>> It’s interesting that an arbitration hearing to determine Timberwolves-Lynx ownership is being dragged out. It could mean an attempt to work out a deal between Glen Taylor and minority investors Alex Rodriguez, Mark Lore and Michael Bloomberg is underway.

For both sides to avoid arbitration could mean that either Taylor, who agreed to sell for $1.5 billion three years ago, would buy out the trio to go away by giving them more than they originally invested. Or Rodriguez-Lore-Bloomberg would have to pay Taylor more than they initially agreed for him to go away.

>> Three years ago, the Timberwolves-Lynx price tag was $1.5 billion. Now, NBA champion Boston could fetch $5 billion in its upcoming sale.

>> It still looks like a redshirt year for Vikings rookie QB J.J. McCarthy. Ideally for the Vikings, Sam Darnold will play well enough so McCarthy, 21, watches for the entire season. Minimally, barring injuries, Darnold should start at least the first half of the season, with Nick Mullens the backup.

>> Don’t think the Miami Marlins wouldn’t give up starter Max Meyer, 25, the former Gophers star from Woodbury, for Twins minor league outfielder star Walker Jenkins, 19, as part of a multi-player deal. Meyer, back in the majors from Triple A Jacksonville, was to start Saturday against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

It’ll be surprising if the Twins don’t include at least one of outfielders Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach or Max Kepler in a deal for a starter before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

>> At least by Twins standards, people who know say the team suddenly is tight on cash. The Twins rank No. 23 in attendance, averaging 23,303 per Target Field game. Last year, the Twins averaged 24,372, 19th in baseball.

>> Pssst: Local hockey icon Natalie Darwitz, dismissed in June as general manager of Professional Women’s Hockey League Minnesota after winning the league’s inaugural championship, is a prime candidate to become the WCHA’s women’s commissioner.

>> The Twins are 4-20 against current playoff-bound teams.

>> Sean Foley has been golf swing coach for PGA Tour winners Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Danny Willett, Lee Westwood, Hunter Mahon and Cameron Champ, among others. He’s in his 19th year coaching PGA Tour players.

The past week, he was at the TPC working with Erik van Rooyen, the former Gopher from South Africa, at the 3M Open in Blaine.

The golf swing, as any player knows, can be fascinating, and for Foley, technical.

Asked by the Pioneer Press this week for advice for an amateur trying to break 90, Foley was quick to contradict a popular tenet.

“Golf is a game that’s played with the hands and arms,” he said “So much instruction is about the body, and that’s just not the case. You’re holding onto the club with your hands, right?”

He smiled.

“And it doesn’t weigh much,” he said.

Then Foley got technical. He nodded toward the practice range where many of the world’s best golfers were effortlessly launching shots high into the distance.

There’s a simple secret there, Foley said. But you might have to be a math major to understand.

“If you look out here at the average Tour player, the right wrist is in 51 degrees of extension at the top of the backswing and the right arm is straighter, like you’re throwing a football,” he said.

OK.

“Basically, the two main differences between the amateur and the pro is the pros average an angle of around 51 degrees with the wrist, and the right elbow is bent less than 90 degrees. Now, amateurs on average are between 10 and 30 degrees. Flexion and extension.

“And that’s after 20 years of biomechanics.”

Whew.

>> The TPC ranks No. 32 among courses that host PGA Tour tournaments, per Golf Digest. No. 1 is Augusta National, home of the Masters.

>> The Gophers are the 69th-best college football team in the nation, per cbssports.com rankings. Minnesota’s season-opening opponent, North Carolina, is No. 35.

>> The Gophers are the 70th-ranked men’s basketball team in the nation, per insidethehall.com.

>> The Chicago Cubs are working on a new contract for Simley grad Michael Busch, 26, who is making $741,500 this season while hitting .265 with 12 home runs He becomes salary arbitration eligible next year.

>> Ex-Twins starter Luis Gil of the New York Yankees is among favorites for American League rookie of the year.

>> After an all-star season last year, Yennier Cano, 30, who the Twins traded to Baltimore in the Jorge Lopez deal two years ago, is 4-2 with three saves and a 2.72 earned-run average in 46 games. To get Cano, the Twins also gave up Cade Povich, 24, recently promoted to the Orioles. He’s 1-4 with a 6.27 ERA after seven starts. Lopez, 31, was recently released by the New York Mets.

>> Mikko Koivu, 41, the only Wild player to have his jersey (No. 9) retired, has moved from Eden Prairie back to homeland Finland.

>> Wisconsin athletics director Chris McIntosh has surpassed Gophers A.D. Mark Coyle with his contract extension last week worth $1.45 million a year. Coyle’s deal is $1.4 million a year.

>> The 3M Open, in its sixth year, has two years remaining on its contract to play at the TPC in Blaine, and extension negotiations are underway.

>> St. Thomas Academy plays noted rival Cretin-Derham Hall in football at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Vikings’ TCO Stadium.

Overheard

>> Former Gophers golfer Erik van Rooyen, 34, in his fifth year on the PGA Tour, asked if it’s a grind: “Everybody thinks it’s a grind. But anything in life, it’s going to be a grind if you want to be the best and succeed. I love what I do, I love the traveling, the fact that I get to play golf for a living. It’s ridiculous, right?.