Australian swing bowler Michael Neser will join Surrey for the first half of their County Championship season next year.

Neser, who was part of Australia's Ashes squad but never made it into the playing XI, has become a prolific wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield in recent years.

He took 39 wickets in Queensland's victorious campaign in 2017-18, before returning a further 33 in 2018-19 to seal his Ashes berth, and has 12 wickets at 15.91 in his two appearances so far this season.

Neser played two ODIs during Australia's 5-0 hammering in England last summer - including an international debut at The Oval - and is a useful batsman too, with an average of 25.81 in first-class cricket. In last season's Shield, he scored 481 runs at an average of 43.72, including five half-centuries.

After signing his deal, Neser said that playing county cricket was a "long-held ambition" of his.

"To be able to do so at The Kia Oval alongside some fabulous players is obviously hugely exciting for me," he said. "I look forward to contributing and helping the guys challenge at the top of the County Championship in 2020."

Alec Stewart, Surrey's director of cricket, said: "What I have seen of him plus strong recommendations from former Australian players whose opinions I greatly respect means I am very pleased Michael will join us for the first half of next year's County Championship.

"The experience he will have gained from being a part of Australia's Ashes squad will stand him in good stead for the coming season. I look forward to seeing him perform successfully in a Surrey shirt."

Surrey underwhelmed in the Championship last season, winning just two of their 14 games as they finished sixth out of eight teams while attempting to defend their title.

They are also expected to announce soon the signings of Hashim Amla, on a Kolpak deal, and Reece Topley.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady acknowledged the uncertainty of his future with the franchise as he is in the final year of his contract, putting a positive spin on a situation he's never experienced before.

"I think that's the great part for me -- I don't know. I think that's been a unique situation that I've been in," Brady said Wednesday morning in his weekly appearance on sports radio WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show."

"I think when you commit to a team for a certain amount of years, you kind of feel like your responsibility is to always fulfill the contract. For me, it's been good because I'm just taking it day by day and I'm enjoying what I have. I don't know what the future holds, and the great part is, for me, football at this point is all borrowed time.

"I never expected to play 20 years. I'm playing on a great team. It's just been an incredible 20 years of my life -- to play for Mr. Kraft, and Jonathan, and the Kraft family, and for Coach Belichick, and to have so much success is a dream come true."

Brady, 42, was asked about his status two days after his uncertain future was discussed on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown.

Brady and his wife, Gisele Bundchen, recently listed their Massachusetts home for sale. At the same time, Brady recently opened a new TB12 Sports Therapy Center in Boston.

"One day I'll wake up and feel like that will be enough. When that day comes, that day comes. I don't know if it will be after this year. I don't know if it will be five years from now. But I don't have to determine those things right now either," Brady said on the radio show. "That's kind of a good part where I'm at. So I think just taking advantage of the opportunity that I have this year and do the very best I can do. Those decisions come at the more appropriate times."

Brady, who has previously said he hopes to play until he's 45, agreed to a revamped contract in August. The contract included voidable years in 2020 and 2021, which means he will become a free agent after the 2019 season unless the sides strike an extension.

In the radio interview, Brady was asked if he had anything to add to his prior remarks about his cameo appearance in the Netflix series "Living With Yourself," as he had expressed disgust with those who viewed it as an attack on Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

In Brady's cameo, he is seen walking out of the Top Happy Spa, which is located in a strip mall. In February, Kraft was charged with misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution at a day spa in a Florida strip mall.

"I think I answered last week and I think it's about publicity. I think the particular show got a lot of publicity, and I'm not going to give them any more than what they've already gotten," he said. "But everyone knows, again, how I feel about Mr. Kraft and how much he's been one of the most important people in my life. We have a relationship that is incredibly important to me. He's been a part of the biggest moments in my life, and a lot of the biggest decisions in my life. I have nothing but true love and respect for him.

"He does so much to help people out in our community, and other communities, and it's just a real blessing to have him in my life, and to play for him for 20 years, and to work for his team, has really been a dream come true."

John Shepherd catches up with the Brazilian jumps maestro

Nelio Moura (pictured above, right) is one of the world’s top jumps coaches. His position as such was cemented into place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he coached both long jump event winners – Maurren Higa Maggi of Brazil and Panama’s Irving Saladino.

Athletics Weekly: How did you originally get started in coaching?

Nelio Moura: I was pretty young, 19 years old, and I had just finished college studying physical education. My former coach told me about a job opportunity four hours by bus from my home in São Paulo. I didn’t think twice.

Every Friday night I would take the bus, coach a young group of athletes on the Saturday and Sunday, leave a programme for the week and come back home. That routine repeated for a year, until other opportunities appeared in São Paulo.

AW: Were you an athlete yourself?

NM: Yes, I used to be a triple jumper but I wasn’t very good, though! I was an age group national team member, but as an adult I realised my progress would not be enough to reach elite level so I decided to study and invest in a coaching career very early on.

AW: Have you always coached the jumping events?

NM: As a former jumper myself, my main interest has always been in the jumping events. However, at the beginning, I used to coach everything, from sprints to race walking. As I matured as a coach, I was able to focus on a smaller number of events. Nowadays, I work mainly with horizontal jumpers and a few sprinters and hurdlers.

AW: Where are you based and what’s athletics like as a sport in Brazil?

NM: My base is in São Paulo. I work at Ibirapuera track which belongs to São Paulo state government and for a private club, E.C. Pinheiros.

Athletics is not so popular in Brazil and lately we are facing a lot of institutional problems at both the state and national federation level. We are seeing traditional sponsors leaving the sport and it has been very difficult to replace them. Government support has also reduced drastically since the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.

AW: Brazil has had many talented jumpers – is there any specific reason for this?

NM: It is difficult to say. Tradition, for sure, but there’s not really a “school” of horizontal jumps. Probably the likes of Adhemar Ferreira da Silva, Nelson Prudencio, João Carlos de Oliveira and, more recently, Maurren Maggi, make Brazilians believe they can be good jumpers.

AW: I guess football and volleyball are far more popular Brazilian sports but how ‘big’ is athletics?

NM: Yes, football is the No.1 sport in Brazil and although athletics has increased its popularity (particularly road races) we are far from where we could be even in this context. The potential is huge, but we lost a giant opportunity in the years leading up to Rio 2016 to consolidate a National Sports Policy in the country.

AW: How has your approach to coaching developed over the years?

NM: Even though I was an athlete myself, I didn’t have any kind of mentor when I started my coaching career, so I made a lot of mistakes at the beginning. The positive side is that I was forced to learn how to get the right information, this was far more difficult in the 1980s than today. I grew up as a coach trying to find a balance between practical experience and the application of evidence-based knowledge. Actually, I keep trying!

AW: Are there significant things that you do differently now, compared to the past?

NM: Certainly, many things but I am not able to identify a specific one. Maybe now I recognise more clearly the value of doing less in practice.

AW: Tell us about being an IAAF coach.

NM: The IAAF has a Coaches Education and Certification Programme. I used to be a lecturer at the courses in South America (at all levels). I am not involved in it anymore as it is too time-demanding.

AW: How do you become a coach in Brazil and are there enough coaches at the clubs?

NM: First of all, we have to graduate in physical education. This is far from enough to become a proficient coach, so the federation offers some basic courses and the possibility to enter the IAAF system. We don’t have many clubs with athletics programmes in Brazil but, considering the size of the population, there aren’t enough coaches.

AW: Do you work with other coaches?

NM: Yes, we are a team of three coaches working together – myself, my wife Tania and our daughter Larissa. It is like a family enterprise, isn’t it? I have been working with Tania for more than 25 years and Larissa (who is only 24) has just boarded the ship. I am a full-time coach, so I am at the track every day.

AW: What advice have you for someone wanting to become a jumps coach?

NM: Be as good as you can at the basics of the events. Do not over-complicate. Enjoy teaching the jumping events and teach the athletes to enjoy jumping themselves.

AW: You enjoyed great success in 2008 coaching both Maurren Higgi Maggi and Irving Salahdino to Olympic gold. Was this your greatest achievement?

NM: Yes, definitely, what a week, unforgettable! But more important than the medals was the journey we had together and the respect we developed for each other. Maurren still does everything she can to help the athletes from our group, so much so that we nicknamed it “Maurren Maggi’s Team”. Irving is back in Panama, but we always chat.

AW: Any other athletes or occasions you are proud of?

NM: There are many, for different reasons. Irving’s final at the World Championships in Osaka in 2007 obviously stands high (where he won a back-and-forth competition with Italy’s Andrew Howe) – however, I am proud of not only each medal
at world level, but also of each final.

We know how difficult it is to advance to the finals at World Championships and Olympic Games.

AW: Who are you coaching at the moment, anyone that we should be looking out for?

NM: Emiliano Lasa, Uruguayan national record-holder with 8.26m and an Olympic finalist, Eliane Martins, the best Brazilian long jumper in the last few years with 6.72m and a world championship finalist. I believe both still have their best seasons ahead of them.

Among other Brazilians, I have great confidence in the triple jumpers Kauam Kamal Bento and Gabriele Sousa Santos and long jumper Lucas Marcelino dos Santos will soon emerge among the best.

I also coach a small group of Chinese athletes with very good possibilities. Among them are long jumper Xinglong Gao and triple jumper Ruiting Wu.

AW: What do you think of the current state of men’s and women’s long and triple jump? Are the world records in danger?

NM: Those records are huge! In 2007-2009 I thought Saladino could break the world record. Then we had a few lacklustre seasons, and then (Luvo) Manyonga appeared. Last year Juan Miguel Echevarria joined as another possible nine-metre jumper, so who knows?

If I had to bet, I would say Mike Powell’s record will remain for a while. The women’s record is far more difficult and I don’t see anybody jumping that far.

In the triple jump I believe we are closer to seeing a new world record-holder, particularly among the men.

AW: Following on, what’s required to break the men’s long jump world record?

NM: That’s a difficult one. World records are for exceptional athletes, extremely well prepared athletes, competing with a high degree of motivation and under exceptional conditions, but this is true for every event and we don’t see world records at the long jump very often!

AW: You are known for your use of assisted plyometrics. Where did you get the idea from and how do you incorporate them into your training? Do you place more importance on plyometrics than weights?

NM: The idea came from the sprinter’s assisted running, even though we now know it works differently. I began using it at the end of the 1990s. I found some Japanese studies talking about it and I wanted to try. The results have been good so far.

The core of my programme is the strength training. Plyometrics develop strength in a very specific way, so I consider it extremely important. However, I also use weights (mostly free weights), whenever possible combining it with plyos.

AW: Please describe a couple of assisted plyo exercises?

NM: The most discussed and studied is the double-leg assisted vertical jump. We use elastic ropes to “reduce” the weight (of the athlete) by around 20% and do sets of reactive vertical jumps.

One obvious progression is to do single-leg vertical jumps, but this is pretty intense and only for very advanced athletes.

AW: What are your key 5-6 exercises for a long jumper?

NM: Running (sprinting) skills are a top priority for long jumpers (and triple jumpers as well). I like running over small hurdles to teach them form and rhythm.

Preparation for the take-off and the take-off itself are probably the two most important phases in the long jump so the other exercises I use the most are related to these phases:
1: combinations of three consecutive take-offs, with one step between them.
2: combinations of three consecutive take-offs, with three steps between them.
3: long jumps with medium approach with a take-off from a 5cm high box.
4: long jumps with a medium approach, step onto the 5cm box at the penultimate support and take off from the board.

AW: If you were coaching a young, developing long jumper, what are the key things you would focus on?

NM: Sprinting mechanics, approach run take-off transition and the take-off itself. Board accuracy is also a big concern early on.

AW: You have written a book Plyometrics Jumping Farther with Plyometric Training: A Practical Guide. How long did this take and can you give us a brief overview of its contents?

NM: From the moment I decided to write the book it took almost two years to get it printed, but the preparation actually began far before that.

I have been collecting material and studying plyometrics since the early 1980s in order to better apply its concepts into training. It is a huge amount of knowledge, both theoretical and practical, and I had to sit and organise it, otherwise I would get lost. Then I thought, if I am organising this information, why not write a book? It is a completely independent publication, but the process was fun.

I tried to reach the coaches, using a language familiar to us and, at the same time, I tried maintain a minimum of scientific rigour.

AW: What type of periodisation model do you use, for example, for training a mature long jumper?

NM: I do not follow a specific periodisation model, but I try to apply a few concepts:
• Skill progression throughout the season.
• Specificity all over the year.
• Short cycles.
• Monitoring (training load and the athlete’s training, health and recovery status).

AW: Do you train male and female athletes differently?

NM: Not really. As I mentioned previously, monitoring is a fundamental aspect of my programme. It is as important as planning (if not more). Good monitoring allows us to adjust individually the training load, regardless of the gender.

AW: What are your plans for the future?

NM: I feel I still have a few Olympic cycles ahead of me working with athletes. This is my focus right now. Maybe in the future I will change a little bit of this focus, to work more closely with the coaches.

Since entering the NHL in 2008, Kyle Okposo has played for six head coaches. Ralph Krueger is his third one in four seasons with the Buffalo Sabres.

What's different about him?

"Uh ... a lot?" Okposo said. "Where do I start?"

Krueger, a 60-year-old Canadian who played professional hockey in Germany, became a head coach in Austria and then with the Swiss national team that upset his home and native land in the 2006 Winter Olympics. After a brief stint in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, he changed genres, left for the U.K. and became chairman of Southampton Football Club in the Premier League. He said that opportunity was less about soccer than it was about leadership, a virtue Krueger extolled during his time with the Geneva-based World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council, which focused on new models of leadership. He had a side gig in 2016 as head coach of Team Europe, a desperate collection of nationally unaffiliated NHL players whom he led to the championship round of the World Cup of Hockey.

Oh, and his 2002 book "Teamlife: Über Niederlagen zum Erfolg" ("over defeats to success") has five stars on Amazon. That, too.

So there's a lot that makes Ralph Krueger different than your typical NHL bench boss. That couldn't be more refreshing for the Sabres.

"It's definitely a different environment," center Jack Eichel told ESPN. "He does a really good job with the guys in the room. Our opinions really matter to him. When you do that and you incorporate everyone into your decision-making, you get a really good response from everyone. So many things, in a short amount of time, to let us know that we're all in this together."

The Krueger Effect has been transformative. The Sabres are one of the league's biggest early season stunners, with an 8-1-1 record out of the gate, unexpected offensive balance and goaltending ranked in the top five in save percentage (.926).

The changes haven't just been tactical -- though anyone who has seen the Sabres play with the puck pressure, quickness and creativity Krueger demands has witnessed those systemic tweaks -- but are also attitudinal. This is Buffalo. These are the Sabres. The expectation of victory has been antithetical to the franchise, which has the longest active playoff drought (eight seasons) and has never won the Stanley Cup since entering the NHL in 1970.

Yet confidence is found here, in abundance.

"It starts with the guys on the bench. Everyone stays positive. There's not a moment where we feel like we're going to lose a game," forward Zemgus Girgensons said. "It's been like that all season. It's great to see."

Krueger knows that "all season" means, at this point, a minuscule fraction of it.

"The picture is so small that I'm not allowing surprise into my brain at the moment, he said. "We need to stay extremely humble with what's going on here and have respect, always, for the league and opposition.

"It's about constant improvement. Anything else would just be a distraction."

Jason Botterill had to get this right.

Since being hired as Sabres general manager in May 2017 and taking over what could be correctly called "a rebuild inside a rebuild," he had hired and fired his first coach in Phil Housley. His team had missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons. Fortune had smiled upon him in the acquisition of winger Jeff Skinner from the Carolina Hurricanes, whose no-move clause helped him orchestrate a trade to Buffalo, where he scored 40 goals last season. Fortune had frowned in the trade that sent center Ryan O'Reilly to the St. Louis Blues, with whom he won the Conn Smythe and hoisted the Stanley Cup while Buffalo sifted through spare parts and draft picks.

When Botterill and his staff sketched out what they wanted in a candidate, NHL head-coaching experience was the first priority -- something Housley didn't have prior to the Buffalo job. Krueger's head-coaching stint with Edmonton lasted only 48 games in a lockout-truncated season, but he was an associate coach with the Oilers in the two years leading up to it. He was also a consultant for the Carolina Hurricanes while serving as head coach of the Swiss national team. The Sabres liked his quick adjustments behind the bench for international teams and heard rave reviews of his communication style from former players.

Botterill inquired about Krueger in 2017 before hiring Housley, but the latter's commitment to Southampton prevented a return to the NHL. This time, it was a different answer.

"With Ralph's résumé, I know he had other opportunities. That's what gets us excited that he wanted to come here," Botterill said. "He's a kid from Manitoba who loves the game of hockey and has a passion about being a teacher."

Okposo says Krueger is the best kind of teacher: one who makes his assignments and his expectations clear.

"He's got a concise, demanding but nonconfrontational way about him. It's something that the team has gravitated toward. He's been able to get everybody on the same page very quickly," Okposo said. "It's just honesty. If he doesn't like something, he's going to say it. And if we don't like something, we're going to say it and talk it out. You know where you stand with him. There's no extra talk. There's no needless meetings. There's no wasted time. Everything that we're doing, there's a purpose to it."

That includes, for example, not doing anything on the ice some mornings.

Krueger is an advocate of fewer morning skates. "I think it's all about energy and understanding the different ways we can gather energy," he said. "Making sure the quality of our execution stays high. What I've found is that if you're practicing with a team that's tired mentally or physically, your execution principles just fall away.

"That's probably one of the things that comes out of my experience with the Premier League. Watching the way they gather or use energy on game days. You don't see any pregame warm-ups or activities there at all. We played at 8 or 8:30 at night. It got me thinking, and in speaking with sports scientists, that pregame skates are often an expenditure of energy you don't really need."

Eichel supports it.

"It helps. With the opportunity not to be on the ice as much, you get more opportunities to recover, spend more time in the weight room," he said. "We've had a lot of man games lost in the last few years to tissue injuries. It's a long season. It wears on you."

So does losing, if you're the Buffalo Sabres.

Housley went 58-84-22 as head coach in Buffalo. There were peaks and valleys but not enough consistency to build confidence. Perhaps it's the clean slate Krueger arrived with or his positive disposition bleeding into the dressing room, but this season feels different.

"Winning helps. It gives you that confidence on the bench, especially in tight games," said Skinner, who committed to the Sabres on an eight-year contract extension last summer.

Is "culture change" too strong a label?

"It's kind of a general word, 'culture.' It's a feeling that you have. The kind of hockey that you play," Skinner said. "I don't really think that you can trademark how you're playing this early in the season. We had stretches that we liked and stretches when we wanted to improve our consistency."

What the Sabres have liked: a power-play that has scored 11 goals in its first 35 opportunities, with six of them coming from rookie winger Victor Olofsson. Krueger said the key is unpredictability.

"It's about finding ways to surprise the opposition," he said. "They're pre-scouting. So you have to be creative in each game and take each game with a creative approach to neutralize some of that. What we have is an extremely skilled group when it comes to puck possession and the opportunities that lie within it. They bought into the principles. We allow them a lot of freedom to create within that."

Olofsson, who led all rookies with six goals through nine games, has spent the majority of the season playing with Eichel. Krueger made the seemingly bold choice to break up the Eichel-Skinner combination that produced 53 goals last season and -- if we're being candid -- helped the latter earn a $72 million contract extension.

"I didn't really have a reaction," Skinner told ESPN. "I've been doing this long enough to know that training camp happens, there are different line combinations that go with it, and then from there, you build off of what's working. The lineup that you start a season with is never going to be the lineup you end with. There's always mixing and matching. When I first got to camp, I had never played with [Marcus] Johansson before. So that was a nice surprise."

Johansson was a shrewd offseason signing for Botterill, adding a veteran with experience playing with high-end talent to his forward group. So far, everything that needs to happen has happened with this group, from the emergence of Olofsson to a resurgent Casey Mittelstadt (six points in nine games) to the fact that 12 Sabres have goals through nine games.

"That's the nice thing about having the depth we do. No matter where you play in the lineup, you're going to play with skill guys," Skinner said.

Two other offseason additions to the blue line -- Henri Jokiharju from the Chicago Blackhawks and Colin Miller from the Vegas Golden Knights -- have solidified the back end in front of goalies Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark, who are under the tutelage of highly regarded goalie coach Mike Bales, last seen transforming the Carolina Hurricanes' journeyman netminders.

For Miller, who has been paired with burgeoning star Rasmus Dahlin, coming to the Sabres after spending two years with a veteran group in Vegas was jarring.

"A little bit of a young room," he said. "There's some stuff that the group hasn't been through, like learning how to manage games to become that team that we want to be."

Miller credits Krueger with helping to mature them.

"You could feel his presence right away," he said. "Very good with breaking things down. As a player, that's what you want: what he wants from you, to have that open conversation."

Honesty is the policy in Buffalo. The players marvel at the open lines of communication between themselves and the coaches and how constructive those conversations have been.

"Guys really appreciate that -- when they're in on what's going on," Eichel said. "Everyone talks about how positive he is. Even when he's critical, he makes guys excited to get better. He brings a lot of good energy to the rink."

Krueger said those conversations started in the summer. "Some face to face and some on telephones," he said. "I felt always, since day one, a willingness to buy in to what we're doing here. To learn how to play the way we have to have a chance every night, so when we enter third periods, there's an opportunity for points. That's always been the case."

The Sabres have collected points like this before. Last season, they won 10 straight games from Nov. 8 through Nov. 27. Then they went winless in five games. In March, they lost 15 out of 16 games. It was 10 steps forward and a tumble backward down a mountain.

That's why Okposo believes you have to look beyond the team's record. He has this season. And he likes what he sees.

"I don't think we were playing very well when we did that," he said. "Watch the games we've played [this season] vs. those 10 games, and there's no comparison. The results are similar, but we're playing complete games now."

As Krueger said, the start of the season is a small picture. When does it get magnified? When does Krueger get a true handle on what the Sabres could accomplish?

"I know what the team is already. I know what our strengths are, and I know what we need to work on," he said. "I think this group is also very honest, so players interact with us coaches in a very honest way and are working together on those deficits and working on those strengths. So the picture is actually full. Within it we see all the challenges that we have to be the team we want to be. We're still a ways off. You never stop growing. You never stop learning in this league.

"The players are all-in. It's a lot of fun, but it's fun with hard work and sacrifice for each other. The spirit's amazing. Nobody cares who's scoring anymore. They're all cheering for each other. There's a general hunger to be a good team. That's what we're building on here."

CHIBA, Japan – Captain Tiger Woods has had plenty on his mind the last few weeks as he prepares for this year’s Presidents Cup, but his job became slightly more complicated last week.

Brooks Koepka re-injured his left knee during the second round of last week’s CJ Cup and he ended up withdrawing from the event. With the Presidents Cup just over a month away, Woods was asked on Wednesday at the Zozo Championship about the world No. 1’s potential status for the matches.

“We’re just waiting to see what the surgeons say and see what his protocols will be going forward. That’s something he’ll keep me abreast of going forward,” Woods said. “He’s getting other opinions about where his knee is and what his options are. I went through the same thing with my knee and my back. You want as many opinions as you can before you decide which road you want to go down.”

Koepka had stem-cell treatment to repair a partially torn patella tendon following the Tour Championship, and Woods said he advised him not to rush any decision.

“There’s no hurry, you are part of the team,” Woods told Koepka. “Now you have to figure out what’s best for your career and your knee. If you decide you can play, great. If you can’t, I totally understand and we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.”

Contacted by GolfChannel.com, Koepka’s manager with Hambric Sports Management had no update on the 29-year-old’s condition.

Woods was also asked about Dustin Johnson, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee during the offseason.

“Dustin’s starting to practice now. He’s not full out yet but he’s done his rehab and he’s progressing,” Woods said. “He’ll be fine.”

TOKYO – The weeks leading up to the 2016 Olympics were anxious times for officials tasked with assuring that the built-to-order golf course was ready for golf’s return to the Games.

In the run-up to next year’s Games in Tokyo there won’t be any of those concerns. “We have had 90 years to prepare,” said Ryoichi Ohno, the captain of Kasumigaseki Country Club which will host ’20 Olympic golf competition.

For an uncomfortable few months the spotlight was squarely fixed on the Rio Olympic course, which was designed by Gil Hanse and built specifically to host the ’16 Games. Construction delays and logistical concerns were the focus heading into Rio which led to many distractions. But on Tuesday, as Ohno gave a guided tour of Kasumigaseki, it was clear officials from Tokyo 2020 have no such concerns.

Kasumigaseki is one of Japan’s oldest and most respected golf clubs and the East Course, which will host the men’s and women’s Olympic competitions, has a championship pedigree. The East – which was renovated by C.H. Alison in 1930, just a year after the layout opened – has hosted the Japan Open twice and the Canada Cup, which is now the World Cup.

In 2016, Tom Fazio completed a second renovation of the East Course that dramatically lengthened the layout to 7,466 yards by converting the two-green layout into a more traditional single-green course.

Many older courses in Japan, like Narashino Country Club, which is the host of this week’s Zozo Championship, feature two greens for each hole to combat the area’s extreme weather. One green normally has warm-weather grasses while the other has turf that can withstand cooler conditions. By transitioning to just one green per hole, Fazio was able to add more than 400 yards to the course.

Although the yardage will vary for the men’s and women’s events, Ohno anticipates the par-4 ninth hole (521 yards from the tournament tee) will be the most difficult hole and the par-5 14^th hole will feature the most challenging green complex.

Players will likely have a final scoring opportunity at the 17^th hole. The uphill par 4 could be set up as a risk/reward option at around 300 yards with a large mound effectively reducing the width of the fairway; while the 500-yard 18^th hole swings dramatically to the right to a green protected by a water hazard and a pair of deep bunkers short and long.

Ohno also explained that because of the extreme heat in late July and early August players should anticipate slightly slower green speeds (about 9-10 on the Stimpmeter) along with thick Zoysia grass rough on the par-71 course.

What players and officials won’t have to concern themselves with next year are the anxieties that defined the pre-tournament moments in 2016. As Ohno explained, Kasumigaseki has been preparing for this for nearly a century.

CHIBA, Japan – Robert Garrigus and Matt Every were each given three-month suspensions this year by the PGA Tour for violating the circuit’s policy for drugs of abuse, which in both cases involved cannabis.

Both players took responsibility for the violation and they also took exception to the Tour’s policy when it comes to cannabis and the legal use of marijuana.

"If you have some sort of pain and CBD or THC may help that, and you feel like it can help you and be prescribed by a doctor, then what are we doing?" said Garrigus, who added that he was using prescribed marijuana to treat knee and back pain.

Similarly, Every said in a statement that he was taking “prescribed cannabis for a mental health condition by my physician.” He also said he understands the World Anti-Doping Agency’s policy toward cannabis, but “I don’t agree with it for many reasons.”

Medical marijuana use is legal in both Arizona and Florida, where Garrigus and Every live, respectively, and the violations have prompted some to question why a legal substance with virtually no performance-enhancing benefit should be on the banned list.

On Wednesday at the Zozo Championship, Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was asked about the policy.

“Ultimately, we don't determine what is a banned substance and what's not, we rely on WADA for doing that,” Monahan said. “We'll continue to stay very close not only to that substance but any potential substance that would come on or come off the list.”

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has said he would be interested in signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic but the final decision lies with the player.

Ibrahimovic will become a free agent in January when his contract at LA Galaxy expires and recently talked up the possibility of returning to Serie A -- where he won titles at Juventus, Inter and AC Milan -- with Napoli.

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Asked about the Swede's comments, Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti said he would be interested in talking to Ibrahimovic and De Laurentiis has also welcomed the idea.

"He is a friend," De Laurentiis told TV Luna regarding Ibrahimovic ahead of the Champions League clash with FC Salzburg.

"I met him, not as a footballer, but as a normal person in Los Angeles because we shared the same hotel. I invited him to dinner with his wife and children and we had a great night.

"On the pitch, he seems like one type of person, but really he is completely different. My desire would be to see in our jersey. It's more than just a suggestion, but it's up to him. It has been spoken about for a few months."

Ibrahimovic enjoyed incredible success during his spells in Italy from 2004-09 and 2010-12. In seven seasons, he won six Serie A titles.

The 38-year-old is preparing for the Western Conference semifinals against LAFC on Thursday as LA Galaxy look to win the MLS Cup for the first time since 2014.

Namibia 111 for 4 (Davin 37, Baard 27) beat Bermuda 106 for 9 (Bascome 37, Scholtz 3-17) by six wickets

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus justified his decision to send Bermuda in after six of their top seven fell for single digits. This eventually helped set up a six-wicket win at ICC Academy Oval 2 on Wednesday.

Jan Frylinck struck off the second ball as Kamau Leverock holed out to mid-off. Bermuda's other big fish Delray Rawlins was reeled in before the Powerplay, top-edging a slog off Christi Viljoen to wicketkeeper Zane Green. When Terryn Fray was out playing a loose drive to mid-off, Bermuda were rocked at 23 for 3 inside six overs.

Left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz then capitalized on the early work done by the medium pacers to rip apart the middle order. He struck with his very first ball, as Janeiro Tucker was deceived in flight to be stumped. Three balls later, he had Deunte Darrell trapped in front for 2 before inducing a drive by Malachi Jones to long-off, rounding off his haul at 48 for 7.

Stand-in captain Rodney Trott was out to leave them 50 for 7. But Okera Bascome, dropped down to No. 8 from his usual opener's role, shepherded the tail as Bermuda rallied to score 56 for the final two wickets.

Bascome seized on the short ball to pull Viljoen for four and six before he was finally bowled with a full delivery for 37 in the 16th. Derrick Brangman added an unbeaten 23 off 21 balls to stretch the innings to the full 20 overs.

In reply, Niko Davin made light work of the chase. He started by driving Jones for a straight six in the opening over. Then he drove two more over long-off, and another over midwicket off Derrick Brangman's left-arm spin in the second to bolt to 33 off 9 balls. He finally fell in the third, top-edging a slock off Leverock to cover.

Leverock stood n Namibia's march to the target. Two balls after claiming Davin, he snared JP Kotze for a golden duck with a short ball feathered down the leg side. In his third over, he claimed Craig Williams at backward point to a fine catch from Fray to make it 65 for 3 after seven overs. But he didn't get much support from the other end.

Bermuda are still mathematically alive for the playoff stage, but need to beat both Scotland and Netherlands in their remaining matches and have other results go their way. Namibia face Kenya and Singapore in their remaining two matches and wins in both would virtually guarantee their place in the playoff stage.