Sports

Woods, McIlroy break ground on high-tech golf league site

Published

1 month ago

February 21, 2023

Harry Miller

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy put the silver-plated shovels into a pile of dirt and left sizable divots.

With that, their high-tech golf league got a bit closer to launch.

The ceremonial groundbreaking for the arena that will house the league that’s being called TGL was held Tuesday at Palm Beach State College, with Woods and McIlroy — two of the co-founders of TMRW Sports — there for the first step of actual construction.

TMRW — pronounced “tomorrow” — says TGL play will begin early next year, and the league will be in partnership with the PGA Tour. Woods and McIlroy, so far, have 11 players committed to the league. Besides them, the league will include world No. 1 Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele.

That list includes six players currently ranked 10th or better in the world, plus the game’s biggest draw in Woods.

“In terms of fan experience, it’s going to be nothing like golf has offered before,” McIlroy said.

The concept is this: six teams of three PGA Tour players, squaring off in match play on a data-driven virtual course that also includes a short-game complex for chipping and putting.

It’ll be played on Monday nights, and will take only two hours, with in-arena fans all very close to the action. There will be 15 matches in the regular season, followed by semifinals and a final.

“We’re going to have excitement, we’re going to have something different, something that is is passionate,” Woods said. “We’ve been involved in teams before whether it’s Ryder Cup, President’s Cup, Irish national teams, for me high school, college, whatever it is. You’re going to get home and away, you’re going to get some people that you want to win and not win. We’re going to have that type of excitement.”

And you can bet on it. Literally, Woods pointed out.

“Wagering is part of our sport, part of our culture,” Woods said, then turned and looked at McIlroy. “We don’t know how to play golf without it.”

Access is part of the allure of the concept, along with the technology. Only a handful of fans at typical golf events can get close to the action, and they’re often running from hole to hole to stay with a certain group.

TGL players will be mic’d-up, and fans won’t have to guess what their thought processes are on certain shots.

“It’s going to give the viewer at home and also the people in the arena just more of an in-depth of sort of how we do things and how we sort of think through things in our head,” McIlroy said. “It’s just a more in-depth look into that.”

Mike McCarley, another co-founder and former Golf Channel president, said the arena will be built on a 10-acre (435,600-square feet) parcel of unused land. The partnership includes educational and recreational initiatives that will benefit Palm Beach State students, along with offering paid internships and other opportunities for students in technology, hospitality and administrative services.

“Think about how cool this will be for this land, this campus, to become a launching pad for future leaders in sports and media and technology as they learn here as part of TGL,” McCarley said. “We are breaking ground on much more than a dream, much more than a prime-time golf league.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Washington Wizards vs. Toronto Raptors Live Score and Stats – March 26, 2023 Gametracker – CBS Sports

Published

33 mins ago

March 27, 2023

Harry Miller

TORONTO (AP) O.G. Anunoby scored 29 points, Fred VanVleet had 28 and the Toronto Raptors never trailed in a 114-104 win over Washington Wizards on Sunday.

Pascal Siakam had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Jakob Poeltl had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Anunoby had 11 made baskets, two shy of his career-high. All four of his 3-pointers came in the first quarter.

“O.G. obviously had it going tonight,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.

Ninth-place Toronto clinched the three-game season series with the Wizards and maintained a three-game lead over 11th-place Washington in the Eastern Conference standings. Both teams have seven games remaining.

Toronto and Atlanta have identical 37-38 records, but the Hawks won two of three against the Raptors this season to clinch the tiebreaker.

Scottie Barnes scored 13 points in his return to the starting lineup after missing two games because of a sore left wrist as the Raptors won for the ninth time in 10 home games.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 26 points and Corey Kispert had 19 for the Wizards, who have lost eight of 10.

Washington made 18 turnovers, leading to 25 points for Toronto, and was outscored 27-11 in second-chance points.

“Our ball security wasn’t where it should be,” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “Obviously they thrive in that area. We allowed their strengths to beat us.”

Deni Avdija and Johnny Davis each scored 15 points for Washington and Daniel Gafford had 10.

The short-handed Wizards played without guard Bradley Beal (left knee) for the third straight game, while forward Kyle Kuzma (right ankle) sat for the fourth straight game. Washington was also without guard Monte Morris (left groin).

“Right now, those guys are a level higher,” Porzingis said of Toronto. “ Us without our main guys, it’s a difficult task.”

Anunoby almost single-handedly outscored the Wizards with a career-high 18 points in the first quarter as Toronto led 37-21 after one. Anunoby shot 7 for 10 in the first, making 4 of 6 from long range.

“He got hot,” Porzingis said. “He was hitting 3’s, he was hitting some post-up shots. He was hitting everything else.”

Held scoreless in the opening quarter, Siakam scored 11 points in the second to give the Raptors a 63-46 halftime lead.

Porzingis scored 12 points in the third as Washington outscored Toronto 38-24. The Wizards closed to within a point, 80-79, on a 3 by Davis with 2:16 left in the quarter, but were unable to take the lead. Toronto took an 87-84 lead to the fourth.

Anunoby scored five points as the Raptors opened the fourth with a 13-3 run to restore their double-digit lead.

TIP-INS

Wizards: Shot 1 for 8 from 3-point range in the first quarter, but went 15 for 28 over the final three quarters. Washington shot 8 for 12 from long range in the third. … Former Raptor Delon Wright shot 2 for 9 and scored five points. Wright had eight assists and seven rebounds. … Lost their fourth straight road game. … Avdija had nine rebounds and seven assists.

Raptors: F Precious Achiuwa also returned after missing two games because of a sore right hamstring. … G Gary Trent Jr. (right elbow) sat for the third straight game. … G Will Barton left in the first quarter because of a sprained left ankle and did not return.

SPIN TO WIN

Barnes forced a steal and finished with a 360-degree dunk for his first basket of the game.

“I thought it was great,” Anunoby said.

MAGIC TOUCH

Toronto has won or tied the past 12 season series with Washington. The Raptors lost three of four to the Wizards in 2007-08.

WIRE-TO-WIRE WINS

The Raptors won without trailing for the fifth time. They also did it Dec. 7 against the Lakers, Jan. 12 against Charlotte, Jan. 28 at Portland, and March 14 against Denver.

UP NEXT

Wizards: Host Boston on Tuesday.

Raptors: Host Miami on Tuesday. —

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

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Maple Leafs @ Predators 3/26 | NHL Highlights 2023 – NHL

Published

2 hours ago

March 27, 2023

Harry Miller

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Switzerland win LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023

Published

13 hours ago

March 26, 2023

Harry Miller

Defending champions Switzerland beat Norway by 6-3 in Sunday afternoon’s gold medal final at the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023.

This was a fourth successive world title for skip Silvana Tirinzoni, fourth player Alina Paetz and second Carole Howald. For Paetz and Howald it is a sixth world women’s championship title.

After blanking the first end, Switzerland’s fourth player Alina Paetz opened the scoring with a single point in the second end when she played a raise take-out.

The Swiss still led by 1-0 in the fourth end when Norway’s fourth player Kristin Skaslien had a complete miss on an attempt to blank the end and gave up a steal of one point to double Switzerland’s lead to 2-0.

In the fifth end, Skaslien made amends with a draw to put two points on the board for Norway, that levelled the score at 2-2.

After another blank end in the sixth, Switzerland took the lead again in the seventh end when Paetz brought her last stone draw inside three Norwegian stones to score one (3-2).

Norway levelled again at 3-3, in the eighth end when Skaslien played a hit to promote one of her own stones into scoring position.

In the ninth end, Switzerland’s Paetz played her final draw precisely onto the button and inside three Norwegian stones, to score one and nudge her team into a 4-3 lead.

In the tenth end, Norway’s Skaslien had a draw to tie the game and force an extra end, but her shot came up short to hand Switzerland a steal of two points and a 6-3 win.

Swiss celebration after the final © WCF / Jeffrey Au

The gold medal winning Swiss team are: skip and third player Silvana Tirinzoni, fourth Alina Paetz, second Carole Howald and lead Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann, supported by their coach Pierre Charette.

The silver medal winning Norwegian team are: skip Marianne Roervik, fourth Kristin Skaslien, second Mille Haslev Nordbye, lead Martine Roenning and alternate Maia Ramsfjell, supported by their coach Rune Steen Hansen.

Gold medal game result

Norway-Switzerland: 3-6

Engage with the World Curling Federation about the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Weibo and be searching the hashtags #WWCC2023 #curling