⛳️ Scott's Nerves Of Steel Secure Big Pay Day

Hello there, it's Tuesday, 23 August. If you've been trying to avoid spoilers about the new HBO Game of Thrones show House of the Dragon don't worry, this is a safe place (it is pretty great FYI). What we can share with you is Adam Scott's ice-cold shot, a toilet to remember and 2 golfing greats teaming up for a video game. Standard Tuesday, amirite? Let's dive in. 

⏱ 1,406 words = 7 minutes

👀 Manchester United ain't on the bottom no more 

THE MAIN GAME

🏉 Great Scott comes up clutch

When the pressure was on, Adam Scott produced the best sand wedge since Katz's Deli Reuben on rye to earn a spot in the season finale. 

Golden points: We should point out that Scott didn't win the BMW Championship. That was Patrick Cantlay. What Scott did was earn a place in this weekend's Tour Championship and guaranteed himself some big bucks. 

• A quick snapshot of how the FedEx Cup Playoffs work: There are 3 events and only the best players of the season compete. The St Jude Championship for the top 125 players finished last week (Will Zalatoris won it), then it's the BMW Championship for the top 70 players (the one Cantlay just won) and then it finishes with this week's season-ending Tour Championship for the top 30 eligible players (no LIV Golfers, despite their best efforts).

• So what makes Scott the story here? Well, he was ranked 78th coming into the 1st FedEx Cup Playoffs event but finished tied-5th to earn enough ranking points to move up to 45th and qualify for the BMW Championship.

• He then needed another high finish to get enough points to sneak into the top 30. It was touch and go for most of the final round, but an eagle on the 12th and birdie on the 14th had him projected to finish in 29th.

• Any kind of slip-up would see him fall out of the top 30, so when his wayward tee shot on the 18th hole found the rough and was then followed by an awkward shot into a bunker next to the green, it meant a bogey was a real possibility. He needed to make par to qualify for the Tour finale.

• But cometh the hour, cometh the man. Scott's chip out of the bunker rolled right next to the hole for the easy par putt. He finished tied-5th for the 2nd-straight tournament and earned a cool $800,000, and last place in the Tour Championship gets $725,000, so that bunker save won him at least $1.525 million. Great Scott indeed!

They said it: "I guess that's the beauty of the (Tour) playoffs the way they are. You can scratch it around a lot for the year and have a couple of good weeks and get heavily rewarded by getting to East Lake and being in that top 30 and all the perks that come with it," Scott after his win.

What's next: As Scott just exclusively revealed, the Tour Championship will be played at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. We've got 2 Aussies in the field - Scott and Cameron Smith. It starts on Thursday night AEST with coverage on Foxtel and Kayo. 

Watch it: Here's the money shot. 

QUICK SINGLES

⚽️ Football: Guess Guus back to help the Socceroos ahead of the World Cup? It's former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink, the mastermind coach who guided Australia to its 1st World Cup in 32 years in 2006. He's been invited into camp for the match against New Zealand next month by current Socceroos coach and Hiddink's former assistant Graham Arnold to help inspire the players before they head off for the Qatar World Cup. 

🏉 AFL: GWS Giants crown Adam Kingsley as its new coach. Kingsley says the Giants have the building blocks for a premiership team and he knows a thing or 2 about it - he's won flags as a player with Port Adelaide (2004) and twice as an assistant coach (2019 & 2020) in his current role with Richmond. With the Giants signing Kingsley and the Roos getting Alastair Clarkson, it means it's just the Bombers who don't have a coach for 2023. 

🏐 Netball: Reports say Netball Australia knocked back a multi-million dollar offer to get out of debt. NewCorp reports private equity group Tier 1 offered $6.5 million to clear Netball Australia's debt and run the Super Netball competition back in July. NA reportedly declined that offer and it's now off the table. NA says it's reviewing Super Netball and won't be rushed into making a decision. Auditors have said that if NA doesn't get its books sorted soon it could face bankruptcy in the next 12 months. 

🎾 Tennis: Alexander Zverev is out of the US Open. Zverev is the #2-ranked men's player in the world but he still hasn't recovered from an ankle injury he suffered in the semi-final of the French Open against Rafael Nadal. Zverev made the US Open final in 2020 and the semis last year, so the draw is now a little more open without him and Novak Djokovic. 

⛳️ Cricket: Tim Paine eyes cricket comeback this summer. Paine hasn't played since he took an indefinite break from cricket last November after it was revealed he sent sexually explicit text messages to a Cricket Tasmania colleague. But he's been back training with the Tigers ahead of Tassie's grade cricket competition and even though it's been a while, Cricket Tasmania CEO Dom Baker says if Paine can get back to his best you can expect to see him in the Sheffield Shield this summer. 

LEFT OF FIELD

🏉 NRL: There's a new tourist attraction in Newcastle. 2 weekends ago, injured Newcastle Knights players Kalyn Ponga and Kurt Mann were filmed leaving a cubicle at Newcastle's Hotel Delaney while their team was playing the Broncos up in Brisbane. Ponga's dad said the boys were out celebrating Ponga's new house and that his son got a bit crook, so Mann went to help him out. The whole incident is being investigated by the Knights and NRL, but to make sure it'll never be forgotten, comedian Steve Philip set up a plaque on the wall of the cubicle, just so the momentous occasion is never forgotten. Aussie comedians sure know how to take the pi...

📽 Highlight reel: Manchester United is off the bottom of the Premier League table with a 2-1 win over arch-rivals Liverpool this morning. Check out the footwork from Jadon Sancho for the opening goal.  

📸 Photo finish: One of golf's most ruthless champions has teamed up with Tiger Woods to launch the PGA Tour 2K23 video game. Wonder if they went to Red Lobster after the shoot?

THE POLLING BOOTH

Monday's result: 42.45% back Geelong to win the AFL flag this season.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

• ⚾️ 9:00am - MLB - Mets v Yankees - Yankee Stadium, Bronx - Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 10:00am - NFL Pre-Season - Jets v Falcons - MetLife Stadium, New Jersey - Foxtel, Kayo

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