2025 Ryder Cup: The Team Europe state of play and predicting Luke Donald's panel at Bethpage Black
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Legendary Monica Seles reveals she's battling myasthenia gravis
August 13 - Nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles is battling a new challenge: a neuromuscular autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis. The 51-year-old Seles is going public about the condition she was diagnosed with three years ago. It causes muscle weakness in the arms and legs and bouts of double vision among other symptoms. Seles was noticing odd changes around five years ago and it eventually became apparent to her that something major was wrong. "I would be playing (tennis) with some kids or family members, and I would miss a ball," Seles said, according to The Guardian. "I was like, 'Yeah, I see two balls.' These are obviously symptoms that you can't ignore. "And, for me, this is when this journey started. And it took me quite some time to really absorb it, speak openly about it, because it's a difficult one. It affects my day-to-day life quite a lot." There currently is no cure for the disease. Seles, of course, had a different hurdle earlier in life as she was stabbed with a knife by a fan during a 1993 match in Hamburg, Germany. Seles was 19 at the time and would be away from the sport for 27 months due to both physical and mental anguish. Seles won eight Grand Slam titles prior to the stabbing and reached the finals of all four majors in 1992, winning three of them. She won the Australian Open for the third straight time months before the stabbing. After she returned, Seles won just one Grand Slam title -- the 1996 Australian Open. "I had to, in tennis terms, I guess, reset -- hard reset -- a few times," Seles said. "I call my first hard reset when I came to the U.S. as a young 13-year-old (from Yugoslavia). Didn't speak the language; left my family. It's a very tough time. "Then, obviously, becoming a great player, it's a reset, too, because the fame, money, the attention, changes (everything), and it's hard as a 16-year-old to deal with all that. Then obviously my stabbing -- I had to do a huge reset." Decades later, Seles is now adjusting to a "new normal" and looking to move forward with the next version of herself. "Really, being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis: another reset," Seles said. "But one thing, as I tell kids that I mentor: 'You've got to always adjust. That ball is bouncing, and you've just got to adjust. And that's what I'm doing now." Seles decided to reveal her condition and use her platform to help educate people about the little-known disease. "My MG journey over the past 5 years has not been an easy one," Seles said in a statement through argenx, a company partnering with Seles to raise awareness at the upcoming U.S. Open. "I felt isolated and defeated as many of the activities I enjoyed were no longer physically possible for me. I've since realized that by sharing my story, I can raise awareness of this disease, empower patients to advocate for themselves and help them connect with the MG community for support." Seles retired from professional tennis in 2008 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame one year later. She won 53 tournaments and spent 178 weeks at No. 1, sixth-most all-time among female players. --Field Level Media
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Scheffler-McIlroy, Rose-Spaun paired at BMW Championship
August 12 - The top two players in the world will play side by side in the first two rounds of the BMW Championship, as the PGA Tour paired Scottie Scheffler with Rory McIlroy to begin the penultimate tournament of the season. Scheffler and McIlroy are slated to tee off 11:16 a.m. ET on Thursday and 1:38 p.m. on Friday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. They're not only 1-2 in the world rankings, but also in the FedEx Cup race as the season winds down. The duo combined to win three of the four major championships this year and Scheffler is the defending FedEx Cup champion, while McIlroy has won it three times. When Scheffler and McIlroy played together in the first two rounds of the PGA Championship, alongside Xander Schauffele, Scheffler shot 5 under par on his way to capturing the major title, while McIlroy struggled to 1 over par and eked into the weekend. This will also mark McIlroy's first tournament since he tied for seventh at the Open Championship, won by Scheffler. McIlroy skipped the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the playoff opener. There is no 36-hole cut at the second playoff leg in Owings Mills, Md., but only the top 30 in the points standings following Sunday will move on to the Tour Championship next week. Schauffele, 43rd in the standings after an injury-interrupted season, needs a stellar finish to crack the top 30. He'll play his first two rounds with Michael Kim. Other notable pairings include Rickie Fowler with Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas -- Nos. 48 and 49 in the points standings entering the week -- and Englishman Justin Rose with J.J. Spaun. Rose and Spaun went to a playoff at the St. Jude, and Rose prevailed on the third playoff hole to beat the U.S. Open champion. Spaun and Rose sit 3-4 in the season standings. Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who missed out on that playoff after a late bogey, will play alongside Justin Thomas. --Field Level Media
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Reuters
Rickie Fowler needs big BMW to reach Top 30, Ryder Cup consideration
August 12 - Justin Rose, of course, was the biggest winner at last week's FedEx St. Jude Championship. It's hard to beat the combination of collecting a $3.6 million check, clinching a Ryder Cup spot on Team Europe and clutching the sweet trophy. But Rickie Fowler felt like a big winner, too. By earning a share of sixth place in Memphis, Fowler made the biggest leap in the all-important FedEx Cup point standings. He vaulted from 64th place to 48th to capture one of the 50 spots in this week's BMW Championship. Alas, now he has to uncork another remarkable jump at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md., in order to earn a spot among the 30 golfers who'll compete in next week's Tour Championship. "I don't know the exact numbers of all the ifs, ands or buts," Fowler said after playing a practice round Tuesday, "but I know I need to play well, and I'll see if I can do that." Here's how Fowler's if, ands and buts sort out: He owns 1,032 FedEx Cup points, which trails 30th-place Lucas Glover by 202. Considering the last-place BMW Championship finisher gains 34 points this week, Fowler needs to finish no worse than alone in 13th place (good for 240 points) just to have a chance at the top 30. "You always look at (the) Tour Championship (at) East Lake as a goal," Fowler said. "Ryder Cup was pretty far out there. That's still a long ways out there. I need to play some good golf this week to extend my potential to sneak into (or) even be in the conversation." How good must he play? About as good as it gets. Fowler sits 37th in the Ryder Cup standings with 3,157.26 points, so far down the charts that even winning the BMW Championship cannot propel him into one of the six automatic qualifying spots that will be locked in Sunday night. However, two consecutive strong showings in the playoffs could reinforce to Keegan Bradley that he's playing well enough to receive a captain's pick and suit up for Team USA for the sixth time in the last eight Cups. When offering his recommendations for Team USA, Fowler did almost the opposite of politicking for himself. Or, perhaps, the 36-year-old was just opining as a neutral observer. "Obviously you want guys (on the team) that are playing well or are trending that way," Fowler said. "I mean, two big things at Bethpage, obviously you'd like to look at all the stats and all the guys being top in those categories, but I feel like driving the ball well is something that is very beneficial or needed at Bethpage, and obviously putting when it comes to match play." Team USA hosts the Ryder Cup Sept. 27-29 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. --Field Level Media
