For just the second time in men's golf history, dating back to the inaugural Masters in 1934, the year's four major winners all hail from different countries.

· 2026: Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (Masters), England's Aaron Rai (PGA Championship), USA's Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open), New Zealand's Ryan Fox (The Open)

· 2010: USA's Phil Mickelson (Masters), Germany's Martin Kaymer (PGA Championship), Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell (U.S. Open), South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen (The Open)

Sorry, Uncle Sam: This was the first year since 2014 with fewer than two American major champions, which is particularly shocking considering how well the best Americans performed.

· 10 of the 14 golfers who made all four major cuts this year are American, including four of the five whose cumulative score to par in those events was better than -10.

· Of those five, only McIlroy (-11) won this year, while Americans Scottie Scheffler* (-20), Sam Burns (-20), Xander Schauffele (-13) and Cameron Young (-11) combined for 10 top-10 finishes, but no wins.

For the sake of comparison, the lone American who did win this year — Clark — missed the cut at the PGA and Open Championships, and finished T21 at the Masters. Sometimes, you just get hot.

*Scottie's ridiculous run: Scheffler has finished inside the top-five in more than half (11) of the 20 majors he's competed in since 2022, and has nearly as many wins (4) as finishes outside the top-10 (5) in that time.

Britain’s Josh Kerr's record-breaking mile (3:42.66) over the weekend came 72 years after the once-unthinkable four-minute mile was first broken by Roger Bannister.

After the historic race reflecting on eight months of preparation and a decade in middle-distance running that had been building towards his magnificent performance Saturday in front of a 60,000-sell-out crowd, Kerr said “It’s been a long time coming.”

As Kerr lined up on the start line Saturday, the stadium fell silent. He had told the world he was attempting the world record. This was the event they had come to see.

Strangely Kerr, a two-time world champion, was listening out for code words for four possible race situations to spur him on when longtime American training partner Brannon Kidder pulled beside him before letting him go. “I couldn’t hear what he said, but I saw his arm pushing me on, and that’s all I needed.

“He was a rock for me mentally, right by my side every step of the way and had more confidence in me than I did sometimes.”

Going into the final lap, with 2:46.5 on the clock, Kerr says he was “in the promised land.” He could see the blue wavelights below him, meaning his pacing was perfect. “This is where I was at my best and my most flowy,” he says.

Kerr was told by his trainer to resist giving his all until the final 150 meters. As he crossed the 1,300m mark, he did not even look at the split, 

It wasn’t easy. “Everything accumulates. There were some distinct moments that I’m just, ‘F*** this’. I’m 16 miles into a day and I’m sitting here eating a salad and a couple of grains of rice, like, what are we doing?

“But then the reflection comes on what an honor it is to sit here and to complain about a job that is my dream, going after something that no one’s ever done before.”

In the end, Kerr embraced the expectation. “When the pressure is on, I show up,” he says.

We are now in this era of constantly asking, ‘Who is going to take it?’, so I don’t expect the wait for the next one to be this long.

“It is going to be a hard-fought title over the next couple of years to be the best middle-distance runner in the world. But I have the history books on my side now.”

And Roger Bannister in the rear view mirror.

Northwestern’s new Ryan Field is nearly complete and set to host its grand opening this fall.

The Wildcats have selected Penn State as their inaugural opponent, with the Nittany Lions scheduled to visit Evanston on Friday, October 2, in a prime-time game airing live on FOX.

Penn State isn’t the only Big Ten program investing heavily in stadium upgrades, but they’ll play a special role in christening the conference’s newest venue. The privately funded, $875 million Ryan Field is a modern 35,000-seat campus stadium that has already drawn widespread acclaim.

Reporters who have toured the facility on Northwestern’s Evanston, Illinois campus describe it as one of the most impressive new venues in the country, with some comparing its sleek design and atmosphere to a Premier League soccer stadium.

Cal Raleigh has been alarmingly terrible at the plate this season. So says Sports Illustrated.

“Whatever day this year that you remember thinking “man, what happened to Cal Raleigh, he’s been terrible”—since that day, he’s been worse,”

On May 12 Raleigh was hitless in his last 36 at-bats, with a .157 batting average and 54 strikeouts in his first 39 games of the season.

Raleigh has been horrendous no matter how you slice his season. He’s been so bad, in fact, that the Reds chose to intentionally walk the hitter in front of him to load the bases in the seventh inning of last night’s game in Seattle.

Raleigh made them pay with a grand slam, capping a six-run inning as the Mariners went on to win, 8–0. 

Maybe that was the wake-up call he needed.

From the 2026 PLAYBOOK Football Preview Guide Magazine

Louisville

Miami will start out as the ACC's clear favorite, but any of five or six teams could become the obvious No. 2, and Louisville, having won 28 games in Jeff Brohm's first three seasons, is a clear candidate. Brohm, meanwhile, looked in both directions for an answer at QB. He brought in former West Georgia quarterback Davin Wydner, a 6-foot-5 former Ole Miss signee who looked great in the spring game. But most hopes are pinned on former blue-chipper Lincoln Kienholz, a career backup at Ohio State. Just like that, Miller (Moss) time is history in Louisville – and that’s a good thing.

STAT YOU WILL LIKE: In ten seasons as a head coach, Jeff Brohm puts opponents to sleep in games in which they score 30-plus points, going 74-19 SU/56-32-2 ATS/20-4-1 ATS as a dog.

From the 2026 PLAYBOOK Football Preview Guide
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