-year-old Manny Pacquiao when they meet for a rematch this September.

The two fighting icons first fought in 2015, with Mayweather running out a unanimous points winner after twelve rounds of action that failed to deliver on incredible hype that had been built up for around six years.

Despite the general consensus that both men were significantly past their best, the event was a money-spinner and set various records in the sport that still remain intact today. The best chance of those records being broken may only be a return fight.

That gives some insight into why Mayweather and Pacquiao have signed a deal with Netflix to face off once more, this time at The Sphere in Las Vegas – the futuristic venue’s first boxing event.

Speaking to FightHype, Tyson was excited at the prospect of the rematch, praising Pacquiao’s latest performance against Mario Barrios.

“I think that’ll be a good fight. I hope Manny’s serious. Manny looked good in his last fight he fought, too.”

Pacquiao fought to a draw with then WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in July last year. Mayweather, who retired in 2017, has only been active on the exhibition circuit – something he says he will continue twice this year before putting his famous 50-0 professional record on the line against his Filipino rival.

Many had assumed that scheduled exhibitions for both men – Tyson for Mayweather, Ruslan Provodnikov for Pacquiao – would be canned due to the magnitude of the rematch. Asked if his bout with Floyd would still go ahead, Tyson remained tight-lipped, dialling back on an interview earlier this week in which he said with certainty it was going ahead.

“Hey, you never know. Anything’s possible … You know he’s crazy.”