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Less than a month ago, Stewart Cink had never won a PGA Tour Champions major.
Now he has won two.
Cink shot a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala., taking home the title by three strokes over nearest competitor Scott Hend of Australia in breezy conditions.
“It wasn’t easy,” Cink said. “But I was pretty resilient and I trusted what I had and our game plan was good. You know, I wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but I played good golf under the circumstances.”
The Florence, Ala. native had his own cheering section at Greystone Golf and Country Club on Sunday, as Cink carded five birdies against two bogeys to earn his second straight major after winning the Senior PGA Championship in Bradenton, Fla. two weeks ago.
“This is where I cut my teeth in golf,” Cink said. “The fans out here were awesome, I saw a lot of familiar faces. Everybody’s put on the years, but some people from junior golf that I played with and against and their families. A lot of my friends and family have been out here all week anyway that I knew they were coming. It’s just been great.”
The eight-time PGA Champions tourney winner cited the importance of keeping his focus on the present for his recent hot streak, which has included four wins overall in 2026. He has yet to finish lower than sixth this calendar year.
“One of the things I’m doing a pretty good job of is just kind of staying in the moment,” he said. “It feels good to get back in the winner’s circle again, of course. I hope there’s a lot more times coming.”
Hend surged up the leaderboard to apply some pressure as most other golfers struggled to match Cink’s strong day. Hend did Cink four better with a 7-under 65, but he ultimately had too much ground to make up coming into the day. Still, a day with six birdies, a bogey and an eagle on the par-5 No. 13 left much to be proud of.
Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie shot a 1-under 71 which left him in third place at 13 under once the dust settled, while Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen took fourth with a 3-under 69 that put him at 12 under.
Three golfers rounded out the top five in a tie for fifth: South Korea’s Charlie Wi (68), Germany’s Alex Cejka (70) and Doug Barron (71).
Los Angeles Thieves and Paris Gentle Mates joined the ranks of the 3-0 teams Sunday on the last day of Week 2 of qualifying for the Call of Duty League’s Stage 3 Major.
One day after OpTic Texas improved to 3-0, the Thieves beat Vancouver Surge 3-1 and the Gentle Mates rallied past the winless Boston Breach 3-2. Also Sunday, G2 Minnesota blanked the Miami Heretics 3-0.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the third major of the season, to be held May 15-17 as part of the DreamHack Atlanta event.
The Thieves edged the Surge 250-241 on Gridlock Hardpoint to kick off the day, then rang up a 6-0 shellacking on Den Search and Destroy. Vancouver got one back with an 8-1 runaway on Den Overload, but Los Angeles prevailed 250-134 on Sake Hardpoint.
The Gentle Mates fell behind 2-0 to Boston right away, as the Breach won 250-219 on Sake Hardpoint and 6-3 on Fringe Search and Destroy. Paris stayed alive by pulling out a 4-3 win on Exposure Overload. The tide was turned, and Paris continued on to a 250-157 win on Colossus Hardpoint and a clinching 6-3 triumph on Gridlock Search and Destroy.
G2 earned their first win of qualifying by taking care of Miami 250-193 on Colossus Hardpoint, 6-5 on Scar Search and Destroy and 3-2 on Den Overload.
Week 3 begins Friday with three matches:
–Riyadh Falcons vs. Miami Heretics
–Paris Gentle Mates vs. OpTic Texas
–Vancouver Surge vs. Toronto KOI
Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major qualifying, with match record and map differential
1. Los Angeles Thieves, 3-0, 9-2
T2. OpTic Texas 3-0, 9-4
T2. Paris Gentle Mates, 3-0, 9-4
4. FaZe Vegas, 3-1, 10-6
5. Toronto KOI, 2-1, 8-5
6. Vancouver Surge, 2-2, 8-8
7. G2 Minnesota, 1-2, 4-6
8. Riyadh Falcons, 1-2, 5-7
9. Miami Heretics, 1-1, 4-7
10. Carolina Royal Ravens, 1-3, 8-10
11. Cloud9 New York, 0-3, 2-9
12. Boston Breach, 0-4, 4-12
Apple crushes Wall Street expectations as China revenue surges and Tim Cook prepares historic CEO transition.
Apple’s Greater China revenue surged past analyst forecasts to $20.49 billion, far exceeding the $18.9 billion Wall Street had anticipated. The company’s Mac lineup, led by the breakout Mac mini, is emerging as an unexpected powerhouse of the AI hardware boom. Apple issued an aggressive revenue outlook for fiscal Q3, projecting 14–17% growth at a time when analysts had penciled in just 9.5%.
Apple delivered a quarterly performance that left analysts scrambling to revise their models, reporting results that exceeded expectations across nearly every key metric — and doing so under the shadow of one of the most consequential leadership transitions in Silicon Valley history. This marks the company’s first earnings report since it confirmed that Tim Cook will hand the reins to hardware chief John Ternus in September, closing a 15-year chapter that reshaped the consumer technology industry.
Cook, speaking to investors ahead of his departure, credited the company’s resilience to sustained consumer demand despite a global memory shortage that has created meaningful supply chain headwinds across the entire tech sector. Rather than retreating, Apple appears to have navigated the crunch more effectively than competitors, emerging with both revenue momentum and an optimistic forward outlook that caught the street off guard.
The China rebound is particularly striking given the geopolitical turbulence that has hung over Apple’s operations in the region. Greater China revenue climbing to $20.49 billion — a figure that cleared analyst expectations by more than $1.5 billion — signals that consumer appetite for Apple products in the world’s second-largest economy remains durable, even as trade tensions persist and domestic Chinese smartphone brands have intensified their competition.
On the Mac side, the story is no longer just about laptops. The Mac mini has quietly transformed into one of the more talked-about pieces of hardware in AI development circles. Developers building and running AI agent workloads have been snapping up the compact desktop — particularly to power instances of OpenClaw, the AI agent framework gaining traction in enterprise environments — turning a modest product line into an unlikely symbol of the AI infrastructure moment. Mac revenue overall reached $8.39 billion for the quarter, reflecting that demand extends well beyond any single model.
Apple also moved to broaden its Mac portfolio earlier this year with the debut of the $599 MacBook Neo in early March, a price point that positions the device as an accessible entry into Apple’s silicon ecosystem at a time when consumers and developers alike are evaluating hardware options for AI-adjacent tasks.
The iPhone 17 family continues to anchor Apple’s top-line results. Cook described the lineup as “the most popular in our history,” and the numbers bear that out, with demand holding firm in what is traditionally a softer seasonal window for smartphone sales. The combination of strong iPhone sell-through and accelerating Mac momentum gave Apple the foundation to issue forward guidance that dramatically outpaced consensus estimates.
Looking ahead to the fiscal third quarter ending in June, Apple projected revenue growth in the range of 14% to 17% year over year — a forecast that dwarfs the 9.5% growth analysts had expected and suggests the company sees no near-term slowdown despite the memory supply constraints still working through the system.
As Ternus prepares to step into the CEO role, he inherits a company with full product momentum, a strengthening position in AI hardware, and a China business that has defied the skeptics. The central question heading into the next chapter of Apple’s story is whether the architect of the hardware that powers all of it can sustain the operational and cultural gravity that Cook spent a decade and a half building.
A first-of-its-kind pilot program turns passion into profession, proving that true luxury is personal—and accessible to everyone.
In the bustling Beauty department of the Mesquite, Texas, Walmart, the noise of shopping carts and overhead announcements fades away. Here, Associate Anabel Perez operates less like a sales clerk and more like a therapist, a coach, and a confidante.
Recently, a new mom navigating the aisles with a stroller caught Anabel’s eye. The customer was searching for an under-eye cream, but her expression told a deeper story.
“She was clearly overwhelmed and tired,” Anabel recalls.
Instead of simply pointing to a shelf, Anabel paused. She listened. She guided the mom through ingredients and options, treating the interaction not as a transaction, but as a moment of human connection.
“I felt as if I helped her get a moment of rest she didn’t know she needed, without her having to think,” Anabel says. “Sometimes beauty isn’t about coverage. It’s about care.”
A New Palette of Possibility
That small, quiet moment is the cornerstone of a major new investment in Walmart’s future. Across the company, retail is evolving—and Walmart is leading the charge by prioritizing people over products.
In 22 pilot stores across Texas and Arkansas, a pioneering group of associates are stepping into a brand-new role: Walmart Beauty Experts. This pilot program is turning a lifelong passion for lipstick, skincare, and self-expression into a fulfilling, long-term profession.
As customers increasingly demand a premium experience without the premium price tag, these Experts are bridging the gap. They ensure that service feels just as elevated as Walmart’s newly designed, modern beauty spaces and growing assortment of high-quality brands.
The Science of Skincare, The Art of Empathy
Becoming a Beauty Expert isn’t just about liking makeup. It requires rigor. Candidates step into one of Walmart’s 200 Academy training facilities for an immersive curriculum that blends hard science with soft skills.
Through specialized courses like Makeup 101 and Customer Engagement 101, these associates go far beyond generic product overviews. They learn:
The dermatological science behind active ingredients in skincare routines.
The psychology of asking the right questions to uncover what a customer truly needs.
The technical skills to match a customer with their perfect foundation shade from over 7,000 unique products.
And the education never stops. Beauty Experts receive ongoing monthly and quarterly training on seasonal trends, emerging brands, and top-ticking items, ensuring they remain the smartest resource in the aisle.
Leading Beyond the Aisle
This deep expertise transforms the associate—and the store. Beauty Experts are becoming leaders whose impact ripples throughout the entire location. They host store-wide beauty events, troubleshoot complicated online orders to ensure perfect picks, and mentor other associates on the art of the consultation.
It’s about ownership. It’s about taking the promise of “Save Money. Live Better.” and adding a third pillar: Feel Beautiful.
The Bottom Line: Care as a Currency
So, what does this new role truly come down to?
It’s the joy of the craft. It’s the fun of watching a teenager find her first “power lipstick” or helping a retiree discover a new signature scent. It’s the pride of turning a paycheck into a purpose.
Credit Walmart
“We want every customer who walks through those doors to feel seen,” says Anabel. “When you give someone a moment of care, you aren’t just selling them a product. You are handing them back a little piece of their confidence.”
In Mesquite, Texas—and soon, hopefully, everywhere—Walmart is proving that the future of retail isn’t just about checkout speed or inventory. It is, and always has been, about human beings helping other human beings look and feel their best.
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Key Points:Amazon Web Services surged 28% year-over-year to $37.59 billion in Q1 2026, outpacing Wall Street forecasts. Amazon’s total revenue of $181.5 billion signals the tech giant’s continued dominance across cloud, AI, and e-commerce. AWS is deepening its AI strategy through expanded investment in Anthropic while also moving toward collaboration with OpenAI.
Amazon delivered a commanding first-quarter performance in 2026, posting $181.5 billion in total revenue and leaving Wall Street’s projections in the dust. The results reinforced Amazon’s standing as one of the most resilient and diversified technology companies in the world, drawing renewed investor confidence even as the broader tech sector navigates economic uncertainty.
Amazon Web Services emerged as the crown jewel of the earnings report, generating $37.59 billion in revenue, a 28% jump from the $29.27 billion recorded in the same period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by StreetAccount had projected $36.64 billion, meaning AWS cleared the bar by nearly $1 billion. The cloud division now represents close to 21% of Amazon’s total revenue, underscoring how central enterprise cloud infrastructure has become to the company’s overall financial engine.
What sets this quarter apart from previous strong performances is Amazon’s increasingly aggressive posture in artificial intelligence. The company has doubled down on its stake in Anthropic, the AI safety startup behind the Claude family of models, while simultaneously signaling a willingness to work alongside OpenAI, a notable strategic pivot that suggests Amazon is positioning AWS as the neutral but powerful backbone of the AI industry rather than betting exclusively on a single partner.
“We’re making customers’ lives easier and better every day across all our businesses, and their response is driving significant growth,” said Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon. “AWS is growing 28% (our fastest growth in 15 quarters) on a very large base, our chips business topped a $20 billion revenue run rate (growing triple digits year-over-year), Advertising grew to over $70 billion in TTM revenue, and unit growth in our Stores reached 15% (the highest since the tail end of covid lockdowns). We also hit exciting milestones with delivery speed (more than 1 billion items same-day or overnight in 2026 and counting), Project Hail Mary (nearly $615 million at the box office to date and the second most successful non-sequel, non-franchise opening of recent memory), and Amazon Leo continues to resonate with prospective customers, with Delta Airlines the latest to sign on. We’re in the middle of some of the biggest inflections of our lifetime, we’re well positioned to lead, and I’m very optimistic about what’s ahead for our customers and Amazon.” Source: Amazon Investor Relations.
That approach may prove critical as competitive pressure intensifies. Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud are no longer distant challengers, both have forged deep integrations with leading AI laboratories and are rapidly expanding their model libraries and developer services. The cloud wars have effectively become AI wars, and the provider that can offer the broadest, most performant AI ecosystem stands to capture the next wave of enterprise spending.
Amazon’s results arrive at a moment when enterprise customers are scrutinizing their cloud commitments more carefully than ever, yet still prioritizing AI-capable infrastructure. AWS’s outperformance suggests that demand for scalable, reliable cloud services tied to generative AI workloads remains robust, and that Amazon has successfully translated its AI partnerships into tangible customer adoption.
With AWS anchoring Amazon’s profitability and the company’s AI investment strategy taking sharper form, the outlook heading into Q2 2026 will hinge on whether Amazon can sustain this growth trajectory while fending off an increasingly sophisticated field of cloud competitors.
Clay Holmes threw six scoreless innings Tuesday night for the struggling New York Mets, who rolled to an 8-0 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game series.
Bo Bichette homered leading off the first and Juan Soto’s two-run blast closed out a seven-run fourth-inning outburst for the Mets, who are just 3-15 since April 8 — a span in which they have been outscored 87-47.
Three players had a hit apiece for the Nationals, who have lost seven of 11.
Holmes (3-2) gave up three hits and one walk while striking out six. The Nationals got their only runner into scoring position in the second, when Holmes escaped a two-on jam by striking out Luis Garcia Jr.
New York reliever Tobias Myers tossed two hitless innings before Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in a perfect ninth.
Bichette was the only Mets player to reach base in the first three innings against Zack Littell (0-4), who retired eight in a row following Bichette’s homer before he walked the third baseman in the third.
MJ Melendez singled with one out in the fourth and Mark Vientos and Brett Baty walked. Melendez and Vientos then scored when third baseman Jorbit Vivas misplayed Marcus Semien’s grounder.
Carson Benge laced a two-RBI single on the next pitch and Ronny Mauricio singled before Benge trotted home on Bichette’s long fly to right. Soto chased Littell with his second homer of the season and his first since April 1.
Benge had two hits — his third multi-hit effort in his last four starts. The rookie outfielder had multiple hits just once in his first 21 games (19 starts).
Littell allowed the eight runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out one over 3 2/3 innings. He has given up 24 runs (18 earned) over just 13 2/3 innings in his past three starts.
Viewership of the 2026 NFL Draft dropped 12% year-over-year with an average of 6.6 million viewers across all networks for the three-day event, according to Front Office Sports.
Despite the drop from 2025’s three-day average of 7.5 million viewers, the 2026 version was the third-most-watched draft since 2010 when the league adopted a three-day format. The 2026 draft was broadcast on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network as well as on streaming services.
The 2020 draft, held virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, has the record with 8.4 million viewers.
Ratings for the first round of the draft last Thursday were down 3% from 2025, with 13.2 million fans tuning in compared to 13.6 million last year.
While fewer people watched on TV, the event set a record for in-person attendance with a three-day total of 805,000 people on hand to watch in Pittsburgh. The previous in-person record was 775,000 set in Detroit in 2024.
Amid widespread complaints about the cost of tickets and transportation related to World Cup games, FIFA announced Tuesday that it will hike the money received by all 48 teams participating this summer by 15%.
The national teams competing in the event in the United States, Mexico and Canada will see their preparation money rise from $1.5 million to $2.5 million. Qualification compensation goes from $9 million to $10 million, and contributions toward team delegation expenses and increased ticket allotments will go up more than $16 million.
Remaining additional income that FIFA receives will be split among all 211 national federations.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement, “FIFA is proud to be in its most solid financial position ever, enabling us to help all our Member Associations in an unprecedented way. This is one more example of how FIFA’s resources are reinvested back into the game.”
The financial boosts were among the items to come out of a FIFA Council meeting ahead of the FIFA Congress scheduled for Thursday in Vancouver.
Among the other matters announced by FIFA:
–At this year’s World Cup, players who exit the pitch in a dispute over a decision by a referee could be given a red card. Also, players who cover their mouths “in a confrontational situation with an opponent” could be subjected to a red card.
The latter item appears to be a direct consequence of an incident in a UEFA Champions League game in February, where Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior stated that Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni made a racist statement to him. The situation was difficult to judge because Prestianni pulled his shirt over his mouth before saying something, and he later denied that he said anything racist.
–As a consequence of the World Cup expanding from 32 teams to 48 teams and adding an extra knockout round, FIFA is adjusting the cutoff point at which players who receive a second yellow card would receive an automatic one-match suspension. Single yellow cards will now be wiped out after the group stage and again after the quarterfinals.
–The Afghan Women’s Refugee Team will be permitted into FIFA competitions.
–The final stage of the 2027 FIFA Women’s Champions Cup, scheduled for Jan. 27-31, was awarded to Miami. The competition features the six club teams that win their continental championships.
–The dates of the 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cup were set as June 19-July 11.
Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, under investigation for sports gambling, has hired attorney Jeffrey Kessler to protect his college eligibility, ESPN reported on Saturday.
Sorsby, who transferred to Texas Tech from Cincinnati this offseason, is entering a treatment program for a gambling addiction and taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team, the quarterback and his current school announced on Monday.
Kessler was lead attorney in the House vs. NCAA case, which was approved in June 2025 and led to revenue sharing in college athletics. Schools were able to share $20.5 million with athletes beginning last July 1, with the amount increasing annually.
A prominent antitrust attorney, Kessler has represented the NFL Players Association on behalf of players such as Tom Brady, Ezekiel Elliott, Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice.
NCAA rules forbid collegiate athletes from betting on any sport (collegiate or professional) for which the NCAA sponsors a championship. Sorsby reportedly bet on college football and MLB games.
This could lead to him being deemed ineligible for the 2026 season, pending the NCAA’s active investigation.
Sorsby has placed more than 10,000 sports betting wagers since 2022, according to a report from On3. He was averaging as many as 20 bets per day on a variety of different sportsbook apps across multiple states, per On3.
This reportedly included betting on Indiana games in 2022 when he was redshirting during his first year of college. ESPN reported Monday that all of the bets were on Indiana to win and none were on the game he played in — a 45-14 loss to 16th-ranked Penn State.
Sorsby, ESPN’s top-ranked transfer in this year’s class, threw for 5,613 yards, 45 touchdowns and 12 interceptions over the last two seasons for the Bearcats. He also ran for 1,027 yards and 18 touchdowns in 24 games.
Logan Stankoven scored twice and goaltender Frederik Andersen collected his second shutout of this year’s playoffs as the host Carolina Hurricanes opened their playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers with a 3-0 victory on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.
Jackson Blake scored once and added an assist for the Hurricanes, who followed a first-round sweep of the Ottawa Senators with a decisive victory to kick off the Eastern Conference best-of-seven semifinal series.
Andersen made 19 saves for his seventh career playoff shutout.
Mike Reilly collected a pair of assists.
Dan Vladar stopped 20 shots for the Flyers, who will attempt to regroup when the series resumes Monday in Raleigh.
The Hurricanes, who finished atop the Eastern Conference standings in the regular season, are yet to trail in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs and continued that trend thanks to their hottest player.
Stankoven tallied for the fifth consecutive game to open the scoring only 91 seconds into the clash. Reilly fired a point shot that Stankoven deflected into the net. Stankoven, 23, is the youngest player in history to score goals in five consecutive games to open the playoffs.
Stankoven has scored first in four of Carolina’s five playoff outings.
“I felt since the Olympic break, things were starting to turn and pucks started going in the net,” Stankoven said postgame.
Blake doubled the lead six minutes later with a highlight-reel worthy tally. He zipped around the defenders before tucking home the puck for his second tally of the playoffs.
“We had a good start. That’s what won the game,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “There wasn’t much happening (after) but the first period was good.”
The Flyers had managed only one shot on goal at that point.
“I don’t know if we were mentally prepared to play tonight. Winning our playoff series, (almost) not making the playoffs,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. ” … There was a lot of excitement. I don’t think we got down to earth quick enough for this game.”
Stankoven gave the Hurricanes a three-goal edge late in the second period. After a turnover, Seth Jarvis fed a pass to Stankoven in the slot and he immediately buried the chance with 3:44 remaining in the middle frame.
From there, the Hurricanes cruised to victory, amidst a string of message-sending infractions by the Flyers and retaliatory actions from Carolina’s skaters.
After a handful of players were sent to the dressing room with misconducts just past the midway point of the final frame, things quieted.
