Good evening!

Tonight at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, some of the world’s best golfers will sit down for the annual champions dinner. The event is held annually in the lead-up to the first major tournament of the year, the Masters.

Perhaps the most exclusive dinner in golf, you can only receive an invitation if you have won the tournament before.

One novelty of the evening is that last year’s winner decides on the menu.

After Aussie Adam Scott won in 2013, his menu consisted of Moreton Bay bugs (an Aussie shellfish), wagyu steak, and pavlova.

The Masters begins on Thursday (local time).

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Stat of the day

22,369
The number of spectators who attended the  four Super Netball matches over the course of the league’s opening round on the weekend. The figure represents a round one attendance record and an eight percent increase year on year. 

Quote of the day

“He looks like a movie star. He’s got a good future, I’m telling you.”
U.S. President Donald Trump after shaking the hand of Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani. After winning Major League Baseball’s World Series last year, the Los Angeles Dodgers accepted an invitation to the White House to celebrate the victory. Ohtani had a historic season with the Dodgers, becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases. He is also one of the highest-paid sportspeople on the planet. In 2023, he signed a 10-year, $US700,000,000 contract with the Dodgers.

Random fact of the day

During his professional basketball career with the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan always wore a second pair of shorts underneath the Bulls uniform. The second pair were what Jordan called his ‘lucky shorts’ and were from his college basketball days with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

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In case you missed it…

🏀 The Florida Gators beat the Houston Cougars in the final of the men’s college basketball national championship in Texas today. The Gators came back from 12 points behind to win 65-63 and claim the side’s third national title after going back to back in 2006 and 2007. Australian Alex Condon became just the sixth Australian (male or female) to win a college basketball national championship in the U.S.

🏉 Hawthorn star player Will Day is set to be sidelined for up to four months after scans revealed a fracture in the midfielder’s foot. The 23-year-old will have surgery and is expected to return sometime close to Round 15. The Hawks, who are undefeated in 2025, are scheduled to play Port Adelaide on Sunday evening. 

🎾 Australian tennis stars Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson will be in action tonight in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Popyrin will face France’s Ugo Humbert and Thompson is set to take on Greek sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. Australia’s top-ranked player Alex de Minaur received a first round bye and will play the winner of tonight’s match between Czechia’s Tomáš Macháč and Argentina’s Sebastian Baez. You can watch the Monte Carlo Masters, a clay court event played in the lead-up to the French Open, with a subscription to beIN Sports.

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Fowler leads Matildas to second straight win over South Korea

The Matildas kept a clean sheet against South Korea for the second match in a row, defeating the world’s 19th-ranked side 2-0 in front of 28,000 fans in Newcastle last night. It marks a welcome return to form for the Matildas, who lost all three matches at the SheBelieves Cup(a round robin tournament hosted by the U.S) in February.

What happened?

After coming off the bench in Sydney, Mary Fowler returned to the Matildas starting lineup, and her impact was obvious. The Manchester City star, stationed on the left wing, opened the scoring in the 44th minute after beating four defenders. She then added an assist to her stat sheet by aiding Kaitlyn Torpey's goal in the 63rd minute. The second goal was ruled an own goal after it was deflected off the foot of South Korea’s Lim Seon-Joo.

Fowler told reporters after the match: “After the last game, we spoke about trying to be consistent and not take that first win for granted…I think all the girls are happy with that part. We were consistent in both performances, but at the same time, I think we've still got a bit to build on… it's nice that we see a bit of ourselves again.”

What’s next?

Australia’s next international outing will be two friendlies against world number 33 Argentina in late May and early June.

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Generational talent Will Pucovski announces retirement due to concussion concerns

Australian cricketer Will Pucovski announced his retirement this morning, effective immediately, due to ongoing concussion concerns. The 27-year-old, who had long been touted as a generational talent, played one Test for Australia against India in 2021 and scored a century on debut.

What happened

Pucovski announced his retirement on SEN Radio this morning. He had not played cricket since March 2024, when he suffered a severe concussion while batting in a Sheffield Shield match for Victoria. Prior to that concussion, he had shown the form to be considered for Test selection with a century against NSW in his second last match.

Promising career

Pucovski became the second youngest person after Ricky Ponting to be awarded a sponsorship by bat manufacturer Kookaburra when he was playing under 12s. In his one and only Test for Australia, Pucovski demonstrated his strong ability with a half-century.

During his first-class career, Pucovski amassed a total of 2350 runs across 57 innings. His batting average was 45.19 runs. He scored seven centuries and had a high score of 252 runs not out.

Concussion

Following the concussion against Tasmania, a medical committee recommended that Pucovski retire because of an extensive concussion history, which dated back to head knocks playing Australian Football in his teenage years. He took the year to make a decision, telling SEN: "From there it's been a tough year, a lot of the symptoms didn't go away which has led me to this decision. The first few months were horrendous, but things didn't leave me.”

Pucovski described his symptoms as including mental health struggles, headaches, oversleeping, and struggling to get anything done.

What they said

Pucovski told SEN: "I wish I was coming in maybe under better circumstances. I'm not going to be playing cricket again. It's been a really difficult year to put it as simply as possible. I'd need a few hours, I think, to take you through the whole journey…but the simple message is I won't be playing cricket at any level again."

What’s next?

Pucovski will stay involved in cricket and will be the head coach of Victoria Premier club Melbourne for season 2025-26.

Looking forward…(All times are AEDT)

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