PGA champ Scheffler still has shot at 3rd win in row with big move at Colonial despite 3 late bogeys
FORT WORTH, Texas: Scottie Scheffler knew he had to make a bunch of birdies in the third round at Colonial for any chance to win in his third consecutive start. The world's No. 1 player did just that, but also had three bogeys on the back nine.
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Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
FIFA's inaugural Club World Cup set to kick off in the US amid challenges
NEW YORK: FIFA's billion-dollar gamble to revolutionize club football begins a week on Sunday with plenty of cash up for grabs but questionable enthusiasm as 32 teams prepare to contest the expanded Club World Cup in 12 stadiums across the United States. The tournament — designed as a glittering showcase ahead of the 2026 World Cup — has had to contend with the prospect of empty seats along with controversial qualification rules and player welfare concerns after an exhausting European season. Lionel Messi's Inter Miami face Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli in the opening fixture on June 15 at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, with tickets still widely available days before kickoff. A glance at FIFA's website shows lots of tickets available, including for the July 13 final at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium. Messi's presence underscores the tournament's contentious foundations. Inter Miami gained entry by topping Major League Soccer's regular season standings, despite losing in the first round of the playoffs – a decision critics say shows FIFA's desperation to have the Argentina great at their inaugural showpiece. FIFA's decision to give the host nation a spot and award it to Inter Miami underlined the opaque nature of the qualifying criteria for the tournament, which won't feature Liverpool, Barcelona or Napoli who have all just been crowned champions of three of the most prestigious leagues in Europe. Apart from the winners of each confederation's premier club competitions, teams qualified according to a ranking based on their performances over a four-year period. There is also the case of Club Leon, the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners, who were excluded from the tournament just over a month ago due to having shared ownership with another qualifier. The spot has gone to MLS's Los Angeles FC. Rights deal Nailing down a last-gasp $1 billion TV rights deal with sports streaming platform DAZN six months before the tournament means a total of $2 billion in expected revenues. That led FIFA to announce a total prize pot of $1 billion, with the winning club to receive up to $125 million. That figure represents 25 perceent more than Paris St. Germain earned from their entire 17-match Champions League campaign. But this largesse has not quelled concerns about player welfare, with the global players union FIFPro taking legal action against FIFA over a tournament that further compresses the precious recovery time between gruelling seasons. Furthermore there is still concern over the playing surfaces after last season's Copa America, when many headlines focused on the sub-par conditions and smaller pitch dimensions. Those pitches, measuring 100 by 64 meters, were 740 square meters smaller than FIFA's standard size, prompting widespread discontent among players and coaches. FIFA has given assurances that this time the NFL stadiums hosting the matches will meet their specifications, confirming that all venues will feature natural grass and adhere to the standard regulation dimensions of 105 by 68 meters. Divided into eight groups of four teams, top contenders include Real Madrid, winners of six of the last 12 Champions League titles, plus German champions Bayern Munich and 2023 Premier League and Champions League winners Manchester City. European champions Paris St. Germain are the in-form team heading into the tournament after their historic 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan in the Champions League final on Saturday. But they must survive a tough Group B featuring South American and Brazilian champions Botafogo and 2024 CONCACAF winners Seattle Sounders plus Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. Whether you call it soccer or football, for FIFA the tournament represents a dress rehearsal and a referendum on America's appetite for the sport and on the world governing body's vision for its commercial future ahead of the 2026 World Cup being co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Scottie Scheffler rolls to victory at Memorial for 3rd win of year
DUBLIN, Ohio: Scottie Scheffler showed once again that he's ready to conquer whatever challenge he's faced with on the PGA Tour. The world's No. 1 golfer had another smooth round and won for the third time in his last four tournaments, successfully defending his title at the Memorial Tournament with Sunday's 2-under-par 70 in the final round at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. 'This is a golf course that is definitely going to expose your weaknesses,' Scheffler said. 'Did some really good battling today. ... Put up another really good round on this very difficult golf course.' At 10-under 278 for the tournament, Scheffler secured a four-shot victory over Ben Griffin — the only other golfer to win a PGA Tour event that Scheffler started in the past month. Scheffler hadn't won in 2025 until capturing the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which is considered his hometown event in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and followed that with claiming the PGA Championship. He won seven times in 2024. Scheffler and Tiger Woods are the only back-to-back winners of the Memorial Tournament. It's a tournament hosted by legendary Jack Nicklaus, who greeted the current champion as he walked off the green. 'It's pretty cool,' Scheffler said. 'It's always a hard week. It's so challenging to play this tournament.' Much like on Saturday, Scheffler was content with pars as he played the front nine in 1 under with eight pars. Griffin (73 on Sunday) led for large chunks of the first three days, but lost a share of the top spot with a bogey on Saturday's final hole. He began Sunday with another bogey, and he was 2 over for the day through 13 holes. 'I'll learn from some of my swings down the stretch,' Griffin said. 'I'll remember some of the good stuff, and I'll bounce back and get right back to it.' An eagle on the par-5 15th with a 12-foot putt followed by a birdie on No. 16 allowed Griffin to extend the suspense. Then the margin went from two strokes to four when Griffin was stuck with a double bogey at No. 17. 'We battled really hard on the weekend,' Scheffler said. 'Ben made things interesting down the stretch. Overall, it was a great week.' A week ago, Scheffler tied for fourth place as Griffin won the Charles Schwab Challenge. Scheffler has secured seven consecutive top-10 finishes. 'The guy's relentless,' said Sepp Straka, the tournament's third-place finisher from Austria. 'He loves competition, and he doesn't like giving up shots.' Griffin said his putting was costly during the weekend. The runner-up spot didn't seem as rewarding as it would have in previous years. 'I'd take this finish, like, a year ago, two years ago, three years ago,' he said. 'I'm definitely a little disappointed to not have made it a little bit closer or gotten it done.' Straka (70) was third at 5 under and second-round co-leader Nick Taylor of Canada (73) finished fourth at 4 under. Russell Henley (71) and Maverick McNealy (70) shared fifth place at 2 under. Brandt Snedeker's 65 was the best score of the final round, moving him to 1 under and into a five-way tie for seventh place. 'I think I probably made 200 feet of putts today,' Snedeker said. 'I had the putter working. When you have days like that, it's just get it on the green, give yourself a chance.' Also in that cluster at 7 under was Rickie Fowler (73), who qualified for next month's British Open as a result of his finishing spot. 'We're heading the right way,' Fowler said. 'This week still could have been a lot better, but definitely positive is going over to Portrush. That's one I've wanted on the schedule.'
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Messi's brilliance continues with two goals, two assists in Inter Miami's 5-1 win over Columbus Crew
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida: Inter Miami was in a midseason slump just a week ago. Lionel Messi made sure it didn't last long. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Messi scored for the fifth time in three Major League Soccer matches to help Inter Miami rout the Columbus Crew 5-1 on Saturday night for its second straight win. Messi played a role each of Miami's goals. He scored twice – in the 15th and 24th minutes – giving him 10 goals this season, which leads his team and is tied for third in MLS. He set up Tadeo Allende's goal in the 13th, Fafa Picault's in the 89th and was also involved in Luis Suarez's score in the 64th. That makes it two straight matches that the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has recorded at least two goals and an assist. His 16 goal contributions are the most in the league. 'I see him every game. We see the same thing,' Miami coach Javier Mascherano said through an interpreter. 'We try to help him as much as we can. … Clearly he is the best player that has ever played this game. And we have to understand that when he is not brilliant, that's because one of us is failing. That's the reality.' Miami was the more aggressive team early. The Herons had seven shots – four on goal – in the first 25 minutes against a Columbus team that does not give up many. The Crew entered Saturday ranked eighth in MLS with just 19 goals allowed. Allende opened the scoring with a cross-body finish set up by Messi's long ball over the top. A few minutes later, Messi took advantage of a poor decision by goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen and lofted the ball over despite the keeper getting a hand on it. On Messi's second goal, Sergio Busquets set up his former Barcelona teammate for the second straight game, sending a long pass to a streaking Messi for an easy finish over Hagen. It was an important win for Miami, which entered Saturday with just two wins in its past eight matches and was sixth in the Eastern Conference. Miami beat Montreal 4-2 on Wednesday, and Saturday's win over Columbus put last year's Supporters' Shield winner in a tie for third place with 29 points in their final match before the start of next month's Club World Cup. 'Winning this way gives us confidence,' Mascherano said. 'It shows that we're brave and calm and can play against anybody, especially in the MLS. The tournament is another story. The rivals are are different level.' Miami will face Al Ahly of Egypt on June 14 at Hard Rock Stadium, the home stadium of the NFL's Miami Dolphins. Before that, Messi will join the Argentina national team for World Cup qualifiers against Chile on June 5 and Colombia on June 10. Saturday was the second match of the season between Columbus and Miami, winners of the last two League's Cup tournaments. Inter Miami also beat Columbus to win the Supporters' Shield in 2024. They were the only remaining undefeated teams in MLS when they met in front of a record crowd of 60,614 fans to Huntington Bank Field on April 19. It was a single-game record for a Crew home match and the largest non-NFL event in stadium history. Miami won 1-0. Columbus made it 3-1 when Dylan Chambost's corner was headed home by Cesar Ruvalcaba against goalkeeper Rocco Ríos Novo, who replaced Oscar Ustari in the second half. Mascherano said Ustari was experiencing discomfort in his leg and the team didn't want to risk an injury. Suarez restored Miami's three-goal lead with his second goal in as many matches. And Messi fed a through ball to Picault in the closing minutes, stamping one of Miami's most dominant wins of the MLS season. Miami played without veteran left back Jordi Alba, who suffered a lower-body injury against Montreal on Wednesday.
