One week out from the Ryder Cup teeing off at Bethpage Black Golf Course just outside New York City, officials continue to work with the Secret Service to ensure that President Donald Trump’s planned attendance at Friday’s opening round doesn’t prevent any fans on-site from watching the action.

“There’s been a lot of really good discussions so far,” Ryder Cup Director Bryan Karns told Front Office Sports on Thursday. 

After Trump’s attendance at the US Open resulted in the men’s final being delayed by 48 minutes, Karns said he has been encouraged by Trump’s team being “very mindful of limiting any disruption.”

If there is any disruption, though, the Ryder Cup won’t simply push back the start of play (7:10 a.m. ET Friday) like the US Open did. “We actually won’t be able to delay the tee times because we don’t have the evening,” Karns said. “At Arthur Ashe Stadium, you can flip those lights on, you can go late. Whereas we don’t have that luxury of doing that, and you obviously want to make sure, if possible, you’re finishing both sessions on the day we start them so the fans can see it from start to finish.”

Karns said learning from Trump’s US Open visit has been helpful as his team works out the numbers game of how fast security will be able to admit fans with any additional measures in place due to Trump’s presence.

“It’s really just a collaboration with the Secret Service to figure out the safest way to get the president on site, and to allow him to be able to participate and enjoy and be a part of what we’re doing, but at the same time, not disrupt the general flow,” he said. “Not have something take place where the hallmark at the Ryder Cup—the first tee or some of these grandstands that we expect and would plan to be full—that we don’t impede that.”

Trump’s travel schedule for the opening round is still not finalized.

There was an audible sigh from the crowd at the SAP Center in San Jose on Wednesday after Cecilia Zandalasini’s elbow jumper clanked off the back of the rim as time expired. The Golden State Valkyries were officially eliminated from the playoffs, swept by the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the first round, despite holding a double-digit lead entering the fourth quarter.

But it took only a few seconds before the Valkyries crowd changed its tune. 

As Zandalasini’s teammates picked her up off the ground, the Ballhalla crowd—one that had to transfer to the SAP Center from the Chase Center in San Francisco for Game 2 due to a schedule conflict—showered the Valkyries players with cheers.

Golden State, the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008, was not supposed to reach the playoffs. No other expansion team had ever qualified for the postseason, yet they were inches away from pushing the title favorites to the brink. 

The team’s unprecedented success makes owner Joe Lacob’s lofty preseason ambitions much more realistic. Newly crowned Coach of the Year Natalie Nakase said last year that Lacob challenged her to win a title in the team’s first five seasons. That marker hasn’t changed. 

“He was super impressed with our season. He said a lot of positive words. … But he knows the goal is the goal: We’ve got to win a championship in five years. I love that challenge. I wanted to win this year so, to me, I disappointed myself,” Nakase said Wednesday following the loss.

Offseason Sales Pitch

Golden State’s first season will be difficult to ignore as the WNBA enters its most consequential offseason in history. The majority of the league will be free agents, including all but two Valkyries players, as the league and union attempt to agree on a new CBA expected to exponentially increase player salaries.

The Valkyries will offer free agents a chance to play under Nakase, who WNBA Most Improved Player Veronica Burton said “changed my career.” Nakase, who was an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces when they won two championships in 2022 and 2023, has garnered respect around the league following her first season as a head coach.

“You can definitely tell that they’re well-coached. … They just play hard. Like really, really, really hard,” Minnesota Lynx wing Kayla McBride, a five-time All-Star, said after the game.

Free agents will also be able to play games at the ultra-modern Chase Center (launched in 2019), which was sold out for every game this season. They will also practice at the newly renovated Sephora Performance Center in Oakland, which was previously occupied by the NBA’s Warriors, whom Lacob also owns.

“The energy and the atmosphere in there is amazing. It’s so great to play in there, especially as an expansion team,” McBride said.

The organization made so much noise in its first season that execs from other expansion teams are changing their own expectations. 

“It’s very interesting how successful the Valkyries have been this year when that traditionally had not been done,” Allison Howard, president of Cleveland WNBA, told Front Office Sports last month. “Before, we thought: It’s going to take us two, three-plus years to be really competitive on the court now. Because of what’s going on in the Bay Area, we can continue to raise the bar on our expectations there, too.”

Friday will mark the end of an era in Los Angeles. 

On Thursday, the Dodgers announced that star pitcher Clayton Kershaw will retire at the end of the season after 18 years in the major leagues. The Dodgers selected Kershaw seventh overall in the 2006 MLB Draft, and he spent his entire career with the organization. 

Kershaw’s final start of the regular season at Dodger Stadium will be on Friday against the Giants. The Dodgers currently lead the National League wildcard race, but it’s unlikely Kershaw will be in the team’s postseason rotation despite a 10–2 record with a 3.53 earned run average. 

Kershaw, 37, is one of the most dominant pitchers of his generation. An 11-time All-Star, Kershaw won three Cy Young Awards, the National League MVP Award in 2014, the Pitching Triple Crown in 2011, and led the National League in earned run average five times. He is one of just 20 pitchers to reach the 3,000 strikeout mark. He won the World Series with the Dodgers in 2020 and was injured during the team’s 2024 title. 

His earnings are as historic as his resume. He’s made roughly $315 million in his career, according to Spotrac, which ranks fourth all-time among pitchers. Kershaw played high school football at Highland Park in Dallas with Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, and in 2017, the duo had the rare distinction of being the highest-paid players in their respective leagues. 

Kershaw made $35.5 million that season, which was then the highest salary in MLB, while Stafford had just become the highest-paid player in NFL history with a five-year, $135 million contract that had an average annual value of $27 million.