Rory McIlroy has joined a select group of players who have successfully defended a Masters title, edging out the field by a single stroke at Augusta National to claim back-to-back green jackets.
Veteran golfer Rory Sabbatini has returned to competitive play on the PGA Tour Champions after turning 50. Sabbatini, a consensus All-American at Arizona in 1998, won six PGA Tour events during his career and earned roughly $36 million in purses; he also captured an Olympic silver medal in 2020. He made his debut in the senior PGA Championship in Florida, and was recently pictured teeing off on the second hole during the third round of the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla.
Basketball stalwart Lafayette “Fat” Lever was honored with induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in Denver. Lever, who led Pueblo High School to state titles in 1977 and 1978, became a two-time NBA All-Star and spent six seasons with the Denver Nuggets from 1984 to 1990. Now 65, Lever serves as director of the National Basketball Retired Players Association and remains prominent in Nuggets history, holding the franchise record for steals (1,167) and ranking third in assists (566).
In minor-league baseball developments, the franchise once known as the Tucson Sidewinders was sold in 2008 and moved to Reno, becoming the Aces. The current ownership recently locked in a long-term agreement to keep the team in downtown Reno through 2050. Attendance figures show the Aces drew about 352,375 fans last season, a drop from the Sidewinders’ strong local turnout in 2006 when Chip Hale’s Pacific Coast League championship team averaged roughly 3,895 fans per game. Reno has consistently ranked near the bottom of PCL attendance in recent years, while the Albuquerque Isotopes have led the league with more than half a million fans per season.
Outfielder Jared Oliva suffered a broken wrist last week and has been removed from the San Francisco Giants roster. Oliva, who was part of Arizona’s 2016 College World Series runner-up team, spent recent seasons playing in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and at various minor-league stops in Nashville, Salt Lake City, Arkansas and Indianapolis. He made the Giants’ roster out of spring training this year and swiped seven bases in his first 10 games as a reserve; he also had brief stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and 2021.
There have been notable college developments as well. Izela Arenas, daughter of former Arizona guard Gilbert Arenas, is now on Adia Barnes’ roster at SMU after stints at Louisville and Kansas State; a top-100 high school prospect two years ago, she has struggled to match the early expectations set during her prep career. And in the evolving NIL landscape, quarterback Noah Fifita has been reported to have received more than $1 million in name, image and likeness deals while still in college, highlighting how lucrative opportunities have expanded beyond the traditional powerhouse programs.
