Sports
9 underdogs to watch at the 2025 Masters

The tradition unlike any other is back.
Augusta National will play host to 95 of the top golfers on the planet this weekend, and only one will don the famous green jacket early Sunday evening.
All eyes are on reigning champion Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and two-time major winners Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele and a couple of other household names.
But we’re here to tell you about the nine golfers you may not be familiar with who may make some noise in Georgia this weekend.
The Augusta National Golf Club, featuring the Crow’s Nest on the second floor, in Augusta, Ga., March 13, 2008. (Chris Thelen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Shane Lowry
Shane Lowry is no stranger to major tournament success. He has finished in the top four in each major, including a victory at the 2019 Open Championship and a second-place finish in the 2022 Masters.
Last year was up and down, but he managed sixth-place finishes in both the PGA Championship and Open Championship. This year, he’s off to a hot start.
In seven events, he has three top-10 finishes, including a runner-up behind his buddy Rory McIlroy at Pebble Beach. The only time he’s finished outside the top 20 was when he missed the cut as the Farmers Insurance, and he finished tied for 39th at The Genesis.
Since then, he’s finished tied for 11th, seventh, tied for 20th and tied for eighth. He ranks in several important analytics that are key for Augusta: fourth in shots gained tee-to-green, sixth in shots-gained approach the green and 24th in SG around the green.
Russell Henley
Augusta National hasn’t typically been kind to Russell Henley. Outside of his fourth-place tie in 2023, he’s finished outside the top 20 in five of his other eight times at the course.
But he ended the majors hot last year, finishing tied for seventh at the U.S. Open and fifth at the Open Championship. His performance was good enough for a Presidents Cup appearance, and he carried it over with an incredible win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with the help of a hole-out eagle from the trap on 16.
Henley has made the cut in all seven of his tournaments this year and has four top-10 finishes. He ranks 16th in SG tee-to-green and around the green and 22nd in SG approach the green.

Russell Henley hits from the third tee during a practice round for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. (Michael Madrid/Imagn Images)
J.J. Spaun
J.J. Spaun just went toe to toe with Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship, and although the playoff didn’t go his way, it was quite an effort.
Spaun has another runner-up this season as the Cognizant and tied for third at the Sony Open in Hawaii. His other events have not gone too well, but it’s no secret he can find himself near the top if he gets it going.
Spaun ranks second in SG approach the green (behind only Collin Morikawa) and seventh in SG tee-to-green. He’s a sneaky pick and one to keep an eye on.
Robert McIntyre
Robert McIntyre is riding high. His last four finishes have gone tied for sixth, missed cut, tied for 11th and ninth. He ranks fifth in SG tee-to-green, with the top four of Morikawa, McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Lowry combining for nine major championships.
He also ranks eighth in SG off the tee, 21st in SG approach the green, and sixth in greens in regulation percentage.
It would be a stunner if he were to win it all because his putter isn’t too friendly, but his driver and iron game could get him hovering around moving day.
Will Zalatoris
Should Zalatoris really be considered a sleeper if he’s competed three times at the Masters and finished in the top 10 in each of them?
At a course like Augusta National, which eats up some of the best golfers in the world, Zalatoris clearly knows how to tame it. However, he hasn’t had the best start to the 2025 season by his standards, though he’s been a top-50 finisher in each event he’s played thus far.

Will Zalatoris waves to the gallery on the 18th green during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club Feb. 17, 2024, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
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Corey Conners
Conners is riding high heading into Masters week, finishing with three top-10 finishes in his recent events. And given the necessity to strike the ball well at Augusta, Conners is one of those players who could climb the leaderboard right away in this year’s first major.
Through his seven Masters, Conners has finished in the top 10 in three of them.
Akshay Bhatia
The sweet-swinging lefty is quickly becoming a superstar on the PGA Tour, and he could cement that title if he makes a run at the green jacket this week. Last year, Bhatia tied for 35th in his first Masters tournament, and given his top-10 finishes at The Players (tied for 3rd), Genesis Invitational (tied for 9th) and Mexico Open (9th), he’s playing great golf at the moment on a course that should be soft this week for easier scoring.
Sepp Straka
Making his fourth Masters start this week, Straka, the 13th-ranked golfer in the world, had his best finish last year when he came in 16th. But his last three tournaments have seen him finish 11th, fifth and 14th, respectively. He also won The American Express this year, so he’s playing great golf heading into the week.

Sepp Straka of Austria walks on the 18th green during the final round of the John Deere Classic golf tournament July 9, 2023, at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Tom Kim
Kim is not playing his best golf right now, missing the cut in two of his last four tournaments, including the Valero Texas Open. In the two cuts he did make, he finished tied for 36th and tied for 42nd.
However, Kim has done well at Augusta National in his two tournaments. He finished tied for 16th in his debut in 2023, and tied for 30th in 2024. And his final round last year saw a 66, which was the low score of the day by two strokes.
If he can cut down on approach mistakes, Kim has a chance to contend Sunday.
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Sports
NBA reporter slams Draymond Green after Warriors star's 'angry Black man' comments

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NBA reporters shared their blunt reactions to Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green’s plea to the media to stop painting him to be an “angry Black man” after Game 2 of the team’s NBA playoffs series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Green made his comments in the locker room. He picked up what was his fifth technical foul of the playoffs. He said there was an “agenda” to portray him as an “angry Black man.”
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green warms up before Game 3 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
ESPN reporter Tim McMahon made pointed comments on an episode of “The Hoop Collective” after Game 2 was finished.
“Oh, God. You know what? Go away, Draymond. Shut up, dude. Do not play victim here. Don’t play the victim here. Stop doing flagrant stuff. We’re sick of it. We’re sick of you doing stupid, flagrant crap on a regular basis. It’s not an agenda, Draymond,” McMahon said. “You get break after break after break after break, and you keep on pushing the line.
“It was not an agenda to make you look angry when you punched your teammate in the face. It was not an agenda to make you look angry when you grabbed Rudy Gobert and put him in a sleeper hold. It was not an agenda to make you look angry when you punched or smacked, or whatever you want to call it, Jusuf Nurkic upside the head.”

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green reacts after missing a shot during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
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McMahon also pushed back on the notion that Green had leaned into counseling off the floor.
“Draymond is full of crap. He’s just so full of crap that his breath stinks. Like what are we talking about here, dude? Please,” he added.
Green was hit with the technical foul in the second quarter of Game 2.
“I’m not an angry Black man. I am a very successful, educated Black man with a great family, and I am great at basketball and great at what I do,” he said after the game. “The agenda to try to keep making me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous.”
He had two points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals in the Game 3 loss. He fouled out with 4:38 in the game.
Green has a long history of flagrant and technical fouls in the NBA.
He put Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold during the 2023-24 season. In the same season, he swung and hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, center, and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) reach for a rebound during the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
He punched Jordan Poole in a Warriors practice in 2022. He was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James engineered a comeback to win the championship.
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Sports
Corona's Seth Hernandez is set to become next great pitcher from Southern California

Through 48 years of covering high school baseball in Southern California, watching so many prolific pitchers develop into legendary pro players has been one of the funnest parts of being a prep sportswriter. I’ve learned to always look for someone who can throw strikes.
There was Jack McDowell of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Bret Saberhagen of Cleveland in the 1980s. They became Cy Young Award winners for the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, respectively.
In the 1990s, there was Jeff Suppan of Crespi, Russ Ortiz of Montclair Prep and Randy Wolf of El Camino Real. In the 21st century, there were Cy Young winners Gerrit Cole (Orange Lutheran), Shane Bieber (Laguna Hills) and Trevor Bauer (Hart); and standouts Paul Skenes (El Toro), Hunter Greene (Notre Dame), Jack Flaherty (Harvard-Westlake) and Max Fried (Harvard-Westlake).
Bringing up these names is to remind everyone how stunningly good Seth Hernandez of Corona has been this season as he prepares for the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and heads off to be the next great pitcher from the Southland.
In 42 1/3 innings, he has struck out 88 batters while walking only three. Never has there been someone throwing a 98 mph fastball as a teenager with so much pinpoint control. In fact, he’s only hit one batter all season. Teenagers who throw in the 90s normally hit and walk lots of batters.
Not Hernandez. His command is freakishly good.
“That was his goal,” coach Andy Wise said of improving over his junior season. “What are we going to do to get better and that was his No. 1 thing to do.”
Hernandez has never suffered a pitching defeat since he started playing high school baseball. He went 9-0 and had 15 walks in 56 innings last season. This season he’s 8-0 with an 0.17 ERA. Showing off his athleticism, he has also hit five home runs.
As comparison, probably the pitcher closest to having a season with this much control was Flaherty in 2013, when he walked 10 in 89 innings, struck out 112 and went 13-0 as a junior. But he didn’t come close to Hernandez’s velocity. Greene was throwing 101 mph fastballs and had 10 walks in 55 2/3 innings in 2016, his junior season.
Greene’s coach at Notre Dame, Tom Dill, said of Hernandez, “You take an arm like that with the ability to throw strikes and the upside is fantastic.”
The Washington Nationals have the first pick in this summer’s amateur draft. Their general manager attended a Corona game to see Hernandez pitch.
Attending high school baseball games is free, so the best ticket around might be going to watch Hernandez pitch when he’s expected to be on the mound next Tuesday in Corona’s playoff opener. The pairings will be released on Monday, and Corona is expected to have a first-round bye when the playoffs begin on Thursday.
It’s not only his control and fastball that are impressive, it’s his poise and his breaking pitches. He really does have all the qualities scouts want in a pitching prospect, from work ethic to competitiveness to the ability to deal with pressure situations.
If opponents want him to autograph a ball during the playoffs, that wouldn’t be acting silly. That would be someone understanding they are in the presence of someone they’ll be watching from their living room one day pitching at a major league stadium.
Sports
Former Texas star Quinn Ewers admits he 'didn't expect to fall as' far as he did in NFL Draft

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Quinn Ewers entered the 2024 college football season with many pundits projecting him as a first-rounder in the 2025 NFL Draft. But the former Texas quarterback fell to the seventh and final round last month.
Ewers also became the last player at his position to come off the board. This year’s draft class featured 14 quarterbacks. Ewers’ agent spoke out after the quarterback’s draft slide, and the 23-year-old is now breaking his silence.
Ewers admitted having to wait until the seventh round to hear his name called took him by surprise, but he is also embracing the opportunity he has with the Miami Dolphins.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers warms up before the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal game against Ohio State Jan. 10, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
“I didn’t expect to fall as low as I did,” Ewers told The Associated Press Friday. “It is what it is at the end of the day, and I have the same opportunity that everybody else does. And I’m beyond thankful for that. I just want to go in there and play my game and learn and develop as a quarterback.”
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Ewers enters a quarterback room in Miami that already features Tua Tagovailoa and Zach Wilson, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers throws during practice at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Dec. 30, 2024. (Sara Diggins/American-Statesman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Ewers finished his two-year stint as the starter at Texas with a 21-5 record. He helped lift the Longhorns to College Football Playoff appearances the past two seasons. Ewers threw three touchdowns in a CFP quarterfinal double overtime thriller against Arizona State.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers before a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. (Daniel Dunn/Imagn Images)
Ewers’ college football career started at Ohio State, but he transferred to Texas. He ended his career in Austin with 68 touchdowns to his credit.
Tagovailoa appeared in just 11 games during the 2024 season. Injuries and the long-term health of the Pro Bowl quarterback remain a topic of conversation.
Wilson landed with the Denver Broncos last season after a turbulent three-year run with the New York Jets. Ewers acknowledged the competitive nature that exists among the Dolphins’ quarterbacks.
“There’s a lot of guys out there right now, and everyone’s fighting for the same job,” Ewers said. “And we’re all competitive, but it’s cool at the same time, just because, at the end of the day, some of these guys are going to end up being teammates with us. But you’ve got to earn the job and earn the trust of those guys as well.”
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