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Golf: Scheffler’s Mental Fortitude A Threat To PGA Rivals

On 17 May 2024, Scottie Scheffler prepared for his second round at the US PGA Championship by “warming up in a jail cell”.

On 18 May 2025, he lifted aloft the Wanamaker Trophy as the new US PGA champion.

It was a very different US PGA experience this year for the world’s most dominant player, as he marked the day after the anniversary of his shock arrest at Valhalla by doing what he regularly does.

Winning a golf tournament.

“It’s pretty special sitting here with the trophy,” Scheffler said afterwards. “This means a lot to me.”

While Rory McIlroy’s win at the Masters was an emotional outpouring as a result of his 11-year major drought and completion of the career Grand Slam, Scheffler’s win on Sunday felt close to the opposite.

McIlroy’s Masters Sunday was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Scheffler’s US PGA Sunday felt like an inexorable journey towards the inevitable.

That said, he was by his standards all over the place on the front nine. The control and measure we have come to associate with the world number one were rarely seen; but for a hot putter, it would have been even worse.

But no-one in golf – and few across all sports – are as mentally strong or as adept at bouncing back as Scheffler.

His bogey on the ninth meant he and a charging Jon Rahm were tied on nine under. Normal humans would likely have panicked and crumbled.

Scheffler responded by birdieing the 10th.

It was one of the six times at Quail Hollow that he followed a bogey with an immediate bounce-back birdie.

It felt like a key moment, and so it proved. Scheffler was suddenly imperious, picking up further strokes with ridiculous ease at the 14th and 15th.

The chasing Rahm faltered, bringing to mind the travails of Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh as they desperately tried to reel in Tiger Woods in his pomp.

He has a long way to go to match Woods in every sense, but there is no doubt Scheffler is the closest thing in mentality and competitive nature we have seen since the 15-time major champion’s peak years.

That was illustrated equally as well 12 months ago, even though he did not win the US PGA.

Shortly before the second round in Kentucky, Scheffler was arrested on his way into the tournament as he tried to avoid heavy traffic caused by an earlier unrelated accident in which a pedestrian died.

The picture of him in an orange prison jumpsuit went viral but he still made his tee time and, despite a minimal warm-up and with his mind surely scrambled, shot a scarcely believable five under par on day two.

His weekend challenge faltered but he still remarkably finished eighth. From mugshot and jail cell to a top-10 finish in a major within 54 hours.

A year to the day of his arrest, Scheffler demolished Quail Hollow’s infamous three-hole stretch from the 16th that is dubbed The Green Mile, named in honour of Stephen King’s prison novel that later became a movie.

He was five under from the 14th to the 18th and that detached him from the pack, giving him the cushion that meant his scrappy front nine on Sunday was not terminal.

It may well not have been lost on him that a year on from his own jail saga, it was down The Green Mile that he took charge of the US PGA.

Scheffler serves reminder of his talents

After McIlroy’s victory at the Masters last month, there was dreamy talk of a stress-free player winning a second major of the year at a course he loves.

The game’s other big names were also not in top form, other than Bryson DeChambeau. It looked ripe for a McIlroy double.

But then Scheffler – whose year started slowly as a result of a freak hand injury – served a reminder of his quality at the Byron Nelson Classic two weeks ago with an eight-shot victory.

Scheffler was back. But he was far from content.

Two majors are scant return for a player who has been recognised as the world’s top dog for several years, and that frustration perhaps leaked through his normally placid demeanour after his first round at Quail Hollow.

Unusually irritable in his post-round news conference, he criticised the PGA’s decision not to allow preferred lies – when players are allowed to lift and clean mud from their ball and then replace it without penalty.

His criticism followed a wayward shot – with a ‘mudball’ – on the 16th that cost him a double bogey.

“I felt like this was as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career – this was a pretty challenging week,” Scheffler said.

“Sometimes I wish I didn’t care as much as I did – but at the end of the day, I’m very grateful and looking forward to getting home and celebrating.”

Once his mastery of The Green Mile got him out in front on Saturday evening, there was an inevitability about who would hold the Wanamaker Trophy aloft 24 hours later.

Closing out the US PGA as expected was the eighth time since the start of 2024 Scheffler had entered a final round holding or sharing the lead… and the eighth time he converted them into victories.

It will have been a chilling reminder to McIlroy – understandably out of sorts at Quail Hollow after a month of celebrations – DeChambeau, Rahm and the rest, of the grinding efficiency of the 28-year-old.

Adding the US PGA title to his two Masters titles takes him halfway to the career Grand Slam club.

The US Open – a test of mentality and efficiency, and in which he has a share of second and a third place already to his name – is next.

Scheffler will be the clear favourite at Oakmont and anyone finishing in front of him will have had a good week.

And if you are wondering if Oakmont will suit Scheffler, the last time the classic Pennsylvania course hosted the US Open, an unknown teenage amateur shot an opening 69 to sit in a share for fourth.

His name was Scottie Scheffler.

Bbc.com

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Mathurin, Haliburton Power Pacers To 2-1 Series Lead

Reserve guards bag 49 points at home as the Pacers top the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3.

Bennedict Mathurin has put on a game-changing performance in game three of the NBA Finals to help the Indiana Pacers out-duel the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

Fuelled by a near triple-double from Tyrese Haliburton, who scored 22 points with nine rebounds and 11 assists, and a career playoff-high 27 points from reserve Mathurin, the Pacers showed a tremendous collective effort in Wednesday’s Game 3.

The Pacers bench outscored Oklahoma City’s reserves 49-18 and Indiana wore down NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whose 24 points included just three in the fourth quarter.

“So many different guys chipped in,” Haliburton told broadcaster ABC. “Ben Mathurin was amazing off the bench tonight. He just stuck with it. We just had guys make plays after plays.”

Pascal Siakam scored 21 points for Indiana, and TJ McConnell added 10 points and five steals off the bench to help the Pacers improve to 10-0 since March 11 in games immediately after a defeat.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle lauded the contributions of Mathurin and McConnell.

“Those guys were tremendous,” Carlisle said. “TJ just brought a will, competitive will, to the game. Mathurin jumped in there and immediately was aggressive and got the ball in the basket.

“This is the kind of team that we are,” Carlisle added. “It’s not always going to be exactly the same guys that are stepping up with scoring and stuff like that. But this is how we’ve got to do it, and we got to do it as a team.”

In 22:24 minutes on court through the second and fourth quarters, Mathurin was brutally efficient, making two of his three three-point attempts and seven of eight free – throws, adding in four rebounds an assist and a blocked shot for good measure.

“Just staying ready,” Mathurin said after the game. “Whenever my number is called, go into the game and do the right things and try to help my team win — that’s the whole mindset.”

Mathurin is playing in the playoffs for the first time, after watching the Pacers’ run to the Eastern Conference finals from the bench in the wake of season-ending surgery in March of 2024.

Carlisle said , the 22-year-old Canadian was looking ahead.

“He was with the team. He just wasn’t playing,” Carlisle recalled. “He took a lot of notes, a lot of mental notes, and he may have written some things down.

“He’s putting a lot of work to be ready for these moments, and tonight he was an absolute major factor.”

Mathurin said he was “fortunate to learn a lot” in what was an unfortunate situation last year but he admitted that it wasn’t easy.

Playing in the finals, in front of the intense fans in Indianapolis, “is a dream” but one he doesn’t want to get caught up in.

“I’m not trying to live in my dream,” he said. “I’m trying to live in the present and make sure the dream ends well, which means winning the next game and winning a championship.”

The Pacers will try to stretch their lead in the best-of-seven championship series when they host game four on Friday before the series heads back to Oklahoma City for game five on Monday.

Aljazeera.com

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Tennis: Players To Get Ranking Protection After Freezing Eggs

Female tennis players who wish to freeze eggs or embryos, so they can start a family at a later date, will have their ranking protected by the WTA Tour.

The offer is open to any player ranked in the world’s top 750 who spends more than 10 weeks out of competition.

The 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens says the rule will reduce the pressure on players to return to the court too quickly.

The 32-year-old, who has won eight WTA tournaments, told BBC Sport she has twice previously used the off-season to freeze her eggs.

“The first time I did it, I rushed back and I was overweight and not happy – and just very stressed out,” she said.

“The second time I did it I took a totally different approach so I could just be in better shape: I could have the surgery, I could have more time to recover.

“So having the protected ranking there, so that players don’t feel forced to come back early and risk their health again, is the best thing possible.”

Players who undergo fertility treatment will be able to use their special ranking to enter up to three tournaments within 10 weeks of their return.

The special ranking will be an average of a player’s ranking over a 12-week period before and during their leave.

Players will not, however, be able to use this ranking to enter one of the WTA’s premier 1000 events, as the tour wants to encourage players to undertake the procedure at a quieter time of the season.

“It’s all trial and error, everyone’s body is different,” Stephens added.

“Someone might be out for three months, someone might be out for one week.

“Some people gain a tonne of weight, some people can go back immediately. I think when you are family planning, it’s better if you have that support.”

Stephens says she was a strong advocate for such a measure when a member of the WTA Players’ Council, and the tour’s chief executive Portia Archer confirms the move was player-led.

“It was very much at the instigation of the players,” she said.

“We want to really help players address this conundrum where peak athletic performance coincides with the time period of peak fertility, so players are often faced with this tough choice of how to really maximise and optimise those years.”

Grants have also recently been made available towards the cost of any fertility treatment, and earlier this year the WTA introduced paid maternity leave for the first time.

More than 320 players are now eligible for up to 12 months paid leave – with everyone receiving the same amount, irrespective of their ranking.

Returning to the tour after maternity leave started to become easier when the WTA changed the rules before the 2019 season.

New mothers are able to use their previous ranking to enter 12 tournaments over a three-year period from the birth of their child.

The WTA also offers access to a health team, which offers physical assessments, mental health support and guidance on a staged return to play for new mothers and pregnant players.

Tennis is not the first sport to offer support to women wishing to freeze their eggs, with the American basketball league the WNBA offering up to $60,000 (£52,500) reimbursement to players for fertility treatment including egg freezing.

High-profile athletes have spoken about their decision to freeze their eggs, including England cricket captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and former England netballer Geva Mentor.

Bbc.com

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Rugby: Samoa Call Up One-Cap England Back Umaga

Former Wasps fly-half Jacob Umaga, who was capped by England in 2021, has been called up by Samoa for the first time.

The 26-year-old moved to Italian side Benetton Treviso when Wasps went bust in 2022, helping them to finish 10th in the United Rugby Championship this season.

Umaga, initially brought into former coach Eddie Jones’ England squad as an apprentice player during the 2020 Six Nations, came off the bench to win his only senior cap in the 43-29 win over the United States in July 2021.

A change to World Rugby’s rules in 2022 allows players to represent a second nation at international level after three years out of the Test game.

Umaga was born in Halifax after his father Mike, a Samoa international, moved to England to play rugby league. Mike later switched codes to play union for Rotherham.

Tana Umaga, the legendary New Zealand centre, is Jacob’s uncle.

Jacob is part of a 35-strong squad that will prepare for Samoa’s July Test against Scotland in Auckland, New Zealand, and August’s Pacific Nations Cup campaign.

Bbc.com