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🏆 Good morning to all but especially to …
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER
Scottie Scheffler continued his dominance by running away with the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. He ended the tournament 17 under and four shots clear of the field after posting a final-round 68. The No. 1 player in the world became just the second man in history to win The Open from that position, joining Tiger Woods, who accomplished the feat three times.
- Scheffler, 29, joined a short list of all-time gold legends — including Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods — to win The Open, the Masters and the PGA Championship all before age 30.
- The total purse for the 2025 Open Championship was $17 million. Scheffler took home $3 million.
- Harris English, who finished second behind Scheffler, won just over $1.7 million. The full payout list is here.
As CBS Sports golf writer Patrick McDonald says, Scheffler has improved on his weaknesses, which has helped him continue his dominance.
😃 Honorable mentions
🏈 And not such a good morning for …
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JC TRETTER
It’s been a chaotic week in the NFL world.
NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell announced last week that he is stepping down from his role. Days later, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported that former NFLPA president JC Tretter, who has served as chief strategy officer for the players’ union since October, will not only exclude himself from the running as interim executive director of the union but will also no longer remain with the NFLPA as of this week.
“Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family,” Tretter said. “And that’s something I can’t deal with. So, the short bullet points are: I have no interest in being [executive director]. I have no interest in being considered; I’ve let the executive committee know that. I’m also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don’t have anything left to give the organization.”
Tretter addressed concerns in the conversation with CBS Sports and sought to address “mistruths” about him and his motivations during his years with the union. Jones reported earlier this week that the NFLPA’s board plans to meet “as soon as possible” to map out its next steps, including naming an interim executive director.
😩 Not so honorable mentions
🏀 Napheesa Collier wins WNBA All-Star Game MVP
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Team Collier defeated Team Clark, 151-131, in the WNBA All-Star Game Saturday night, as Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier collected the MVP trophy after scoring a record 36 points in the contest. Collier’s teammate, Seattle’s Skylar Diggins, also set an All-Star Game record with 15 assists.
One of the game’s new rules was the 4-point shot. Between 3-pointers and 4-pointers, there were a total of 120 combined attempts from beyond the arc, as CBS Sports’ Isabel Gonzalez points out. Only 40 of those shots went in. Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark didn’t play in the game due to injury, but she was encouraging players on her team to attempt more 4-point shots.
- Gonzalez: “High-scoring games can be fun, but the incentive to shoot from distance can lead to some messy plays.”
Mystics rookie forward Kiki Iriafen came off the bench and provided a spark for Team Clark. She finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to become the second rookie in WNBA history to record a double-double in an All-Star Game, joining Chicago’s Angel Reese, who did so last year.
🏀 Cooper Flagg earns ‘A-‘ in summer league report card
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The NBA Las Vegas Summer League came to a close Sunday night. The event featured two summer-league standouts in Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel (the No. 4 pick) and Kings guard Nique Clifford (the No. 24 pick).
Knueppel earned one of the highest grades in my annual report card.
- Salerno: “Why Knueppel earned an ‘A’: “He showcased how he can be the perfect connective piece next to LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller in Charlotte. He finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds against Dallas and then recorded 19 points, six assists and five rebounds the following game.”
Knueppel’s former teammate at Duke and the No. 1 overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft only appeared in two games in Las Vegas. In his debut vs. the Lakers, Flagg shot 5 of 21 from the floor. He couldn’t buy a bucket, failing to record a field goal after halftime. In his second game, Flagg finished with 31 points. Flagg earned an “A-” for his performance.
The full story on how every lottery pick fared can be found here. Notably, Jazz rookie Ace Bailey did not play in summer league in Las Vegas.
🥊 Manny Pacquiao falls short in historic return
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With just two months of training, 46-year-old boxing legend Manny Pacquiao came within a round of winning a belt after a four-year absence from the sport. Whether that says more about Pacquiao’s unique (read: borderline freakish) gifts or a lack of depth in sport where someone closer to 50 than 40 can walk in and almost win a title, I’m not quite sure.
But the fact that Pacquiao fought to a draw with Mario Barrios on two judge’s scorecards more than likely means that this matchup gets its sequel. Here’s how our Brent Brookhouse saw the bout.
- Brookhouse: “Barrios was effective in working his jab throughout the fight, but he did not follow that jab with power shots, nor did he invest much to the body of his much older opponent, who was returning to action for the first time in nearly four years.”
The event was the weekend’s headliner, but it certainly wasn’t the only major fight on the menu.
📺 What we’re watching Monday
⚾ Red Sox at Phillies, 6:45 p.m. on MLB.tv
⚾ Yankees at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m. on MLB.tv
⚾ Brewers at Mariners, 9:40 p.m. on MLB.tv
