Viktor Hovland dominates Tour Championship, wins FedEx Cup. Plus, Notre Dame, USC off to winning starts

This is a piece of writing model of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, without equal information to on a daily basis in sports activities. You can join to get it on your inbox each and every weekday morning right here.

🏆 Good morning to everybody however particularly …

VIKTOR HOVLAND

Forget qualifiers like “emerging” or “rising” or “potential.” Viktor Hovland is a celebrity. Right right here, at this time.

The 25-year-old Norwegian capped a breakout season with probably the most emphatic of victories, working clear of the sphere en direction to a five-stroke victory on the Tour Championship. With the win, Hovland additionally captured the FedEx Cup.

• Hovland is the third-youngest participant to win the Tour Championship at the back of simplest Jordan Spieth in 2015 and Tiger Woods in 1999. Not dangerous corporate.
• Hovland is solely the 5th participant to win the BMW Championship (closing week) and the Tour Championship in the similar season.
• Hovland additionally received the Memorial in June, which means he is received thrice in his closing 8 starts. He had 3 occupation PGA Tour wins prior to that.
• Hovland earned a fab $18 million and has received $21.6 million over the last two weeks. Pretty just right!

Hovland used to be merely dominant, main the sphere in strokes won off the tee, strokes won tee to inexperienced, using accuracy and scrambling proportion. But Hovland additionally confirmed toughness when Xander Schauffele snuck to inside of 3 by way of the 14th hollow whilst  status over a 23-footer for par. He nailed it — his longest make of the week — let loose an enormous fist pump and cruised house from there.

The boy with a large smile is readily changing into a ruthless drive. Don’t let that smile idiot you.

👍 Honorable mentions

• Josh Jacobs is formally again.
• The Steelers dealt Kevin Dotson to the Rams. In a separate deal, the Patriots despatched Pierre Strong Jr. to the Browns for Tyrone Wheatley Jr. The Patriots additionally bought Vederian Lowe from the Vikings.
• The Dolphins gave Zach Sieler a three-year deal.
• California (El Segundo) beat Curacao, 6-5 on a walk-off house run by way of Louis Lappe, to win the Little League World Series.
• Five-star 2024 defensive lineman David Stone dedicated to Oklahoma.
• Four-star 2024 protection Zaquan Patterson dedicated to Miami.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 College soccer Week 0 roundup: Fighting Irish roll in Ireland

No. 13 Notre Dame might name South Bend, Indiana house, however the Fighting Irish appeared somewhat at ease in Dublin, Ireland. Behind Wake Forest switch quarterback Sam Hartman, Notre Dame demolished Navy, 42-3.

• Hartman threw 4 landing passes, tying the varsity report for a debut. Jaden Greathouse stuck two of them, and Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie each had one.
• Notre Dame additionally ran for 191 yards, 95 of which got here from Audric Estime.
• Notre Dame scored a landing on every of its first 5 drives.

The simplest different ranked staff in motion used to be No. 6 USC. After a gradual get started, the Trojans pulled clear of San Jose State in a 56-28 win. It could also be arduous to outshine Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams — who threw 4 landing passes — however a new face controlled to just do that, writes David Cobb.

• Cobb: “Zachariah Branch scored two touchdowns — one as a kickoff returner and one as receiver — while also proving elusive as a rusher and punt returner. With his 232 all-purpose yards, Branch also helped overshadow lingering concerns about USC’s physicality along the line of scrimmage. … One game into his college career, Branch hit the fast-track to stardom as a multi-faceted weapon capable of making an already lethal offense even more difficult to defend.”

🏈 NFL preseason Week 3 wrap-up: Surprise cuts coming?

The preseason is over! The subsequent NFL sport we watch — the Lions on the Chiefs in 10 days — would be the actual deal, and I will be able to’t wait.

But earlier than we get there, now we have so much to get thru, beginning with takeaways from the general preseason weekend … which used to be additionally the primary sport for Aaron Rodgers with the Jets. And after a nice landing move from Rodgers to Garrett Wilson, the Jets had been some of the week’s largest winners, writes Cody Benjamin.

• Benjamin: “It’s been an altogether promising offseason for Gang Green, what with Aaron Rodgers’ arrival inviting Super Bowl dreams. … It’s all systems go for Week 1 and A-Rod’s first-ever Big Apple tour.”

From some of the NFL’s oldest gamers to a few of its youngest, Garrett Podell evaluated all the rookie quarterbacks, and No. 1 pick out Bryce Young crowned the ratings. Taking all 3 weeks under consideration, regardless that, Young wishes a ton of assist, Cody writes in his 10 issues we realized.

Unfortunately, earlier than we will be able to get to the fun of the common season, now we have to pass during the dread of roster lower day. Teams have till 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday to narrow their staff down to simply 53 gamers, and whilst some groups have began narrowing it down from 90, between now and the next day to come afternoon, kind of 1,000 gamers will lose their jobs. Some will catch on somewhere else or sign up for a convention squad, however for plenty of gamers, that is the top of the street. And that stinks.

Most cuts will probably be anticipated however now not all. Cody has 13 doable marvel cuts, together with one former first-rounder at the reigning Super Bowl champs.

⚾ MLB Power Rankings, weekend recap

The ultimate weekend of August has come and long gone, and that implies it is time for Matt Snyder’s newest MLB Power Rankings. Here’s the highest 5:

1. Braves (prev: 1)
2. Dodgers (prev: 2)
3. Orioles (prev: 3)
4. Rays (prev: 4)
5. Mariners (prev: 6)

The Mariners don’t seem to be the one staff with Seattle ties that is impressing of overdue. The Brewers (aka the Seattle Pilots of their 1969 inaugural season) are up two spots from 9th to 7th. Matt additionally mentioned Milwaukee as a darkhorse World Series contender right here.

As for groups shifting within the improper route, it is arduous to consider this used to be a top-five staff only a week in the past. 

• Snyder: “14. Rangers (prev: 5) — Anecdotally, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like the Rangers in August. They bolstered their rotation with Max Scherzer before the trade deadline and then won eight in a row and 12 of 14 to open the month. They had a 3 1/2 game lead in the AL West. Then they lost eight in a row (now nine of 10) and have fallen to the third and final AL Wild Card. Only the Blue Jays‘ recent futility is keeping the Rangers in playoff position.”

As for the whole thing else from the weekend …

😲 Cowboys gain Trey Lance for fourth-round pick out

It can have came about long ago on Friday night time, however the Cowboys buying and selling for 2021 No. 3 total pick out Trey Lance (and sending a fourth-round pick out again to the 49ers) continues to be a large deal. Our NFL writers did a gorgeous process masking each and every perspective. So, I would like to plug their paintings right here.

The Cowboys are undoubtedly many stuff. Boring is not one among them.

📺 What we are staring at Monday

🏀 Aces at Liberty, 7 p.m. on ESPN2