Thomas Bach denied the International Olympic Committee is biding its time over deciding whether Russia and Belarus athletes can compete at Paris 2024 amounted to "kicking it down the road".
IOC president Bach spoke on Tuesday at a press conference after interim recommendations were issued to international federations and organisers of events regarding the involvement of Russians and Belarusians in events while war in Ukraine continues.
The Olympic body urged federations to exclude any athletes or support personnel "who actively support the war", along with anybody "contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies", and said teams from either country should not be allowed to compete in international sport for now.
However, in a statement, the IOC said: "Sports organisations must have the sole responsibility to decide which athletes can take part in international competitions based on their sporting merits and not on political grounds or because of their passports."
There is a clear possibility of Russian and Belarusian athletes being allowed to compete as neutrals at the Paris Olympics next year, although Bach stressed there has been no decision taken on that matter, explaining it has yet to be discussed by the IOC executive board.
Bach said the IOC was going along with a United Nations position, and when asked whether Olympic chiefs were simply waiting for the war to end, and holding fire on direct action until then, he refuted the contention.
"We are not kicking it down the road, and we are not waiting," Bach said. "I guess we all would like the war to end now, and this is what we are calling for, but as you can see for all the reasons we are giving the conditions are not related to the development of the war, they are related to the respect of the Olympic charter and the Olympic values, and there we have to address these questions whether somebody is actively supporting the war in whichever way."
Bach said a decision regarding next year's Olympics would be made "at the appropriate time", without indicating when that might be, saying it was important to monitor the latest recommendations "for as long as possible" before taking "an informed decision".
He said there was no timeline because "nobody knows what's happening tomorrow or in one week or in nine months, so we have just to monitor and then find the appropriate time".
Bach knows there is unease in some quarters about the IOC not taking a firm decision.
When asked about Russia being happy its athletes were being able to compete, and Ukraine being unhappy with the situation, Bach said: "We have been accused by the Russian side of being agents of the United States, and we have been accused by Ukrainian side of being promoters of the war, so we appear to be somewhere in the middle."
Tiger Woods has teamed up with Mike Trout to build a private golf club in New Jersey.
Trout, a 10-time MLB All-Star, still lives in New Jersey, when not on the west coast for his day job with the Los Angeles Angels.
Woods and his design company – TGR Design – will plan the 18-hole course in Vineland.
Trout National-The Reserve will also feature a practice range, short-game area, clubhouse, lodging and a wedding chapel, and is scheduled to open in 2025.
"I've always enjoyed watching Mike on the diamond so when the opportunity arose to work with him on Trout National-The Reserve, I couldn't pass it up," Woods said.
"It's a great site for golf and our team's looking forward to creating a special course."
Trout added: "I could put down roots anywhere in the country, but Jessica and I make south Jersey our offseason home and always cherish the time we get to spend there.
"I love south Jersey and I love golf, so creating Trout National-The Reserve is a dream come true. And then to add to that we'll have a golf course designed by Tiger?
"It's just incredible to think that this project has grown to where we're going to be working with someone many consider the greatest and most influential golfer of all time."
Rory McIlroy is taking "tons of positives" from his performance at the WGC Match Play and feels his game is in good shape heading into next month's Masters.
The world number two finished third at Austin Country Club on Sunday after winning six out of his seven matches.
McIlroy suffered disappointment in his semi-final with Cameron Young, however, as he lost from two up with three to play as the contest went to a play-off.
Despite that collapse, and a chance to face eventual winner Sam Burns in the final, the Northern Irishman is pleased with his form heading into the opening major of the year.
"There are tons of positives to take away," he said. "If you had told me I would make it to the Sunday of the Match Play last week I would have taken that.
"I am maybe going to go up [to Augusta National] for a day and mess around. I went last week but don't think there is any harm in going up again and then it's about practice.
"I don't think there is tons to do. I think my game is in really good shape so just keep it ticking over, work on the shots I need for Augusta and away we go."
McIlroy, who defeated Scottie Scheffler to finish third, will now turn focus to landing victory at Augusta and becoming the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam.
He has landed seven top-10 finishes, but last year's second place is the closest McIlroy has come to adding to his PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship titles.
"I'm excited about how things are now compared to this time a couple weeks ago," McIlroy added. "I drove the ball a lot better this week and I felt pretty good with the putter.
"For the first week out I thought both ends of the bag worked pretty well. I don't think anything is in bad shape. I'll keep it ticking over and work on the shots I need for Augusta."
Sam Burns wiped the floor with Cameron Young to win the WGC Match Play final 6-5 on Sunday for his fifth PGA Tour victory.
Burns, who has all five of his wins since May 2021, first had to navigate his semi-final match-up against world number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who was trying to become the first player to ever reach the final of this event in three straight seasons.
It looked like Burns' day from the jump as he flew out to a 3up lead through three holes, but Scheffler came roaring back by winning the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth and 10th to carry a 2up lead of his own into the back-nine.
The seesawing contest saw Burns take the 13th and 15th to tie it up, and he pulled ahead with a birdie on 17, before Scheffler responded with a birdie on 18 to take it to extra holes.
Both players birdied the first extra hole and both banked pars on the second, before Burns punched his ticket to the final with a birdie on the third sudden-death hole.
The bracket was set up for Scheffler and Rory McIlroy to meet, and they did, but only for the third-place play-off after McIlroy also fell in a sudden-death loss to Young.
Young needed to win the 18th hole to tie things up, and he did so with a birdie, which he followed with a birdie on the extra hole to advance.
Burns made sure the final was far less competitive, dropping eight birdies over the course of 10 holes to race away to a dominant victory.
In the third-place playoff, McIlroy took the lead on the first hole and maintained the advantage throughout, and when Scheffler birdied the 12th to try and tie things up, McIlroy responded with an eagle to instead go 2up and take the 2-1 win.
Matt Wallace finally made his PGA Tour breakthrough on Sunday after surging to the top of the leaderboard and securing the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Wallace had threatened to become a winner on the tour for years, with a T7 finish earlier this month at the Valspar Championship marking his fifth season in a row with at least one top 10.
He was one of the form players in the world back in 2018, winning four European Tour events over the course of 17 months, and he parlayed that form into a top-three finish at the PGA Championship and a top-12 result at the U.S. Open in his next start.
The Englishman had actually endured a rocky start to this season, making just two of his previous eight cuts heading into the event in the Dominican Republic, but he excelled at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course.
Wallace posted rounds of 67, 66 and 70 before closing with a six-under 66, rattling off four birdies in a row starting on the 13th hole to go from two behind to two ahead. In the process he tied for Sunday's round of the day, finishing with a winning score of 19 under.
Impressive 22-year-old Danish talent Nicolai Hojgaard finished alone in second place at 18 under, birdieing the 17th to pull to within one, before missing a birdie putt on the last hole that would have forced a playoff. American duo Sam Stevens and Tyler Duncan rounded out the top three, tied at 17 under.
The win means Wallace will leap up from 108th in the FedEx Cup standings into the top 50, while Wyndham Clark rose to 35th with his solo sixth finish, and Belgium's Thomas Detry's tie for eighth dropped him from 28th to 30th.
Nicolai Hojgaard and Sam Stevens are tied for the lead at 14 under after three rounds of the Corales Puntacana Championship, although it is wide open going into Sunday.
Only two players shot better than Hojgaard's six-under 66 on Saturday, and it came after a terrific 65 on Friday as the 22-year-old two-time European Tour winner looks to break through.
Stevens, 26, is also winless on the PGA Tour, and he blew an opportunity to head into the final round in the outright lead as he bogeyed the 18th.
There is a four-man chasing group on their tail at 13 under, with Americans Wyndham Clark and Tyler Duncan joined by Belgium's Thomas Detry and England's Matt Wallace.
Detry's seven-under 65 was tied for the round of the day with France's Martin Trainer, who used it to fly up into the top-10, now tied for seventh at 12 under.
The 2018 champion at this event Brice Garnett is alone in 10th at 10 under, and last year's runner-up Ben Martin is one further back at nine under.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are one win away from meeting in the WGC Match Play final after both advancing into the last four on Saturday.
In the first of four elimination rounds among the 16 group winners, Scheffler was matched up with J.T. Poston, and after trailing throughout the back-nine he won both the 17th and 18th to sneak by with a 1up victory.
He would meet the in-form Jason Day for a spot in the semi-finals after Day took a 1up win over Matt Kuchar, and after Day went 3up on the front-nine, Scheffler won five of the next eight holes to secure a 2 and 1 win.
Meanwhile, McIlroy started his day with a 2up triumph over Lucas Herbert, leading all the way, and he followed it with a hard-fought 1up win against Xander Schauffele, where he did not take his first lead until the final hole.
Scheffler will meet Sam Burns in the final four after Burns upset Patrick Cantlay 2 and 1, and then proved too good for Mackenzie Hughes in a 3 and 2 result.
McIlroy will have to navigate the challenge of Cameron Young to reach the final after his dominant 5 and 4 win over 2021 champion Billy Horschel, following it up with a 1up result against recent Arnold Palmer Invitational champion Kurt Kitayama.
With one more win Scheffler can become the first player in the history of the event – dating back to 1999 – to reach the final in three consecutive seasons, after winning in 2022 and finishing runner-up in 2021.
The first-round of the three-day Jamaica Golf Association national junior golf trials took place at the Caymanas Golf Club on Friday.
Ten players in the Girls 18 & under, Boys and Girls 15 & under and Boys and Girls 13 & under age- groups began their journey for a place on Jamaica’s team to the Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship in the Cayman Islands from July 3-8. The Boys 18 & under completed their trials two weeks ago.
The scores from Friday's action showed some very competitive match-ups.
Emily Mayne and Mattea Issa both scored five over par 77 to be joint leaders in the Girls 18 and under category. They each posted two birdies and seven bogeys on the day.
Aaron Ghosh and Davin Hogan scored 83 and 98 respectively in the Boys 15 and under age-group while Anoushka Khatri shot 89 and Samantha Azan shot 94 in their respective first-rounds in the Girls 15 & under age-group.
The three players in the boys 13 & under category, Kemari Morris, Shasha Redfelsen and Cameron Coe, are closely tracking each other after round one with scores of 85, 89 and 91, respectively.
The lone representative in the girls 13 & under category is Alessandra Coe who scored 91 for her first round.
Second round action begins with all golfers teeing off at 9:00 am on Saturday.
Jon Rahm was the major casualty from the WGC Match Play on Friday as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay all advanced with perfect records.
The Spanish second seed was dumped out after losing 5 and 4 to 2021 WGC Match Play winner Billy Horschel in their final Group 2 match at the Austin Country Club in Texas.
Horschel went 1-up with a par on the second hole and never relinquished the lead, with Rahm failing to register a birdie throughout the day's play.
The 36-year-old American pulled away with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes followed by a 21-foot birdie putt on the 14th to clinch a spot in the round of 16 against Cameron Young.
Horschel progressed in a tight group with a 2-0-1 record ahead of Rickie Fowler (2-1-0), Rahm (1-2-0) and Keith Mitchell (0-2-1).
Top seed and reigning champion Scheffler advanced after beating Tom Kim 3 and 2 to round out a 3-0-0 group stage record.
Kim came out strong with birdies on the first two holes to go 2-up, but Scheffler rallied back immediately winning three of the next four holes.
Third seed McIlroy topped Group 3 unblemished after beating Keegan Bradley 3 and 2, while fourth seed Cantlay beat Brian Harman 2 and 1 to top Group 4 with a 3-0-0 record.
Kurt Kitayama won a three-way sudden death playoff over Tony Finau and Adrian Meronk to progress atop Group 10.
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes produced an upset to advance via Group 12 from Taylor Montgomery who he beat 6 and 4. Jordan Spieth, who beat Hughes on Thursday, missed out after losing to Shane Lowry 2 and 1.
J.J. Spaun also pulled off a surprise by topping Group 11 with a 3-0-0 record, downing Min Woo Lee 2 and 1 to seal his progress.
Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Andrew Putnam, Matt Kuchar, Sam Burns, Lucas Herbert, J.T. Poston, Jason Day and Young also all progressed into Saturday's last 16 knockout stage.
Englishman Matt Wallace leads the Corales Puntacana Championship by one stroke at the halfway point ahead of American pair Sam Stevens and Wyndham Clark.
Wallace, who was third after the first day, carded a second-round six-under-par 66 on Friday to be 11-under overall at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course in the Dominican Republic.
The 32-year-old Englishman has never won a PGA Tour event but has a golden opportunity with most of the world's top-ranked players competing at the WGC Match Play.
Wallace's second round was bogey free, carding birdies in four of his final six holes to claim the lead, with early leaders Brice Garnett and Ben Martin scoring 70 and 72 to slip down the leaderboard.
Stevens and Clark are 10-under overall, with the former managing eight birdies with one bogey in his seven-under round.
Clark also carded a seven-under 65, including an eagle on the par-five fourth hole to help launch his surge up the leaderboard.
Tyler Duncan, Akshay Bhatia, Nicolaj Hojgaard and Garnett, who won the event in 2018, are all tied for fourth at eight-under overall. Bhatia carded the best round of the day, with a nine-under 63.
With most of the world's top-ranked players at the WGC Match Play, Brice Garnett and Ben Martin lead the way after Thursday's opening round of the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Played in the Dominican Republic at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course, Martin and Garnett both shot bogey-free 66s to sit atop the leaderboard at six under.
While neither player has won a PGA Tour event since at least 2018, they both have a strong history at this event. Garnett's sole win on the tour came here in 2018, while Martin – whose only win came in 2014 – finished runner-up in Punta Cana last season.
Alone in third place is England's Matt Wallace at five under, and he is the only non-American in the top nine as Max McGreevy and Dylan Wu highlight the logjam at four under.
France's Martin Trainer and South Africa's Erik van Rooyen are part of the group tied for 10th at three under, with Belgium's Thomas Detry one further back at two under.
South American talents Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and Colombia's Camillo Villegas are at one under, while the Dominican Republic's own Juan Jose Guerra has a chance to make his first cut on the PGA Tour, sitting tied for 58th at one over.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler got off to a great start at the WGC Match Play, remaining perfect through his first two round-robin matchups after defeating Alex Noren on Thursday.
Scheffler, the world number one, has shown a great affinity for the match play format, finishing runner-up to Billy Horschel in 2021 before knocking off Kevin Kisner in last season's final.
After sneaking past Davis Riley to open his week, Scheffler put his foot down against Noren, draining six birdies over the course of eight holes to run away with it.
Scheffler will advance as the winner of Group 1 with a win or tie against Tom Kim on Friday, while Rory McIlroy also has one foot in the knockout stage after his win against Denny McCarthy, with only Keegan Bradley standing in the way of the Northern Irishman completing a perfect Group 3 sweep.
Max Homa is sitting pretty as the only 2-0-0 competitor in Group 5 after getting the better of three-time finalist Kevin Kisner, meaning he will face Hideki Matsuyama for a chance to seal his path into the last-16.
Tony Finau moved to 2-0-0 in Group 2 with a convincing triumph over Adrian Meronk, while Jason Day beat Victor Perez to take a 2-0-0 record into his tantalising Group 9 clash against the 1-0-1 Collin Morikawa. The loser will be heading home.
Group 2 is up for grabs as Jon Rahm (1-1-0) needs to defeat Horschel (1-0-1) to give himself and Rickie Fowler (1-1-0) a chance to advance, while Jordan Spieth blew a late lead to hand control over Group 12 to Taylor Montgomery.
Xander Schauffele, J.T Poston, Kim Si-woo, Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Andrew Putnam, J.J. Spaun and Lucas Herbert are all unbeaten heading into Friday's final round of group play.
Rory McIlroy supports the controversial proposals that would see new golf balls introduced to tackle ever-increasing driving distances.
The R&A and United States Golf Association (USGA) last week proposed a "Model Local Rule" that would allow organisers and tournaments the option to use a modified ball that reduces hitting distance by approximately 15 yards.
The move was first mooted in 2020 as a way of decreasing the distance modern tour professionals hit the ball amid fears golf courses will soon not be long enough to provide a suitable test in elite competitions.
The proposals have been met with widespread criticism from manufacturers and players alike, with Justin Thomas last week describing the move as "so bad for the game of golf."
However, four-time major champion McIlroy, who is currently playing at the World Golf Championships Match Play in Texas, is not so angry.
Speaking to No Laying Up, he said: "For elite-level play, I really like it. I really do.
"I know that's a really unpopular opinion amongst my peers, but I think it's going to help identify who the best players are a bit easier. Especially in this era of parity that we've been living in these past couple of decades.
"Selfishly, I think it helps me. I think this is only going to help the better player. It might help the longer player too, in some ways but I think it's going to help the overall professional game.
"I think making guys hit some long irons again, and some mid irons, and being able to hit every club in your bag in a round of golf.… I can't remember the last time when I've had to do that.
"I don't know if this change in the ball will make us do that, but it certainly is a step closer to that."
Martin Slumbers and Mike Whan, the heads of the respective organisations, confirmed the rule would not be implemented until 2026 but would then be introduced for their elite events – the Open Championship and the U.S. Open.
There is no obligation for the PGA Tour to adopt the rules, but McIlroy suggested he might still consider using a rolled-back ball in regular-season events to better prepare for the majors.
"Honestly, for me, the major championships are the biggest deal, so if the PGA Tour doesn't implement it, I might still play the Model Local Rule ball, because I know that'll give me the best chance and the best preparation leading into the major championships," he added.
"And again, this is personal preference and personal opinion at this stage of my career. I know that I'm going to be defined by the amount of major championships that I hopefully will win from now until the end of my career. And that's the most important thing for me.
"If that gives me the best chance to succeed at the major championships and feel as prepared as I possibly can be, then that's what I would do."
William Knibbs battled the weather and a tough field to emerge champion of the two-day Constant Spring Golf Classic that concluded on Sunday at the Constant Spring Golf Club in Kingston.
Knibbs had a two-day score of 152 to end up five shots ahead of Zandre Roye after both had scored 78s on Saturday’s opening day.
"It felt great to win today (Sunday). I was tied for the lead coming into today. (I) didn't get off to a hot start, doubled the first hole. (The) first swing went out of bounds so after the first hole today (Sunday) I gave myself a three-shot deficit to overcome, which at times extended to a four-shot deficit between me and Zandre (Roye) but I was able to hold it down towards the end. I played really well on the back-nine. That helped me to narrow the gap," Knibbs said afterwards.
Dr. Mark Newnhan with scores of 83 and 79 (162) was the third spot edging last year's winner Sean Morris who scored 164 after posting 89 and 75 over the two rounds.
Jodi Munn-Barrow was the only woman in the field and gave a good account of herself with scores of 77 and 76 for a combined total of 153.
The top performers in the various categories were:
Men & Men Senior 7-12 - Bruce Levy 159 (77, 82), Bruce Lopez 173 (88, 85) and Christopher Carvalho 174 (88, 86).
The Men and Men Senior 13-24 category went to Mitchell Watson - 185 with scores of 86 and 99.
Mike Gleichman 159 won the Men Super Senior 0-12 section over Metry Seaga 164. Ronald Ross 166 copped third place.
Linval Freeman 194, George Wright 197 and Paul Chai Chong 199 were the top three in the Men Super Senior 13 -24.
The Masters category went to Vivian Monteith who posted 183 over the two rounds.
The only junior in the field was Jerone Thomas who competed in the Boys Under 18 category. He posted 184 for his two rounds.
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