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Archives for June 14, 2026

PGA Tour: Cauley Gets His Win

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TORONTO – (Wire Service Report) – It was a long climb for Bud Cauley, but he finally made it.

Cauley birdied three consecutive holes on the back nine during the final round of the RBC Canadian Open on his way to shooting 5-under-par 65 and winning on the PGA Tour for the first time Sunday in Caledon, Ontario.

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Cauley, 36, had never finished higher than third since turning pro in 2011. The RBC Canadian Open was his 239th PGA Tour event — most of them coming prior a 2018 car accident that broke six of his ribs, fractured his leg and forced a collapsed lung.

“Just how hard that was,” said Cauley, reflecting on his journey. “Just so many people helped me get here and I’m just really thankful for all the help that I’ve gotten.”

Cauley ended up at 17-under 263 for a two-stroke victory over England’s Matt Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick shot 64, finishing his round with a 12-foot eagle putt on No. 18 after a bogey on the previous hole pretty much dashed his hopes of winning the tournament at rainy TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North course.

Norway’s Viktor Hovland (65) claimed third at 14 under.

Cauley used four birdies, including a chip-in on No. 12, on a five-hole stretch (Nos. 11 to 15) to pull away from the pack for a three-shot lead.

“I’m just very proud of the way I kind of kept going and continued to make birdies there on the back nine and I’m just so happy,” he said.

Fitzpatrick generally liked his performance.

“It’s a good week,” he said. “I would have taken it at the start of the week. I felt like there was a lot of good stuff in there.”

Jimmy Stanger trailed by three going to No. 18, but an approach into the water cost him and he bogeyed the hole and settled for 67. At 13 under, he tied with Jackson Suber (70), Brice Garnett (68) and Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (68) for fourth place. Suber led Cauley by one shot through three rounds.

Still, Suber had a worthwhile experience, gaining entry later this year in the British Open and Travelers based on the result. He qualified for the U.S. Open during a Monday qualifier at the beginning of the week.

“To be able to play in the U.S. Open next week, Travelers, and then the British Open, I mean, that’s a pretty big schedule change, especially coming into the year with conditional status,” Suber said.

Defending champion Ryan Fox of New Zealand posted 68 and tied with two others — Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju (68) and South African Aldrich Potgieter (65) — at 12 under.

“Obviously going into the week, it was like you have that little bit of added pressure being at the Canadian Open and for me being pretty close to home and stuff like that,” Yellamaraju said. “I just kind of tried to keep trying to tell myself to play the best that I could and just fight until the very end, which was pretty much what I did.”

Second-round leader Ben James recovered from a disastrous third round to shoot 69 and tie for 54th place at 3 under in his PGA Tour debut.

Brooks Koepka, who was a co-leader after a first-round 64, withdrew prior to the final round citing a hand injury. After a 72 on Saturday, he stood at 6 under through three rounds.

The start of Sunday’s round was pushed back because of concerns related to the weather forecast. Golfers were sent off the first and 10th tees in threesomes.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Aim for Sweep of Texas

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – After their first home series win since April, the Boston Red Sox go for a series sweep against the visiting Texas Rangers on Sunday evening.

The Red Sox are now 2-8-1 this season in home series and interim manager Chad Tracy knows if Boston is going to climb out of the American League East cellar, it will have to improve its performance at home.

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“It’s been a minute (since a home series win) and it feels good,” Tracy said. “It’s no secret. We all know we have to play better at home. We played two really good ball games and now have a chance to go sweep a series. It feels good for the guys for sure.”

While Red Sox fans haven’t had a lot to cheer about at home, Ceddanne Rafaela changed that – for an afternoon anyway – with a clutch, two-run go-ahead single that came with two outs in the seventh to give Boston a 4-2 lead.

The 25-year-old center fielder ranks second on Boston in batting average (.291), doubles (14) and stolen bases (seven).

“Every win matters,” Rafaela said. “Especially at home. I want the fans to be happy, that’s what we are showing up for to try and accomplish.”

With two straight wins, Jarren Duran said Boston has to stay focused as it has the chance to get on a roll. Duran launched a two-run homer in the eighth to provide the Red Sox bullpen with breathing room.

“We are picking it up, which is good,” Duran said. “We just need to put our heads down and keep going.”

Boston starter Connelly Early (5-4, 3.30 ERA) is scheduled to make his first career appearance against the Rangers. The left-hander allowed two runs on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings in a 3-1 loss in his last start at the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.

The Rangers will counter with Nathan Eovaldi (5-7, 4.26 ERA), who took the loss in a 5-3 setback at the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. The veteran right-hander surrendered four runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

In 12 appearances, including 11 starts, against one of his former teams, Eovaldi is 4-1 with a 4.68 ERA. He’s racked up 46 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings pitched.

After scoring just four runs in the first two games of the series – a 10-1 loss on Friday and a 6-3 setback on Saturday – Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said his club’s offense has to provide more support for its pitching staff.

“The challenge for us is providing more cushion on the offensive side for our starting pitchers,” Schumaker said.

Jake Burger provided some offense with a solo shot in the eighth, his 100th career home run. Burger leads the Rangers in homers (12) and RBIs (42).

Michael Helman also contributed to the Rangers’ offensive output with an RBI sacrifice fly that tied the game 2-2 in the fourth. But the center fielder, who has 30 at-bats in 15 games, was hit by a pitch on his right hand in the eighth, and after being checked out by the Rangers’ training staff at first base, he exited the game.

“Michael has multiple fractures in at least one finger, if not two,” Schumaker said. “He will be out for a bit, (the pitch) got him pretty good.”
-Field Level Media

 

Captain Brunson Guides Knicks’ Ship

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SAN ANTONIO – (Wire Service Commentary) – Jalen Brunson fully understands what leading the New York Knicks to the NBA championship means for him, for his team and for the city of New York.

He’s heard it from Walt Frazier, who was a part of NBA championship teams in the Big Apple in 1970 and ’73. He’s talked about it with Bernard King and Patrick Ewing, stars who got the Knicks close in the 1980s and ’90s, and he’s lived it through his father, Rick Brunson, a former player and now an assistant coach for the team.

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Jalen Brunson knew what it would take to carry the Knicks to their first title in 53 years, the price he would have to pay to get his team to the Finals for the first time in 27 years, and what he would have to do to get the Knicks over the finish line against San Antonio and its superstar forward Victor Wembanyama, one of the league’s faces of the future.

Now it’s time to reap those rewards and put to rest one of the most dubious title droughts in pro sports history.

Brunson poured in 45 points, 29 in the second half, to lead New York to a come-from-behind 94-90 win over the Spurs in Game 5 of the Finals on Saturday night, clinching the best-of-seven series 4-1. Three of the Knicks’ wins came on the road with each of them coming down to the final minutes and requiring comebacks from New York.

Brunson, the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, was the ticker that never flickered.

The 45 points tallied by Brunson set a Knicks record for a Finals game, supplanting the 38 scored by the legendary Willis Reed in 1970. Reed scored his in the third game of a series that went to seven and ended with the Captain literally willing New York to the title over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Brunson’s effort in this series was just as arduous and will go down in Big Apple lore with Reed’s performance in that distant Knicks championship run. The undersized New York captain took a beating as the Spurs employed four different players to defend him and knock him around every time he touched the ball. His bruises had bruises and his lumps had bumps.

“I’m hurting right now, oh, I do hurt right now,” Brunson, 29, said after the win. “I’m feeling maybe a little bit worn down physically just because of the game and what (San Antonio was) trying to do. Mentally, I feel fresh. I feel like that’s where I thrive. I’m just happy we’re able to find ways to win the games.”

There was nothing more San Antonio could do. Brunson was just too good. He’s one of just 11 different players to score at least 45 points in an NBA Finals game, for a total of 15 games.

San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson had a matter-of-fact response when asked what his team could have done differently against the Knicks star.

“Make (Brunson) score less points,” Johnson explained. “He’s aggressive. He got to spots. We were undisciplined at times. He got going, then he got going later on. He’s a heck of a player. He deserves everything he’s got.”

On a night when the Knicks got next-to-nothing offensively from Karl-Anthony Towns (two points) and OK production from Game 4 hero OG Anunoby (11 points, eight rebounds), it was up to Brunson to make the plays that produced the victory and the championship. His 15 points in the final quarter were one more than the rest of his teammates combined (14).

“You know, people say (Brunson is) too small. People say he’s a 1B or a 2B or whatever,” New York coach Mike Brown said of the three-time All-Star, listed at 6-foot-2. “He is a freaking 1A. He is an MVP candidate. Brunson — he is him, man, when it comes to New York basketball. He is freaking him.”

Brunson averaged 32.6 points per game in the Finals, scoring 30 or more in four of the contests. As hard as it is to fathom, he got better as the series went on, racking up 32, 36 and then 45 in the last three slugfests.

“That’s who Captain is, man,” Towns said about Brunson. “Captain always finds a way to get back into court and produce as a testament to who he is. It’s just his story, (he’s) never given up, always has been the underdog, always been looked down upon.

“Shout out to everybody (who) told him he couldn’t do it.”

After the final buzzer on Saturday, Brunson — a white towel over his head — ran on the floor toward half court, but he was overcome with emotion, and stopped and crouched near the scorer’s table. At his side were teammates Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, his running buddies and fellow former stars at Villanova, loving him up before literally lifting Brunson to a standing position.

He had carried the Knicks to the title — and now, fittingly, it was his teammates that helped him to his feet. The weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. The hopes and dreams of the whole of New York City and its rabid and vocal fan base had finally been realized.

After the game, Brunson clutched the Larry O’Brien Trophy and offered a weary smile. There’s a trip to the Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan in his and the Knicks’ future, as the team will be feted in the time-honored Big Apple parade tradition at long last.

It will be a day cherished for a generation of New Yorkers, an “I-remember-where-I-was-when” moment, for fans young and old.

Someday there might even be a statue of Brunson outside Madison Square Garden. If so, let’s hope it’s as tough and as durable as the man is himself.

–Steve Habel, Field Level Media