US Open '25: Oakmont's par-3 8th hole requires removing a head cover
OAKMONT, Pa. — Maybe no one would complain about the eighth hole at Oakmont Country Club if the term 'par' had never been created in championship golf.
But there it sits in the middle of the this tough U.S. course, the longest par 3 in major championship history, 289 yards on the scorecard and certain to top 300 yards in actual distance for one round, just as it did in 2007 at Oakmont.
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New York Times
20 minutes ago
- New York Times
Leeds United Transfer DealSheet: Summer window latest, key positions and available players
Leeds United are heading into arguably the most important summer transfer window anyone can remember. After the crushing blow of last year's Wembley loss, Daniel Farke guided Leeds to the Championship title last month. Owner 49ers Enterprises finally has the golden ticket to the Premier League it has waited for. Chairman Paraag Marathe is anxious to ensure nobody connected with the club has to go through another relegation. Advertisement Recent history is against them as a newly-promoted outfit and they know they need to nail virtually every transfer during this window. Farke has to retain the heart and soul of his champions, but retool and upgrade where possible to keep the team in the league. The Athletic's Beren Cross has taken a look. As chairman, ultimate responsibility for everything at Leeds United rests with Marathe. However, the American has repeatedly talked up the collaboration between several key voices at the top of the club. Daniel Farke's appointment as manager, rather than head coach, in 2023 was a deliberate distinction. The German has had a lot of control over the past two years and, speaking after the Championship title was confirmed, Marathe said if there was a player Farke did not want, United did not recruit them. In the same interview on Farke's control this summer, the 49ers Enterprises chief said: 'We're going to work very collaboratively, probably with a little bit more focus on making sure we're making the right group decisions because, let's be honest, there's more at stake now — more money, more jeopardy.' Over the past 12 months, key voices have moved away from the Elland Road coalface. Technical director Gretar Steinsson stepped up to a 49ers Enterprises role, head of recruitment Jordan Miles left in November and chief executive Angus Kinnear has taken interim football advisor Nick Hammond with him to Everton. Robbie Evans, who first worked with Marathe at San Francisco 49ers in 2010, has been promoted to managing director at Leeds following Kinnear's departure. Adam Underwood has graduated through the ranks to become sporting director and, despite his inexperience, is already building a positive reputation in the game. Alex Davies, who has been with the club for more than a decade, has also worked his way up to become head of recruitment after impressing Marathe since the 2023 takeover. Marathe, Farke, Evans, Underwood and Davies are the key men this summer. It may be easier to rank each position in priority order because there is justification for looking at every position on the pitch after promotion. The most glaring hole in the team is between the posts. Goalkeepers Illan Meslier and Karl Darlow remain under contract, but the former has had the latest in a series of poor campaigns and the latter failed to win Farke over until the 89th of his 95 league matches at the helm. In a season where Leeds' goal is expected to be under extended pressure, they need a stellar stopper to keep them up. If survival is decided in both boxes, that also means a first-rate striker will be targeted this summer. Joel Piroe could not have done much more to prove himself after last season's Golden Boot and 32 goals in 88 league appearances for United. However, while Farke will give him the chance he has earned in the Premier League, survival cannot be staked on a striker with zero experience at that level. Neither can it be put on the shoulders of Patrick Bamford after nearly four years of inconsistent game time. With Junior Firpo and Sam Byram out of contract, left-back leaps out as another priority area for the recruitment team. First-choice starters at centre-back, left-wing and No 10 look important too. Farke will want the backing he felt he never had at Norwich City after his two promotions with them. Since United's ascent was confirmed, the manager has been asked about the lessons he learned from those ill-fated experiences in the top flight and he was not shy in spelling out how little money was spent at Carrow Road. Advertisement Since arriving in July 2023, the 48-year-old has maintained he wants to build a sustainable, long-term vision with Leeds and establish them in the Premier League. Marathe has also talked about future planning instead of the pay-as-you-go approach he felt Andrea Radrizzani took during the club's last top-flight visit. Farke has not discussed positions for this summer window, but did show a penchant for reunions with former players in the Championship. Byram played under Farke at Norwich City, while Max Aarons got as far as the training ground before pulling the plug on a transfer and Emi Buendia was pursued over several windows. That's no guarantee Aarons and Buendia will be chased again, but it's one trend we have seen from Farke up to this point. Very few accurate transfer links to Leeds have emerged as of June 6. Planning for a Premier League summer has been in the works for more than six months and targets are being sounded out, but with pre-season a month away and the new season another five weeks after that, it's early days. Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz, who has averaged a goal every 150 minutes in the Premier League over the past two seasons, is one striker Leeds have made enquiries about. Club sources, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, have acknowledged the Muniz interest, but feel other strikers on their shortlist are more likely to be recruited at this stage. The 24-year-old has one year remaining on his Fulham contract, but the club does have the option to extend that by a further year. Marco Silva's side may look to extend the Brazilian's deal this summer, but he played second fiddle to Raul Jimenez last season with only eight league starts. If we start at the back and move forward, Meslier will be a candidate for sale. The French goalkeeper has another year to run on his contract, but it would be hugely surprising to see him start next season as number one or as a willing understudy. The 25-year-old will not fetch anything like the price Leeds could have got for him in 2021, but his negligible book value should mean they make a useful margin for their profit and sustainability (PSR) calculations. Injuries during last season robbed Max Wober of any chance to redeem himself after 2023's desertion, so he would make for an easy sale this summer. Any fee over £5million ($6.8m) would generate a PSR profit on the books. Darko Gyabi, Sam Greenwood and Joe Gelhardt are virtually guaranteed to get little or no game time next season. They will be 22, 24 and 24 respectively when the 2026-27 season starts. Unless the club expects meteoric developments in 2025-26, all three should be candidates for sale this summer. Jack Harrison has been away on loan for two years and has done little to catch the eye at Everton. Farke's feelings on the winger are unknown, but we know he has been open to reintegrating loanees in the past. A book value below £3m does mean Leeds could bank PSR profit on Harrison, but will any club get near his wages? If the club is desperate to bolster its PSR position, the likes of Pascal Struijk and Wilfried Gnonto would generate the biggest profits after low-sum arrivals. James Debayo, if he signs the club's contract offer, Sam Chambers and Charlie Crew are the likeliest candidates for loans. Gyabi is feasible too, but Greenwood and Gelhardt make more sense as permanent exits. Loaning out Harrison again would get his wages off the books and kick the can down the road, but surely all parties would prefer a more permanent resolution. Josuha Guilavogui's contract will expire at the end of the month, while Firpo and Byram have been made offers to stay. Whether they accept is another matter. Rasmus Kristensen's pre-agreed transfer to Eintracht Frankfurt officially went through when the window opened on June 1. As we reported earlier this month, The Athletic believes Leeds have an estimated pre-tax loss limit of £42m for the 2024-25 campaign. Our report also indicates Leeds are not expecting to need to sell before July 1 in order to satisfy their PSR obligations. Beyond July 1, United's available budget is hard to predict. We know, after next year in the top flight, their permitted losses for 2023 to 2026 will be £61m. It is hard to predict how much they will raise from sales this summer, as well as how much capital they take from shareholders for transfers specifically. Ultimately, as with every promoted club, it's going to be tight and Leeds want to live on the limit with every available pound spent on staying up. (Top photos: Getty Images)
Associated Press
21 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Kyle Hendricks picks up career win No. 100 as Angels beat the Mariners 5-4
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Kyle Hendricks earned the 100th win of his career, Ryan Zeferjahn, Reid Detmers and Kenley Jansen combined for three innings of scoreless relief, and the Los Angeles Angels held on for a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night. Hendricks (3-6) gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings, striking out two and walking two. The 35-year-old right-hander escaped a jam in the fifth inning. With runners at second and third with two outs, Hendricks got Randy Arozarena to ground out. Zeferjahn retired the side in order in the seventh, Detmers struck out two of four batters in the eighth, and Jansen threw a 1-2-3 ninth for his 13th save. Right-hander Bryce Miller (2-5) gave up five runs and six hits in five innings for the Mariners, who have lost four straight. The Angels scored twice in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. Jo Adell got hit on the helmet by a 94-mph fastball and stole second. Chris Taylor followed with an RBI double and Nolan Schanuel adding an RBI single. Taylor, the veteran utility man who was signed after the Dodgers released him on May 18, also singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Zach Neto's RBI single for a 1-all tie in the third. Travis d'Arnaud followed Jorge Soler's two-out single with a two-run homer for a 3-3 tie in the fourth. The Mariners scored once in the third on J.P. Crawford's RBI single and twice in the fourth on Rowdy Tellez's sacrifice fly and Leody Taveras' RBI groundout. Key moment Julio Rodriguez jumped high above the wall to rob Taylor of a potential two-run homer to end the sixth. The Seattle center fielder teased Angels fans who thought the ball was gone by taking several steps on the warning track before flipping the ball from his glove to his throwing hand. Key stat Detmers, the converted starter who had a 10.05 ERA through 12 appearances this season, has allowed one earned run in 12 innings of his last 11 games, striking out 17 and walking seven in that span. He has lowered his ERA to 5.81. Up next RHP Luis Castillo (4-3, 3.03 ERA) will start Saturday for the Mariners. RHP Jack Kochanowicz (3-7, 5.34 ERA) will pitch for the Angels. ___ AP MLB:
New York Times
25 minutes ago
- New York Times
Scenes from a Tigers victory: A daunting catch, a daring escape and another unlikely hero
DETROIT — Here was another dilemma. Sweat beat down on Tarik Skubal's head Friday under a strange summer haze. Smoke from Canadian wildfires infiltrated the Detroit sky and lingered as dusk descended on Comerica Park. The best pitcher in baseball was at 94 pitches. He had just surrendered back-to-back singles. There were runners on the corners and two outs. The Tigers were clinging to a 2-1 lead. Advertisement In Skubal's previous outing, manager A.J. Hinch removed him after seven innings and 90 pitches. Reliever Beau Brieske surrendered the lead to the Kansas City Royals in the eighth. Skubal keeps pitching so well that it's creating difficult decisions for his manager. Friday, Hinch again called to the bullpen. Right-hander Will Vest entered to face Seiya Suzuki, who was 0-for-3 against Skubal but entered play with a 1.173 OPS against left-handed pitching. The move made logical sense but still required some gumption. 'Suzuki is the at-bat of the game,' Hinch said. 'It's the most leverage, it's the biggest spot, and we've got to get a righty on him at that moment.' The right-handed Vest has been a dynamic force in his own right this season, the owner of a 1.72 ERA. So in the top of the eighth, Vest threw a 1-2 fastball that caught too much of the plate. Suzuki appeared to swing under the ball. It left his bat at a 39-degree launch angle. At the dais after the game, Hinch mimicked his thought process as the ball traveled through the air. 'OK,' Hinch thought for a moment, 'we got out of it.' But Suzuki's hit hung in the sky like a disco ball, slowly drifting deeper into the hazy twilight. 'I was like: 'Stay here. Stay in the ballpark,'' Hinch said. There at the wall, Kerry Carpenter, the right-fielder whose defense has been an adventure as of late, peeked toward the padding and ran. He always thought he'd make the catch, he said. Finally, the sphere came crashing toward the earth. Carpenter jumped. Extended his glove. And … there it was. Ball met leather. Carpenter made the catch, might have robbed a home run, and certainly kept the Tigers' lead intact. Now watching as a spectator, Skubal pumped his fists and shouted in celebration. 'You're doing everything you can in the dugout to reel it back in,' Skubal said. KERRY CARPENTER IS A BAD MAN.#VoteTigers ⭐️ — Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 7, 2025 That was the peak of another dramatic Tigers victory, 3-1 against the Chicago Cubs, this one a win that encapsulated so much of what has made this team so good all season. The Tigers entered as the best team in the American League. The Cubs entered as the best team in the National League. Detroit was coming off a sleepy series on the South Side, where it split four games with the last-place Chicago White Sox. The Cubs rolled into town having won four out of five. Skubal was on the mound. The park was sold out. The game was flying by. Advertisement The Tigers struck first in the fifth. Gleyber Torres, the second baseman they shrewdly signed on a one-year deal this winter, hit a shrieking line drive over shortstop to bring home a run. The Cubs tied the score when Kyle Tucker doubled home rookie Matt Shaw in the sixth. And then the Tigers did what they have been doing all year. Finding ways. Some way, any way. Spencer Torkelson, entering on a 3-for-27 slump despite a redemptive season that will merit All-Star consideration, got down 0-2. Cubs starter Ben Brown threw three consecutive knuckle curves low, scraping the dirt. Torkelson took all three. Full count. Then he got a fastball. Torkelson smoothed out his swing, found his timing and detonated a blast that sent the ball crescendoing over the left-field fence. It was Torkelson's 15th home run of the year. The Tigers pulled ahead. That set the stage for the drama in the eighth. The Tigers escaped with the lead. Along the way, they benefited from a series of sterling defensive plays. Riley Greene caught a ball and crashed into the left-field wall. Javier Báez played impeccable shortstop, even redirected a throw from left in the fifth to nab Pete Crow-Armstrong, who ran past the base at third on a late stop sign, then was called out floundering back to the bag. Dillon Dingler threw out Shaw for a key out in the eighth. 'That was an absolute clinic by the guys,' Torkelson said. The Tigers have started wearing T-shirts with one of Hinch's mantras printed on the back. Everything matters. 'Everything matters in every game,' Hinch said. 'Everything matters to a greater extent in a close game. And any one of those plays could have changed the whole complexion of the score.' And in the ninth, a little more poetry. Before the game, the Tigers sent down Andy Ibáñez, their longtime right-handed-hitting specialist who has lost all feel in the box. Ibáñez was coming off a lackluster series against the White Sox, slumbering at the plate for much of the past two weeks, and the Tigers needed to infuse their offense, particularly with right-handed help. They brought up Jahmai Jones, a 2015 second-round pick who's on his fifth MLB team at 27 years old. Advertisement Jones has a unique connection to this city. His late father, Andre, was a defensive end for the Detroit Lions in 1992. His older brother, T.J., also played four seasons for the Lions as a wide receiver. In spring, Jones talked of all these connections, of the family legacy, of what it would mean to actually make it to Detroit. He impressed in spring but did not make the team. He lingered in Toledo, where his name was hardly mentioned in the endless roster talks that percolate through the season. But finally the Tigers sent down Ibáñez to find himself. Jones got the chance. He arrived at Comerica Park around 2:30 p.m. and launched straight into game prep. After first pitch, he sat near injured utility player Matt Vierling, talking about the best way to prepare for the possibility of a late-game pinch hit chance. Hinch called Jones' number in the ninth. And what did he do on his first pitch? He got a hanging curveball, then launched a looping torpedo over the left-field fence. This was his first bat, his first pitch, as a Detroit Tiger. And it was his first home run, only the second of his major-league career. He retreated to the dugout, saw Vierling and started laughing. 'I told you how to get ready!' Vierling shouted. 'My guy!' Jones said in response. In the bottom of the ninth, 40,000 people rose to their feet. Vest — once a Rule 5 pick who was returned to the Tigers after a mediocre stint with the Seattle Mariners — closed the door for the 10th time this season. Hinch was asked about the idea of his Tigers meeting the moment. Tough matchup, national broadcast, big crowd, all that. He practically shrugged. 'I appreciate the thought of raising the bar,' Hinch said. 'The bar is pretty high around here.' (Top photo of Will Vest: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
