⛳ JT's Triple Treat

G'day, it's Tuesday, 24 May

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Martin Gabor are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 10 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching

🏀 10.30am - NBA Eastern Conference Finals - Celtics v Heat - TD Garden, Boston - Foxtel, Kayo

🎾 7.00pm - French Open - Philippe-Chatrier Court, Paris - 9Gem, Stan Sport 

🏏 12.00am (Wed) - IPL Playoffs - Titans v Royals - Eden Gardens, Kolkata - Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEST

⛳ Thomas comes back just in the nick of time 

You’re not supposed to win any event when you’re down by 7 strokes in the final round. Let alone a golf major. But it turns out anything can happen when pressure is involved.

Golden points: Justin Thomas is $3.8 million richer after he came from the clouds to win the US PGA Championship yesterday.

• It looked like Chile’s Mito Pereira would pull off a famous win. That was until he shanked his tee shot on the final hole into the water. He hit a double bogey and his one-shot lead was gone.

• That left Thomas and Will Zalatoris in a playoff that no one saw coming. Unlike other events, this major has a 3-hole playoff where it comes down to aggregate score. Thomas went birdie, birdie, par and won by a shot. 

• Aussies Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert finished =13th. 

They said it: "I was asked early in the week what lead is safe, and I said, 'No lead'.'' - JT always believed. 

What’s next: There are a couple of majors coming up. The women’s US Open begins on 2 June and the men’s starts on 16 June.

🎾 Wimbledon loses ranking points and maybe top players  

The decision by governing bodies the ATP and WTA to get rid of ranking points at Wimbledon means we might not get to see some of the world’s best players.

Golden points: The reason they’ve done this is because Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarussian players from competing because of the invasion of Ukraine. It also means players won’t get to defend their points from last year. 

• Former world #1 Naomi Osaka says she might not make the trip to London now because the tournament is basically "an exhibition" event.

• Those comments came after the Japanese star was knocked out of the French Open in the first round by Amanda Anisimova.

• Osaka isn’t the only player thinking about skipping the 3rd major of the year. Aussie Chris O’Connell says he’ll consider playing smaller events because it’ll help him pick up ranking points. 

They said it:  “I already have so many points this season, that it’s really, it’s going to be fine for me.” - World #1 Iga Świątek isn’t so worried about the points situation at Wimbledon. Why would she be? She dropped 2 games in her first-up win overnight.

Watch it: The French Open continues on 9Gem and Stan Sport from 7.00pm (AEST). 

🥇 Sevens stars are simply the best

There was no gold medal at the final rugby sevens event in Toulouse over the weekend, but the Aussie women are coming home with plenty of major awards.

Golden points: It’s okay New Zealand, you can have the win in France. You can’t win them all, but we did finish first overall in the world series. That’s why 4 Aussies made the World Rugby Dream Team.

• We’ve got some gun players, but none better than Charlotte Caslick. She scored 31 tries this season and was named the Impact Player of the Year.

• Madison Ashby and Faith Nathan also made the team, as did Maddison Levi. She’s young and really good at scoring tries. That’s why she was named Rookie of the Year.

What’s next: It’s time to start preparing for the Comm Games. New Zealand won gold in 2018 and they’ll be favourites to do it again in Birmingham.

Watch it: Let’s not forget Lily Dick. She won the Don’t Crack Under Pressure Award for her late, late try to beat NZ in Canada. 

⚽ No plane sailing for Spanish stars 

Hey now, you’re an All-Star, get your game on, go play. Okay, that’s enough Smash Mouth for one day. But it is sound advice for the A-League Men’s players getting ready to play Barcelona.

Golden points: This will be fun. After an 8-year break, the All-Star game is back. That means some of the best local talent will get the chance to play the Spanish giants.

• Fans were a bit nervous that Barcelona wouldn’t name their best players. But the squad dropped yesterday and stars like Dani Alves, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frankie de Jong were on the plane.

• That plane is a big talking point. Barcelona actually played in the Spanish league yesterday and then hopped on a non-stop charter flight to Darwin.

• Trainspotters rejoice because Adama Traore will play Adama Traore after both squads named a player with the same name.

They said it: “A lot of people don’t expect us to overturn Barcelona, so we have a free shot against them.” - All-Stars coach Dwight Yorke is a realist.

Watch it: You can catch the game on 10 Bold and Paramount+. It kicks off at 8.05 pm (AEST) at Accor Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday.

🏏 It's like the Big Bash but heaps bigger 

If the Indian Premier League playoffs are anywhere near as exciting as the English Premier League final day then we are in for a treat.

Golden points: Think of this as the Big Bash League, only much bigger. In fact, this is the biggest T20 cricket comp in the world. And now we’re down to the final 4. 

• The first game is at midnight and it’s a biggie. It’s Matt Wade’s Gujarat, they’re the new kids on the block, up against Rajasthan. The Royals have the leading run-scorer (Jos Buttler) and the guy with the most wickets (Yuzvendra Chahal).

• They’ve been rewarded for finishing top 2. The winner goes straight through to the final while the loser is still alive.

• They will then play the winner of the game between the Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore. There are heaps of Aussies in this match, as well as Indian legend Virat Kohli. 

What are the chances… rain intervenes? It's forecast, so organisers have a plan. Games will be decided in a super over which is basically a one-over game to decide the winner.

Watch it: You can watch all the playoffs on Foxtel and Kayo. The first game is on at 12.00am (AEST).

👀 Quick singles

🎾 Defending champ Barbora Krejčíková has been knocked out of the French Open in the first round. There were no such problems for Aussie Ajla Tomljanović who cruised past 5th seed Anna Kontaveit in straight sets. 

⛳️ Aussie golfer Grace Kim heads into next month's US Open in good form. Kim won the second tier IOA Golf Classic for her first win as a professional and she's rocketed up the rankings. 

🏉 A couple of AFL stars are set for long stints out of the game. Sydney’s Josh Kennedy could miss about 2 months with a hamstring injury while Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield has a calf injury. 

🥊 Boxing legend Canelo Alvarez has decided not to have a rematch with Dmitry Bivol after his shock loss earlier this year. Instead, he’s going to make a lot of money fighting Gennady Golovkin for the 3rd time. 

🏉 Warriors five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita is going to take a break from the NRL at the end of the season. He says he’s not enjoying rugby league at the moment and wants to take time off to travel and do other things in life. 

⚽ Things got so wild in Manchester during City’s comeback in the English Premier League yesterday that even fellow fans were taking each other out. Former Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher needed stitches after he was accidentally headbutted by a player’s father. 

🏈 A fair bit has happened at the Arizona Cardinals in the off-season. That’s great because they’ll be the main focus on the show Hard Knocks which gives fans an in-depth look at teams leading into the new NFL season. 

🙃 Left of field...

It’s a good thing ice hockey is played indoors, otherwise there’d be a lot of sunburnt fans right now.

Golden points: Edmonton Oilers supporters went wild when Evander Kane scored his 3rd goal in a row against Calgary yesterday. The hat-trick meant he was treated to a flurry of hats.

• This isn’t new. Hockey fans in the States love throwing hats on the ice to celebrate hat-tricks. 

• This one was particularly special because it was Kane’s 2nd of the playoffs and it gave the Oilers a 2-1 series lead. 

Key click: It might seem strange to see hundreds of hats on the ice, but there is a strong connection to cricket. Read about it here.

Watch it: Maybe leave your lucky hat at home next time.

📽 The highlight reel

We may have seen the best dunk of the year in the NBA yesterday. There have been some beauties this season, but Golden State's Andrew Wiggins took it to the next level with a whopper over Luka Dončić.

📸 Photo finish

AFLW legend Erin Phillips was back in the states on the weekend celebrating the 10-year anniversary of her WNBA title win with the Indiana Fever. 

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

We've got to go back to the 2017 Masters when Sergio Garcia beat Justin Rose.