⛳ Minjee's Major Milestone

Football's the focus, it's Tuesday, 7 June

🔊 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

🥅 10.00am - NHL Conference Finals Game 4 - Oilers v Avalanche - Rogers Place, Edmonton - Foxtel, Kayo

🏏 11.30pm - International T20 - Sri Lanka v Australia - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo - Foxtel, Kayo

⚽ 4.00am (Wed) - World Cup Qualifier - Australia v UAE - Al Rayyan Stadium, Doha - Channel 10

All times are in AEST

⛳ Minjee Lee lives out her dream

The rest of the world better take notice of Aussie golfer Minjee Lee because she is ready to dominate women’s golf for years to come.

Golden points: The walk to work on Monday morning was as sweet as ever thanks to Lee. She won the US Open and is now a whole lot richer.

• A major boost in prize money means she pocketed about $2.5 million, which was the biggest payday in women’s golf.

• She was always in control in the final round, finishing -13 overall which is the lowest ever 72-hole score at the US Open.

• This is such a big result because it moves her into 2nd spot in the world rankings.

• It also continues a dream 12 months for the 26yo who won her first major at the Evian Championship last year.

They said it: “It’s been my dream since I was a little girl, it’s the one that I’ve always wanted to win.” - Lee is now the 3rd Aussie to win the event.

What’s next: Let’s see if she can go back-to-back when the PGA Championship starts later this month.

Watch it: Here are the highlights from yesterday’s final round.

⚽ Positive vibes only for the Socceroos 

Cross your fingers, cross your toes, get ready for some highs, and hopefully no lows.

Golden points: We’re so nervous for the Socceroos game tomorrow that we’ve resorted to rhyming. But if it helps them win, we’ll keep it going.

• It’s pretty simple for the Socceroos. Beat the UAE tomorrow and they’re one step away from a spot in the FIFA World Cup. Lose and it’s all over.

• History suggests the Aussies should win this. They’ve only ever conceded one goal against the UAE and they’re also coming off a win against Jordan.

• The Socceroos would’ve preferred to have automatically qualified, but they also don’t mind doing it the hard way. They beat Honduras in 2018 to make the World Cup, and who can forget that famous night in Sydney when they beat Uruguay.

Key click: Here’s a detailed look at what coach Graham Arnold might do with team selections.

Watch it: The winner of this one gets to play Peru next week for a spot in Group D. Set the alarm now because it kicks off at 4am (AEST) on Channel 10.

🏏 Sri Lanka series is the perfect World Cup warmup

Put the boxing gloves away and dust off your cricket ones because the Aussies are back in action.

Golden points: Whoa, surely it’s too cold for cricket. Not if you’re playing in Sri Lanka where it is nice and warm.

• It’s gonna be a pretty hectic month over there. Australia plays 3 T20s, 5 one-dayers and 2 Tests.

• The T20 series is important for a couple of reasons. It’s always nice to win, but there’s a World Cup in Australia later this year and spots are up for grabs.

• We even know the team for tonight's match. Most of the big stars are there, but Pat Cummins is getting a well-deserved break and new coach Andrew McDonald is also missing because of COVID.

Key click: Here's all you need to know about the tour of Sri Lanka.

Watch it: There were reports that the games would start earlier because of security concerns and an energy crisis, but that’s not happening. Tonight’s game starts at 11.30pm (AEST) on Foxtel and Kayo.

⛳ Mickelson commits to the rebel tour

Talk about leaving it late. Phil Mickelson has confirmed he’s playing just days before the first event of the Saudi-backed golf tour.

Golden points: If you were up nice and early then you would’ve seen the statement from Mickelson on his social media pages confirming that he was back after a few months away from the game.

• The veteran golfer hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since January and has missed the first two majors of the year. It looked like he might miss this event as well when he wasn't named in the original field.

• But he’s back and will play at the first LIV Golf Invitational Series when it starts in London this week. He says he also wants to play majors.

• Whether the PGA will allow that remains to be seen. Mickelson says he’s a changed man following his controversial comments about the PGA and Saudi Arabia.

They said it: “Phil Mickelson is unequivocally one of the greatest golfers of this generation.” - LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman is very happy to have Mickelson on board.

What’s next: The first of 8 events on the LIV Tour starts on Thursday. There will be 48 players, 3 rounds of 18 holes with $35 million on offer.

🏉 Big blow for the Bulldogs with Bailey banned

The Western Bulldogs have suffered a major blow as they look to get back into the AFL top 8.

Golden points: The flowing mullet of Bailey Smith won’t be seen for a few weeks after he was suspended for 2 matches for a headbutt.

• This happened during Friday’s loss to Geelong when he headbutted Zach Tuohy.

• It’s bad timing for the Bulldogs who are in 9th spot and 4 points outside the 8.

• Smith is one of their best players. He averages the 6th-most disposals in the comp and is coming 9th in the Coaches’ Association votes, which is one of the biggest awards of the year.

They said it: “Unfortunately, I let my emotions get the better of me, which is out of character for me.” - Smith says he regrets losing his cool.

Watch it: Here's the incident that has Smith in trouble. 

👀 Quick singles

🏉 There are reports Warriors coach Nathan Brown may have coached his last game with the NRL club. It sounds like Brown has told the club he won’t be able to move to New Zealand next month, and that may lead to them letting him go as soon as today.

🏉 The Wallaroos are still looking for their first win over the Black Ferns. The Aussies led NZ at half-time but ended up losing 23-10 just months out from their clash at the Women's Rugby World Cup.

🏉 Latrell Mitchell’s hopes of playing in game 2 of the State of Origin series appear over. His South Sydney coach says Mitchell won’t play this week because of COVID and that he probably won’t be back until Round 16.

🏀 The Utah Jazz are looking for a new coach after Quin Snyder quit. Snyder had been with the team for 8 seasons and helped them make the playoffs in 6-straight years.

⚽ There will be an Aussie flavour the next time you play FIFA22. A-League Men’s player Craig Goodwin made the Rest of the World Team of the Season with a rating of 93, which is the 3rd highest for players not in one of Europe’s big leagues.

🏀 It might be worth holding onto any trading cards that you have in the garage. A LeBron James card that features patches from jerseys he’s worn is expected to sell for more than $8 million this week.

🏉 The Gold Coast Suns have been dealt a huge blow with defender Lachie Weller set to miss the rest of the season. He ruptured the ACL in his right knee in the win over North Melbourne on Saturday.

🙃 Left of field...

Someone check the Hogwarts Honour Roll because Joe Root might be a wizard.

Golden points: The former skipper became the 2nd Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs in the 5-wicket win over New Zealand. But that’s not the magical part.

• Root was chilling at the non-striker’s end when TV viewers noticed something out of this world.

• His bat was just standing there all by itself before Root picked it up like it was perfectly normal.

• It seems that gravity doesn’t mean a thing to Root, although it turns out the bottom of his bat is flat which would explain it all. We’re still stupefied.

Watch it: You be the judge.

📽 The highlight reel

We're used to seeing Steph Curry known down circus shots for the Warriors. But it was Jordan Poole's time to shine with this long-range bucket to help Golden State win Game 2 of the NBA Finals against Boston.

📸 Photo finish

This photo will make Wests Tigers fans very happy. Adam Doueihi hasn't played at all this year because of a serious knee injury, but it looks like he might be named this arvo for Sunday's game against the Sea Eagles.

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

The UAE won 1-0 at the 2019 Asian Cup. Let's hope history doesn't repeat.