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Jordan Spieth rambling his way towards golf’s elite clubhouse in record time | Scott Murray

The Texan is only 24 and may feel like he has run out of worlds to conquer if he completes the career slam on Sunday by winning the US PGA ChampionshipOne of the most gloriously overblown lines in the history of sports broadcasting was delivered in 1984 by the peerless darts commentator Sid Waddell. Contemplating Eric Bristow’s effortless dominion over his peers, Waddell mused: “When Alexander of Macedon was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer. Bristow is only 27.”You have to wonder what ancient historical allusion the much-missed Waddell would have extemporised upon exposure to Jordan Spieth. Come Sunday, there is a fair chance that Jordan the Great will have become only the...

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Jordan Spieth must get past Rory McIlroy to make history at US PGA | Ewan Murray

The young Texan is looking to complete a full set of majors at Quail Hollow but the Northern Irishman could turn into party pooper for the home crowdThe enthralling conclusion to the Open Championship did not supply proof of Jordan Spieth’s ferocious competitive spirit . Events at Royal Birkdale last month merely served as a reminder. Though his technical ability is hardly irrelevant, Spieth’s psychological approach has played a massive part in pulling him to the brink of history: at this week’s US PGA Championship he can become the youngest golfer in history to complete a grand slam of majors.“The pros and cons of it being so soon? Pros is you believe you’re in form,” says Spieth. “When you feel...

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The war on weed: the NFL's troubled history with marijuana

The NFL’s brutality often leaves its players with crippling pain. But many believe the league has fought against a sensible alternative to addictive opioidsThe ethical gymnastics demanded of NFL fans have grown more challenging over the past decade as the scientific evidence linking football with brain injuries mounts. Last week’s study of 111 deceased NFL players’ brains found evidence of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 110 of the subjects, forcing spectators to reconcile their thirst for the bone-crunching hits at the core of the league’s appeal with an inconvenient reality: that many of the players they cheer will one day pay a grim price long after the lights have gone out.Time and again the NFL, which...

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Brain trauma is scary, but the NFL is as popular as ever. The people have spoken

Football’s head trauma epidemic is affecting the NFL, but in ways that could unpredictably affect the sport’s heretofore bulletproof business modelLike training camp stories on the upside of undrafted rookies, the reports of the NFL’s death are greatly exaggerated. When the latest study with sobering findings on the sport’s impact to its participants brains hit last week, revealing that 110 of 111 brains of former NFL players were found to have CTE, the result was the now-standard concussion news cycle punditry proclaiming that the NFL could face extinction in the not-so-distant future. That argument was only bolstered two days later when Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman (and MIT PhD candidate) John Urschel abruptly retired from football at age 26, adding to...

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The brilliant Caeleb Dressel doesn't need to be the next Michael Phelps

The young American sprinter, fresh off a record-tying seven golds at worlds, could be in position to become the face of swimming at the Tokyo OlympicsCaeleb Dressel knew the comparisons were inevitable. The 20-year-old University of Florida student had barely toweled off after capturing his seventh gold medal at last week’s world aquatics championships when he found himself cast as the heir to Michael Phelps as the face of swimming in the United States and, potentially, the world.Not only had the American sprinter become the first swimmer to win seven golds at a single worlds since Phelps in 2007, Dressel joined Phelps and Mark Spitz as the only swimmers to win seven titles at any long-course international championship. Related: Adam...

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