Glory, Goals & Gridiron

August 14, 2023

By: Carlos Alvarez

Welcome Back

Thought Lucas Glover’s victory last weekend was a fluke? The 43-year-old just sent a shockwave through the FedExCup Playoffs. Down under, it’s Australia vs. Europe as the World Cup trims the field to four. We saw our first look at NFL preseason and Premier League action, and it’s another MLB team’s turn for the win-streak spotlight. Relive the sports weekend in just a few minutes…

Letter Rip!

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GOLF

Back-to-Back: Glover\’s Glory

\"\"/ — *Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images*

Lucas Glover (-15) Beats Out Patrick Canltay (-15) in Playoff Hole to Win St. Jude, 2nd Straight Victory After Long Drought

Back-to-back! For the second straight weekend, Lucas Glover is a winner on the PGA Tour. Glover won the Wyndham Championship to end the PGA Tour’s regular season of events last weekend before outlasting the field Sunday at the St. Jude Championship — the opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs. The 43-year-old has suddenly surged up the standings to No. 4 in the past two weeks, and he hadn\’t won a tournament all season before August arrived. Glover (-15) held off a surging Rory McIlroy (-14) and Tommy Fleetwood (-14) and needed a playoff against Patrick Cantlay (-15) to get the job done. Cantlay sent his tee shot in the water on the first playoff hole, and Glover saved par for the win.

“If you had told me this three months ago, I’d have told you you’re crazy.” — Lucas Glover

Glover’s Revival: Prior to last weekend, Glover had four total PGA Tour victories and just one in the last dozen years. He captured his fifth and sixth wins in less than two weeks, and they came at just the right time.

Final Leaderboard

L. Glover (-15)

P. Cantlay (-15)

T. Fleetwood (-14)

R. McIlroy (-14)

T. Moore (-12)

J. Spieth (-11)

S. Im (-11)

C. Conners (-11)

M. Homa (-11)

Other Notable Scorecards: C. Morikawa (-10), V. Hovland (-10), H. Matsuyama (-9), J. Rose (-8), X. Schauffele (-7), S. Scheffler (-6), J. Rahm (-5) | Full Leaderboard

Watch: Lucas Glover Wins 2023 St. Jude Championship

FedExCup Impact

As a result, Glover shot up from 49th to 4th in the FedExCup standings. Cantlay (5th) and Tommy Fleetwood (10th) also made massive leaps while Rory McIlroy (3rd) secured a big points boost with a top-five finish. The playoffs are now reduced from the top-70 to the top-50 players with two events to play.

FedExCup Points Standings (Previous Rank)

1. Jon Rahm — 3,386 pts (Prev. Rank: 1st)

2. Scottie Scheffler — 3,238 pts (Prev. Rank: 2nd)

3. Rory McIlroy — 2,954 pts (Prev. Rank: 3rd)

4. Lucas Glover — 2,885 pts (Prev. Rank: 49th)

5. Patrick Cantlay — 2,643 pts (Prev. Rank: 13th)

6. Max Homa — 2,451 pts (Prev. Rank: 4th)

7. Viktor Hovland — 2,024 pts (Prev. Rank: 7th)

8. Wyndham Clark — 1,957 pts (Prev. Rank: 5th)

9. Brian Harman — 1,919 pts (Prev. Rank: 6th)

10. Tommy Fleetwood — 1,834 pts (Prev. Rank: 26th)

Event No. 2 of the FedExCup Playoffs

BMW Championship (Aug. 17-20)

GolfDigest: Lucas Glover is Probably the Only FedExCup Title Contender Doing His Own Laundry

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WORLD CUP

The Final 4: Australia vs. Earth

\"\"/ — *Photo: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images*

Australia Knocks Out France in Penalty Shootout (0-0, 7-6 PKs); England, Sweden & Spain Advance

And then there were four! The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is down to its last four squads after the weekend of quarterfinal thrillers. All four games were decided by one goal or less with three European teams and the hosts moving on. Spain, England and Sweden are the finalists alongside Australia after the Aussies survived a wild penalty shootout against France (0-0, 7-6 PKs). The host nation underdogs have knocked out three of the top-13 teams in competition — Canada (7th), Denmark (13th) and France (5th).

Spain won an extra-time duel with the Netherlands that featured a frenetic finish while England rallied to beat Colombia and Sweden owned Japan, all by a score of 2-1. Australia’s epic run is setting the stage for an exciting finish as we enter the last week of the World Cup from the Outback. Will it be a storybook homeland defense for the Matildas or one of Europe\’s futbol royalty who win the World Cup?

Women’s World Cup Highlights (Quarterfinals)

Australia def. France (0-0, 7-6 PKs)

Spain def. Netherlands (2-1)

Sweden def. Japan (2-1)

England def. Colombia (2-1)

Semifinals Schedule

$\"🇪🇸\"$ Spain vs. $\"🇸🇪\"$ Sweden (Tues. 4:00 am ET)

$\"🇦🇺\"$ Australia vs. $\"🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿\"$ England (Wed. 6:00 am ET)

Reuters: England Relishing Partisan Atmosphere at World Cup Semi-Final

CBS Sports: Ranking 4 Potential Finals With England, Spain, Sweden & Australia Remaining

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NFL

Preseason Week 1 Takeaways

\"\"/ — *Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images*

Rookie QBs Get Reps, Damar Hamlin Returns, Ravens Keep Streak Alive & More From Week 1 of the NFL Preseason

Don’t jump the gun! We have a tendency to do that with NFL preseason overreactions. The rookie class got its first look at live action this weekend, and football analysts finally got their talking points for another week. Anthony Richardson (Colts) isn’t a bust, and neither is Bryce Young (Panthers). But we probably need more than a few series to determine the futures of the NFL’s newest stars.

Meanwhile, Damar Hamlin made his remarkable return to the field for the Bills while Justin Fields and D.J. Moore wasted no time solidifying their new connection in Chicago. And to top it off, the Ravens’ ridiculous preseason win streak (24 games) dating back to 2015 is still in tact. Here’s a short list of the rookie spotlights and biggest moments from Week 1 of the preseason.

Rookie Spotlight

QB Bryce Young (CAR): 4/6, 21 yards

QB Anthony Richardson (IND): 7/12, 67 yards, 1 INT

QB Stetson Bennett (LAR): 17/29, 191 yards, 1 TD

QB Will Levis (TEN): 9/14, 85 yards, 1 INT

RB Jahmyr Gibbs (DET): 7 touches, 37 yards

Preseason News & Highlights

Injury Report

All NFL Preseason Week 1 Scores

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MLB

Dodgers Delight in Dozens

\"\"/ — *Photo: Gina Ferazzi / Getty Images*

Dodgers Win 8th Straight Behind 12 Ks From Julio Urias, L.A. Now 12-1 in August

Well, here they come. We can’t act like the Dodgers ever truly faltered in 2023, but the most loaded roster in baseball is starting to act like it. Los Angeles entered the weekend with a five-game win streak and a 9-1 record in the month of August before hammering the Rockies for three consecutive days. They outscored Colorado 18-5 over three contests this weekend, including an 8-3 win behind a dozen strikeouts from Julio Urias on Sunday. That’s eight straight wins and a 12-1 count this month for the Dodgers, and it appears the west coast juggernauts are switching into postseason push mode. The schedule has been favorable this month, that’s for sure (Rockies, D-Backs, Padres, Athletics), but L.A. has doubled-up their opponents over the last 14 days by a tally of 86-38. The Dodgers (71-46) are just four games separated from the best record in the bigs.

Urias Sits ‘Em Down: The 12 Ks for Julio Urias (7 IP, 12 Ks, 4 Hits, 3 Runs) matched his career-high. He also fanned eight straight batters before leaving after the 7th inning.

Watch: Urias Fans 12 as Dodgers Win 12th Game Through 13 Days of August

MLB Quick-Hitters

Olson vs. Ohtani: Shohei Ohtani (Angels) hit his 41st home run on Sunday after ten days without a blast. Once the outright HR leader, he’s now been caught. Matt Olson (Braves) hasn’t stopped raking since August began. After three more HRs this weekend, Olson (43) holds the outright HR lead.

Fish Fry: The Yankees’ spiral continued on Sunday when New York botched a four-run lead in the 9th inning against the Marlins, and the Fins keep doing things to demoralize teams late in games. Miami tallied a five-run 9th frame that ended with Jake Burger’s walk-off hit. Both clubs are slightly above .500 and still hopeful with six weeks left in the regular season.

Mullins’ Magic Act: Player of the weekend? No doubt. Orioles’ CF Cedric Mullins made two unbelievable plays in Baltimore’s series-clinching win against the Mariners on Sunday, and it was just his third game back from the injured list. Mullins robbed a late home run to keep the O’s alive (not just robbed, but a must-see top play) before hitting the go-ahead 2-run blast in the 10th. O’s win (5-3) to keep control of the AL East.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Soccer

Newcastle Open EPL Campaign With 5-1 Rout of Aston Villa

Dani Olmo’s Hat Tricks Earns RB Leipzig German Supercup

Lionel Messi Strikes Again, Inter Miami Wins Leagues Cup Match (4-0)

WNBA

Breanna Stewart (42), Liberty Win 6th Straight & Clinch Playoffs

A’ja Wilson (40 & 21) Drops 61 in 2 More Wins for League-Best Aces

LPGA

American Lilia Vu Wins 2nd Major at AIG Women’s Open

FIBA World Cup (Exhibitions)