BRADENTON, Fla. – After a mostly quiet West Coast swing, the PGA Tour is slowly but surely bringing back the noise.

This week’s WGC-Workday Championship is supposed to only allow about 650 guests on-site, though if the bottlenecks on the pathways at The Concession are any indication, the actual figure is likely much higher. 

Next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational is planning to allow 25% of its usual capacity – somewhere in the 5,000 range. The following week’s Players Championship will open it up even more, with 20% capacity and an expectation of about 10,000 spectators a day. The final leg of the Florida swing, the Honda Classic, is also anticipating hosting about 10,000 people a day.

“It doesn’t matter, even if there’s probably maybe one or two hundred people following our group, yeah, it’s exciting to play in front of them,” said tournament leader Brooks Koepka. “It’s definitely better than not playing with them.”

Earlier this month, the Waste Management Phoenix Open welcomed about 5,000 fans a day to what is normally the most raucous tournament on the schedule. That was the most fans allowed since the PGA Tour restarted its schedule last June.

Koepka has been among the players who mentioned how much the fan presence can affect his performance. His win in Phoenix, he said, was no coincidence – “I like feeling like you’ve got to show off in front of people,” he said.

Though still not the usual buzz and excitement, the Florida swing is slowly feeling like a return to normal – if only temporarily.

“I think I’ve started feeling that juice, feeling that focus I get from the fans, because the fans, I love them. They’ve always carried me, and I feed off of them,” said Billy Horschel, who is one shot back heading into the weekend.

At what fan capacity can they make a difference?

“I think, to me, it’s at least a couple thousand,” Horschel said. “It’s nice, the next few weeks ... it’s going to feel a little bit more normal on the golf course.”

Ireland face Italy in Rome on Saturday having lost their opening two matches for the first time in Six Nations history.

However, Italy are usually ideal fodder to face when a result is needed - it's exactly six years on Sunday since they won a Six Nations match.

The Azzurri have conceded 91 points and 13 tries in their two losses to date.

Ireland make seven changes to the side that lost to France at home two weeks ago.

Captain Johnny Sexton, who this week raised questions about his retirement with a "throwaway comment", returns after a head injury to win his 97th cap but fellow half-back Conor Murray has not recovered from his hamstring issue.

Dave Kilcoyne, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong come off the replacements bench to make up an entirely new front row.

Elsewhere in the pack, James Ryan and Will Connors replace Rhys Ruddock and Josh van der Flier, while Tadhg Beirne switches to the back row.

Italy are unchanged from the side that lost to England.

Commentator's notes

Andrew Cotter: The two teams without a win in this year's Six Nations but there the similarities end. Ireland will start as strong favourites and will also have the steadying figure of Johnny Sexton returning at fly-half in an all-Leinster back-line.

It's a chance for Andy Farrell to have a look at some different combinations so there's an all-new front row, while Connors comes in at open-side flanker.

Italy coach Franco Smith has gone for the same 15 which started against England - partly because his options are more limited and also because there were some signs of life in the display at Twickenham.

But encouraging glimpses are all the Azzurri have at the moment and it will require something of a miracle at the Stadio Olimpico if they are to avoid a 30th successive defeat in the Six Nations.

View from both camps

Italy head coach Franco Smith: "We've worked a lot on ourselves, focusing on our game plan. We aim to show the same attitude as in the last match with the aim of taking another step forward."

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell on Sexton's future: "As long as Johnny keeps on giving to Irish rugby, he'll keep putting his foot forward to be in the equation.

"He feels good at this moment in time, his appetite is as strong as ever, he's certainly one of those guys who makes the feeling in the group feel right.

"As long as that appetite stays, I'm sure that we'll keep moving in the right direction regarding that."

Line-ups

Italy: 15-Jacopo Trulla, 14- Luca Sperandio, 13-Ignacio Brex, 12-Carlo Canna, 11-Montanna Ioane, 10-Paolo Garbisi, 9-Stephen Varney; 1-Andrea Lovotti, 2-Luca Bigi (capt), 3-Marco Riccioni, 4-Marco Lazzaroni, 5- David Sisi, 6-Sebastian Negri, 7-Johan Meyer, 8-Michele Lamaro

Replacements: 16-Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17-Cherif Traore, 18-Giosue Zilocchi, 19-Niccolo Cannone, 20- Maxime Mbanda, 21-Callum Bradley, 22-Federico Mori, 23-Mattia Bellini

Ireland: 15-Hugo Keenan, 14-Jordan Larmour, 13-Garry Ringrose, 12-Robbie Henshaw, 11-James Lowe, 10-Jonathan Sexton (capt), 9-Jamison Gibson-Park; 1-Dave Kilcoyne, 2-Ronan Kelleher, 3-Tadhg Furlong, 4-Iain Henderson, 5-James Ryan, 6-Tadhg Beirne, 7-Will Connors, 8-CJ Stander

Replacements: 16-Rob Herring, 17-Cian Healy, 18-Andrew Porter, 19-Ryan Baird, 20-Jack Conan, 21-Craig Casey, 22-Billy Burns, 23-Keith Earls

Match facts

Head-to-head

Italy

Ireland

Match officials

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

Touch judges: Mike Adamson (Scotland) & Craig Evans (Wales)

TMO: Romain Poite (France)

WYNNEWOOD, Okla. – Reigning NHRA Pro Stock champion Erica Enders and Elite Motorsports are adding a company from outside the racing world as the team begins its chase for a fifth NHRA title.

GunSkins, a popular protective, nonporous DIY vinyl wrap for guns, has joined the team for the upcoming drag racing season, which begins March 5-7 with the CTECH World Doorslammer Nationals presented by JEGS in Orlando and continues the next weekend in Gainesville to kick off the NHRA campaign.

On the heels of her fourth championship in 2020, Enders is thrilled to add a marquee name to the team’s list of partners for the 2021 campaign.

“It’s a great pleasure to be involved with companies within our industry, but every once in a while it’s fun to branch out and attach our team and my name to a mainstream company that I already use and believe in,” Enders said. “I want to give a big thanks to GunSkins for this opportunity, and I know they won’t regret getting involved in drag racing. We are the demographic they cater to and it’s very exciting.”

GunSkins offer a cost-effective solution to more expensive coatings or dips and with more than 60 patterns and a universal fitment for virtually all firearms, they offer an abundance of options. The GunSkins are vinyl and non-permanent, allowing the user to easily swap patterns to match the season or different hunting gear without paying a high price.

“We’re incredibly excited to join forces with Erica and the entire Elite Motorsports family. We know that many fans of NHRA drag racing are also firearm enthusiasts so this partnership provides an exciting opportunity to share our products with a new audience,” said Seth Fargher, GunsSkins Director of Marketing.

“As an avid gun enthusiast, the fact that Erica is already familiar with our product made it an easy decision to join her program for 2021. GunSkins fans come from all different backgrounds and this new partnership will give us the opportunity to introduce thousands of NHRA drag racing fans to our product. Patriotism and a love of the outdoors are common themes among drag racing fans and our product mix speaks to both of them.”

Enders, a back-to-back world champ, won four races last season and has 29 career victories. Her fourth championship gave her more world titles than any professional female driver in NHRA history.

“I’ve worked with a variety of supporters over the years, but this one is special in its own way,” Enders said. “Growing up a Texas girl, my dad taught us how to shoot and be comfortable with firearms at a young age, so getting involved with GunSkins is an absolute dream.

“In a time where a stigma hangs around the gun industry, it’s especially important to me to show our support for this company and our new partnership. I am honored to be someone they entrust with their brand and to run their colors with pride. Every gun I have will have GunSkins on it.”

BRADENTON, Fla. – Stay tuned for another Bryson DeChambeau driver experiment.

It’s arriving in the next few weeks.

Now that a 48-inch driver is off the table, DeChambeau will be debuting a new technology in his driver that he said should help limit his big misses on slight mis-hits. 

“Nobody knows how to play a 200-mph ball speed and barely mis-hit it; sometimes it doesn’t react the way you think it should,” said DeChambeau, who improved 13 shots on Friday, firing an 8-under 64 at the WGC-Workday Championship. “So we’ve got to figure that out. We’re doing a good job, and in a couple weeks I’ll have some interesting stuff that will hopefully help mitigate some of those errors at high speeds so I can swing it fast again.”

This week at Concession, DeChambeau has been scaling back his nuclear driver and opting for more 3-woods and irons off the tee, to better keep it in play on the penal course. Among the leaders in the strokes gained: off-the-tee category for the past year, ever since this brawny experiment began, DeChambeau is currently ranked just 41^st this week, averaging only 291 yards off the tee.

Though coy on the specifics of his latest project, DeChambeau said his new driver head will have a different face and design. He’s been consulting with former World Long Drive champions Kyle Berkshire and Jason Zuback. 

When asked why he’d test something new now – with the Players Championship in two weeks, and the Masters less than two months away – DeChambeau said: “I’m very risk-averse. I don’t really care. I want the best now for myself. And if it doesn’t work out, then I can cross that off the list. It’ll help me progress quicker for next year’s Masters, or this year’s Masters. I don’t want to wait and test it. What if it works tomorrow, and it’s an amazing benefit for my game? That’s what I look at it. And over the course of time, I’ve become more risk-averse because of it.”

BRADENTON, Fla. – The beginning and ending of Viktor Hovland’s day were plenty dramatic.

Staying about 35 minutes from Concession, Hovland encountered some traffic on his way to the course and was running a little bit late once he arrived Friday at the WGC-Workday Championship. He had only about 20 minutes to warm up – not that it affected him, of course, as he ran off five birdies in his first six holes and was 7 under par when he stepped onto the tee of the par-4 ninth, his last hole of the day.

That’s when Hovland’s hot round unraveled.

After finding the left fairway bunker off the tee, Hovland thinned his 144-yard fairway-bunker shot. His approach sailed over the green and into the bushes over the back. From there he was able to make a clean strike on the ball – too clean. His ball shot across the green and dove into an awkward lie, near the back lip of a greenside bunker.

Taking an awkward stance, Hovland clipped the lip on his downswing and sent his ball screaming back over the green, into an unplayable lie in the bushes. After a drop, he chopped out short of the green, knocked his seventh shot about 9 feet past and mercifully drained the putt for an ugly quadruple-bogey 8 to end his day.

“It’s a little bit bitter,” he said afterward. “I hit a lot of good shots today and made a lot of putts, so it’s just unfortunate that one terrible shot comes at that time, and I’m not able to maybe handle it better than I did.”

Hovland still signed for a 3-under 69 and now sits at 4-under 140 through two rounds, seven shots back of Brooks Koepka. Hovland has finished in the top 6 in five of his last six worldwide starts.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he shouts at his players too much.

City are on a 19-match winning run and remain in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple but Guardiola says he is still demanding more from his squad.

"Sometimes I shout at my players and I should not do it but I cannot control it," he told a news conference on Friday.

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"When I was a player it was like this too, it's the way I am. I don't want to be fake to myself. Sometimes I'm more calm. It depends. I do it because I love my job, I enjoy being a manager and I want to be better. I want to try to reach the team every day to do it better."

Guardiola raised eyebrows following the Champions League victory over Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday by suggesting his success at the Etihad Stadium was down to City's spending power.

And ahead of their Premier League clash against West Ham on Saturday, the 50-year-old was quick to downplay his role.

"I would tell if I believed the reason why was me," he said.

"I would tell you. I would be grateful to say that the reason behind this success is because I'm so handsome and that's the reason why. It's not like that. It's the players.

"I never in my 12 years as manager scored a goal, never. I never saved a penalty, never. The artists are the players. All we can do is help them."

After missing out on a third successive title to Liverpool last season, City look set to reclaim the trophy after opening up a 10-point lead at the top.

Meanwhile, after cruising to the title last season, Liverpool are struggling to break into the top four and Guardiola believes the problems Jurgen Klopp's champions are having is further evidence of how good his team have been.

"All of us have sustained this for a long time," he said.

"I'm proud for the fact that when one team wins the Premier League they struggle a lot but we won back-to-back. Last season we could not fight against Liverpool, it was incredible, we were second but today this season, again we are there -- this is what I'm proud of most."

Thomas Tuchel has admitted that losing to Manchester United with Paris Saint-Germain in October 2019 sent him to a "very dark place" for two days but added that his previous encounters can help Chelsea beat United in Sunday's crucial Premier League clash.

The 47-year-old was in charge of PSG when they dramatically crashed out of the Champions League to United, becoming the first club ever to lose a knockout tie after winning the first leg 2-0 away from home.

Marcus Rashford scored a stoppage-time penalty after a controversial handball decision was awarded through a VAR review to give United a 3-1 win on the night -- progressing on away goals -- leaving Tuchel distraught.

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"I can be very honest with you, after that match, I was two days in a very dark place," he said. "I can tell you I was not able to speak to anybody or able to think about anything else than this defeat.

"That was maybe the worst defeat that I experienced because it came from nowhere and was in a way, in circumstances where it arrived, two days a dark place for a coach to be at.

"I didn't experience it ever again and not before. It was in the circumstances of this game, how we arrived there, the pressure around the club concerning the round of 16, the history before and the way the result in the first match and the way the second match went, the VAR decision in the last minute.

"It came from absolutely nowhere and that's why this hit was hard to take. Like I said, I was two days in a dark place, then we gave two days off and I still think it was the best for everybody and after that, it is like this in sports sometimes and it is your duty to stand up and to accept a defeat is sometimes necessary to grow and develop and to ask yourself decisive questions.

"That can hurt but the reward was one year later, almost the perfect reward, when we arrived for the first time in the final. We came a long way for that. In some moments you face adversity. It is often sad but it makes you stronger."

PSG lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in last season's Champions League final and Tuchel was sacked in December despite topping a group which also included two games against United, a 2-1 home defeat and a 3-1 win at Old Trafford.

Chelsea face United aiming to close a six-point gap on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side and climb back into the Premier League top four.

"We unfortunately lost both home matches but could win both away games," Tuchel added.

"They were pretty strange results. We hope we can turn this around and win also at home but as you can see they are still unbeaten in Premier League away games and that means the challenge is big.

"They like to have space, play on counter attacks, to use their speed and absorb your speed in their own half and use their speed on the counter-attacks and all the quality they have. But it helps a lot because we played two consecutive years against them. They were tough matches. We will use that knowledge and prepare from tomorrow on."

Tuchel insisted he is a "different coach" from his time at PSG after revealing he sought advice from others in leadership positions, including the headteacher of his two young daughters Emma and Kim.

"[I speak with] teachers, unknown person, teachers of classes," he said.

"The person who runs the school of my daughters, this can be a half-an-hour talk. People who sell stuff. It doesn't matter really.

"It is not important that you speak to the biggest names or the biggest guys out there in the world, It is about leadership with people and that can include teachers and anybody else who have responsibility for people and groups. There you can get inspired.

"But I also talk to leaders of sports, leaders of different organisations and sometimes when there is time and you speak to them, you get influence and you have your notes and years later you go through your notes and find some stuff where you feel more comfortable now. Leadership in my experience is constant change.

"It is also the need to constantly adapt your style to what is needed, to your group and to change yourself, to develop, to grow. I absolutely have the goal that I'm not the same coach anymore like I was in main, in [Borussia] Dortmund or even in Paris. It is simply not possible and not what I want to be.

"Some values stay with me and some methods you constantly change and adapt because this is how I feel my role. I want to be a part of this whole group, of Chelsea and I want to lead by example. I feel very good in the moment and hope we can stay like this."

Chicago Cubs shortstop Javy Baez and left fielder Joc Pederson have one thing in common besides being 28 years old and free agents after this season: Both have something to prove in 2021.

The lefty-hitting Pederson wants to show he can be an everyday player instead of just a platoon guy against righties, while Baez wants to erase last season and get back to improving his game.

"I felt in a rush," Baez said about 2020. "I didn't have time to make adjustments. I'm not the guy that shows you everything I have in the first half. I can have a bad half or a decent first half and my second half. I can make my first half disappear. I was not mentally ready for what happened last year."

Baez cites the lack of fans in the stands and his inability to watch his at-bats with in-game video as contributing factors to a down season. His .599 OPS was the lowest since he broke into the big leagues. The high-energy player didn't want to make excuses, but plenty around him say he missed the fans in the stands more than most. He concurred.

"It was the worst," Baez said. "It was worse than facing a pitcher in spring training in the back fields."

Baez went deeper with his concerns about his own game, claiming he lost focus soon after the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. Players were treated as rock stars, and Baez was pulled in many directions.

"I got away from baseball because all this other stuff that we did. People saw me in different ways," he said. "I wanted to play baseball and people didn't see me as a baseball player. I wasn't trying to get better every day. Now that I'm into it again, I have more confidence. I'm letting the game teach me what I can do."

Baez was down the road on signing a long-term deal with the Cubs before the pandemic hit last spring, so those negotiations will pick up again soon, according to sources familiar with the situation. He could be in line for a deal that pays him around $200 million.

"We had a good conversation [last year]," Baez said. "I want to stay here. I don't want to play for another team."

Pederson is in a similar rebound situation after hitting just .190 in 43 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. But his postseason opened some eyes after he hit .400 in 34 at-bats last October. He said he turned down multiyear offers this winter because he wasn't guaranteed playing every day, choosing the Cubs for one year at $7 million.

"I don't feel like I'm respected as an everyday player," Pederson bluntly stated in his Zoom call with reporters on Friday.

After going through team rosters in the offseason, Pederson landed on the Cubs, who had an opening in left field. He had his agent called Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who subsequently talked with manager David Ross, assuring Pederson he would play against righties and lefties.

"Obviously, the Dodgers have a ton of depth which allows them to do certain things, which allows them to be successful," Pederson said. "You do what you have to do to win, and you play your role, and it was awesome. But I'm excited for a new opportunity."

Pederson has a career .191 batting average against left-handers and expects some leash to start the season. But that playing time will only last so long if he's not producing. Cubs' manager David Ross told him as much.

"He said 'Hey, if we come to July and you're not cutting it and you're hitting .150 against lefties, we're still here to win ball games,'" Pederson recalled. "I understood. I just want a real opportunity."

DETROIT -- After a difficult few seasons for Miguel Cabrera, the Detroit Tigers slugger has a chance to remind fans just how much he's accomplished in his career.

Specifically, Cabrera has an opportunity to reach two major milestones in 2021. He is 13 home runs shy of 500 and 134 hits short of 3,000. And yes, he's aware of those numbers.

"I hope so. We can do both,'' Cabrera said Friday with a laugh. "I hope I can get to 500, 3,000 this year. It's one of my goals this year. Mentally, I feel good. I feel mentally strong. I'm trying to go day by day and trying to play hard.''

It's been a while since Cabrera resembled the player who was the American League MVP in 2012 and 2013. The last time he was really impressive with the bat was in 2016, when he hit .316 with 38 home runs. From 2017-19, he played just 304 games as an assortment of injuries limited his availability.

In the meantime, the Tigers entered a major rebuild, trading away many of their top players. Cabrera, who turns 38 in April, is still on the team, which says a lot about his declining production and huge contract.

Only a half-dozen players have reached both 500 homers and 3,000 hits: Hank Aaron, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro and Eddie Murray.

Cabrera certainly has a chance to reach both this year. He did manage to play in 57 of his team's 58 games in the shortened 2020 season, and he hit 10 homers. In 2019, he had 139 hits in 136 games.

"I want to be healthy, and I want to do my best, and I want to do whatever I can to help the team to win games,'' Cabrera said Friday.

Cabrera didn't play in the field last year, but new manager A.J. Hinch said he's open to him playing some at first base.

"He wants to play first. I didn't know he voiced it near as much as I learned after I even said it," Hinch said. "My plan for him is to make an opportunity for him to be a little more of a complete player, and not just fall in the DH category.''

Cabrera said he's talked to Nelson Cruz about some of his work habits -- the 40-year-old Cruz is still one of the game's top home run hitters.

"I love playing baseball," Cabrera said. "I love having fun in the field. I love going out there every night.''

DIRIYAH, Saudi Arabia – Nyck de Vries strode to victory in Formula E’s first night race on Friday as the Mercedes-EQ driver dominated the Diriyah E-Prix at the Riyadh Street Circuit.

The Dutchman’s victory was picture perfect in the end, with de Vries handling Safety Car periods and pressure from behind to romp home four seconds clear of the pack.

De Vries launched well to cover the advances of Pascal Wehrlein and Rene Rast, with Rast pushing his compatriot for second place into turn one. A poor getaway from Wehrlein allowed De Vries to build an early gap to the pack – some 1.2 seconds by the end of the first lap.

Vries led Wehrlein, Rast, Edoardo Mortara, Mitch Evans and Alex Lynn early on while Jaguar’s Sam Bird got the jump on Maximilian Guenther into the chicane for seventh.

Rast looked racy in the Audi right away, looking to apply pressure on Wehrlein as they raced for second. De Vries responded to the pressure by setting and maintaining race pace – though retaining that one-second gap led to complaints of energy overconsumption.

The battle between Evans in fifth, Lynn sixth, Bird seventh and Guenther in eighth looked feisty, with just 1.5 seconds covering the quartet. Bird was able to make up more ground with a slice by the Mahindra setting him off after his teammate on lap eight.

Approaching the half hour, Rast’s engineer gave the German free reign to attack Wehrlein for second. A typically elbows-out move from the DTM champion saw him around the outside of the Porsche into the chicane. Wehrlein leapt for Attack Mode immediately to try and muster a response, following de Vries, who’d already jumped for his first 35kW boost out front.

Rast kept de Vries honest despite the Mercedes-EQ running in Attack Mode, with the Audi driver electing to make use of the full 235kW on Lap 14. Mortara had his full complement of power deployed, too, and having made his way up to fifth, dispatched Wehrlein and Evans into the chicane for third in a stunning three-wide double pass.

On Lap 16, Bird and Lynn came to blows in the scrap for sixth with the Mahindra coming off worst, meaning the BMW i Safety Car had to slow the race at the half-way stage. De Vries, Rast, Mortara, Evans, Wehrlein, Guenther, Oliver Rowland, Porsche’s Andre Lotterer, Mahindra Racing’s Alexander Sims and Lucas di Grassi – who’d gained six places – rounded out the top ten.

De Vries got things back underway with less than 15 minutes plus one lap left to run, and immediately put the hammer down to steal 1.7 seconds on those behind.

Just a couple of laps later, Guenther got it all wrong through turn two which ended with the BMW sideways and into the wall with a big hit and in need of recovery and springing the Safety Car once again. De Vries had just used Attack Mode number two with Rast and Evans following – allowing Mortara to steal second. But, importantly, the pair had already taken the lap time hit of going off-line for their second and final Attack Mode activations under the sanctity of the Safety Car.

Five minutes plus a lap to go, and de Vries still led from Mortara, Rast, Evans, Wehrlein, Sims, Rowland, di Grassi, Vandoorne and NIO 333’s Oliver Turvey – the Brit a big mover in the opening race.

Rast was able to grab track position back when Mortara swept right at the chicane for a second shot of Attack Mode but the battle was now on with the Venturi 35kW to the good over the Audi until the checkered flag. Rast couldn’t fight for long, though, with the Swiss moving out of the Audi’s slipstream on that long back straight to retake second. Mitch Evans followed a lap later with a carbon copy manoeuvre on the German for third.

De Vries crossed the line with plenty in hand, whilst Mortara followed in an impressive second with Evans holding firm for third, despite Rast using every trick in the book to get by. Wehrlein completed the top-five in fifth.

“My first victory in Formula E. What a fantastic result and a perfect start to our second season,” said De Vries. “I don’t know why, but I was quite calm after the race despite the pleasure of winning. It’s been a great weekend for me so far, setting the fastest time in every session and then winning the E-Prix itself. That’s obviously a very nice feeling, but it was by no means an easy race. There were so many safety car deployments, and it was difficult to always select the right energy management. It took a lot of communication with the team, but it’s great that I was able to come home with the win in the end. Many thanks to the whole team. I know it sounds like a cliché, but everyone in our team has worked very hard over the winter to get us up here on the podium today. So again, a huge thank you to the whole squad for their tireless work. You’ve earned this victory.”