Good evening!

Your doctor may have recommended mouth tape to help with your nasal breathing. Or…your therapist might have suggested you use mouth tape to regulate your emotions. Ok, maybe not.

Last Friday, American pro golfer Ryan McCormick took it upon himself to tape his mouth shut for an entire round in an effort to control his temper.

The 33-year-old, who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour, told reporters: “Been having not-so-fun times this year on the golf course. Pretty angry and mad. So I figured I’ve tried a lot of things, and I just figured I’d shut myself up.”

It’s unclear if McCormick will be taping his mouth shut again, given that he did not make it past the second round.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

203
The number of tries Maddison Levi has scored for Australia’s women’s Rugby 7s team. Levi became the first Australian to surpass the 200-try mark at the Singapore Sevens over the weekend. Australia’s women’s team finished with a silver medal for the second consecutive tournament, losing 31-7 to New Zealand in the final. Meanwhile, the men finished 10th after losing to South Africa 26-7 in the 9th-place play-off.

Quote of the day

"I couldn't do a third consecutive loss. I hope I learned, I hope I teach people, that if they drop and go on the floor, and when shit hits the fan, you can always get back up and rise to the top."
Australian boxer Tim Tszyu after he beat American Joey Spencer in a super welterweight (70kg) bout at Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Sunday. Tszyu had lost his previous two fights, but won this fight when Spencer’s team threw in the towel in the fourth round. The 30-year-old's next opponent is expected to be former unified world welterweight champion Keith Thurman later this year. 

Random fact of the day

American athletes Charles Jenkins and Charlie ‘Chip’ Jenkins were the first father and son to win Olympic gold medals in the same event (but decades apart). In Melbourne in 1956, Charles won gold with Team USA in the 4x400m (as well as gold in the individual 400m). 36 years later, at the Barcelona Games in 1992, Chip also won gold in the 4x400m.

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In case you missed it…

🏟️ Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Denny has set a new Australian discus record of 72.07 metres. Denny broke his own national record by almost three metres at the Oklahoma Throw Series Invitational on the weekend and became the first Aussie to break the elusive 70 metre mark. His throw was the fifth-best of all time. The 28-year-old will compete at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational (similar name, different event) next week with the goal of breaking the world record. 

🏒 Russian ice hockey star Alex Ovechkin has become the NHL’s most prolific goalscorer of all time, surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals. The NHL is the top professional men’s ice hockey league in the U.S. Ovechkin, who plays for the Washington Capitals, scored his 895th goal in the league during a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday. He said: “I'm probably going to need a couple more days or maybe a couple weeks to realise what does it mean to be No. 1. But I can say I'm very proud.”

🚴‍♂️ Defending road cycling world champion Lotte Kopecky won the women’s Tour of Flanders in Belgium on Sunday. It marks the third time Kopecky has won the race, which is one of cycling’s Monuments - five one-day classic races on the professional road cycling calendar. Meanwhile, Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogačar won the men’s race ahead of Danish cyclist Mads Pedersen and last year’s winner Mathieu van der Poel. Also a defending world champion, Pogačar showed his strength by breaking away from the group with 19km to go and winning the race. 

🏀 The UConn Huskies won the U.S. women’s college basketball national championship, beating South Carolina 82-54 in the final of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. It marks the Huskies' first national championship in nine years and 12th overall. Meanwhile, the Houston Cougars and Florida Gators will play the final of the men’s NCAA tournament tomorrow at 10:50am (AEDT). In the final four, Houston upset tournament favourites the Duke Blue Devils, and Florida beat the Auburn Tigers to advance to the championship match. 

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Bulldogs win first five for first time since 1993

Over in NRL land, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs remain the only team to be undefeated so far this season. It comes after they defeated the North Queensland Cowboys on Sunday in a 20-0 victory.

It’s the first time since 1993 that the Bulldogs have won the first five matches of the season. With a bye schedule for Round 6, the Bulldogs will go for six straight in two weeks against the Rabbitohs (5th).

Other results

Also on Sunday, the Manly Sea Eagles hosted the Melbourne Storm. The Storm were clinical in attack and won the match 48-24 with centre Grant Anderson scoring three tries.

On Saturday night, the Brisbane Broncos also showed why they have been tipped as a premiership favourite, dominating the Wests Tigers 46-24 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

League standings

The Bulldogs are the only team in the competition to remain undefeated and sit on top of the table. They are joined in the top four by the Brisbane Broncos, the Melbourne Storm and the New Zealand Warriors.

Despite beating the Dragons 23-22 on Saturday, the Parramatta Eels are currently last on the ladder, winning just one of five games. The Redcliffe Dolphins (14th), Penrith Panthers (15th), and Sydney Roosters (16th) are the other three teams in the bottom four, having each also lost four of five games.

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Verstappen makes it four in a row at Japanese Grand Prix

Max Verstappen won his fourth straight Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, starting in pole position and holding off McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who rounded out the podium. It was Verstappen’s 64th GP victory in Formula One.

Verstappen steals pole position

Four-time defending world champion Verstappen took pole position after finishing first in qualifying ahead of the two McLarens. Verstappen’s fastest lap in qualifying was 0.012 seconds quicker than Norris's.

When the race got underway, the Dutchman showed his poise to hang on to the lead throughout. There was drama on Lap 20 as he and Norris exited the pits at the same time and came close to colliding, with Norris forced off the track and onto the grass.

Verstappen said: "The two McLarens were pushing me very hard and it was a lot of fun out there…Of course starting on pole really made it possible to win this race."

Did Piastri have the pace?

On his 24th birthday, Aussie driver Piastri showed plenty of pace but was unable to capitalise on it, starting and finishing the race in third position.

With nine laps to go, he told his team over the radio: “I think I have the pace to get Max.” However, his request to attempt to pass teammate Norris was blocked. Piastri told reporters he thought the team’s decision was “fair”.

Tsunoda’s Red Bull debut

Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda finished 12th on his debut for Red Bull in front of a home crowd at the Suzuka Circuit. Red Bull’s decision to replace Liam Lawson with Tsunoda was justified as the 23-year-old New Zealander finished in 17th for the Racing Bulls, Red Bull’s feeder team.

Tsunoda, who started the race in 14th, said afterwards: “Mixed feelings. Obviously, the result is not the result I wanted. At least, I wanted to finish in the points this weekend.” Despite his disappointment, Tsunoda was voted as Driver of the Day by the fans.

Standings

Norris still leads the Drivers Championship on 62 points with Verstappen now trailing by just one point. Piastri is third on 49 points.

McLaren also leads the Constructors Championship on 111 points with Mercedes second on 75 points, and Red Bull third on 61 points.

What’s next?

Formula One heads to the Middle East for next weekend’s Bahrain GP which will be followed by the Saudi Arabian GP the weekend after.

Looking back…

Looking forward…(All times are AEDT)

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