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• Like father, like son – Shaqueel van Persie makes Youth League debut

  Robin van Persie handed a UEFA Youth League debut to his son Shaqueel for Feyenoord on Tuesday.

  Van Persie, the former Arsenal and Manchester United star, is now coaching Feyenoord's Under-18s team and the Under-19s team.

  And while taking charge of the latter side in the Youth League, Van Persie handed his son Shaqueel his debut in the competition as a 56th-minute substitute against Atletico Madrid.

  Van Persie junior could not help his father's team avoid defeat, however, with Iker Luque scoring the only goal of the game in the 81st minute.

  Shaqueel the real deal?

  Shaqueel van Persie made his European debut five years and 104 days after his father last played in a European match for Feyenoord, where he finished his career.

  The 17-year-old, who was born during Van Persie's stint at Arsenal, began his youth career with Manchester City before moving to Feyenoord in 2017, a year before his father joined the same club.

  He has already represented the Netherlands at Under-16 and Under-17 level.

• Tiger Woods was ‘very frustrated’ by secretive PGA Tour deal with Saudi PIF

  Tiger Woods has revealed his frustration at the secretive way in which a potential peace deal in golf’s civil war was agreed and insisted: “That won’t happen again”.

  Woods will compete for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery in April in this week’s Hero World Challenge and believes contesting one tournament a month is a realistic target for 2024.

  However, the questions in his pre-tournament press conference in the Bahamas were predominantly about the future shape of men’s professional golf after he took on a major role in those discussions by becoming a player-directory on the PGA Tour’s policy board.

  The world of golf was stunned when a framework agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) was announced on June 6, with a deadline of December 31 for a deal to be finalised.

  “Going back to that, I would say that my reaction was surprised as I’m sure a lot of the players were taken back by it, by what happened so quickly without any input or any information about it, it was just thrown out there,” Woods said.

  “We were very frustrated with what happened. We were all taken back by it.

  “It happened so quickly without any of our involvement. No one knew. That can’t happen again.

  “How do we do that is having six player directors so we control the board and we control what we’re going to do.

  “I think Jay (Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner) has been a part of the direction, he understands what happened prior to that can’t happen again and won’t happen again, not with the players that are involved and not with the player directors having the role that we have.”

  Woods, who said he totally understood why Rory McIlroy had stood down as a player-director earlier this month, is relishing the opportunity to have a “lasting impact” on the future of the PGA Tour as the future of LIV Golf and the players who joined the breakaway are decided.

  “I think there is away in which we can all benefit from team golf, it’s just how do we do it? We’re just trying to figure out that process now,” Woods said.

  “We’ve been doing it for months, trying to figure out how that all works, what does that landscape even look like and where do we play and what impact does it have on our PGA Tour schedule?

  “As far as a pathway (for LIV players), we’re still working on that. There’s so many different scenarios. That’s why I said there’s a lot of sleepless hours trying to figure that out.

  “Everyone involved wants a return, that’s just part of doing deals, but we have to protect the integrity of our Tour and what that stands for going forward.”

  Woods has become so involved in his new player-director role that he insisted any conversations about becoming Ryder Cup captain in 2025 would have to take a back seat, but the 47-year-old is still targeting more individual glory.

  “What drives me is I love to compete,” added Woods, who revealed he always knew he would need his ankle to be fused or replaced, a process accelerated by his aborted comeback last year.

  “There will come a point in time, I haven’t come around to it fully yet, that I won’t be able to win again. When that day comes I’m going to walk away.

  “I don’t have any of the ankle pain that I had before with the hardware that’s been placed in my foot, that’s all gone. The other parts of my body, my knee hurts, my back. The forces go somewhere else.

  “I’m just as curious as all of you with what’s going to happen. I haven’t done this in a while.

  “I think that best scenario (for 2024) would be maybe a tournament a month. I think that’s realistic. The biggest events are one per month. It sets itself up for that.

  “Now I need to get myself ready for all that. I think this week is a big step in that direction.”

• LeBron James shrugs off minutes milestone after suffering heaviest career defeat

  No player in NBA history has spent more minutes on the court than LeBron James, but the latest record means nothing to the Los Angeles Lakers star.

  That is because it came in what was James' heaviest career defeat – a 138-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.

  In his 21-year NBA career, James' previous worst loss came by 42 points in a 136-94 reverse to the Indiana Pacers in February 2019.

  As Joel Embiid racked up 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the Sixers' rout, James accumulated another 30 minutes on the court.

  That took his career total, across both regular season and postseason games, to 66,319 minutes in his career, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 66,297 minutes.

  But the record was of little solace to the 38-year-old, who told reporters: "That doesn't mean much to me."

  Asked about what the Lakers need to do to ensure heavy defeats do not become a common occurrence, James said: "What needs to change in order for that not to happen again? Um, a lot.

  "I don't know how a team [should respond]. I can only speak for myself, and I don't like it."

  James' teammate Anthony Davis said: "Feel like we just weren't together. A lot of quick shots, one-pass shots, no-pass shots.

  "They started making a lot of shots. And when their lead kind of opened up a little bit – 15, 20, 25 – I think we all tried to be the hero to make the team come back instead of just sticking with it.

  "We've got to look at it, embrace it, own it. Guys don't take it personally for whatever's said in the film, and then move on from it."

  It was a bad day for both Los Angeles teams, with the Clippers also losing. 

  They went down 104-113 to a Denver Nuggets team that was shorn of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.

  Former Laker Russell Westbrook became embroiled in a debate with a fan.

  "I mean, it's unfortunate," Westbrook said.

  "Fans think they can say whatever they want. I'm not going to say [what was said] now because it's not appropriate, but I'm just protecting myself.

  "It's just unfortunate fans think they can get away with saying anything and, personally, I won't allow it. I've [taken] a lot of people saying anything and getting away with it, but I won't stand for it."