Tkachuk skates with Panthers, as playoff opener at Lightning looms closer

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Tkachuk skates with Panthers, as playoff opener at Lightning looms closer

2025-04-20 02:07 Last Updated At：02:10

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk skated with the Florida Panthers in practice on Saturday, a sign that he may be ready to rejoin the lineup for Game 1 of the playoffs.

The Panthers, who won the Stanley Cup last season, open Round 1 at Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The team doesn't expect to make a determination about Tkachuk's status for the opener until at least Monday.

“Matthew looked like Matthew. He looked fine,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But it wasn't a heavy enough day or from a duration point of view long enough to make a game assessment.”

The Panthers aren't practicing on Sunday — how Tkachuk is feeling is one of the things the team's medical staff will monitor on the off day — and the plan from there, Maurice said, is to have the whole team back on the ice on Monday before making the quick flight to Tampa.

Saturday, he noted, marked the first time this season that everyone on Florida's roster was on the practice ice together.

“Better late than never," Maurice said.

Tkachuk has not played for Florida since Feb. 8, the team's last game before the start of the 4 Nations Face-off event in which he participated for the U.S. He sustained a lower-body injury in the second game of that tournament, then tried to play in the final against Canada but didn't take any shifts for the third period or overtime of that contest.

The Panthers placed Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve. He missed the team's final 25 games of the regular season, yet still finished with 22 goals, 35 assists and 57 points — third-most on the team in all three categories. He was also second on the Panthers this season with 11 power-play goals.

When Tkachuk plays, it will mark his first time being teammates with Florida forward Brad Marchand — someone the Panthers acquired from rival Boston at the trade deadline.

“He's a competitor and he's there to win,” Marchand said. “You hear the way he talks and obviously his reputation precedes him. He's a very competitive guy, obviously very talented and one of the most gifted players in the league around the net. He's a presence out there.”

This story has been corrected to show that Game 1 is on Tuesday, not Wednesday.

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Scottie Scheffler returns to hometown Byron Nelson, takes 1st-round lead with 10-under 61

2025-05-02 08:56 Last Updated At：09:02

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is happy to be back at his hometown event and showed it.

Cameron Champ isn't far from familiar territory, either, which is a good thing considering he got the call that he was in the Byron Nelson as an alternate about 18 hours before his tee time.

Scheffler made the turn in 29 on his way to a 10-under 61 on Thursday for a two-shot lead over Rico Hoey and Jhonattan Vegas, with Champ among seven players another shot back at 64.

Defending champion Taylor Pendrith shot 67 with players allowed to lift, clean and replace their shots in the fairways after the par-71 TPC Craig Ranch got heavy rainfall Wednesday.

The top-ranked Scheffler outshined fellow hometown star Jordan Spieth with the former Texas Longhorns paired together along with Si Woo Kim, a South Korean who also calls Dallas home and was showcased in an event sponsored by CJ Group, a conglomerate based in his home country.

Kim shot 67, capping his round with a lofty chip-in for eagle at the par-5 18th and rolling onto his back in celebration. Spieth is 2 under. Vegas, another Texas alum, had a bogey-free round along with Scheffler and Hoey.

The others at 7 under with Champ are Stephan Jaeger, Michael Thorbjornsen, Eric Cole, Andrew Putnam, Patton Kizzire and Will Gordon.

Scheffler missed last year's event in Dallas' northern suburb of McKinney for the birth of his first child, son Bennett.

“Jordan and I love playing here. This tournament has meant a lot to us over the years,” Scheffler said. “Obviously last year I was missing for some pretty good reasons. I wasn't too sad about what was going on in my life at the time.”

Back then, he had 10 wins combined before May over a three-year stretch, including the Masters and Players Championship twice each. Now, Scheffler is still seeking the first victory of 2025.

Not that he was playing poorly before posting his lowest round of the year. Scheffler finished fourth as the defending champion at Augusta and has four other top-10 finishes this year.

“I wouldn't say anxious or eager, anything like that,” the 13-time winner said of seeking his first victory in 2025. “I got off to a pretty good start today, and there's three more days of the tournament. Just focused on going home and getting some rest.”

Scheffler birdied four consecutive holes on the front nine and added one more before putting his approach at the par-5 ninth inside 5 feet for an eagle to get to 7 under.

A chip for birdie stopped on the lip at the par-4 11th, the second of three consecutive pars before he pulled even with Hoey with a birdie at 13. Scheffler took the lead by putting his tee shot on the stadium hole — the par-3 17th — inside 3 feet.

Hoey, a 29-year-old from the Philippines seeking his first PGA Tour victory, started with eight pars on the back nine before an eagle on 18 triggered an 8-under finish over his final 10 holes. His 63 tied his career low on the PGA Tour. Hoey's best finish this year also was in Texas, a tie for 11th at the Houston Open.

“It’s been up and down, but from the start of the last season and comparing it, I think I’m doing a way better job,” said Hoey, who won on the Canadian tour in 2017 and the Korn Ferry circuit two years ago. “Just feel like there are rounds I’ve been clicking; other rounds I haven’t put it up. Kind of nice to get the momentum rolling now.”

Champ, who lives in Houston and played at Texas A&M, was home when he got the call that he was replacing Gary Woodland, who withdrew. He made it to the Dallas area Wednesday night and countered two bogeys in his first three holes with nine birdies.

The 29-year-old from California won three times from 2019-21 but missed 35 of 55 cuts over the previous two years. This is just his fourth start of 2025.

“Considering last year, how many cuts I missed by one, it was like 11 or 12 or something, I haven’t really been playing that bad,” Champ said. “The last two years is probably the hardest I’ve ever worked. Feel like my physical abilities are there. It’s just getting back to the right mental state.”

Spieth and Danny Walker had to pause to clean spikes after wayward tee shots into muddy territory. Walker's cleaning delay lasted several minutes, including others helping by splashing the soles with bottled water.

Walker, playing in the group ahead of Spieth, ended up with a bogey on the par-4 11th on his way to a 68. Spieth scrambled for a par-4 at No. 3 after barely missing the water while putting his tee shot in a waste area.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf