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Archives for April 2, 2026

Mickelson to Miss Masters

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AUGUSTA – (Wire Service Report) – Phil Mickelson announced Thursday on social media that he will not compete in the upcoming Masters.

“Unfortunately I will not play in the Masters Tournament next week and will be out for an extended period of time as my family continues to navigate a personal health matter,” Mickelson wrote on Instagram. “I have great respect for Augusta National Golf Club and it is definitely the most special week of the year. I wish everyone the best of luck and will be watching.”

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Mickelson, 55, joins Tiger Woods as high-profile golfers who will miss this year’s tournament at Augusta National. Woods announced Tuesday that he would be “stepping away” while he seeks treatment following a rollover crash last week in Florida that resulted in a DUI charge.

A three-time Masters champion (2004, 2006, 2010), Mickelson made his first appearance in the event back in 1991. This will mark just the fourth time that the six-time major champion will not be in attendance for the event at Augusta National.

Mickelson missed the first four events of the LIV Golf season in 2026 while tending to a family health matter. He returned for LIV South Africa, finishing 7-under-par to end up T48 in a 54-man field.

Ten LIV golfers will compete in the Masters on April 9-12: Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Tom McKibbin, Carlos Ortiz, Jon Rahm, Charl Schwartzel, Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Begin Four Game Trip

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SUNRISE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Last season, the Boston Bruins missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015-2016. They also traded away long-time star Brad Marchand to Florida and watched him win a Stanley Cup title with the Panthers.

That was rough.

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This season, however, the Bruins (43-24-8, 94 points) are currently the top wild-card team in the Eastern Conference, and they are closing in on a return to the playoffs.

On Thursday night, the Bruins will visit — ironically — the Panthers in South Florida and it’s amazing how the proverbial tables have turned.

The Panthers, the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions, are 36-35-3 (75 points), which puts them in next-to-last place in the East. In fact, they are on the verge of being officially eliminated from playoff contention, possibly this week.

Marchand, meanwhile, hasn’t played since March 6 due to a lower-body injury, and his Panthers have lost six of their past nine games.

Even so, the Panthers won’t go down without a fight, and they proved that on Tuesday with a 6-3 home win over Ottawa. The Panthers led that game,  5-0, after the first period.

“We got a couple of goals, and, all of a sudden, we had juice and energy,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We haven’t had a lot of fun nights in the past month so this ignited our bench. We’re playing for that good feeling.”

But the problem for the Panthers all season has been injuries, and that issue came up again on Tuesday as defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Dmitry Kulikov went down. Ekblad took a puck to the hand, and Kulikov was hit by a puck in the face.

Counting those two, there are now a dozen players on Florida’s injured list as compared to just one for Boston.

Maurice, with gallows humor, joked that there was “a line at the X-ray machine” in order to check for broken bones.

Ironically, Ekblad on Thursday would’ve broken Aleksander Barkov’s record for most games played in a Panthers uniform with 805. But Maurice admitted on Tuesday when asked about Ekblad’s injury, “I don’t think it looks great.”

As for the Bruins, they won their fourth straight game on Tuesday, defeating visiting Dallas 6-3.

Boston’s Viktor Arvidsson recorded his fifth NHL hat trick and his first since March 4, 2022.

“It was three easy ones,” Arvidsson said. “One was two inches from the goal, and the other two were empty-netters.”

David Pastrnak leads Boston in assists (66) and points (95). His previous career high for assists was 63, and he is closing in on what would be his fourth straight 100-point season.

Morgan Geekie leads Boston with 34 goals and ranks second in points (63). And Pavel Zacha ranks third on the Bruins with a career-high 60 points.

“We put a lot of emphasis on being hard on each other and pushing each other,” said Arvidsson, who is fifth on the Bruins with 50 points. “We’re happy where we are, but we have a job to finish to get ready for the playoffs.”

One issue for Boston is its 15-14-7 road record. The Panthers are 20-15-3 at home.

The trip to Sunrise marks the start of a four-game Bruins road trip.

“We have to get the job done,” Arvidsson said. “We have to improve our game on the road.”

–Field Level Media

High Scoring Celtics Win at Miami

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MIAMI – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s high-scoring forward tandem of Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum ran up the score as Brown tossed in a game-high 43 points and Tatum had an impressive triple-double of 25 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists as the visiting Celtics beat the Miami Heat 147-129 on Wednesday night.

It marked the seventh time Brown has scored at least 40 points this season. Sam Hauser made 5 of 7 3-point attempts and added 23 points for Boston (51-25), which made 21 of 44 3-point attempts (47.7%) and shot 58.3% from the floor.

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Bam Adebayo led Miami (40-37) with 29 points and 10 rebounds. The Heat, who shot 46.3% from the floor and 51.1% from 3-point range, received 21 points from Davion Mitchell, who made 5-of-10 shots from beyond the arc.

Miami has lost eight of its last 10 and given up at least 121 points in each of the eight losses.

Norman Powell, Miami’s leading scorer (22.1 ppg), missed his third straight  game with an upper respiratory illness.

The game remained tight in the first until Boston used a 13-0 run to take a 42-30 lead with 2:10 left in the quarter. The Celtics shot 20 of 28 from the field (71.4%) in the first 12 minutes and led 53-33 entering the second.

Hauser made each of his five 3-point attempts in the opening quarter, when Boston shot 11 of 15 from 3-point territory. Boston’s 53 points set a franchise record for most points scored in a first quarter.

The Celtics, who have won eight of their last 10, extended their lead to 25 in the second and had an 80-57 halftime lead. Brown led all scorers in the first half with 24 points. Tatum had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

An 8-0 Miami run cut Boston’s lead to 95-77 with 6:56 remaining in the third, but Boston eclipsed the 100-point mark when a Brown jumper put the Celtics up 101-77 with 4:55 left in the quarter. The Heat scored the final 12 points in the third, which left Boston with a 112-102 advantage entering the fourth.

Miami cut its deficit to 114-105 early in the fourth, but Boston scored the next seven points to take a 16-point lead.

–Field Level Media

Bad Streakers to Return Home

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HOUSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Astros’ legend Carlos Correa’s two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning changed the game, helping Houston complete a three-game sweep against the visiting Boston Red Sox with a 6-4 win on Wednesday afternoon. Correa and Christian Vazquez both went deep, Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, and Mike Burrows (1-1) pitched five innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts for Houston, which has won five straight since an 0-2 start.

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Correa’s long ball off Boston ace Garrett Crochet (1-1) broke a 2-2 tie.

Wilyer Abreu (2-for-4) and Roman Anthony homered in the eighth and ninth, respectively, as the Red Sox attempted to stage a late comeback, but a 1-for-7 showing with runners in scoring position and seven men left on base did them in. Connor Wong also had two hits.

Crochet struck out seven but allowed five runs (four earned) through five innings.

Jarren Duran’s move into the leadoff spot paid instant dividends for Boston in the first, as he lined a single to left field before scoring the opening run on a Willson Contreras single up the middle.

Houston responded with a two-run first, scoring in its first at-bats for the third time in as many games in the series. After Crochet struck out Jose Altuve to lead off the game, Alvarez and Isaac Paredes knocked back-to-back doubles to plate the tying run. Correa then reached on an error, and Christian Walker lined a go-ahead single to left.

Three straight baserunners to begin the second helped the Red Sox draw back even. Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s fielder’s choice and a Wong double to left created an RBI opportunity for Duran, whose grounder to short plated the run.

After Boston made it a 2-2 game, the starting pitchers posted dueling zeroes over several frames, with Burrows striking out the side in the third and Crochet doing the same in the fourth.

Crochet retired six straight Astros before Altuve singled and Alvarez was hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Correa — who previously grounded into a 5-4-3 double play — to send a low pitch into the left field Crawford Boxes for his first round-tripper.

In the seventh, Vazquez greeted Boston reliever Danny Coulombe with a leadoff solo shot to center field, extending the Houston lead to 6-2.

Vazquez’s swing proved to be key insurance as Boston staged a comeback with solo shots in back-to-back innings. The hosts had an opportunity for even more as Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock labored through a 37-pitch eighth inning, but a bases-loaded strikeout ended the threat without any damage.

After Anthony’s pinch-hit homer in the ninth, Bryan Abreu struck out the side to record his first save.

–Field Level Media