Scheffler claims emphatic first win of year
CJ Cup Byron Nelson - final round leaderboard
-31 S Scheffler (US); -23 E Van Rooyen (SA); -20 S Stevens (US); -19 J Spieth (US) -17 T Kanaya (Jpn), A Schenk (US), S Burns (US), W Gordon (US), E Cole (US), M Hubbard (US)
Advertisement
Full leaderboard
Scottie Scheffler secured his first win of 2025 with a dominant display at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas.
The American world number one, 28, who finished fourth at the Masters last month, carded an eight-under-par 63 to finish on 31 under - eight shots ahead of nearest rival Erik van Rooyen.
Scheffler also equalled the record for the lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history, with 253 across the four days.
It was the 14th PGA Tour title of his career.
Playing in front of his hometown crowd he said: "I was inspired and very fortunate to be in that position.
"I played some good golf and kept myself in a good position all week."
Advertisement
As he came off the green at the 18th he was greeted by his wife Meredith and baby son Bennett.
Van Rooyen also shot 63 for the final round and finished on 23 under, while Jordan Spieth's 62 tied his personal best on the PGA Tour - lifting him to fourth place at 19 under.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
This PGA Tour pro's son is in the field at this week's historic Western Amateur
Cameron Kuchar is part of an international field at the historic Western Amateur Championship this week at Skokie Country Club in Illinois. Kuchar, a rising senior at Jupiter High School and son of PGA Tour veteran Matt Kuchar, will join more than 150 golfers vying for one of the top prizes in amateur golf from July 29-Aug. 2. The first round of stroke play is scheduled for Tuesday, July 29. The field will cut to low 44 and ties after Wednesday's second round. Golfers will then play 36 holes on Thursday to try to make the match play cut. Round of 16 and quarterfinal match play will be held on Friday. Semifinal and championship match play rounds are scheduled for Saturday. The Western Amateur, first hosted in 1899, holds the distinction of the third-oldest amateur golf event in the world. Past winners include Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ben Crenshaw and Curtis Strange. This year's field features competition from more than 18 countries. U.S. Junior Amateur: Cameron Kuchar closes run with narrow match play loss Kuchar most recently played in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship — the United States Golf Association's national championship for boys junior golf — last week at Trinity Forest and Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas. He made the match play cut and lost in the Round of 64 to California's Kailer Stone.
Newsweek
14 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Brotherly Bond Boosts Kurt Kitayama To 3M Open Win After DeChambeau Calls In Caddie
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Bryson DeChambeau was more than 4,000 miles away from Minnesota during the final round of the 3M Open. Yet, the LIV golf star played a pivotal role in one of the weekend's main storylines at the TPC Twin Cities despite playing at the JCB Golf and Country Club in London. It all started sometime last week, when DeChambeau's caddie, Greg Bodine, needed to miss the event in England due to personal issues. The two-time major champion was forced to make a call, and the recipient was none other than Tim Tucker, Kurt Kitayama's current caddie. Naturally, DeChambeau's call to Tucker wasn't random. The two worked together from 2016 to 2021, during which time the player won eight times on the PGA Tour, including a major championship. Nevertheless, when Tucker agreed to fill in for Bodine over the weekend, it was Kitayama who was left without a caddie. Fortunately, the 32-year-old also had an ace up his sleeve: his brother, Daniel. Kurt Kitayama of the United States poses with the Elemental Swing trophy and his caddie Daniel Kitayama after putting in to win on the 18th green during the final round of the 3M Open... Kurt Kitayama of the United States poses with the Elemental Swing trophy and his caddie Daniel Kitayama after putting in to win on the 18th green during the final round of the 3M Open 2025 at TPC Twin Cities on July 27, 2025 in Blaine, Minnesota. MoreThe move couldn't have worked out better. With his brother looking after his bag, he won the 3M Open after a sensational comeback. Kurt made the cut by just one stroke (6-under) but played the final 36 holes at 17-under to claim his second PGA Tour title. It's also the third victory of his professional career with his brother as his caddie. This is no small feat, considering that Kitayama has only won five times since beginning his career in 2015. "The caddie change wasn't my choice, actually," Kitayama said after his performance, according to the transcripts of the winner's press conference. "So, I had to find someone that I knew, I had to find someone that I trusted, and my brother's been on the bag before. We won twice in Europe." "He's always been around me at tournaments and whenever he can, so I figured that was going to be the best fit to finish the season." Career low 60 with your brother on the bag ... Doesn't get much better than that for Kurt Kitayama 🫶 — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 27, 2025 Kurt was very pleased with the outcome of working with his brother, something they have done intermittently over the years. "He helped me stay calm out there, make good decisions, and yeah, just helps having family on the bag," he said, according to the transcripts. " ... This win's going to be extra special having him on the bag. Very cool experience and really happy he's part of it." DeChambeau, meanwhile, finished tied for 11th at LIV Golf UK with Tucker carrying his bag. The future of this situation has not yet been made public, although Kitayama hinted that his brother could also be at his side at the Wyndham Championship next week. More Golf: Min Woo Lee Cooking With Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner During Tour Break
Forbes
14 minutes ago
- Forbes
Why NBA Teams Are Afraid Of The Second Apron
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 24: Kristaps Porzingis #8 of the Boston Celtics is congratulated by ... More Jrue Holiday #4 and Jayson Tatum #0 after scoring a basket against the New York Knicks during the second half at Madison Square Garden on February 24, 2024 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by) One year ago, the Boston Celtics won their 18th NBA championship in franchise history. Fast-forward 14 months, and their roster is hardly recognizable. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser are their lone remaining rotation players from that championship squad. The NBA's second apron is largely to blame for that level of turnover. Had the Celtics not detonated their roster this offseason, they were in line to become the NBA's first-ever $500 million team when factoring in both payroll and luxury-tax penalties. They might have been open to shelling out that type of dough had they repeated as champions last season; after all, how can you turn down the opportunity at a three-peat? But when Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks, it sealed the fate for that era of the Celtics. The Celtics aren't the only team that has cowed in the face of the second apron, though. The Minnesota Timberwolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks right before training camp last year, largely for financial reasons. Doing so gave them enough wiggle room under the second apron to re-sign both Julius Randle and Naz Reid this offseason, although they still wound up losing Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the Atlanta Hawks. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers allowed Paul George to walk in free agency last summer, as they refused to give him the same four-year, $211.6 million max contract that he wound up signing with the Philadelphia 76ers. "We wanted Paul back," team governor Steve Ballmer told ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk last November. "We made him a big offer. We really wanted him here. We just wanted to not put ourselves in a position where we can't consistently be good. We offered them the max for three years and Philly offered them the max for four years. OK, I get it. But in terms of our trajectory and staying really good, it was really going to be an issue for us." Hardcore NBA fans have become painfully aware of the new team-building realities that the second apron brought about, but casual fans might not fully grasp what makes the second apron so terrifying to teams. That's what we're here to explain. The Second Apron's Trade And Free-Agency Restrictions The NBA's previous collective bargaining agreement had only one apron, which was roughly $6-7 million above the luxury-tax line. Teams that went above the apron had the smaller taxpayer mid-level exception rather than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, couldn't acquire free agents via sign-and-trade and lost access to the bi-annual exception, but those were their main restrictions. Under the new CBA, first-apron teams are subject to all of those limitations and then some. They also aren't allowed to take back more salary in a trade than they send out—they were previously allowed to take back 125% of what they sent out—and once the regular season begins, they can't sign someone off the buyout market if that player was previously earning more than the non-taxpayer MLE. Lastly, they can't use trade exceptions that were created in a previous season. Teams that go above the second apron face all of those restrictions as well. Beyond that, they also can't aggregate two smaller contracts in a trade to acquire a larger salary, send out cash in a trade or acquire players when they sign-and-trade their own free agents away. They also lose access to any mid-level exception in free agency, which means they can only hand out veteran-minimum contracts to external free agents. The Phoenix Suns were effectively the NBA's first second-apron guinea pig, and they demonstrated how quickly things can go south for teams above that line. In 2023, they quickly signed Keita Bates-Diop, Yuta Watanabe and Drew Eubanks once free agency began, and they added Eric Gordon and Bol Bol later on. Last summer, they landed one of the biggest steals of the summer by inking Tyus Jones to a one-year, veteran-minimum contract. Some of those signings (Jones, Eubanks) worked out for the Suns. Others did not. When Grayson Allen went down two games into the 2024 playoffs with an ankle injury, the Suns didn't have the adequate depth to replace him. The same went for whenever Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and/or Devin Booker missed time over the past two seasons. Second-apron teams with elite college and NBA scouting departments might be able to work the margins in the draft and free agency and harvest some gems with their limited resources. However, the second-apron restrictions are effectively designed to limit teams' ability to improve their roster via free agency or trades. The Second Apron's Draft Pick Penalties Teams that go above the second apron aren't just limited in free agency and on the trade market. They face a pair of severe draft-related penalties as well. If a team finishes above the second apron in a given year, it is no longer allowed to trade its first-round pick seven years in the future. That means the Suns, Celtics and Timberwolves—all of whom finished as second-apron teams in 2024-25—are not allowed to trade their 2032 first-round pick for the time being. It gets worse. If any of those teams stay above the second apron for at least two of the next four years, that first-round pick will automatically move to the bottom of the round. If multiple teams have their picks moved down in the same draft, they'll be arranged in reverse order of their winning percentage from that season. If a second-apron team finishes below the second apron for at least three of the following season, its first-round pick becomes trade-eligible again. However, the Suns, Celtics and Timberwolves will not be able to trade their 2032 first-round pick until 2028 at the earliest. All three teams have already dipped below the second apron in 2025-26, which suggests they're being mindful of those draft-pick penalties. The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team above the second apron at the moment. If they fall short in the playoffs again, it's fair to wonder whether they'll be compelled to trade one of their larger contracts to escape from the second-apron restrictions that they'll face this coming season. The second apron increases at the same percentage as the salary cap and luxury-tax lines do on a year-to-year basis, so teams will begin to gain a bit more breathing room as the decade progresses. There was less than an $11 million gap between the first and second apron in 2024-25, whereas there's nearly a $12 million one in 2025-26. However, the NBA dropped an unpleasant surprise on teams just before the start of free agency when it issued an updated projection for the 2026-27 salary cap. According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, the cap is only expected to rise by 7% rather than the full 10% that it's allowed to increase. John Hollinger of The Athletic noted that teams "had budgeted for another 10% raise, but now must change their projections downward for the luxury tax and aprons by roughly $5 million apiece." The league's new national TV deals should still send the salary cap, luxury tax and aprons soaring over the coming years, but ongoing disruption with regional sports networks is cutting into the NBA's projected revenue. Teams have to factor those variables in while plotting their long-term strategy, as the second-apron restrictions have proven to be no joke. "I think the second-apron basketball penalties are real, and I'm not sure I understood how real until they were staring me in the face in the last month," Celtics president Brad Stevens told reporters after the first round of the 2025 NBA draft in June. "So I do think that that can't be overstated." The Celtics won't be the last team to feel the wrath of the second apron. The Cavaliers' day of reckoning is fast approaching, and the Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder could eventually join them in the years to come. Unless otherwise noted, all stats via PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook. Follow Bryan on Bluesky.
