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Golf is where we have to start in this weekend round-up. Augusta National plays host to one of the biggest sporting events of the entire year, and this year’s Masters will go down in the history books.
McIlroy’s Masters Magic: A Career Grand Slam at Last
Coming into the tournament, as has been the case for over a decade, all eyes were on Rory McIlroy. Heading into the tournament, the Northern Irishman had been chasing a career grand slam for 11 years. From then until this weekend, almost every press conference with the world number two has centred around claiming the iconic green jacket. From today, those conversations stop.
Final Day Drama: Rose Rises, But Rory Reigns
The four-day nature of golfing majors makes a short synopsis on all of the action practically impossible. Focusing on the drama of the final day, there were two clear favourites. Rory McIlroy led the field by two strokes on 12-under, followed by LIV Golf rival and big hitter Bryson DeChambeau on 10-under.
It was a nightmare start for McIlroy, who opened with a double bogey, instantly wiping away his overnight lead. DeChambeau then carded a birdie to take the outright lead. Were demons from McIlroy’s recent struggles to get over the line in majors returning? The Northern Irishman wasn’t going to let that happen and recovered well to card birdies on holes three and four. As McIlroy bounced back, DeChambeau was looking towards the start of a downfall that would eventually take him out of contention.
Further birdies for McIlroy on holes nine and ten gave the European superstar a four-shot lead heading down the back nine. By now, Bryson DeChambeau had drifted away, finding water when he needed magic. This opened the door for Justin Rose.
The Englishman had led after round one and would have been well in the hunt at the start of play had he not had a poor 3rd round. However, the veteran holed putt after putt, climbing the leaderboard to second. He positioned himself to be in contention if McIlroy stuttered, and that is what happened.
Over four holes, McIlroy dropped four shots, including a double bogey at the scorable par-five 13th. The Northern Irishman, protecting his healthy lead, chose to lay up and not go for the reachable par-five in two. His third shot was one of the worst in McIlroy’s career—an easy pitch shot found the creek—and Rose was in contention. Rose then led after McIlroy dropped another on the 14th. Momentum was swinging either way: birdies on the 15th after a beautiful approach and another on the 17th gave McIlroy the lead once again.
Heading down the last, a par was enough for McIlroy to finally claim the iconic green jacket and the Masters trophy. But the nerves returned for McIlroy, who pushed his approach on the 18th into the bunker, and he failed to get up and down, forcing a play-off. Rose, who had finished his regulation holes around an hour earlier, was staying warm on the driving range as both players headed back down to the 18th tee box. Both players found the fairway and the green, with McIlroy producing a sublime approach shot to leave just three feet. Rose missed his birdie putt, and with all of his major near misses in the periphery, McIlroy sunk the short putt and dropped to his knees in relief more than celebration.
As the new Masters champion emotionally got to his feet, history was made. McIlroy became only the sixth man to win all four of golf’s premier competitions. It was 11 years in the waiting, but the victory cements McIlroy’s legacy as the greatest player of his generation, who is still able to lead the world in his 30s. For Justin Rose, it was heartbreak again after losing his second Masters play-off, following defeat to Sergio Garcia in 2017.
But it was McIlroy’s day—good fortune in moments and nerves of steel to overcome adversity, cementing him in the pantheon of golfing greatness.
Top 5 leaderboard from the 2025 Masters:
- Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) – 11-under-par
- Justin Rose (England) – 11-under-par
- Patrick Reed (USA) – 9-under-par
- Scottie Scheffler (USA) – 8-under-par
- Bryson DeChambeau (USA) – 7-under-par
Heading to Formula One next, and the Bahrain Grand Prix produced another sublime piece of Sunday entertainment.
Qualifying on Saturday threw up some surprises, with Championship leaders Lando Norris and Max Verstappen languishing down in 6th and 7th. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri was able to take advantage of his McLaren’s superiority around the Bahrain International Circuit.
When the race rolled around on Sunday, championship leader Lando Norris was aiming for damage limitation, while Piastri was expected to run away with the contest out front. But Norris was able to make a flying start, making his way up to third through the opening corners of lap one. However, his overeagerness was evident as his Papaya vehicle was too far forward on the start, and he was hit with a 5-second time penalty.
Piastri was able to build a gap at the front to George Russell, who had held on to second from Norris despite a slower car. The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had started on medium tyres, an offset to all of the other leading teams. Both drivers had led for a spell before being called in for a change of tyre, wiping away the advantage they had accrued by staying out for longer. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was not happy with his Red Bull car, languishing down in seventh for a lot of the race, without the pace to overtake a relatively slow Haas car driven by Esteban Ocon.
A simple two-stop strategy was on the cards, before a safety car was called for a surprisingly small amount of debris on the track. Those who hadn’t made their second stop headed into the pits for a cheaper stop, with the time lost lower as cars shuffled around the track at reduced speeds. On the restart, it was business as usual for Piastri, who continued to extend his advantage. Norris found his way into third and pressured George Russell, who was facing electronic issues. Norris himself was at risk of a time penalty for exceeding track limits, receiving a final warning with a couple of laps to go. Russell drove masterfully to fend off his fellow Brit. But the plaudits go to Piastri, who dominated from start to finish, converting his pole position into a relatively easy win.
2025 Bahrain Grand Prix – Top 10 Finishers
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 1:35:39.435 – 25 points
- George Russell (Mercedes) – +15.499s – 18 points
- Lando Norris (McLaren) – +16.273s – 15 points
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – +19.679s – 12 points
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – +27.993s – 10 points
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – +34.395s – 8 points
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – +36.002s – 6 points
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – +44.244s – 4 points
- Yuki Tsunoda (RB) – +45.061s – 2 points
- Oliver Bearman (Haas) – +47.594s – 1 point
2025 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship – Top 10 Standings
- Lando Norris (McLaren) – 77 points
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 74 points
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 69 points
- George Russell (Mercedes) – 63 points
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 32 points
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 29 points
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 22 points
- Alex Albon (Williams) – 16 points
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 10 points
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 10 points
We next head to Europe for another round of Football fixtures. Starting in the Premier League, and league leaders Liverpool took another step towards what looks like an inevitable title. The Merseyside club overcame late adversity to beat West Ham 2-1, thanks to an 89th-minute winner from Virgil van Dijk. This win was made even more significant after Arsenal dropped points at home to Brentford, drawing 1-1 following their heroics at the same stadium in a 3-0 win over Real Madrid midweek.
The race for Champions League football is also hotting up, with the added bonus of 5th place now securing Europe’s premier competition following the English teams’ success this year on the continent. High-flying Nottingham Forest were shocked by a 94th-minute winner, against a resurgent Everton side under David Moyes. Chelsea also lost points to an Ipswich side staring at relegation, though the Blues did come back from two down to claim a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City also came from two down to thrash Crystal Palace 5-2, with Kevin De Bruyne pulling the strings in what we now know will be his final season with the Citizens. But Manchester’s other team suffered another embarrassing defeat, being dominated by Newcastle United. Harvey Barnes scored a brace as the Magpies ran out 4-1 winners. Another stuttering powerhouse, Tottenham Hotspur, lost again—a 4-2 defeat away to Wolverhampton Wanderers leaves the Lilywhites in 15th, and pressure continues to mount on Ange Postecoglou.
In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen were unable to make any ground on Bayern Munich, even though the league leaders drew 2-2 with Borussia Dortmund. Leverkusen were unable to find the back of the net, playing out a scoreless draw against Union Berlin.
In Spain, Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga remains at four points, after both sides came through their away fixtures with 1-0 wins. Arguably the biggest moment from either game was a horror tackle from Madrid’s star player Kylian Mbappé. The French striker was shown a straight red card for the challenge, after a VAR review.
We now move to the Cricketing world, and the IPL continues to show why it is the top global T20 franchise competition. With double-headers on both Saturday and Sunday, fans were treated to four enthralling contests.
Starting off on Saturday, Lucknow Super Giants secured a six-wicket win over Gujarat Titans, chasing down 180 with only three balls to spare. One of the standout performers from IPL 2025, Nicholas Pooran hit an unbeaten 75 off 38 balls, proving pivotal in the successful run chase.
The show-stopping action continued later in the days, as Sunrisers Hyderabad achieved the second-highest successful chase in IPL history. They reached a mammoth 247/2 in 18.3 overs to surpass Punjab Kings’ formidable total of 245 runs. Abhishek Sharma led the charge with a blistering 141 off only 55 balls, including 10 sixes and 14 fours. This also marked the highest individual score by an Indian in IPL history. His 171-run opening partnership with Travis Head, who scored 66 in 37 balls, laid the foundation for this remarkable victory.
Then on Sunday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru climbed to third place in the table with a commanding nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals. Chasing 174, RCB reached the target in just 17.3 overs, propelled by a dominant opening partnership between Phil Salt and VIrat Kohli, before Devdutt Padikkal helped bring the side home
Ending the weekend was one of the most exciting contests of this IPL so far. Mumbai Indians ended Delhi Capitals’ unbeaten streak with a nail-biting 12-run victory. Batting first, Mumbai posted 205/5, thanks to contributions from Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Naman Dhir. In response, Delhi’s Karun Nair scored a valiant 89, but the innings unraveled with a dramatic hat-trick of consecutive run-outs in the final over. Delhi where dismissed for 193, having spent much of their innings in complete control.
We finish with Athletics, as Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna rewrote the history books over the weekend, becoming the first male athlete to throw beyond 75 metres in the discus. Competing in Oklahoma, the 22-year-old shattered his own world record, twice in one competition. Alekna opened with a throw of 74.89 metres before launching a monumental 75.56-metre effort in the fourth round to set a new global benchmark.
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