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DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy think the same way about Muirfield Village, and what it takes to succeed at the Memorial Tournament.

This is a big golf course, but it’s not all about power.

“Here it’s more about placing the ball in the right spots and taking your opportunities when you can get them,” said Scheffler, who speaks from the experience of winning the last two years.

“For being such a long golf course, I feel like it takes driver out of my hand a lot,” said McIlroy, who played for the 14th time without ever getting that winner’s handshake from tournament host Jack Nicklaus off the 18th green.

The Memorial is one tournament McIlroy can’t seem to win — he’s had only five finishes in the top 10 and never a reasonable chance to win.

And it’s the one tournament Scheffler can’t seem to lose.

Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player, sets out this week to try to join Tiger Woods as the only players to win three straight times at the tournament Nicklaus built.

Nicklaus was asked why he thought Scheffler played so well at Muirfield Village, beyond the obvious of having great control of his shots. Nicklaus raised his right index finger and tapped the side of his head.

“He thinks his way around the golf course,” Nicklaus said. “His golf swing is certainly not spectacular from a standpoint of looking at balance — the pathway of his club is very good. But he doesn’t put himself in position to make doubles and triples.”

Scheffler and McIlroy, Nos. 1 and 2 in the world, lead another strong field at the Memorial with the U.S. Open looming two weeks away. Both went to Shinnecock Hills on Monday on their way to central Ohio — they didn’t play together — to scout the U.S. Open course.

It’s not like they run in the same circles or even play in the same events. This is the 12th event for Scheffler this year, the 10th for McIlroy. But they have played the same tournament only six times, two of them majors and The Players Championship.

Both have won this year, McIlroy’s victory being far more meaningful. He held off Scheffler at Augusta National to become only the fourth back-to-back winner of the Masters.

Scheffler, coming off another dominant season, won his first tournament of the season at The American Express. The rest of the year has been close calls — three runner-up finishes in a row, three other finishes in the top 5.

“I felt like I haven’t been as sharp as I would have liked to have been,” Scheffler said. “When you look at the margins in this game, they’re quite small. I think statistically I’m probably not far off from where I’ve been the last couple years, it’s just a couple shots here or there, a couple of those momentum shots where it can kind of swing you in a tournament.”

McIlroy has the career Grand Slam, and it’s cherry-picking what else he would like to win. Courses mean a lot to him. There’s also an Olympic gold medal to chase once every four years, and Riviera and Muirfield Village — the tournaments hosts are Tiger Woods and Nicklaus — are on his list.

“I’ve been lucky enough to win at Bay Hill, but not while Arnold (Palmer) was alive,” McIlroy said. “So I always thought it would be cool to win here and take that little walk up the hill off the 18th green and shake Jack’s hand. Also, Jack and I share a nice history. I’ve known him for nearly 20 years. He’s been nothing but great to me and my family. So, yeah, this is certainly one I would love to get done.”

McIlroy skipped last year and played the RBC Canadian Open instead. He also missed in 2017 when he was tending to sore ribs from an injury earlier in the year. But he’s played all the rest of them at Muirfield Village, just not with anything to show for it.

That’s not unusual in golf. Woods never figured out how to win at Riviera, the Los Angeles masterpiece that’s one of his favorites and now is tournament host for the Genesis Invitational. Nicklaus was runner-up seven times at the Canadian Open. His only win in Canada was as Presidents Cup captain in 2007.

“Obviously a great list of champions on a wonderful golf course,” McIlroy said of the Memorial. “I haven’t quite figured it out yet. It’s frustrated me over my career. But hopefully, this is the week that I put it all together.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nelly Korda fell just short of her first U.S. Women’s Open title a year ago, coming up second to Maja Stark in a finish that was painfully appropriate for her inexplicably winless calendar year.

But that disappointment at Erin Hills is a primary reason Korda arrived at venerable Riviera this week as the world’s No. 1 player and a favorite to raise the trophy at the 81st Open.

“I was just hungry for more,” Korda said of last year’s Open experience. “Last year was just a weird year of kind of not necessarily playing my best, but also when I did, not getting the bounces or just missing by a centimeter here and there. But I also learned a lot about myself. It made me hungrier to be in those positions.”

Korda has been eating this year, all right.

A dominant major title at The Chevron Championship. Three victories overall. Three more second-place finishes, and an emphatic return to the top of the rankings.

Korda says she welcomes the pressure that accompanies her success, and she is thrilled to be under the spotlight and playing for the richest prize pool in women’s golf at the first women’s Open ever held at Riviera, the 100-year-old country club nestled in Pacific Palisades and patronized by decades of Hollywood royalty.

“I’m just motivated to put myself into that position, to grind on off weeks, to just play the game,” Korda said. “It’s really hard to explain, but there’s nothing better when you’re a very competitive person than being in the hunt on a back nine at a tournament. There’s a really big rush of emotions. Even if it doesn’t work out, you constantly want to put yourself back into that, because all that work that you’ve put in in your off weeks. That’s what makes it worth it.”

Korda took the past two weeks off to make sure she was fully rested and prepared for the Open and for Riviera, a course she had played only once before this week. This tournament has never been held anywhere in Los Angeles County, easily the most populous in the U.S.

“It’s amazing out here,” Korda said. “I mean, the vibe of the place, knowing that so much history has been played out here, it’s a great place for us to play.”
Stark contrast

Stark began the week by returning the trophy she won by holding off Korda last year at the Open, but she wasn’t sad to comply with tradition.

“I did kind of want to let it go, because it’s weird — it’s like I had it sitting in my room, and I just saw it every day,” Stark said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ But I just want to move on. I want the challenge again. It was fun to have it, but it’s more fun to play for it than to have it, I guess.”

Stark had been on the fringes of the LPGA Tour field before her victory last year at Erin Hills — but after securing her tour status with a major win, the Swede promptly missed the cut in five of her next seven tournaments. She’s now paying more attention to the mental side of her game, hiring a therapist and a sports psychologist.

The results are promising: Stark is up to 23rd in the world after making seven cuts in eight starts this season, finishing 16th in Cincinnati three weeks ago.
First starts

Megha Ganne is beginning her pro career at Riviera just one week after last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur champion led Stanford to another NCAA title, making the winning putt to beat USC down the coast in Carlsbad, California. Trojans star and Irvine native Catherine Park is also making her pro debut at Riviera.

Ganne played in the final group of the 2021 Open as a 17-year-old high schooler at Olympic Club in San Francisco, eventually finishing as the top amateur. As her pro career approached, she has been leaning on her LPGA Tour friends, including three-time major champion Lydia Ko.

“Being a professional is about the little stuff, and the stuff you can’t really see, like invisible little details,” Ganne said. “That stuff comes with experience, time, maturity and having a good team around you.”

No matter how her debut goes, Ganne is graduating from Stanford next week.
Wie’s back

Michelle Wie West is coming out of retirement to play her first tournament since the 2023 U.S. Open. The former wunderkind’s only major victory was at the Open in 2014, and the 36-year-old mother of two used her final year of exemption for a spot in this field.

Her husband, Jonnie West, will caddy for her at Riviera, while daughter Makenna will be watching.

“Last time I retired at Pebble Beach, Makenna was 2 and doesn’t really have any memories,” she said. “Hopefully being 6 now, she’ll have a lot more memories of being here this week.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge was out of the lineup Thursday for a third straight game and the New York Yankees were awaiting clarity about a bone bruise in one of the slugger’s right ribs that is causing right shoulder pain.

“I absolutely expect something in the next couple of hours,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees concluded a three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians. “He went for more testing today just because he’s got edema there. So, they want to get (the most) specific images they can to try and see exactly what we have.”

Judge underwent a CT scan on Thursday morning and had an MRI earlier in the week when he met with a specialist. The bruise was first revealed when Judge underwent testing on the team’s off day on Monday.

“I’m obviously not a doctor, I don’t know how it all works, but there’s a lot of people involved in trying to make sure we get the right diagnosis,” Boone said.

Judge was diagnosed with a stress fracture in one of his right ribs in March 2020. The injury occurred when he dove for a ball in September 2019, but Judge did not miss any time because of the 2020 season being delayed by the pandemic.

He is hitting .248 with 17 homers and 38 RBIs. The three-time AL MVP has one homer in his last 18 games since May 10 and ended an 11-game homer and RBI drought with a game-ending, two-run drive on May 24 against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Judge entered the game against Tampa Bay in a 1-for-24 slump that dropped his batting average to .246. He was hitless in 15 at-bats before singling in the first inning.

Judge won the batting title last season when he hit a career-high .331 with 53 homers and 114 RBIs in 152 games. He missed 10 games from July 26-Aug. 4 with a flexor strain in his right elbow that he sustained on a throw to home July 22 in Toronto. He underwent a plasma-rich injection and did not require offseason surgery.

When Judge was hurt last season, Giancarlo Stanton played 17 games in the outfield. Stanton has been out since April 24 with a strained right calf and started taking live at-bats on the field Wednesday, though he was ruled out for New York’s upcoming road trip.

José Caballero started the first two games against Cleveland and has made four starts in right field since being acquired from Tampa Bay at the July 31 trade deadline. Max Schuemann made his first career start in right field Thursday.

Judge had started 52 of New York’s first 59 games in right field. Rookie Spencer Jones made four starts in right field before getting sent down May 22 and Cody Bellinger has started two games.

CORAL GABLES, Fla (AP) — FIFA has made a late change of policy to bar World Cup fans from bringing refillable water bottles into the tournament’s 16 stadiums across North America including some with limited or no shade from the sun.

The “Stadium Code of Conduct” update was criticized Thursday by an English fan group, which argued FIFA had given assurances on carrying empty plastic bottles to fill with freely available water at a tournament where heat and extreme weather are expected to be a factor.

“Naturally, the immediate thought from supporters is this is just the latest money grab,” the Free Lions fan group said in a statement.

Water, sodas and juices sold at World Cup stadiums are supplied exclusively by long-time FIFA sponsor Coca-Cola when the tournament starts next Thursday.

FIFA’s stadium rules had stated that fans could bring in a transparent, reusable bottle up to one liter, or 33.8 oz. capacity.

The latest document dated Tuesday now states “for the avoidance of doubt, reusable water bottles may not be brought into the stadium.”

“In all of our discussions,” the England fans’ group said, “free water availability in stadiums was a key one and we were assured by FIFA that this would be the case.”

In a statement Thursday, the world soccer body said the decision to prohibit bottles — which could be thrown — was “to prevent risk and injury to players and attendees.”

“FIFA is committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers, and staff,” it said.

FIFA said some of the 16 stadiums had already prohibited fans from bringing water bottles, so the policy would apply across them all.

With temperatures at 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) and above expected in many of the U.S., Mexican and Canadian cities hosting the 104 games, FIFA said “heat mitigation” for fans approaching stadiums would include “misting stations, fans, hydration stations, cooling tents, and more.”

“Inside the stadium footprint, pricing for water bottles for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will remain consistent with other events held at each stadium,” the soccer body said.

FIFA has reacted to expected heat in some outdoor stadiums by enforcing three-minute drinks breaks midway through each half at all games. Critics have said turning all games into four quarters was to create more breaks for broadcasters to sell advertising.

“For all of the effort they are going to with ‘drinks breaks’ for the players, this is such a strange, late change,” the Free Lions fan group said of the water bottle ban.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Only three players have been around for all nine seasons of the Vegas Golden Knights. This is the third trip to the Stanley Cup Final for William Karlsson, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb, and the thrill is still there.

“It’s the same feeling as Year 1,” Karlsson said.

That one ended in defeat, but it set the perennial expectations at championship or bust, and Vegas hoisted the Cup in Year 6 in 2023. Eager for another parade on the Las Vegas Strip, the original Golden Knights wasted no time making an early impact in Game 1 at Carolina.

Karlsson and Theodore each scored, and McNabb had the first three-assist performance of his NHL career in the 5-4 victory on Tuesday night. The Golden Knights leaned on their longest-tenured players to erase another multigoal deficit and will keep relying on them.

“They’re calm,” said coach John Tortorella, who has only been in charge since late March. “The foundation of our team, the guts of our team, has been through this before. … Those guys kind of lead the way by not panicking. They don’t say much, they just play, and I think other people follow behind them. I think that’s so important this time of year.”
William Karlsson returning has changed everything

One reason the Golden Knights did not look this dominant during the regular season was Karlsson’s lengthy absence because of an undisclosed injury. He was out from early November until the start of the second round.

“I learned not to take anything for granted,” Karlsson said. “It wasn’t always just a straight line. Some minor setbacks. But I always have the mind to come back for playoffs, and I’m very happy to be able to be a part of it.”

Karlsson getting back allowed Mitch Marner to shift to his more natural right wing from center. Karlsson has six points and Marner 15 in the 11 games since.

“It’s super fun to play hockey, and I’m happy to be getting a lot of minutes and help the team,” Karlsson said.

Shea Theodore has stepped up when needed

The Golden Knights went into the season with a giant void on their blue line, with No. 1 defenseman Alex Pietrangelo unlikely to play again because of a chronic hip injury. Former coach Bruce Cassidy said during the ’23 title run that he knew Pietrangelo was good but came to appreciate the do-everything, all-around game up close.

Theodore stepped into that role in Pietrangelo’s absence.

“Shea’s game this season has just added a completely different layer than what we were used to because he’s always been a great puck-mover, always been a very good offensive defenseman,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “Shea has become a penalty killer. He never killed penalties prior at all. He’s on the ice when it’s 6 on 5 against, where in the past he would not have been. And I’m really proud of him, to be honest with you. I think he’s really grown into it.”

Tortorella praised Theodore for bouncing back in Game 1 after getting “spanked” on Carolina’s opening goal 25 seconds in.

“It doesn’t bother him, and he probably plays one of the better games,” Tortorella said. “He just played. I think it’s a really good lesson for all of us to see.”

Theodore not only scored Vegas’ first goal after falling behind 2-0 but delivered a textbook shot-pass to Brett Howden for a goal in the third period.

“His vision is unbelievable,” said Howden, whose 11 goals leads the postseason. “He wasn’t even looking at me, but I feel like he knew that I was going there and he made an unbelievable pass there. I just had to chip it in.”
Brayden McNabb flashes unusual offensive touch

McNabb has been a solid defender in the league for more than a decade. Keeping the puck out of the net, while guarding and hitting opponents, is his primary job. He doubled his assist total this postseason on Tuesday night, after having just three in 15 games over the first three rounds. Theodore cracked, “He’s an offensive guy.”

“My partner did most of the work on all of them, really,” McNabb said, crediting Theodore. “But, yeah, the guys made great plays, and it’s nice to chip in offensively when I can.”

Vegas has brought in plenty of talent since its overachieving inaugural season, including captain Mark Stone, top center Jack Eichel and Marner. But there is still a deep reverence for the original Golden Knights, including Reilly Smith, who was traded and reacquired and had been playing until Karlsson returned.

“They mean everything,” Howden said. “They’re the ones that built this team from the ground up. They built a culture here, starting from the top down. But those guys were here from the start, and they lead the way. They’re unbelievable leaders in the room.”

LONDON (AP) — Serena Williams will make her eagerly anticipated return to professional tennis playing doubles alongside a partner who is 25 years younger.

Victoria Mboko, the 19-year-old Canadian ranked No. 9, revealed Thursday she would have the “honor” of playing with the 44-year-old Williams as wild-card entries at the Queen’s Club next week.

They practiced on the grass courts in west London on Thursday, with Williams seen hitting balls in a purple top and white pants.

“The Queen is back,” Mboko wrote in a post on Instagram alongside a picture of her standing next to Williams.

“An honor to share the court with one of the greatest athletes of all time this week,” Mboko added. “Even more excited to play doubles together! Tennis is pretty special.”

Speaking at the French Open last week, Mboko said of Williams: “I really look up to her. I mean, the fact that she even knows me is very exciting.”

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, stepped away from tennis in 2022. She has yet to say whether she plans to play at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open in 2026.

PARIS (AP) — Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva reached her first Grand Slam final by beating Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3 at the French Open on Thursday.

The 19-year-old Andreeva converted her first match point when serving for the match. There was no post-match handshake between them and Kostyuk walked off quickly, turning only to wave and blow kisses to the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier, which saw some fans draped in Ukrainian flags.

“I am happy that I am in my first ever Grand Slam final. All of these feelings combined, it is amazing,” Andreeva said. “I just told myself no matter what happens, I am going to fight and give my best. With this kind of mindset, I ended up winning.”

The atmosphere beforehand was somewhat tense as the players had separate photos taken as they each stood next to two children on their respective side of the net. Usually the players pose for the same photo, standing right next to each other by the net.

Kostyuk and countrywoman Oleksandra Oliynykova have spoken out during the tournament about the impact Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having on their country.

Later Thursday, the other semifinal featured left-handed players Diana Shnaider of Russia and Maja Chwalinska of Poland. Chwalinska came through three qualifying rounds and had never previously been beyond the second round at a major.

Andreeva saved three break points at 0-40 in her opening service game, then raced into a 4-0 lead with a flurry of blistering forehand winners. There was a big cheer when Kostyuk held serve in the fifth game, but the Ukrainian then handed Andreeva the first set when her backhand hit the net.
Roof open and then closed

The semifinal began at shortly after 3 p.m. amid sunny conditions and an open roof, like on Wednesday when beaten quarterfinalists Aryna Sabalenka and Anna Kalinskaya complained of swirling wind on Chatrier and said the roof should have been closed.

It was closed toward the end of the second set of Thursday’s semi, offering Kostyuk better conditions for her clay-court game. She broke back to trail 4-3, prompting huge applause and loud chants of “Marta, Marta.”

But she dropped her next service game and the comeback ended almost as briefly as it began, along with Kostyuk’s 16-match winning streak on clay.

“Obviously, she (Kostyuk) has had an amazing season. Until this match, she has not lost a match on clay,” Andreeva said. “She is an amazing player and a very tough opponent.”
Mixed doubles

Top-seeded Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of Italy won the mixed doubles final earlier Thursday, beating Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and American Evan King 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.

An Italian is guaranteed to be in Sunday’s men’s Open singles final, with Flavio Cobolli facing fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Friday in the first Grand Slam semifinal for both players.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The NBA banned two people for life from its arenas on Thursday, after one of them was arrested shortly after running onto the court during Game 1 of the NBA Finals and appearing to take a selfie next to San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama.

A second fan was banned for his involvement in Wednesday night’s incident, which occurred midway through the fourth quarter of the game between the Spurs and New York Knicks. The NBA did not disclose specifics of that person’s involvement.

“The individual who entered the court area during Game 1 of The Finals was arrested and will be banned for life from all NBA arenas,” an NBA spokesman said in a news release. “A second individual will also receive a lifetime ban for his role in the incident.”

The fan who ultimately was arrested appeared to enter the court from the sideline opposite the team benches, starting from behind the play and running into San Antonio’s offensive end. The person was quickly pulled from the court by two security guards and it did not appear the person made any physical contact with Wembanyama or any New York players.

Wembanyama did not appear bothered by the incident, either as it was happening or afterward.

“I’ve never been in that situation,” Wembanyama said. “I didn’t know how to act.”

Play was stopped for 1 minute and 29 seconds before the game resumed with a jump ball. The fan who entered the play was taken out of the court area through a baseline tunnel.

“I don’t think it was an event at all,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I thought security got him out of there. I think everybody moved on to the next play.”