Yahoo Sports AM: Chasing the GOAT
In today's edition: Why Patrick Mahomes reminds us of Tiger Woods, the 2026 World Cup schedule, Auston Matthews chases 70 goals, top plays and more.
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🚨 Headlines
⛳️ 54-hole winner: The PGA Tour canceled the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am due to inclement weather, handing the win (and $3.6 million) to Wyndham Clark, who shot a course-record 60 on Saturday.
🏀 Embiid update: Reigning MVP Joel Embiid will undergo surgery to repair the lateral meniscus in his left knee. It's unclear when (or if) he will return this season.
🏈 Pro Bowl Games: Eli Manning's NFC squad got the best of Peyton Manning's AFC squad for the second straight season, winning the multi-day Pro Bowl Games by the final score of 64-59.
🏒 Back in the Olympics: NHL players will be allowed to participate in the Winter Olympics in 2026 and 2030 after missing the previous two events in 2018 and 2022.
🏈 Mahomes arrest: Patrick Mahomes' father Pat Mahomes Sr. was arrested Saturday in Tyler, Texas, on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
🏀 60 in a loss (again!): Steph Curry scored 60 points on Saturday in a 141-134 (OT) loss to the Hawks. It's the third time in the last two weeks that an NBA player has scored 60 and lost.
👟 What a debut: Fiona O'Keeffe is headed to Paris after winning the U.S. Olympic trials marathon in record time (2:22:10). Did I mention this was the first marathon she'd ever run?
🏈⛳️ Why Mahomes' GOAT chase reminds us of Tiger
Tom Brady won three Super Bowls in his first six years as a starter. Patrick Mahomes can match him this weekend, fueling the debate around whether he'll ultimately surpass him as the NFL's GOAT.
Sound familiar? Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson sees parallels between Mahomes' chase of Brady and Tiger Woods' chase of Jack Nicklaus.
Two men, hotter than the surface of the sun as they began their professional careers, both chasing icons who established a seemingly unimaginable standard for success. That's what Nicklaus did when he won his 18th and final major in 1986, putting him seven victories ahead of his next nearest competitor.
Until Tiger came along, Nicklaus' dominance was an unapproachable dream. Very much like Brady, whose seven Super Bowl wins in 10 appearances remains a staggering accomplishment.
By the numbers: Tiger Woods won eight majors in his first ~six years as a professional (1996-2002), one more than Nicklaus won in his first six (1961-67). Mahomes has had a similarly hot start, keeping pace with — and, in some cases, surpassing — Brady's early success.
First six seasons as a starter:
Mahomes: 72-22 in the regular season, 14-3 in the playoffs, 4 AFC titles, 2 Super Bowls (and potentially a third soon), 258 TD, 69 INT, 103.7 QB Rating
Brady: 70-24 in the regular season, 12-2 in the playoffs, 3 AFC titles, 3 Super Bowls, 167 TD, 87 INT, 88.4 QB Rating
Looking ahead: 28 years and a multitude of injuries later, Woods (15 majors) still trails Nicklaus (18 majors) — a reminder of the importance of longevity when chasing records that aren't meant to be broken. Mahomes faces a similar challenge: He may be keeping pace with Brady now, but he'll need to continue to do so for a long, long time to ultimately supplant him as the GOAT.
Here's Charles:
Consider that Brady's regular-season passing yardage mark of 89,214 would require Mahomes to continue his current average of nearly 4,700 passing yards per season (as a full-time starter) for the next 13 years. Brady's 649 regular-season touchdown passes? If Mahomes continues his current average of 36.5 per season (as a starter), that'll take nearly 12 years.
Most of Brady's league-leading statistics are like this. Even the most prolific QBs basically need to continuously win a war of attrition for two straight decades to have any shot at unseating him.
⚽️ The 2026 World Cup schedule
The 2026 World Cup schedule arrived Sunday night, with FIFA revealing key details, locations and dates for the 48-team event co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
What we know: The tournament will open June 11 in Mexico City and conclude July 19 in New Jersey. 78 of the 104 games will be held in the U.S., with 13 apiece in Canada and Mexico.
Quarterfinals: SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles), Gillette Stadium (Boston), Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami)
Semifinals: AT&T Stadium (Dallas), Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
Final: MetLife Stadium (New Jersey)
The buzz: MetLife Stadium landing the World Cup Final came as somewhat of a surprise following reports that "Jerry World" was the favorite. My guess is it ultimately came down to time zones: New Jersey is much better than Dallas for European broadcasts.
What else we know:
27 straight days: After the 17-day group stage, the Round of 32 will begin immediately, and the Round of 16 will begin immediately after that, with no days off. That's 27 straight days of World Cup soccer, which is unprecedented.
USMNT games: The Americans will play June 12 at SoFi Stadium, June 19 at Lumen Field (Seattle) and June 25 at SoFi again.
July 4th in Philly: Philadelphia will host a Round of 16 match on July 4th, which is the 250th anniversary of 1776. (Do you hear that? It's the scriptwriters doing everything they can to make sure this game is USA-England.)
How to get tickets? You can't yet. You can "register interest" here, but FIFA has not released any information about how or when tickets will be sold.
Further reading: Yahoo Sports' Henry Bushnell has a full breakdown
🏒 Auston Matthews: Chasing 70
There have been only fourteen 70-goal seasons in NHL history, and they all came in a two-decade span between 1971-93, Jeff writes.
31 years later: Could Auston Matthews be authoring the 15th such season?
The Maple Leafs superstar has an NHL-best 40 goals through 46 games, putting him on pace for exactly 70.
Fresh off winning All-Star Game MVP on Saturday, Matthews needs 30 goals in 35 remaining games to make history.
70-goal club: If Matthews pulls this off, he'll become the ninth member of an elite group.
Wayne Gretzky (4x): 92 goals (1981-82); 87 (1983-84); 73 (1984-85); 71 (1982-83)
Brett Hull (3x): 86 (1990-91); 72 (1989-90); 70 (1991-92)
Mario Lemieux (2x): 85 (1988-89); 70 (1987-88)
Phil Esposito: 76 (1970-71)
Alexander Mogilny: 76 (1992-93)
Teemu Selänne: 76 (1992-93)
Jari Kurri: 71 (1984-85)
Bernie Nicholls: 70 (1988-89)
What to watch: The Maple Leafs host the Islanders tonight as the NHL returns from the All-Star break.
🇺🇸 Photos across America
Las Vegas — The Chiefs and 49ers landed in Sin City on Sunday. Awaiting their arrival at Harry Reid International Airport: Elvis Presley impersonators, naturally.
Chapel Hill, N.C. — Armando Bacot (25-10-5) and Harrison Ingram (21-13) led No. 3 UNC past No. 7 Duke, 93-84, on Saturday to snap a two-game losing streak in the rivalry. They'll meet again in Durham on March 9.
Palo Alto, California — Freshman phenom JuJu Watkins erupted for a school-record 51 points (14-26 FG, 6-11 3PT, 17-19 FT) in No. 15 USC's 67-58 win over No. 4 Stanford. Yes, you read that right: Watkins scored 51 of her team's 67 points.
New York — The Lakers snapped the Knicks' nine-game win streak on Saturday with a 113-105 victory, as LeBron James (24-5-5) improved to 23-9 at Madison Square Garden.
🌎 Photos around the world
Toronto — Connor McDavid won the new-look All-Star skills competition that he helped design after calling previous iterations "gimmicky." His reward: $1 million.
London — Arsenal beat Liverpool, 3-1, on Sunday to close the gap atop the Premier League. The Gunners are now in second, just two points behind the Reds.
Baqueira Beret, Spain — What a photo.
Doha, Qatar — Hungary's Kristóf Rasovszky passes a cruise ship during the Men's Open Water 10km at the World Aquatics Championship. He went on to win the race.
📆 Feb. 5, 2017: 28-3
Seven years ago today, the Patriots mounted the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history when they erased a 28-3 third-quarter deficit to beat the Falcons, 34-28, in overtime* of Super Bowl LI, Jeff writes.
The stars: Tom Brady (466 yards, 2 TD, INT) was named MVP, but the Pats never would have won if not for Julian Edelman's incredible catch or James White's all-around heroics, scoring three TDs — including the game-tying and walk-off score — and catching a Super Bowl-record 14 passes.
🏀 1960: Bill Russell grabbed 51 rebounds in a win over the Syracuse Nationals for the NBA's first-ever 50-rebound game. Only Wilt Chamberlain (55 rebounds) has since joined him.
🏀 1972: Bob Douglas, the founder, owner and coach of the pre-NBA New York Renaissance, became the first Black man inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
*Free football: This was the first and still the only Super Bowl to go to overtime.
📺 Watchlist: The Beanpot
The Beanpot begins tonight at Boston's TD Garden, marking the 71st annual edition of the tournament* among Boston's four major college hockey teams, Jeff writes.
Harvard vs. Northeastern (5pm ET, ESPN+): The Crimson (4-13-3) and Huskies (11-12-2) are both having down years, but this is a rematch of last year's final, which Northeastern won.
No. 1 Boston College vs. No. 3 Boston University (8pm, ESPN+): The top-ranked Eagles (19-4-1) have won five straight games including a home-and-home sweep over the Terriers (17-7-1).
More to watch:
🏀 NBA: Warriors at Nets (7:30pm, NBA)
🏀 NCAAM: No. 8 Kansas at Kansas State (9pm, ESPN)
🏀 NCAAW: No. 16 Louisville at No. 5 NC State (7pm, ESPN2)
⚽️ Premier League: Brentford vs. Manchester City (3pm, USA)
🏒 NHL: Avalanche at Rangers (7pm, ESPN+); Islanders at Maple Leafs (7pm, ESPN+) … The NHL season resumes with a two-game slate.
⚾️ Caribbean Series: Nicaragua vs. Curaçao (10:30am, ESPN+); Venezuela vs. Mexico (3:30pm, ESPN+); Puerto Rico vs. Panama (8:30pm, ESPN+) … Group stage.
*The Beanpot, explained: The first-round matchups rotate each year, with the winners meeting in the final. Northeastern are the reigning champs, and have won four of the last five, but are still playing catch-up in the all-time series: BU (31 titles), BC (20), Harvard (11), Northeastern (8).
🌎 Geography trivia
The Africa Cup of Nations has reached the semifinals. Can you rank the four remaining countries by population (largest to smallest)?
South Africa
Nigeria
DR Congo
Ivory Coast
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 Baker's Dozen: Top 13 plays of the weekend
Trivia answer: Nigeria (227 million), DR Congo (104 million), South Africa (61 million), Ivory Coast (29 million)
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
