Tag: makes

John Deere Classic: Jordan Spieth makes 1st start in 9 years john,deere,classic,jordan,spieth,makes,st,start,in,years,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour

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Jordan Spieth is back in the Quad Cities for the first time since his 2015 John Deere Classic victory.

So far, it seems to be a sentimental trip for him as he reminisces on his history at TPC Deere Run.

Ahead of the tournament, Spieth joined the media to reflect on his 2013 and 2015 victories and how much has changed for him.

“I probably spent a little more time at the course back then, but in general, my day-to-day on the course hasn’t changed much,” Spieth said on Wednesday. “Off the course, it’s obviously very different.”

He has grown a lot from the young 21-year-old kid on Tour.

“I think I try to be that kid,” he said. “I try to think about being that kid every time I tee it up.”

Spieth is now a dad of two kids and has 13 PGA Tour wins.

Ahead of the tournament, he, his son Sammy and his daughter Sophie went to ‘The Big Dig,’

“I think Michael [Greller] had the most fun,” he said. “He and his two kids were out driving tractors around. It was a lot of fun. It was full circle, right? I was 21 the last time I was here, and now I’ve got two kids that I took to The Big Dig.”

He explained that his return to the John Deere Classic had been on the table since early spring, and thankfully, the timing worked out for his schedule.

“I was pretty excited about the idea that I would be coming back the Deere this year, now that we’re here, it’s crazy,” Spieth said on Wednesday.

“It really does feel like a second home. It’s been really cool, the reception I received since coming back one day at Zach Johnson’s charity event and then a couple of days here at the golf course. I don’t have support like this anywhere outside of DFW, so hopefully, that continues this week, and I can pick up where I left off.”

Spieth has only played in this event four times. The John Deere Classic gave him a sponsor exemption in 2012 when he finished T58. He would win in 2013, tie for seventh in 2014 and win again in 2015.

Will he have similar luck in his fifth start? So much has changed for him since his last start in the Quad Cities.

Spieth has not had his best season on Tour in 2024. He has played in 17 events and has just three top 10s and three top 25s. The 30-year-old has also missed five cuts.

Last week at the Travelers Championship, he finished T63. At the U.S. Open, it was a T41. Spieth missed the cut at Jack Nicklaus’ Signature Event, The Memorial.

The last time he finished inside the top 10 was at the Valero Texas Open with a T10. Since then, it has been an up-and-down grind. Despite his performances in the last few months, Spieth is among the betting favorites.

Nonetheless, this week holds a lot of weight for him. Spieth is currently No. 59 in the FedEx Cup rankings. He will need to find some success in the coming weeks if he wants to play past the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

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.

Daniel Ricciardo makes emphatic declaration heading into Austrian Grand Prix daniel,ricciardo,makes,emphatic,declaration,heading,into,austrian,grand,prix,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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A year ago at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo made a prediction that might have seen Joe Namath smile.

Is the Australian driver about to deliver a repeat performance at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix?

Following the Friday practice sessions at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix Ricciardo emphatically declared that he had a “top ten” car heading into qualifying. Ricciardo finished sixth on the timing sheets in practice in Mexico City, ahead of Lewis Hamilton for example, and believed he was primed for a strong performance.

He delivered that performance on Saturday in Mexico City, putting his AlphaTauri on the second row alongside former Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. Ricciardo finished the job the next day with a seventh-place finish, which was his best result following his shocking mid-season return to the grid.

Speaking Saturday at Red Bull Ring in the aftermath of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, Ricciardo made a similar statement.

“We knew that it would have been hard to get into the points in the Sprint, but it was important to race and learn for tomorrow,” said Ricciardo in Visa Cash App RB F1 Team’s post-qualifying report. “There are some positives from the battles we had this morning and the way the car responded was not too bad.

“Of course, it’s frustrating to miss out on Q3 by just a few milliseconds this afternoon, but at the same time, it’s a more positive one as I think we made some progress since yesterday and it’s something we have to be proud of. I think we still need to find something a little bit extra for tomorrow but today’s qualifying put us in a much better position for the race. It’s going to be a longer one with pit stops and [tire] differences, so there’s no reason to believe we can’t be a top ten car tomorrow.”

As noted by the driver while he did not advance into Q3, he missed out on the final spot in the third segment of qualifying by just 0.015 seconds, as Esteban Ocon snatched P10 from Ricciardo’s grasp.

Still, the Australian driver remains confident.

That confidence and optimism comes as Ricciardo faces renewed speculation about his future at the team. The driver acknowledged those questions earlier in the week, noting that his “performance” — not his trademark “smile” — will determine his fate.

Backing up his confidence tomorrow will bolster his case.

Bronny James is rejecting NBA Draft workouts, and it makes sense bronny,james,is,rejecting,nba,draft,workouts,and,it,makes,sense,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-draft

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The 2024 NBA Draft’s lack of superstar talent has helped make the biggest name in the class a player who might not even be selected. Bronny James, the oldest son of LeBron James, entered the draft after one season at USC. James’ freshman year started with a terrifying heart scare when he collapsed at practice in July, and he never really found his footing after returning to the lineup.

USC was disappointing, finishing under .500 and missing the NCAA tournament despite having another top freshman guard in Isaiah Collier. James made his debut in Dec., mostly coming off the bench to space the floor and defend. He ended up averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game on 36.6 percent shooting from the floor and 26.7 percent shooting from three-point range.

It’s rare that a freshman who scores less than five points per game gets drafted into the NBA, but of course James isn’t a normal freshman. With NBA Draft approaching on June 26-27, James and his agency Klutch Sports appear to be keeping teams away from James so they can steer him to a particular destination.

NBA teams have been unable to bring James in for workouts, according to ESPN’s Jon Givony, with two big exceptions. James had a workout for his father’s team, the Los Angeles Lakers (who own the No. 17 and No. 55 pick), and is scheduled to have a second workout with the Phoenix Suns (who own the No. 22 pick). Here’s Givony’s latest reporting:

“NBA teams that I talk to say they cannot get Bronny James into the building,” Givony said. “The sense among teams is that his agent, Rich Paul, does not want him on a two-way contract. […] It’s looking like Bronny James is going to slide to No. 55. I don’t think any NBA team wants to pick him and deal with the repercussions of that.”

This may feel like James is getting special treatment as the son of an all-time legend, but it’s really not. Players and their agencies try to push their way to a certain destination all the time, especially those projected to go in the second round. One recent example is Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who bypassed a chance to go No. 42 to the Pistons so he could be undrafted and sign with LA.

Fred VanVleet is another example of a player who turned down second round opportunities to go undrafted so he could choose his team.

ESPN’s latest mock draft has Bronny James going to the Lakers at No. 55. The Suns don’t currently have a second round pick, though they could acquire one on draft night. Playing with a veteran Phoenix team led by Kevin Durant would be a nice outcome for James, but it sure feels like he’s destined to fulfill his father’s dream by being drafted by the Lakers.

SB Nation’s latest mock draft had the Lakers taking G League Ignite forward Tyler Smith at No. 17.

The real question is what does Bronny want? He shouldn’t be a pawn in his father’s legacy dreams. His career deserves to be taken seriously on its terms. Playing with his famous dad will only bring more pressure, and it’s fair to wonder what happens once LeBron Sr. finally retires.

Everything that’s happened to Bronny over the last year has been kind of sad. We scouted him extensively in high school and believed he was good enough to NBA consideration without his father’s help. The heart issue and the pressure put on by his father have made Bronny’s career seem like a sideshow. Pretty soon, it will be time to sink or swim.

Christian Moore makes Men’s College World Series history in Tennessee-Florida State christian,moore,makes,men,s,college,world,series,history,in,tennessee,florida,state,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Friday night’s game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida State Seminoles in the Men’s College World Series has yet to go final.

But a player has already made some history.

Tennessee infielder Christian Moore hit for the cycle in the game, becoming the first player to accomplish that feat since Jerry Kindall hit for the cycle back in 1956.

Kindall and Moore are now the only two players in Men’s College World Series to ever hit for the cycle.

Moore’s first hit came in the bottom of the first inning, when the Tennessee second baseman tripled to lead off the inning for the Volunteers. Then in the bottom of the second Moore checked the double off his “cycle to-do list,” as he laced a line drive down the left-field line to drive in a run:

Moore came all the way around the bases on a throwing error, but the play went into the books as a double.

In the fourth inning Moore laced a single to right, improving to 3-for-3 on the night. But that still left the infielder a home run shy of the cycle.

Moore checked that box in the sixth inning:

As noted by Tennessee’s social media department, Moore’s cycle is just the sixth in program history, and the first for the school in the postseason.

Moore is considered one of the top prospects in the upcoming MLB Draft, and in our most recent mock draft we had Moore coming off the board with the No. 21 pick to the Minnesota Twins.

After tonight, that might be too low.

U.S. Open: Francesco Molinari makes inconceivable ace, makes cut u,s,open,francesco,molinari,makes,inconceivable,ace,makes,cut,sbnation,com,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

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Francesco Molinari stood on the par-4 9th hole—his 18th of the day—at 7-over par. With the cut-line sitting at 5-over, he needed a hole-in-one to make the cut on the number.

The request was impossible, and yet Molinari delivered the improbable. He made an ace with a 7-iron, thus earning a third-round tee time at the U.S. Open for the first time since 2021.

“I think from where we were standing, it looked like it just carried the bunker, plus the greens are getting firm, so it was the ideal shot,” Molinari explained after.

“Then it started tracking, was going to break left to right at the hole, and we were joking with Sergio Garcia about how it looked and on a great line the whole way, but what are the chances really. I don’t even know what to say. Just incredible.”

Molinari struggled to process what had transpired after his 2-over 72.

“I just bogeyed 8. I was hoping I could par the 8th and then have to make two at 9,” Molinari said.

“With that flag, if you hit a good shot, you can get it within birdie range, but when I dropped a shot at 8, and then yes, standing on the 9th tee, it was just put a good swing on it and see what happens. But the chances are incredibly small, so I don’t know what to say.”

Molinari has had his fair share of incredible hole-in-ones.

He aced the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale one year. He also made a hole-in-one at Bay Hill, when he won there in 2019, per golf statistician Justin Ray.

But on Friday, he made the greatest ace of his life—when he needed it most.

“It was the last chance to have a chance to play the weekend,” Molinari added.

“That’s golf in a nutshell.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.