Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I’m calling this the Weekend 9. Think of it as a spot to warm up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ll have thoughts. We’ll have tips. We’ll have tweets. But just nine in all, though sometimes maybe more and sometimes maybe less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell some of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
Tiger Woods is back next week.
Not back back, as his return from injury is still unknown. (Should you be curious, he is listed among the Masters entrants on the Masters website.) But in some capacity, he’ll be around the Genesis Invitational at venerable Riviera CC, where he’s the tournament host. Maybe he’ll be on the grounds all week. Maybe for just a few days. Maybe no days, though you’ll still see and hear his name. Whatever the case may be, you’ll probably be interested. If he talks, you’ll wonder about his opinions, even though his words are by and large carefully measured. If he walks, you’ll study his gait in an attempt to get a read on when he might come back. In short, Woods’ presence is enormous.
And that’s occasionally made me think of Scottie Scheffler, who’ll also be at Riv, and who also is playing this week.
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And then I start to think of the NBA, which, notably, is hosting its all-star game on Sunday.
Maybe there’s something here, or maybe it’s just cabin fever, but here goes: The thought deals with mega stars — and following the mega stars. When mega stars leave, mega-star voids are created, and folks almost immediately measure potential mega stars against the mega star they’re replacing, in the process perhaps ignoring that the replacements may be doing something great. The NBA felt that post-Michael Jordan. Put another way, it’s much easier to follow a non-mega star.
And I’ve wondered if that’s why there’s such a conversation around ‘what makes Scottie’ great, when in fact he’s coming directly after Woods. Last week, I asked Dave Berri about it all. He’s an author and teacher on sports economics, and my question was whether Woods’ standing was so enormous that it was diminishing current players.
“There’s a certain audience that came to golf because of Tiger Woods,” Berri started. “You can’t replicate that if you’re not bringing in other people who are similar to him, so that audience may not stay with you. So there’s that. I don’t think you can change that easily. …
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“You can’t make a Tiger Woods. That was a pretty unique event, right? A father who desperately wanted his son to be a pro golfer. But how do you get that to happen? In order to get that to happen again, you’ve got to go find somebody. Who wants to go invest in that, right? Who wants to train somebody from a very early age to be a pro golfer, and they have to have the resources to do that.”
Still, Berri said, stars come, stars go and stars come again.
“In sports, there’s always going to be another winner,” he said.
“And therefore the winner attracts the audience. Like Tom Brady leaves the NFL, well, what’s going to replace him? Well, next year there’ll be another Super Bowl winner and there’ll be a quarterback on that team and then they’ll be the Tom Brady.
Should Scheffler continue his dominant run, we’ll see if that’s true.
Let’s see if we can find eight more items for the Weekend 9.
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2. I also asked Berri if a player being thought of as being ‘nice’ would affect their appeal.
“‘Very nice’ doesn’t work,” he said.
An instruction tip for your weekend
3. I thought the exchange below between Justin Rose and GOLF’s James Colgan was good. It came before this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and Colgan’s question is in italics.
Justin, knowing what you know now about your career, I’m just curious what your advice would be to yourself at the very beginning.
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“Yeah, well, at the very beginning I think obviously there was definitely — well, let’s call it the moment where I finished fourth in The Open as an amateur and turned pro off the back of that.
“Although I didn’t turn pro off the back of that, there was a decision that had been made quite a long time before the Open to turn pro. But I think off the back of that Open Championship, I think obviously expectations went up and suddenly there was such an importance in my own head of getting a European Tour card, like being on Tour.
“I think that if I look back at it now, 45 years old, didn’t quite appreciate how long a career is. I think at a tender young age of 17, 18, 19, 20, wherever you’re playing your golf, you want to be playing in an environment that’s obviously challenging you to be better. You want to be playing at a level where you’re still being pushed, but you want to play in an environment that maybe is kind of still giving you that freedom to play the game, that freedom to grow.
“I felt like I just maybe put too much emphasis on having to have it right there and now and not really thinking, OK, this is just what’s good for my game, what’s good for my progression, what’s good for my learning, because if you keep stacking the little gains on top of one another over time, like the compounding of that takes you to a pretty good place.
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“So just my advice to myself would be a career’s a long time.”
Another instruction tip for your weekend
4. I thought the video below, from GOLF Top 100 Teacher Cameron McCormick, was good.
A golf story that interests me
5. I thought the video below, featuring longtime pro Steve Flesch from a recent episode of the “Second Shot All-American” podcast, was interesting. In the video, Flesch said he played with Woods all four rounds at the 2000 National Car Rental Golf Classic Disney — and they had an exchange on the 72nd hole.
“One of the easiest, nicest guys in the world to play with because he was a guy who recognized good shots and he would compliment you,” Flesch said. “It isn’t visible so much when you see him on TV — it looks like he’s Mr. Stoic and game face and all that, but you’d be walking down the fairway and he’d be like, ‘Hey, nice shot, Fleschy,’ or ‘Good putt,’ or ‘Good birdie.’ Very subtle.
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“But the 2000 Disney tournament, I played great the first two days. It was at the Magnolia course at Disney World and I think I shot a pair of 66s or something starting out and I’m paired with Tiger on Saturday. And I’m like, well, OK — it’s only my third year on tour — I’m like, this is what it’s about. But I figured in my head at night, if I can beat Tiger the next two days, I’ll win the golf tournament. Fair enough assumption, right? Like, OK. Well, the next day I go out and I think I shoot five- or six-under and I’m two ahead of Tiger. So, I mean, he shot probably 67 on Saturday. We’re in the final group again on Sunday. And I’m again, can I beat Tiger? Well, going to the back nine, I played well. I was two or three ahead of him and I get to the last hole and I’m two or three ahead of him.
“Well, this guy Duffy Waldorf, who you’ve all probably heard about, he shot 62 that day. I’m like, son of a — I’m like, you got to be. Here I did what I thought I needed to do — beat Tiger — but Duffy’s a shot ahead of me. So I got to birdie the last hole to get in the playoffs. So I hit a decent drive, hit a good shot in there — I think I hit like a 6 or 7 on there, about 8 feet, 10 feet behind the hole. And I’m big on reading the putts from the other side of the hole. I don’t get as good a read from behind the ball as I do from the other side of the hole. And I’m always reading my putts while other guys are putting so I’m not taking a lot of time.
“Anyway, I walk around the other side of the hole to read my putt. And Tiger’s kind of about 15 feet on the same line as me and he walks around too. So he’s right behind me. He’s kind of right over my shoulder. And I have a picture of this somewhere. But all I’m thinking about is my line, right? And all of a sudden I hear him say, ‘Hey, knock it in, Flesch. You’ve played great. You deserve it.’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ I’m looking like, ‘Did he just say that?’ He knew he wasn’t going to win. And he was just like, ‘Dude, knock it in. You deserve it. You played well.’ And I’m like, ‘Man, that’s pretty freaking cool.’”
Another golf story that interests me
6. I thought the video below, taken from the Bob Does Sports YouTube page, was interesting. In it, host Robby Berger asked about Scheffler’s arrest before the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship and whether Scheffler knew it would be a big story.
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“So, when I was sitting in the cell — like they put me in like a holding cell, I think — and so, I’m in a cell by myself and that was the cell that I stretched In,” Scheffler said. “But if you went to the front of the cell and looked out that way [points], I could see a TV and I saw myself on the TV.
“So that’s when I was like, “Holy smokes.’ First, my head’s still spinning. I’m like, ‘How the heck am I in here?” But then I saw myself on the TV and then I saw they delayed it and I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I can get out of here in time and I can still play.’”
Good news for your weekend
7. The video below, taken from the “Good Inside with Dr. Becky” podcast, was good. In it, Tony Finau described an interaction he had with his dad while growing up.
“My dad was tough on us,” Finau said. “He was a drill sergeant. There was no throwing clubs. There was no attitude. That was the first thing — clean up the attitude. So anyway, I’m a freshman in high school and I’m playing in the state championship of golf, high school golf. And I’m in the final group. I’m leading the tournament and I get to the last hole with — I’m a freshman and a senior I’m playing with and we’re neck to neck for the state title. We both hit it in the fairway.
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“Anyways, I have a 5-foot par to tie and go to a playoff as a freshman to win state championships. I proceed to miss the putt. I knew the situation. I missed the putt and because I missed the putt, I was extremely disappointed in myself. I tried to backhand the next one in and I missed that. And then I try and tap in the next one and I missed that. So I five-putted the last green of the state championship tournament of my freshman year to win state. And so I finished second place, which for most freshmen, that’d be a really nice finish. For me, I looked at it and said, ‘You’re supposed to win this.’ Everybody was around the green watching and I was just totally embarrassed by how I acted and what I did.
“I’ll never forget the drive home. I got in the car and pretty much silence all the way home. And my dad just said to me, ‘Son, are you OK?’ That’s pretty much all he said. He may have thrown in a couple other things, but I’m getting a little emotional just because I still remember that moment. And it was like, I’m waiting for him to scold me. I’m just waiting for him to lay the law down. And I was embarrassed because of how I acted and feeling like I should have won the tournament. I was defeated. I defeated my own self and I’m expecting this thrashing in the car and just an absolute scolding and it was the opposite.
“And so I think what I learned from that and that I try to take with me as a parent is your kids need you there as someone that can help them recover and heal and strengthen them.”
More good news for your weekend
8. I thought this story here, written by the BBC’s Ethan Gudge, was good. It tells the story of how Dougie Haynes, a caddie, is walking the entire length of New Zealand while carrying two bags to raise money for charity.
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One more piece of good news for your weekend
9. I thought this story here, written by Science News Explores’ Maria Temming, was good. It tells the story of how 15-year-old Brady Sage won an engineering fair thanks to a project that found ideal tee heights.
What golf is on TV this weekend?
10. Let’s do 10 items! Here’s a rundown of golf on TV this weekend:
– Saturday
10 p.m. (Friday)-midnight ET: LIV Golf Adelaide third round, FS2
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Midnight-3 a.m. ET: LIV Golf Adelaide third round, FS1
4:30 a.m.-8:30 a.m. ET: PIF Saudi Ladies International final round, Golf Channel
Los Angeles Rams star wide receiver Puka Nacua has checked into rehab in Malibu, California, his lawyer, Levi McCathern, confirmed Wednesday. McCathern said Nacua hopes to use the time “to improve his overall behavior in every aspect of his life.”
The news of the rehabilitation stay comes shortly after a lawsuit alleged that Nacua bit a woman and made antisemitic remarks. McCathern said the decision for Nacua to go to rehab was not a result of the allegations, but added that “the combination of stories y’all have run is certainly a contributing factor.”
“It is unfortunate that a trivial lawsuit has drawn attention to Puka during a time when he is focused on becoming a better overall person. I am really excited to see what the future holds for this gifted young man,” McCathern said in a statement (via The California Post).
McCathern described the center as “holistic,” offering services for those battling drug and alcohol addiction, chronic pain and mental health conditions.
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According to McCathern, Nacua had been in the rehab center for a “substantial period of time” before the allegations surfaced and is expected to remain there “for a while longer,” though he is expected to be back with the team for organized team activities this offseason.
“He is committed to using this time constructively so that he can return in the best possible position — both personally and professionally — to continue contributing to his team and the game he loves,” McCathern said (via NFL Network). “He will complete the program in time to fully participate in all of the Rams’ OTAs. Puka is also deeply grateful for the support he has received from his family, friends, coach [Sean] McVay and teammates.”
Nacua is in line for a large contract extension this offseason, and the accusations have raised questions about how the team will handle the situation. McVay has shown support for the 24-year-old, saying he “trusts this kid’s heart.”
In 2025, Nacua had a league-high 129 receptions and 80 first downs. He averaged a league-high 107.2 yards per game and totaled 1,715 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns in 16 games. In his career, he has 313 receptions for 4,191 yards and 19 touchdowns in 44 games.
Every April we have the ritual joy of diving into the game’s most storied event, yet every season it manages to surprise us. How does one tournament — and one place, Augusta National — beguile us so endlessly? Michael Bamberger has some thoughts. Actually, a history’s worth of them.
The Masters at AugustaNational our annual marker of fresh starts, is the great American golf tournament because it is so uniquely … American.
It mixes speeds: big and brawny here, small and intimate there. The Masters (inseparable from its host club) is both the sprawling wonder of the Grand Canyon and the majesty of a lone bald eagle cruising at altitude. We pause here to take in Augusta’s Par 3 Course and the little annual event on it, particularly in the years when Arnold, Jack and Gary were roaming its tiny greens, thousands watching, shoulder to shoulder. So intimate. As for brawny, consider the tee shots on 1, 2, 5, 8, etc. The play is smashed driver right down Broadway. (Easier said than done.) Your first putt will thank you.
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You’re always building at the Masters, shot to shot, hole to hole, round to round, April to April. Player, TV viewer, fan on a rope line, member, broadcaster, caddie, course worker — the experience is available to all. Augusta National is the most private of clubs and the Masters the most inviting of tournaments. Some years ago, the club’s leadership — the chairman and his green-coated lieutenants, plus more recruited executives than you would likely imagine — decided to build a new tournament driving range in the vicinity of the club’s famous driveway, Magnolia Lane. They built the most spectacular driving range ever conceived, and seemingly overnight. The club’s preferred contractors dug up a dusty parking lot and anything else in their way to create this temple of practice, with a Taj Mahal press building at its far end. But the club’s leaders would never even think about altering Golden Bell, the short-iron par-3 12th hole, typically played through a fickle wind, over a creek and to a slippery green. The golf shot as haiku.
The Masters became the Masters — the tourney as we know it today — in the 1950s, when baseball was still the dominant American sport. Each April, big-pen sports columnists, done with spring training and Opening Day, descended upon Augusta, ate pie and canonized the tournament, the course, the players upon it. The fit was easy for the scribes. (This was in the era of baggy trousers and a bar in the press building, to ease the pain of deadline typing.) The Masters, among all golf tournaments, is the most like baseball, with the pastime’s capacity for redemption. The guy who boots a ground ball in the eighth, giving the visitors a one-run lead, singles in the winning run one inning later. And so it is at the Masters, redemption baked into its storytelling in ways it’s not at other tournaments. This quality is a gift of the course. Augusta gives more than she takes.
Rory McIlroy hits a shot on No. 12 during Round 3 of the 2025 Masters.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Consider last year. On Sunday, on 13, Rory McIlroy dunked his little third shot into the creek. Ghastly. The groan heard ’round the world. Maybe you thought the Irishman had duffed the tournament away. If you did, you weren’t alone.
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And here we turn to Elvis, as he channeled another son of the South, Jimmy Reed, and Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me to Do,” a gritty three-minute stompfest that could double as a real-world Masters theme song:
We’re going up, we’re going down We’re going up, down, down, up Any way you wanna let roll it Yeah, yeah, yeah
Rory was down — he doubled the hole winners typically birdie – but not out. He still had five guaranteed holes to try to redeem himself. In the end, he needed six, with his birdie in extra innings, rolling in a playoff putt to win from 40 inches. And now he’s in the Tuesday Night Supper Club forever, about as up as a golfer can get. For the longest time, it was impossible to unsee the dead-pull tee shot McIlroy hit on 10 in 2011, when he was (it seemed) all set to cruise on into a waiting coat. Now that shot doesn’t loom so large. After all his many chances, Rory’s finally in.
Who among us doesn’t like a mulligan? Another chance, a third one, a fourth. Ken Venturi, Tom Weiskopf and Greg Norman were experts in this area, always waiting for next year at Augusta until they ran out of next years. That threesome is as significant to the tournament’s history as Art Wall (the 1959 winner) and Tommy Aaron (’73) and Charl Schwartzel (2011), even if Venturi & Bros. never sniffed the second-floor champions locker room. Greg Norman, when his scoreboard totals were inked for good, was 0-for-23 at Augusta. Rory won on his 18th try. In victory, he fell to the green for part of a half minute. You remember.
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Last year’s Masters runner-up, Justin Rose, negotiates the Hogan Bridge;
Augusta National/Getty Images
In victory, Hideki Matsuyama’s caddie bowed to the course. That was in 2021. You remember. Maybe not the year but surely the image. Likewise, these snaps: the caddie Carl Jackson consoling Ben Crenshaw in victory (1995); Nick Faldo, the winner, embracing Greg Norman, leader by six earlier in the day (1996); Jack and Jackie walking off arm in arm (1986); Tiger falling into the arms of his father (1997). We know these images regardless of our age. We know these images because we care. Millions of us, around the world, care.
Of course, we weren’t born caring about the Masters and who wins it and how. Yet here we are, agitating for the next one. It’s as if the club and the tournament were born under an astral plane, Jupiter aligned with Mars, something like that. The course and Bobby Jones’ — and Alister MacKenzie’s! — role in it; the relative isolation of Augusta, making the tournament the only show in town, local schools closed for the week; the standing April date and all that flowering pink; the engaging personalities of various winners and near-winners; the coverage of the tournament in newspapers and magazines and on various networks, CBS most especially.
The first Masters was played in 1934. Gene Sarazen’s “shot heard ’round the world,” en route to a victory after a 36-hole playoff, came a year later. Ben Hogan won his first Masters in 1951 and a few weeks later a Hollywood movie about him, Follow the Sun, came out. Hogan won again in 1953, two months after Dwight Eisenhower (war hero, golf nut, Augusta National member) became president. And then the tournament went from stage to screen, on TV for the first time in 1956. The broadcasting network that year was CBS and the tournament has been on CBS ever since, with limited commercial interruption. Arnold Palmer won his first Masters in 1958, then won three more, in ’60, ’62 and ’64. Jack Nicklaus won his third green jacket in ’66, when the CBS telecast was in color for the first time and Grammy Hall, stuck in still-thawing Chippewa Falls, Wisc., could finally see those blooming azaleas in their bathing-beauty majesty. Nicklaus won his record sixth Masters, his namesake son on his bag, 20 years later. When Tiger won his fifth coat in 2019, people immediately began to wonder: Can he catch Jack? Woods was 19 when he played in his first Masters. Now he’s 50. Year to year and decade to decade, one player to the next and one generation to the next, the Masters is always building on its past. But all the while the club puts a laser focus (no distracting cellphones) on its present, on the here and now. It’s all familiar. It’s all brand-new.
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Some of the tournament’s most indelible celebrations and consolations (right to left): Jack Nicklaus and Jackie Jr. in 1986, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo in 1996, Tiger Woods and his father, Earl, in 1997, and Ben Crenshaw and Carl Jackson in 1995.
AP/SI/Getty Images
“Whatever product any company is trying to sell, toothpaste or anything else, it could never do what the Masters does, because people want to feel something, and the Masters gives people something they can feel,” Jim Nantz said recently. The CBS broadcaster worked his first Masters in 1986 with millions of people sweating out the Golden Bear’s win over Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman. (Nicklaus was 46 — ancient, then.) On the course, the rooting was decidedly partisan. “The Masters doesn’t have to sell anything because the tournament has been handed down through the years. When I talk about the Masters, I always go back to this word, and you have to: tradition. Tradition is in short supply in the world. But not at the Masters.”
A week of fixed tradition. The Monday night Amateur Dinner. The Tuesday night Champions Dinner. The Wednesday afternoon Par 3 Contest, after the chairman’s annual State of the Masters press conference, a line of green-coated members holding up the back wall. The honorary starters early Thursday morn. The Act I curtain coming down Friday night after the 36-hole cut is made. Then Act II on Saturday, the protagonists jockeying for position. Followed by the tense wonder of Sunday’s Act III, concluding with a standing ovation for the winner you know and some kid (the low amateur) you likely don’t. Late on Sunday and before 60 Minutes, the two of them, plus the defending champion, descend a set of steps and enter the eerie quiet of the Butler Cabin basement. And there, waiting on ’em, is the chairman in a green blazer, Jim Nantz in a blue one. It’s always the same and it’s never the same.
The Champions Dinner in 1957, where defending champ Jackie Burke Jr. (foreground) was feted.
John G. Zimmerman/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images
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A decade ago, Bryson DeChambeau was the tournament’s low am. He almost stumbled on his way to his assigned Butler Cabin high-backed chair, then took care not to seat himself before the winner, Danny Willett, did. There’s something about Augusta: Your manners improve upon arrival. DeChambeau and Willett, along with Jordan Spieth (the defending champion) were still wearing their white golf shoes, early on a lovely spring night. (Augusta enjoys the gift of a late mid-April sunset, close to 8 p.m.) Jim Nantz and Billy Payne, then the club chairman, faced the three players. DeChambeau was a pack of jangly nerves his red sweater could not conceal. “Never in a million years did I think I’d be the low amateur here,” he told Nantz. Really? He earned his way to the Masters as the U.S. Amateur champion. But at the Masters, and at Augusta National, gentility is a way of life. Gentility, modesty, charm. You pass through the gate and put on your best Bobby Jones.
That 2016 Masters was Billy Payne’s last as the club chairman. (Billapane, in the local patois.) Augusta National has had seven chairmen, starting with Clifford Roberts, cofounder of the club with Bob Jones, who was made the president in perpetuity while he was still alive. (Kinda weird, no?) All the chairmen have been czars, some more heavy-handed (Hootie Johnson; Billy Payne) than others (Jack Stephens; Fred Ridley, the current chairman). They all have left imprints, large and small. Hord Hardin (1980 to 1991) didn’t like striped shirts at dinner and declined to lengthen the course, despite the arrival of metal woods. Hootie Johnson (1998 to 2006) didn’t want women as members but did want a far longer course and many more obstacle trees. Billy Payne (2006 to 2017) did want women as members (and invited the first class). He also wanted to have paying fans to have more of a Ritz Carlton-meets-Disneyland experience. Payne picked Fred Ridley as his successor. In style and manner, they’re totally different. (Payne came at you with a torrent of words; Ridley weighs every last one.) But in purpose they’re the same.
Year to year and decade to decade, one player to the next and one generation to the next, the Masters is always building on the past.
What makes the whole thing work is that the broad interests of Augusta’s chairmen and the broad interests of Augusta’s fans align exactly. The chairman, any chairman, wants the best course, the best field, the best coverage, the best Sunday. As do we.
THE MASTERS IS a wide bonding experience, whether you’re watching in your living room, in an airport lounge, on a clubhouse TV at Augusta (there’s a lot of that) or on the course. In this last category, the no-phone policy informs the whole experience. You’re sealed off from the rest of the world. If you want to know what’s going on, on campus at Augusta, there’s not much spoon-fed to you. You have to use your own eyes, ears, intuition, experience. You watch the leaderboards change. You might actually talk to the person (stranger/not a stranger) standing next to you.
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What was that?
I’m thinking Scottie staked one on 12.
Conversation is part of the bonding experience at the Masters. Language is too. As Augusta National publishes (annually) a Spectator Guide, the club could also publish a Language Handbook. Patron, of course, would get an entry, for paying fan. Also, by way of first-tee player introduction, Now driving. This is the broadly accepted definition of Amen Corner: the 11th green, all of 12 (the wee par 3), the tee shot on 13. The preferred shorthand for 10 to the house is the second nine.
And then there’s the oral tradition. Here, for example, is a real-life exchange from an on-course men’s room, with a greeter at the door and a spotter deep inside it, in place to keep the line moving.
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Greeter: “What you got back there?”
Spotter: “I got two open and a shaker.”
Yes, fellas being fellas. Deep in the club’s DNA and secret history there’s a lot of that. Calcutta gambling, imported entertainment, business wheeling and dealing, cloaked by all that gentility. There used to be, on the second floor of the clubhouse, a loo with wallpaper featuring urinating dogs. Beside it was the club’s library, a cozy room just big enough to accommodate the former champions at their annual dinner, all the gents at one long table, the defending champion picking up the tab, the chair- man there as a guest. (The former winners get $25,000 just for showing up.) Ben Hogan started the dinner. Byron Nelson was its MC forever. For years, Sam Snead closed the night out with a few choice jokes. None can be repeated here.
It’s strange to say, but Byron Nelson, a lifelong Texan, a two-time winner of the Masters, is an undervalued figure in the club’s lore, even though the wide, sturdy stone bridge on the 13th hole is named for him. Texas runs deeply through the Masters, and Nelson spent his whole long life (94 years) in the Lone Star State. (Nelson, Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Ralph Guldahl, Jackie Burke, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw and Jordan Spieth are native Texans; Patrick Reed, Sergio García and Scottie Scheffler are Texans by choice. That’s 17 wins right there.) But Nelson had that gentleness that is so emblematic of the Masters, and through his 80s and into his 90s you’d see Lord Byron all week long, unhurried, smiling, happy to chat up anyone, his green coat draped on his arm on warm afternoons. One day, Bill Kirby, a longtime columnist at the Augusta Chronicle, was in the small Augusta National pro shop, looking to buy a gift for his father. He had his fingers on a maroon tie patterned with time-capsule Masters badges. “That’s a nice one,” came a voice from over Bill’s shoulder. Byron Nelson. Kirby bought the tie and then Nelson bought the same make and model. Kirby gave the tie to his father, along with the Nelson story, and the tie and the story came back to Kirby upon his father’s death. How intimate is all that?
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The scene is familiar: A huge gallery, 18’s iconic leaderboard and the sun setting on yet another memory at the Masters.
Logan Whitton/Augusta National/Getty Images
Rees Jones, the golf-course architect, has been to Augusta National many times, to watch the tournament and play as a guest. He was close to Bobby Goodyear, a pitcher at Yale, an Air Force veteran, an heir to a family fortune. Goodyear was also an Augusta National member forever. Over the years, on 80 different occasions, Goodyear invited Jones to play the course and bring a pal. “If I like the guy, I’m paying,” he’d tell Rees. “If I don’t, you are.” Rees paid twice. How fun is that? You might be surprised to learn that being a good hang is an unspoken requirement for membership. You don’t have to be a Goodyear or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be invited in. There are doctors who are members, two retired NFL quarterbacks (they’re brothers), people prominent locally and nationally. (Condi Rice: good hang!) Billy Morris, a longtime member and the longtime publisher of The Chronicle, used to have an important job at the tournament, driving the winner from Butler Cabin to the press building in an E-Z-Go golf cart for the victor’s press conference, driving cautiously to avoid the patrons and to make sure his Panama hat did not go flying. E-Z-Go (fun fact) got its start in Augusta, inspired by the three-wheeled, custom- made cart the ailing Bobby Jones drove around the course in the ’50s. E-Z-Go’s main competitor, Club Car, was founded in Augusta too. Augusta, the city and the club, is all mishmashy that way. Augusta, the city and the club, likes it that way. Robert Tyre Jones Jr. was the cofounder of Augusta National. Robert Trent Jones Sr. (Rees’ father) was the architect who designed the par-3 16th hole as we know it today. The two men are often confused and are not related. No big whoop. What makes 16, Jones (pick your Jones) said more than once, is the slope of its green. Tiger Woods will tell you the same thing. A golf course, and a golf tournament, can turn on the subtlest of things.
Paul Talledo is an Augustan in his early 60s who has been going to the Masters pretty much all his life, and he’s been taking his son Patrick to the tournament pretty much all his life. Father and son, in their early visits, observed what everybody who has been on the course has observed: The downhill 10th hole is so steep it could be a ski run; the uphill 18th hole is so steep you can see players gulping air as they make their shoulders-first march up it. Talk about big and brawny. In his mind’s eye, Paul can see Patrick, almost 20 years ago when the boy was 65 pounds of pure kid, eager to see his favorite golfer, Lucas Glover, make the walk up 18. Other spectators cleared a path for the boy and the next thing he knew he was sitting under the rope line, watching. How intimate is that?
One year, father and son were having trouble with their badges, with the this-is-me barcodes on them, as they tried to enter for the tournament. A security officer called in for assistance. A green-coated member responded. He asked the boy his name and age, gave him a little Masters pin to put on his shirt, waved them both in and said, “Y’all have a nice day.”
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In they went, the father and his son, leaving behind the chaos of Washington Road and falling into a 350-acre haven of golf. All that green.
Kobbie Mainoo has been linked with a move away from Manchester United in the past with Chelsea mentioned as a potential destination
Kobbie Mainoo might now think twice about joining Chelsea from Manchester United following recent remarks from players from the Stamford Bridge club. Chelsea have previously been linked with a move for Mainoo, whose situation at United was once unclear.
Mainoo frequently found himself on the periphery of the first team during former head coach Ruben Amorim’s spell at Old Trafford but has re-established himself as an important squad member since Michael Carrick took charge on an interim basis for the remainder of the campaign.
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Chelsea have been expected to pursue a new midfielder, sparking suggestions that Mainoo could be on their radar when the summer transfer window opens.
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However, Chelsea star Marc Cucurella’s latest observations about the club might cause Mainoo to reconsider if an opportunity to move to Stamford Bridge were to materialise, reports football.london.
Cucurella acknowledged his disagreement with Chelsea’s decision to part ways with their former manager Enzo Maresca earlier this year, with Liam Rosenior subsequently appointed as successor.
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“We knew what Maresca wanted from us,” Cucurella recently told The Athletic. “Winning a title like the Club World Cup also helps, strengthens the bond, and you create great relationships during the celebrations. When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you’d die for him.
“The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision.
“To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season. You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full pre-season.
“The instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell. We had a caretaker [Calum McFarlane] first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is.”
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Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez has also suggested his future might lie elsewhere in recent weeks, with the midfielder quizzed about his spell at Stamford Bridge following the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last month.
“I don’t know, there are eight games left and the FA Cup. There’s the World Cup and then we’ll see,” Fernandez is reported to have said on ESPN Argentina.
While it remains uncertain what will transpire with Mainoo’s future at United, recent reports have indicated the midfielder is close to finalising a new long-term deal to stay at Old Trafford.
Even if an opportunity to depart United could materialise for Mainoo, the remarks from Cucurella and Fernandez might prompt the England international to reconsider when it comes to a possible move to Chelsea.
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Former super-middleweight champion Carl Froch has predicted how a showdown between rising star Moses Itauma and two-time world champion Tyson Fury would play out.
As a result, the Itauma hype train has shifted up a gear and is gathering momentum ahead of another appearance in July and a potential world title challenge before the end of the calendar.
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Speaking to his YouTube channel about a possible clash between Itauma and Fury, Froch revealed that he would pick Itauma to defeat ‘The Gypsy King’ right now, irrespective of their difference in accomplishments and experience.
“The only one that you can mention there is Tyson Fury and Tyson Fury is well past his best. Tyson is coming back against [Arslanbek] Makhmudov, so we’ll have a look at what he looks like on Netflix, but Moses vs Tyson, who you got?
“I’ve got to say Moses, young, fresh, fast, solid, and he can punch. Let’s have a look what Tyson Fury has got, but this is how much I am rating Moses at the minute. He is 21 years old, let’s just enjoy the journey, because I don’t think that he is going anywhere.”
Fury fights Makhmudov next Saturday, as he returns to action after 16 months of inactivity, looking to prove that he is still Britain’s best heavyweight and that he is well capable of becoming a three-time world champion.
James McDonald, the consummate professional, holds significant goals for The Championships in 2026, yet he applied his renowned dedication to the midweek meeting, achieving a winning brace at Warwick Farm.
Teaming with Ciaron Maher, the leading hoop annexed the curtain-raiser on $1.90 market leader Seraphox, subsequently connecting with Chris Waller to land the Drinkwise Plate (1300m) via debut runner Mr Miller ($5.50).
Having trailed Paradoxium when unplaced in the Todman Stakes (1200m) first-up due to covering extra ground wide, Seraphox thrived in the lesser grade to claim his initial win.
“He’s a nice, progressive horse who will excel as he gets further,” McDonald said.
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“He did everything beautifully today and he won accordingly.”
Amy Burke, the Maher stable’s Head of Racing, affirmed Seraphox’s ongoing promise.
“You’re putting your money where your mouth is first-up going into a stakes race like that,” Burke said.
“He was far from disgraced, and he really came on from that run as well.
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“His whole demeanour, you could see in the yard beforehand he was completely on his toes the whole way around but never broke a sweat. He’s a very nice horse going forward.”
McDonald sealed back-to-back wins piloting Mr Miller to a three-quarter length margin over $2.70 elect Graffiti Tycoon.
Waller aide Darren Beadman revealed the horse had flashed talent domestically and in trials but needed settling lessons.
“He was very keen first trial and wanted to get on with the job. We just had to reprogram him a little bit, and that was the benefit of James having the ride on him in the trial, just to get him to switch off,” Beadman said.
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McDonald prepares for Group 1 duties at Randwick this weekend in 2026, aboard Observer for the ATC Australian Derby (2400m), Joliestar in the TJ Smith Stakes (1200m), and Campione D’Italia in the Sires’ Produce Stakes for Waller.
Phil Foden has had a difficult season at Manchester City but started both England’s matches against Uruguay and Japan – however, he failed to make any real impact and is facing missing out on the World Cup
England boss Thomas Tuchel admits Phil Foden is “struggling” on the pitch as he warned the Manchester City star faces missing out on a World Cup place.
Foden, 25, has 49 Three Lions caps to his name after starting both Wembley warm up friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. However, the City forward was substituted before the hour mark in both games.
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Tuchel says Foden is “not guaranteed” a place in his 26-man finals squad, with England’s head coach saying that while he was excellent in training during camp, he failed to live up to expectations where it mattered.
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“He tried everything,” said Tuchel. “I would say he was excellent in camp but, yeah, he struggles to show it on the pitch. Obviously he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently.
“Then he came to camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training and I thought he will just surprise us and will play with the same verve and excitement but, yeah, he struggles to have the full impact.”
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Tuchel insists he has no problem taking a player out of form to the World Cup if he believes it’s the right decision to do so.
Asked about doing precisely that he said: “I can, I can! The question will be if we will.”
But when asked specifically about taking an out-of-form Foden to the finals, he brutally admitted: “Well it’s not a guarantee that he will come.”
Man City vs Liverpool VIP and hospitality tickets
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Foden went to Euro 2024 as the Premier League Player of the Year after an outstanding season for City – arguably the best of his career. Since then however, he has struggled for form and fitness.
And while this term he has made 26 Premier League appearances for City, the general consensus is that he’s largely been some way below his best. He’s scored seven league goals so far, but none since December 14, and six of those seven came in a four-match spell.
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Now, with Rayan Cherki increasingly prominent at the Etihad, he’s no longer a guaranteed starter for Pep Guardiola.
For England, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers are Tuchel’s first choices in the No.10 position, while Eberechi Eze and Cole Palmer are both in the mix too. Throw in Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, Marcus Rashford, Noni Madueke and Jarrod Bowen, and there’s fierce competition for the attacking midfield roles.
That means it’s almost certain Tuchel will have to leave at least one of the big names at home this summer – and increasingly it looks like Foden is most at risk.
He mulled retirement, but Bill Self won’t be ending his college coaching career just yet.
Self announced he will be returning to the Kansas Jayhawks’ sideline for the 2026-27 season.
“With renewed clarity and the ongoing support from our administration, I remain focused and committed to Kansas basketball competing for a national championship,” Self’s statement said.
Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks walks across the court before a game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at United Supermarkets Arena Feb. 2, 2026, in Lubbock, Texas.(John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
“I look forward to seeing and hearing the best fans in college basketball next season at Allen Fieldhouse.”
Self made the decision after consulting with his family, especially considering his health issues in recent seasons.
Self has dealt with chest tightness and balance concerns, which resulted in a hospitalization in 2013, forcing him to miss the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. He had two stents placed for treatment of blocked arteries.
In July 2025, Self was admitted to a hospital after feeling ill. He was reportedly experiencing “concerning symptoms,” leading to another surgery to have stents inserted. He was later released from a hospital and coached the Jayhawks this year.
Self did miss a game in January against Colorado, when he was taken to a hospital as a precaution, the school noted at the time.
Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks watches his team play against the Houston Cougars in the second half during the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center March 13, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo.(Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
The Jayhawks fell to St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament, which led reporters to naturally wonder what Self had in mind about his future.
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“I’ll get back and visit with the family,” Self said, via ESPN. “I’ve had, obviously, some issues off the court health-wise. And that will be discussed. But I love what I do. I want to feel good while I’m doing it, though.”
Self has been a college basketball head coach since the 1993-94 season, starting his tenure with Oral Roberts. After stops at Tulsa and Illinois, Self joined Kansas for the 2003-04 season, and he hasn’t left since.
Self has won two national championships in his 23 seasons with the Jayhawks, his most recent coming in 2022. Kansas has also reached the Final Four four times under his leadership.
Kansas head coach Bill Self reacts as the team plays California Baptist during the first half in the first round of the NCAA Tournament March 20, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
In 815 games, Self owns a 648-167 record with Kansas. He also has 855 wins as a head coach in his 33-year career, which includes 27 NCAA Tournament appearances.
With the NCAA transfer portal opening April 7, Self will be right back to work building another Kansas roster he hopes to get deeper in March Madness next season.
Dec 24, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn (17) reacts after a catch during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
This offseason, Vikings WR3 Jalen Nailor left for the Las Vegas Raiders, who gave him a nice paycheck. Minnesota is now in the same position it was in 2024 when K.J. Osborn departed in free agency after three seasons of WR3 duties. His journey away from the team hasn’t been successful at all; the Raiders hope for better results from their investment.
Osborn, meanwhile, is hoping he can revitalize his career in Tennessee, as he just signed a deal with the receiver-needy Titans.
The Titans announced on Wednesday, “The Titans have signed quarterback Hendon Hooker, who starred at the University of Tennessee. The team has also signed veteran running back Michael Carter, along with a pair of receivers – K.J. Osborn and Lance McCutcheon.”
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Dec 17, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn (17) celebrates the win against the Indianapolis Colts after the game at U.S. Bank Stadium. With the win, the Minnesota Vikings clinched the NFC North. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports.
It’s been a busy day for the Titans, who welcomed four new players to their 90-man offseason roster. Unlike McCutcheon (one career appearance), Osborn already has a solid NFL resume with 1,902 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns in his career.
Osborn was initially drafted in 2020 in a class that was headlined by Justin Jefferson. In Jefferson’s shadow, the fifth-rounder got extensive work on special teams in his rookie season, but his success as a returner was underwhelming. On offense, he didn’t get any looks and finished his rookie campaign with zero snaps.
Entering Year 2, it was a common expectation that he would fight for his job in training camp, where he surprisingly emerged as a third option in the passing game behind Jefferson and Adam Thielen. With 50 receptions, he set career highs in yards (655) and touchdowns (7) in his sophomore season.
Osborn kept his WR3 role through 2023, adding another 650 yards and 5 scores in 2022 and 540 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2023. The Vikings, ready to promote Nailor, didn’t re-sign Osborn when his rookie deal expired and he joined the New England Patriots.
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Oct 1, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) (left) and Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn (17) (right) after the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports.
After only seven games and 87 yards, the Patriots waived him and the Commanders added the veteran to their roster. Osborn appeared in only one game with Washington. Still, he earned another one-year contract for the 2025 season. Unfortunately, the Commanders decided to cut him after last year’s preseason. His next stop was Atlanta, which added Osborn to the practice squad during the season. He has not seen the field since 2024.
In Tennessee, Osborn hopes to recapture his 2021-2023 magic. The Titans will have last year’s top pick Cam Ward in his sophomore season after a promising, though uneven, rookie year. Their receiving group isn’t invincible and Osborn could crack that unit.
Nick Suss of the Nashville Tennesseanwrote about the WR group, “The Titans’ wide receiver room is led by veteran Calvin Ridley, who is returning to the fold after a season-ending injury sustained in 2025 and a restructured contract to remain with the team for 2026. Second-year receivers Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor also return, as does third-year player Bryce Oliver. The big addition to the room is Wan’Dale Robinson, who signed with the Titans in free agency after spending the first four years of his career with the New York Giants.”
Ridley and Robinson will serve as the team’s top receiving duo, barring any major investments in the draft.
Oct 9, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn (17) and the team leave the field after a turnover against the Chicago Bears near the end of the game at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Recently, Osborn was asked where he’d like to play next season and he pointed to the Vikings. On an appearance on the Caps Off podcast last week, Osborn told the show’s host, “You can’t help but look at Minnesota. With Kyler Murray going back. Jalen Nailor, I’m so happy for him. Speedy, congrats bro, my guy, he just got 3 years for $35 million from the Raiders. So that spot WR3 is back open. Just looking around. But home is where the heart is. So, we’ll see.”
The Vikings haven’t replaced Nailor, but sophomore Tai Felton could internally be viewed as the new guy to fill the role. Interim GM Rob Brzezinski could also add a free agent or a rookie in the draft.
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Osborn’s next stop will not be Minnesota, but Tennessee. He’s 28 years old.
Ryan Garcia got his hands on the WBC welterweight world title back just weeks ago but the Californian is already looking to unify, revealing that he is ready to challenge for another belt in the division as soon as July.
Garcia comfortably outpointed Mario Barrios to claim his first world title and tee up potential rematches with fellow welterweight titleholders Rolando Romero and Devin Haney – the latter making up one of the most fierce rivalries in the sport due to their controversial first fight.
Although, in the time that has passed, Haney and Romero have been locked in discussions for a unification fight themselves, whilst Garcia has been pursuing a scrap with pound-for-pound superstar Shakur Stevenson.
Now, Garcia has taken to X to provide Haney with a more lucrative unification opportunity, offering to fight ‘The Dream for a second time in July, whilst Haney offered a September fight date in response as the pair went back and forth in a series of posts.
Ryan Garcia: “Devin is terrified.”
Devin Haney: “You scared to death to sign up for drug testing. I told Turki [Al-Alshikh] let’s do it. Get u signed up for drug testing.”
Ryan Garcia: “Devin I’ll fight you in July! Stop saying drug testing, dumba*s POKE ME YOURSELF.”
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Devin Haney: “He wanna fight in July cause he still cycling those PEDS. September & start drug testing now.”
Haney may prefer a September date so that he can prepare with a fight beforehand, due to the fact that he is yet to fight since his November WBO title win against Brian Norman Jr.
Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau (3) cuts down net to celebrate 95-62 win over Tennessee at the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Final at United Center in Chicago on Sunday, March 29, 2026.
Michigan starting point guard Elliot Cadeau did not travel with his teammates to Indianapolis Wednesday for the Final Four due to an allergic reaction to something he ate, according to team officials.
Cadeau is expected to meet the team later Wednesday evening as they prepare to face Arizona in the second national semifinal contest on Saturday.
“Before the team departed the Player Development Center today, Elliot alerted the medical staff that he may have had an allergic reaction to something that he ate,” Michigan spokesperson Tom Wywrot said in the statement. “The doctors evaluated Elliot and he is fine. Out of an abundance of caution, he is receiving medical supervision and will be traveling to Indianapolis later today.”
The North Carolina transfer started all 38 games for the Wolverines in his debut season in Ann Arbor. He is averaging a career-best 10.2 points per game and leads the team with 5.8 assists per outing. The junior is one of three players with 60-plus 3-pointers made and is converting 37.7 from beyond the arc.
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