MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Phil Mickelson tried a different putting style Thursday at the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational – the only question is whether it was a one-day experiment.

After a 1-under 69 at TPC Southwind, Mickelson spent more than an hour on the practice putting green, trying to get a feel for his new armlock putting method.

“Trying it, we’ll see,” Mickelson said between putts. “Just thought I’d try it.”

Mickelson said he picked up the putter over the weekend and tinkered with it over the past few days here in Memphis. “It felt OK,” he said, “so I thought I’d try it.”

The results were mixed.

He needed 29 putts in the opening round and lost more than a stroke to the field on the greens (-1.308). When asked what he thought about the method, he said he didn’t really know – that it was still too new for him to understand what he liked or didn’t like.

“I’m not sold on it,” he said.

Rock-solid on the greens at the PGA Championship, Mickelson has largely struggled with his putting over the past few years. He ranks 137^th on Tour in strokes gained: putting; it’s his third season in a row outside the top 120.

Though the armlock putting style has gained popularity over the past few years – it’s the method used by Bryson DeChambeau and Will Zalatoris, among many others – Xander Schauffele used it at the U.S. Open and struggled mightily on the greens. He reverted back to his usual method a tournament later, and last week he won gold at the Olympics.

Whether Mickelson use the armlock the rest of the week remains to be seen. He was putting in the work late Thursday afternoon, at least. But he also added this with a smile: “My old (putter) is headed here now.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Pre-tournament favorite Brooks Koepka dropped out of the pro-am and canceled his news conference Wednesday at TPC Southwind, leading to some speculation about his health.

Koepka said Thursday that it was simply a maintenance day, to make sure that his body was good to go for the season’s finishing kick.

“Just making sure my body is 100%; just making sure everything is in good order,” he said at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, before adding: “Yeah, yeah, I feel good. It feels fine.”

Koepka has battled a multitude of injuries over the past few years, including a dislocated kneecap in March that required surgery and caused him to miss the run-up to the Masters. Since then, his success has been hit or miss: four top-6 finishes, but also three missed cuts.

With his trainer and physiotherapist walking outside the ropes Thursday, Koepka mixed four birdies with four bogeys in what was his first action since The Open. His even-par 70 left him outside the top 40 when he finished his round, eight shots behind early leader Harris English.

Koepka hasn’t been shy in admitting that his focus is largely on the majors and that he struggles to “get up” for regular tournaments. When asked how he’ll motivate himself for the season’s final month, outside of the potential $15 million FedExCup payday, he said: “I don’t know, I’ve always struggled with that. I don’t know the answer to that. I haven’t really played my best. I don’t know, we’ll find out. Hopefully we’ll figure it out.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – It was an unlikely time for Bryson DeChambeau to hang an early low number.

In his first start since testing positive for COVID-19, DeChambeau shot a 5-under 65 Thursday that marked his best opening-round score on the PGA Tour in the past 10 months.

Why the surprise?

Because DeChambeau himself said a day earlier that he was lowering expectations this week, since he’d lost roughly 10 pounds and about 5 mph swing speed with his driver after his COVID diagnosis two weeks ago. That positive test result knocked him out of the Olympics.

“Back out here and excited to play,” said DeChambeau in a brief post-round interview with PGA Tour Live. “Looking forward to the rest of the weekend. I feel like I can be there to win on Sunday.”

He declined to speak to the assembled press at TPC Southwind.

It’s been a turbulent summer for DeChambeau, who has just one top-10 finish since March and has generated more headlines because of his comments than his clubs. The first-round 65 is just the second time in his past seven starts that he’s opened with a round in the 60s. 

Juventus issued an apology after deleting a tweet showing a picture of one of their players making a racist gesture on Thursday.

The official Juventus Women's account posted an image of Cecilia Salvai making an offensive slant-eye gesture with a cone on her head on what appears to be a training field.

Juve soon deleted the tweet after a raft of negative feedback.

"We sincerely apologise that our tweet, which was not meant to cause controversy or have any racial undertones, may have offended anyone," a follow-up post read on the Women's team's account.

"Juventus has always been against racism and discrimination. #DifferencesMakeTheDifference."

Juventus women are the reigning Serie A champions, having won the previous four titles.

Manchester City have announced the signing of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa, breaking the British transfer record in a £100 million deal, the club announced on Thursday.

Grealish leaves his boyhood club Villa having made 213 appearances and scored 32 goals since making his senior debut in 2014.

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"I've been at Aston Villa for 19 years and I've been a fan my whole life," Grealish wrote in a statement. "I've come through the ranks and captained the club back to the top tier of English football.

"It's impossible to put my feelings into words, but I'll try. When I first came to Villa I had my own personal dreams and ambitions like getting into the first team, scoring my first goal and scoring the winner in a derby. It wasn't until we got relegated that I felt a greater sense of purpose.

"Every time I put on the Villa shirt, I played with my heart on my sleeve. Being given the armband was both a privilege and an honour for me and my family and I've loved every minute of it.

"I want to thank the manager and my teammates, I'll never forget everything we achieved together... and to the fans who supported me through everything, I can't thank you enough.

"To all my coaches and all the people who work at the club behind the scenes who have done so much for me over the years -- thank you.

"I'll always be a Villa fan -- I love this club with all my heart and I hope you understand my reasons for seeking a new challenge. The club are in great hands, the manager, the lads, the news signings coming in -- it's an exciting time to be a Villa fan. I'll see you all again soon. Until next time."

It will be the second time City have held the British transfer record, joining the arrival of Robinho from Real Madrid in 2008.

Speaking to City TV, Grealish added: "There's obviously a lot of reasons why I decided to come here, obviously the manager has been a massive factor in that. Playing under the best manager in the world was something I couldn't really turn down.

"Competing for major trophies is something that I wanted to do, and it was something that, in the end, I couldn't turn down."

Manchester United have held the British transfer record seven times in the Premier League, and it has also been held twice by Chelsea.

HE'S HERE!

We are delighted to announce the signing of @JackGrealish on a six-year deal.

Welcome to City, Jack! ?

? #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/5Y3gMREmKL

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 5, 2021

Sources have told ESPN that Villa offered Grealish, their captain, a vastly improved deal to stay at Villa Park but that the 25-year-old has chosen to join City because of the lure of top trophies and regular Champions League football.

City first proposed a deal including £90m in transfer fees and winger Morgan Rogers -- who is valued at £10m -- but a straight cash offer of £100m has triggered a release clause in Grealish's contract.

After making Grealish their first signing of the summer, City remain keen to sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane.

Kane wants to move to the Etihad, but Spurs are privately adamant he is not for sale. Sources have told ESPN that City believe they can finance deals for Grealish and Kane this summer through player sales.

City have raised £109m through sales since the start of the pandemic and could raise another £50m this summer, even without a first-team player leaving.

Villa have been active in the transfer market this window, signing winger Leon Bailly from Bayer Leverkusen. winger Emiliano Buendia from Norwich and striker Danny Ings from Southampton.

Despite a 20% revenue drop in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the average value of the 32 NFL franchises is up 14% to $3.48 billion, according to Forbes.

It is the biggest gain in five years, according to the magazine.

For the 15th straight year, the Dallas Cowboys are valued as the most expensive franchise at $6.5 billion, an $800 million increase over their value in 2020.

The New England Patriots are No. 2 at $5 billion. The New York Giants ($4.85 billion), Los Angeles Rams ($4.8 billion) and Washington Football Team ($4.2 billion) round out the top five. The NFC East has all four teams inside the top 10 with the Philadelphia Eagles checking in at No. 9 at $3.8 billion.

The biggest reason for the increase is the media rights deal the NFL signed with its broadcast partners in March that is worth $112.6 billion. According to Forbes, that was an 82% average annual increase and the payouts will increase from $220 million in 2021 to $377 million in 2032.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the biggest one-year increase in value at 29%, according to Forbes. Thank the arrival of Tom Brady and a Super Bowl win for pumping the value of the franchise to $2.94 billion, which is 21st among NFL teams. In 2020, the Bucs ranked No. 29 at $2.28 billion.

Brady used the the news that franchise values increased to point out on Instagram Thursday that the NFL's salary cap decreased when the new league year began on March 17 and that the league announced its new media deals the next day.

"The salary cap was dropped by 20% ... and the new media deals were announced the day AFTER 2021 salary cap was set...," he wrote on his Instagram Story. "NFL players better wake up @nflpa . NFL players are INGORANT."

The NFL salary cap, which was set at $182.5 million per team for 2021, actually marked an 8% decrease from the previous season, however. Also, the money from the NFL's media deals have no effect on the 2021 salary cap and would only affect revenues in future seasons.

The Buffalo Bills have the lowest value at $2.27 billion.

In his first news conference since Texas officially announced it is moving to the SEC, new Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said on Thursday that he knows the Longhorns will be a target for opposing fans.

"I didn't take this job blind," Sarkisian said. "We're everybody's biggest game. I think coming out of [the SEC move] and the talk of what's happened, our bull's-eye got a little bit bigger. We can't be naive to that. Whether it's crowd noise, whether it's yelling at us on the bench, whether it's the 'Horns Down' signal, all those things are really irrelevant to our ability to execute and succeed at a really high level."

Sarkisian said he understands he has to navigate the excitement of his own fans and even discussion of the SEC in conversations with recruits. With public comments by Texas and SEC administrators that the move won't happen until 2025, he said he has to balance between looking toward the future and keeping the team focused on the season at hand.

"We've got a lot of unfinished business here in the Big 12 that we want to make sure we take care of," Sarkisian said. "This year is really the start of it. That's really where our focus is. I don't know what the timetable on this other thing is looking like. What I do know is, we're playing Louisiana on Sept. 4 and we've got a Big 12 schedule that's very challenging."

With fall camp starting Saturday, Sarkisian addressed reporters on the state of his team. He said that the spring practices weren't enough to decide on a starting quarterback in the race between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card but that he feels both are capable and that he'll need both QBs during the season.

"I'm really trying to find the complete player," he said. "It's our job to develop the complete player, but also who feels comfortable playing that style of play is something that I'm going to be looking for."

This will be Sarkisian's third go-round as a head coach, with a 46-35 record at Washington and USC. He said the past four seasons as offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons and Alabama, playing in NFL playoff games and for college national championships, have helped him find a comfort level.

"I'm in a much different space, quite frankly, as far as being a little bit more at peace, a little bit more consistent in my approach," Sarkisian said. "I've been able to kind of recalibrate and adjust myself over that time since I was a coach before to where I am now, and there's a lot more calm, there's a lot more peace, more clarity. I just feel really comfortable in the arena now, and am very confident in our approach to what we do."

Sarkisian said that the Longhorns are 90% vaccinated and that they're focused on remaining vigilant with 40,000 students returning to campus soon.

"Hopefully, we can keep getting ourselves closer to 100%, because inevitably, we're all just trying to protect one another," he said.

He said that in terms of health, only running back Gabriel Watson and linebacker Ben Davis, a transfer from Alabama, are being held back to monitor their progress recovering from injuries. Otherwise, he said, the team is at full strength.

But with camp starting, Sarkisian is excited to prepare for the run-up to that first game against Louisiana, which beat Iowa State in Ames last year to open the season. With Oklahoma coming off its sixth straight Big 12 title, and the Sooners picked again to win the conference in the media poll -- with the Longhorns third behind the Sooners and the Cyclones -- Sarkisian believes the Longhorns can contend right away.

"I think we're plenty talented to compete for a championship," he said. "What I need to recognize is, are we playing at a level to compete for a championship? There's a lot that goes into that, but I do believe we have the talent, the depth to do it."

EAGAN, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins vowed to follow the NFL's COVID-19 protocols to avoid contracting the virus or being deemed a close contact ahead of returning to practice Thursday after being activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Cousins and quarterback Nate Stanley were subjected to the league's COVID-19 protocols as of Saturday after rookie Kellen Mond tested positive for the virus. Cousins and Stanley were deemed high-risk close contacts and had to isolate for five days before being eligible to return to practice.

According to NFL-NFL Players Association protocols, a high-risk close contact designates that a player is also unvaccinated.

Cousins, 32, said he has had six negative tests since he was last with Mond on July 30 and did not exhibit any symptoms of COVID-19. The veteran quarterback said the size of Minnesota's quarterback meeting room inside TCO Performance Center was the root of the issue.

"I've come to learn since I've been at home that the tracers we wear actually showed I was not a 'close contact' as I understand being a close contact, which is being within a certain number of feet," Cousins said. "The challenge was, the meeting room we met in was deemed to be too small for us to have been in a room together -- even if we were significantly apart from each other. So we've since moved to a different meeting room, and as I understand it, had we met in a larger room, I would not have missed practice. Because I was not a close contact as deemed by actually being in contact. So it was disappointing to miss practice. In my entire college and pro career, I have not missed four practices. So to miss four practices in one week and not have COVID was frustrating, disappointing."

A league source confirmed to ESPN that the size of Minnesota's quarterback room did factor into Cousins being deemed a close contact. The quarterback said his position group is moving to a larger meeting room to avoid this issue in the future.

"As I said to Coach [Mike] Zimmer last night, I said, 'We can meet in the indoor, we can meet outside,'" Cousins said. "And I said, 'If it means meeting outside under a goalpost in January, if that's what it takes to get to the playoffs and be in playoff games and win playoff games, then that's where we're going to meet.' We're going to avoid this close-contact thing with everything we possibly can do. I was not aware of the meeting room size being an issue. Otherwise, I would have spoken up and said, 'We obviously can't meet here.'"

Cousins called his vaccination decision "a very private health matter" and would not disclose whether the situation he found himself in this week would persuade him to receive the vaccine to prevent this issue from popping up during the season. The quarterback repeatedly referred to the need for following the NFL-NFLPA's protocols as the best measure of protection against contracting the virus or being deemed a close contact.

"I do believe that as a leader of the team, it's very important to follow the protocols to avoid this close contact -- because that is what it's going to come down to," Cousins said. "Did you have a close contact? So I'm going to be vigilant about avoiding a close contact. I've even thought about, should I just set up literally Plexiglas around where I sit, so this could never happen again? I've thought about it, because I'm going to do whatever it takes. We're going to avoid this close-contact thing, and I look forward to making sure I'm playing for every game this year."

Cousins said he and Zimmer had a "tremendous conversation" Wednesday ahead of his return to practice. Zimmer, who has been outspoken over his frustrations with his players who are not vaccinated, told KFAN-100.3 FM that he had spoken with Cousins previously about the league's protocols, which Zimmer said the quarterback "doesn't believe in."

Cousins attempted to set the record straight Thursday: "I very much believe in the protocols."

The quarterback said he will be "very vigilant" with the COVID-19 protocols to assure he isn't in the same position down the line and forced to miss a game as result.

"The protocols are what you have to follow," Cousins said. "The NFL has set these protocols in place. I want to follow the protocols so I can play on Sunday, and that's where my focus is. As long as I can not test positive and not have a close contact, I'll be there for every game."

The Washington Post reported that the Vikings have the league's lowest vaccination rate at 64.5% of players fully vaccinated. Cousins said he was not aware of his team's current percentages and did not directly comment on whether he believes the Vikings are at a competitive disadvantage.

"I think it's a fluid situation," he said. "I think it's changing daily."