Sports - Thursday, April 9, 2026

Who are the biggest names who might be on the move, and how will the condensed offseason impact free agency?

First-round joint leader Rory McIlroy says feeling no nerves on the first tee of his Masters defence would not have been a good sign.

Champion shares lead with Sam Burns after opening 67 McIlroy: ‘I was nervous, I was anxious like I always am’ So this is what Rory McIlroy’s new normal looks like. The defending champion is footloose and fancy-free at Augusta National. He is plainly no longer of a mind to revel in the events of the 2025 Masters. McIlroy returned to Augusta, for so long a place that exacted psychological torture on him, to deliver an emphatic statement. The floodgates are wobbling. Parallels between McIlroy on day one at this major and his win 12 months ago are valid. In both instances he played swashbuckling, theatric golf (and not always from fairways). Rafa Nadal, anxious to watch every swing from the galleries, must have admired what he witnessed. After round one, McIlroy is firmly on course to become only the fourth man to successfully defend at Augusta. Those who believed the 36-year-old’s history-making concluded with playoff glory over Justin Rose last year may be sorely mistaken. Continue reading...

WNBA free agency is here. Jackie Young is returning to Las Vegas. Nneka Ogwumike is leaving Seattle.

Matt Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth feature in best shots of day one at the Masters in Augusta.

There are protests planned at Anfield as Roberto De Zerbi starts his Tottenham tenure and Everton eye Europe Nuno Espírito Santo has rolled back the years in an attempt to save West Ham. He has gone old-school, switching to a gung-ho 4-4-2 system to give his side more threat in the final third. Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos, both January arrivals, have altered the face of the attack, but neither forward has been prolific. Castellanos has scored three goals in all competitions since joining from Lazio and Pablo, who is yet to open his account in English football, failed to convert during last week’s penalty shootout defeat by Leeds in the FA Cup. As a pair, though, Castellanos and Pablo have been oddly effective. Are they any good? Unclear. Do they run around a lot and give a previously ponderous West Ham more energy? Undoubtedly. Played together, Pablo and Castellanos do a worthy job for the team. Importantly, they create space for the wingers, Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville, who hopes to return from a calf injury for Friday night’s vital home game against Wolves. Bowen and Summerville are the big threats; they are West Ham’s main source of goals, but both are more dangerous with Pablo and Castellanos in the team. Jacob Steinberg West Ham v Wolves, Friday 8pm (all times BST) Arsenal v Bournemouth, Saturday 12.30pm Brentford v Everton, Saturday 3pm Burnley v Brighton, Saturday 3pm Liverpool v Fulham, Saturday 5.30pm Continue reading...

Ollie Watkins' response to being dropped by England has been nothing short of emphatic, with two strikes in Bologna adding to his goal against West Ham before the international break.

Jonny Clayton comes back from 5-2 down to beat Michael van Gerwen 6-5 and claim his third nightly win to move top of the Premier League.

Our NFL reporters answer questions for every team two weeks out from the draft, and our analysts weigh in with some new intel on picks and moves.

No longer like a man carrying a vase across a slippery floor, the 2025 winner uses attack as the best form of defence Can Rory McIlroy win back-to-back Masters titles? Jack Nicklaus will tell you that McIlroy’s already done the hardest part. “Well, the key is to win two years in a row,” Nicklaus said with a grin after hitting the honorary tee shot on Thursday morning, “and I think Rory’s the only one that’s got a chance to do that this year.” Nicklaus did it back in 1965 and ’66. “Rory’s talented enough,” he added. “Now he’s got that monkey off his back, I think he has a very, very good chance to repeat.” In his first 17 years coming here, McIlroy played Augusta National just about every which way he could think of: he’s attacked it, endured it, and overthought it, played it carelessly, played it cautiously, and played it consideredly. The one thing we had never seen was how he would go about it once he had finally won the thing. Turns out the answer is he would do it with a big grin and a hell of a swing. His very first shot at Augusta as Masters champion, at 10.30am on a bright, blue and dry Augusta morning, was a whistling 332-yard drive that carried the entire hill and shot off into the gallery over the left side of the fairway. Continue reading...