{"id":584788,"date":"2026-04-04T10:24:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/584788\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T10:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:24:21","slug":"a-masters-golf-primer-plus-genos-meltdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/584788\/","title":{"rendered":"A Masters golf primer, plus Geno\u2019s meltdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

It was a big night, so we\u2019re getting right to the news. Coming up:<\/p>\n

News to Know\"PHOENIX,<\/p>\n

\n Christian Petersen \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

It\u2019s South Carolina vs. UCLA<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s first consider that UConn had won\u00a054 straight games, 53 of them by double-digits. They routed the Gamecocks in last year\u2019s title game. And yet South Carolina seemed more confident throughout last night\u2019s 62-48 victory, clamping down on National Player of the Year Sarah Strong, outrebounding the Huskies by 15, hitting several big shots \u2026 they were\u00a0all-around superior<\/a>, and it was impressive.<\/p>\n

So what, getting back to that elephant in the room, was UConn head coach Geno Auriemma so worked up about?<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

First, Auriemma ranted wildly about the refs during the fourth quarter break. Then, in the waning seconds, he said something to South Carolina coach Dawn Staley that triggered a shouting match and stole the moment from the Gamecocks. Staley still sought him out for a handshake, but he just walked down the tunnel.<\/p>\n

He later told reporters he was upset because Staley didn\u2019t give him a pregame handshake \u2014 and actually she did?<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Bizarre behavior from a coach in his 25th Final Four, or at any level, really.\u00a0Read more about it all here<\/a>. For now, as Staley said afterward, \u201cWe move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s championship (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) will be the fourth in five years for the Gamecocks, and the first ever for the Bruins, who\u00a0scrapped their way<\/a>\u00a0past Texas 51-44 in a game that UCLA coach Cori Close likened to rugby. The Longhorns pulled within three in the final seconds, but Bruins center Lauren Betts sealed it with a block on Texas\u2019s Madison Booker. After, Betts could be heard on the broadcast screaming at her teammates: \u201cWe\u2019re playing in the national championship!\u201d Fun.<\/p>\n

Carleton tops WNBA expansion draft<\/p>\n

The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo filled out the bulk of their rosters with expansion picks yesterday, though the college draft and free agency are still to come during the league\u2019s ultra-compact player movement window. With the No. 1 pick, Portland opted for Canadian forward Bridget Carleton, a Lynx starter who helped Minnesota reach the 2024 Finals and finish with the WNBA\u2019s best record last season, then Toronto followed with Belgian point guard Julie Allemand from the Sparks at No. 2.\u00a0See the draft\u2019s winners and losers here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news:<\/p>\n

Lakers star Luka Don\u010di\u0107\u00a0will miss at least the rest of the regular season with\u00a0a hamstring strain<\/a>. Not good. The first round starts two weeks from today.<\/p>\n

Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg\u00a0became the youngest player in\u00a0NBA\u00a0history to\u00a0drop 50<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amid a league investigation,\u00a0Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo\u00a0said he\u2019s healthy enough to play and it\u2019s a \u201cslap in the face<\/a>\u201d that the Bucks are sitting him. Wow.<\/p>\n

Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd\u00a0made a dramatic Final Four\u2019s eve announcement that\u00a0he\u2019s staying put<\/a>, signing a five-year extension.<\/p>\n

19-year-old\u00a0Pirates\u00a0uber-prospect\u00a0Konnor Griffin\u00a0drilled a two-strike RBI double<\/a>\u00a0in his first\u00a0MLB at-bat, then raced home on a single. Welcome to the bigs, indeed.<\/p>\n

Cubs starter Cade Horton\u00a0exited after just 17 pitches against Cleveland with right forearm discomfort. \ud83d\ude2c\u00a0More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

President Trump\u00a0signed another executive order on college sports, including limiting athletes to one unrestricted transfer.\u00a0Our analysis here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0NFL\u00a0confirmed it won\u2019t discipline\u00a0Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice\u00a0over civil lawsuit assault allegations from the mother of his two children.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0\u00a0Find more news here 24\/7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Scottie<\/p>\n

Vibe Check: Your golf reset ahead of Masters week<\/p>\n

Golf season is well underway. We\u2019ve seen\u00a0heartwarming wins<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0incredible comebacks<\/a>. But in the general sports consciousness, the Masters \u2014 starting Thursday \u2014 represents the \u201creal\u201d start of golf season. Like the NBA on Christmas.<\/p>\n

Thus I wanted to take a snapshot of where we are before a barrage of preview content coming this week, with help from some friends. And it all starts with the best golfer in the world:<\/p>\n

Scottie Scheffler has had a tough run (by his standards) this year. Blip or legitimate cause for worry this weekend?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Gabby Herzig<\/a>: Blip. He will be just fine. I believe the commentary around his recent struggles (struggles, meaning two finishes just outside the top 20) will fuel the world No. 1 further. Last time we heard Scheffler speak about his swing, he explained that he\u2019s just working on his \u201cfeel for the clubhead.\u201d And, according to Scheffler, that all stems from his connection to the club \u2014 which is his grip. To me, that signals a fine-tuning of fundamentals, not necessarily a difficult swing change or a core mechanics issue. Despite Scheffler experiencing some sub-standard iron play in recent weeks, I don\u2019t think it rules him out of the Masters at all.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most interesting non-Scheffler storyline for the Masters that we aren\u2019t talking about?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Brody Miller<\/a>: Quietly, this is a super weird Masters buildup. Nine of the top 12 favorites haven\u2019t played in the last three weeks. Only three players in Masters history have won without playing the two weeks prior. Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa have back issues. Scheffler stepped away as his second kid was born. There\u2019s very little understanding of who the best players are right now. Really, the only big stars we know for sure are playing well? Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm over at LIV (*ducks*).<\/p>\n

Brody, Gabby and the rest of our stellar golf team will be on the grounds in Augusta the entire week, so expect more by the day. And don\u2019t forget to\u00a0sign up for our special-edition golf newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s move on:<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\n Justin Williams \/ The Athletic<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa NCAAM: Final Four
6-8:49 p.m. ET on TBS\/truTV\/HBO Max<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got your Final Four\u00a0power rankings<\/a>\u00a0and your\u00a0staff predictions<\/a>. Here are a couple more fun storylines to boot:<\/p>\n

Arizona\u00a0didn\u2019t get the memo<\/a> that you\u2019re only supposed to shoot 3s now. Of all people, Steve Kerr is loving it.
\nYaxel Lendeborg\u2019s mom rules<\/a>, and she apparently makes a special motivational clicking sound that he can hear over a screaming crowd.<\/p>\n

Also, since three of these teams will ultimately go home losers, the most satisfied sports fans will be, as always, the haters. We didn\u2019t forget you guys<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Soccer: Port Vale at Chelsea
12:15 p.m. on ESPN+<\/p>\n

If you need a madness fix after an overall chalky March: Port Vale are probably about to get relegated from League One \u2014 England\u2019s third tier \u2014 and yet they could reach the FA Cup semifinal if they beat the Premier League giants here. Probably not going to happen, but tune in if it\u2019s close in the final 15 minutes. Port Vale are the ones in the sweet\u00a0no-sponsor tribute kit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Get tickets to games like this here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

\n Illustration: Kelsea Petersen \/ The Athletic; Photos of Dawn Staley: Eakin Howard \/ Getty Images, Thien-An Truong \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Dawn Staley\u2019s record-breaking 2021 pay raise at South Carolina was about more than just her salary. Five years later,\u00a0the ripple effects are clear<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coming to Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft? First, welcome. Second, make sure to have some non-sports fun, too. My two favorite art museums in town are the\u00a0Warhol<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Mattress Factory<\/a>. I\u2019ve hit both in the past month, and they\u2019re worth the visit. \u2014 Alex Iniguez<\/p>\n

Is the U.S. men\u2019s national team good enough to make America care about the World Cup?\u00a0Paul Tenorio weighs in<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trader Joe\u2019s Ketchup Flavored Lattice Potato Chips<\/a>\u00a0are in the running for my snack of the summer (snack of the summer > song of the summer). I find this seasoning actually brighter and more acidic than normal ketchup. TBH I wish ketchup tasted as good as these chips. \u2014 Noah Chestnut<\/p>\n

Melanie Anzidei\u00a0takes us to Colombia<\/a>\u00a0for a look at growing a once-unimaginable domestic league. It\u2019s the first installment of a new monthly series about women\u2019s soccer around the world.<\/p>\n

I asked my fellow Wirecutter journalists how they make cooking less of a chore.\u00a0Their tips and tools<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 like using a blender to make pancakes or repurposing a waffle maker to turn out egg bites \u2014 can make getting a good meal on the table much easier, even on the busiest nights. \u2014 Maki Yazawa<\/p>\n

I\u2019m trying to make my family break up with an unnamed pod-based coffee system, so we\u2019re testing out the\u00a0xBloom Studio<\/a>\u00a0on a trial run. So far, it\u2019s the most impressive coffee machine I have, and my daughter lovingly calls it \u201cCOFFEE ROBOT.\u201d \u2014 Chris Branch<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The death of former Wisconsin tight end Jack Pugh, at 24.\u00a0Story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85,41526],"class_list":{"0":"post-584788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-womens-college-basketball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}