SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
BJ Leiderman does our theme music, like this one for sports.
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SIMON: Masters weekend, Frozen Four on ice and NBA playoffs right around the corner. Sports reporter Michele Steele joins us now. Michele, thanks so much for being with us.
MICHELE STEELE: Truly a tradition unlike any other, Scott.
SIMON: (Laughter) Just like the Masters Tournament...
STEELE: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...Talking to you. Well, you're the master.
STEELE: Oh, thank you.
SIMON: Listen, of course, no Tiger Woods this year. No Phil Mickelson. But Rory McIlroy is - my God, he leads the field 12 under par, doesn't he? What's happened during these first two rounds?
STEELE: My goodness. He's had quite the tournament so far. He's lapping the field, Scott. He shot a 67 on Thursday. Absolutely caught fire on Friday, burning six of his final seven holes to shoot a 65, 12 under par. That is the largest 36-hole lead in the history of the Masters. In other words, Scott, nobody has ever been this far ahead at the halfway point in Augusta. But as Rory, himself, said on Friday, the next two days are really about focusing on myself. He's going to try hard to avoid looking at those big leader boards out on the course, and he's going to try to stay in his own little world and have another good couple rounds in front of him.
SIMON: Let me ask you about the return of Gary Woodland, who won the 2019 U.S. Open Championship. He revealed this year, he's been battling post-traumatic stress syndrome for about a year after having surgery in 2023 to remove a benign lesion from his brain. How's he doing?
STEELE: He's doing OK. He made the cut at the Masters, but that actually isn't the biggest accomplishment here. He is in Augusta this week. After having brain surgery, he developed severe PTSD after that brain surgery. He described having vivid visions, Scott, of people trying to kill him while walking the golf course. Can you imagine? I mean, that's terrifying. It was - yeah - genuinely unclear whether he'd ever compete again at this level. He qualified for the Masters by winning the Houston Open a couple weeks ago, and after that, he said something that really struck me. He said, I hope winning in Houston had a bigger impact in somebody else's life. That's a man who's been through something. So he made the cut. Whatever happens this weekend, just being out there and competing and telling his story, that's something.
SIMON: 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey National Championship game tonight in Las Vegas, which has become such a hockey capital.
STEELE: (Laughter).
SIMON: I can't figure it out. In any event, Denver versus Wisconsin? What do you think?
STEELE: Well, the University of Denver has 10 titles in men's ice hockey - gold standard. They know the big moment. They've been on the big stage before. But Wisconsin is the Big Ten's horse here, and we've talked about what a magical run the Big Ten is having in college sports between, you know, the men's and the women's basketball titles, Indiana winning the football championship. So, you know, if Wisconsin wins tonight, they'll pull off an upset, but it would continue the magical run that the Big Ten has been on. It's going to be tough. It's going to be an uphill battle, but I wouldn't bet against Wisconsin right now knowing what's at stake.
SIMON: NBA playoffs begin next weekend. Boy, the Los Angeles Lakers, who aren't used to a run of bad luck, are having it. Their great point guard, of course, Luka Doncic, is likely to miss the playoffs 'cause of a hamstring injury. Is this Lebron's last shot at an NBA title?
STEELE: Lakers fans, cover your ears. Lebron James is 41 years old. Now, remarkably, he's still playing at an elite level, but they brought in guys like Doncic. They brought in Doncic, specifically, to be that other star playing alongside him, and now he goes down with an injury. Every year with Lebron, the window gets a little bit smaller, and he's going to have to carry an enormous load against teams that are much younger, healthy and very deep - going to be much harder to open that window than it was a week ago.
SIMON: Michele Steele, always great to talk to you. Talk to you soon.
STEELE: Enjoy the back nine, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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