The Front 9: An injunction, Horschel talk and Sumrall’s true tests in first season with Gators

The Front 9 comes at you with a song in my heart and an injunction in my hand. I’m trying to get Percy Harvin another year of eligibility.

1. The court ruling out of Colorado has people freaking out, man. Everyone is now talking about chaos in college sports. Um, haven’t we been dealing with chaos since the COVID season? Yes, we are all hoping this means Denzel Aberdeen will be able to play for the Gators this season while he pursues his degree. But there is a long list of players who will now try to squeeze out another year of college athletics and who knows where? The NCAA has already announced it is appealing. Stay tuned.

2. Yes, we have officially started college football season according to (checks notes) me. Once we get to August — a month where practices start and games are scheduled — it is the beginning of the true madness. Because not only are we going to sit back and enjoy it, but we are also going to get mad. A lot. Hopefully, we have less to be angry about and can leave the real anger to our friends at James Madison.

3. FOMO game of the week

Nobody is going to get mad at you if you don’t watch a preseason NFL game, but this is truly the beginning of football season. The Hall of Fame game is Thursday night between Carolina and Arizona at 8 p.m. on NBC. Hey, it’s football.

4. Four questions with Gator All-American and former FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel

1. You missed the cut by one at both Opens and had a top 15 at the 3M. Do you feel like you are getting closer?
   Horschel: Yes, I feel like the game has been close for a couple months now. Unfortunately, my putting hasn’t been great this year. Very average. I’ve been a top 25 putter on tour for nearly a decade. So, it’s a strength of my game and something I rely on. If I can start putting closer to what I’m used to, I believe I can get on a run and hopefully make the FedEx Cup playoffs.
2. How frustrating was it to miss so much time with your hip surgery?
   Horschel: It sucked to miss time last year because I had a great 2024 and was in good position to make my first Ryder Cup team and I felt like ‘25 was going to be the year I finally got a major. Unfortunately, injuries happen and there’s nothing I could do about it. I’ve been fortunate to be injury for the majority of my career, but I always knew that there was a possibility that an injury might happen at some time.
3. Is there any satisfaction in seeing the demise of LIV Golf?
   Horschel: There’s no satisfaction at seeing the possible demise. I said from the very beginning that I welcomed competition. Competition breeds greatness and it also provides the opportunity for change. I felt the Tour needed to evolve and grow from the decades of success they’ve had to continue to be the best professional golf tour in the world. LIV forced us to do that and I hope the changes we make will lead to another 60 years of success for the PGA Tour.
4. What are your early impressions of Jon Sumrall?
   Horschel: I like Jon. I like his intensity and his drive to be great and force his players to want more for themselves. I’ve had a few conversations with Urban over the last few months and one of the first things he said to me, was that Jon reminded Urban of himself when he was young. His relentless desire to be great and his willingness to spend every waking minute to achieve greatness. I tell this story about Urban all the time and I’ve told it to him, but I remember when I was a student at UF, you see people running all the time. Students, athletes, coaches, faculty. Urban was one of those coaches that ran quite a lot. Unlike every other runner running around campus, when Urban ran, he looked like he was trying to hurt the pavement with every step. He ran with a certain level of intensity. You could just tell he had a lot on his mind. Back to Jon, I’m hoping to get to a practice before the season starts and officially meet him in person. We have some mutual friends and have FaceTimed a couple times when I’ve been with our mutual friends. Like all Gator fans, I’m hoping he’s the guy that gets us back to greatness and hangs around UF for a few decades. Go Gators!

5. The five games that will define Jon Sumrall’s first season

• At Auburn, Sept. 19: First SEC game and the road has not been kind to the Gators of late.
• At Missouri, Oct. 3: The Gators have only won twice ever in “the other” Columbia.
• Georgia, Oct. 31: With LSU and Tennessee off the schedule, this is the biggest SEC rivalry game.
• Oklahoma, Nov. 7: We are talking about a playoff team here.
• At Kentucky, Nov. 14: Enough of this problem with the Wildcats.

6. This will happen this week

We are going to lose one of our summer flirtations. Baseball is always trying to overcome its issues and we get where we are paying attention because not much else is going on. Now, football is on the horizon and the Dodgers got Tarik Skubal, so we are getting a trial separation from the game.

7. Hot take of the week

Gator fans never feel bad for Tennessee in any sport, but the latest news out of Knoxville was a bit stunning. Linebacker Arion Carter was suspended by the NCAA for the first two games for (are you ready for this?) taking money from an agent. Of course, every Power 4 college football player is taking money from an agent, but the NCAA said that its rule that players cannot receive extra benefits from an agent if they are pursuing the NFL was enforced. It’s almost as if college sports’ governing body said, “Hey, we lose every court case these days, but this one will stick because we have to stop, well, we’re not sure what we are trying to stop.” It’s silly and arrogant and another reason the NCAA is the second-most despised organization in the world behind FIFA.

8. Tweet of the week

From Grant McAuley, Atlanta radio: “BREAKING: The Dodgers have acquired the Time Stone from Thanos and will be activating Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.”

9. Remote drop of the week

Any movie that is about newspapers gets my attention. I adored “The Post” even though it was the 18^th Academy Awards loss for Meryl Streep. That movie made me feel every emotion I ever felt in the business.