BOSTON – This week’s notebook begins with an item very close to home. For about a year-plus, your favorite columnist has been moonlighting from his main business and that is as a consultant to companies in professional (some college) and amateur sports. One of the main projects was “officially” announced this week by the NBA, although we began dabbling in the area with verbal agreements as far back as October 2025 when the NBA staged preseason games in Abu Dhabi.

In short: “It’s been great.”

Here is the official news release:

ISTANBUL, TÜRKIYE, April 30, 2026 – The National Basketball Association and Globalist Sports Corporation Organisation JSC – a multi-sport organization based in Istanbul – announced a multiyear collaboration for Globalist Sports to launch and operate the NBA Basketball School in Türkiye.

The NBA Basketball School Türkiye will deliver weekly activity in Istanbul and Eskişehir and provide tuition-based basketball development programming for youth ages 6-18, including skill development, 5-on-5 scrimmages and games, and life-skills sessions. The program will tip off with a launch camp from Saturday, May 16 – Tuesday, May 19, in Mersin, followed by a series of camps across Türkiye throughout the summer, including Ankara (June 13–15 and June 26–29) and in İstanbul (July 5–9 and July 18–21). Registration is open now at www.nbabasketballschool.tr.

Former NBA Vice President of International Communications Terry Lyons and his Pivottv Media consulting company assisted Globalist in securing the rights to operate the basketball camps and will work with USA and European basketball coaches and legends to attend the camps and conduct clinics on a regular basis. Lyons worked with the NBA from 1980-2008.

“For us at Globalist Sports, working with the NBA Basketball School represents an opportunity to bring world‑class standards, structure, and ambition to youth basketball in Türkiye,” said Devrim Kıvanç Co-Founder & CEO, Globalist Sports Corporation Organisation JSC. “We are incredibly proud to support the introduction of this programme locally and excited about the long‑term pathway it creates for young players to develop their skills, confidence, and potential as part of a globally recognised environment.”

“The launch of the first NBA Basketball School in Türkiye reflects the country’s growing passion for basketball and our ongoing commitment to supporting youth development across the region,” said NBA Europe and Middle East Associate Vice President Basketball Operations, Henry Utku. “Through this collaboration with Globalist Sports, we are excited for this program to provide young players with access to world‑class coaching, resources, and a structured environment that emphasizes skill development, teamwork, and values that extend beyond the court.”

The NBA Basketball School curriculum, which is designed to develop players and provide parents, coaches and organizations with a better understanding of the process of improvement, was created by the NBA’s International Basketball Operations department in consultation with current and former NBA coaches, players and player development specialists. Since 2017, NBA Basketball Schools have been announced or launched in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary India, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Spain, Switzerland, the UAE and Uruguay.

For the latest about NBA Basketball School Türkiye, follow @nbabasketballschool_tr and NBA Basketball School Türkiye. Fans in Türkiye can also follow the NBA on X, Facebook and Instagram and download the NBA App for the latest news, updates, scores, stats, schedules, videos and more. They can also purchase the latest NBA merchandise at NBAStore.eu.

Here’s a little insight from the inside: The NBA Basketball Schools are amazing. They’re located all over the world (see list above) and the league supports them all with an incredible amount of foundational and institutional knowledge. Everything from software to register and keep track of the campers and coaches to placing some NBA Legends at select events. The NBA runs tournaments between the various camps (Our U-17 boys team from Türkiye won last year’s tournament in Abu Dhabi and hope to defend that title this coming Fall).

I’ve found it quite fulfilling and have been happy to give back to the game that’s given me so much since my very first day in December of 1980.

While Basketball without Borders is the top of the heap in basketball development, NBA Basketball Schools are intended to introduce and teach the game to children as young as six or eight years old and continue until age 17-18.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Multiple media reports indicate that former Dallas Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban was trying to buy back a controlling interest in the team he loves but sold. Cuban owns 27% of the team after selling off 73% for $3.5 billion to the Adelson family in December 2023. The Adelsons have the right to buy another 20% from Cuban within four years of their deal, which would drop his stake to 7%. … In a recent podcast, Cuban said, “I don’t regret selling. I regret who I sold to,” indicating his displeasure in the direction the team took, mostly concetrating on the basketball operations side. (Initially, the deal indicated Cuban would still remain in charge of the team’s basketball operation). Of course, the Mavericks packaged franchise star Luka Dončić in a controversial trade with the LA Lakers for center Anthony Davis. The deal ultimately cost Nico Harrison, the head of basketball operations for the team, his job. Yet, Lady Luck shined on the Adelsons and Mavericks when the NBA Draft Lottery ping-pong balls gave them the rights to draft this year’s NBA Rookie of the Year in Cooper Flagg, a generational star.

While the trade certainly looked to favor the Lakers, both Dončić and Davis remain quite injury prone and the Mavericks are well on their way to a total rebuild with an extra pair of first round draft choices this June, a 2030 first rounder the Lakers obtained from Golden State and a slew of second round picks to come.

Meanwhile, Cuban dreams of what might have been as he counts a few extra billions from his Mavericks experience which came about after Cuban initially banked billions in a sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo.

It seems that the Dončić – Davis deal mirrors the Broadcast.com – Yahoo deal. In the end, as times changed, all of them, might be worthless.

ON THE BALLERS: In 2024, when the Oakland Athletics were heading out of the Bay Area, the Oakland Ballers became the newest member of the MLB-partnered Pioneer League, a minor league with a nod of approval from Major League Baseball. In their first season, the Ballers finished with the second-best record in the Pioneer Baseball League at 58-38 and sold over $1 million in branded merchandise, a Top 10 finish amongst all minor league franchises across the USA. In their second season, the Ballers delivered Oakland’s first baseball title since 1989, going 73-23 on the way to the league championship.

With a 10-year license in place at Oakland’s historic Raimondi Park and a solid ownership group in place, the Ballers are allowing accredited investors to share in the next phase of growth. Investors willing to put down a minimum of $10,000 can purchase shares (crowd share).

Recent Funding:

• The team successfully closed a community round in late April 2025 that raised over $3.77 million from approximately 3,800 fan-investors.
• In addition to community rounds, the team has opened rounds for accredited investors (individuals with high net worth or specific income levels) which have higher minimums of the $10-grand.
• Most of the investors have voting power with the right to vote on core team decisions like potential relocation or hiring the Head of Baseball Operations.
• There’s also Board representation as investors will have the ability to be represented by an elected Fan Director on the team’s board.

WNBA TEAM VALUATIONS: Before we get into the WNBA, let’s first remind everyone that the very Dallas Mavericks franchise that Cuban and the Adelsons are tossing billions at, one way or the other was once worth $12.5 million dollars when the NBA sold an expasnion franchise to Donald Carter in 1980.

Golden State team ownership invested $50 million to obtain the WNBA Valkyries in 2023. By 2025, the club had risen in value 10-times-over and was valued at $500 million when sports business publication Sportico crunched some numbers. Now? Sportico’s 2026 WNBA team valuations have the Valkyries valued at $850 million, leading the pack of WNBA franchises which are valued at an average of $427 million, up 59% year-over-year.

The New York Liberty (playing in Brooklyn) rank a distant second at $600 million, followed by the Indiana Fever ($560M), Seattle Storm ($425M) and Phoenix Mercury ($420M). Not too shabby, we say, noting the Atlanta Dream ($280M) rank last among the 13 WNBA clubs.

That’s a far cry from the opening tip-off of the WNBA back in 1997. Just ask the defunct Houston Comets (in the midst of obtaining the Connecticut Sun for some $300 million, the ultra defunct Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Sacramento Monarchs and Utah Starzz. They all turned in their WNBA chips to the league with no return at all.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: The hometown Boston Red Sox have under-performed in 2026 and it cost manager Alex Cora and a slew of bench coaches their jobs. Sox head of baseball (fancy title of Chief Baseball Officer) pulled the trap-door open for Cora, along with hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, and major-league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. Former Red Sox player and game-planning coach Jason Varitek was “reassigned” to a new (and yet to be named) role within the organization.

When the Sox were 0-0 earlier this spring, the club issued a one-pager on 25 years of stewardship of the franchise, a cozy way of noting we all have limited time on this earth and the Sox franchise owners believe this is their time in space to steer the ship for the good of Boston and New England (see NESN).

There were very proud and noteworthy accomplishments, which included:

• Ending an 86-year old “Curse of the Bambino by winning the 2004 World Series
• Since 2002, the Red Sox won an MLB-leading four World Championships (2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018) while claiming five American League East titles
• The Sox made 12 MLB postseason appearances
• Off the field, the team ownership invested $500,000 in the preservation and improvement of Fenway Park
• Major changes included money-making construction of the Green Monster seats, the 521 Overlook, the field-level Jim Beam Dugout seating and even the state-of-the-art MGMMusic Hall concert venue
• They’ve hosted NHL Winter Classics, Harvard vs Yale college football and the Fenway Bowl, countless numbers of summer concerts and a few college graduation ceremonies

That’s all very good work, to the tune of $14 billion in visitor spending while also raising some serious cash for the JIMMY Fund cancer research and other great community events.

But, the fans of the Boston Red Sox are a demanding bunch. They expect execution, run production, flawless defense and victories. The 2026 club fell short in April and Cora and his coaches paid the price. Boston entered the month of May at (12-19) and, like the race on Patriots’ Day, the season is a Marathon, not a sprint.

Ace pitcher Garrett Crochet is now on the 15-day Injured List with left shoulder inflammation. Newly acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray was placed on that same IL with a hamstring issue on April 21. Youngsters Connelly Early and Payton Tolle were called up to the Majors a bit early, but both have promising futures.

Interim manager Chad Tracy (up from the WooSox) is holding the reins. There’s 10-of-13 games at Fenway, started on May 1. and 32-of-the-next-56 (57%) of the next portion of the schedule at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark.

One thing is for sure, Sox fans not only get “Sweet Caroline” in the 8th inning, but the one major addition this year in an effort to celebrate America’s 250th is “more Neil Diamond” with a pregame video to the tune of his hit, “America” to begin each home game.

Thank goodness he won’t be singing “Cracklin’ Rosie.” And the Sox will be in big trouble if they hear, “Song Sung Blue.” … Neil, baby, “More Cowbell.”

TIDBITS & NUGGETS II – Here’s some of the stuff I think about:

• As the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby was staged on Saturday, I couldn’t help but think about the 99th edition, in 1973, when a horse of 16 1/2 hands won the first leg of the Triple Crown. Five weeks later, Secretariat ran the perfect race at the Belmont Stakes to become the greatest thoroughbred race horse in history. That’s 53 years ago, for you mathematically challenged C+ students out there. Secretariat
• I also think of the 1971 Kentucky Derby when Cañonero II was shipped in from Venezuela with odds as long as his trip only to win the 20-horse race at Churchill. Cañonero II had a crooked foreleg and a $1,200 price tag as a yearling. He won the Derby and The Preakness at Pimlico but fell short (4th Place) at The Belmont when his foreleg acted up. In the Fall of that year, Cañonero II set the Belmont course record and defeated Riva Ridge. He was later purchased for $1,000,000 and later lived the life of a sire in Kentucky. The great, great, great grandson of the legendary Man O’War has this special memory because my father had him in blind draw of horses in a Pan American office pool. Payday.

Every single time I watch this horse race, it brings tears to my eyes:

Also ran thoughts for today:

• I’ve been getting more SPAM than Monty Python.
• Blue Horseshoe does NOT love Spirit Airlines.
• And, speaking of Sprit Air, what would 83-year old Norman Greenbaum think?
• Instead of the ultra-boring Chicago Sky, why didn’t the Ch-town faithful name their WNBA franchise “The Koalas?”
• Why didn’t Doral re-name their championship 7,739-yard, par 72 PGA Tour level course, “The Orange Monster?”

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MIAMI – Cameron Young (1st/-8) opened with a bogey-free 8-under (64), his first opening bogey-free round since the 2024 Wyndham Championship. The (64) is one-stroke shy of his lowest opening-round score on TOUR (63), most recently at the 2025 Wyndham Championship.

Young holds his fourth 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR with the most recent effort at the 2022 Open Championship where he finished in second place. Overall, he’s 0-for-3 in converting a first round lead to victory.

He needed only 20 putts in round one, the fewest in a round in his TOUR career with the previous being (21) at the 2025 TOUR Championship/R2, 2025 RBC Heritage/R2).

Following a 10-year hiatus, the TOUR returned to Miami and the City of Doral for the inaugural Cadillac Championship (the event does not carry the history of previous PGA TOUR events contested at Doral and is starting fresh). That said, the Cadillac Championship will mark the 56th playing of a TOUR event at the famed Blue Monster having previously hosted the TOUR consecutively from 1962 to 2016.

Following the first round, the field is a collective 53-over on Nos. 17 and 18 at Doral’s Blue Monster while being 79-under on the other 16 holes.

A bright spot: 13-time PGA TOUR winner Jordan Spieth (T2/-7) opens with a 65, his best round on TOUR since the 2025 Wyndham Championship (65/2025 Wyndham Championship/R1); one of 18 have players in the field that previously played a TOUR event held at Doral (2014-2016).

Cadillac Championship | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

1 Cameron Young 64 (-8)

T2 Jordan Spieth 65 (-7)

T2 Alex Smalley 65 (-7)

4 Nick Taylor 66 (-6)

5 Nico Echavarria 67 (-5)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Cadillac Championship | Facts

THIS WEEK: Cadillac Championship, Miami, April 30-May 3

COURSE: National Doral, Blue Monster

YARDAGE: Par 72, 7,739 Yards

ARCHITECTS: Dick Wilson & Robert von Hagge

PURSE: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)

FEDEX CUP POINTS: (To Winner): 700

PAST RESULTS: (Inaugural Tournament)

DEFENDING CHAMPION: (Inaugural Event)

FEDEX CUP LEADER: Matt Fitzpatrick

Social Media: X @Cadillac_Champ

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By TERRY LYONS, EDITOR of Digital Sports Desk

AUGUSTA – Rory McIlroy (Winner/-12) won his second Masters Tournament, sixth major championship and 30th PGA TOUR title in his 279th PGA TOUR start at 36 years, 11 months, 8 days.

McIlroy joined Jack Nicklaus (1956, 1965), Nick Faldo (1989, 1990) and Tiger Woods (2001, 2002) as players to successfully defend their title at the Masters Tournament. He became the fourth player (seven instances) in the last 25 years to win the same major championship in back-to-back fashion (Tiger Woods (2001-02 Masters, 2005-06 Open Championship, 2006-07 PGA Championship), Padraig Harrington (2007-08 Open Championship), Brooks Koepka (2017-18 U.S. Open, 2018-19 PGA Championship)

He joined Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson as players with six major championships (T12 all time), noting only 11 players have more than six major championships

McIlroy’s 30th PGA TOUR victory ties Horton Smith (T16 all time).

The Masters | Final Leaderboard

1 Rory McIlroy 67 65 73 71 276 (-12)

2 Scottie Scheffler 70 74 65 68 277 (-11)

T3 Tyrrell Hatton 74 66 72 66 278 (-10)

T3 Russell Henley 73 71 66 68 278 (-10)

T3 Justin Rose 70 69 69 70 278 (-10)

T3 Cameron Young 73 67 65 73 278 (-10)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

On This Day in Golf History
April 13, 1986 – In one of the most amazing occurrences in golf history, 46-year old Jack Nicklaus won his record 18th major title and his sixth Green Jacket with a one-stroke victory at the 50th staging of The Masters Tournament. Nicklaus shot a final round (65) with a back nine of six-under par (30) to edge Tom Kite and Greg Norman. – Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE

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By TERRY LYONS, EDITOR of Digital Sports Desk

AUGUSTA – The 90th edition of The Masters returns to Augusta National Golf Club this week (April 9–12, 2026). As the first major of the year, the tournament carries its usual prestige, but this year’s Masters will be dominated by a historic title defense, a bevy of top-notch challengers, including the World’s #1 player and a field of rising stars.

Top Storylines to Watch

McIlroy’s Encore: After finally capturing the Green Jacket in 2025, Rory McIlroy enters as the defending champion.

Rory McIlroy’s Major Victories

• 2011 – U.S. Open Congressional Country Club 8 strokes
• 2012 – PGA Championship Kiawah Island (Ocean Course) 8 strokes
• 2014 – The Open Championship Royal Liverpool 2 strokes
• 2014 – PGA Championship Valhalla Golf Club 1 stroke
• 2025 – The Masters Augusta National Golf Club in a Playoff

Scheffler’s Dominance: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler remains the betting favorite. With two Green Jackets already in his closet (2022, 2024), a third win would further cement his era of dominance.

The LIV Contenders: Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau arrive at Augusta in peak form. DeChambeau, in particular, is a focus after back-to-back top-10 finishes at Augusta and recent wins on the LIV circuit.

The 2026 Masters has issued 91 invitees and, they are represented by players from 22 different countries and territories outside the United States. Six of the last 10 major championships have been won by players who were ranked No. 3 or better in the Official World Golf Ranking heading into the major championship.

Preview | The Masters

COURSE: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

ARCHITECT: Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones Jr.; Perry Maxwell in 1937

YARDS/PAR: 7,565 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: TBD

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Rory McIlroy

OVERVIEW: (link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup The Intimacy Masters

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Master’s Par Three Contest

Wednesday, April 8, 2026 – (All Times Eastern (EDT)

12 Noon to 2:00pm – ESPN+ Streaming

2:00pm to 4:00pm – ESPN

Overall Schedule: Here’s the basic schedule for the entire week, as published by CBS Sports:

2026 Masters | The Basics:

Tournament site: The Masters

Tee Times: (PGATourCom)

Weather: Weather for today’s Par 3 forecast is set for partly cloudy skies, temperatures reaching 68-degrees but winds at 14 mph. Thursday’s forecast is for sunny skies with temperatures reaching 73-degrees but lesser wind (9mph).

The Masters Begins on Prime this Thursday.

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The Field w Update, Tee Times and Leaderboard

The Field: (link)

Update:

Thursday, April 2

Phil Mickelson / WD

Tee Times: (link)

Masters Leaderboard: (link)

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CHAMPIONS’ DINNER MENU

Here’s what Rory McIlroy as in mind for Wednesday Night at Augusta National:

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The Masters ‘26 | Tournament Odds

Odds Courtesy | Betting Hero

Scottie Scheffler +500

Bryson DeChambeau +1000

Jon Rahm +1000

Rory McIlroy +1300

Xander Schauffele +1500

Matt Fitzpatrick +1800

Ludvig Åberg +1800

Cameron Young +2200

Tommy Fleetwood +2200

Hideki Matsuyama +2700

Justin Rose +2700

Robert MacIntyre +3000

Min Woo Lee +3300

Collin Morikawa +3500

Patrick Reed +4000

Brooks Koepka +4000

Chris Gotterup +4500

Russell Henley +4500

Si Woo Kim +4500

Jordan Spieth +4500

Viktor Hovland +5000

Shane Lowry +6000

Nicolai Højgaard +6000

Jake Knapp +6500

Justin Thomas +6500

Akshay Bhatia +6500

Maverick McNealy +6500

Adam Scott +7000

J.J. Spaun +7000

Patrick Cantlay +7000

Sepp Straka +8000

Tyrrell Hatton +8000

Jacob Bridgeman +8000

Jason Day +8000

Sungjae Im +10000

Sam Burns +10000

Harris English +10000

Corey Conners +10000

Cameron Smith +10000

Marco Penge +10000

Daniel Berger +12500

Kurt Kitayama +12500

Gary Woodland +12500

Rasmus Højgaard +15000

Ben Griffin +15000

Keegan Bradley +15000

Aaron Rai +15000

Alex Noren +15000

Ryan Gerard +15000

Sam Stevens +17500

Harry Hall +17500

Wyndham Clark +17500

Aldrich Potgieter +17500

Brian Harman +17500

Max Homa +17500

Ryan Fox +22500

Casey Jarvis +22500

Kristoffer Reitan +22500

Nick Taylor +25000

Dustin Johnson +25000

Nicolas Echavarria +25000

Carlos Ortiz +25000

Michael Kim +25000

Max Greyserman +35000

Sergio Garcia +35000

Haotong Li +35000

Matt McCarty +35000

Andrew Novak +35000

Tom McKibbin +35000

Sami Valimaki +50000

Michael Brennan +50000

Bubba Watson +50000

John Keefer +50000

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +50000

Charl Schwartzel +50000

Zach Johnson +50000

Davis Riley +75000

Angel Cabrera +100000

Mason Howell +100000

Fifa Laopakdee +100000

Ethan Fang +100000

Brian Campbell +100000

Vijay Singh +100000

Jose Maria Olazabal +100000

Brandon Holtz +100000

Naoyuki Kataoka +100000

Danny Willett +100000

Jackson Herrington +100000

Fred Couples +100000

Mateo Pulcini +100000

Mike Weir +100000

The post PGA Tour: Masters Preview ’26 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

“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.”

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

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor: Digital Sports Desk

HOUSTON – Forty-one year old Paul Waring (1st/-7), playing on a Major Medical Extension, posted a bogey-free, career-low 7-under (63) to take the lead in the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open. Waring previously shot (65) twice on TOUR, most recently during the first round of the 2025 RBC Canadian Open.

His round included a career-best 161’ 10” of putts made with his previous best: 136’ 9” at the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open/R1. Waring leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (5.342) and T1 in Scrambling (4/4). He holds the lead/co-lead for the first time after any round on TOUR

Waring made his second start at Texas Children’s Houston Open (MC/2025; 76-72).

Gary Woodland (2nd/-6) equalled the best opening-round score of his career with a (64) – the seventh occasion for that score and most recently at the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship).

Woodland is bidding to become the first player to finish runner-up and then win the same tournament the next season since Robert MacIntyre (2023, 2024 Genesis Scottish Open).

Sam Burns (T3/-5) posted a 5-under (65) in his fifth start at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He had back-to-back T7 finishes at Memorial Park Golf Course in 2020 and 2021.

Defending champion Min Woo Lee (T31/-2) shot a 2-under (68) as he seeks to become the second player to successfully defend a Texas Children’s Houston Open title (Vijay Singh/2005/GC of Houston).

Three of the four past Texas Children’s Houston Open champions in the field sit T11 or better: Stephan Jaeger (T6/-4), Adam Scott (T11/-3), Tony Finau(T11/-3), with Min Woo Lee (T31/-2) further back after 18 holes.

Aaron Rai (neck injury) WD prior to the first round and was replaced by Taylor Moore (T11/-3)

Houston Open Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

1 Paul Waring 63 (-7)

2 Gary Woodland 64 (-6)

T3 Sam Burns 65 (-5)

T3 Michael Brennan 65 (-5)

T3 Tom Hoge 65 (-5)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor: Digital Sports Desk

HOUSTON – The Texas Children’s Houston Open is being played in the spring for the third consecutive season after a four-year stint in the Fall from 2019-2022. The tournament is being hosted at Memorial Park Golf Course for the sixth consecutive time after the course underwent a renovation in 2019 led by the Astros Golf Foundation to prepare it for PGA TOUR competition.

This week’s field includes 18 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, headlined by No. 10 Chris Gotterup. Thirty players in this week’s field are qualified for the Masters Tournament. The Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking through the Texas Children’s Houston Open will qualify for the Masters Tournament if not already exempt.

The winners of the next two PGA TOUR events will also qualify for the Masters, if not otherwise exempt. Next week is the Valero Texas Open.

Players in the field between Nos. 40-65 in the OWGR who have not qualified for the Masters: Jake Knapp (No. 42), Nicolai Højgaard (No. 47), Pierceson Coody (No. 51), Michael Thorbjornsen (No. 56), Rickie Fowler (No. 61) and Jordan Smith (No. 65).

Should he go on to qualify, Plano, Texas native Pierceson Coody, grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody, would become the first grandson of a Masters champion to compete in the major tournament. After finishing the 2025 calendar year No. 96 in the world, Coody opened the 2026 season with four consecutive Top-20 finishes, highlighted by back-to-back Top-10s at the Farmers Insurance Open (T2) and WM Phoenix Open (T10).

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Tournament Fact Sheet

THIS WEEK on the PGA Tour: Texas Children’s Houston Open

COURSE: Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston, Texas

TOURNAMENT SITE: (link)

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW: (link)

HOUSTON OPEN PAST RESULTS: (link)

ARCHITECT: John Bredemus

YARDS/PAR: 7,475 yards/Par 70

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $9,900,000/$1,782,000

DEFENDING Champion: Min Woo Lee

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PALM HARBOR – Matt Fitzpatrick (1st/-11) birdied the 72nd hole to win by one stroke for his third PGA TOUR title in his 183rd start at 31 years, 6 months, 21 days. Before the final round, Fitz had never birdied the 18th hole at this event in 11 previous rounds.

He now has three PGA TOUR wins: The 2022 U.S. Open, 2023 RBC Heritage, 2026 Valspar Championship.

Fitzpatrick won 500 FedExCup points to move from No. 8 to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings.

He was the only player to shoot four rounds in the 60s this week and he carded only four bogeys for the week, the fewest of any player in the field. Included with that fact was another amazing feat: He was bogey-free for his last 36 holes to become the third winner of this event to record a bogey-free final round (2012 Luke Donald, 2013 Kevin Streelman).

Fitzpatrick finished runner-up at last week’s PLAYERS Championship, bogeying the final hole to lose to Cameron Young by one stroke. The last player to finish runner-up then win the following week was Davis Thompson (2024 Rocket Classic/T2, 2024 John Deere Classic/Won).

Fitzpatrick joined Luke Donald (2012) and Paul Casey (2018, 2019) as players from England to win the Valspar Championship, and Fitz was the 11th international player to win this event.

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Valspar Championship | Final Leaderboard

1 Matt Fitzpatrick 68 69 68 68 273 (-11)

2 David Lipsky 69 65 70 70 274 (-10)

3 Jordan Smith 69 68 72 66 275 (-9)

T4 Three players 276 (-8)

Final Leaderboard: (link)

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PONTE VEDRA BEACH – Older vs. Younger – the “age old” dilemma. A man who is 90 years old thinks hard and says, “Ah, would that I were only 80 years old,” according to French author Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757) who wrote it down in French, of course.

Taking it a step further, a man 60 years old, wishes he were 20 or 30 years younger, especially reliving life with all he’s learned to appreciate during that time. Whatever it is to dream of – maybe 10 years younger, 20 years, 25 years?

Personally, I wish I were Cameron Young. Or, at the least, I wish I had Young’s golf game on Sunday. Young closed like a freight train, as they say in the horse racing world, chasing down a very good (68) Matt Fitzpatrick to take The PLAYERS Championship by one stroke.

Cameron Young (1st/-13), 28-year-old, earned his second win on TOUR in his 104th start (2025 Wyndham Championship);. It was his second win in his last 11 starts after going winless in his first 93 starts on TOUR, notching seven runner-up finishes during that span.

Young earned his third consecutive Top-10 finish of the 2026 season (T7/The Genesis Invitational, T3/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard), his second streak of three consecutive Top-10s on TOUR (T3/2022 RBC Heritage, T2/2022 TruistChampionship, T3/2022 PGA Championship).

Young earned 750 FedExCup points and moves from No. 12 to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, his highest rank after any week in his TOUR career. His four-stroke comeback matched the fifth-largest final-round comeback in PLAYERS Championship history and matched the largest comeback of the 2026 season on TOUR (4/Chris Gotterup/2026 WM Phoenix Open).

In four previous appearances at THE PLAYERS Championship, he finished MC (2022), T51 (2023), T54 (2024) and T61 (2025).

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The PLAYERS | Final Leaderboard

1 Cameron Young 68 67 72 68 275 (-13)

2 Matt Fitzpatrick 70 69 69 68 276 (-12)

3 Xander Schauffele 69 65 74 69 277 (-11)

4 Robert MacIntyre 72 72 65 69 278 (-10)

Tournament Final Leaderboard: (link

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