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“If Pebble Beach weren’t on the water, would it still be a World Top 100 course?”

On the face of it, that’s a silly question, akin to asking if the Mona Lisa would still be a masterpiece without her smile. The ocean is integral to Pebble, not only in plain view through much of the round but also in play on multiple holes. It’s as inseparable from the design as Lisa’s famously beguiling expression is from Leonardo da Vinci’s work. You can’t discuss one without mentioning the other.

And yet, the Pebble hypothetical is useful as a prompt for a larger question: do courses on the coast get preferred treatment over their inland counterparts?

That topic came up in a recent episode of the Destination Golf podcast, where my co-host Simon Holt and I dug into some of the perceptions — and misperceptions — around GOLF’s World Top 100 rankings. With this year’s list set to publish later this month, we thought it made sense to do some myth-busting: about what influences our panelists, and what doesn’t. We touched on the usual suspects: exclusivity, conditioning, and, yes, seaside scenery.

How much, really, does the coast matter? Simon made the point that a lot depends on context. In the UK or Ireland, where linksland dominates, he said, “if you ranked a parkland course among the top 20 or 30, you’d get laughed out of the room.” By contrast, in the U.S., where the variety of golf geography is pretty much unmatched, many fixtures in the top tier — Augusta National, Merion and Oakmont, among them — are landlocked. If a coastline were the top requirement, Pine Valley wouldn’t be the perennial No. 1.

The deeper you dive into the conversation, the more nuanced it gets. GOLF has no set formula for its rankings. Raters are entrusted to evaluate architecture on its merits — not to be swayed by the non-architectural extras. But a round of golf is an experience, and part of that experience is an exploration of a landscape. The landscape helps lend the course its sense of place. Remove the backdrop from, say, Cabot Cliffs, and the design reads differently. To turn the matter on its head, consider the flip side to coastal splendor: real estate. A water view can elevate a course. A house astride the fairway can deflate it, even if it never comes into play.

In the end, it’s all subjective, and it can be hard to disentangle setting from design. As a parting thought, Simon waxed poetic while pointing to the allure of a coastline. “We’re all human beings. And there’s something about being human beings, we’re drawn to the sea.” Clearly, he’s never spent time among the Dothraki. But I digress. We’re talking golf, not Game of Thrones.

You can hear the full conversation here.

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(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

When it comes to World Series TV ratings, Major League Baseball is on quite a winning streak.

The 2025 World Series averaged 15.71 million viewers, the largest average viewership for a World Series since the Astros beat the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. Those figures don’t include Canada, where the home-team Blue Jays set viewership records.

That’s a remarkable rebound after World Series viewership dipped to an all-time low two years ago, when the 2023 Rangers-D-backs World Series registered just 9.076 million viewers. Since then, MLB has reestablished World Series ratings to figures comparable to most of the 2010s.

And when compared to the NBA Finals, the closest analog in major U.S. sports, the World Series is relatively consistently drawing more viewers.

With the help of the data at Sports Media Watch, the trend reversal becomes clear.

During the 2000s, the World Series consistently outperformed the NBA Finals, averaging 4.2 million more viewers. Only once during that decade—2008â€s Celtics–Lakers Finals—did basketball come out ahead, outdrawing the Phillies-Rays World Series that year by 1.2 million viewers.

That trend flipped completely in the 2010s. With the rise of LeBron James and Steph Curry, the NBA finals surged ahead and averaged 2.2 million more viewers than the World Series from 2010-19. The World Series outperformed the NBA Finals just once: The Cubs’ drought-breaking 2016 win over the Guardians, which is the most-viewed finals in either sport since 2004.

Now, the trend has once again reversed dramatically. In the 2020s, the World Series is averaging 1.5 million more viewers than the NBA Finals. The World Series has outdrawn the Finals in four of the past six seasons, including by an average of 4.6 million over the past two years.

It is worth noting that the way Nielsen measures ratings has changed recently. Nielsen has steadily increased measurements of out-of-house viewership this decade and has recently added data from smart TVs that could lead to slightly higher viewership numbers, so the comparisons from viewership numbers from the 2010s to now arenâ€t apples-to-apples comparisons. And the 2024 NBA Finals featured two of the league’s smallest markets in Oklahoma City and Indiana.

But the trend lines are consistent. MLB postseason ratings, which were on a steadily declining trend, have significantly reversed. Having the Dodgers a large-market team with massive stars in the World Series has definitely helped. But the ratings for other postseason series also ticked up.

There are likely multiple contributing factors that have led to the uptick, including the general fan response to the pitch clock and lessened amounts of dead time in games. As MLB works on new media contracts to replace the current Fox and Turner deals that expire after the 2028 season, it has a compelling viewership narrative to sell.

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Bayern Munich made it 16 wins from 16 games this season to underline their credentials as early Champions League favourites, beating the holders, Paris Saint-Germain, 2-1 away as Luis Díaz scored two goals and was shown a red card.

The Colombia winger struck twice before being sent off for a violent tackle on Achraf Hakimi on the stroke of half-time.

PSG, who reduced the arrears through João Neves, dominated possession after the break but failed to make it fully count and slipped to their first defeat in the competition since last seasonâ€s quarter-final second leg against Aston Villa.

The result kept Bayern top of the 36-team league on a maximum 12 points, with PSG third, three points adrift and with more injury concerns after Hakimi and Ousmane Dembélé were replaced early.

“Itâ€s always hard to lose at home. We need to assert ourselves and play better. We faced a well organised team, especially physically. We couldnâ€t get our game going,†the PSG captain, Marquinhos, said.

PSG, who had beaten Bayern 2-0 in the Club World Cup quarter-finals in July, came out flying with their trademark high pressing but were caught cold in the fourth minute when Díaz smashed home after Lucas Chevalier had parried Michael Oliseâ€s effort.

Dembélé thought he had levelled midway through the half only for his goal to be ruled out for offside, as PSG pressed but looked unusually fragile at the back.

Bayern stayed a step ahead and, after Serge Gnabry struck the post, Díaz pounced on a sleepy Marquinhos to steal the ball and slot home a second in the 32nd minute.

Luis Díaz scores his and Bayernâ€s second after picking Marquinhosâ€s pocket. Photograph: Matthieu Mirville/DPPI/Shutterstock

Díazâ€s evening ended abruptly just before half-time when he was shown a straight red for a brutal lunge on Hakimi, who limped off in tears with a suspected ankle injury.

Neves reduced the arrears with a scissor kick and came close to levelling a few minutes later with a header.

Juventus are still without a win in the competition after they were held to a 1-1 draw in Turin by Sporting, when Maximiliano Araújo put the visitors ahead and Dusan Vlahovic equalised for the hosts.

An eight-game winless run in all competitions led to the recent sacking of the Juventus coach Igor Tudor and, after two victories on the bounce since then, another draw in Europe, this time under Luciano Spalletti, put the Italian side on three points from four matches.

Sporting, who move on to seven points, went in front in the 12th minute when Francisco Trincão played the ball wide to Araújo who drilled a low shot off the far upright and into the bottom corner.

Vlahovicâ€s glancing header from the edge of the six-yard box was saved by Rui Silva. The Serbian had another effort parried away for a corner, and was rewarded in the 34th minute when he toe-poked Khephren Thuramâ€s pin-point pass to the net.

In Athens, Ricardo Pepi scored in stoppage time for PSV Eindhoven to secure a 1-1 draw with Olympiakos and deny the Greek club a first win in the Champions League this season. Pepi stuck away a rebound from a free-kick three minutes into stoppage time after Olympiakos had led from the 17th minute through Gelson Martins.

Atlético Madrid earned a 3-1 home victory against Union Saint-Gilloise, with goals from Julián Alvarez, Conor Gallagher and Marcos Llorente keeping Diego Simeoneâ€s side in the hunt for qualification.

The result leaves Atlético 14th in the league-phase standings on six points from four matches, level with five other teams, while the Belgium champions, Union Saint-Gilloise, sit 26th with three points and outside the qualification spots.

Atlético struck first in the 40th minute when Giuliano Simeone burst up the right channel and put it on a plate for his Argentina teammate Alvarez to unleash an unstoppable half-volley from inside the box.

Conor Gallagher finds a way through the bodies to score for Atlético Madrid against Union Saint-Gilloise. Photograph: Shutterstock

Atlético came off the break livelier and finally found their second goal in the 72nd minute when Gallagher fired a bullet strike from inside the box

Union Saint-Gilloise refused to go quietly, cutting the deficit in the 81st minute whenRoss Sykes leaped high to unleash a towering header into the bottom left corner. The goal set up a nervy finish for the hosts who finally managed to score again when Llorente made it 3-1.

The Monaco striker Folarin Balogun got the only goal of the game as the French side grabbed a 1-0 win at Bodø/Glimt, with Jostein Gundersen sent off for the home side for a badly mistimed tackle late on.

The Norwegian side won the first-half possession battle but went behind in the 43rd minute when Balogun ghosted in behind the defence and slammed a shot into the top corner from a tight angle.

With the rain pouring down, Bodoâ€s evening went from bad to worse when the defender Gundersen was shown a red card for a clumsy stamp on the ankle of Mika Biereth in the 81st minute that left the Monaco substitute writhing on the ground in pain.

That effectively ended any chance of a comeback and Monaco held on comfortably for a win that moves them to 18th in the table on five points, while their hosts slip to 27th spot with two points from a pair of draws in their first two games.

Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt played out a goalless draw at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with Antonio Conteâ€s team at least stopping the rot defensively after shipping six goals to PSV in the previous round of fixtures.

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In a game that lacked a lot of activity with both teams playing their fourth game in six nights, Huberdeau broke through 2:15 into the second period when he snapped a wrister from the left circle through a screen set by Yegor Sharangovich to put the Flames ahead.

He scored his fourth goal of the season at 7:06 of the third period when he tipped Mackenzie Weegar’s shot past Flyers goalie Aleksei Kolosov.

Dustin Wolf made 17 saves to pick up his third win of the season. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Flames.

Kolosov, who replaced the injured Sam Ersson on Philadelphia’s roster, made 19 saves in his first start in goal this season.

Travis Konecny scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who dropped their second game in as many nights.

Trevor Zegras saw his eight-game home point streak snapped for Philadelphia. It was tied for the longest in franchise history for a player at the start of his tenure with the Flyers with Peter Forsberg and Peter Zezel.

The Flyers played without winger Tyson Foerster, who scored a goal on Saturday. Foerster blocked a shot with his skate in the first period Saturday. He played the rest of that game, but he was unable to put weight on his foot after taking his skate off.

Before Sunday’s game, coach Rick Tocchet said Foerster would “miss a few games†and be reevaluated after the swelling dissipates.

Flames: Return home to host Columbus on Wednesday.

Philadelphia: Begin a two-game road trip in Montreal on Tuesday.

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David Rittich made 20 saves in New York’s second straight win.

Miles Wood and defenceman Denton Mateychuk scored for Columbus, which beat St. Louis 3-2 on Saturday for its fourth consecutive win. Elvis Merzlikins made 36 saves.

Schaefer tied it at two with his second goal of the game with 1:07 to go. Holmstrom tapped a loose puck past Merzlikins with 38 seconds left for his fourth of the season.

Merzlikins slammed his stick over the crossbar in frustration after Holmstrom’s goal.

Mateychuk backhanded the puck past Rittich at 12:10 of the third for his third goal, lifting the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 lead. Kirill Marchenko and Sean Monahan assisted.

Schafer opened the scoring 5:53 into the first, rifling a shot past Merzlikins on the power play. The 18-year-old Schaefer has 10 points in 12 games since the Islanders made him the first overall pick in this year’s NHL draft.

Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri assisted. Horvat leads the Islanders with 13 points, including seven goals.

Columbus tied it at 1 on Wood’s fourth goal at 15:19 of the second.

The Islanders were coming off 3-1 win at Washington on Friday night, finishing a 1-2-1 road trip.

Columbus has won six of eight since a 1-3-0 start.

Islanders: Host the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

Blue Jackets: Visit the Calgary Flames on Wednesday to continue five-game trip.

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WWE

May 23, 1999 will forever go down as one of, if not the, most tragic nights in professional wrestling history—and that’s just from the perspective of most fans. But, thinking a bit more deeply, when Owen Hart died at WWE’s Over the Edge pay-per-view after falling from the rafters during his entrance as The Blue Blazer at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri that night, sometimes, it seems to be lost on the masses that his family was actually watching at the time. Appearing on “Insight With Chris Van Vliet,” Natalya explained how things went in the literal moment.

Asked if she remembered where she was, Nattie instantly recalled being with other family members in the moment. “I was at my uncle’s house,” Neidhart explained. “I was at The British Bulldog’s house. Davey’s house. TJ [Wilson] was there with me. We were watching the pay-per-view.” That was their tradition, Nattie would describe, but quickly, it was clear that something was wrong. “My grandfather had gotten a call from Vince,” she said. “And it was just like, that was when we knew that Owen was not okay.”

Explaining that Owen and his wife Martha lived about 20 minutes away in the Calgary area at the time, Nattie explained the residual effect that Owen’s death had on her grandmother, Helen, specifically. “I think that was the hardest thing my family ever went through,” she recounted. “I think it just caused this domino effect of chaos and [I don’t think my grandmother] ever got over it and I think, I do believe that she died from a broken heart. She was never okay after that. And so, it was very hard on my grandfather because my grandmother was his everything. So it was just a very, very traumatic time for our family.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Insight With Chris Van Vliet” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (AP Photo/Jon Super) Liverpool secured a 2-0 victory against Aston Villa in the Premier League, ending their four-game losing streak. Mohamed Salah achieved his 250th goal for the club, and Ryan Gravenberch added another goal to help the defending champions move up to third place in the standings.”I’m glad we are back on track now. It’s a very tricky season for us because we have a few new players, they are very good players, but they need time to adapt. We lost some players too. It takes time to adapt and know each other’s games, but everything will be fine,” said Salah. Liverpool manager Arne Slot’s decision to make multiple changes during Wednesday’s 3-0 League Cup loss to Crystal Palace increased pressure on the returning players to secure a win after six defeats in seven games across all competitions.”What I liked most was that I think everybody here felt the importance of the game. I’m talking about my players and I’m talking about the fans. From start to finish the players showed up,” said Slot.Liverpool faced early pressure when Morgan Rogers hit the post with a shot after five minutes. This continued their pattern of struggling in the opening 15 minutes, which had been evident in their previous four Premier League defeats.Villa initially showed strength in breaking through Liverpool’s defense but later struggled with their own defensive play. Dominik Szoboszlai missed an opportunity after taking the ball from Pau Torres, shooting directly at Martinez.Hugo Ekitike’s header goal was disallowed after VAR review showed he was offside from Szoboszlai’s cross. Martinez’s error then allowed Salah to score just before half-time, marking his 250th goal for Liverpool.Salah’s goal, his fifth of the season, places him as Liverpool’s third-highest scorer in club history, behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt. The goal also ended Liverpool’s streak of conceding first in seven consecutive games.Villa entered the match having won their previous four league games, including victories over Tottenham and Manchester City. They were level on points with Liverpool before the game.Gravenberch, who had missed the previous weekend’s 3-2 loss at Brentford due to an ankle injury, scored Liverpool’s second goal. His shot deflected off Pau Torres, deceiving Martinez.Liverpool achieved their first clean sheet in 11 games. The team now prepares for upcoming matches against Real Madrid in the Champions League and Manchester City in the Premier League.Liverpool’s recent poor form has created a significant challenge in their title defence against Arsenal. The victory reduced their gap behind Arsenal to seven points, providing a starting point for their return to the title race.

Joao Pedro lifts Chelsea to glory against Spurs

Joao Pedro ended his goal drought for Chelsea by scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory against Tottenham at their home stadium on Saturday.The Brazilian striker scored his first goal since August 30, when he last found the net against Fulham, breaking a nine-game goalless streak across all competitions.Since his £60 million transfer from Brighton during the transfer window, the 24-year-old has only managed to score three times for Chelsea.Chelsea moved to fourth place in the Premier League standings after securing their third win in four matches, trailing Tottenham only on goal difference.Tottenham’s struggles at home continue, as they haven’t secured a victory at their stadium since defeating Burnley in the season opener in August.Their poor home form in 2025 began under previous manager Ange Postecoglou and has persisted under Frank’s leadership.Despite a League Cup defeat at Newcastle, Tottenham’s away performances have been stronger, including a convincing 3-0 win at Everton in their last league match.Tottenham supporters are showing increasing dissatisfaction with Frank’s tactical approach, which differs from the club’s traditional attacking philosophy.An early setback occurred when Lucas Bergvall suffered a head injury and was replaced by Xavi Simons as a concussion substitute.Bergvall showed resistance to the medical staff’s decision, pushing one of them before Frank stepped in to calm the situation.Alejandro Garnacho posed Chelsea’s primary attacking threat in the first half, testing Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario with long-range attempts.Vicario recovered from a knee injury to make a crucial save, denying Joao Pedro after a defensive error by Pedro Porro.Joao Pedro broke the deadlock in the 34th minute, capitalising on Moises Caicedo’s pressure on Simons and Van de Ven to score from close range.Frank expressed his frustration with Tottenham’s defensive errors by kicking a water bottle on the sideline.Joao Pedro nearly doubled his tally, but Vicario saved his powerful shot following Malo Gusto’s assist.Rodrigo Bentancur received a yellow card for a challenge on Reece James, which could have warranted a more severe punishment.Mohammed Kudus tested Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez just before halftime, but his shot was well saved.After the break, Enzo Fernandez missed a clear opportunity, heading over from James’ cross from ten yards out.Tottenham’s possession problems continued in the second half, leading to growing frustration among their supporters.Vicario was forced to make another save from Pedro Neto’s powerful attempt, while Tottenham failed to mount a serious comeback in the closing stages.

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England failed to overcome another grim batting failure as New Zealand edged to a two-wicket victory in the third one-day international in Wellington to send the tourists to Australia on the back of a 3-0 series defeat.

England’s top order folded once more, bowled out for the third match in a row to continue a worrying trend leading into the Ashes later this month, before New Zealand threatened to botch a chase of 223.

They were cruising at 187-5, needing only 35 from 87 balls, only to lose captain Mitchell Santner for 27 and Daryl Mitchell for 44 in a collapse of 3-8.

That left 27 to get with two wickets remaining but hope of an unlikely, morale-boosting victory for England was snuffed out by an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership between Zak Foulkes and Blair Tickner.

England’s bowling effort was admirable – this defeat instead down to their latest top-order collapse, which left them 44-5.

Joe Root was out for two, captain Harry Brook six and Ben Duckett eight and they only cleared 200 thanks to Jamie Overton’s 68 – his first ODI fifty.

Seven of this XI now travel to Perth to ramp up their preparation for the highly-anticipated series against Australia, which begins on 21 November.

They play only one warm-up – a three-day match against England Lions – leaving little opportunity for those struggling batters to find form before the series opener.

Brook’s 50-over side, meanwhile, have lost 11 of their 15 matches this year and require an upturn in fortunes when they return to action in the new year or else their direct qualification for the 2027 World Cup will come under significant threat.

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Antoine St-Laurent’s second goal of the game, scored 56 seconds into overtime, lifted the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies to a 5-4 Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League victory over the visiting Halifax Mooseheads on Friday at Arena Glencore.

Nathan Langlois, Samuel Theault and Charles Laforest also scored for the Huskies (9-3-2-1), who outshot the visitors 39-30. Samuel Beauchemin chipped in with three assists, while Alex Lemire had a pair of helpers.

Jasu Mensonen, Oleg Kulebiakin, Connor MacPherson and Quinn Kennedy scored for the Mooseheads (10-4-1-0), who led 3-1 after the first period and took a 3-2 lead into the third. Daniel Walters had two assists.

The Huskies went 3-for-6 on the power play, while the Mooseheads were 1-for-3.

Elsewhere in the QMJHL on Friday:

VOLTIGEURS 2, SAGUENEENS 1 (OT)

CHICOUTIMI, Que. — Xavier Cormier scored at 2:41 of overtime to lift the visiting Drummondville Voltigeurs to a 2-1 win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

William Dumont also scored for the Voltigeurs (8-4-1-1), who outshot the hosts 36-20.

Maxim Schafer scored for the Sagueneens (8-2-1-2), who went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Volts were 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

The Voltigeurs led 1-0 after the first period and the teams were tied 1-1 after 40 minutes.

Netminder Raphael Precourt stopped 34 of 36 shots for the Sagueneens.

Jan Larys stopped 19 of 20 for the Voltigeurs.

VICTORIAVILLE, Que. — Justin Carbonneau scored twice to lead the visiting Blainville-Boisbriand Armada to a 4-1 win over the Victoriaville Tigres.

Matt Gosselin and Bo Damphousse also scored for the Armada (10-4-2-0), who led 3-0 after the first period 4-0 heading into the third.

Deryk Lemaire scored for the Tigres (6-6-2-0) with 3:01 left in the third period.

The Armada, who went 0-for-5 on the power play, outshot the Tigres 39-33. The hosts were 1-for-7 with the man advantage.

RIMOUSKI, Que — Mathias Loiselle, Nathan Quinn and Mavrick Rousseau-Hamel each had a goal and assist as the visiting Quebec Remparts rolled past the Rimouski Oceanic 6-1.

Maddox Dagenais, Charlie Morrison and Cal Uens also scored for the Remparts (6-8-1-0), who scored four times after a scoreless first period. Xavier Lebel and Nikita Ovcharov each chipped in with two assists.

Oliver Czaja scored for the Oceanic (6-7-0-1), who outshot the visitors 29-28.

The Remparts went 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Oceanic were 0-for-4.

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Zachary Bolduc also scored for Montreal (6-2-0), which has won six of seven after a season-opening loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Adam Klapka scored the lone goal for Calgary (1-6-1), which has gone seven games without a win after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in its season-opener.

In a goaltending duel, Montreal rookie Jakub Dobes made 36 saves to earn the win and improve to a perfect 4-0-0.

Dustin Wolf, runner-up last year for the NHL’s Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, had 26 stops. He fell to 1-5-1.

Both goalies were busy all night, with Dobes facing the highest quantity of chances, but Wolf staring down the higher quality of chances.

Montreal led 1-0 heading into the third period when the Flames tied it at 5:56. Klapka capitalized on a Noah Dobson turnover in front, stealing the puck and scoring five-hole.

Canadiens: Bolduc continues to shine in his first season with the Canadiens. His four goals were just one back of Cole Caufield for the team lead. The 22-year-old winger was acquired from St. Louis on July 1 in a swap of 2021 first-round picks that sent defenceman Logan Mailloux the other way. Bolduc scored 19 goals with the Blues last year in his first full NHL season.

Flames: Calgary’s anemic offence continued to be front and centre with its NHL-worst 13 goals also a franchise worst mark through eight games. In the Flames’ 1972-73 expansion season, when the team was in Atlanta, they had 13 goals through their first eight games.

Possession was all Montreal in overtime and the Canadiens were able to make a line change while Calgary’s skaters tired. The winning goal came when Ivan Demidov spotted Matheson speeding in on the far side and wired a pass through the slot for Matheson to one-time in the open side.

Since the NHL started tracking shots on goal in 1959-60, the record for the worst team shooting percentage in a season is 6.9 per cent by the 2014-15 Arizona Coyotes. Through eight games, the Flames were at 5.5 per cent. The next-worst team was the New York Rangers (7.0).

Canadiens: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Flames: Travel to Winnipeg to take on the Jets on Friday.

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