Tag: old

PGA Tour: 15-year-old Miles Russell set for more fun in debut pga,tour,year,old,miles,russell,set,for,more,fun,in,debut,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

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Two months ago, 15-year-old Miles Russell set an incredible record, becoming the youngest player to make a cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event. He eventually finished in a tie for 20th at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, which earned him a spot in next week’s tournament.

He missed the cut despite posting a 4-under par score through 36 holes. But Russell made a lasting impression—so much so that the Rocket Mortgage Classic offered him a sponsor’s exemption to compete in this week’s event at the Detroit Golf Club.

“I was pretty much speechless at the time,” Russell said when he received the call that he would make his PGA Tour debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

“It’s always been a dream to play at the highest level and compete with the best players in the world, and I get to do that this week. I am really looking forward to it.”

Russell has quite a resume. He broke par for the first time at the age of six and then finished second in the Drive, Chip, and Putt finals at Augusta National in 2018 at nine years old.

Since then, Russell has racked up numerous junior titles. He won the Junior PGA Championship last August by seven strokes and then added a Junior Players Championship title at TPC Sawgrass, where he won by three. As such, Russell won the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Player of the Year Award, becoming the youngest player ever to do so—besting Tiger Woods in the process. Speaking of Woods, Russell will join Charlie Woods at next month’s U.S. Junior Amateur, which will also take place in Michigan at Oakland Hills Country Club.

“I don’t know how to describe it other than just a rollercoaster, and it’s just been a rollercoaster of just fun,” Russell said.

“It all happened a little faster than I thought it might, but it’s just what happens when you have good play.”

Russell will undoubtedly continue to have fun this week at Detroit Golf Club, the host of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, regardless of the result. He said he will have to rely on his short game—his strong suit—to get around this tight golf course, but he also noted that staying disciplined will be critical.

“My goal is just to come out here and have fun,” Russell said.

“That’s my main goal: have fun, maybe learn something, and take something to my next event.”

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.

JJ Redick denies using racial slur as old and new allegations surface about Lakers coach jj,redick,denies,using,racial,slur,as,old,and,new,allegations,surface,about,lakers,coach,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,dot-com-grid-coverage

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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:

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.

PGA Tour: Jack Nicklaus’ tournament returns to old date pga,tour,jack,nicklaus,tournament,returns,to,old,date,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

PGA Tour Jack Nicklaus tournament returns to old date pgatourjacknicklaustournamentreturnstoolddatesbnationcomgolfgolf pga tourgolf news
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The Memorial Tournament is returning to its original spot on the PGA Tour calendar.

After striking an agreement with the PGA Tour to stage its event the week before the U.S. Open in 2024, Jack Nicklaus announced Monday that his Memorial Tournament will take place during the first weekend of June.

That means the tournament will begin on Memorial Day Monday, two weeks before the U.S. Open.

“The relationship the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday has enjoyed with the PGA Tour is more like a partnership. The Tour has acted in the best interest of the Memorial Tournament, and we, in turn, have always supported the Tour and its initiatives. That is why a year ago when the Tour presented us its new business model, we were willing to work with them and move the 2024 date to a week before the U.S. Open,” Nicklaus said in a statement.

“Over recent months, we have had a number of conversations with Jay Monahan and his team—ones that have included our presenting sponsor Workday and Co-Founder and Executive Chair Aneel Bhusri—and together we determined that in the best interest of the Memorial Tournament, the Tour and its players, we would return to our traditional date and start Tournament week on the Memorial Day holiday.”

The Memorial Tournament presents a grueling test year in and year out, almost serving as a ‘Mini-major.’ This year’s edition certainly lived up to that billing, as Scottie Scheffler fought firm and fast conditions, as well as a charging Collin Morikawa, to win by a stroke at 8-under par. Scheffler even said it played like a U.S. Open, but it’s extremely difficult for both the mind and the body to play a U.S. Open-type course in back-to-back weeks.

Scottie Scheffler celebrates his par-save on the 18th green, which won him the 2024 Memorial Tournament.
Photo by Ian Johnson/Getty Images

Hence, at Pinehurst No. 2 this past week, Scheffler explained why he does not want to play the week before a major going forward.

“I think playing the week before, a lot of it depends on the golf course, but I think last week with the golf course the way it was, it probably was not the best prep work for me coming into another challenging event,” Scheffler said Sunday.

“I shot 5-under during the first round at the Memorial, which would have been the easiest day, and after that, I was 3-under from there on out. I mean, that’s pretty U.S. Open-like, and to play that many rounds, especially with what I’ve been dealing with the weeks leading up or the whole season, been playing a lot of good golf and being in contention, I think maybe my prep would have been a little bit better for this week if I was at home.”

Interestingly, Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion who has won more of them than anyone else, agreed with this sentiment.

“When I played, I rarely played a week before any major championship. So I’m asked to be part of putting on a golf tournament in a week that I would never play,” Nicklaus said before his tournament.

“From a sponsor’s standpoint, Memorial Day has been what our name is, and we were around Memorial Day. [Monday] is normally a huge day gallery-wise for us because it was Memorial Day, and we had maybe a thousand people here [this year on Monday].”

Now Nicklaus gets his wish, as his tournament will welcome the PGA Tour’s best players two weeks before Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh—another brutally tough course—will host the 2025 U.S. Open.

And best of all, Scheffler, now knowing that the 2025 Memorial aligns with his plans, will be there defending his title, too.

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.