Podcast appearances and mentions of mike whan

USGA CEO Mike Whan and golf historian Jaime Diaz joined the program this morning. Whan talked about the championship season ahead for the USGA as well as their young development program designed to catch the United States up with the rest of the world as it relates to a having a national program backing their growth in the game. Whan also talked about the progress on the implementation of the golf ball rollback between the various governing bodies. Diaz talked about the historical context of Rory McIlroy's Masters win and where that places him all-time, including what is ahead for him. The show wrapped with our team picks for the RBC Heritage and the golf dogs of the week.

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by USGA CEO Mike Whan for an exclusive interview. The former commissioner of the LPGA talks the many initiatives they have in place for the start of the recreational golf season, what venues he is most excited to have hosting their Championships and why creating the U.S. National Development Program was so important.--Join us at The Bank, Hilton Head's Beer Garden, for Subpar Live on Wednesday, April 16, at 6 PM EST. Enjoy a night of golf, laughs, and good times with drink specials, giveaways, and more. Whether you're a PGA Tour caddie, a fan, or in town for RBC Heritage, this is the place to be. Presented by Zone.--Make sure you enter the Golden Bear(™) Sweepstakes between March 27th - April 13th with Fanatics Sportsbook for your chance to win a pin flag signed by Jack Nicklaus. Gambling Problem? See Official Rules at https://sportsbook.fanatics.com/promo-terms/2025/Sweepstakes/ALL_1878.pdf . Sponsor: FBG Enterprises Opco, LLC. Not sponsored, endorsed by or affiliated with Augusta National, Inc.⁠https://www.joinfanatics.com/subpar-signed-flag-sweepstakes/⁠GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, Connecticut residents call (888) 789-7777,  Massachusetts residents call (800)-327-5050, New York residents call (877) 8-HOPENY, Maryland residents visit ⁠mdgamblinghelp.org⁠. --Thank you to our partners at Ship Sticks.  Skip airport stress and costly airline fees with complimentary insurance, real-time tracking, dedicated support, and on-time delivery.  Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠shipsticks.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use the code SUBPAR20 to enjoy 20% off your first shipment.--Thank you to our partners at Callaway. The #1 putter on every major Tour—PGA, LPGA, DP World—you name it. More Tour Pros trust Odyssey than any other brand, and it shows with #1 rankings in worldwide wins and money earned. See what it can do for you at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OdysseyGolf.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.--Choose your style, pick your favorite Birdie Juice logo and shop from a line-up of top tier brands at ⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.golf.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ today!

In the powerful conclusion to our four-part conversation with two-time major champion Jane Geddes, we explore the remarkable evolution of a player who redefined what life after golf can look like. From the fairways to the front office, Jane's post-playing journey is as bold and fascinating as her competitive career.Jane shares how she pivoted from the LPGA Tour to academia, earning a law degree and quickly transitioning into a leadership role within the LPGA's executive team. She offers behind-the-scenes insight into her work with commissioners Carolyn Bivens and Mike Whan, including her integral role in bringing golf back to the Olympics and championing gender equity within the sport.But perhaps most surprising is her bold leap into the world of professional wrestling, taking on a high-profile executive role at WWE. Jane recounts the challenges of stepping into a new culture, leading talent relations, and even appearing on the hit reality series Total Divas. Her candor and humor shine as she reflects on those chaotic, unforgettable years.We then follow Jane back into the golf world, where she played key roles in the LPGA Amateur program and the Legends Tour, always striving to create meaningful opportunities for women in the game. Jane closes the episode with reflections on legacy, purpose, and the life lessons she's learned both inside and outside the ropes.This finale is a testament to resilience, reinvention, and the enduring spirit of a true champion. Jane Geddes' journey is not only unique in the world of professional golf—it's one that continues to inspire.

USGA CEO Mike Whan makes his return to the pod on the heels of today's announcement about a LIV exemption into the field for the 2025 US Open. We start our discussion on recent comments from various stakeholders in pro golf around the golf ball rollback before getting into pace of play issues, the LIV - US Open announcement and the USGA's rationale for creating the exemption. We close with some thoughts on current and upcoming venues for USGA championships - including Cypress Point for this year's edition of the Walker Cup. Support our sponsors: Rhoback fanduel.com/nlu The Stack Subscribe to the No Laying Up Podcast channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@NoLayingUpPodcast If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining The Nest: No Laying Up's community of avid golfers. Nest members help us maintain our light commercial interruptions (3 minutes of ads per 90 minutes of content) and receive access to exclusive content, discounts in the pro shop, and an annual member gift. It's a $90 annual membership, and you can sign up or learn more at nolayingup.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This edition of "Golf With Jay Delsing" will feature Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA. Also, news and notes from around the game of golf.

This edition of "Golf with Jay Delsing" will feature Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA. Also, news and notes from around the game of golf. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This edition of "Golf with Jay Delsing" will feature Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA. Also, news and notes from around the game of golf. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bob and Brian were able to attend Media Day for the upcoming U.S. Open as they caught up with Mike Whan, Wyndham Clark, and more.

Brian and Bob look ahead to next week's PGA Championship as well as look at Media Day for the upcoming U.S. Open where they were able to catch up with Mike Whan, Wyndham Clark, and more.

Matt Adams is joined for an exclusive one on one conversation with USGA CEO Mike Whan. They discuss the state of golf, the upcoming US Open at Pinehurst, their new Golf House in Pinehurst, the golf ball rollback, the future of the sport, golf's latest boom, sustainability and so much more.

The golf world took sides earlier this month when the USGA and R&A announced their plans to reign in distance with a rollback of the golf ball for both professionals and amateurs starting in 2028. The data presented by the governing bodies includes statistics claiming that high club-head speed players will lose up to 10 yards with the new ball restrictions, while shorter hitters will only see a 3-5 yard difference. So why the rule change? Why now? What happened to bifurcation? What about course setups, sustainability and green speeds? How is all of this good for the game? Tom Coyne brings all of these questions to USGA headquarters where he sits down with its CEO Mike Whan. In a candid conversation including questions submitted by TGJ members, Coyne and Whan attempt to find common ground on one of the game's most heated subjects.  Read Titleist's response to the rollback here: https://www.titleist.com/titleist-response-distance-insights The Golfer's Journal is made possible by reader support. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/MembershipsYT

The golf world took sides earlier this month when the USGA and R&A announced their plans to reign in distance with a rollback of the golf ball for both professionals and amateurs starting in 2028. The data presented by the governing bodies includes statistics claiming that high club-head speed players will lose up to 10 yards with the new ball restrictions, while shorter hitters will only see a 3-5 yard difference. So why the rule change? Why now? What happened to bifurcation? What about course setups, sustainability and green speeds? How is all of this good for the game? Tom Coyne brings all of these questions to USGA headquarters where he sits down with its CEO Mike Whan. In a candid conversation including questions submitted by TGJ members, Coyne and Whan attempt to find common ground on one of the game's most heated subjects.  Read Titleist's response to the rollback here: https://www.titleist.com/titleist-response-distance-insights The Golfer's Journal is made possible by reader support. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/MembershipsYT

We've got several different avenues to cover on this week's recap pod. First up, Soly, KVV and Tron react to the latest news on the PGA Tour's efforts to snag private investment dollars and do our best to make sense of how these negotiations dovetail with the potential PIF investment into the PGA Tour Then it's on to the Grant Thornton (19:00) where Lydia Ko and Jason Day win the inaugural edition of the PGA-LPGA team crossover tournament. We also talk Rory's return to Twitter, the reactions to Jon Rahm's LIV announcement and some additional ramifications of a restructured PGA Tour (24:00) before we move to Soly's interview with USGA CEO Mike Whan and R&A CEO Martin Slumbers on this week's rollback announcement (44:30) We close the pod (1:42:10) with KVV reading his recent column "Jon Rahm, The Rollback and an Entire Reevaluation" which you can read here: https://nolayingup.com/blog/jon-rahm-the-rollback-and-an-entire-reevaluation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The USGA and R&A announced today (Wednesday, December 6) that they plan to adjust their testing standards for golf balls, resulting in a small rollback across the game. To discuss this decision, Mike Whan and Thomas Pagel—the USGA's CEO and Chief Governance Officer, respectively—join Garrett to talk about the governing bodies' switch from bifurcation to universal rollback, why they expect the impact on average players to be minor, the feedback they've received from equipment manufacturers and professional tours, and what they hope the overall effect of the rule change on the game will be.

One day after the senate subcommittee hearing on the PGA Tour/PIF partnership, players share their thoughts on the day's proceedings. Our legal expert Jodi Balsam joins the show to further explain the hearing and what it means for the future of golf. Also, today is the final round of the 2nd U.S. Adaptive Open from Pinehurst No. 6! Andy Stevenson provides an update on what to expect from the final round and speaks to USGA commissioner Mike Whan. They discuss how the Adaptive Open has been received in its first two years, and what's ahead for the competition as it heads to Sand Creek Station in Kansas next year. Lastly, George and Eamon take another look at the Scottish Open and discuss the state of Rory McIlroy's game before he tees off tomorrow at the Renaissance Club. Jodi Balsam (31:51) Mike Whan (40:04)

The U.S. Open makes its debut at the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club this week, and USGA CEO Mike Whan tells the tale of the wide fairways and the unique styles of LACC. Get ready to go Hollywood with the man in charge at the USGA!

Matt Adams is Live to discuss the breaking news that PIF is merging with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. LIV Golf, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour are merging. Hear from Jay Monahan, Mike Whan, Yasir Al Rumayyan, Keith Pelley and more.

USGA CEO Mike Whan sits down with Scarlet Fu and Damian Sassower to discuss the upcoming US Open and his reaction to the PGA's reported merger with LIV Golf. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 60! Munn confesses his wandering eye allowed him to cheat on the Reese's Blizzard at DQ for the first time in 20 years and purchase a Puppy Chow Blizzard.The guys talk about Wyndham Clark's run to his first career victory at the Wells Fargo Championship, played at one of the toughest courses on Tour at Quail Hollow. Clark burst past Xander Schauffele on the back nine. With just two designated events remaining, the top two players in the world sat this event out and the guys break down all of the week's storylines.They touch on Phil's recent Twitter behavior, using expletives to describe Mike Whan's decision at the USGA to remove Talor Gooch's exemption into the U.S. Open. Meanwhile, Lee Westwood continues to rip the DP World Tour after the Tour won it's legal battle against the LIV Tour players.The guys talk about Gopher Ben Warian continuing a fantastic junior season, qualifying for the NCAA Regionals next week in Michigan and Bella McCauley and Mariana Mesones playing at the NCAA Indiana Regional this week. They also discuss some of the U.S. Open local qualifiers taking place the last two weeks.Matt provided a Ryder Cup standings and Presidents Cup captains update. Keiser broke down the unique format this week on the LPGA Tour with the HANWHA International Crown featuring the top eight countries with four players competing for each nation. Thailand ran the table to beat Australia in the finals.Brad breaks down the Minnesota high school golf scene with Maple Grove surging into the top ranking in the boys and girls rankings.

Deep dive into LACC and how it will be set up for the 123rd US Open. Hear from USGA CEO Mike Whan and the USGAs head of course set up, Jeff Hall.

Another show packed with great interviews! Jim Furyk was named captain of Team USA for the 2024 Presidents Cup today, so he sat down with Damon & Eamon to chat about his hopes for the event, and what he learned from his captaincy in the 2018 Ryder Cup. Jim is just the tip of the iceberg as USGA CEO Mike Whan, and past U.S. Women's Open champions Michelle Wie West and Paula Creamer stop by to preview the event as it heads to one of golf's most storied courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links. Could it be the last time we see Michelle Wie West tee it up in a professional event? Hear what she had to say on the matter. Not to get ahead of ourselves, the Hanwa LifePlus International Crown is this week at TPC Harding Park! LPGA stars Minjee Lee and Atthaya Thitikul are set to represent Australia and Thailand, respectively, in the revitalized team competition. Our crew speaks to both of them on what they expect from the week, and why they think their teams have what it takes to nab the top spot at week's end. Jim Furyk (2:37) Mike Whan (14:24) Michelle Wie West (35:51) Atthaya Thitikul (47:28) Paula Creamer (53:05) Minjee Lee (1:02:00)

Hollis Stacy, winner of 18 LPGA titles, four majors and a World Golf Hall of Fame member, recounts her final two major championship wins, the 1983 Peter Jackson Classic (now the du Maurier) and her third Women's U.S. Open in 1984 at Salem CC. Hollis looks back on her last few Tour wins and making the decision to retire from the competitive game. She shares her thoughts on what changes in the game have been most significant since turning pro in 1974 and distinctly remembers her "Call to the Hall" from Mike Whan and her induction into the WGHOF in 2012. Hollis Stacy concludes her life story, "FORE the Good of the Game."Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our Website https://www.forethegoodofthegame.com/reviews/new/ Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fore-the-good-of-the-game/id1562581853 Spotify Podcasts https://open.spotify.com/show/0XSuVGjwQg6bm78COkIhZO?si=b4c9d47ea8b24b2d Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNzM3Mjc1LnJzcw About "FORE the Good of the Game” is a golf podcast featuring interviews with World Golf Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around the game of golf. Highlighting the positive aspects of the game, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by PGA Tour star Bruce Devlin, our podcast focuses on telling their life stories, in their voices. Join Bruce and Mike Gonzalez “FORE the Good of the Game.” Thanks so much for listening!

On the heels of today's announcement of a proposed modified local rule of the golf ball rollback for elite level players, we're joined by USGA CEO Mike Whan to explain the position of the USGA and R&A and what lies ahead in the process. After our chat with Mike, we outline our reaction to the announcement, address some misconceptions about the proposed changes, and have some fun with listener questions as well.

The USGA and R&A propose a new Model Local Rule (MLR) to address the impact of distance in golf, which would require the use of golf balls tested under modified launch conditions. The MLR is intended for use only in elite competitions and, if adopted, will have no impact on recreational golf. George Savaricas and Eamon Lynch talk with USGA CEO, Mike Whan and Chief Executive of the R&A, Martin Slumbers amongst others to help break down what all this means for the future of the game. Mike Whan and Martin Slumbers (2:57) Matt Adams (44:31) Michael Clayton (1:00:03)

Join hosts Michael Barr, Scarlet Fu and Damian Sassower as they talk with Mike Whan, Chief Executive Officer of the United States Golf Association (USGA). They discuss the state of golf and what sets it apart from the other major sports around the world. Plus, they get his perspective on some of the latest golf headlines, including his thoughts on LIV Golf, and the Department of Justice's antitrust probe of the PGA and USGA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sources tell Eamon Lynch that four more events have been awarded 'elevated' status in the 2022-2023 PGA TOUR season! PGA TOUR pros react to the news as Eamon and Damon take a closer look as well. Paige Mackenzie chimes in too and gives us an honest assessment of Jin Young Ko's game headed into the Ladies BMW in her native South Korea. USGA President Mike Whan also dropped by the show to discuss a groundbreaking investment the governing body is making in the First Tee and further diversifying the game. Lastly, former University of Texas standout Parker Coody joins the show to discuss the hot start to his pro career! The member of the 2022 National Champions has already secured full Korn Ferry status for the coming season. Mike Whan (24:15) Parker Coody (36:56)

Ryder Cup Europe has parted ways with Henrik Stenson as captain for Ryder Cup 2023 in Rome. Shane Ryan and Todd Lewis call into the show to react to the news with Damon and George. USGA CEO Mike Whan joins us to discuss the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open and what the new national championship means for golfers with physical, visual, and intellectual impairments. On the PGA TOUR, 4-time winner Billy Andrade is the 2022 recipient of the Payne Stewart Award for character, charity and sportsmanship. Andrade discusses his personal relationship with Stewart and what winning the award in his namesake means to him. The LPGA is in France for the Evian Championship, so this year's Chevron Championship winner Jennifer Kupcho gives us the inside scoop on her preparations for the penultimate major of the season. Shane Ryan: 10:00 Mike Whan: 18:30 Billy Andrade: 26:13 Todd Lewis: 40:15 Jennifer Kupcho: 53:30

First, the Great Predictor Steve Johnson welcomes Minnesota Tim to the exclusive club of fatherhood (1:00) and then the Great Predictor explains why he has no interest in playing Brookline, the site where the U.S. Open was held (10:00). Later, the guys discuss the hypocrisy surrounding the LIV Golf tour (32:00). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's another show on location, this time in Washington DC. Keith is covering the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club. The ladies third major of 2022 has an amazing field. The first round had some serious fireworks. Not to be outdone, the PGA Tour is going low in Connecticut as well.  Rory leads that event after one round.  Keith is joined by a player from the KPMG, Alisa Rodriguez. Alisa qualified for the Women's PGA last year and spoke to Keith that week so when she qualified for 2022, we just had to have her back. The spirited young PGA Apprentice can seriously golf her ball.  Together they discuss qualifying, Congressional, her job and playing on the Epson Tour. How doe she balance it all, listen and learn. It's not every day we can chat with a major championship competitor. The insights she gives are refreshing and educational.  The Weekly Update: Grayson Murray on Twitter, Mike Whan responds on social and a Caddie wins his first major.    ProShow Playlist Ep. #216:  She Works Hard for the Money (Donna Summer), Ghost (Justin Bieber), Heat Waves (Glass Animals)

USGA CEO Mike Whan joins us to talk about his first U.S. Open as CEO, his vision for what makes a good U.S. Open test, and the new E.J. Marshall platter that was awarded to the host superintendent for being an outstanding partner in agronomy and course preparation.

First, Hank reacts to how the USGA setup the U.S. Open (1:00) and then he explains how Matthew Fitzpatrick's break on 18 helped him win the U.S. Open (5:00). Later, Hank shares how Fitzpatrick accomplished his first major championship (13:00) and then Hank wonders if the floodgates will open for Fitzpatrick (18:00). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ann preview the Final Round of the US Open, visits with Andy Bessett of the upcoming Travelers Championship and talks with Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA, about the US Open, the Country Club's rich history and USGA's reaction to LIV Golf.

Ann speaks with Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA, about the US Open, the Country Club's rich history and USGA's reaction to LIV Golf.

Mike Whan, CEO, USGA, on his highlights of US Open week, his first as CEO of USGA; the rich history of The Country Club, Brookline, Mass; USGA's reasoning on allowing LIV Golf players to play US Open this year and what would have to change in that landscape for USGA to deny those players from playing in the 2023 US Open; and about the USGA development program in the works.

This is a recording from SGS's live gathering at the USGA's 19th Hole at High Street Place Food Hall in Downtown Boston. It features a recap from Wednesday on the ground at the U.S. Open, including some thoughts on the USGA's press conference with Mike Whan and John Bodenhamer, and a few names not to consider after witnessing some alarming shots. Andy and Brendan also have a spectator's guide segment on some places to watch from the ground and on TV. There's a debate over whether there's a “US Open player.” And they close with a fun Q&A session with some amusing inquiries from both Twitter and the live audience.

Ann Liguori,  Host of Talking Golf WFAN - NY and Golf Innerview Podcast discusses the history of the Country Club in Brookline, Mass, site of the 2022 US Open, and home of Francis Ouimet, the “father of American amateur golf,” the latest USGA initiatives under CEO Mike Whan, how LIV Golf will continue to affect the PGA Tour and the future of the Majors, and the opening round leaderboard.        

MLB – Major League Baseball Last Night Detroit Tigers 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 3 Baltimore Orioles 9, Chicago Cubs 3 Chicago White Sox 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 Tigers 5, Pirates 3 – Rain man: Skubal wins 4th straight as Tigers top Pirates 5-3 Tarik Skubal pitched seven steady innings to win his fourth straight decision and Harold Castro hit a two-run single to lead the Detroit Tigers to a rain-delayed 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. After the start was pushed back more than two hours, Skubal gave up three runs and six hits while striking out nine and walking one. The left-hander has worked a career-high seven innings in three consecutive outings and is 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in his last seven starts. Castro’s hit, a liner up the middle, capped a three-run fourth that put the Tigers in front 4-1. Rookie Spencer Torkelson drove in the first run with a double. Orioles 9, Cubs 3 – Orioles hit 5 home runs, cruise past Cubs 9-3 Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini hit successive homers, sparking a power surge that carried the Baltimore Orioles past the Chicago Cubs 9-3. Jorge Mateo, Austin Hays and Ramón Urías also connected for the Orioles, who beat the Cubs for the first time in seven tries since 2008. Reliever Bryan Baker earned the win after allowing one run and one hit over 1 1/3 innings. Christopher Morel homered on the game’s first pitch off rookie Kyle Bradish and has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games to begin his career, extending his Cubs’ record. Morel also had an RBI triple in the sixth. White Sox 4, Dodgers 0 – Kopech, Pollock lead White Sox to 4-0 win over Dodgers Michael Kopech pitched six innings of one-hit ball, pinch-hitter AJ Pollock delivered a two-run double against his former team and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0. Pollock’s clutch swing off the bench sparked a four-run sixth that sent the White Sox to their third consecutive victory. It was the fourth time this season Kopech worked at least five innings and limited an opponent to one hit. The right-hander struck out eight and walked one, lowering his ERA to 1.94. The NL West-leading Dodgers dropped their third straight. Today Detroit (Skubal 5-2) at Pittsburgh (Keller 2-5), 12:35 p.m.                  WSJM/WCSY 12:15 Chicago Cubs (Stroman 2-5) at Baltimore (Lyles 3-4), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Gonsolin 6-0) at Chicago White Sox (Cueto 0-2), 8:10 p.m. MLB – Angels fire manager Joe Maddon amid 12-game losing streak The Los Angeles Angels have fired manager Joe Maddon with the team mired in a 12-game losing streak. Third base coach Phil Nevin will be the Angels’ interim manager when they host Boston on Tuesday night. Maddon went 130-148 with the Angels, who hired him before the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season. After finishing with losing records in Maddon’s first two seasons, the Angels were off to a strong 27-17 start before their current losing streak began. They are one loss shy of tying the longest skid in franchise history. NHL – National Hockey League – 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Conference Finals Last Night Tampa Bay Lightning 4, New York Rangers 1                       (Series tied 2-2) Lightning 4, Rangers 1 – Lightning beat Rangers 4-1 in Game 4 to even East final Nikita Kucherov scored on a breakaway and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 33 saves , helping the Tampa Bay Lightning shut down the New York Rangers 4-1 and even the NHL’s Eastern Conference final at two games apiece. Kucherov took a pass from Ondrej Palat in the middle of the ice and skated in on goaltender Igor Shesterkin to give the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions a two-goal lead just over 13 minutes into the second period. Palat, Pat Maroon and Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning, who have rebounded from losing the first two games of the series on the road to keep their bid to become the first team in nearly 40 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles alive. Game 5 is Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. NBA – National Basketball Association – 2022 NBA Finals Tonight Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics, 9:00 p.m.         (Series tied 1-1) WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association Tonight Indiana Fever at Connecticut Sun, 7:00 p.m. Chicago Sky at Washington Mystics, 8:00 p.m. WNBA – Los Angeles Sparks fire coach and GM Derek Fisher The Los Angeles Sparks have fired head coach and general manager Derek Fisher the team announced. Fisher took over the team before the 2019 season and became the GM a year later. He finished his career with a 54-46 record as coach. The Sparks missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2011 and bolstered their roster by adding All-Star Liz Cambage in the offseason. They had a difficult schedule to start the season with nine of their first 12 games on the road and are 5-7. WNBA – Griner’s fate tangled up with other American held in Russia Brittney Griner is easily the most prominent American locked up by a foreign country. But the WNBA star’s case is tangled up with that of another prisoner few Americans have ever heard of. Paul Whelan has been held in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage charges he and the U.S. government say are false. He was left out of a prisoner exchange in April that brought home yet another detainee, Marine veteran Trevor Reed. That resolution escalates pressure on the Biden administration to avoid a repeat scenario of another one-for-one swap that does not include Whelan. Golf – LIV – Dustin Johnson quits PGA membership to play in Saudi league Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson says he has resigned his PGA Tour membership to participate in the new golf series backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The first LIV Golf Invitational, which offers $25 million in prize money, is taking place outside London starting Thursday. Johnson says he “had to think long and hard” about leaving the PGA Tour, seemingly ending his hopes of competing in the Ryder Cup for the United States. Johnson is No. 15 in the world, the highest-ranked player in the field. Golf – Tiger Woods says his leg not ready and he won’t play US Open Tiger Woods has pulled out of the U.S. Open and says his body "needs more time to get stronger for major championship golf.” He said he hopes to be ready to play in a charity pro-am event in Ireland ahead of the British Open at St. Andrews in July. The U.S. Open is next week at The Country Club at Brookline outside of Boston. Woods made a surprise return to golf at the Masters just 14 months after he broke bones in his right leg and ankle in a car crash. He later played the PGA Championship at Southern Hills but withdrew after the third round. Woods has won the U.S. Open three times, most recently in 2008. Golf – US Open to accept Mickelson and all eligible players Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and other players competing in the Saudi-funded rival golf league are free to play the U.S. Open next week. That was always expected but confirmed Tuesday by the USGA. The USGA says if a player earned his way into the the U.S. Open, should that be taken away because he is playing a different league? It felt the answer was no. CEO Mike Whan says more than 9,000 people signed up for the U.S. Open and the USGA is not in the business of policing what they stand for. NFL – Rodgers unsure how long he will play beyond this season Aaron Rodgers says he’s unsure how much longer he will keep playing football. But he’s definitive about at least one element of his playing future. The four-time MVP quarterback expects to retire as a Green Bay Packer. That scenario seemed uncertain when Rodgers skipped the Packers mandatory minicamp last year in a standoff with team officials. That relationship has since improved enough that Rodgers signed a contract extension with the Packers after producing his second straight MVP season. Rodgers said Tuesday at the Packers minicamp that he doesn’t know yet whether he will play beyond this upcoming season. Olympics – Figure Skating – Figure skating minimum age rises to 17 before 2026 Olympics No 15-year-old figure skaters will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics following the controversy surrounding Russian national champion Kamila Valieva at this year’s Beijing Games. A new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events has been passed by the International Skating Union that will raise the minimum age to 17 before the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The limit will be phased in with 16-year-olds allowed to compete in the 2023-24 season. It will then rise to 17 for the season before the Olympics. NCAASFB – Coaches: Doubleheaders in WCWS semis threaten player safety Oklahoma bounced back from losing a Women’s College World Series semifinal to UCLA on Monday, dominating the Bruins in a game that started 30 minutes after the first one. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said the turnaround should not have been so quick. Gasso called it a player safety issue. She likes that the NCAA’s Division I Competition Oversight Committee added a day between the semifinals and the finals in changes made before this season, but she would give it up for time between semifinal games. MILB – Midwest League Baseball Yesterday West Michigan Whitecaps 9, Lansing Lugnuts 5 Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, South Bend Cubs 1 Dayton Dragons 14, Great Lakes Loons 8 Today Lansing Lugnuts at West Michigan Whitecaps, 6:35 p.m. Cedar Rapids Kernels at South Bend Cubs, 7:05 p.m. Great Lakes Loons at Dayton Dragons, 7:05 p.m. MHSAA – High School Sports Last Night Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Caledonia Portage Central 2, Traverse City West 0 Hudsonville 1, Rockford 0 Division 3 at Otsego Otsego 8, Brooklyn Columbia Central 0 Hudsonville Unity Christian 4, South Haven 0 Division 4 at Portage Northern Kalamazoo Christian 1, Lansing Christian 0 – 2 OT Our Lady of the Lake 2, Saugatuck 1 Tonight Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 2 at Battle Creek Harper Creek Gull Lake vs. Mason, 5:30 p.m. St. Joseph vs. Zeeland West, 7:30 p.m. Baseball – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Portage Northern Mattawan vs. Hudsonville, 4:00 p.m. Division 2 at Edwardsburg Berrien Springs vs. Vicksburg, 4:30 p.m. Division 3 at Centreville Buchanan vs. Climax-Scotts, 5:00 p.m. Division 4 at Kalamazoo College Michigan Lutheran vs. Gobles, 4:30 p.m. Division 4 at Decatur Decatur vs. Colon, 4:30 p.m. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MLB – Major League Baseball Last Night Detroit Tigers 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 3 Baltimore Orioles 9, Chicago Cubs 3 Chicago White Sox 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 Tigers 5, Pirates 3 – Rain man: Skubal wins 4th straight as Tigers top Pirates 5-3 Tarik Skubal pitched seven steady innings to win his fourth straight decision and Harold Castro hit a two-run single to lead the Detroit Tigers to a rain-delayed 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. After the start was pushed back more than two hours, Skubal gave up three runs and six hits while striking out nine and walking one. The left-hander has worked a career-high seven innings in three consecutive outings and is 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in his last seven starts. Castro’s hit, a liner up the middle, capped a three-run fourth that put the Tigers in front 4-1. Rookie Spencer Torkelson drove in the first run with a double. Orioles 9, Cubs 3 – Orioles hit 5 home runs, cruise past Cubs 9-3 Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini hit successive homers, sparking a power surge that carried the Baltimore Orioles past the Chicago Cubs 9-3. Jorge Mateo, Austin Hays and Ramón Urías also connected for the Orioles, who beat the Cubs for the first time in seven tries since 2008. Reliever Bryan Baker earned the win after allowing one run and one hit over 1 1/3 innings. Christopher Morel homered on the game’s first pitch off rookie Kyle Bradish and has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games to begin his career, extending his Cubs’ record. Morel also had an RBI triple in the sixth. White Sox 4, Dodgers 0 – Kopech, Pollock lead White Sox to 4-0 win over Dodgers Michael Kopech pitched six innings of one-hit ball, pinch-hitter AJ Pollock delivered a two-run double against his former team and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0. Pollock’s clutch swing off the bench sparked a four-run sixth that sent the White Sox to their third consecutive victory. It was the fourth time this season Kopech worked at least five innings and limited an opponent to one hit. The right-hander struck out eight and walked one, lowering his ERA to 1.94. The NL West-leading Dodgers dropped their third straight. Today Detroit (Skubal 5-2) at Pittsburgh (Keller 2-5), 12:35 p.m.                  WSJM/WCSY 12:15 Chicago Cubs (Stroman 2-5) at Baltimore (Lyles 3-4), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Gonsolin 6-0) at Chicago White Sox (Cueto 0-2), 8:10 p.m. MLB – Angels fire manager Joe Maddon amid 12-game losing streak The Los Angeles Angels have fired manager Joe Maddon with the team mired in a 12-game losing streak. Third base coach Phil Nevin will be the Angels’ interim manager when they host Boston on Tuesday night. Maddon went 130-148 with the Angels, who hired him before the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season. After finishing with losing records in Maddon’s first two seasons, the Angels were off to a strong 27-17 start before their current losing streak began. They are one loss shy of tying the longest skid in franchise history. NHL – National Hockey League – 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Conference Finals Last Night Tampa Bay Lightning 4, New York Rangers 1                       (Series tied 2-2) Lightning 4, Rangers 1 – Lightning beat Rangers 4-1 in Game 4 to even East final Nikita Kucherov scored on a breakaway and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 33 saves , helping the Tampa Bay Lightning shut down the New York Rangers 4-1 and even the NHL’s Eastern Conference final at two games apiece. Kucherov took a pass from Ondrej Palat in the middle of the ice and skated in on goaltender Igor Shesterkin to give the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions a two-goal lead just over 13 minutes into the second period. Palat, Pat Maroon and Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning, who have rebounded from losing the first two games of the series on the road to keep their bid to become the first team in nearly 40 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles alive. Game 5 is Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. NBA – National Basketball Association – 2022 NBA Finals Tonight Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics, 9:00 p.m.         (Series tied 1-1) WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association Tonight Indiana Fever at Connecticut Sun, 7:00 p.m. Chicago Sky at Washington Mystics, 8:00 p.m. WNBA – Los Angeles Sparks fire coach and GM Derek Fisher The Los Angeles Sparks have fired head coach and general manager Derek Fisher the team announced. Fisher took over the team before the 2019 season and became the GM a year later. He finished his career with a 54-46 record as coach. The Sparks missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2011 and bolstered their roster by adding All-Star Liz Cambage in the offseason. They had a difficult schedule to start the season with nine of their first 12 games on the road and are 5-7. WNBA – Griner’s fate tangled up with other American held in Russia Brittney Griner is easily the most prominent American locked up by a foreign country. But the WNBA star’s case is tangled up with that of another prisoner few Americans have ever heard of. Paul Whelan has been held in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage charges he and the U.S. government say are false. He was left out of a prisoner exchange in April that brought home yet another detainee, Marine veteran Trevor Reed. That resolution escalates pressure on the Biden administration to avoid a repeat scenario of another one-for-one swap that does not include Whelan. Golf – LIV – Dustin Johnson quits PGA membership to play in Saudi league Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson says he has resigned his PGA Tour membership to participate in the new golf series backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The first LIV Golf Invitational, which offers $25 million in prize money, is taking place outside London starting Thursday. Johnson says he “had to think long and hard” about leaving the PGA Tour, seemingly ending his hopes of competing in the Ryder Cup for the United States. Johnson is No. 15 in the world, the highest-ranked player in the field. Golf – Tiger Woods says his leg not ready and he won’t play US Open Tiger Woods has pulled out of the U.S. Open and says his body "needs more time to get stronger for major championship golf.” He said he hopes to be ready to play in a charity pro-am event in Ireland ahead of the British Open at St. Andrews in July. The U.S. Open is next week at The Country Club at Brookline outside of Boston. Woods made a surprise return to golf at the Masters just 14 months after he broke bones in his right leg and ankle in a car crash. He later played the PGA Championship at Southern Hills but withdrew after the third round. Woods has won the U.S. Open three times, most recently in 2008. Golf – US Open to accept Mickelson and all eligible players Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and other players competing in the Saudi-funded rival golf league are free to play the U.S. Open next week. That was always expected but confirmed Tuesday by the USGA. The USGA says if a player earned his way into the the U.S. Open, should that be taken away because he is playing a different league? It felt the answer was no. CEO Mike Whan says more than 9,000 people signed up for the U.S. Open and the USGA is not in the business of policing what they stand for. NFL – Rodgers unsure how long he will play beyond this season Aaron Rodgers says he’s unsure how much longer he will keep playing football. But he’s definitive about at least one element of his playing future. The four-time MVP quarterback expects to retire as a Green Bay Packer. That scenario seemed uncertain when Rodgers skipped the Packers mandatory minicamp last year in a standoff with team officials. That relationship has since improved enough that Rodgers signed a contract extension with the Packers after producing his second straight MVP season. Rodgers said Tuesday at the Packers minicamp that he doesn’t know yet whether he will play beyond this upcoming season. Olympics – Figure Skating – Figure skating minimum age rises to 17 before 2026 Olympics No 15-year-old figure skaters will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics following the controversy surrounding Russian national champion Kamila Valieva at this year’s Beijing Games. A new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events has been passed by the International Skating Union that will raise the minimum age to 17 before the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The limit will be phased in with 16-year-olds allowed to compete in the 2023-24 season. It will then rise to 17 for the season before the Olympics. NCAASFB – Coaches: Doubleheaders in WCWS semis threaten player safety Oklahoma bounced back from losing a Women’s College World Series semifinal to UCLA on Monday, dominating the Bruins in a game that started 30 minutes after the first one. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said the turnaround should not have been so quick. Gasso called it a player safety issue. She likes that the NCAA’s Division I Competition Oversight Committee added a day between the semifinals and the finals in changes made before this season, but she would give it up for time between semifinal games. MILB – Midwest League Baseball Yesterday West Michigan Whitecaps 9, Lansing Lugnuts 5 Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, South Bend Cubs 1 Dayton Dragons 14, Great Lakes Loons 8 Today Lansing Lugnuts at West Michigan Whitecaps, 6:35 p.m. Cedar Rapids Kernels at South Bend Cubs, 7:05 p.m. Great Lakes Loons at Dayton Dragons, 7:05 p.m. MHSAA – High School Sports Last Night Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Caledonia Portage Central 2, Traverse City West 0 Hudsonville 1, Rockford 0 Division 3 at Otsego Otsego 8, Brooklyn Columbia Central 0 Hudsonville Unity Christian 4, South Haven 0 Division 4 at Portage Northern Kalamazoo Christian 1, Lansing Christian 0 – 2 OT Our Lady of the Lake 2, Saugatuck 1 Tonight Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 2 at Battle Creek Harper Creek Gull Lake vs. Mason, 5:30 p.m. St. Joseph vs. Zeeland West, 7:30 p.m. Baseball – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Portage Northern Mattawan vs. Hudsonville, 4:00 p.m. Division 2 at Edwardsburg Berrien Springs vs. Vicksburg, 4:30 p.m. Division 3 at Centreville Buchanan vs. Climax-Scotts, 5:00 p.m. Division 4 at Kalamazoo College Michigan Lutheran vs. Gobles, 4:30 p.m. Division 4 at Decatur Decatur vs. Colon, 4:30 p.m. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MLB – Major League Baseball Last Night Detroit Tigers 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 3 Baltimore Orioles 9, Chicago Cubs 3 Chicago White Sox 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 Tigers 5, Pirates 3 – Rain man: Skubal wins 4th straight as Tigers top Pirates 5-3 Tarik Skubal pitched seven steady innings to win his fourth straight decision and Harold Castro hit a two-run single to lead the Detroit Tigers to a rain-delayed 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. After the start was pushed back more than two hours, Skubal gave up three runs and six hits while striking out nine and walking one. The left-hander has worked a career-high seven innings in three consecutive outings and is 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in his last seven starts. Castro’s hit, a liner up the middle, capped a three-run fourth that put the Tigers in front 4-1. Rookie Spencer Torkelson drove in the first run with a double. Orioles 9, Cubs 3 – Orioles hit 5 home runs, cruise past Cubs 9-3 Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini hit successive homers, sparking a power surge that carried the Baltimore Orioles past the Chicago Cubs 9-3. Jorge Mateo, Austin Hays and Ramón Urías also connected for the Orioles, who beat the Cubs for the first time in seven tries since 2008. Reliever Bryan Baker earned the win after allowing one run and one hit over 1 1/3 innings. Christopher Morel homered on the game’s first pitch off rookie Kyle Bradish and has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games to begin his career, extending his Cubs’ record. Morel also had an RBI triple in the sixth. White Sox 4, Dodgers 0 – Kopech, Pollock lead White Sox to 4-0 win over Dodgers Michael Kopech pitched six innings of one-hit ball, pinch-hitter AJ Pollock delivered a two-run double against his former team and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0. Pollock’s clutch swing off the bench sparked a four-run sixth that sent the White Sox to their third consecutive victory. It was the fourth time this season Kopech worked at least five innings and limited an opponent to one hit. The right-hander struck out eight and walked one, lowering his ERA to 1.94. The NL West-leading Dodgers dropped their third straight. Today Detroit (Skubal 5-2) at Pittsburgh (Keller 2-5), 12:35 p.m.                  WSJM/WCSY 12:15 Chicago Cubs (Stroman 2-5) at Baltimore (Lyles 3-4), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Gonsolin 6-0) at Chicago White Sox (Cueto 0-2), 8:10 p.m. MLB – Angels fire manager Joe Maddon amid 12-game losing streak The Los Angeles Angels have fired manager Joe Maddon with the team mired in a 12-game losing streak. Third base coach Phil Nevin will be the Angels’ interim manager when they host Boston on Tuesday night. Maddon went 130-148 with the Angels, who hired him before the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season. After finishing with losing records in Maddon’s first two seasons, the Angels were off to a strong 27-17 start before their current losing streak began. They are one loss shy of tying the longest skid in franchise history. NHL – National Hockey League – 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Conference Finals Last Night Tampa Bay Lightning 4, New York Rangers 1                       (Series tied 2-2) Lightning 4, Rangers 1 – Lightning beat Rangers 4-1 in Game 4 to even East final Nikita Kucherov scored on a breakaway and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 33 saves , helping the Tampa Bay Lightning shut down the New York Rangers 4-1 and even the NHL’s Eastern Conference final at two games apiece. Kucherov took a pass from Ondrej Palat in the middle of the ice and skated in on goaltender Igor Shesterkin to give the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions a two-goal lead just over 13 minutes into the second period. Palat, Pat Maroon and Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning, who have rebounded from losing the first two games of the series on the road to keep their bid to become the first team in nearly 40 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles alive. Game 5 is Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. NBA – National Basketball Association – 2022 NBA Finals Tonight Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics, 9:00 p.m.         (Series tied 1-1) WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association Tonight Indiana Fever at Connecticut Sun, 7:00 p.m. Chicago Sky at Washington Mystics, 8:00 p.m. WNBA – Los Angeles Sparks fire coach and GM Derek Fisher The Los Angeles Sparks have fired head coach and general manager Derek Fisher the team announced. Fisher took over the team before the 2019 season and became the GM a year later. He finished his career with a 54-46 record as coach. The Sparks missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2011 and bolstered their roster by adding All-Star Liz Cambage in the offseason. They had a difficult schedule to start the season with nine of their first 12 games on the road and are 5-7. WNBA – Griner’s fate tangled up with other American held in Russia Brittney Griner is easily the most prominent American locked up by a foreign country. But the WNBA star’s case is tangled up with that of another prisoner few Americans have ever heard of. Paul Whelan has been held in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage charges he and the U.S. government say are false. He was left out of a prisoner exchange in April that brought home yet another detainee, Marine veteran Trevor Reed. That resolution escalates pressure on the Biden administration to avoid a repeat scenario of another one-for-one swap that does not include Whelan. Golf – LIV – Dustin Johnson quits PGA membership to play in Saudi league Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson says he has resigned his PGA Tour membership to participate in the new golf series backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The first LIV Golf Invitational, which offers $25 million in prize money, is taking place outside London starting Thursday. Johnson says he “had to think long and hard” about leaving the PGA Tour, seemingly ending his hopes of competing in the Ryder Cup for the United States. Johnson is No. 15 in the world, the highest-ranked player in the field. Golf – Tiger Woods says his leg not ready and he won’t play US Open Tiger Woods has pulled out of the U.S. Open and says his body "needs more time to get stronger for major championship golf.” He said he hopes to be ready to play in a charity pro-am event in Ireland ahead of the British Open at St. Andrews in July. The U.S. Open is next week at The Country Club at Brookline outside of Boston. Woods made a surprise return to golf at the Masters just 14 months after he broke bones in his right leg and ankle in a car crash. He later played the PGA Championship at Southern Hills but withdrew after the third round. Woods has won the U.S. Open three times, most recently in 2008. Golf – US Open to accept Mickelson and all eligible players Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and other players competing in the Saudi-funded rival golf league are free to play the U.S. Open next week. That was always expected but confirmed Tuesday by the USGA. The USGA says if a player earned his way into the the U.S. Open, should that be taken away because he is playing a different league? It felt the answer was no. CEO Mike Whan says more than 9,000 people signed up for the U.S. Open and the USGA is not in the business of policing what they stand for. NFL – Rodgers unsure how long he will play beyond this season Aaron Rodgers says he’s unsure how much longer he will keep playing football. But he’s definitive about at least one element of his playing future. The four-time MVP quarterback expects to retire as a Green Bay Packer. That scenario seemed uncertain when Rodgers skipped the Packers mandatory minicamp last year in a standoff with team officials. That relationship has since improved enough that Rodgers signed a contract extension with the Packers after producing his second straight MVP season. Rodgers said Tuesday at the Packers minicamp that he doesn’t know yet whether he will play beyond this upcoming season. Olympics – Figure Skating – Figure skating minimum age rises to 17 before 2026 Olympics No 15-year-old figure skaters will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics following the controversy surrounding Russian national champion Kamila Valieva at this year’s Beijing Games. A new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events has been passed by the International Skating Union that will raise the minimum age to 17 before the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The limit will be phased in with 16-year-olds allowed to compete in the 2023-24 season. It will then rise to 17 for the season before the Olympics. NCAASFB – Coaches: Doubleheaders in WCWS semis threaten player safety Oklahoma bounced back from losing a Women’s College World Series semifinal to UCLA on Monday, dominating the Bruins in a game that started 30 minutes after the first one. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said the turnaround should not have been so quick. Gasso called it a player safety issue. She likes that the NCAA’s Division I Competition Oversight Committee added a day between the semifinals and the finals in changes made before this season, but she would give it up for time between semifinal games. MILB – Midwest League Baseball Yesterday West Michigan Whitecaps 9, Lansing Lugnuts 5 Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, South Bend Cubs 1 Dayton Dragons 14, Great Lakes Loons 8 Today Lansing Lugnuts at West Michigan Whitecaps, 6:35 p.m. Cedar Rapids Kernels at South Bend Cubs, 7:05 p.m. Great Lakes Loons at Dayton Dragons, 7:05 p.m. MHSAA – High School Sports Last Night Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Caledonia Portage Central 2, Traverse City West 0 Hudsonville 1, Rockford 0 Division 3 at Otsego Otsego 8, Brooklyn Columbia Central 0 Hudsonville Unity Christian 4, South Haven 0 Division 4 at Portage Northern Kalamazoo Christian 1, Lansing Christian 0 – 2 OT Our Lady of the Lake 2, Saugatuck 1 Tonight Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 2 at Battle Creek Harper Creek Gull Lake vs. Mason, 5:30 p.m. St. Joseph vs. Zeeland West, 7:30 p.m. Baseball – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Portage Northern Mattawan vs. Hudsonville, 4:00 p.m. Division 2 at Edwardsburg Berrien Springs vs. Vicksburg, 4:30 p.m. Division 3 at Centreville Buchanan vs. Climax-Scotts, 5:00 p.m. Division 4 at Kalamazoo College Michigan Lutheran vs. Gobles, 4:30 p.m. Division 4 at Decatur Decatur vs. Colon, 4:30 p.m. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MLB – Major League Baseball Last Night Detroit Tigers 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 3 Baltimore Orioles 9, Chicago Cubs 3 Chicago White Sox 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 Tigers 5, Pirates 3 – Rain man: Skubal wins 4th straight as Tigers top Pirates 5-3 Tarik Skubal pitched seven steady innings to win his fourth straight decision and Harold Castro hit a two-run single to lead the Detroit Tigers to a rain-delayed 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. After the start was pushed back more than two hours, Skubal gave up three runs and six hits while striking out nine and walking one. The left-hander has worked a career-high seven innings in three consecutive outings and is 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in his last seven starts. Castro’s hit, a liner up the middle, capped a three-run fourth that put the Tigers in front 4-1. Rookie Spencer Torkelson drove in the first run with a double. Orioles 9, Cubs 3 – Orioles hit 5 home runs, cruise past Cubs 9-3 Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini hit successive homers, sparking a power surge that carried the Baltimore Orioles past the Chicago Cubs 9-3. Jorge Mateo, Austin Hays and Ramón Urías also connected for the Orioles, who beat the Cubs for the first time in seven tries since 2008. Reliever Bryan Baker earned the win after allowing one run and one hit over 1 1/3 innings. Christopher Morel homered on the game’s first pitch off rookie Kyle Bradish and has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games to begin his career, extending his Cubs’ record. Morel also had an RBI triple in the sixth. White Sox 4, Dodgers 0 – Kopech, Pollock lead White Sox to 4-0 win over Dodgers Michael Kopech pitched six innings of one-hit ball, pinch-hitter AJ Pollock delivered a two-run double against his former team and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0. Pollock’s clutch swing off the bench sparked a four-run sixth that sent the White Sox to their third consecutive victory. It was the fourth time this season Kopech worked at least five innings and limited an opponent to one hit. The right-hander struck out eight and walked one, lowering his ERA to 1.94. The NL West-leading Dodgers dropped their third straight. Today Detroit (Skubal 5-2) at Pittsburgh (Keller 2-5), 12:35 p.m.                  WSJM/WCSY 12:15 Chicago Cubs (Stroman 2-5) at Baltimore (Lyles 3-4), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Gonsolin 6-0) at Chicago White Sox (Cueto 0-2), 8:10 p.m. MLB – Angels fire manager Joe Maddon amid 12-game losing streak The Los Angeles Angels have fired manager Joe Maddon with the team mired in a 12-game losing streak. Third base coach Phil Nevin will be the Angels’ interim manager when they host Boston on Tuesday night. Maddon went 130-148 with the Angels, who hired him before the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season. After finishing with losing records in Maddon’s first two seasons, the Angels were off to a strong 27-17 start before their current losing streak began. They are one loss shy of tying the longest skid in franchise history. NHL – National Hockey League – 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Conference Finals Last Night Tampa Bay Lightning 4, New York Rangers 1                       (Series tied 2-2) Lightning 4, Rangers 1 – Lightning beat Rangers 4-1 in Game 4 to even East final Nikita Kucherov scored on a breakaway and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 33 saves , helping the Tampa Bay Lightning shut down the New York Rangers 4-1 and even the NHL’s Eastern Conference final at two games apiece. Kucherov took a pass from Ondrej Palat in the middle of the ice and skated in on goaltender Igor Shesterkin to give the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions a two-goal lead just over 13 minutes into the second period. Palat, Pat Maroon and Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning, who have rebounded from losing the first two games of the series on the road to keep their bid to become the first team in nearly 40 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles alive. Game 5 is Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. NBA – National Basketball Association – 2022 NBA Finals Tonight Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics, 9:00 p.m.         (Series tied 1-1) WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association Tonight Indiana Fever at Connecticut Sun, 7:00 p.m. Chicago Sky at Washington Mystics, 8:00 p.m. WNBA – Los Angeles Sparks fire coach and GM Derek Fisher The Los Angeles Sparks have fired head coach and general manager Derek Fisher the team announced. Fisher took over the team before the 2019 season and became the GM a year later. He finished his career with a 54-46 record as coach. The Sparks missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2011 and bolstered their roster by adding All-Star Liz Cambage in the offseason. They had a difficult schedule to start the season with nine of their first 12 games on the road and are 5-7. WNBA – Griner’s fate tangled up with other American held in Russia Brittney Griner is easily the most prominent American locked up by a foreign country. But the WNBA star’s case is tangled up with that of another prisoner few Americans have ever heard of. Paul Whelan has been held in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage charges he and the U.S. government say are false. He was left out of a prisoner exchange in April that brought home yet another detainee, Marine veteran Trevor Reed. That resolution escalates pressure on the Biden administration to avoid a repeat scenario of another one-for-one swap that does not include Whelan. Golf – LIV – Dustin Johnson quits PGA membership to play in Saudi league Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson says he has resigned his PGA Tour membership to participate in the new golf series backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The first LIV Golf Invitational, which offers $25 million in prize money, is taking place outside London starting Thursday. Johnson says he “had to think long and hard” about leaving the PGA Tour, seemingly ending his hopes of competing in the Ryder Cup for the United States. Johnson is No. 15 in the world, the highest-ranked player in the field. Golf – Tiger Woods says his leg not ready and he won’t play US Open Tiger Woods has pulled out of the U.S. Open and says his body "needs more time to get stronger for major championship golf.” He said he hopes to be ready to play in a charity pro-am event in Ireland ahead of the British Open at St. Andrews in July. The U.S. Open is next week at The Country Club at Brookline outside of Boston. Woods made a surprise return to golf at the Masters just 14 months after he broke bones in his right leg and ankle in a car crash. He later played the PGA Championship at Southern Hills but withdrew after the third round. Woods has won the U.S. Open three times, most recently in 2008. Golf – US Open to accept Mickelson and all eligible players Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and other players competing in the Saudi-funded rival golf league are free to play the U.S. Open next week. That was always expected but confirmed Tuesday by the USGA. The USGA says if a player earned his way into the the U.S. Open, should that be taken away because he is playing a different league? It felt the answer was no. CEO Mike Whan says more than 9,000 people signed up for the U.S. Open and the USGA is not in the business of policing what they stand for. NFL – Rodgers unsure how long he will play beyond this season Aaron Rodgers says he’s unsure how much longer he will keep playing football. But he’s definitive about at least one element of his playing future. The four-time MVP quarterback expects to retire as a Green Bay Packer. That scenario seemed uncertain when Rodgers skipped the Packers mandatory minicamp last year in a standoff with team officials. That relationship has since improved enough that Rodgers signed a contract extension with the Packers after producing his second straight MVP season. Rodgers said Tuesday at the Packers minicamp that he doesn’t know yet whether he will play beyond this upcoming season. Olympics – Figure Skating – Figure skating minimum age rises to 17 before 2026 Olympics No 15-year-old figure skaters will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics following the controversy surrounding Russian national champion Kamila Valieva at this year’s Beijing Games. A new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events has been passed by the International Skating Union that will raise the minimum age to 17 before the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The limit will be phased in with 16-year-olds allowed to compete in the 2023-24 season. It will then rise to 17 for the season before the Olympics. NCAASFB – Coaches: Doubleheaders in WCWS semis threaten player safety Oklahoma bounced back from losing a Women’s College World Series semifinal to UCLA on Monday, dominating the Bruins in a game that started 30 minutes after the first one. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said the turnaround should not have been so quick. Gasso called it a player safety issue. She likes that the NCAA’s Division I Competition Oversight Committee added a day between the semifinals and the finals in changes made before this season, but she would give it up for time between semifinal games. MILB – Midwest League Baseball Yesterday West Michigan Whitecaps 9, Lansing Lugnuts 5 Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, South Bend Cubs 1 Dayton Dragons 14, Great Lakes Loons 8 Today Lansing Lugnuts at West Michigan Whitecaps, 6:35 p.m. Cedar Rapids Kernels at South Bend Cubs, 7:05 p.m. Great Lakes Loons at Dayton Dragons, 7:05 p.m. MHSAA – High School Sports Last Night Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Caledonia Portage Central 2, Traverse City West 0 Hudsonville 1, Rockford 0 Division 3 at Otsego Otsego 8, Brooklyn Columbia Central 0 Hudsonville Unity Christian 4, South Haven 0 Division 4 at Portage Northern Kalamazoo Christian 1, Lansing Christian 0 – 2 OT Our Lady of the Lake 2, Saugatuck 1 Tonight Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 2 at Battle Creek Harper Creek Gull Lake vs. Mason, 5:30 p.m. St. Joseph vs. Zeeland West, 7:30 p.m. Baseball – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Portage Northern Mattawan vs. Hudsonville, 4:00 p.m. Division 2 at Edwardsburg Berrien Springs vs. Vicksburg, 4:30 p.m. Division 3 at Centreville Buchanan vs. Climax-Scotts, 5:00 p.m. Division 4 at Kalamazoo College Michigan Lutheran vs. Gobles, 4:30 p.m. Division 4 at Decatur Decatur vs. Colon, 4:30 p.m. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MLB – Major League Baseball Last Night Detroit Tigers 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 3 Baltimore Orioles 9, Chicago Cubs 3 Chicago White Sox 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 Tigers 5, Pirates 3 – Rain man: Skubal wins 4th straight as Tigers top Pirates 5-3 Tarik Skubal pitched seven steady innings to win his fourth straight decision and Harold Castro hit a two-run single to lead the Detroit Tigers to a rain-delayed 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. After the start was pushed back more than two hours, Skubal gave up three runs and six hits while striking out nine and walking one. The left-hander has worked a career-high seven innings in three consecutive outings and is 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in his last seven starts. Castro’s hit, a liner up the middle, capped a three-run fourth that put the Tigers in front 4-1. Rookie Spencer Torkelson drove in the first run with a double. Orioles 9, Cubs 3 – Orioles hit 5 home runs, cruise past Cubs 9-3 Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini hit successive homers, sparking a power surge that carried the Baltimore Orioles past the Chicago Cubs 9-3. Jorge Mateo, Austin Hays and Ramón Urías also connected for the Orioles, who beat the Cubs for the first time in seven tries since 2008. Reliever Bryan Baker earned the win after allowing one run and one hit over 1 1/3 innings. Christopher Morel homered on the game’s first pitch off rookie Kyle Bradish and has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games to begin his career, extending his Cubs’ record. Morel also had an RBI triple in the sixth. White Sox 4, Dodgers 0 – Kopech, Pollock lead White Sox to 4-0 win over Dodgers Michael Kopech pitched six innings of one-hit ball, pinch-hitter AJ Pollock delivered a two-run double against his former team and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0. Pollock’s clutch swing off the bench sparked a four-run sixth that sent the White Sox to their third consecutive victory. It was the fourth time this season Kopech worked at least five innings and limited an opponent to one hit. The right-hander struck out eight and walked one, lowering his ERA to 1.94. The NL West-leading Dodgers dropped their third straight. Today Detroit (Skubal 5-2) at Pittsburgh (Keller 2-5), 12:35 p.m.                  WSJM/WCSY 12:15 Chicago Cubs (Stroman 2-5) at Baltimore (Lyles 3-4), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Gonsolin 6-0) at Chicago White Sox (Cueto 0-2), 8:10 p.m. MLB – Angels fire manager Joe Maddon amid 12-game losing streak The Los Angeles Angels have fired manager Joe Maddon with the team mired in a 12-game losing streak. Third base coach Phil Nevin will be the Angels’ interim manager when they host Boston on Tuesday night. Maddon went 130-148 with the Angels, who hired him before the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season. After finishing with losing records in Maddon’s first two seasons, the Angels were off to a strong 27-17 start before their current losing streak began. They are one loss shy of tying the longest skid in franchise history. NHL – National Hockey League – 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Conference Finals Last Night Tampa Bay Lightning 4, New York Rangers 1                       (Series tied 2-2) Lightning 4, Rangers 1 – Lightning beat Rangers 4-1 in Game 4 to even East final Nikita Kucherov scored on a breakaway and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 33 saves , helping the Tampa Bay Lightning shut down the New York Rangers 4-1 and even the NHL’s Eastern Conference final at two games apiece. Kucherov took a pass from Ondrej Palat in the middle of the ice and skated in on goaltender Igor Shesterkin to give the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions a two-goal lead just over 13 minutes into the second period. Palat, Pat Maroon and Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning, who have rebounded from losing the first two games of the series on the road to keep their bid to become the first team in nearly 40 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles alive. Game 5 is Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. NBA – National Basketball Association – 2022 NBA Finals Tonight Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics, 9:00 p.m.         (Series tied 1-1) WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association Tonight Indiana Fever at Connecticut Sun, 7:00 p.m. Chicago Sky at Washington Mystics, 8:00 p.m. WNBA – Los Angeles Sparks fire coach and GM Derek Fisher The Los Angeles Sparks have fired head coach and general manager Derek Fisher the team announced. Fisher took over the team before the 2019 season and became the GM a year later. He finished his career with a 54-46 record as coach. The Sparks missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2011 and bolstered their roster by adding All-Star Liz Cambage in the offseason. They had a difficult schedule to start the season with nine of their first 12 games on the road and are 5-7. WNBA – Griner’s fate tangled up with other American held in Russia Brittney Griner is easily the most prominent American locked up by a foreign country. But the WNBA star’s case is tangled up with that of another prisoner few Americans have ever heard of. Paul Whelan has been held in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage charges he and the U.S. government say are false. He was left out of a prisoner exchange in April that brought home yet another detainee, Marine veteran Trevor Reed. That resolution escalates pressure on the Biden administration to avoid a repeat scenario of another one-for-one swap that does not include Whelan. Golf – LIV – Dustin Johnson quits PGA membership to play in Saudi league Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson says he has resigned his PGA Tour membership to participate in the new golf series backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The first LIV Golf Invitational, which offers $25 million in prize money, is taking place outside London starting Thursday. Johnson says he “had to think long and hard” about leaving the PGA Tour, seemingly ending his hopes of competing in the Ryder Cup for the United States. Johnson is No. 15 in the world, the highest-ranked player in the field. Golf – Tiger Woods says his leg not ready and he won’t play US Open Tiger Woods has pulled out of the U.S. Open and says his body "needs more time to get stronger for major championship golf.” He said he hopes to be ready to play in a charity pro-am event in Ireland ahead of the British Open at St. Andrews in July. The U.S. Open is next week at The Country Club at Brookline outside of Boston. Woods made a surprise return to golf at the Masters just 14 months after he broke bones in his right leg and ankle in a car crash. He later played the PGA Championship at Southern Hills but withdrew after the third round. Woods has won the U.S. Open three times, most recently in 2008. Golf – US Open to accept Mickelson and all eligible players Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and other players competing in the Saudi-funded rival golf league are free to play the U.S. Open next week. That was always expected but confirmed Tuesday by the USGA. The USGA says if a player earned his way into the the U.S. Open, should that be taken away because he is playing a different league? It felt the answer was no. CEO Mike Whan says more than 9,000 people signed up for the U.S. Open and the USGA is not in the business of policing what they stand for. NFL – Rodgers unsure how long he will play beyond this season Aaron Rodgers says he’s unsure how much longer he will keep playing football. But he’s definitive about at least one element of his playing future. The four-time MVP quarterback expects to retire as a Green Bay Packer. That scenario seemed uncertain when Rodgers skipped the Packers mandatory minicamp last year in a standoff with team officials. That relationship has since improved enough that Rodgers signed a contract extension with the Packers after producing his second straight MVP season. Rodgers said Tuesday at the Packers minicamp that he doesn’t know yet whether he will play beyond this upcoming season. Olympics – Figure Skating – Figure skating minimum age rises to 17 before 2026 Olympics No 15-year-old figure skaters will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics following the controversy surrounding Russian national champion Kamila Valieva at this year’s Beijing Games. A new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events has been passed by the International Skating Union that will raise the minimum age to 17 before the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The limit will be phased in with 16-year-olds allowed to compete in the 2023-24 season. It will then rise to 17 for the season before the Olympics. NCAASFB – Coaches: Doubleheaders in WCWS semis threaten player safety Oklahoma bounced back from losing a Women’s College World Series semifinal to UCLA on Monday, dominating the Bruins in a game that started 30 minutes after the first one. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said the turnaround should not have been so quick. Gasso called it a player safety issue. She likes that the NCAA’s Division I Competition Oversight Committee added a day between the semifinals and the finals in changes made before this season, but she would give it up for time between semifinal games. MILB – Midwest League Baseball Yesterday West Michigan Whitecaps 9, Lansing Lugnuts 5 Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, South Bend Cubs 1 Dayton Dragons 14, Great Lakes Loons 8 Today Lansing Lugnuts at West Michigan Whitecaps, 6:35 p.m. Cedar Rapids Kernels at South Bend Cubs, 7:05 p.m. Great Lakes Loons at Dayton Dragons, 7:05 p.m. MHSAA – High School Sports Last Night Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Caledonia Portage Central 2, Traverse City West 0 Hudsonville 1, Rockford 0 Division 3 at Otsego Otsego 8, Brooklyn Columbia Central 0 Hudsonville Unity Christian 4, South Haven 0 Division 4 at Portage Northern Kalamazoo Christian 1, Lansing Christian 0 – 2 OT Our Lady of the Lake 2, Saugatuck 1 Tonight Girls Soccer – Regional Semifinals Division 2 at Battle Creek Harper Creek Gull Lake vs. Mason, 5:30 p.m. St. Joseph vs. Zeeland West, 7:30 p.m. Baseball – Regional Semifinals Division 1 at Portage Northern Mattawan vs. Hudsonville, 4:00 p.m. Division 2 at Edwardsburg Berrien Springs vs. Vicksburg, 4:30 p.m. Division 3 at Centreville Buchanan vs. Climax-Scotts, 5:00 p.m. Division 4 at Kalamazoo College Michigan Lutheran vs. Gobles, 4:30 p.m. Division 4 at Decatur Decatur vs. Colon, 4:30 p.m. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

USGA CEO Mike Whan joins this week's Drop Zone to break down the state of golf, from the U.S. Women's Open to LIV's effect on the PGA Tour to the actual purpose of the USGA. He also explains how selling toothpaste helps him in his current role. Plus a brief breakdown of this week's U.S. Women's Open and Memorial Tournaments in the context of a looming LIV event. Enjoy!   RADMOR DISCOUNT CODE: Check out radmorgolf.com and use discount code DROPZONE for 25% off!

Mike Whan joins us once again on the podcast this week. We spoke to Mike a couple of weeks ago and he shared his experience of his new role as CEO of the USGA. He explains exactly what it is that the USGA do for golf. We chat through the hot topic which is the distance debate and where the future of the game is headed. His views are fascinating and his wish for any changes to minimise the effect on your average golfer. Adaptive golf, opportunities for all, huge purse for the US Women's Open and much more in this great pod with Mike Whan.

Ann talks with Mike Whan, CEO, USGA, about how the ProMedica partnership with the US Women's Open came about; what it means for women's golf; the creation of the U.S. Adaptive Open Championship which will take place July 18-20 at Pinehurst #6; how he prioritizes the many issues facing golf; his thoughts on the US Open for the men at Country Club of Brookline; his relationship with LPGA Commissioner Molly Marcoux Samann; and the transition has been, moving from Florida to New Jersey. 

Ann talks with USGA CEO Mike Whan about how the ProMedica partnership with the US Women's Open came about; what it means for women's golf; the creation of the U.S. Adaptive Open Championship which will take place July 18-20 at Pinehurst #6; how he prioritizes the many issues facing golf; his thoughts on the US Open for the men at the Country Club of Brookline; his affection for the U.S. Sr. Women's Open; his relationship with LPGA Commissioner Molly Marcoux Samann; and what the transition has been like for him and his family, moving from Florida to New Jersey. And Ann explores all things Innisbrook Resort & the Copperhead Course, where the Valspar Championship is played, with Bobby Barnes, Dir of Golf, and Mike Williams, Managing Director.

When the USGA breaks news, they do it on Golf Today! USGA CEO Mike Whan joins the program to discuss massive prize fund increases and course improvements for the U.S. Women's Open in the coming years. Two-time Major Champion Brittany Lincicome calls in to discuss what this means for her personally, her LPGA counterparts, and women's sports overall. Not to mention, it's day two of 2022 on the PGA TOUR. Steve Burkowski chimes in with live reports from Hawaii at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. George and Eamon also talk to amateur golf star Grace Summerhays about her ascendant career and her upcoming freshman season at Arizona State University. Mike Whan: 2:54 Steve Burkowski: 20:31 Brittany Lincicome: 29:35 Grace Summerhays: 41:08

Only two events remain in the LPGA season and the race to the CME Globe is neck and neck! Shane and Damon discuss their favorites to finish No. 1 and draw comparisons between LPGA Golfers and Superstars in other sports. USGA CEO Mike Whan joins the program (28:07) as well to discuss their initiatives to diversify golf leadership and make the game more inclusive.

On this week's episode, the boys are back to discuss Daniel Berger making an eagle on the last to win at Pebble and how Spieth failed to capitalize on the 54-hole lead (1:56). We also make our picks of the week for the Genesis Open (16:10) and discuss Rory being elected PGA Tour Player Advisory Council Chairman (22:04). Followed by the big news of Mike Whan becoming the CEO of the USGA and what we hope happens for USGA events (25:44). If you enjoy the episode, please hit that subscribe button! If you're using Apple Podcasts, make sure to smash that 5-star button and leave a review. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and TikTok @playitasitliesgolf, and always remember to Play it As it Lies! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/playitasitlies/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/playitasitlies/support

Christina Kim and Ron Sirak join Ben and Kent to discuss LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan's announcement that he will phase out at some point in 2021, an 11-year run, making him the longest-tenured Commissioner in the history of the LPGA Tour. Kim joins first and discusses her role as an LPGA Tour board of directors member during Whan's hiring and the difficulty the tour faced, along with the first time she talked to Whan when he was the Commissioner in South Korea at 2:45 in the morning. After (19:30), Sirak joins who talks covering events virtually in 2020 before talking a litany of topics on the outgoing Commissioner. He shares why Whan is on his Mt. Rushmore of commissioners, Whan's most critical decisions to save the tour from nearly folding during the Great Recession, and why his honesty led him to his success at the helm of the LPGA Tour.

Mike Whan has been the Commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) since 2010. Prior to his current role, Whan was a Director of Marketing at Procter and Gamble, VP and GM of Wilson Sporting Goods Company, EVP and GM of Taylormade Golf and President & CEO of Mission-Itech Hockey.