t Sharapovas shot on Saturday was taken as a reference to Williams and Mouratoglou. Sharapova was responding to a question about the portion of the Rolling Stone story in which Williams spoke to her sister about what the reporter described as "a top-five player who is now in love." Williams

The BMW PGA Championship is one of a number of events set for a prize boost in 2017 as part of the European Tour’s new money-spinning Rolex Series.The series will feature a minimum of seven tournaments in locations across the world, including the traditional season-ending DP World Tour Championship, all offering prize money of at least $7m.Beginning at Wentworth in May, the series will head back to the UK in July for the Irish Open and the Scottish Open before the Italian Open in October. The stretch of tournaments will also include the three current Final Series events in Turkey, South Africa and Dubai, with European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley confident of more events being added in the future. The BMW PGA Championship will have increased prize money on offer in 2017. We are delighted to unveil the Rolex Series today and we are committed to developing and building on it over the coming years, Pelley said. Im going to caveat that by saying a minimum of seven tournaments, as we expect to have eight or nine in 2017. Were currently under discussions with some other partners as we speak. Live European Tour Golf November 17, 2016, 8:00am Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass They are all a minimum of seven million dollar prize purse, and I say a minimum because obviously the DP World is here at eight million, and that is the threshold that we felt that was needed to produce something of a high-quality like the Rolex Series.The new series has been welcomed by world No 2 Rory McIlroy, with the Irish Open, hosted by his foundation, set to have more than €2m extra prize money than the 2016 event. Six months half price Upgrade to Sky Sports to watch Man Utd v Arsenal on Saturday and get the first six months half price Im very grateful for the European Tour and Rolex including the Irish Open in this Rolex Series, McIlroy said. The Irish Opens been given a great date as well. Its two weeks before the Open on a links golf course (Portstewart).Were really excited about it. It doesnt change my schedule that much but it gives guys an incentive to maybe play a little bit more on this side of the pond leading up to the Open Championship and hopefully get some great fields. Rory McIlroy has welcomed the new series Its getting more and more difficult to play two tours. With the regulations that the PGA Tour are putting upon us and with how great the events are becoming over here, its hard to jump back and forth and play tournaments.So I think you might see more guys spending prolonged periods in either/or, because jumping back and forth, you can do it for so long, but in the long run, it just doesnt work too well. Live European Tour Golf November 18, 2016, 8:00am Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Watch the European Tour throughout the year live on Sky Sports - your home of golfUpgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price!Also See:Race to Dubai: The contendersEuropean Tour latest news2015 recap: Rorys victoryGolf live on Sky SportsCustom Jerseys On Sale . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Cheap Custom Soccer Jerseys China . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. http://www.soccerjerseyscustom.com/ . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Stitched Custom Soccer Jerseys . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. LONDON -- The next time Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova meet, it will likely be on a tennis court, with a net separating them -- maybe even at Wimbledon, in the final, on the first Saturday in July. "I think its great for womens tennis when we play each other," Williams said. Until then, fans and non-fans alike can keep picking apart the unexpected trade of verbal jousts between two of the sports biggest stars -- a back-and-forth that has turned the lead-up to Wimbledon into something much more than simple tennis talk. The latest chapter came on the eve of the tournament, which starts Monday. Trying to set aside a number of awkward outcomes from a Rolling Stone profile of her posted online last week, Williams used her pre-tournament news conference Sunday to express her apologies. -- For comments that put both her and Sharapovas love lives on centre stage. -- For remarks she made about the 16-year-old victim in the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case. -- And, it seemed, every bit as much for letting the author of that story into her private world, thus turning the buildup to Wimbledon into a festival of dirty laundry that has the headline writers for the London tabloids drooling. ("This time its personal" and "Im sorry, Maria!" were among the lines used.) "It definitely hasnt been easy," the No. 1-ranked Williams said about the stir created by the magazines profile. "And I feel like I really wanted to say: I apologize for everything that was said in that article." Earlier in the week, Williams had issued a statement expressing regret for remarks about the 16-year-old victim in the Steubenville case. On Sunday, she said she and the family "came to a wonderful understanding, and were constantly in contact." Also Sunday, Williams explained that she approached the No. 3-ranked Sharapova to try to smooth things over by extending an apology at a pre-tournament players party Thursday. The exchanges between the two can be traced to a passage where the storys author surmised that something critical Williams said during a telephone conversation with her sister referred to Sharapova. Williams said Sharapova accepted her apology. If that was the case, however, it sure didnt show Saturday, when Sharapova delivered her own broadside during her news conference: "If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and is getting a divorce and has kids." Asked to respond to that dig 24 hours later, Williams declined, saying: "I definitely was told of (Sharapovas) comments.dddddddddddd I definitely like to keep my personal life personal. I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment on it." With play beginning Monday -- Roger Federer begins defence of his seventh title on Centre Court, with Sharapova playing her first-round match afterward -- much of this talk is certain to die down. But its just as certain to pick back up in about two weeks if the players, on opposite sides of the bracket, advance to the final. "Theres no guarantee that Ill be there," Williams said. "But Im definitely hoping that I can play and win seven matches." Shes a heavy favourite to do so, going 74-3 and collecting three of four major titles since the start of Wimbledon in 2012. That, perhaps not coincidentally, is when she began working with French tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, to whom Williams has been linked romantically. Neither has confirmed publicly whether theyre a couple, but Sharapovas shot on Saturday was taken as a reference to Williams and Mouratoglou. Sharapova was responding to a question about the portion of the Rolling Stone story in which Williams spoke to her sister about what the reporter described as "a top-five player who is now in love." Williams lamented Sunday that "a private conversation" was reported about, but she also laughingly conceded: "Ive been in the business for a little over 200 years, so I should definitely, definitely know better. I should know better to always have my guard up." She is quoted in the article as saying: "She begins every interview with Im so happy. Im so lucky -- its so boring. Shes still not going to be invited to the cool parties. And, hey, if she wants to be with the guy with a black heart, go for it." That is followed by these words in parentheses from the writer: "An educated guess is shes talking about Sharapova, who is now dating Grigor Dimitrov, one of Serenas rumoured exes." On Sunday, Williams said: "I made it a point to reach out to Maria. ... I said, Look, I want to personally apologize to you if you are offended by being brought into my situation. I want to take this moment to ... be open, say Im very sorry." Williams repeatedly used some version of the phrase "inadvertently brought into a situation" to describe the way Sharapova got involved. "Its important what Ive learned this week -- mostly that its so important to know all the facts before you make a comment or before you make an assumption," Williams said. "Thats something Im still learning." ' ' '