Sport

Today's sports news: What you need to know

06:27 am on 25 May 2021

Latest - Phil Mickelson's PGA Championship victory prompted a massive leap in his odds to win the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The unexpected victory by the 50-year-old Mickelson in the second major of the season in South Carolina over the weekend prompted books to adjust futures bets on Mickelson for the next two majors.

Mickelson will turn 51 on June 16, one day before the U.S. Open opening round at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.

He also also vaulted 83 spots to No. 32 in the Official World Golf Rankings and 36 spots to No. 16 in the United States Ryder Cup team rankings.

Being inside the top 50 in the world is the threshold for entry into all the premier tournaments, including majors and World Golf Championship events. Mickelson fell out of the top 50 in November 2019 for the first time in 26 years, a record streak of 1,353 weeks.

Mickelson dropped as low as 116th entering the PGA Championship.

-Reuters

Bernal the one to beat

Colombian Egan Bernal won stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia on Monday to strengthen his grip on the overall leader's Maglia Rosa, as bad weather conditions forced the race from Sacile to Cortina d'Ampezzo to be shortened from 212km to 155km.

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Cold, wet and snowy conditions led to the decision to shorten the stage as two high-altitude climbs at the Fedaia and Pordoi passes were cut from the race.

But the Ineos Grenadiers rider battled against the elements to finish 27 seconds ahead of Frenchman Romain Bardet and Italy's Damiano Caruso.

New Zealand's George Bennett was 14th on the stage and has improved to 14th overall, 18 minutes behind Bernal.

Bernal now has a lead of two minutes and 24 seconds over second-placed Caruso in the general classification rankings.

There is a rest day on Tuesday before stage 17 on Wednesday, a 193km ride from Canazei to Sega di Ala.

-Reuters

Cantona wants public interest in football clubs

Former Manchester United forward Eric Cantona has called for football fans to be given voting rights and a share of ownership at clubs.

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The former France international has previously criticised United's involvement in the breakaway European Super League, saying the club's owners, the Glazer family, should have taken the views of supporters into account.

"The fans need to be respected," Cantona told the BBC. "Maybe now they need to have voting rights ... Football needs to be democratic."

Cantona said the Glazers should consider letting United's supporters hold a stake in the club, to give them a greater say in major decisions.

Cantona joined Manchester United in 1992 and won four league titles in five seasons, scoring 70 goals in 156 league appearances. He retired in 1997 aged 30.

United finished the league season second in the table behind champions Manchester City. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team face Villarreal in the Europa League final this week.

-Reuters

Max Mosley dies

Max Mosley, the former head of Formula One's governing body who went on to become a high-profile privacy campaigner, has died aged 81 after suffering from cancer.

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His old friend and ally in the world of motor sport Bernie Ecclestone paid tribute, along with Mosley's successor at the FIA helm Jean Todt.

"We were like brothers for 50 odd years," Ecclestone, 90, told Reuters by telephone from Ibiza. "Better he's gone than suffer the way he was suffering."

The youngest son of Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British fascist movement in the 1930s, Mosley was a racing driver, a team owner and lawyer before becoming president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in 1993.

He stayed in office for 16 years, serving three terms, before handing over to former Ferrari boss Todt.

In 2008 he won a high-profile privacy case against the now-defunct News of the World newspaper after it published video footage of him taking part in what it called a "sick Nazi orgy".

Damon Hill, Britain's 1996 world champion, said Mosley's sporting legacy would be the safety measures introduced after the death of Brazil's triple world champion Ayrton Senna at Imola in 1994.

-Reuters

No more line judges at US Open

Line judges will no longer feature at the U.S. Open after the United States Tennis Association said it was implementing the use of electronic line calling on all courts at the year's final Grand Slam.

Electronic line calling technology was also used at last year's U.S. Open, apart from at the Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums. The technology was also deployed at the Australian Open, a move largely welcomed by players.

The USTA said in a statement that seven of the nine ATP and WTA tournaments on the U.S. swing would use the technology on all competition courts in 2021.

"The USTA implemented electronic line-calling for the 2020 Western & Southern Open and U.S. Open on all courts except Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadiums," the governing body added. "In total, Hawk-Eye Live made upwards of 314,000 calls during the two tournaments."

Novak Djokovic was sensationally defaulted during his fourth round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium last year when he struck a line judge after hitting the ball in frustration following a point during his match against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta.

-Reuters