The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.
Good morning! Win your trial today.
Glory: Scottie, Tiger and the feel of inescapable victory
Hours before Scottie Scheffler made his final putt yesterday, the Tiger comparisons were already cemented. Comparing numbers with Tiger Woods is a joke, but there’s something to be said for feeling. And as someone who watched Tiger live in his prime, Scheffler’s current run does feel like prime Tiger. Just a bit.
Let’s contextualize it:
- Some numbers for both Scheffler and Woods are quite close. With his Open Championship win yesterday, Scheffler won his fourth major — 1,197 days after he won his first. Distance between majors Nos. 1-4 for Woods: 1,197 days. Scheffler, 29, is also only the fourth player to win the Open Championship, U.S. Open and Masters before the age of 30. The other three: Woods, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.
- Age is working in Scheffler’s favor as he ascends into the upper levels of this sport. Scheffler can win the career grand slam next year at the U.S. Open, where the final round will coincidentally fall on his 30th birthday. To zoom out further, Scheffler theoretically has eight to 10 years of prime golf in him, which is a minimum of 32 major appearances barring setbacks. He’s won four of his last 15 major starts. If he keeps that pace, he has 12 majors by the time he’s 38. That would put him third all-time, only behind Woods (15) and Nicklaus (16). It’s an ambitious projection, but not implausible.
The thing that feels most Woods-ian to me? Scheffler has won 10 straight tournaments in which he’s had a 54-hole lead. It’s nowhere near Woods’ longest streak — 36, just a hilarious number — but the feeling of inevitability is there. We haven’t felt that way since Tiger’s Sunday red meant something.
Just take it from Jim “Bones” Mackay, the former longtime caddie for Phil Mickelson, who said this on NBC after the tournament:
“I never thought I’d see a player as close to Tiger as this man currently is.”
Me neither, Bones. For what it’s worth, Scheffler laughed off the Tiger comparison afterward, calling it “a bit silly.” Scheffler’s mindset was a topic of conversation all week; Brendan Quinn wrote about how scary that should actually be for everyone else.
Justin Ray also has plenty more fun stats from Scheffler’s masterful day, including a look at next year’s majors slate.
News to Know
Scott Taetsch / Getty Images
Trump threatens Commanders
President Donald Trump posted a lengthy screed to social media yesterday demanding the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians revert to their original nicknames. Trump even said he would stall Washington’s new stadium deal until the team changed the nickname back. See more in our full story, which includes comments from Guardians officials.
Another NFLPA official resigns
JC Tretter, the maligned former president and CSO of the NFL Players Association, announced his resignation from the union yesterday. It comes after a bad month for Tretter, as multiple reports have detailed troubling decisions by him while in power at the NFLPA. It also comes just three days after former NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell resigned, too. The full saga is worth a read if you’ve missed it so far.
Tour de France enters home stretch
Belgian rider Tim Wellens won stage 15 of the Tour de France yesterday, capping off a chaotic day that raised questions about sportsmanship after a number of the race favorites had to recover from a crash early on. Wellens’ teammate Tadej Pogacar, a three-time Tour winner, still maintains a commanding lead heading into the race’s second and final rest day today. We have plenty more on the laid-back Slovenian superstar.
More news
- The Chiefs and edge rusher George Karlaftis agreed to a four-year, $93 million extension.
- The Pirates drew their largest home crowd of the season Saturday for Mac Miller bobblehead night.
- MLB is investigating an incident between Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Braves assistant coach Eddie Pérez. Read more here.
- Mets slugger Pete Alonso entered yesterday’s game in the seventh inning, despite an ailing hand, to extend his consecutive games streak to 354.
- Marcus Rashford is on his way to Barcelona after Manchester United reached an agreement for a season-long loan.
📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters.
What to Watch
📺 MLB: Royals at Cubs
8:05 p.m. ET on MLB Network
It is hard to imagine, in a vacuum, a better season for the Cubbies. Nineteen games above .500, first place in the NL Central. This is what they envisioned when hiring Craig Counsell away from Milwaukee, right? It’s funny then that the Brewers are also 19 games above .500, sporting an identical 59-40 record, tied for the NL Central lead. Pesky. Chicago is both elite and in a dire division race. Every game counts.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
What is every NHL team’s best and worst jersey? Some of these sweaters are art.
NFL training camps really get underway this week. Our writers picked one player from all 32 teams to watch as summer becomes fall.
Walking is so in right now. Just ask 90-year-old competitive racewalker Alan Poisner, who penned this story for us. He’s my role model now.
The real winner of WNBA All-Star weekend? The Stud Budz.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: This absurd catch from football prospect Brysen Wright.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The Trump-Commanders story.
(Top photo: Jess Hornby / Getty Images)
