Category: 6. Sports

2025 BMW Championship full schedule: Dates, start times and tee times

Official practice rounds at Caves Valley Golf Club begin on Tuesday, 12 August, and continue through Wednesday, 13 August, which also features the Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am.

Below is the full competition schedule for the BMW Championship. All times are local (EDT) – Eastern Daylight Time.

Thursday, 14 August
09:21–13:50 – Round 1 tee times*

Friday, 15 August
09:21–13:50 – Round 2 tee times*

Saturday, 16 August
09:10–13:40 – Round 3 tee times*

Sunday, 17 August
09:10–13:40 – Final round tee times*

*Exact tee times and groupings to be confirmed daily.

Carly Williams has spoken for the first time after being appointed Brentford Women head coach.

Williams joins the club from Arsenal Women, where she spent seven years in various coaching and player care roles within the academy set-up.

Speaking on her excitement to take charge of the Bees, Williams said: “It’s an amazing club doing amazing things so I’m really excited to progress my own career, but also progress the team forward.

“I’ve been coaching for over 10 years in both the boys and the girls game from an elite perspective. For the last seven years, I’ve been at Arsenal Women, coaching age groups from Under-10s to Under-21s, transitioning players into the first team.

“I’ve also been an assistant in the England environment with the Under-17s, as well as at English Schools and taking them on international tournaments and really pushing that group forwards, whilst also having elite boys involvement as well and making sure I stayed in that environment to challenge myself as a coach.

Williams continued: “Brentford as a club has always been something that from the outside is really inspiring. I had that initial conversation with Lois [Fidler, women’s football consultant] around what the club stands for and what they’re looking for moving forwards. I’m an ambitious person and the club values really stick with me as well, so it all aligned.”

When asked about her style of football and what fans can expect, Williams stated: “I love to be on the ball. These initial couple of weeks that I’ve been with the players have been really important, getting across that we need to control games.

“A big thing for me is around positivity; being positive on the ball, being positive off the ball, having that passion and pride to defend, that competitive nature of wanting to win every single ball, every single challenge on the pitch.

“I know that there was quite a big goalscoring streak last year, so hopefully we can continue that this year and I can bring a bit of structure and organisation to what we’re doing and really emphasize that competitive winning mentality.”

Williams will lead the west Londoners in their first campaign in tier five following promotion last season, and is thrilled by the challenge.

“There are some strong teams in tier five that have been there for quite a few years, so that’s a challenge straight away, but I think we’ll step up to it,” explained Williams.

“The biggest challenge is making sure that our programme matches that level and we can give the players that platform to keep moving forwards.

“I’ve been really excited by what I’ve seen so far. Obviously, it’s always disappointing when players leave the environment, especially players that have been here for 10-plus years.

“I think it’s really important right now that we build that unity, we come together and we perform together. It’s a really exciting time for the club.”

Finally, Williams addressed her goals for the 2025/26 season.

“Our aim is promotion. I’m not going to shy away from that. I think that that pressure for the players and staff is exciting and it’s important to embrace that pressure so that we can control it in the way that we want to.

“I want to build the way we want to play, that philosophy that everyone knows so if we took the Brentford shirt off, people would still recognise us.”

Sprint rivalries on the track

The men’s 100m is set to be one of the most anticipated races of the year, with storylines as fierce as the race itself. Lyles renews his rivalry with Kishane Thompson of Jamaica in a blockbuster rematch of their Paris 2024 Olympic duel, where both stopped the clock at 9.79 seconds.

Kenneth Bednarek, the Olympic 200m silver medallist, also lines up, eager to rebound after his unbeaten streak in both sprints this season was snapped by Lyles at the US National Championships. South Africa’s Akani Simbine, with three Diamond League 100m wins this year, adds more firepower, alongside the American trio of Christian Coleman, Courtney Lindsey, and Trayvon Bromell, and Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake.

The women’s 100m brings together US sprint stars and training partners Richardson and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, the latter the world leader this season. They will face Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith and Jamaica’s dynamic sisters Tina and Tia Clayton.

In the 200m, Jamaica’s three-time Diamond League champion Shericka Jackson returns to the curve, sharpening her form ahead of Tokyo.

The hurdles promise drama of their own. The women’s 100m hurdles will be contested in two heats featuring Nigeria’s world record holder Tobi Amusan, USA’s Olympic champion Masai Russell, and Jamaica’s formidable trio of Ackera Nugent, Megan Tapper, and Danielle Williams.

Olympic champion Grant Holloway, will meanwhile, face stiff competition from countryman Cordell Tinch in the men’s 110m hurdles.

On the one-lap, the women’s 400m is set to ignite the home crowd, with European champion Natalia Kaczmarek racing on home soil against Dominican Republic Olympic gold medallist Marileidy Paulino and Bahrain’s former world champion Salwa Eid Naser. With seven of the eight Olympic finalists from Paris in the line-up, this is one of the deepest fields of the season.

Middle-distance fans can look forward to a men’s 800m that could push the event’s limits, with Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya facing Canada’s silver medallist Marco Arop, both chasing times under 1:42.

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen also returns to Silesia, where he shattered the 3000m world record last year in 7:17.55, aiming for another memorable performance.

There will also be plenty of interest in the women’s 800m, with Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain set to finally open her long-delayed 2025 campaign.

On the field, Duplantis arrives fresh from his 13th world record in Budapest, clearing 6.29m, and will look to go even higher at the venue where he set a world mark last year.

The men’s shotput will see four-time Diamond League winner Tom Walsh, come up against two-time world champion Joe Kovacs and world indoor champion Leonardo Fabri in what should be a fierce showdown.

Paris 2024 Olympic champion Hamish Kerr will contend with Tokyo 2020 champion Gianmarco Tamberi and 2023 world championship silver medallists JuVaughn Harrison in the men’s high jump.

BBC

‘Have a chat’

As the Premier League season kicks off, fans will debate their new kits almost as much as new signings. But could shirt colour actually give teams a performance edge? Science suggests they can.

One of the most studied colour effects in sport is that of red kits leading to greater success. In the Premier League era, more than half of all champions have worn red home kits, and a study looking at the 2004 Olympic Games found that in combat sports, where the colours of red and blue are randomly assigned, athletes wearing red were more likely to win.

These effects have also been shown in Rugby League and esports (video game competitions).

But why is this? It has been suggested that from both a cultural and biological perspective, red is associated with dominance and aggression. Wearing red has been shown to boost players feelings of dominance whereas an opponent who is wearing red is perceived as more threatening.

Research has also shown that taekwondo referees award more points to fighters in red than blue – even when digital manipulation allows them to view exactly the same fight with just the colours reversed. Studies on football players have also found that strikers score fewer goals when facing a goalkeeper wearing red.

There are other useful colours, too. The gold selected by Crystal Palace is a strong contender as it offers high visibility under both daylight and flood lights. Lighter colours which will offer a high contrast against the pitch, such as the whites chosen by Chelsea and Nottingham Forest, will also stand out.

Psychologists call these “colour singletons”, hues that are unique in the visual scene. Studies show that our attention is automatically drawn to them. Unusual colours that are unlikely to match those found on the pitch or advertising boarding will make players easier to detect at a glance.

Patterns matter too. High-contrast blocking or stripes can help separate a moving object from its background. Bournemouth’s striped away kit should be more visible than a plain mid-tone shirt. The contrast between the luminous top half of Fulham’s away shirt and the relatively dark shorts should also enhance detection.

Camouflage effect

Despite this evidence, not a single Premier League club has chosen red for an away kit this season. Instead, there are some novel choices such as lilac, cream and turquoise. A previous example of a novel kit choice not working so well was in 1996 when Manchester United’s infamous grey away kit was scrapped mid-game after gong 3-0 down to Southampton.

The manager, Alex Ferguson, claimed players couldn’t see each other clearly. It wasn’t just an excuse, the grey was a near perfect match for the concrete of the stadium and blended into the blur of the crowd.

Camouflage effects like this are well documented in biology. Indeed, animals depend on them to make detection by predators harder. In a stadium, muted greys or browns can do the same. Brentford’s new brown away kit risks a similar problem, especially in overcast conditions or with concrete-backed stands. Black kits can also fade into the background, particularly in low light conditions where there is reduced contrast.

This season, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Aston Villa have all selected black away shirts which could lead to lower visibility of teammates.

Camouflage is not limited to dull colours. Newcastle’s green away kit, while bright, is likely to merge with the turf, particularly in players peripheral awareness where the human visual system is not designed to see colours clearly.

Another subtle visual trap is “countershading”, a gradient that goes from dark to light found in many animals to make them less detectable. In football, a dark shirt with pale shorts could break up a players outline in bright sunlight. This is great for a deer-avoiding predators, less helpful if you are trying to spot your striker in space.

So why don’t clubs use this science to select kits? The answer is most likely commercial. Away kits are as much about selling shirts as improving performance. Novelty colours create buzz, drive sales and help clubs stand out on the high street, even if they blend in on the pitch.

Colour is not just fashion. It is also linked to psychology, perception and physics. The right shade can make you unmissable, the wrong one can make you disappear. In elite sport, with such fine margins between success and failure, kit colour is an area which should not be overlooked.

Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine model Georgina Rodríguez announced their engagement on Monday after eight years of dating. The bride-to-be shared the momentous news in an Instagram post, with a photo of her massive sparkler of an engagement ring and the caption, written in Spanish: “Yes, I do. In this and in all my lives.” The post has since broken the internet, with over 11.3 million likes as of Tuesday morning.

The official details of Rodríguez’s bling, like the number of carats and how much it’s worth, have yet to be revealed by the power couple and their unknown jeweler, but that hasn’t stopped jewelry experts from weighing in.

Here’s what we know so far about the “four C’s” (cut, clarity, color and carat) of the impressive diamond ring:

What kind of cut is the diamond?

Abdulla BelJafla, creative director of Gafla, who shared his insight with Vogue Arabia, said the main diamond in the center is an oval-cut, which maximizes its brilliance. “A perfectly proportioned oval (with a 1.30–1.50 length-to-width ratio) offers symmetry on the hand,” he told the magazine. “While many ovals exhibit the subtle ‘bow-tie effect,’ this piece appears to have exceptional light dispersion, minimizing it entirely.”

How many estimated carats are there?

Rodríguez’s oval-cut diamond ring is approximately 37 carats in total, according to jewelry experts.

The center oval stone weighs about 35 carats, Tobias Kormind, the managing director of 77 Diamonds in London, told People. He believes the center stone is flanked by oval stones on the sides, about one carat each, set in platinum.

BelJafla also assessed the stunner to be about 37 carats total and estimated the center diamond to be “between 22 and 30 carats,” he told Vogue Arabia.

Let’s get down to brass tacks. How much do we think this ring is worth?

It’s estimated to be worth seven figures.

“If the diamond is natural and of exceptional quality in the D-F color range with flawless or near-flawless clarity, its value could easily exceed around $2 million,” Laura Taylor, engagement ring specialist at Lorel Diamonds, told People.

Meanwhile, Kormind estimates that Rodríguez is carrying around a $5 million ring on her finger.

“Experts value the ring between U.S. $4 million and U.S. $5 million,” BelJafla told Vogue Arabia, “given the size, flawless clarity, and D color of the stones. … A ring like this is quite rare if it’s a natural diamond.”

What else do we know about the engaged couple?

Ronaldo, 40, and Rodríguez, 31, have been together for eight years. They have a total of four children together: twins Eva Maria and Mateo, 8 (born via surrogacy); daughter Alana, 7; and daughter Bella, 3. Ronaldo also has a 15-year-old son, Cristiano Jr., from a previous relationship. The couple previously announced the death of Bella’s twin brother, Ángel, in April 2022.