PGA CHAMPIONSHIP '25: A look at PGA wins by Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A look at some of the anniversaries this year at the PGA Championship:
100 years ago (1925)
Site: Olympia Fields
Winner: Walter Hagen
Runner-up: Bill Mehlhorn
Score: 6 and 5
Winner's share: $1,000
Noteworthy: This was the second of six straight years that Hagen won a major.
AP story: Walter Hagen has the national professional golf championship tucked away as the result of one of the most spectacular matches in the history of golf played yesterday at Olympia Fields Country Club when he defeated William Mehlhorn, 6 and 5. To win the title for the third time, Hagen played 31 holes in 114 strokes, or 10 under fours and six better than par. Hagen to win had a few breaks of luck and fought with all his skill throughout the tournament to retain his only major title.
75 years ago (1950)
Site: Scioto Country Club
Winner: Chandler Harper
Runner-up: Henry Williams
Score: 4 and 3
Winner's share: $3,500
Noteworthy: This was the only year Harper made it as far as the quarterfinals in the PGA.
AP story: The state of Virginia can continue in a state of elation. Long used to crowing about its homered hillbilly golf champion, Sam Snead, it now has Chandler Harper, too. Harper won the national PGA title yesterday. He defeated little-known Hank Williams, 4 and 3, in the scheduled 36-hole finale over the range Scioto Country Club acres. At 36, Harper succeeded Snead as PGA king. He became the oldest player to grab the crown since Jock Hutchinson won in 1920 at the same age.
50 years ago (1975)
Site: Firestone Country Club
Winner: Jack Nicklaus
Runner-up: Bruce Crampton
Score: 70-68-67-71—276
Margin: 2 strokes
Winner's share: $45,000
Noteworthy: Nicklaus won the Masters and PGA in 1975 and was a combined three shots behind in the other two majors.
AP story: Jack Nicklaus, the greatest player of his age and perhaps the finest this ancient game has ever produced, methodically turned back challenging Bruce Crampton with a 1-over-par 71 and acquired an incredible 16th major golf title Sunday by winning the 57th PGA National Championship. Nicklaus, who now has only his own records to break, led all the way on the hot, humid, hazy day and won this one by two strokes over Australian Crampton with a 276 total. That's four strokes below par on the vast, sprawling acres of the famed Firestone Country Club course, 7,180 yards of rolling Ohio countryside that, through the years, has served as Nicklaus' happiest hunting grounds. He's now collected, $374,830 in winnings from events on this course alone.
25 years ago (2000)
Site: Valhalla Golf Club
Winner: Tiger Woods
Runner-up: Bob May
Score: 66-67-70-67—270
Margin: Playoff.
Winner's share: $900,000
Noteworthy: Woods and Jack Nicklaus played in the same group for the first time at a major.
AP story: Tiger Woods finally got a fight to the finish. All summer long, he had been winning major championships with frightening ease. Fifteen strokes in the U.S. Open. Eight strokes in the British Open. He was no less spectacular Sunday in the PGA Championship, when he had to reach down and battle back against a player few people even knew until their thrilling drama unfolded on the back nine of Valhalla Golf Club. When it was over, the legend grew. In a fitting conclusion to perhaps the greatest summer of golf, Woods birdied the last two holes in regulation and won the PGA Championship in a playoff over Bob May to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one year. Both made five birdies, two sensational par saves and had a 31 on the back nine. Woods outlasted May by taking only three putts in the three-hole playoff, the last one a 2-foot par putt for his third consecutive major.
20 years ago (2005)
Site: Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower)
Winner: Phil Mickelson
Runners-up: Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn.
Score: 67-65-72-72—276
Margin: 1 shot
Winner's share: $1,170,000
Noteworthy: Mickelson was the first player since Bob Tway in 1986 to win the PGA by one shot with a birdie on the last hole.
AP story: Phil Mickelson delivered another dramatic finish in a major on Monday, flopping a chip out of deep rough to 2 feet for a birdie on the final hole and a one-shot victory in the PGA Championship. The putt wasn't nearly as long as his 18-footer to win the Masters last year, and there was no need to jump for joy this time. Still, it was a sweet conclusion to a major championship season that had gone sour until he put together his best golf of the summer stretched over five days at Baltusrol by a storm-delayed final round. It was the first Monday finish at the PGA Championship in 19 years. And not since 1986 at Inverness had a player from the last group won with a birdie on the 72nd hole at the final major.
10 years ago (2015)
Site: Whistling Straits GC (Straits)
Winner: Jason Day
Runner-up: Jordan Spieth
Score: 68-67-66-67—268
Margin: 3 shots.
Winner's share: $1,800,000
Noteworthy: Day had at least a share of the 54-hole lead in the final three majors of the year.
AP story: Worried that this year might turn out to be a major failure, Jason Day never gave Jordan Spieth or anyone else a chance Sunday. He delivered a record-setting performance at Whistling Straits that brought him a major championship he started to wonder might never happen. Three shots ahead with three holes to play on a course with trouble everywhere, Day blasted a drive down the fairway on the par-5 16th and hit a towering 4-iron into 20 feet. He bit his lower lip, swatted his caddie on the arm, knowing his work was almost done. The two-putt birdie put him at 20-under par. He shared the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open and the British Open and had to watch someone else celebrate.
5 years ago (2020)
Site: Harding Park GC
Winner: Collin Morikawa
Runners-up: Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey
Score: 69-69-65-64—267
Margin: 2 shots
Winner's share: $1,980,000
Noteworthy: It was the first major played without spectators because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
AP story: The shot will be remembered as one of the best under pressure that hardly anyone witnessed. It made Collin Morikawa a major champion Sunday in a thrill-a-minute PGA Championship that not many will forget. Morikawa hit driver on the 294-yard 16th hole that was perfect in flight and even better when it landed, hopping onto the green and rolling to 7 feet for an eagle that all but clinched victory on a most quiet Sunday afternoon at Harding Park. In the first major without spectators, the 23-year-old Californian finished with a bang. He closed with a 6-under 64, the lowest final round by a PGA champion in 25 years, for a two-shot victory over Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson, two of 10 players who had a chance on the back nine.
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Forbes
15 minutes ago
- Forbes
UFC 316 Fight Card: Odds, Lines, Prop Bets, Predictions And Picks
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Opponents Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia and Sean O'Malley face ... More off during the UFC 316 press conference at Prudential Center on June 05, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC) Saturday's UFC 316 fight card features two bantamweight title fights at the top of the marquee. In the main event, men's UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili meets the man he took the title from, Sean O'Malley, in a rematch. Meanwhile, in the UFC 316 PPV card co-headline, Julianna Pena begins her second stint as the women's 135-pound champ against former PFL lightweight champion Kayla Harrison. Also appearing on the main card is high-profile free agent signing Patchy Mix. Mix faces Mario Bautista in a bantamweight bout. We look at the betting odds, line movement, prediction, picks, and prop bets for the UFC 316 PPV card, which takes place on Saturday, June 7 from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The UFC 316 PPV fight card streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Opponents Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia and Sean O'Malley face ... More off during the UFC 316 press conference at Prudential Center on June 05, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC) Merab Dvalishvili (19-4), a long-time training partner of former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling stepped into the spotlight of the promotion's 135-pound division in September 2014 when he scored a unanimous decision win over then-champion Sean O'Malley in the main event of UFC 306. The 33-year-old Dvalishvili joined the UFC in 2017 as much-hyped prospect. At the time, Dvalishvili was 7-2 and had won and defended the Ring of Combat bantamweight crown. Dvalishvili did not have a smooth start to his UFC run, losing his first two fights. Falling to Frankie Saenz by decision, and the second, to Ricky Simon, via submission. In September 2018, things clicked in place for the Serra-Longo Fight Team product, and he has not lost since. Heading into UFC 306, Dvalishvili was on a 10-fight winning streak. Prior to his matchup against O'Malley, Dvalishvili had defeated Marlon Moraes, Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo. The win over O'Malley stretched his winning streak to 11 straight. Dvalishvili extended that streak to 12 when he defended his title with a unanimous decision win over the previously unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. Sean O'Malley (18-2-0-1) was 7-0 with six finishes when he got the chance to fight for a UFC contract on the first season of Dana White's Contender Series back in 2017. O'Malley, scored a first-round knockout, and a UFC contract that night. He went 4-0 in his first bouts with the promotion, picking up three fight-night bonus awards for his efforts, including a brutal one-punch KO win over UFC veteran Eddie Wineland at UFC 250. The win over Wineland put O'Malley at No. 14 in the UFC bantamweight rankings and got him a fight against Marlon 'Chito' Vera. Vera won that fight by TKO, handing O'Malley the only defeat on his record. The loss to Vera knocked O'Malley out of the rankings, but he bounced back in his next fight, knocking out Thomas Almeida and earning another fight-night bonus in the process. He followed that win with a TKO win over Kris Moutinho. Despite those back-to-back wins, O'Malley remained unranked when he next stepped into the Octagon for a December 2021 matchup against Raulian Paiva. O'Malley wrapped that fight up with a knockout at the 4:42 mark of the first round. That victory put O'Malley back in the rankings. O'Malley's next bout ended in a no contest, when an eye poke in the second round left Pedro Munhoz unable to continue. Then, in October 2022, O'Malley was matched up with former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan. He entered that contest as the +230 underdog to the -275 ex-champ. The pair went the three-round distance, with O'Malley getting the split decision nod. That victory set up O'Malley to face Sterling in August 2023. O'Malley has not fought since his loss to Dvalishvili. He is the No. 1 fighter in the official UFC bantamweight rankings. When the betting odds opened for UFC 316, the defending champ was a -325 betting favorite over the former champ. Today, Dvalishvili is listed at -275, while O'Malley comes in at +225. O'Malley has picked up 93 percent of the bets and 91 percent of the handle. Yes, O'Malley has the striking to catch Dvalishvili and turn out his lights, but let's remember, in their first meeting, O'Malley only managed to throw 89 significant strikes. In his win over Vera, O'Malley attempted a whopping 356 significant strikes. The difference between Dvalishvili and Vera was pressure. Vera was happy to stand with O'Malley, while Dvalishvili used his chain wrestling and forward pressure to put his opponent on the back foot and keep him there for almost the entire 25 minutes of that meeting, landing six takedowns on 15 attempts and racking up 10:03 of control time. Simply put, I don't think O'Malley and his team can put together a game plan that will allow the former champ to avoid the pressure of the current champ while also accumulating enough damage to sway the judges in O'Malley's favor. The betting pick is for Dvalishvili to grind out a decision win. For those looking for value on an upset, the pick is O'Malley via knockout, but be sure to place that wager in an amount you're willing to lose. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Opponents Julianna Pena and Kayla Harrison face off during the ... More UFC 316 press conference at Prudential Center on June 05, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC) Julianna Pena (12-5) earned her UFC contract by winning Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter. A member of Team Tate, Pena knocked out Jessica Rakoczy in the first round of their November 2013 matchup. The win moved Pena's record to 5-2. Pena ran off three victories after that, beating Milana Dudieva, Jessica Eye and Cat Zingano before Valentina Shevchenko ended her winning streak with a January 2017 armbar submission. In October 2017 Pena announced her pregnancy. When she returned to action in July 2019, Pena defeated Nicco Montano by decision. A submission loss to De Randamie in October 2020 followed. In January 2021, Pena submitted Sara McMann. Pena, sitting at No. 3 in the women's bantamweight rankings, earned a shot at Amanda Nunes and her bantamweight title in December 2021. She entered that contest as a -650 underdog to the champ, who was the -1000 betting favorite. In one of the more shocking upsets in UFC title fight history, Pena submitted Nunes in the second round, ending the Brazilian's title reign. Pena's time at the top of the division was short, as Nunes won their July 2022 rematch by decision. Pena was set to face Nunes in a trilogy bout at UFC 289, but an injury knocked the former champ from that scrap. Nunes defeated Pena's replacement, Irene Aldana, on that card and then retired. When Pena returned to action it was at UFC 307 where she defeated then-champion Raquel Pennington via split decision. She makes her first defense of that belt at UFC 316. A two-time Olympic gold medal winner in judo (2012 and 2016), Kayla Harrison (18-1) made her MMA debut in the 155-pound division with PFL in 2018. Harrison ran over her first six opponents, picking up three submissions, two knockouts, and a decision before winning the women's lightweight title by defeating Larissa Pacheco by decision. In November 2020, Harrison defeated Courtney King by TKO in a 145-pound scrap. Shen then moved back to 155 pounds. In 2021, Harrison won the PFL 155-pound tournament with a submission win over Taylor Guardado. By 2022, Harrison had amassed a 15-0 record. However, her unbeaten ended in the finals of the 2022 PFL lightweight tourney when Pacheco scored a unanimous decision win over Harrison. The ex-champ fought once more for the PFL, beating former UFC fighter Aspen Ladd via decision in November 2023 in a 150-pound catchweight fight. In January 2024, the UFC announced it had signed Harrison and that her promotional debut would take place in the 135-pound weight class. Harrison impressed in that performance, submitting former UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm by submission in the second round at UFC 400. In her next, and most recent, outing, Harrison defeated Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision. Harrison is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the official UFC women's 135-pound rankings. When the betting odds opened for the UFC 316 co-main event, Pena was a +500 underdog to the -700 Harrison. Today, Harrison is the -750 favorite over the champ, who is the +525 betting underdog. Pena has earned 89 percent of the bets, while 63 percent of the money is on Harrison. Pena is a tough fighter, and that toughness will be tested on Saturday when she faces Harrison at UFC 316. The concern on the Harrison side of the equation is her ability to make 135 pounds and rehydrate and recover. The weight cut will be tough, there's no doubt about that, but Harrison has been a high-level athlete for a long while, and she knows her body and how far she can push herself. That's a plus in this matchup; it could also mean that she will pace herself against Pena so that she does not overextend herself and run out of gas. Harrison is the better athlete and has more routes to victory than Pena. The betting pick is a Harrison win, either by late submission or decision. With the odds being what they are, the value pick is Pena to win via upset, but that's a wager that one should be careful in making. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Opponents Kelvin Gastelum and Joe Pyfer face off during the UFC ... More 316 press conference at Prudential Center on June 05, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC) Kelvin Gastelum (19-9-0-1) has been with the UFC since April 2013, when he won Season 17 of 'The Ultimate Fighter' with a split decision over Uriah Hall. The victory over Hall put Gastelum's professional record at 7-0. Gastelum dropped to welterweight for his next UFC fight. He remained unbeaten through 2014, losing his first fight in January 2015 when Tyron Woodley defeated him via split decision. Gastelum missed weight for the Woodley matchup, coming in at 180. It was not his first issue on the scale as a member of the UFC roster. He also came in heavy for his June 2014 win over Nico Musoke, weighing 172.75. Weight issues have plagued Gastelum throughout his UFC career, as he has struggled at times to make welterweight and middleweight. Gastelum's career has been up and down since his loss to Woodley. Since that 2015 clash, his record stands at 8-8-0-1, and he has not won more than two fights in a row. The 33-year-old is a very talented fighter, but his struggles to make weight and consistency issues inside the cage have hurt him. The high point of Gastelum's career is his 2019 interim UFC middleweight title fight opposite Israel Adesanya, a bout that recently enshrined the two men in the UFC Hall of Fame. Gastelum has a 3-6 record dating back to April 2019, when he faced Adesanya. He is coming off a June 2024 unanimous decision win over Daniel Rodriguez. Joe Pyfer (13-3) had a first go at gaining a UFC contract in 2020 at a Dana White Contender Series event. At the time, the 23-year-old was 7-1. His only career loss to that point was a second-round submission setback to Jhonoven Pati under the Ring of Combat banner. Pyfer lost the ROC middleweight championship in that outing. Pyfer faced Dustin Stoltzfus on that DWCS card. Pyfer looked good in the early going of that matchup, walking down his foe and looking to land powerful strikes. With a bit over two minutes left in the first round, Pyfer scored an easy takedown on Stoltzfus, who calmly looked to set up a submission while Pyfer did his best to create openings to land heavy ground strikes. With the clock ticking down, Stoltzfus stood and went for a slam takedown. Pyfer landed with all his weight on his extended right arm, causing an injury that ended the fight. Pyfer recovered from that injury, but he did not fight again until he earned a first-round knockout win over Austin Trotman on a Cage Fury fight card. The UFC gave Pyfer a second opportunity to earn a contract in July 2022. Pyfer faced Ozzy Diaz on a DWCS card. Pyfer was a +100 betting underdog at that event. Pyfer didn't mess around on the feet against Diaz. He scored a takedown inside the first minute and then worked for a submission until Diaz reversed Pyfer with two minutes left in the round. Diaz could not keep Pyfer on the mat, as Pyfer worked back to his feet, where he scored with low kicks and an effective jab. In the second stanza, Pyfer pressured Diaz and then, showing off his power, ended the fight with a powerful left hook that put his opponent on his back. In awarding Pyfer a UFC contract, UFC CEO Dana White said, "If you want to get into the UFC, and this is where you want to be, act like Joe Pyfer. Okay? Be Joe Pyfer. Be excited to be here. Be fired up to fight. Try to finish the fight. Try to win. Be Joe Pyfer, and you will get into the UFC." Pyfer put together a 3-0 run under the UFC banner between September 2022 and October 2023, scoring three stoppages and two 'Performance of the Night' bonuses. Seeing promise in Pyfer, the UFC booked him in a main event against veteran Jack Hermansson in February 2024. Pyfer was a favorite in that matchup, but he fell short, as Hermansson's veteran skills showed gaps in Pyfer's game. Pyfer rebounded from that loss with a first-round knockout win over Marc-André Barriault at UFC 303. The odds have held on this matchup with Gastelum at +310 and Pyfer at -400. Bettors are siding with the veteran. Gastelum has 75 percent of the bets and 63 percent of the handle. Gastelum has one of the best chins in the business, and if Pyfer gets too aggressive and thinks he will be able to put his opponent away based on his power, things might get tricky for the younger fighter. Pyfer's best bet is not to chase the knockout here but to use his power to rack up damage while being sound defensively. The betting pick is for Joe Pyfer to beat Kelvin Gastelum by decision. However, for those who do not have faith in Pyfer's fight IQ, a Gastelum upset win via decision is a value betting pick to think about. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Opponents Mario Bautista and Patchy Mix face off during the UFC ... More 316 press conference at Prudential Center on June 05, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC) Patchy Mix (20-1) comes too the UFC following his release by PFL. The 31-year-old Mix is riding a seven-fight undefeated streak. He won the interim Bellator bantamweight title in April 2023 with a knockout victory over Raufeon Stots. Then, in November 2023, Mix unified the Bellator 135-pound titles with a submission victory over Sergio Pettis. In his most recent outing, Mix defended his crown with a split decision win over Magomed Magomedov in May 2024. Mix's only professional defeat came in September 2020 when Juan Archuleta defeated him via unanimous decision in a contest for the vacant Bellator bantamweight crown. Mario Bautista (15-2) has been with the UFC since 2019. The 31-year-old opened his UFC run with a 2-2 record, but he is unbeaten since early 2022, with a run of seven straight wins. In his most recent outing, Bautista defeated Jose Aldo via split decision at UFC 307 in October 2024. The opening odds for this matchup had Mix as the -175 favorite over Bautista, who came in at +145. Today, Mix is the -200 betting favorite and Bautista is the +165 betting underdog. Mix has 51 percent of the action and 75 percent of the handle. Mix enters UFC 316 coming off a long layoff. His last bout took place in May 2024 when he went five rounds in beating Magomed Magomedov in defense of his Bellator bantamweight belt. When you combine that layoff with the fact that Mix is taking this fight on short notice, there is some room for concern when it comes to Mix's fitness level. However, Mix and his team know how important this fight is to his career and future UFC prospects, so I believe he will be ready for his Octagon debut. I expect Bautista to move forward and to look to overwhelm Mix with striking. However, that pressure could allow Mix to implement his game plan of getting the fight to mat and working his ground skills (Mix has 13 submission wins). The betting pick is for Mix to win via decision, with a chance of picking up a submission. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Opponents Vicente Luque and Kevin Holland face off during the ... More UFC 316 press conference at Prudential Center on June 05, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC) Vicente Luque (23-10-1) enters UFC 316 as the No. 14 fighter in the official UFC welterweight rankings. The 33-year-old has been with the UFC since July 2015. Luque had some good winning streaks in his early days with the UFC, putting together winning runs of four fights, six fights, and four fights, but whenever he stepped up to face top-level competition, he faltered. The opponents who ended Luque's winning runs were Leon Edwards, Stephen Thompson, and Belal Muhammad. Luque is 2-2 since losing to Muhammad in 2022. He has wins over Rafael dos Anjos and Themba Gorimbo, while his losses have come via knockout against Geoff Neal and Joaquin Buckley. In his most recent outing, Luque earned a technical submission stoppage over Gorimbo. That fight took place in December. Kevin Holland (27-13-0-1) was 12-3 when he earned his shot at a UFC contract on a Dana White's Contender Series card in June 2018. Despite getting a win, UFC CEO Dana White did not offer Holland a contract. However, Holland got the chance to fight for the UFC in August 2018 when Thiago Santos needed a short-notice opponent. Holland has been one of the more active UFC competitors since losing that contest by decision, fighting at middleweight and welterweight. Holland followed the loss to Santos with an 8-1 run, a stretch that included five victories between May 2020 and December 2020. His last win of that run was a 'Performance of the Night' bonus-winning knockout of ex-Strikeforce champion Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza. Holland's career has been up-and-down since the highlight-reel win over Souza. He has a 5-7-0-1 record since then, never winning, or losing, more than two fights in a row. Holland is 2-2 in his past four outings with a submission win over Michal Oleksiejczuk, a corner stoppage TKO loss to Roman Dolidze, a submission setback to Reinier de Ridder, and most recently, a decision win over Gunnar Nelson in March. When the lines opened on this contest, Holland was a -200 favorite over the +165 Luque. The betting line has moved on this one. Today, Holland is -275 to Luque's +220. Luque has earned 73 percent of the bets, while Holland has picked up 61 percent of the handle. Holland is a talented fighter, but the problem with Holland is his consistency. At points, it seems as if Holland is more interested in booking fights and earning a paycheck than he is interested in being competitive in those bouts. And while Luque has had his ups and downs, he seems to take his career more seriously than Holland. Holland has an advantage in height and reach in this bout, and if he can use those strengths, he has a good chance of picking up the win. However, Luque is effective in spots where Holland struggles, mainly in takedown defense. The betting pick in this bout is to go where there is value, and that is Luque to use his wrestling to grind out a decision win over Holland. Sean O'Malley by KO/TKO or DQ +450 O'Malley by Decision/Technical Decision +600 Patchy Mix by Submission +200 Merab Dvalishvili by Submission +800 O'Malley by Submission +2500 *All bets and odds via BetMGM Saturday, June 7, 2025 Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey Main Card: ESPN+ PPV Preliminary Card: ESPN and ESPN+ Early Prelims: UFC Fight Pass and ESPN+ Early Prelims: 6:00 p.m. ET Prelims: 8:00 p.m. ET Main Card: 10:00 p.m. ET Stay tuned for more coverage from the UFC 316 fight card. Including live UFC 316 results, reactions, recaps and video highlights during Saturday's event.
New York Times
19 minutes ago
- New York Times
How the Pacers pulled off another dramatic comeback
It wasn't looking good for the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. The Eastern Conference champs had nine turnovers in the first quarter and then topped that by committing 10 in the second quarter. It was the most turnovers by a team before halftime in a postseason game in the league's play-by-play era, which began in 1997. Advertisement Indiana's defense couldn't contain NBA MVP and Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was doing whatever he wanted offensively. The Thunder were dominating the Pacers in the paint. Indiana trailed OKC by 15 points with 9 minutes, 42 seconds remaining. So what happened? How did the Pacers stun the Thunder with a 111-110 Game 1 win? Here's a look at some of the key fourth-quarter moments: • After a Jalen Williams dunk at 9:42, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle calls a timeout and subs in Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin and Myles Turner. • Immediately after entering, Nembhard scores and is fouled by Alex Caruso. Nembhard makes the free throw. Thunder 94, Pacers 81. • At 8:47, Toppin makes a 3-pointer to make it 96-85. • Turner hits a 3-pointer with 7:47 left, cutting the lead to 96-88. • Toppin and Turner make 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to pull Indiana within 98-94 with 6:16 left. • Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams each make free throws to increase the lead to six points (102-96) with 5:25 remaining. • Gilgeous-Alexander's two free throws with 2:52 left push the Thunder's lead to 108-99. • Nesmith and Nembhard hit back-to-back 3s. The Pacers now trail 108-105 with 1:59 left. • At 1:07, Pascal Siakam blocks Gilgeous-Alexander's layup attempt. • Nembhard misses a stepback 3, but Siakam grabs the offensive rebound and scores with 48 seconds left. Thunder 110, Pacers 109. • With 12.3 seconds remaining, Gilgeous-Alexander misses a short jumper just outside the paint, and Nesmith grabs the rebound. • Haliburton hits the game-winning 2-pointer with 0.3 seconds left. For the winners, Indiana outscored OKC 32-16 in the final 9:42. The Pacers only used six players in those minutes, with all of them scoring. 'When it comes to the moments, he wants the ball,' Turner said of Haliburton. 'He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn't shy away from the moment, and it's very important this time of the year to have a go-to guy. Advertisement 'He just keeps finding a way, and we keep putting the ball in the right positions. The rest is history.' For the losers, the Thunder shot 4 of 16 in those closing minutes. Gilgeous-Alexander went 2 of 4 from the field (with a big miss at the end), but everyone else combined to shoot 2 of 12. (Photo of Aaron Nesmith, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
Forbes
34 minutes ago
- Forbes
Dallas Stars Fire Pete DeBoer After NHL Coaching Vacancies Get Filled
Pete DeBoer got the Dallas Stars to the Western Conference Final in all three of his seasons behind their bench. But it wasn't enough. On Friday, the team announced that it had terminated his employment, eight days after the Stars were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in five games. 'After careful consideration, we believe that a new voice is needed in our locker room to push us closer to our goal of winning the Stanley Cup,' said general manager Jim Nill in a statement released Friday. 'We'd like to thank Pete for everything that he has helped our organization achieve over the past three seasons and wish him nothing but the best moving forward.' Over his three seasons in Dallas, DeBoer guided the Stars to a regular-season record of 149-68-29 for a .665 points percentage. And this year's playoff run came in spite of an injury that kept top defenseman Miro Heiskanen out of action until the middle of the second round while forward Jason Robertson missed all of Round 1 with a knee injury. The Stars eked out a seven-game win against the Colorado Avalanche to advance out of the first round, then took down the Presidents' Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets in six games in Round 2 before falling to the Oilers for a second-straight year. Despite his success, DeBoer's tenure in Dallas will now be best remembered for his snap decision to pull starting goaltender Jake Oettinger after the Stars fell into an early 2-0 hole in their elimination game against Edmonton last week. His defense of the decision after the game raised eyebrows across the hockey world. 'The reasoning's always to try to spark your group, so that was the No. 1 reason,' he told the assembled media. 'We had talked endlessly in this season about trying to play with the lead and obviously we were in a 2-0 hole right away. I didn't take that lightly, and I didn't blame it all on Jake, but the reality is that if you go back to last year's playoffs, he's lost six of seven games to Edmonton and we gave up two shots, two goals in an elimination game. It was partly to spark our team and wake them up, and partly knowing that status quo had not been working. And that's a pretty big sample size.' The Stars lost Game 5 by a 6-3 score. The next morning, team owner Tom Gaglardi backed his coach in a conversation with Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News. 'He's a top-three, top-five coach in the league,' Gaglardi said. 'You think I want to be going into the coaching market right now, do you see who's getting hired? Pete's a seasoned coach. I'm just one voice in the discussion, but I don't see (firing) Pete being on anyone's agenda.' It appears the players were also important voices in the discussion. By the time their exit meetings were complete last weekend, word was trickling out that DeBoer's position was far from secure. At this point, it looks like DeBoer, 56, will have to wait awhile for his next opportunity. On Thursday, the Boston Bruins became the last team to fill their opening when they announced they'd hired Marco Sturm. Six other NHL teams have also hired new head coaches since the end of the 2024-25 regular season: The NHL is often labelled as a copycat league, and the same coaches often resurface on new teams. This list is a mix of established names and new faces. Quenneville, 66, ranks fifth all-time in games coached and second in wins, behind only Scotty Bowman. He's back in the NHL with Anaheim after resigning from the Florida Panthers in the fall of 2021 due to his part in the Chicago Blackhawks' sexual misconduct incident in 2011, when he was that team's coach. Mike Sullivan, 57, is a two-time Stanley Cup winner as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, now at the helm of the Rangers, and Tocchet, 61, is the reigning coach of the year who's back in Philadelphia, where he was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame as a player in 2021. Lambert, 60, earned his first head-coaching position with the New York Islanders in 2022. He was fired in January of 2024, after one-and-a-half seasons. The other three names are all new as NHL head coaches: Sturm, 46, is a native of Germany, and played 308 of his 938 NHL games with the Bruins between 2005 and 2010. He was behind the bench for Germany's silver-medal win at the 2018 Olympics before coming back to North America as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings and then the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Muse, 42, spent the last five seasons as an NHL assistant coach, first with the Nashville Predators and then with the New York Rangers. Foote, 53, was a two-time Stanley Cup champion as a rugged defenseman with the Colorado Avalanche and an Olympic gold medalist with Team Canada in 2002. He has been promoted, after Tocchet brought him into the Canucks organization as an assistant coach when he took over in January of 2022. In addition to his run in Dallas, Pete DeBoer has also served as head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, San Jose Sharks, New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers. All told, he has been to the conference final six times and to the Stanley Cup Final twice — wth the Devils in 2012 and the Sharks in 2016. He has never been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year, and he has never won a Cup.
