Legendary NBC Sports golf broadcaster Gary Koch, who played in the U.S. Open 17 times as a pro and called 22 more on television, will tee it up at the U.S. Senior Open this week at Newport Country Club.
He made it to Rhode Island via sectional qualifying in what will mark his U.S. Senior Open debut.
“One of the reasons I got into television in my 40s is because I figured out it’s a lot easier to talk about some guy making a six-foot putt than me doing it,” Koch said Wednesday before the tournament.
“You’re hoping as a broadcaster to be able to communicate to the viewer hopefully what the player is thinking or maybe the game plan they’ve put together, or we read comments they make about how they’re trying to play the golf course. We spend a lot of time on the golf course, even as broadcasters, checking out the conditions. So I would say there are some similarities, no doubt. But talking about it is a lot easier than doing it.”
Koch has not played competitively since 2018, when he tied for 50th at The Senior Open. Despite that, he arrives in the Ocean State with plenty of confidence and with good reason. Koch, now 71, admitted that he has shot his age at least 100 times, first doing so after he turned 62.
“The reality is I just don’t play much competitive golf anymore,” Koch said.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan presents Gary Koch with the 2023 Payne Stewart Award ahead of the Tour Championship.Photo by Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images
“On my good days, I should be able to go around this place and post a respectable score. I’m not sure what a respectable score would be based on the conditions. I would say realistically, if I can make the cut and play all four days, then I’ve probably accomplished something I’d be very proud of.”
As long as Koch can keep it in play, he should have a chance to make the weekend.
But the competition within the competition will come down to the battle between broadcasters. Koch’s fellow NBC Sports colleague, Notah Begay III, will also tee it up this week. Koch and Begay III recently called the action at Pinehurst No. 2, where Bryson DeChambeau won his second U.S. Open title.
“I’m sure there will be a little wager on who’s low announcer,” Koch joked.
“But he’s also a lot younger than I am. He probably should give me a few strokes.”
Begay III, who played alongside Tiger Woods at Stanford in the mid-1990s, is 20 years younger than Koch but primarily works as an analyst for NBC Sports.
Nevertheless, the beauty of golf—and this championship, for that matter—is that anyone can play, despite their age. A golfer’s score does not discriminate, as it all depends on who can get the ball into the hole the fastest.
“As I look back over my life of golf, the [United States Golf Association (USGA)] and their competitions have been a huge part of that, no doubt about it,” Koch reflected.
“The very first one was in 1968, the USGA Junior at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. I was 15 years old. So here we are 56 years later, getting to compete in another USGA Championship. I can’t think of any other sport where something like that could happen.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Could Liam Lawson be headed back to the Formula 1 grid for the 2025 season?
According to recent comments from Red Bull Senior Advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, that could indeed be the case, leaving veteran driver Daniel Ricciardo on the outside looking in.
Speaking with Austrian outlet Kleine Zeitungahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Marko indicated that a move in a younger direction at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team may be coming down from on high. “The shareholders have made it clear that [VCARB] is a junior team and we have to act accordingly,” said the Red Bull advisor.
That could very well mean that Ricciardo is out, and Lawson is in, for 2025.
“The aim was for Ricciardo to qualify for a return to Red Bull Racing with exceptional performances. That seat now belongs to Sergio Perez, so that plan is off the table. We will have to put in a young driver soon,” continued Marko. “That would be Liam Lawson.”
The comments come not only days ahead of the F1 Austrian Grand Prix, but a week after Ricciardo himself indicated that he wanted to “earn” his spot at VCARB for next season. Speaking at the FIA Press Conference in Barcelona ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, Ricciardo said that “I also said, I think, before the weekend in Canada that, you know, I obviously want to earn it … I obviously want to be here because I know that I still belong here and can do can do performances like I did last week. So it’s also up to me just to make sure that I can keep pulling it out. And in that case, then I’ll be very happy to stay.”
However, the orders form shareholders referred to by Marko, as well as a clause in Lawson’s contract that allows him to seek a seat elsewhere and leave Red Bull if he does not have a ride with the team, could force the organization’s hand. With the 2025 driver lineup remaining unsettled and a number of open seats available on the grid, Lawson could find more than a few potential suitors for next year should VCARB decide to retain Ricciardo.
What might that mean for Ricciardo if this is indeed the path Red Bull and VCARB take? As noted above there are still available seats for 2025, and Ricciardo remains a marketable driver with a resume that includes Grand Prix victories and recent strong performances at both VCARB and AlphaTauri a season ago. If that is not enough to keep him at VCARB, could it be enough for another team to give him a shot for next year?
Update: And now there is even more fuel to the “Lawson to VCARB” fire, with longtime and respected F1 journalist Joe Saward indicating that Lawson could be in Ricciardo’s seat before the end of the season.
Before the end of the summer, in fact:
So, Lawson will be in for Ricciardo at some point. I’d guess the end of July…
Sean Stellato the larger-than-life agent for Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito was at The Vatican today to meet with Pope Francis. Why did he get an audience with the pope? Honestly, nobody really knows — but there’s photographic evidence to prove these two met.
What these two men have to discuss is beyond comprehension, but we did our best to come up with some ideas.
Let’s caption this …
“You represent DeVito? I love him in the Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
“I loved you in Jury Duty, Mr. Pauly Shore”
“They say ‘Your Holiness, someone from the NFL is here to see you,’ and I think ‘Ooh, it’s Travis Kelce. I love that guy,’ or ‘maybe it’s Tom Brady?’ But no, Tommy DeVito’s agent is much better. This is good. This is fine.”
“So if I’m hearing right Tommy got beat out by a gawky doofus who went to a methodist university?”
“No. No. Is not ‘cutlets,’ it’s ‘pollo alla parmigiana’ you peasant.”
“It’s nice of you to see me, my son. But Jamie Taco: You shouldn’t steal people’s lines.”
“I remember you! You sold me used Fiat in Buenos Aires in 1977. Good to see you again!”
“Tommy needs to get a better job of working to his third read. And there are times his footwork does not synch up with the route concepts so it throws the timing off.” — Yes there is a world in my head where Pope Francis is a huge Xs and Os guru and has taken note of where Tommy DeVito needs to improve his game.
“No I cannot do anything about a Daniel Jones trade.”
“Explain to me, my son. If you call it ‘football’ then why no kicking?”
“I’m actually a Saints fan. HAHAHAHA just kidding. I would never support those losers”
“Sorry, but we’ll need a little more than 1,101 passing yards and eight touchdowns to consider Tommy for sainthood.”
“I watched Tommy making cutlets and I was disappointed to see that he does not double bread his cutlets. You need to tell him to double bread the cutlets. He’s a nice young man but I need to see some double breading.”
The PGA Tour is in Detroit, Michigan, for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where Rickie Fowler will attempt to defend his title. After an entertaining three-week stretch of golf, this tournament does not feature some top-ranked players, but it still employs a strong field of golfers looking to push their way up the FedEx Cup standings.
Detroit Golf Club, a Donald Ross design, is one of the flattest courses players face this season. It will likely be a birdie fest as scores tend to be low.
Nate Lashley won at 25-under in 2019 at the inaugural event. The last couple of years have seen similar results. Tony Finau won at 26-under in 2022, and Rickie Fowler ended his drought with a 24-under final score. Even the cut line is low, as players typically have to finish 36 holes at 5-under or lower to make the weekend. The last five cut lines of this tournament have been: 4-under, 3-under, 3-under, 5-under, and 5-under.
Get ready for a birdie barrage.
Here is the one-stop information shop for the Rocket Mortgage Classic
Rocket Mortgage Classic:
Where: Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, MI (Par-72, 7,370-yards)
When: Jun. 27-30th
Purse: $9,200,000 ($1,650,000 1st place)
FedEx Cup Points: 500
Defending Champion: Rickie Fowler
Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images
How to Watch The Rocket Mortgage Classic
Golf Channel and CBS Sports will share television coverage. Check out the full schedule below:
Thursday, June 27: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Friday, June 28: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday, June 29: 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3:00-6 p.m. ET (CBS)
Sunday, June 30: 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3:00-6 p.m. ET (CBS)
How to Stream The Rocket Mortgage Classic
ESPN+ will exclusively air early round and featured group coverage all four days of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Peacock will have simulcasts of the Golf Channel’s broadcast.
Coverage on Peacock can be streamed here.
In addition, fans can tune into CBS Sports streaming service Paramount+ while CBS airs its third and final round broadcasts.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic Preview:
Defending champion Rickie Fowler ended his four-year-long drought last year when he defeated Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa in a playoff.
However, he recorded only one top-20 finish since that victory, which came at the Travelers Championship last week. He tied for 20th, which, considering he began the championship with a 6-under 64, proved to be a rather disappointing finish—much like how his entire 2024 season has gone.
Nevertheless, Fowler looks to become the first back-to-back winner in this tournament’s history.
Cameron Young, who shot a 59 at TPC River Highlands last week, is in the field. He finished second to Finau in 2022.
Michael Thorbjornsen, who made his professional debut last week at the Travelers, will play again this week in Detroit. The former Stanford Cardinal tied for 39th, which included a second-round 6-under 64.
The headliner of this event is Tom Kim, who fell to his best friend Scottie Scheffler in a one-hole playoff at the Travelers. This week will mark Kim’s ninth straight event on tour. He is someone to watch because his game is so sharp right now. His best finish at the Rocket Mortgage is a T-7 in 2022.
The sponsor exemption list is also impressive. Miles Russell will make his PGA Tour debut at 15-years-old. He won the Junior PGA Championship and Junior Players. Russell took the world by storm by making the cut earlier this year at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic.
Neal Shipley is also in the field, making his first non-major start. He finished as the low amateur at the Masters and the U.S. Open.
This field may not feature any of the world’s Top 10 players, but it will be a fascinating week with plenty of talented players to watch.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic Round 1 Tee Times (ET):
*indicates starts on 10th tee 6:45 a.m. — Martin Laird, Lanto Griffin, Doug Ghim
6:45 a.m.* — Garrick Higgo, Kelly Kraft, Carl Yuan
6:56 a.m. — Aaron Baddeley, Sam Ryder, Max Greyserman
6:56 a.m.* — Tyler Duncan, Ryan Moore, Brandon Wu
7:07 a.m. — Matt NeSmith, Hayden Buckley, Kevin Yu
7:07 a.m.* — Nate Lashley, Kevin Tway, Jason Dufner
7:18 a.m. — Taylor Moore, Adam Svensson, Brandt Snedeker
7:18 a.m.* — Davis Riley, Peter Malnati, Brendon Todd
7:29 a.m. — Luke List, Chad Ramey, Adam Schenk
7:29 a.m.* — Nick Dunlap, Chris Kirk, Erik van Rooyen
7:40 a.m. — Brice Garnett, Vincent Norrman, Ryan Brehm
7:40 a.m.* — Robert MacIntyre, Tom Kim, Cameron Young
7:51 a.m. — Martin Trainer, Tim Wilkinson, Andrew Novak
1:38 p.m. — Chesson Hadley, Tyson Alexander, Sami Valimaki
1:38 p.m. * — Kevin Streelman, Bud Cauley, Scott Gutschewski
1:49 p.m. — Davis Thompson, Callum Tarren, Ryo Hisatsune
1:49 p.m.* — Ben Kohles, Chandler Phillips, David Skinns
2:00 p.m. — Jacob Bridgeman, Jorge Campillo, Danny Guise
2:00 p.m.* — Alejandro Tosti, Patrick Fishburn, Jackson Koivun (a)
2:11 p.m. — Nicholas Lindheim, Erik Barnes, Brandon Berry
2:11 p.m.* — Chan Kim, Trace Crow, Luke Clanton (a)
2:22 p.m. — Ryan McCormick, Kevin Dougherty, Angelo Giantsopoulos
2:22 p.m. — Ben Silverman, Wilson Furr, Ben James (a)
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
A day after he was introduced as new Lakers head coach, representatives for JJ Redick issued a denial of allegations that he called a fellow Duke alum the N-word while in college.
Reps for Redick were responding to a tweet from author, speaker and self-described social impact pro Halleemah Nash that was sent Tuesday, in which Nash accused Redick of calling her the N-word when she was working with the Duke basketball team Redick played for in college:
I’ve only been called the N word to my face by a white man once in my life and it was on the campus of Duke University while I was doing work with the basketball team. And today he was named the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What a world.
Within a few hours, TMZ had gotten a denial of the story from Redick’s team:
We reached out to Redick’s camp for a response to the claim … and they completely shut it down.
“No, it never happened,” a spokesperson tells TMZ Sports.
The Lakers have not commented on the situation publicly as of publishing time.
However, while Redick’s reps denied Nash’s story, other disturbing moments from Redick’s past came to light in the wake of her social media post on Tuesday. They included 2014 allegations that Redick called an ex-girlfriend racial slurs in leaked emails related to an alleged abortion contract with the same woman; Redick denied the woman was ever pregnant in since-deleted tweets from 2013 calling the reports “outrageous, false and malicious.”
Additionally resurfacing on social media was an apology Redick issued in 2018 for appearing to accidentally use a racial slur in a Chinese New Year video from the NBA, as well as a bizarre story in which he claimed on his podcast to have potentially witnessed human trafficking before temporarily deleting his Twitter account.
We will update this story when and if more details/responses come to light.
Charley Hull and Georgia Hall are best friends who grew up playing golf together and are both LPGA veterans.
This week, they paired up for the LPGA Dow Championship, a multi-format stroke-play team event at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan.
In rounds one and three, the ladies will play foursomes or alternate shot. For the second and final rounds, it will be four-ball or best ball—much like the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour.
They have known each other since they were 11 years old, and they are celebrating 17 years of friendship. Hull calls Hall ‘George,’ while the former AIG Women’s Open champion calls her best friend ‘Charles.’
“We live three minutes away from each other now, and there’s not a day that goes by we don’t speak,” Hall said.
The duo will also represent Team Great Britain in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Becoming an Olympian is a big deal and even more special for this duo because they get to do it together.
“Just spending time with George because we love playing golf together,” Hull said. “That week is going to be a bit of a busy week, but it’s just nice to share it with your best friend, especially in a moment like that.”
Even though they will have plenty of Olympic duties, the pair has made plans to go shopping and enjoy the experience. Hall has never been to the city of love, while Hull has only visited Paris once.
“You get to share the experience with me the first time,” Hull said, smiling. “But honestly, I actually really want to go to Paris one day.”
“Yeah, let’s go shopping,” Hall said.
Shopping at the Olympics? Neither athlete is a huge sports fan, but they each have a separate event they want to watch. Hull wants to watch boxing, while Hall wants to check out gymnastics.
The best part was the compromise between the two so they could spend as much time together as possible.
“You’ll go to gymnastics, and I’ll go to boxing, and we’ll have to go to each other’s one,” Hull said.
This week, their team name is the Rose and Thorn because a good friend, Ryan Evans, gave it to them. They also have a walk-up song, “Best Friend,” by rapper Saweetie.
“Georgia goes to him, ‘Describe me and Charley,’ and Ryan goes, ‘Georgia, you’re like the lovely English rose, and Charley, you’re like the thorn.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, thanks, Ryan,’” Hull explained.
Hall acknowledged it was stark, but she quickly made her best friend feel better about it.
“There’s lots of thorns around the rose, so you protect me, don’t you,” Hall said.
“Yeah, I protect her,” Hull responded with a saucy grin.
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
This week in Michigan, they will tap into their connection to find success.
“I know when Charley is upset before she does, and she’s the same with me,” Hall said. “We know each other well, and I think that’s so important. This type of event, we go out there and have fun.”
“100 percent,” Hull chimed in. “George knows me better than I know myself.”
These two are among the 60 women who will compete in the Paris Olympics at Le Golf National, the 2018 Ryder Cup venue.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
J.J. Redick had no previous head coaching experience outside of leading his 9-year-old son’s team, but that didn’t stop the Los Angeles Lakers from giving them their head coaching job. The Lakers formally introduced Redick during a press conference on Monday afternoon after a drawn out coaching search that included a brief infatuation with UConn’s Danny Hurley.
In the end, Redick seemed like he was always the man for the job, mostly because of his existing relationship with LeBron James. Redick and James started the podcast “Mind the Game” earlier this year when they would break down X’s and O’s for fans. The podcast earned widespread acclaim for providing an inside look at the brain of one of the best players of all-time. It did not, according to Redick, give him a leg up for the Lakers job.
Redick was asked what advice James gave him during the Lakers coaching search. His answer? “He didn’t provide any advice,” Redick said. “LeBron and I did not talk about the Lakers job until Thursday afternoon, about 30 minutes after I was offered the job.”
That seems incredibly difficult to believe. One person even the room even loudly groaned as Redick said it.
It’s surprising that someone as media savvy as Redick would make that comment. It’s the type of statement Redick would make fun of if he was still in media, and another former player closer to James had said it. In fairness, Redick did get other coaching interviews during this cycle, but it sure feels like his existing relationship with James gave him the edge in the Lakers’ search.
That wasn’t the only cringeworthy moment from Redick’s press conference. At one point, top Lakers executive Rob Pelinka mentioned talking to Redick about “gameifying” player development. “We’ve talked about how we translate Redick’s offensive system to an app-based or phone-based deliverable,” Pelinka said. Someone really should have groaned during that part, too.
Some fans have been wondering if Redick and James would continue their podcast while leading the Lakers. Obviously, that was never going to happen.
“I am excommunicated from the content space,” Redick said. Somehow this was the most normal thing said during this press conference.
“For the time being, and hopefully it’s a very, very long time, I am excommunicated from the content space. There will be no podcasts” -JJ Redick pic.twitter.com/OoFz3dWQrb
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod (@big_business_) June 24, 2024
The Lakers job is enormously difficult. The Western Conference is loaded, James turns 40 years old this season, and the fanbase demands excellence every year. Making a shocking run to the Western Conference Finals as a No. 7 seed didn’t save Darvin Ham, and Redick has his work cut out for him just to get that far.
Good luck to Redick. If James didn’t help him land this summer, he sure needs to help him keep it by continuing to stay healthy and play like one of the best in the world.
The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup Champions, winning a hard-fought Game 7 against the Oilers to win their first title in team history. It comes just after the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship — and at the center of both teams is a remarkable bond between friends.
Jason Tatum of the Celtics and Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers are long-time friends, going back to their days at Chaminade Prep School in the suburbs of St. Louis. Tatum, a promising basketball player befriended Tkachuk, who wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps into the NHL (Matthew is the son of the legendary Keith Tkachuk).
The two spent time together, pushing each other, even making goofy videos together — as this assignment Tatum made for school stars Tkachuk briefly.
Tkachuk was drafted by the Flames with the 6th pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Tatum was picked by the Celtics with the 3rd pick in 2017. Now less than a decade later they’ve both won titles in the same year.
Sunday in Omaha a two-run home run from Dylan Dreiling kept Tennessee’s title dreams alive.
Monday night in Omaha a two-run blast from Dreiling helped solidify them.
The Tennessee Volunteers captured the NCAA Men’s College World Series for the first time in school history, taking the best-of-three series against Texas A&M in Game 3 by a final score of 6-5.
And as was the case Sunday, Dreiling played a starring role.
A sacrifice fly from Dreiling in the third inning staked the Volunteers to a 2-1 lead, but the score was 3-1 in Tennessee’s favor when Dreiling came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Billy Amick, having singled to left center ahead of Dreiling, took his lead off first.
But he would jog from there:
Dreiling got his hand around on a 78-mph breaking ball from Texas A&M pitcher Evan Aschenbeck, lofting a high fly ball to right field. Aggies right fielder Caden Sorrell gave it everything he had on the leap, but he came up just inches short.
That made it three home runs in three Men’s College World Series Finals games for Dreiling, and the outfielder’s two-run shot gave the Volunteers a 5-1 lead.
Tennessee was not done in the seventh and tacked on another run on one of the greatest slides you may ever see. After Dreiling’s home run Hunter Ensley got on with a seeing-eye single, which brought Kavares Tears to the plate. Tears promptly launched a deep fly off the wall in center field, and Ensley tried to come all the way around from first on the play, but a great relay from the Aggies saw the ball beat Ensley to home plate.
But somehow, some way, Ensley avoided the tag from catcher Jackson Appel:
Ensley reads this play perfectly. He sees the throw come to the glove side of Appel and then cuts to the inside, sweeping across the plate with his left hand to touch home. Texas A&M challenged the play, but video replays confirmed the safe call on the field.
That slide would end up being huge.
The Aggies put two runs on the board in the eighth to make it 6-3, but left-hander Kirby Connell came into the game and stopped the bleeding with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Aidan Combs, who also played a huge role in Sunday’s win for Tennessee coming out of the bullpen, came on to face the top of the Texas A&M lineup in the ninth.
The Aggies did not make it easy.
Gavin Grahovac led off the inning with a double, bringing the dangerous Jace LaViolette to the plate. Combs was able to strike out LaViolette, but an Appel single into left field plated Grahovac, making the Tennessee lead 6-4 and bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Hayden Schott, who was 3-for-4 on the night with a trio of singles.
Combs got the swinging strikeout of Schott with a high fastball, and the Aggies were down to their final out as Ted Burton strode to the plate. But a wild pitch brought Appel home, making it 6-5 with Burton representing the tying run, and the go-ahead run in the on-deck circle.
Combs punched Burton out on a 79-mph breaking ball, getting Burton to go down swinging and touching off the celebration. For the first time in school history, the baseball National Championship trophy is headed to Rocky Top.
For his effort throughout the series, Dreiling was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
With the title the Volunteers became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the Men’s College World Series since Miami did it back in 1999. That was the first year the tournament expanded to the current 64-team format.
We have reached the quiet time of the NFL calendar. Free agency is largely complete, the schedules have been released, minicamps and OTAs are behind us, and a few weeks remain in the offseason before training camps get underway.
Which means everyone is looking for something to do, whether you are people whose job it is to cover the league — send in any story ideas if you have them dear reader — or even those whose job it is to get ready for those training camps so you can be prepared to play on Sunday.
This is a story about the latter group.
Joe Burrow and Justin Jefferson turned in their helmets and pads for high end clothes recently, making a trip to Paris to tour the city, and then walk down the runway in Vogue World 2024:
You can see more of the former LSU teammates here:
“I’ve always loved clothes but never really understood the industry, so I wanted to learn more,” Burrow told Vogue.
“I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and grow as a person, [and] I think walking in the show is a great way to do that,” said Burrow, who according to Vogue was dressed in a backless black suit with satin lapels by Peter Do. “I think the crossover between fashion and sport is going to continue to grow.”
“This is my first show,” Jefferson said to Vogue, “and who wouldn’t want Vogue World to be their first?”
