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• Scheffler swinging with confidence at Tour Championship despite seeing lead cut to four

  Scottie Scheffler insists his swing is "in a good spot" despite seeing his lead at the top of the Tour Championship standings cut to four shots on the second day.

  Scheffler, who is aiming to win his first FedEx Cup title, carded 65 in his opening round and entered the second round with a 10-shot lead.

  However, the world number one saw American duo Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele close the gap during a weather-disrupted second round on Friday.

  Scheffler carded a round of 66 to take himself to 21 under par, aided by two birdies in the final three holes to keep the chasing back at bay. 

  "I feel like my swing is in a good spot, and I've hit it nice the last couple of days," he said. "A lot of quality stuff out there, and in a good spot going into the weekend."

  Morikawa is four shots off the pace after producing a superb eight-under 63, which was the best round of the day, and has surged up the standings to second place.

  In an impressive round, he dropped just one shot on the 11th hole, but made amends on the back nine before closing with back-to-back birdies. 

  "He's going to continue to make birdies," Morikawa said about the possibility of catching Scheffler. "He's driving it really, really well here, and you're giving yourself enough wedges to make some scoring opportunities out there.

  "For me, it's just about bringing energy and just staying alive out there."

  Schauffele is in third, one shot behind compatriot Morikawa, after shooting an impressive second-round 64 to remain in the hunt for the $25million prize money. 

  There is then a four-shot gap until a group of three players, including Adam Scott, are tied for fourth place at 12 under, while Rory McIlroy is tied for 10th place on eight under.

• NFL teams unwilling to hand Belichick total control, suggests Pennel

  Bill Belichick's failure to land another coaching role in the NFL after leaving the New England Patriots was unsurprising due to the level of control he demands, says his former tackle Mike Pennel.

  Belichick is regarded as one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history, leading the Patriots to nine Super Bowls and winning six during 23 seasons in charge between 2000 and 2023.

  His six Super Bowl titles as a head coach match the best returns of any franchise in NFL history, with the Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers both possessing six.

  He is also within reach of Don Shula's record for the most victories as an NFL head coach, with his total of 333 (including postseason games) putting him 14 behind the Miami Dolphins legend (347).

  If only regular-season games are counted, Belichick has 302 victories to Shula's 328.

  However, Belichick parted company with the Patriots after they went 4-13 during a dismal 2023 season, and he was unable to land a new role despite being linked with several teams, including the Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys.

  Pennel, who spent six months with Belichick's Patriots in 2019, believes the level of control he demands over a franchise's direction proved off-putting. 

  "Bill Belichick's one of the greatest coaches of all time, if not that. So it's going to look a lot different. He was coaching in the NFL before I was even alive," he told Stats Perform.

  "I'm clearly just speculating because I'm not part of the New England Patriots franchise, but I just think the situation was, it was that time where they wanted to change.

  "They wanted a fresh face and Bill wants things to run a certain way and I don't think franchises are willing to relinquish that much control to a new coach. 

  "I just think he wants to take his time. I know he's a family man and just wants to enjoy the time with his family. He's already done everything."

  Jerod Mayo has taken the reins in Foxborough following Belichick's departure, with quarterback Drake Maye being drafted third overall to lead the team into a new era.

  Pennel, however, believes teething problems will be part of the process this year, saying: "It's hard. It takes some time. You know, there's a couple years of transition depending on how much time you have with the players and everything like that. 

  "You're learning a whole new system. You're learning with all new players, you're learning with all new staff, so it's very hard. 

  "I don't think it's ever happened like that, in the first year to go to a Super Bowl. It's hard to get to that successful level."

• Dolphins coach McDaniel gets three-year extension

  The Miami Dolphins have extended the contract of head coach Mike McDaniel through the 2028 season, ESPN reported Friday.

  It's a three-year extension for McDaniel, who has two seasons remaining on the four-year contract he signed after being named Miami's head coach in February 2022.

  McDaniel has gone 20-14 in two seasons with the Dolphins while leading the team to the playoffs both years, the franchise's first back-to-back postseason appearances since 2000-01. That resurgence has been led by an offence that's been among the NFL's best under the 41-year-old, who came to Miami after serving as the San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator for Kyle Shanahan in 2021. 

  Miami was especially potent on that side the ball last season, as it led the NFL in total yards and finished second overall in scoring at 29.2 points per game while compiling an 11-6 record to tie for first place in the AFC East.

  McDaniel's arrival has also coincided with Tua Tagovailoa's emergence into a top-tier quarterback after the 2020 No. 5 overall pick struggled his first two seasons under the previous coaching regime.

  Tagovailoa led the league with 4,624 passing yards in 2023 and set a Dolphins single-season record for completion percentage (69.3) while throwing for 29 touchdowns. 

  McDaniel now joins his quarterback as members of the organisation the Dolphins have locked up for the forseeable future. Tagavoiloa agreed to a four-year, $212 million extension through 2028 last month.