The United States' Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley built a one-shot lead in the first round of the BMW Championship, before a thunderstorm halted play near Denver.

Bradley was named USA captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup in a surprise selection last month, after Tiger Woods had been touted for the role.

He shot a six-under 66 in his first round at Castle Pines, Colorado, on Thursday, finishing his round just before inclement weather halted play for three hours.

When play finally resumed, Hideki Matsuyama missed a birdie putt on the final hole, which would have given him a share of the lead alongside Bradley.

Alexander Noren, Adam Scott and Corey Conners all finished one stroke further back at four under, with Xander Schauffele at three under and Rory McIlroy shooting a two-under 70.

Bradley only just scraped into the 50-player field and is aware of the importance of playing the big events ahead of next year's tournament in New York.

"I want to be out there with the guys and the Ryder Cup team," Bradley said after completing his first round.

"I want to be playing with them, on the range with them, in the locker room, in the tournament. It was really important for me to be in this top 50."

Ilkay Gundogan said helping Barcelona financially made his departure from the club easier to swallow after he sealed a return to Manchester City on Friday.

Gundogan joined Barca last year after enjoying seven trophy-laden campaigns with City, winning 14 pieces of silverware during his time at the Etihad Stadium, including captaining the side to a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble in 2022-23.

The midfielder made 51 appearances in his single season with the Catalan giants – more than any of his team-mates, scoring five goals and adding 14 assists in all competitions.

He also created more than twice as many chances (132) as any other Barcelona player, with Raphinha a distant second by that metric with 53.

Ninety-seven of those chances were created in LaLiga, the most by any Barca midfielder in a single season since Xavi laid on 109 under Pep Guardiola in 2009-10.

However, Barcelona needed to move Gundogan on after sealing a €60million swoop for Spain's Euro 2024 star Dani Olmo, with his salary reportedly preventing them from registering their new arrival.

In a farewell post on X, Gundogan confirmed his departure had partly been necessitated by financial reasons.

"Dear Culers, after just one year it's already time to say goodbye. I came here to face a new, exciting challenge, and I was ready for it," he wrote. 

"I have given everything to fight for the team and the club in the best possible way in a difficult season and I was looking forward to helping my team-mates in the new campaign. 

"Now I am leaving in a difficult situation, but if my departure can help the club financially, it makes me a bit less sad. 

"Nevertheless, it's been a time with incredible experiences and ups and downs – I always wanted to play at Barca, and I am very grateful for a memory and experience that I will remember for my life. 

"I wish you the best for the season and for the future. The fans deserve to get this big club back to the world’s best. Visca el Barca!"

Arne Slot has seen "new things" from Joe Gomez in recent weeks and has praised the centre-back's work ethic amid suggestions he could leave Liverpool.

Gomez has been tipped to leave Anfield after falling behind Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konata and Jarell Quansah in the pecking order in the heart of defence.

He made 32 Premier League appearances throughout Jurgen Klopp's final season in charge in 2023-24, yet 15 of those came from the bench and he was often fielded at full-back when the Reds endured injury problems.

Gomez was left out by Slot as his reign began with a 2-0 win at Ipswich Town last week, having been linked with a move to Aston Villa or Newcastle United. 

However, speaking ahead of Sunday's clash with Brentford, Slot hinted Gomez could be involved and praised his approach to training.

"He's been in the right place for three weeks. He's worked really hard since he came back," the Dutchman told reporters.

"He didn't play a lot in the Euros, we had to manage his load, that's why he wasn't in the team last week. 

"This week he had a good week in terms of load. He's one of the players I see new things from."

In Gomez's absence, Quansah partnered Van Dijk at Portman Road but was replaced by Konate at half-time, with Slot later explaining that change had been made in order to win more duels.

Liverpool won just 41.5% of duels in the first half as Ipswich produced an energetic display, with that figure creeping up to 54.5% after Konate replaced Quansah.

Asked how Quansah reacted to his withdrawal, Slot said: "In a way you would expect a player to react. I spoke to him immediately after the game.

"At the end of that conversation he asked if he could train on Sunday. So he should have done recovery, he wanted to train. 

"Unfortunately, I think on Tuesday, he picked up a bit of an injury, so he couldn't train on Wednesday, we will see if he can train today.

"He reacted in a way that every player should react. I don't think there was that much in it, though. 

"Maybe the language was a problem, what I said was that he did not lose every duel, but he lost one or two important ones, one of them just before half-time.

"From what's been said to me, it sounds like what I said was that he lost every duel."

Lando Norris believes the Drivers' Championship is "still in reach" as McLaren introduces upgrades for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Ahead of the Formula One campaign resuming this weekend, Norris sits 78 points behind Max Verstappen in the individual standings, with 10 races remaining in the season.

Red Bull will also be feeling the pressure in the Constructors' Championship, as McLaren sit just 42 points behind.

And Norris remains confident that both he and McLaren remain in sight of titles this season.

"For the teams' championship, of course. For the drivers' championship, it's still in reach but it's a lot of points and it's Max, so I want to be optimistic and say there's still chances," he said.

"I know it's a lot and it's going to be a very difficult challenge performing, but how we are performing and how I know I can perform when things click, I still want to believe."

Both Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri have achieved their maiden race victories this season.

They have 12 podium finishes between them so far, with McLaren represented in the top three for the last 10 races.

Norris, however, has registered some disappointing finishes. Most recently he failed to take advantage of Verstappen's grid penalty with a fifth-placed finish in Belgium.

"I'm fighting for a championship, so I'm not going to be happy if I'm not performing at the level that I need to, to beat Max, Red Bull and other drivers," he reflected.

"I'm still happy with how the season has gone, just one or two too many mistakes and too many points given away, which is not the level I need to be at if I want to fight for a championship and fight against a driver like Max."

McLaren will be hoping to make up for any mistakes with their new upgrades for the back half of the season.

While Red Bull and Ferrari have both struggled after the introduction of big upgrades, Norris believes his team's decision to wait longer to implement theirs will pay off.

"We haven't had an upgrade since Miami. We have added little things to the car but nothing that we call an 'upgrade'," he explained.

"A lot of other teams have done, especially our main competitors. In a good sense, we have taken our time to understand things.

"We have seen teams put things on the car and it hasn't worked. We wanted to make sure we avoided that, so we have been patient."

Ons Jabeur has withdrawn from the US Open with a shoulder injury just days before the season's final grand slam gets under way.

Most recently, she featured at the Canadian Open in Toronto where she lost in straight sets to Naomi Osaka in the first round.

The Tunisian has been struggling with injuries all season, seeing her miss the Paris Olympics and tournaments in Washington and Cincinnati.

And, just hours after the draw for the US Open was made, the world number 17 decided that her shoulder injury will not allow her to compete at Flushing Meadows.

"I am truly sad to announce that my shoulder won’t recover in time for the US Open. I feel I need to give 100 % and today it's not possible yet," Jabeur wrote on Instagram.

"Life has ups and downs, but sometimes in the very negative moments we all need to find the positive in it. This year has been very tough for me, but I know somewhere the light is there.

"Always grateful for the unconditional support you all bring to me."

The 29-year-old will be replaced in the draw by Elise Mertens, who will become the number 33 seed.

Jabeur achieved her best grand slam result at the US Open, reaching the final in 2022, but lost in straight sets to Iga Swiatek.

She also came agonisingly close to a major title in two further final appearances at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023.

Son Heung-min believes he must win a trophy at Tottenham to assume legendary status at the club.

The South Korean has been an inspirational figure at Spurs since joining from Bayer Leverkusen in August 2015, scoring 162 goals in 409 games.

However, a trophy has proved elusive for both him and the club, with runners-up finishes in the 2018-19 Champions League and 2020-21 EFL Cup, but Son still hopes he can lift silverware before his time at Spurs is over to leave a lasting impression.

He told BBC Sport: “I don’t think I’m a legend of this club. As I’ve said, I want to win something with Spurs, then I will be happy to be called [a] legend.

“This is one thing I want to do. I joined Spurs to win a trophy so I hope we can make it special for this season.”

The South Korean predominantly led the line for his side in Ange Postecoglou’s first season but is happy to return to a wide left role in 2024-25, in order to accommodate new striker Dominic Solanke.

He said: “It’s the gaffer’s choice. I will do anything for him. I think I already said if you put me as the keeper, I would be a keeper.

“You’re facing different teams in the Premier League; some are sitting back, and it can be really tough for me to even get a shot off.

“I like to prepare on the left side to create something and in one-on-one situations, something which I think I’m really strong at, but in an open game I don’t mind staying in the middle.”

Son has now been captain at the club for over a year since Hugo Lloris’ departure and has relished the added responsibility throughout that time.

“It’s been good," he said. "We were learning a lot of things last year.

"Being a captain of a Premier League team takes a lot of responsibility, it’s hard dealing with young players, it’s like school! But it’s a joy and I’m still learning – it’s not easy but it’s a good thing to do.”

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca wants Noni Madueke to stay beyond the summer transfer window, but conceded "anything can happen".

The Blues are looking to offload the likes of Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku and Trevor Chalobah before the window closes on August 30.

But Madueke, who scored in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Servette in the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off, is someone Maresca wants to develop and improve.

Though the Italian wants to see a more consistent level from the former PSV winger, who scored five Premier League goals in 23 appearances last term and outperformed his expected goals (xG) by 2.5.

He said: "I really like Noni. The only problem is that he has to understand that he has to be consistent during the week in training.

"He's a good player and he’s doing well with us."

Maresca believes the 22-year-old will be an important member of the squad for the season, especially with the club involved in four competitions.

Though the former Leicester City boss knows much can change in the final days of a transfer window.

He said: "Yeah absolutely. But the reality is until the window closes, anything can happen.

"But for sure Noni is the kind of player that I like. We have so many games. If it's to today it will be the next one. He's doing well since he started with us.

"The only thing he has to improve is consistency, every day, every day work hard. Then he will get minutes for sure."

Eddie Howe said it is "business as usual" for Kieran Trippier despite reports suggesting the defender wishes to leave Newcastle United.

Trippier was left out of Howe's team for Newcastle's win over Southampton last week, with Tino Livramento preferred at right-back.

On Thursday, reports emerged that Trippier was looking to move away from St James' Park, with Everton having supposedly discussed a loan move for the 33-year-old.

Galatasaray and Atalanta were among the other clubs mooted to hold an interest in Trippier, who joined Newcastle from Atletico Madrid in 2022, but Howe reiterated his desire to keep the England international.

Ahead of facing his former club Bournemouth, Howe said: "The situation is business as usual. Tripps has trained really well this week.

"I'm surprised by a lot of the stories that have come out. A valuable member of the squad. His professionalism has been first class.

"He's trained really well since he came back from the Euros, I think he's only had two weeks of training hence the reason why he didn't start last week.

"He continues to be really valued by all of us. He's just trained as normal and he's been very good. I'm not really sure where this has come from. He's preparing as we all are for the game on Sunday."

Trippier also saw the team captain's armband taken by Bruno Guimaraes, though Howe insists he is still very much part of Newcastle's leadership group.

"Jamaal [Lascelles] has been promoted to club captain, so he's going to oversee the other captains," Howe added. 

"He's an incredible leader behind the scenes, and Kieran and Dan [Burn] in the leadership group continue their roles. Bruno has stepped up to be team captain, but we need eleven leaders on the pitch, regardless of who wears the armband."

No defender created as many chances in the Premier League last season as Trippier (65), who registered 10 assists in 28 top-flight appearances.

The former Tottenham full-back crafted 26 goalscoring opportunities from set-pieces, while his 212 crosses also topped the charts among Premier League defenders, with 69 of those being successful. 

Trippier played for Everton boss Sean Dyche during his time at Burnley, before leaving for Spurs in 2015, though the Toffees manager has suggested right-back is not a priority position for his team heading into the final week of the window.

Sean Dyche has conceded Everton are in a tough situation when it comes to Dominic Calvert-Lewin's future.

The striker, who joined Everton from Sheffield United in 2016, has less than a year remaining on his contract.

While a new deal is on the table, Calvert-Lewin – who played in Everton's 3-0 defeat to Brighton last week – is yet to put pen to paper.

And with just a week remaining in the transfer window and the club's finances tight, Dyche acknowledged Everton may have to cash in should an offer present itself.

"Any offer of a certain level would have to be looked at by the club," said Dyche, who hinted the budget for any more incoming players was tight.

"We are in a better position because of player trading and how much we have lowered the wages but it is not solved.

"Therefore there would still be a moment where the big people at the club get a phone call and then it is down to them."

Calvert-Lewin is still expected to lead Everton's line when they face Tottenham on Saturday.

The 27-year-old scored seven league goals last season, though he was the top flight's biggest expected goals (xG) underperformer, with his tally coming from 12.93 xG.

Indeed, Everton were the biggest xG underperformers as a team last season, scoring 15 goals fewer than would have been anticipated based on the quality of chances they created.

Dyche has other immediate concerns, however, with James Tarkowski, who has sustained an injury, and Ashely Young, who is suspended, joining a long list of absentees for the Spurs match.

"We are stretched unfortunately," said Dyche. "We are down to around 14 recognised first-team players at the minute – that is not perfect."

Everton were linked with a loan move for Kieran Trippier on Thursday, though Dyche played down those reports.

However, the club's ownership situation may soon become clearer, with American businessman John Textor, who holds a 45% stake in Crystal Palace, confirming he has put those shares up for sale in order to facilitate investing in Everton.

Textor confirmed he had lodged a bid to buy the remaining 55% of Palace, but suggested his fellow owners at Selhurst Park do not wish to sell up.

The American wrote on his website that he was attempting to sell his shares in the Eagles "so that we can pursue a relationship with the Everton club and community".

Arsenal made a solid start to their latest Premier League title challenge last week, beating Wolves 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium with goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.

Matchday two, however, promises to present a far tougher challenge for Mikel Arteta's team as they face the team that could be considered responsible for their failure to finish as champions in 2023-24.

Aston Villa – under former Arsenal boss Unai Emery – beat the Gunners home and away last term, with April's 2-0 win at the Emirates allowing Manchester City to inch ahead at the top of the table and claim a fourth straight title.

Villa also started with a win last week, with Jhon Duran stepping off the bench to fire them to a 2-1 victory at West Ham.

Ahead of Saturday's headline clash at Villa Park, we run through all the best Opta facts and stats around the game.

What's expected?

The Opta supercomputer makes Arsenal favourites for victory on matchday two, though not overwhelmingly.

Across 10,000 pre-match simulations conducted by the supercomputer, Arsenal were victorious in 51.1% of cases. Villa repeated last season's heroics against the Gunners in 24.7% of scenarios, while 24.2% saw the points shared.

Villa's double over the Gunners last term accounted for 40% of the Premier League defeats suffered by Arteta's team (2/5). They have recorded three straight Premier League wins against them on two previous occasions, in November 1993 and February 2021.

In fact, Villa have won five of their last nine Premier League meetings with Arsenal (four defeats), keeping a clean sheet in every victory. 

That is as many wins as they had managed in their previous 46 league matches against the Gunners (14 draws, 27 defeats).

Arsenal, though, have won 14 away Premier League games against the Villans, their joint-most wins at a single away venue in the competition, having also triumphed 14 times at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park.

The Gunners have also scored 98 Premier League goals against Villa in total, only netting more against Everton (124), West Ham (109) and Tottenham (105). Liverpool and Manchester United (five opponents each) are the only teams to have netted 100 or more Premier League goals against more different clubs.

Watkins to cause more Arsenal woe?

Villa may have made a winning start to their campaign, spoiling Julen Lopetegui's West Ham debut with an entertaining win at the London Stadium, but Emery will be looking for a more convincing performance this time out.

Only Liverpool (2.65 versus Ipswich Town) created a higher expected goals (xG) figure than West Ham's 2.46 on matchday one of the Premier League season, albeit 0.78 of that figure came from a Lucas Paqueta penalty – perhaps harshly awarded against Matty Cash.

Of the 11 teams to give up the most expected goals against (xGA) in the division last weekend, Villa were the only one to taste victory – Brentford were the next-most porous victors, allowing Crystal Palace 1.17 xG in a 2-1 win on Sunday.

Villa will need a far better defensive display if they are to stifle Arsenal on Saturday, while they will also be desperate to get more service to Ollie Watkins, who did not attempt a single shot before his 62nd-minute withdrawal versus the Hammers.

Watkins only registered two touches in the West Ham area, one fewer than his replacement Duran, also recording the fewest touches (15), passes attempted (five) and completed (four) of all 22 starters.

Facing an Arsenal side likely to press high and leave space in behind could suit Watkins, though, as he plays his way back into peak condition after helping England reach the Euro 2024 final.

Watkins capped April's 2-0 win at the Emirates with a delightfully dinked finish that put Arsenal on the back foot in the title race, his fifth goal in eight Premier League meetings with the Gunners.

He has been on the winning side in four of those eight games (four losses), and only against Brighton and Hove Albion (six) has he scored more top-flight goals than he has versus Arsenal. The visiting defence must be wary.

Solid spine key for the Gunners?

Villa are the only team to beat Arsenal in the Premier League in 2024, with Arteta's team winning 17 of their 19 games this calendar year (one draw, one loss). In English Football League history, the most wins ever recorded by a team through their first 20 matches in a year is 18, by Liverpool in 1982 and Man City in 2019 and 2021.

The Gunners have been particularly impressive on the road, winning on eight of nine Premier League road trips (one draw) in 2024, scoring 28 goals, conceding three and keeping seven clean sheets in that time.

Arsenal only allowed opponents to create a total of 5.89 xG in those matches, an average of 0.65 per game. The league's next-best ever-present defensive team this year, Man City, have given up 12.39 xGA in 10 road trips.

In the last two seasons, the Gunners have kept 21 away clean sheets (10 in 2022-23, 11 in 2023-24), more than they managed in their previous four campaigns combined (20).

If they can maintain similar levels of solidity in 2024-25 – particularly on their travels – then another title tilt appears a realistic goal.

Arsenal did endure some shaky spells against Wolves last time out, with Jorgen Strand Larsen and Matheus Cunha guilty of passing up huge chances to level when Gary O'Neil's team built up a head of steam, but the Gunners gave up just 0.47 xGA – the fifth-lowest figure of any team on matchday one.

Jurrien Timber came on to steady the ship for the Gunners late on after missing the majority of 2023-24 through injury, while new signing Riccardo Calafiori was an unused substitute.

It remains to be seen whether Arteta will introduce either player to his lineup at Villa Park, where Arsenal must be wary of the direct running of Watkins, Leon Bailey and company.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Aston Villa – Jhon Duran

Duran came on to score the winner against West Ham last week, having been linked with the Irons throughout the transfer window.

Among all players to score at least five Premier League goals, Duran has the second-best minutes-per-goal ratio (six goals, one every 103 minutes), behind only Erling Haaland (one every 85 minutes). 

Five of his six strikes, meanwhile, have come as a substitute (83%). That is the second-highest ratio by any player to ever score at least five Premier League goals, behind Matt Derbyshire, who scored nine of his 10 goals from the bench.

Arsenal – Bukayo Saka

Saka registered a goal and an assist in Arsenal's victory over Wolves last week, also creating the joint-most chances (three) of any player on the pitch. He has now been on the winning side in 99 of his 171 Premier League matches with Arsenal. 

Another victory would make him the fourth player to reach 100 wins in the competition before turning 23, after Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Phil Foden.

The England winger was involved in 11 attacking sequences against Wolves on matchday one, more than any other player on the pitch, ahead of Havertz and Thomas Partey (eight apiece).

Aaron Judge continued his torrid home run pace with his major league-leading 48th and Gerrit Cole allowed one hit over six innings as the New York Yankees rolled to a 6-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday.

Judge homered for the third straight game and is on pace to finish with 61, two years after hitting 62 to break Roger Maris’ single-season AL record. Judge homered for the sixth time in seven games, seventh time in 10 games and 13th time in 23 games.

Judge had 49 homers through his first 128 games in 2022 and is the only Yankee with at least 48 through that point in multiple seasons. He joined Sammy Sosa (1998, 1999, 2001) and Mark McGwire (1998, 1999) as the third player in baseball history with at least 48 homers through 128 games in multiple seasons.

Cole allowed a single to Steven Kwan on his second pitch and tied a career worst with five walks. He struck out two and got eight outs on the ground, including a double play by rookie Jhonkensy Noel to end the sixth.

Cole became the fourth active pitcher to reach 150 wins, joining Justin Verlander (260), Max Scherzer (216) and Clayton Kershaw (212).

Giancarlo Stanton added a three-run homer for the Yankees, who moved 1 ½ games ahead of Baltimore for the AL East lead.

Cleveland lost for the fifth time in six games. The Guardians scored once and had five hits in the final two games of the series after scoring six times in the 12th in a 9-5 win on Tuesday.

Braves take series from Phillies

Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach retired 19 straight batters and Adam Duvall went 3 for 3 with a home run as the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 to take two of three in the series.

After Schwellenbach surrendered a one-out single to Bryce Harper in the first, he didn't allow another hitter to reach safely until Bryson Stott's infield hit off the pitcher's glove with two outs in the seventh.

 J.T. Realmuto followed with a run-scoring double to the gap in right-center, cutting into Atlanta's 3-1 lead and ending Schwellenbach’s night. Pierce Johnson struck out Brandon Marsh to end the threat and worked around two walks in the eighth, retiring Trea Turner on an inning-ending double play.

Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 28th save in 30 chances.

Schwellenbach gave up two runs and three hits over 6 2/3 innings with one walk and nine strikeouts – all swinging.

Duvall hit his 11th home run leading off the sixth to extend Atlanta’s lead to 3-1. His three-hit night came after he entered the game mired in a 1-for-29 slump.

Arrighetti pitches Astros to 9th straight road win

Spencer Arrighetti pitched three-hit ball over six scoreless innings and the Houston Astros extended their lead in the AL West to a season-high 5 ½ games with a 6-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Arrighetti walked one and struck out six before departing after throwing 94 pitches. He outpitched Orioles ace Corbin Burnes, who allowed five earned runs over 5 2/3 innings.

Ben Gamel drove in two runs in his Astros debut as they won their ninth straight road game, Houston’s longest run since an 11-game streak in 2018.

Gamel, acquired off waivers from the New York Mets, delivered RBI singles in the fourth and sixth, when Houston did all its scoring. The Astros are 62-39 since their 7-19 start, and they've opened a comfortable lead over second-place Seattle in the AL West. Houston was 10 games behind after losing to the Chicago White Sox on June 18.

The Orioles have lost five of seven to fall 1 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees.

Thibaut Courtois says he will not play for Belgium again, while Domenico Tedesco is still in charge of the national team.

Courtois made his international debut in October 2011, becoming the youngest goalkeeper to represent Belgium in a 0-0 friendly draw with France.

He has since made 102 appearances for his country and was an ever-present at five major tournaments between 2014 and 2022, earning his 100th cap in a 0-0 draw with Croatia as Belgium were knocked out at the group stage in Qatar.

However, the goalkeeper had a public falling-out with Tedesco in 2023 after leaving the Belgium camp ahead of a Euro 2024 qualifier amid a dispute over not being selected to succeed Eden Hazard as captain.

While Tedesco claimed the 32-year-old's exit was due to not feeling respected within the team, Courtois denied those claims, citing a knee injury.

And Courtois, who missed most of last season due to two knee injuries, was left out of Belgium's Euro 2024 squad despite returning to fitness for Real Madrid before Tedesco named his tournament party.

"Unfortunately, following the events with the coach and after much reflection, I have decided not to return to the Belgian national team under his management," he said in a statement on social media.

"In this matter, I accept my share of responsibility. However, looking forward, my lack of confidence in him would not contribute to maintaining the necessary atmosphere of cordiality.

"The Federation, with whom I have had several discussions, accepts my position and the reasons that led me to this painful but coherent decision.

"I regret possibly disappointing some fans, but I am convinced that this is the best course of action for Belgium, as it closes a debate and allows the team to focus on pursuing its goals."

Belgium's first game since their round of 16 exit to France at Euro 2024 will be against Israel in the Nations League.