Jon Rahm played spectacularly well Saturday and yesterday at the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois, a tough track that made a Fed Ex Tournament look almost like a U.S. Open, at least for the first three days. Rahm was 6 shots back of HIdeki Matsuyama who was -1 heading into Saturday’s round. He shot a 66 on Saturday to get to +2 and 3 back of Dustin Johnson, who was at -1, entering the final round yesterday.

Dustin looked to be pulling away after 4 holes getting to -4 and a 4 shot lead. But Rahm kept chipping away. He shot a 6 under 64, and took a one shot lead with Dustin 1 back on 17. DJ parred 17 and moved to 18 in a must birdie situation. He hit a drive in the right rough, and NBC on course reporter Roger Maltbie said Dustin’s chances of getting the ball close on his second shot were slim to none. Dustin was blocked by trees in his attempt to get it close. With the pin on his right side, he would have to hit a terrific shot just to give himself a 25 to 30 footer for birdie and a shot at a playoff. He hit a super shot, it landed right at the front of the green, took a major hop and rolled 45 feet past the hole but on the green. Spike had picked Dustin and I had picked Rahm and I remember we got into this competition in 2015 at the Valspar Championship at Tampa Bay when Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed werd in a playoff. I had Spieth and Spike had Reed and we had a back and forth battle by text. Spieth miraculously made an 18 footer to win it on the 3rd playoff hole after Reed kept coming after him. Spike always makes it tough as he’s a guy who always makes the tough 10 footer for birdie or par or the 25 foot birdie putt in the clutch.

He may not have been thinking about it yesterday, but I was. So Dustin really took his time over the 45 foot downhill putt. The putt was over a ridge, so he had to have the perfect speed. After surveying for a long time, and just tapping the ball, my wife said when he struck it, it was short. I didn’t say anything knowing there was some osmosis going on with Spike and DJ through the TV. Sure enough the ball tracked perfectly and landed in the hole with the pin in and we were heading into a playoff. Rahm must have been sick. I know I was. He had picked his ball up the day before on the 5th green on a birdie putt without marking it and was assessed a 1 shot penalty. That penalty had cost him winning the tournament outright. So, I was thinking, wow, the guy must be totally deflated.

On the first playoff hole, No.18, Rahm’s drive was similar to DJ’s from DJ’s 72nd hole as it landed on the right side in the rough. Dustin hit his way left, but it hit a tree and came out into the fairway about 182 yards away. Dustin hit first and coaxed it about 25 feet away hole high. Rahm was 155 out and blocked from hitting it at the pin by the trees. He hit a good shot, but it bounded on the green 66 feet away from the hole. NBC’s Paul Azinger said this was going to be the toughest 2 putt Rahm had ever had in his life. One person referred to the 55 footer he had sunk for eagle at Torrey Pines in 2017 to win the Farmers. Maybe he could recall that memory. He lined it up. There was about 20 feet of break, and when he stroked it, it looked like a good stroke. The ball was tracking slowly then hit the ridge and looked, as NBC’s Gary Koch would say, “Better than most.” It started falling down and turning right towards the hole with the flag in. Rahm was kind of walking to his left because he liked the putt, but looked as if he was happy it was going to be close for a tap in par, and then hope that DJ would miss his birdie putt to send it to 10 for a second playoff hole. Then it got to 5 feet and it was heading straight for the pin. Rahm started staring it down with intensity. It then tracked right down into the hole, center cut. He canned it. His reaction was totally electric. The fist emphatic fist pump with the hop and roar. The moment was electric. DJ made a good run at his 25’er, but it just came up short and Rahm had overcome an unthinkable error on Saturday, kept his head on straight, finally, and claimed a massive Fed Ex Playoffs victory. He earned a $1.7 million check and took over the No.2 spot in the Fed Ex Rankings ahead of Justin Thomas with the victory.

Now, in this interesting Tour Championship format, that is in its second year, DJ, the leader in the Fed Ex Rankings, will start the tournament at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta at -10 and with a 2 shot lead over Rahm, who will be at -8. JT will be third at -7. There are others that will go all the way to the 30th place person at even par. So, some riveting stuff on the PGA Tour. Quite a thrill yesterday. There will be, as Snoop, says,”a lot of change” on the line this week with the winner getting $15 million change by winning the Fed Ex Cup.

The BMW was one for the ages. The Tour Championship should be too and the the 120th U.S. Open is 2 weeks from Thursday at the historic and highly difficult Winged Foot Golf Club in New York.

So a lot of riveting stuff in the professional golf world. Will have complete preview and predictions for the Tour Championship on Thursday.

College Football

The season is set to start on Thursday. UAB plays Central Arkansas at 7 PM CT @ Legion Field with ESPN3 broadcasting. South Alabama plays @ Southern Miss at 8 PM CT on CBS Sports Network. Should be interesting to see the Blazers compete. Central Arkansas defeated Austin Peay on Saturday, 24-17, so they must have some talent. UAB is pretty excited about their team. They have quarterback Tyler Johnston back and running back Spencer Brown and some stellar key skill players along with an abundance of offensive linemen. Bill Clark will always have a good defense, so this could be a very good year on the Southside. South Alabama should be improved. There are some pretty good games in the American Conference on Saturday with Memphis hosting Arkansas State and SMU at Texas State, not great, but SMU was a bowl team last year. Army hosts Middle Tennessee Saturday as well. There is a solid game Monday at 7 PM CT on ESPN with BYU @ the Naval Academy. The Midshipmen finished 11-2 last season and 7-1 in the American Conference, and did what they had to do, defeating Army, 31-7, after losing to them the 3 prior years. They also won the Liberty Bowl, 20-17, over Kansas State. They lost their phenomenal quarterback, Malcolm Perry, who graduated and is now serving in the Marines, that’s pretty awesome, but have some talent back, including stellar Enterprise, Alabama sophomore wide receiver Chance Warren. BYU is always competitive and tough. So should be a very good matchup Monday Night. Hopefully, we can pull this college football season off.

Auburn has 16 players with COVID, so they’ll have to recover but those guys will have 2 weeks to get ready for the opener against Kentucky at Jordan-Hare Saturday, Sept. 26th. Talented team with a potentially excellent quarterback in Bo Nix, if they can get healthy. Tank Bigsby is a promising 5 star freshman running back. D.J. Williams and Shaun Shivers are back as well in the backfield and Marc Antony Richards is another stellar young running back. Certainly, some excellent skilled players on the perimeter led by all world wide receivers Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz. Offensive line will have to produce, but there is size and physicality. The defense will always be good under defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. So I expect the Tigers to have a good season. The schedule is tough, especially since it’s all SEC. @Georgia on Saturday, October 3rd. LSU @ Jordan-Hare on Saturday, Oct.31st, S’s birthday. Tennessee @home on Saturday, Nov.21st. Then at the Crimson Tide on Saturday, Nov. 28th. Then finishing up with Texas A&M @ home on Saturday, Dec. 5th. I have no problem with the Iron Bowl being the next to last game of the season. I just want to see football and I’ll take whatever I can get. I’m sure Walter, Bama G, Brownie, Spike and Little Omaha would say the same thing.

The No.3 Crimson Tide travels to Missouri on Saturday, Sept. 26h. The Tide is once again loaded with some key players coming back for their senior seasons. I’ve read where 5 star freshman quarterback Bryce Young is having some issues. Not sure if it’s sickness or what it is, but Mac Jones will have to be the man it sounds like. He’s certainly capable. With Najee Harris, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and company, the weapons are around him to have a big season. Like Mac a lot. I thought he excelled for the most part when Tua got hurt last season. Believe in him. The offensive line is outstanding led by 6’5”, 313 pound left tackle Alex Leatherwood. If that’s not a football name, I don’t know what is. Defense looks solid as well with inside linebacker and senior, Dylan Moses leading the charges. The secondary will have some new faces, but they’re all highly rated players from high school. Christian Harris and Shane Lee will be a year older at linebacker, and former 5 star Ben Davis, famous former Tide linebacker Wayne Davis’s son, looks like he could finally be coming into his own. That would help. Some key games are Georgia @ Bryant-Denny on Saturday, October 17th, @ Tennessee the following week, Saturday, October 24th, @LSU, huge, Saturday, Nov.14th, and of course @home versus the Auburn Tigers, Saturday, November 28th. LSU Biletnikoff winner wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is opting out this season to get ready for the NFL Draft. Don’t like that decision, but he did catch 84 passes for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns last season and won a national championship, so he accomplished a lot. I used to get upset about this, but understand it’s the landscape now and you just have to live with it. With COVID, it’s hard to begrudge any players for not playing. You definitely want them to play to get the best competitors in college football on the field, but you just have to live with the young guy’s decision. Still think LSU will have a solid squad. O has recruited exceptionally well for the last 4 years and he has some talent returning at receiver.

The Tide and Auburn Tigers will field excellent teams. Georgia, Florida are the key teams in the East and LSU is the other major contender in the West for the right to go to Atlanta and play in the SEC Championship Game Saturday, December 19th, and then for the right to go to the College Football Playoff if we can get that far. Tennessee is a darkhorse in the East and Texas A&M is a darkhorse in the West.

In the AP Preseason Rankings, Clemson is No.1, Ohio State is No.2, they aren’t playing though, the Crimson Tide is No.3, Georgia is No.4, Oklahoma is No.5 and LSU is No.6. Florida is No.8 and Auburn is No.11. A&M is No.13 and Tennessee is No.25.

Should be an amazing season if we can have it.

Predictions for the 140th US Open Tennis Tourney

Played at Flushing Meadows in New York City.

ESPN will televise. Coverage has just started with 11 AM-5 PM CT coverage today on ESPN and ESPN2 will cover tonight from 5-11 CT. The Men’s Final is Sunday, September 13th at 3 PM CT on ESPN and the Women’s Final is Saturday, September 12th at 3 PM CT on ESPN.

Women’s

I’m going to take the 31 year old Russian, who has 2 majors to her credit and just won the Western and Southern Open played at Flushing Meadows due to travel concerns, it’s usually in Cincinnati. Trying to keep the players in a bubble for the next 2 weeks. She did win as Japanese player Naomi Osaka withdrew due to a hamstring issue. Osaka will play in the Open though. This Russian won the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open and made the finals of the U.S. Open in 2012 and 2013. And I like the hot player. Give me the Bolshevilk young lady.

Victoria Azarenka over Naomi Osaka 7-5, 4-6, 6-4

Men’s

I want to make this a little more interesting than just going by the prohibitive chalk favorite.I’m going to take the the 31 year old Croatian in a major upset. He won the US in 2014 and always plays well in Flushing Meadows. He’ll be taking on the undeniable favorite, the 33 year old Serb Novak Djokovic, who is seeking his 18th Slam, which would be 2 majors back of Roger Federer and would tie him with the great Rafa Nadal, who also has 18 and is 2 Slams back of Federer’s 20. Fed is out for the US and French Opens and the start of the 2021 season which could include the Australian Open, as he is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. Fed is 39 and not getting any younger, but still want to see if he can get 1 or 2 more. Never want him or Rafa to retire. Rafa is 34 and has more time. Rafa is not playing in the US due to COVID concerns but playing at Roland Garros in the 124th French Open to try and win his 13th French and 19th Slam. The French Open starts Sunday, September 21st. The US ends September 13th, so it’ll be interesting to see if any of the US Open players play in the French this year.

I’m going to go with the upset. Gotta make this somewhat fun.

Marin Cilic over Joke 4-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-

3, 7-6 (8-6 in tiebreaker).

Mike Minor pitched an excellent game for the Texas Rangers last night in their 6-2 victory over the L.A. Dodgers, the team with the best record in the Majors at 24-10.

Mike went 6, gave up only 4 hits, 0 runs, with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. Mike threw 93 pitches with 59 for strikes against 34 balls. Mike was outstanding.

He didn’t get the decision, but solidified his role as the lead guy in the rotation and looks to have his great stuff back. He threw the fastball in at 92-93, and his curve ball was lights out superb.

Mike is 0-5 with a 5.60 ERA, but is now 0-2 at home with a 3.38 ERA. He has walked 13 and struck out 35 in 35 innings pitched. He’s given up 7 homers, which has hurt him a little and Justin Turner almost took him out to deep left central in the top of the 3rd with 2 runners aboard and 1 out, but 21 year old centerfielder, reached over the wall and grabbed it before it got out. It was spectacular. Mike then got Cody Bellinger out on a pop out to 2nd.

Mike threw strikes all night, pitched very well. So awesome night for the man.

Sonny Gray was phenomenal again yesterday in leading his team to a 6-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Sonny went 5 in a 7 inning game, as the teams were playing a doubleheader and under the new MLB rule this year, doubleheaders are 2, 7 inning games due to the condensed nature of the season and the need to play more DH’s. Sonny gave up 4 hits, 0 runs, with 2 walks and 4 K’s. His fastball was hitting 93 consistently. Didn’t see 94, but I missed some of it. His curve ball was lights out stellar coming in at 80, 81 and dropping perfectly into the strike zone causing a lot of swings and misses. The man threw 85 pitches, with 50 for strikes against 35 balls. Sonny throws a lot of stuff out of the strike zone, which is so tricky that the batter swings at it. So when they don’t swing it’s a ball. But it doesn’t matter because he is so effective in getting batters out.

Sonny moved to 5-1 on the season with an extraordinary 1.94 ERA, 7th in the Majors, and a 1.01 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched), which is 35th in the Big Leagues. His 55 strikeouts are 3rd in the Majors. He has walked only 15. Sonny is putting together a Cy Young worthy season. Proud of him. He’ll pitch next against the St. Louis Cardinals at home next Tuesday Night, Sept. 1st, @5:40 PM CT. He’ll face Cardinals lefty Kwang-Hyun Kim, who is 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA and an 0.90 WHIP, so will be a good test. The Reds took the nightcap from the Brewers, 6-0, to move to 13-17 on the season and into 3rd place in the NL Central, 5 back of the Chicago Cubs, who are 18-12, and 3 back of the Cardinals, who are 11-11. Excellent stuff from Sonny and the Reds. The Reds host the Cubs for a 4 game set this weekend at Great American Park with tonight’s game starting at 6:10 PM CT. The 2 teams play a doubleheader tomorrow and a single game Sunday. Then the Cards come into Great American for 2 games. So huge upcoming 6 games for the Reds versus the Cubs and the Cards in terms of the NL Central Standings.

Bryan Reynolds had a key RBI single in the top of the eighth inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cardinals 4-3 in the first game of their doubleheader, 4-3. The Bucs also captured the nightcap, 2-0. Great stuff from BR and the Bucs. The Pirates moved to 9-19, not great, but have won 5 out of their last 6, so there is promise. They are 8 back of the Cubs in the NL Central. BR is hitting .200 with 2 homers and 8 RBIs, but still getting clutch hits and playing terrific defense. He’ll get the bat going. He’s too good of a hitter not to. The Pirates are @ Milwaukee for a 3 game weekend set starting tonight at 7:10 CT.

Yaz and the Giants had a tough time with Clayton Kershaw and the awesome L.A. Dodgers yesterday. Kershaw went 6, gave up 4 hits with 0 runs, 0 walks and 4 K’s in a Dodgers’ 7-0 victory in the first game, and the Dodgers defeated the Giants in the second game, 2-0. Mike was 1 for 3 against Kershaw and the Dodgers in the first game, and 0 for 2 in the second game. He is now hitting .289 with 7 homers and 23 Ribeyes, his 23 RBIs are tied for 14th in the majors. Mike still having an awesome year and believe in the Giants They fell to 15-18 and are in 4th place of the NL West, 9 games back of the phenomenal Dodgers, who are 24-9 and lead second place San Diego by 5 games. The Padres are 19-14. The Giants play @ Arizona this weekend, and the Dodgers are @ Texas. Still pulling for the Dodgers, too, as Walker Buehler is a key piece to the team and I picked them to win the World Series on my All Sports Blog before the season started. So not totally unhappy with yesterday’s result. Walker on the 10 day DL with a blister on his right hand. Walk will probably be out till next weekend, around the Saturday Sept. 5th, Sunday, the 6th, or maybe even Monday the 7th.

Interestingly, the Dodgers face Mike Minor and the Rangers tonight. Mike needs a good night. He’s 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA. The Dodgers are throwing their 22 year old stud Dustin May who is 1-1 with a 2,79 ERA. Game time is 7:05 CT.

More on our MLBers and some football next week. Have a terrific weekend.

Dansby Swanson hit an opposite field homer to right off one of the top 3 pitchers in baseball, Gerrit Cole, a 2 run shot, in the bottom of the third in the first game, and registered a single and scored ahead of Freddie Freeman’s game winning 2 run homer in the second game of a twinbill as the Braves swept the New York Yankees, 5-1 in the first game, and 2-1 in the nightcap.

Dans is now hitting .319 with 4 homers and 18 Ribeyes.

The Braves move to 18-12 and are 2 games ahead of the Marlins, who are at 14-12. 

Atlanta is off today, then go to Philadelphia for a 3 game weekend set at the Phillies.
Dans doin serious work with the bat and, as always, with the glove.

Sonny Gray faces the Milwaukee Brewers today at 4:10 PM CT. Sonny pitching well. Hopefully they’ll play. With the shooting in Kenosha, WI. last week, there were postponements of games yesterday, both the Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers, among others, cancelled their games, and Sonny was scheduled to pitch yesterday. Hoping he’ll get that opportunity today. Sonny is 4-1, with a 2.21 ERA and an 0.98 WHIP, an awesome number that wins a lot of games for your team. All those numbers do. Sonny faces Adrian Houser of the Brewers. He is 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Should be an interesting contest.

Walker Buehler, who was lights out in his last start against the Colorado Rockies, going 6, giving up 4 hits, 1 earned run, with 0 walks and 11 K’s, is at Yaz, Sam Selman and my SF Giants today for a doubleheader with the first game commencing at 3:05 PM CT. The Giants will throw young stud Logan Webb against Walk. Webb is 2-2 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He’s 23 and has a very bright future and showing signs this season like he’ll be a really fine pitcher for the Giants, starting this year.

Walker is 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Good WHIP. As I wrote in my column 2 days ago, Walk had a 5.49 ERA in his first 4 games last year and in his next 9, he recorded a 2.47 ERA, so he’s starting to get heated up.

I’m very conflicted here. Want Walk to do well, of course, and I picked the Dodgers to win the World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays in my All Sports Blog before the season started in July, but my heart is with Yaz, Sam and the Giants.

I want the Giants to win it late when Walk is out of the game, with a Yaz long one.

The Giants and Dodgers play the second game of the twinbill today at 6:05 PM CT. Clayton Kershaw is pitching for the Dodgers. Kershaw is back to being Kershaw after an injury riddled season last year. The 32 year old southpaw is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA and an 0.79 WHIP. That’s tremendous.

The Giants are undecided on their starter. Wish they’d go with Sam. He’s a lefty and has been excellent for the team out of the bullpen. 

Should be a fun day of baseball. Full report tomorrow.   

Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois, 32 miles south of Chicago, will host the second leg of the Fed Ex Cup Playoffs as the BMW Championship will be staged at the historic North Course. Jim Furyk won the 2003 U.S. Open there and Bryson, let me have the Clear like Barry or the Cocktail like A-Roid, DeChambauroids won the 2015 U.S. Amateur there. The course is a 7,366 yard Par 70, the second longest Par 70 on tour this season. There are only 2, Par 5’s, No.1 is a 626 yard Par 5, and No.15 is 576 yard Par 5. More on the key holes shortly.

Justin Thomas is the defending champion of the BMW. He won last year at Medinah Country Club shooting -25 to win by 3 shots over Patrick Cantlay. Certainly a favorite this week at Olympia Fields.

Last week, Dustin Johnson put on a golfing clinic finishing -30 to win by 11 shots over second place finisher Harris English at The Northern Trust at TPC Boston. That was the largest margin of victory since Phil Mickelson won the BellSouth Classic by 13 shots on East Lake in 2006. Johnson shot a 60 on Friday only to be outdone by Scottie Scheffler’s 59, but for the week, went 67, 60, 64, 63. That’s phenomenal. He won his 22nd PGA title, tying 27 other golfers on the most victories list with Eldrick and Sam Snead having the most at 82. Dustin missed by one shot of shooting the lowest score ever on a PGA Tour event course. Justin Thomas shot a 253 at the 2017 Sony Open, and Dustin was at 254 last week.

With all of that, Dustin went back to work on Monday at Olympic Fields playing 7 holes and getting a weight lifting and conditioning session in that morning. So Dustin, who may be like Peyton Manning, who was the best “regular season” quarterback of all time winning 2 Super Bowls with 1 being over an average Chicago Bears team in 2007 in Super Bowl 41, and the other in 2016 with the Denver Broncos, when Broncos defensive end Von Miller completely dominated and won the game for the team sacking Cam Newton mercilessly and deeming him ineffective in the Broncos victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Manning was just along for the ride. Dustin has that kind of makeup as well. Wins a lot of regular tour events but only has 1 Major to his credit. I’m sure he’d like to build on that Major resume. He’ll have several more chances beginning with the U.S. Open, Sept. 17th-20th at the challenging and historic Winged Foot Golf Club in New York state. Dustin is 1st in the Fed Ex Standings, overtaking Justin last week, and is now No.1 in the world, taking over the spot from Jon Rahm.

Key tee times

11:52 AM CT, No.10-Sungjae Im, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed

12:03 PM CT, No.10-Dustin, Justin, Daniel Berger

12:14 PM CT, No.10-Carlos Ortiz, Eldrick, Bubba Watson

12:58 PM CT, No.1-Xander Schauffele, Rory, Brendon Todd

12:58 PM CT, No.10, Kevin Kisner, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Champ

1:09 PM CT, No.1- Collin Morikawa, Harris English, DeChambeau

1:09 PM CT, No.10-Tyrrell Hatton, Hideki Matsuyama, Abraham Ancer

Tiger and Rory have been disasters recently. Tiger was 72nd at the PGA and last week was in the 60’s finish. Rory’s been right there with him and admits that he can’t get up for these tournaments right now. That’s unfortunate. Both of them crave the attention and they miss the fans more than anybody else on tour apparently. Eldrick has been whining about it for the last couple of weeks. For somebody who talks about “Privacy” and even named his Yacht, “Privacy,” he sure misses that attention. Kind of like 3rd graders needing their parents to approve of them when they hit a good shot. It’s just the normal right now without fans. Those 2 guys just need to suck it up and focus on playing well if they want any chance of succeeding at the Open 3 weeks from tomorrow. Not expecting much from them at Winged Foot.

Key Holes, Notes, PGATour.com

No.3, 461 yards, Par 4

The No.1 ranked hole on the course. This is considered the signature hole of the front 9. There are no fairway bunkers, but the drive is through a tight shoot of fairway, it’s a blind tee shot, and goes down a steep hill. The drive must find the left side or the approach may be blocked by the trees to a small, elevated green. The slope of the green is severe, so holding it will be a challenge. Anything on the front of the green may roll off the green and back down a steep stretch of fairway.

No.8, 247, Par 3

One of the toughest shots on the course is the drive on this monster par 3. The tee shot is long and uphill and hit into the prevailing wind. The green is well protected left and right by deep bunkers, 3 left, 1 right. Most of the players will hit fairway woods or long irons into the center of the green and hope to 2 putt for par. However, the putting surface has many undulations and tricky breaks that could lead to several 3 putts.

No.14, 444 yards, Par 4

This is the signature hole on the backside. Butterfield Creek crosses in front of the fairway at 125 yards out from the tee and runs down the right of a fairway that has been shifted over to bring the creek very much into play off the tee. The creek crosses the hole again at 300 yards from the tee. The elevated tee shot calls for a long iron or 3 wood to take the creek out of play, but that leaves an uphill shot over the creek to an elevated green with a tremendous amount of slope from back-to-front. Anything blocked to the right will find the trees, while anything hit in front of the green could roll back off and down the steeply sloping fairway. Instead of 2 routine putts for par, the player could face a 40 yard chip.

No. 15, 576 yards, Par 5

This is not a guaranteed birdie hole. Shorter hitters will play it as a true three-shotter, because the fairway turns sharply to the right about 275 yards from the green. Look for them to use a long iron or fairway wood off the tee, then hit a long iron to set up a wedge on their third shot. The Johnsons, JT’s, Performance Enhancer, and long hitters can reach in 2, but only if they keep their tee shots down the left side, which is tough as the fairway slopes left to right. If they end up on the right side, they’ll have to hit a slice, not a fade, around the crook of the curve to reach the green.

No.18, 496 yards, Par 4

The 18th is a long par 4 that plays into a prevailing wind. The tee shot must split 2 fairway bunkers, leaving a mid iron into a huge, sloping green. The green is one of the most difficult on the course with right to left and back to front breaks and a several slopes. Even the best can three putt this hole which will lead to a dramatic 72nd hole on Sunday.

Top 10 Fed Ex Cip Standings

1. Dustin, 2571 points. The No.1 player in the Fed Ex Standings after this event will start the Tour Championship at -10 and with a 2 shot lead. Pretty greatl reward for the leader going into next week at East Lake. So major incentive to be No.1 after the BMW.

2. Justin, 2479, 92 points back, 1,500 points for the winner at the BMW

3. Webb Simpson-2,163 points, 408 back not playing, withdrew due to burnout, saving up for Tour Championship next week.

4. Daniel Berger-1,917 points, 654 back.

5. Collin Morikawa-1,902 points, 669 back.

6. Harris English-1,767, 804 back.

7. DeChambeau-1,657, 914 back.

8. Sungjae Im-1,633, 938 back.

9. Rahm-1,580, 991 back.

10. Patrick Reed, 1,447, 1,124 back.

Weather

Thursday, Sunny, 90, 20% chance t storm. Wind 12 MPH.

Friday, 89, 20%, wind 10-20.

Saturday-76, Sunny, 10%, wind 13

Sunday, 76, Sunny, wind 7 MPH.

So after a couple of hot days the weather will be superb on Saturday and Sunday. Wind will be a factor thoug, especially the first 3 days.

TV

Thursday-Friday-2-6 PM CT, Golf Channel

Saturday-11 AM-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-5 PM CT, NBC

Sunday-12-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-6 PM CT, NBC.

Winner

I’ll take the 25 year old from Spain by way of Arizona State University. He finished tied for 5th last year at Medinah, though 9 back of Justin. Shot 68, 69, 66, 69 last year. Last week at TPC Boston in the Northern Trust, He shot 69, 67, 67, 65 to finish tied for 6th, well back of Dustin’s -30 at -16, but everybody was well back of Dustin. He wants to get his World No.1 ranking back as he’s now No.2, and he wants to win the Fed Ex Cup like all of the competitors who can win the $15 million bonus if they prevail as No.1 in the standings after next week at the Tour Championship. He won the Memorial in July. His only drawback can be his hot headedness at times. He seems to have a little better grip on it this year, but still has his moments where he kind of loses it. That could be costly in Majors. I’ll take him this week though.

Jon Rahm

Sleeper

I’ll take the 24 year old from “Goin” Mobile, Alabama by way of the University of Alabama. He finished his last 6 holes 6 under last week going birdie, birdie, eagle, par, birdie, birdie and shot 63 to get into the top 70 this week.. Wow. He’s 62 in the Fed Ex Standings, so he needs a big week to get in the top 30 at East Lake next week. Almost picked him to win it this week. He very well could.

Robbie Shelton

Our exceptionally talented former VU baseball players, they’ll always be Vanderbilt players, have been tearing it up in the Major Leagues. Here’s a look at each of our stellar Commodores and their recent achievements for their respective MLB teams. Also, not a great report on VU football, but there is still positive stuff going on. Just a small glitch with COVID right now.

Walker Buehler, L.A. Dodgers

Walk had struggled in his first 4 games, not registering a decision and posting a 5.21 ERA. But that all changed last Friday Night at Dodger Stadium against the Colorado Rockies. The man pitched 6 very strong innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 earned run, with 0 walks and 11 K’s. It was spectacular. Walker threw 92 pitches with 67 for strikes against 25 balls, a 3:1 strike to ball ratio. Exceptional.That’s the Walker Buehler we’re used to and the Dodgers are used to. The Dodgers won the game over the Rockies 5-1 and Walk got the victory to move to 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.040 WHIP, walks plus hits per inning, which is not too bad really. Walker was hitting 98 regularly and his stuff was electric. I picked the Dodgers over the Tampa Bay Rays in my World Series prediction before the season started in July, and Walker as my Cy Young Award winner for the National League. He pitched like that last Friday Night. Interestingly, Walker, according to the Dodgers broadcast team, started last season posting a 5.40 ERA in his first 4 games, and then, in his next 9, he posted a 2.68 ERA.

So awesome stuff from one of our studs. Walker’s next outing will be Thursday Night at 7:05 CT @ the San Francisco Giants. Yaz and Sam Selman. Tyler Beede is out this year with an injury, but hoping he’ll get back for next season. Always conflicted when my guys face each other. The Giants have become my favorite team, though I should pull for the Dodgers as I picked them to win it all, but I love Yaz and the blue collar mentality of the Giants. Walker will square off with a very good young pitcher for SF, Logan Webb, who is 2-2 with a 3.29 ERA. The Dodgers and Giants open their 3 game series tonight in SF at 8:45 CT with Julio Urias for the Dodgers facing veteran Johnny Cueto of the Giants . The Giants have won 6 in a row and have been an enjoyable team to watch. They have so much spirit. The Dodgers are 22-8, playing .733 ball, best in the majors, and lead a red hot San Diego Padres team, which has won 7 in a row, by 4 games. The Padres are at 18-12, and have the best young player in baseball, 21 year old shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis Jr., in his second year from the Dominican Republic, is leading the Major Leagues in homers with 12 and Ribeyes with 29. He’s hitting .314 and has stolen 6 bases. In 87 chances this season, he hasn’t committed an error. Looking like an MVP player right now, but long way to go. He’s also controversial. Last week, with the Padres leading the Rangers by 8 runs late in the game, with the bases loaded and a 3-0 count, Tatis sJr. swung away at a 3-0 pitch and hit a grand slam. That’s an unwritten rule in baseball, or any sport for that matter, that you don’t pile on when the other team is struggling and you have the game won. It was poor sportsmanship, and he was called out by the media and several other players. We’ll see how he develops the rest of the season. Certainly an elite talent, but could be a head case at times. The Giants are 14-16 and trail the Dodgers by 8 games. Huge series for the SF guys starting tonight. Will watch 3 innings or so, then catch the rest tomorrow on the MLB app.

Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh Pirates

BR had a very nice weekend at the plate for the Pirates against the Milwaukee Brewers at home over the weekend. The Pirates had really been scuffling around, but woke up at PNC Park on Friday Night and swept the Brewers. Bryan had a superb game Friday Night going 3 for 4 with a triple, a homer to right central, and 4 Ribeyes. Bryan had 2 hits Saturday Night, including a double, and singled in a run on Sunday. On Friday Night, he also made a superb diving catch in left on a line drive off the bat of Brewers superstar outfielder Christian Yelich. If Bryan didn’t catch it, it would have been a triple and a possible inside the park home run so he had to catch it. Bryan is an excellent defensive player like all our superbly fundamentally coached players. After a slow start, BR is now hitting .220 with 2 homers and 7 Ribbies. However, in his last 6 games he’s hitting .318 with 7 hits in 22 plate appearances, with a double, a triple, a homer and 6 RBIs. So looks like that bat is heating up. The Pirates are 7-17 and 9 back of the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs, which are 18-10, but the sweep over the Brewers was impressive, and the Pirates played outstanding baseball all weekend. The Bucs play at the solid Chicago White Sox tonight at 7:10 CT and tomorrow at 1:10 PM CT. The ChiSox are, 17-12, tied for 2nd place with the Cleveland Indians and 2 1/2 back of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central, the Twins are 20-10. The Bucos then travel to St. Louis Thursday for a 4 game set through the weekend. Some super news, Carson Fulmer was claimed off waivers by the Pirates from the Detroit Tigers. Carson has been struggling at the big league level since being selected 8th by the White Sox in 2015, but this is a new opportunity, and playing with Bryan can help Carson. He’s such a talent, an awesome competitor and a phenomenal guy, you just pull for him. Carson was National Pitcher of the Year as a junior at VU in 2015 going 14-2 with a 1.83 ERA with 167 strikeouts in 127,2 innings. So, he has it in him. Will keep you posted on both of our Bucos in the coming days/weeks.

Yaz, San Francisco Giants

Mike Yastrzemski is knocking the cover off the ball for a resurgent SF Giants team. Yaz is hitting .309 with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 7 homers and 23 RBIs. He had a special weekend at Oracle Park in SF as it was his grandfather, the former Boston Red Sox great and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski’s birthday last Saturday Night. And while Yaz was disappointed he didn’t get a hit, he made a leaping, phenomenal catch in right central that robbed the Arizona Diamondbacks of a double and probably a triple when the game was very tight. On the next day, Sunday, August 23rd, Mike himself turned 30, and with the game tied at 1-1, Yaz cranked a homer to left central to put the Giants in front. The Giants went on to win the game and sweep the series. I believe in this team. With the 16 team playoffs this season, 8 per league, all you have to do is qualify and you’ve got a shot to win it all. The Giants look pretty special to me. They’ll be tested by the awesome Dodgers tonight through Thursday, so they need to bring their hard hats and lunch pales. I’m sure they will. They always do.

Also, Sam Selman is doing an extraordinary job out of the Giants bullpen pitching to a 2.70 ERA while walking just 3 and striking out 13. In Sam’s last 7 games, his ERA has been 2.57 and his WHIP is 1.00, excellent numbers. I would love to see manager Gabe Kapler start Sam. Their rotation has been solidified somewhat, but Sam would be a major asset to the starting rotation or as a closer. He could be an exceptional closer. So good stuff from Yaz and Sam. Looking forward to Tyler getting a shot next season. Some of their starters are getting older, so Tyler, who started for the Giants last season and pitched well some, could get an opportunity next year.

Dansby Swanson, Braves

Saving maybe the best for last. Dans is hitting a sizzling .318 with 10 doubles, 3 homers and 16 Ribeyes. Dans is still a perfect 1000 in his fielding percentage as well. Dans just doesn’t commit errors. He’s an exceptional all around player. The Braves are 16-12 and lead the NL East by a game and a half over the Miami Marlins. The Braves just took 2 out of 3 from the Phillies over the weekend and host the New York Yankees starting tonight at 6:10 CT with the great Gerrit Cole pitching for the Yankees versus Braves newcomer Ian Anderson. The Braves have had trouble with their starting pitching, and Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies have been injured, so it’s miraculous that they keep playing well. Unfortunately, Kyle Wright was sent down to the Braves alternate site to get some reps and improve. In my opinion, the Braves pulled the trigger too quickly on Kyle. He’s got superb stuff, just needs to get his control down. He should have gotten another shot to prove himself especially since they’re not too many options for the Braves starting pitching wise. Kyle will get back up to the big team at some point this season, hopefully sooner rather than later.

As for our man, Dansby, he’s tearing it up. Sunday Night was an amazing yet frustrating game for Dans and the Braves versus the Phillies. Dans belted 3 doubles, but the most fascinating and frustrating thing happened in the bottom of the 9th. With the Braves down 5-3 and 2 outs, Dansby walked and to put runners at first and second base. The great Freddie Freeman came up and belted a deep double into the left central field gap. The runner from second easily scored. The outfielder for the Phillies cut the ball off in deep left central and threw the ball back in to shortstop Didi Gregorious. Third base coach Ron Washington sent Dans home and Dans was flying around third. With 2 outs and you’re one down you have to send the runner, particularly when it’s a near world class sprinter in Dansby. Gregorious’s throw to the plate came just ahead of Dansby’s arrival. The catcher. J.T. Realmuto, was clearly blocking the plate, which is illegal as MLB instituted a rule 3 or 4 years ago that catchers could not block the plate for player’s safety purposes, both for the catcher and the runner’s safety to avoid collisions that had been leading to concussions, mainly for catchers. The throw was up the third base line and Realmuto caught it and was still blocking Dansby from reaching the plate. Dansby slid in hard head first, but Realmuto tagged him, and the home plate umpire called Dans out, which gave the Phillies an apparent 5-4 victory. But the Braves appealed the play, stating that the catcher had interfered with Dansby trying to score, which he did. The umpires and New York reviewed it, and upheld the out call. It was robbery. There was no way that Dans could get to the plate with how Realmuto was blocking it. The call should have been overturned to safe and the Braves should have been tied 5-5 with Freddie at second and catcher Travis d’Arnaud, a .333 hitter, coming to the plate. So it was a bad deal for the Bravos. Still have a great team with a chance to win it all if the starting pitching gets better and Acuna and Albies get back in the lineup, which should be soon. Love what the man is doing for the Braves. Playing stellar short as well. Dans does it all.

Sonny Gray didn’t get a decision in a Cincinnati Reds’ 5-4 loss to the Cardinals last Thursday Night. Sonny went 6, gave up 4 hits, 2 earned runs, with 4 walks and 6 K’s. He left the game with a 4-2 lead, but the Cincy bullpen gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th, very frustrating. Sonny is still having a stellar year at 4-1 with a 2.21 ERA and an 0.982 WHIP with 13 walks and 51 K’s. Sonny is @ Milwaukee tomorrow night, Wednesday, at 7:10 CT.

It’s been a struggle so far for Mike MInor for the Texas Rangers. Mike is 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA. He had a decent outing Sunday versus the Seattle Mariners going 6, giving up 5 hits, 4 earned, with a walk and 4 strikeouts. He did give up 3 homers. The long ball has been hurting Mike this season. I’m wondering if the shoulder that bothered him in the past is an issue right now. His velocity, which was 93-95 last season, is down to 92 now. Mike will figure it out though. He’s too good and such a warrior not to figure it out. He pitches again Friday at home versus the Dodgers at 7:05 PM CT. Mike will face Dodgers young gun Dustin May, who has an under 3.00 ERA, so it’ll be a challenge, but Mike’s up to the task.

Football

It’s not all bad news for football, just not all great news. Last Thursday Night, 7 players and a coach tested positive for the Cornonavirus, so practice has been postponed from Friday through today. It is being reported by Chris Lee of Vanderbilt Sports that 20 other players were exposed, but I don’t know if that’s accurate. We are scheduled to start back practice tomorrow. The players and coach who tested positive will be quarantined for 14 days, which would put them back on the field around September 3rd through the 5th or 6th. That’s still 3 weeks before our Saturday, Sept. 26th contest @ A&M, so they can get their strength back and plenty of reps in before the kickoff. So it’s not as dire as Chris Lee is making it sound. It’s not great, but it’s repairable. Still like our talent, we just need to get everybody back.

On a very positive note, Vanderbilt 84, 3 star running back commit Dylan Pauley ran for 66 yards on 18 carries and scored on TD runs of 1 and 25yards in No.2 ranked Hoover High School of Alabama’s 45-35 victory over No.5 Central-Phenix City last Friday Night at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama. Phenix City is interestingly one of the few cities in Alabama that is on the eastern time zone. Alabama is mainly on Central time, but there are a few places in Southeastern Alabama which are on Eastern time. Phenix City is one of those places. I went there several times when I was writing my book, Leadership Lessons for Life, and highlighted one of the classic high school football coaches in Alabama history in Ron Nelson. It was a book about 45 of the best high school coaches in Alabama along with several quote pages in between the coaches’ personal stories.

Several significant things to report on the game. Dylan’s 25 yard TD run was a masterpiece. He took the handoff up the middle, cut left and outran the secondary to take it to the house for the Hoover TD. It was a spectacular run. Hoover is in Class 7A, which is the highest football classification in Alabama, and winning on the road at a highly talented Central team was tremendous. Central-Phenix City won the state championship in Class 7A in 2018 and were runner-ups last season. Hoover is a perennial powerhouse in Alabama with several state titles this century, and have been in the USA Today Super 25 National High School Football Rankings several years. They look to have a state championship and national powerhouse team once again this season. The victory over Central was a major momentum builder for the season. Dylan is set to have a gigantic senior year. Just need to get him signed up in December with the 13 other players in the class along with the other stellar players we are recruiting. The other players in our class have not started their respective seasons yet, but I will keep you posted on their progress as the season ensues in September. Love what we’re getting out of Dylan Pauley. Would like to get another RB in this class if we can land one. We’ve got a very solid group by the film I’ve watched on each one of them, and there will be more in the hopper. So, will keep you posted on that.

As far as our present team, obviously we need to get healthy, but if we can get back to full tilt in early September, we’ll still be on schedule for our game at A&M. And we start back practice tomorrow, so there will be plenty of guys getting reps.

Will keep you apprised of everything cookin on the West End and in the Major Leagues in the upcoming days. Have a great evening.

We now have 14 hard commits in the 2021 class with 4 additional commits in the last week and a half. Here’s a look at the latest studs we’ve landed along with an overview of our talented 2021 class thus far.

The 4 new commits are 6’6”, 280 pound offensive tackle Gage Pitchford, an 84, 3 star, by 247 rankings, out of East Coweta High School in Sharpsburg, Georgia. Gage is an aggressive, physical player who loves to hit people and takes many defensive linemen to the woodshed and enjoys doing it. Gage will be a major impact player for us in the future. We’ve also landed 84, 3 star defensive end Jacques Hunter, a 6’3”, 210 pounder out of football powerhouse Lowndes, in Valdosta, Georgia. Lowndes is traditionally one of the top programs in the state of Georgia, a state that is filled with exceptional players and exceptional teams. Jacques is all over the field and loves to knock people off their feet. He’ll be a great addition to our defensive line, outside linebacker group in the future. Needs to put on some weight, but Strength Coach James Dobson will handle that. We received 2 commitments this week. Sunday, the lightning fast 85, 3 star James Ziglor III committed to us. James is a 5’11”, 185 cornerback from Harrison High School in Kennesaw, GA. He’s got superior speed, took quite a few carries to the house on offense, and is a playmaker on defense. Really like what we’re getting in James. Superb athlete. Yesterday, the powerful Gunnar Hansen committed to us. Gunnar is a 6’5”, 305 pound offensive tackle, who is rated as an 84, 3 star by 247. Gunnar just buries people. Gunnar played at American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale, FL. last season, but has moved over to the great powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale for his senior season. Gunnar joins Aquinas cornerback Tyson Russell in this class. Tyson is a 5’10”, 170 pound cornerback with great cover skills and speed. We have several Aquinas players on our team right now. We’re getting a lot of great athletes and size on both sides of the ball.

The other 9 players in this promising class, that is still developing with several talented players on our radar, are 87, 3 stat wide receiver Jack Bech out of St. Thomas More in Lafayette, LA. Jack is a stud, catches everything, and like 2020 wide receiver and high 3 star signee Logan Kyle, will be an excellent player on the perimeter for us in the near future. Eighty six, 3 star offensive guard Xavier Castillo is another excellent addition to this 4 member offensive line class, which may very well add one more big fella before signing day in December. Xavier is a mountain of a man at 6’5”, 325 and hails from St. Francis Academy in Baltimore. Our fourth offensive linemen is 84, 3 star Jake Ketschek, a 6’4”, 316 pound offensive tackle out of St. Augustine Prep in Richiano, New Jersey. All 4 of our lineman are big, tough and physical. Excited to see which other piece Coach Mason and the staff bring in for our 5th offensive linemen. Will keep you posted.

Our other playmaker on the perimeter is 83, 3 star wide out Ezra McAllister, a 6’0”, 170 explosive young player out of Marshall High School in Marshall, Michigan. Ezra has phenomenal wheels and an amazing ability to cut on a dime after catching the ball. We’ll really like his playmaking ability. Ezra isgoing to be making several house calls at VU. Looks like a slot wide receiver.

Our running back in this class is a great one. Dylan Betts-Pauley is a 6’0”, 215 Sherman Tank out of Hoover High School in Birmingham. Dylan has massive power, can get you those tough yards on every down, and has take it to the house deceptive speed. Saw him break quite a few runs on his film. I know Coach Mason and the staff want to add another RB to the class, so will keep an eye on that position. Really like the one we’ve gotten though. Expecting big things from DBP.

On the defensive line, 86, 3 star Terion Sugick is a 6’ 2 1/2” defensive tackle out of National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Maryland. Terion is a disruptor and physical player. Love his addition upfront.

Tyler Bence is a 6’3”, 273 defensive tackle out of Huntsville, AL. Tyler is an 84, 3 star, and loved his film as well. He’ll get up to 295-300 like Terion will. Just really like the athletic ability in this class. The other piece, so far, upfront on defense, is 83, 3 star defensive end A.J. Campbell out of Copley High School in Akron, Ohio. A.J. is 6’4”, 240, and is another physical talent. Could play like present talented OLB Elijah McCallister as an outside linebacker, and rushing off the edge. So highly talented defensive line class so far.

Along with Russell and Ziglor III, Alan “Taco” Wright is an 84 corner-safety versatile player who committted a month and a half ago.. “Taco” is 6’0”, 185, and is the brother of freshman 4 star quarterback Mike Wright. Watched Taco’s film and he’s a player who is a ballhawk and a hitter.

So, I love this class so far. As mentioned earlier, there are several pieces that we could add to this class. Probably would like another linebacker, probably an inside guy, another RB, another wide out, a quarterback and there is a QB out of Brentwood Academy who is very interested in us and we are in him. We’ll get another OL and DL and add a guy to the secondary. Really liking the makeup of this group. We need to add to it, but we will. Will keep you posted on any more commits who jump aboard in the next several days and upcoming weeks.

Football practice is going very well so far. Quarterback is a 4 way battle. Freshman Ken Seals has been impressive. Seals is a high 3 star in the 2020 class. Then you have fellow 4 star freshman Mike Wright along with transfers Danny Clark, who started at Kentucky before transferring to Junior College in Mississippi. Jeremy Moussa is another junior college prospect competing for the job. We have good talent, not great experience, but that’s what fall camp is for. We did have 4 key players opt out of the season, 3 key offensive linemen, Jonathan Stewart, Cole Clemons and Bryce Bailey, and our leading tackler from last season, inside linebacker Dimitri Moore. Sorry those guys are not playing, and we’ll have to develop some depth on the OL, but we’ve got talent and several players, so we can develop the rest of this month and into September. I like our team and what we can do this season and into the future.

Our first game is @ Texas A&M, Saturday, Sept. 26th. No time announced as yet. We’ll definitely be on TV though. On October 3rd, LSU comes to Vanderbilt Stadium. On Oct. 10, we’ll host South Carolina. On Oct. 17th, we’ll be @ Missouri. We’re off on Oct. 24 and then host Ole Miss on Oct. 31st. On Nov. 7th, we play @ Mississippi State, then, on Nov. 14, we’re @ Kentucky. On Nov.21 we host Florida. On Nov. 28, that team from the East comes to town. And on Dec. 5, we play @ Georgia.

No doubt the schedule is tough, but it’s that way every year, and I’m just elated we have a shot at competing this season. A freshman quarterback for Georgia State was diagnosed with a heart condition related to COVID-19 yesterday, so that’s a development. He sounds like he’s OK. There is danger there, but hoping we can survive the pandemic and play SEC football. This year’s team gets a pass regardless of the outcomes. These are just unprecedented times as a good friend said to me about a month ago, so it’ll be a thrill to see our team play, and keep developing our present team and building on a highly talented recruiting class. We’ve got a chance to be a special team in the next couple of years with continued improvement on this year’s team and continued excellent recruiting. I know the older guys are really focused on having a solid 2020 season though and go to a bowl, so believe in them. More on football next week.

MLBers

All our guys are competing well. Here are 4 who are really excelling right now.

Dansby Swanson

Dans is hitting .303 with 3 homers and 16 Ribeyes. In 85 chances at shortstop, Dans has not committed an error. Thats’ sensational. Love what the man is doing. He had quite a night on Monday, hitting a walk off 2 out 2 run game winning home run to win the game for the Bravos over the Washington Nationals, 7-6. Dansby, at 26 years old, is hitting his stride as a professional baseball player. Love seeing it. Couldn’t happen to a better guy. The Braves are 14-11 and a game and a half ahead of the Miami Marlins in the NL East. They’re battling through some injuries with stud centerfielder Ronald Acuna and stud second basemen Ozzie Albies hurt right now. But this team seems to always find a way to get it done in dramatic fashion. Dansby is a major part of that clutchness. Acuna and Albies should be back pretty soon. Kyle Wright has been a little up and down this season on the mound, but the Braves believe in Kyle’s talent like we all do and he’s in the starting rotation. Kyle was schedule to pitch last night versus the Nationals, but the game was postponed due to rain. Kyle will pitch again next Wednesday against the New York Yankees, so that’ll be a thrill to watch.

Yaz

Mike Yastrzemski is playing superb baseball for the San Francisco Giants. Yaz is hitting .319 with 6 homers and 19 Ribbies. In 67 chances at every position in the outfield, Mike has not committed an error either. He’s a spectacular defensive player. I saw him make a diving catch in right central on Sunday that saved at least one run from scoring. The Giants are 10-16, but have won their last 2 over the Angels. Just need to get better work out of their bullpen. The hitting, defense and starting pitching are good. Love to see Yaz excelling.

Tony Kemp

Tony is only hitting .239 right now, but he’s hit over .300 in the month of August. In 50 chances at 2nd base, Tony has not committed an error either. Tim Corbin grooms terrific players who can really hit and play serious defense. Tony has found a home with the Oakland A’s, a perfect fit for him. The A’s are a blue collar, hard working team, that are so clutch. They are presently 17-8 and lead the AL West by 2 1/2 games over the sign stealing Houston Astros. Love what T Kemp is doing as well.

Sonny Gray

Sonny has been beyond spectacular for the Cincinnati Reds. The man is 4-1 now with a 2.05 ERA and an 0.913 WHIP, walks plus hits per innings, spectacular number, anything under 1.00 is totally stellar. In 30 innings, Sonny has walked only 9 and struck out 45. He’s putting together a Cy Young type season right now. The Reds are 10-12, and 5 back of the Chicago Cubs, who are 16-8. With the playoffs expanded to 8 teams per League, 16 total in the Majors, the Reds are definitely in the picture for a playoff spot and they’ve got a talented roster. Sonny pitches tonight @ St. Louis at 7:15 PM CT. The Cardinals are 6-7, having only played 13 games due to irresponsible behavior on the team with several members contracting COVID due to some carousing that was out of line. But they’re back playing, so big game tonight for Sonny and the Reds. Will let you know how it goes.

Will have more on football, MLB studs, our exciting basketball team, our stellar men’s golf and women’s tennis teams coming up in the next week. Thanks a lot.

The 14th year of the Fed Ex Cup Playoffs commences tomorrow at The Northern Trust at TPC Boston, a course that is closer to Providence, Rhode Island than it is Boston. It’s 20 miles south of Providence and 35 miles north of Boston.

Patrick Reed won The Northern Trust last year, but it was played at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey. DeChambeau won here in 2018 when it was the Dell Technologies Championship. Other winners on this course include, Adam Scott, 2003, Eldrick Woods, 2006, FIGJAM Mickelson, 2007, Webb Simpson, 2011, Rory, 2012 and 2016, Fowler, 2015, and Justin Thomas in 2017, the year he won the Fed Ex Cup.

Past Fed Ex Cup Champions are, 2007, Eldrick, 2008, Vijay Singh, 2009, Eldrick again, 2010, Jim Furyk, 2011, Bill Haas, what’s happened to him? A little older now, 2012, Brandt Snedeker, 2013, Henrik, 2014, Billy Horschel, 2015, Spieth, 2016, Rory, 2017, Justin, 2018, Justin Rose, 2019, Rory.

The present top 10 in the Fed Ex Rankings are, No.1 Justin, 2,458 points, No.2 PGA Champion Collin Morikawa, 1,902, No.3 Webb Simpson, 1,878, No.4 DeChambeauroids, 1,657, No.5 Sungjae Im, 1,561, No.6 Patrick Reed, 1,353, No.7 Daniel “Whata” Berger, 1,347, No.8 Rory, 1,327, No.9 Brendon Todd, 1,316, No.10 Jon Rahm, 1,215.

There will be 500 points awarded to the winner of this week’s Northern Trust and 500 points awarded to the winner at next week’s BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, in Olympia Fields, Illinois, about 30 miles west of Chicago. The Tour Championship is in 2 weeks, Sept 4th-7th, with the top 30 in the Fed Ex Standings playing for the ultimate $15 million prize bonus money to the winner of the Fed Ex Cup. That’s quite a payday. The winner this week earns $1,665,000 and earns the same next week with a victory at the BMW. The top 125 play this week and will be cut down to the top 70 after this weekend. Out of those 70, the top 30 that survive the BMW move onto the Tour Championship at East Lake GC in Atlanta.

Justin Thomas will have JIm “Bones” McKay on his bag once again. McKay took regular caddie Jim Johnson’s place as Johnson is dealing with high blood pressure. Johnson is expected to be on Thomas’s bag at the U.S. Open Sept. 17-20. Thomas won with McKay 3 weeks ago at the WGC Fed Ex St. Jude Invitational, so good chemistry there, though Thomas faltered at the PGA Championship, finishing -1 and tied for 37th. Morikawa won at -13. Thomas got a practice round in with Eldrick on Monday at Winged Foot in New York home of the 120th U.S. Open, September 17th-20th. Golf Channel and NBC will televise. Thomas said he usually hangs up the clubs after the Tour Championship, but that’s not happening this year with the U.S. 2 weeks after the Tour Championship. There are several players who are on the brink of not making the top 70 which would qualify them for next week and that’s significant because if they don’t make the top 70 after this week, they will not be able to play the next 2 weeks and will miss important U.S. Open playing preparation along with the fact that they’ll be out of the Fed Ex Cup. Bubba Watson is 66, Mickelson is 67, Rickie Fowler is 88, Spieth is 100 and Justin Rose is 109.

Brooks Koepka, who is ranked 97, dropped out this week because of his lingering knee injury issue. He will not play until the Open which he won back to back in 2017 and 2018. But that’s definitely concerning for his chances to compete well at Winged Foot and have a shot. Don’t see that happening.

Winged Foot will play 7,477 yards and is a Par 70.

Player of the year will be decided after the Tour Championship since the 2020-21 season starts the next week at the Safeway Open Sept. 10th-13th. Candidates are JT with 3 victories, the CJ Cup in South Korea in October of 2019, the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii in January, and the WGC Fed Ex St. Jude 3 weeks ago. Collin Morikawa has 2 victories, the Workday Charity Classic at Muirfield Village GC in Dublin, Ohio in July, and of course, the only major that counts this season, the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in SF 2 weeks ago. Webb Simpson has 2 victories, the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head in June, and the Waste Management Open in Phoenix back in January early February, Super Bowl Sunday weekend. The Kansas City Chiefs remember it well, while the 49ers want to forget about that Sunday. Brendon Todd also has 2 victories, the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico in November of 2019, and the Bermuda Championship in late Oct, early Nov of last year. So those are the leaders in the clubhouse. Guys like Jon Rahm, DeChambeau, performance enhancers locked and loaded this week, and Sungjae Im, could get in there as well.

TPC Boston

7,342 yards, Par 71. There are 3 Par 5’s on the course, No.2, 542 yards, No.7, 600 yards, and the well known 18th, 530 yards. There are 4, Par 3’s and 11 Par 4’s. The rough will be 3 1/2 inches thick and the Bentgrass greens will be stimping at 12 1/2.

Key Holes

No. 4, 298 yards, Par 4

A drivable Par 4. The bombers will go for it. The others will lay up leaving a full pitch shot to the green. A drive placed to the widest part of the fairway sets up a challenging pitch over a bunker that guards the left side of the green.

No. 11, 231, par 3

The toughest Par 3 on the course, there is a massive bunker guarding the front right of the green. The left side is contoured to allow shots to the left to funnel down to the green. Par is a good score.

No.14, 516 yards, Par 4

The toughest hole on the course. There are mounds on the left off the tee that if you hit into them you’ve got 200 to the green. There are 2 bunkers on the front of the green and the green is small. Par is a victory on this hole.

No.18, 530 yards, Par 5

Should be drama filled on Sunday. Players can choose to carry the 2 fairway bunkers in the middle of the fairway to leave themselves a chance to reach the green with a fairway wood. Only the longest hitters can carry the right fairway bunker at 320 yards. Roid it up DeChambeau. Carrying that 320 bunker will give the player a mid iron to the green. Players laying up will need to avoid a pot bunker in the center of the fairway. The approach is over high fescue grass that will swallow up a mishit. The green is narrow shaped and can be hard to hold. There will be plenty of birdies and some heartbreak on the 72nd hole on Sunday.

Key groups Thursday, with Fed Ex Ranking.

7:26 AM CT-Justin Thomas, Morikawa, Webb Simpson (Nos.1-3 respectively, Fed Ex)

Thomas earned the Wyndham Rewards $2 million bonus last week for finishing 1st in rankings after that tourney though he didn’t play. Morikawa became the 4th player at age 23 in the last 57 years to win the PGA Championship joining Rory (2012), Eldrick (1999) and Jack Nicklaus (1963). Simpson is making his 12th appearance at The Northern Trust, where he owns 3 Top 10’s.

7:37 AM CT-Eldick, Dylan Fritelli, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Nos. 49-51)

11:55 AM CT- Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Lanto Griffin (Nos. 10-12)

12:06 PM CT-DeChambeau, Sungjae Im, Patrick Reed (Nos.. 4-6). There’s a lot of sand at TPC Boston, so the cheatin radar will be aimed at Reed.

Last week’s winner at the Wyndham Championship- Jim Herman? Are you kiddin me? Shot -21. Only missed 2 fairways all weekend and 7 greens all week. Led the tournament in Greens in Reg. Sank a 57 foot eagle putt on Sunday on the par 5, 5th that broke 8 feet right to left. Knocked it 4 feet on 17 for a kick in birdie to take the lead. On 18, knocked his approach 8 feet, but missed the putt, and had to survive Billy Horschel’s 8 foot putt for birdie that would have sent them into a playoff. Doc Redmond, playing with Horschel, missed from 10 feet for birdie on 18.

The 42 year old Cincinnati native had posted 1 top 25 in 19 starts this year and missed 11 cuts going into last week. He has now won 3 times on the PGA Tour with victories at the 2016 Shell Houston Open, the 2019 Barbasol Championship, ironically his only top 25 this year until last week, and last week’s Wyndham. He moved from 192 to 54 in the Fed Ex Rankings. That came out of nowhere.

Weather

Thursday, perfect, Sunny, 79, Wind WNW 6.

Friday, 88, Sunny, wind WSW 13

Saturday, 88, Partly Sunny, Wind SW 9

Sunday, 82, 50% chance of scattered showers and t storms, wind SW 10 MPH.

The wind on Friday and Sunday will make 18 even more interesting. It’ll be at their back and coming across from the west, so the approaches on the 72nd hold will be riveting to watch on Sunday.

TV

Thursday-Friday-2-6 PM CT, Golf Channel.

Saturday, 12-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-5 PM CT, CBS

Sunday, 11:30 AM-1:30 PM CT, Golf Channel, 1:30-5:30 PM CT, CBS.

Winner

I’m going to take the 35 year old from Raleigh, North Carolina by way of Wake Forest. He was my pick at the PGA Championship, and while that wasn’t his best effort, he’s been consistent this year. He won here in 2011, and he finished tied for third last week at the Wyndham shooting 66, 66, 65, 65 for -18, 3 shots off Herman’s winning score. Give me,

Webb Simpson

Sleeper

Harold Varner III

Finished tied 7th last week shooting 62, 69, 67, 65. 73rd in the standings, but has played well this year.

The NBA Championship will be decided in the next month and a half in Orlando, the bubble setup that has been spectacularly successful for the league in preventing COVID case. The playoffs commence today with 4 games on tap along with 4 tomorrow. Sixteen teams will compete for the coveted Lawrence O’Brien Trophy, 8 in the Eastern Conference, and 8 in the Western Conference. The NBA Finals are set to begin September 30th, with the 7th game, if necessary, on October 13th.

Can the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, 29.5 points per game, 13.6 rebounds per game, win his first championship or will the L.A. Lakers’ LeBron James, 25.3 ppg, 7.8 rbg, 10.2 assists per game, capture his 4th with his ultra talented teammate Anthony Davis, 26.1 ppg, 9.3 rbg.. Then you’ve got the L.A. Clippers’ great Kawhi Leonard, 27.1 ppg, 7.1 rbg., 4.9 apg, who has his sights set on a 2nd straight NBA Championship and 3rd overall playing alongside the great marksman Paul George, 21.5 ppg, 41% from trifecta. Can teams like Toronto, which finished 2nd in the East and is playing well enough right now since the return to win it all, go back to back as NBA Champions. And there is talk that No.8 seeded Portland can knock off the Lakers in the first round.

ESPN, TNT and ABC will telecast the playoffs. ABC will televise all NBA Finals games.

Games today start at 12:30 PM CT. ***All games today will be on ESPN***.

Today at 12:30 PM CT, West No.3 seed Denver faces No.6 seed Utah.

At 3 PM CT, East No.2 seed Toronto will play No.7 Brooklyn Nets.

At 5:30 PM CT today, East No.3 seed Boston faces No.6 Philadelphia.

And tonight at 8 in the West, the No.2 seeded L.A. Clippers square off with No.7 Dallas.

***Tuesday, all games will be on TNT.***

At 12:30 PM CT in the East, No.1 Milwaukee will face No.8 Orlando .

At 3 PM CT in the East, No.4 Indiana will face the No.5 Miami Heat at 3 PM CT.

At 5:30 PM CT, in the West No.4 Houston, which will be without Russell Westbrook for at least this game, will square off with No.5 Oklahoma City.

And the nightcap at 8 CT will pit the No.1 Lakers versus No.8 Portland.

Here are playoff predictions

Eastern Conference

Semifinals

Milwaukee Bucks over Miami Heat in 7

The Heat are excellent. They’ll give Giannis and the Bucks everything they want.

The Celtics over Toronto Raptors in 7

Boston slightly upsets the defending NBA champions.

Eastern Conference Finals

Celtics over Bucks in 7

I like the Celtics to get over the hump and make their first finals appearance since they won it in 2008 with present LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers, and Kevin Garnett, Paul “The Truth” Pierce and savant shooter Ray Allen.

Western Conference

Semifinals

Oklahoma City Thunder over L.A. Lakers in 7

Billy Donovan, the best coach in the NBA along with Brad Stevens of the Celtics, Greg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, who doesn’t have enough talent right now, and Doc Rivers of the L.A. Clippers, gets his team over the hump against the Lakers in a major upset. Donovan going to lead his team to an NBA Championship in the next couple of years.

L.A. Clippers over Denver Nuggets in 6

Kawhi and George are just too much for a highly talented Denver team that just doesn’t have enough to overcome the 2 superstars.

Western Conference Finals

Clippers over Thunder in 6

Billy Donovan is going to get the Thunder playing for a championship in the next couple of years with some more good drafts, but Kawhi, George and company are too much in this series.

NBA Champion

It’s tough to go against Kawhi, who’s gunning for back to back championships and his 3rd in his decorated career, and Paul George, a superior basketball player. The Clippers are loaded.

However, I’m going to take Jayson Tatum, 23.4 ppg, 7.0 rbg, the great point guard Kemba Walker, 20.4 ppg, 4.8 assists per game, Jaylen Brown, 20.3 ppg, 6.4 rbg, Gordon Hayward , 7.5 ppg, 6.7 rbg, and defensive stopper Marcus Smart, 12.9 ppg.

The Celtics have the second best scoring defense in the league giving up 107.3 points per game. The Toronto Raptors are 1st at 106.5. The Celts talented offensive arsenal possesses a little more overall firepower than the Clippers.

The Clippers are allowing 109.9 ppg, which is 13th in the league. Defense still wins championships, along with low turnovers, rebounding and clutch shooting. The Celtics will defend, they will take care of the ball, they can board with the Clippers, and their marksmanship is a little better overall because there are more options. Give me, in a fantastic series, an upset.

The Celtics in 7 over the Clippers

Finals MVP

Kemba Walker

After a terrific 102nd PGA Championship last week in which Collin Morikawa played stellar golf to capture the Wanamaker Trophy at -13, the PGA Tour heads to Greensboro, North Carolina for the final stop in the regular season at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club which has hosted the tournament since 2008. Sedgefield is 7,127 yards, and a Par 70.

The defending champion is J.T. Poston who shot a bogey free 72 hole score of -22 in 2019.

Another interesting factor in this tournament, which has a pretty solid field, more on that in a moment, is the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 will be finalized. Justin Thomas has already clinched first place with his first place rankings in the FedEx Cup standings that he secured last week at the PGA, though he didn’t play that well. He receives a $2 mIllion bonus for his first place finish, and he’ll be leading the Fed Ex Standings heading into the first leg of the Fed Ex Playoffs next week at The Northern Trust at TPC Boston. The following week, August 27-30th, the BMW Championship will take place at Olympia Fields in Olympia Fields, Illinois. And the final leg of the Fed Ex Playoffs will take place at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, September 4th-7th, for the Tour Championship. September 7th is a Monday, which is Labor Day, thus the Friday start at the TC and Monday finishe.

The winner of the Fed Ex Cup gets a $15 million dollar bonus. The Northern Trust will feature the Top 125 in the Fed Ex Standings, the BMW will host the top 70, and the Tour Championship will host the top 30. It’s a major deal for players who can be set for a lifetime if they win or even get in the top 10.

The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is a major deal as well. The second place finisher will receive $1.5 million and the top 5 all get at least $1 million. !0th place finisher gets $500,000. This and the Fed Ex Cup playoffs are very good preparation for the U.S. Open, to be played September 17th-20th at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Historic Winged Foot will present a major test as it’s a difficult course. Will be good to see the players be challenged at the Open.

The top 10 in the Fed Ex Standings are, 1. Thomas, 2,458 points, 2. Collin Morikawa, 1,902, Morikawa is not playing this week, 3. Webb Simpson, 1,744, playing, won at Sedgefield in 2011, and runner up in 2018 and 2019, 4. DeChambeauroids, 1,657, not playing this week, lifting, eating 6,000 calories a day and ‘Roiding, 5.Sungjae Im, 1,561 points, playing, 6. Patrick Reed, 1,353, playing and 2013 champion, 7. Daniel Berger, 1,347 points, not playing, 8. Rory, 1,327 points, not playing, 9. Brendon Todd, 1,316 points, playing as always, 10. Jon Rahm, 1,295 points, No.1 in the world, not playing.

Key holes at Sedgefield CC, descriptions courtesy of PGATour.com

No.6, 423 yards, Par 4, No.1 Handicap hole

The most challenging hole on the course requires a tee shot left of center near the creek. The difficult approach is to an uphill sloping green .

No.14, 505 yards, Par 4, No.2 Handicap hole

Wide fairway on the long par 4. Two bunkers in the center create a difficult, deceptive approach shot. A pot bunker challenges the approach from the right side.

No.16, 175 yards, Par 3

A great, short par 3 plays downhill over a hazard to a raised green with bunkers on the front right and front left.

No.18, 507 yards, Par 4

Length has been added to this hole to make it a solid par 4. The long uphill approach from a downhill lie will require accuracy to avoid the 4 bunkers protecting the approach and sides of the green.

Key groups tomorrow with Fed Ex ranks. They’ll play together Friday as well

6:50 AM CT, No. 10 tee, Brooks Koepka (92), Jordan Spieth (94), Justin Rose (103). These guys are in uncustomary positions in the Fed Ex Rankings. Koepka is making his first start at the Wyndham since 2015 where he tied for 6th. He’s coming off a disappointing final round 74 at the PGA Championship last Sunday to fall to a tie for 29th. Spieth lost to Patrick Reed in a playoff at the Wyndham in 2013, but it doesn’t look promising with the way he’s playing and his attitude. Rose finished 9th at PGA last week. First time at the Wyndham since 2009.

6:40 AM CT, Webb Simpson (3), Sungjae Im (5), Brendon Todd (9). Simpson has 7 top 10’s in 11 starts in Greensboro along with his victory in 2011 and his runner up finishes the last 2 years. Im finished in a tie for 6th last year in his first year at the Wyndham. Todd is one of 4 players with multiple victories on the season. He won the Bermuda Championship and the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

11:55 AM CT, J.T. Poston (58), Brandt Snedeker (96), Sergio Garcia (134), Poston is defending champion, Snedeker won the event in 2008 and 2018, and Garcia needs to do well to make it to the Fed Ex Playoffs after missing them last year.

12:05 PM CT, Patrick Reed (6), Paul Casey (54), Shane Lowry (131), Always have to keep an eye on Reed for more reasons than one. His sometimes sand excavating certainly has to be watched, Casey played excellent golf last week at the PGA finishing solo 2nd shooting 68, 67, 68, 66, finishing at -11, only to lose out to a 64 by Morikawa on Sunday at TPC Harding Park in SF. Lowry could miss out on the playoffs without a good showing. For guys like Lowry and Garcia, if they miss out on the playoffs, they won’t be able to play for 3 straight weeks and the U.S. Open is 2 weeks after the Tour Championship, so they really need to do well this week.

Some other key players in the field: Harris English, Kevin Kisner, and Si Woo Kim. Kisner shot a 67 last Sunday to finish tied for 19th at the PGA. He’s from South Carolina. Kim finished 5th here last year and English has 5 top 10’s among 11 top 20’s this season. He is 6 for 6 in making the cut with a pair of top 15’s at the Wyndham.

Weather:

Rain all weekend, Thursday, 80%, winds 4 MPH, Friday, 80%, winds 5, Saturday, 90%, winds 8, Sunday, 70%, winds, 8.

Hopefully they can get it all in.

TV: Thursday-Friday, 1-5 PM CT, Golf Channel

Saturday, 12-2 PM CT, GC, 2-5 PM CT, CBS

Sunday, 11:30 AM-1:30 PM CT, GC, 1:30-5 PM CT, CBS.

Winner

I was thinking Paul Casey at the beginning of the day, but he seems too satisfied with finishing in 2nd place, so I’m going to go another direction. Give me the 36 year old from Aiken, South Carolina. He shot 67 last Sunday at the PGA to finish tied for 19th. He knows this course well as he’s from around the area. He’s the 2019 Dell Technologies Match Play Championship champion where he defeated Matt Kuchar 3 and 2 at Austin Country Club in Austin, TX. He’s also won 2 other times on tour, the Dean and DeLuca Invitational in 2017 in Fort Worth, and the 2015 RSM Classic in Sea Island. And he is always in the hunt. I’ll take,

Kevin Kisner

Sleeper

Give me the 24 year old from Vanderbilt University, who is a Davidson, North Carolina native..

Will Gordon