The New York Mets fought back from 6-0 down after a bizarre early mistake from pitcher Taijuan Walker to claim a memorable 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Mets manager Luis Rojas was ejected as he protested after Walker mistakenly batted a fair ball into foul territory from Kevin Newman's scuff, allowing the Pirates to swipe three runs.

With bases loaded, John Nogowski touched down at home, while two more runners were able to cross after the ball rolled towards the Pirates dugout with Walker not realising the marginal call.

"Obviously, I thought it was a foul,'' Walker said. "It was so close. I thought I flipped it in the dugout. I didn't even realise it was still in play. It was just one of those plays that just happen. Crazy play.''

With Rojas ejected, the Mets put the drama behind them with Travis Blankenhorn's fourth-inning home run, his career first, bringing it back to 6-4.

In the ninth inning, Michael Conforto hit a two-run home run as the Mets piled on seven unanswered runs to turn the game around spectacularly and improve to a 48-42 record and avoid a surprise Pirates sweep.

 

More Guerrero and Ohtani homers

Vladimir Guerrero Jr continues to impress with another home run in the Toronto Blue Jays' 10-0 win over the Texas Rangers. Guerrero has 31 home runs and tops the MLB charts with a .332 batting average and 78 RBI.

Shohei Ohtani is the only player in the majors ahead of Guerrero for home runs and he added another, taking his season tally to 34, as the Los Angeles Angels lost 7-4 to the Seattle Mariners.

J.T. Realmuto hit a walk-off home run to settle Saturday's suspended game as the Philadelphia Phillies won 4-2 over the Miami Marlins on Sunday. The Phillies also won Sunday's later game 7-4.

Alcides Escobar also secured a walk-off victory for the Washington Nationals as they defeated the San Diego Padres 8-7 in a see-sawing battle.

Corbin Burnes starred with 12 strikeouts as the Milwaukee Brewers crushed the previously in-form Cincinnati Reds 8-0 for a three-game sweep.

The depleted New York Yankees claimed an impressive 9-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.

 

Sloppy Dodgers drop

Los Angeles Dodgers' second baseman Chris Taylor dropped a simple Garrett Hampson high ball which proved costly as the Colorado Rockies won 6-5 after Charlie Blackmon's walk-off home run. Taylor's error came with the Dodgers 2-1 up at the bottom of the fifth inning, allowing a run too.

 

Red hot Rodon

Chicago White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon reached eight strikeouts for the 10th straight game in his side's 4-0 win over the Houston Astros. Rodon's run of eight or more consecutive Ks is the longest active streak in MLB. Houston also only had one hit for the game. The left-hander is in the mix for the American League Cy Young award.

 

Sunday's results

Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 Miami Marlins (resumed)
San Diego Padres 10-4 Washington Nationals (resumed)
Philadelphia Phillies 7-4 Miami Marlins
Washington Nationals 8-7 San Diego Padres
New York Mets 7-6 Pittsburgh Pirates
Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 Texas Rangers
Milwaukee Brewers 8-0 Cincinnati Reds
Detroit Tigers 7-0 Minnesota Twins
Tampa Bay Rays 7-5 Atlanta Braves
Chicago White Sox 4-0 Houston Astros
Baltimore Orioles 5-0 Kansas City Royals
St Louis Cardinals 2-1 San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies 6-5 Los Angeles Dodgers
Seattle Mariners 7-4 Los Angeles Angels
Cleveland Indians 4-2 Oaland Athletics
Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 Chicago Cubs
Toronto Blue Jays 10-0 Texas Rangers
New York Yankees 9-1 Boston Red Sox

 

Astros at White Sox

Reigning world champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers (58-36), take on the high-flying San Francisco Giants (58-34) in the first game of their four-game series.

Kevin Anderson landed his first title since January 2019 as the former Wimbledon finalist triumphed at the Hall of Fame Open on Sunday.

The one-time world number five served 16 aces in a 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 win over 20-year-old American Jenson Brooksby at the tournament in Newport, Rhode Island.

Playing the third grass-court final of his professional career, after being runner-up at Queen's Club in 2015 and at Wimbledon in 2018, Anderson outfought Brooksby to land a seventh ATP title.

Now ranked at a relatively lowly 113th, the 35-year-old South African former world number five saw off top seed Alexander Bublik in the semi-finals before getting the better of Californian prospect Brooksby in the title match.

"It's been a pretty tough run with some injuries," Anderson said, quoted on the ATP website. "But to be back here at the International Tennis Hall of Fame with such history, this couldn't be a better week for me to start, hopefully, my comeback.

"I'm very motivated to get back. But it all starts with each match, and I was able to really grind it out."

Anderson's last title had come on hard courts at the Maharashtra Open in Pune, India, where he got the better of Ivo Karlovic in a match where all three sets went to tie-breaks, and where Karlovic fired 36 aces in a losing cause.

Mark Cavendish delivered such an incredible comeback at the Tour de France that he sits alongside cycling royalty in the history books.

Cavendish had last featured at the Tour de France in 2016, and was not expecting to ride in the event this year. Indeed, he had even hinted retirement may be a possibility following a loss of form and several bouts of injury.

Yet, after a late substitution in for Deceuninck-QuickStep and four stage wins later, Cavendish had served up a welcome reminder of his excellence.

"I found out just a week before the Tour de France started and that was that," Cavendish said. "We didn't know what was happening with Sam Bennett's knee so I was just training as if I was going but with a 99 per cent probability that I wasn't going."

Belgian great Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage victories had stood since 1975, but the flurry of wins for Cavendish over the past three weeks means he has matched that total.

There was to be no last hurrah on the final stage for Cavendish, as he gritted his teeth but could only cross the line third in Sunday's sprint on the Champs Elysees. Consolation came with green jersey glory for the second time in his career, the king of the sprinters in the 2021 Tour.

Perhaps next year he will be back with a 35th win in his sights. Here, Stats Perform looks back at Cavendish's stage triumphs so far.

2008

In his first professional season, Cavendish started as he meant to go on at Le Tour, winning four stages. His first came in stage five at the culmination of a 232km route. He followed that up with successes in stages eight, 12 and 13 before he abandoned the tour ahead of competing at the Beijing OIympics.

2009

After becoming the first British rider to wear the general classification leader's pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia, Cavendish's dominance of the sprints in grand tours really clicked into gear. He won a sensational six stages of Le Tour in 2009, including his first of four on the bounce on the Champs-Elysees. In the process, he also set a new record for Tour de France stage wins by a British rider.

2010

Five stage victories followed in 2010, even though Cavendish crashed out of the final sprint on the opening day. The Manx rider won stages five, six, 11, 18 and 20 to take his total to 15 over three appearances at Le Tour, though his efforts were not enough to claim the green jersey.

2011

Cavendish did clinch the green jersey the following year, despite being docked 20 points for finishing outside the time limit after stage nine and again after 18. Triumphant efforts in stages five, seven, 11, 15 and 21 took his career total to 20.

2012 

Wearing the world champion's rainbow jersey, Cavendish crossed the line first on the Champs-Elysees for the fourth year running, earning his third stage win of the 2012 Tour. He became the most successful sprinter in Tour history with 23 wins, as well as being the first rider to win the Paris stage while wearing the rainbow jersey.

 

2013

Cavendish won stage five in Marseille, though he had to withstand being drenched with urine by a spectator on stage 11 – cycling is not a sport for the faint-hearted, after all. The 28-year-old also went on to win stage 13, though a fifth straight triumph in Paris eluded him.

2015

The 2014 Tour ended quickly for Cavendish as, in the sprint finish in Harrogate – Yorkshire having hosted the Grand Depart – he crashed out and suffered a shoulder injury. He bounced back in 2015 to win his 26th stage, nipping in ahead of Andre Greipel in Fougeres.

2016

After three quiet years at Le Tour by his standard, Cavendish was back at his blistering best in 2016, and completed his set of overall classification lead jerseys in Grand Tours when he clinched the opening stage in Normandy. A victory in stage three saw him equal Bernard Hinault's tally, with further celebrations following in stage six and 14, before he went on to claim his first Olympic medal with silver in the Rio omnium.

2021

Back from five years in the wilderness, when Merckx's record must have seemed cruelly so close yet so far away, Cavendish reminded everyone of his talent with a win in stage four, and two days later, he had scooped his 50th stage success at a Grand Tour. The win in Valence on stage 10 ensured that no, this was no joke and, after he matched Merckx in Carcassonne, Cavendish had 34 victories. He was terribly close in Paris to what would have been a glorious 35th, but for now he must settle for sharing illustrious company.

Max Verstappen accused Lewis Hamilton of being "disrespectful and unsportsmanlike" after Sunday's dramatic British Grand Prix.

The title rivals collided during a sensational first lap at Silverstone, and while Hamilton finished top of the podium, Verstappen ended up in hospital.

Verstappen had his championship lead trimmed to eight points by Hamilton's success, which came despite the Mercedes man incurring a 10-second penalty for his part in Verstappen's Red Bull leaving the track and ending in a crumpled heap at Copse Corner.

Hamilton served that time and went on to catch long-time leader Charles Leclerc in the closing laps, celebrating excitedly on the podium as home fans lapped up the Brit's eighth victory in the race.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner accused Hamilton of "dirty driving" within minutes of the crash, later telling Channel 4 that the punishment of the reigning world champion did not "fit the crime".

Hamilton defended himself afterwards and said Verstappen was a "very aggressive" driver, insisting he had not been at fault for the clash of wheels that sent the Dutchman spinning into the barriers.

But Verstappen, who was taken to hospital for checks after being left badly winded by his high-speed crash, took aim at the British driver.

Verstappen wrote on Twitter: "Glad I’m ok. Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn't do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track.

"Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behaviour but we move on."

Later on Sunday evening, Hamilton tweeted his own take on events, saying he was glad the 23-year-old was not badly injured.

"Today is a reminder of the dangers in this sport. I send my best wishes to Max who is an incredible competitor. I'm glad to hear he is ok," Hamilton wrote.

"I will always race hard but always fairly. My team showed grit and perseverance out there."

Horner disputed Hamilton's post-race claim that he had been "fully alongside" Verstappen when their cars collided.

"He was not significantly alongside Max as you can see from the point of contact, Lewis' front left to Max's right rear," Horner said in a Red Bull statement.

"The move was never on and resulted in a 51G impact for Max. We are in contact with Max and Jos [Verstappen, his father] and will provide an update later."

The 149th Open Championship concluded in thrilling fashion on Sunday as Collin Morikawa claimed the Claret Jug.

It was a fitting finale to a memorable tournament, which marked the return of fans en masse to watch golf's oldest major.

Royal St George's was bathed in sunshine for all four days and it was a joyous event for everyone in attendance.

Stats Perform's man on the ground said a fond farewell to the Kent links, but not before one last wander around the course.

SHELTER FROM THE WARM

The soaring temperatures made walking the course a test of endurance, and not everyone was keen to partake.

What few spots of shade there were soon became occupied by weary bodies, sheltering from the warmth of the sun.

The queues at the water refill points were longer than for the grandstands.

CELEB SPOTTING (TAKE TWO)

It may have been premature to share the story of a chance encounter with British comedian Michael McIntyre on Saturday, as Sunday heralded the arrival of an even bigger celebrity.

Milling around outside the entrance to the media centre, and somehow not surrounded by a large crowd of autograph hunters, was One Direction's Niall Horan.

He's a keen golf fan and can often be seen at the majors rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in the sport.

FLAGGING...

At the end of a long tournament, some members of the media pack wanted a morale-boosting moment, so waited patiently for Champion Golfer of the Year Morikawa to exit from the interview room in hope of an autograph or photo.

Two had souvenir flags with Open Championship branding, in the expectation Morikawa might take the time to sign them.

He bolted through the doors carrying the Claret Jug, saw his waiting fans, but had no time to stop, telling them: "Sorry guys. Maybe I'll see you later."

Oh, the disappointment. 

Tadej Pogacar said he felt "super happy" after putting the finishing touches to a second successive Tour de France triumph.

The 22-year-old Slovenian had led the general classification from stage eight, and 15 days down the road in Paris he wrapped up a supremely impressive performance.

As well as the top prize, Pogacar also collected the king of the mountain and young rider honours, and it is hard to imagine there not being abundant further success to come over the next decade.

Pogacar spoke on the podium after his win, saying: "Last year I should have written a speech for my first Tour de France victory but I didn't know how to write it.

"So also this year I said, 'OK, I'm going to speak from the heart and say what I have to say'.

"Thank you everybody that came here to support us cyclists through all the three weeks. To the French public and all fans of cycling from the whole world, it is so fantastic racing on the amazing parcours of the Tour this year."

He thanked his team, UAE Team Emirates, for helping him achieve the goals they set out to reach.

"I cannot describe how happy I am to be part of this family, it melts my heart," Pogacar said.

"They were with me every day of the whole year preparing for the Tour. I'm super happy and proud to be part of this team on this journey.

"I'm not going to cry. Thank you everybody. It was a difficult year with COVID and I really hope next year we come here without the masks.

"Of course I cannot forget my family, standing beside me, and my girlfriend and my friends. I hope I've told enough but I'm super happy. Thank you everybody."

Pogacar said it was "time for celebration".

"I will remain motivated in the coming years, but what come next will come next… I’m not stressed about it," Pogacar said, quoted on the Tour's official website.

"It's quite different. Last year, I felt strong, incredible emotions. This year I'm again here, standing atop the podium, but the feelings are quite different."

 

Tour great Eddy Merckx won the general classification five times from 1969 to 1974, and had such a ruthlessness he was nicknamed 'The Cannibal'.

Pogacar does not want to be compared to legends of the sport, insisting he should be allowed to plot his own career path.

"The new Cannibal? I don't like to compare myself to other riders," he said. "Each rider has his own style and personality. Every rider is unique. I don't think there is anything left. I just enjoy life, I work hard, I love cycling – and those are the most important things."

Pogacar did not quite secure a sweep of the Tour honours, with the green jersey – the points classification that rewards the best sprinters – going to 36-year-old Deceuninck-QuickStep star Mark Cavendish.

Cavendish's four stage victories took him level with the record of 34 that Merckx had owned exclusively for over 40 years.

"Ten years later, again with the green jersey, it's fantastic, it feels like getting younger," Cavendish said. "I'm back. It's a dream."

Open champion Collin Morikawa revealed the unexpected and tasty secret to his success after winning the Claret Jug at the first attempt on Sunday.

The 24-year-old produced a blemish-free 66 in a stunning final round at Royal St George's to thwart the charge of Jordan Spieth and eclipse overnight leader Louis Oosthuizen.

Morikawa, who also won the 2020 US PGA Championship on debut, secured his second major win in eight entries after starting the day a shot behind Oosthuizen.

In the end his greatest beef was with 2017 Champion Golfer of the Year Spieth, who recovered from being two over through six holes to sign for a 66 himself, finishing two back.

But Morikawa, who saw playing partner Oosthuizen limp to a closing 71, clearly relished the challenge as he went bogey-free to make mincemeat of the field in sizzling sunshine on the Kent coast.

But, when grilled by the media as to what the key to his triumph was, Morikawa had an answer nobody saw coming.

"The secret? Well, I never do this, but I had a burger for four straight days, so my body is probably feeling it. I know my body's feeling it," he said.

"I think I just enjoy these moments, and I talk about it so much that we love what we do. And you have to embrace it.

"You have to be excited about these opportunities, and that's how I looked at it today, especially coming down the stretch, was I'm excited. To have the Claret Jug right here in my possession for a year, I believe, I'm excited to have it."

Runner-up Spieth lamented his putting as he came up short, but Morikawa was delighted with that side of his own game.

He made a succession of potentially tricky putts, including one for birdie from around 15 feet on the 14th just after Spieth had cut the gap to one.

"Definitely one of the best [putting displays], especially inside 10 feet," he said.

"I felt like it was as solid as it's going to get. I don't think I really missed many from that distance. Especially in a major.

"I think in a major on a Sunday in contention, I wasn't thinking about anything other than making a putt.

"I'm going to tell myself probably tomorrow: 'Why can't I keep doing that all the time?'.

"But you know, I'm going to try to figure out what worked and use that for the future because I know I can putt well. I know I can putt well in these pressure situations. I've just got to keep doing that."

Yulia Putintseva was in devastating form as she crushed Anhelina Kalinina to win the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest, her second career singles title.

She needed just 70 minutes to thrash Kalinina 6-4 6-0 and seal a first WTA Tour triumph since 2019 when she was victorious in Nurnberg.

In fact, her semi-final appearance in Budapest was Putintseva's first since that success in Germany, and she rarely looked like passing up the chance for victory against her Ukrainian opponent.

Kalinina was as much her own worst enemy at times, with 34 unforced errors continuously handing the initiative to the ruthless Putintseva, who converted five of eight break points.

Two of those breaks came in the first three games of the match, and although Kalinina hit back initially, she could not sustain that form as Putintseva closed out the set.

The second set was far more one-sided, as Kalinina took just seven points across the six games, which were all won by Putintseva.

The Kazakh now turns her attention towards the Olympics.

Jordan Spieth was left to lament a slack finish to his third round after he came up just short at The Open on Sunday.

The 2017 Champion Golfer of the Year recovered from two over through six to sign for a final-round 66, which left him two shots shy of winner Collin Morikawa.

But it was Saturday's round at Royal St George's that bothered the three-time major winner, who dropped shots at each of the last two holes.

Reflecting on a close call with what would have been a first major triumph since that success at Royal Birkdale four years ago, Spieth was quick to point out where it went wrong.

"It's hard to be upset when I was a couple over through six," he said. "I couldn't have really done much more after that point.

"But the finish yesterday was about as upset as I've taken a finish of a round to the house. I walked in and I said: 'Is there something that I can break?'.

"I knew that was so important because I would have been in the final group."

Spieth is usually a safe bet with the putter in his hand, but the 27-year-old felt that side of his game was lacking in Kent.

He took 1.58 putts per greens in regulation, which was better than the field average of 1.68, but Spieth felt he was well short of his own high standard.

"My putting is not where I want to be at all," conceded. "I say at all; It's progressing the right direction, but it's not where it has been.

"I know what needs to do to get there, and it's just very difficult to do. But it's rounds like today or this week, major championship rounds, where you have to obviously test not only your touch out here, but also a lot of knobs and breaking putts and trust lines. It's a good test for it.

"I just wasn't extremely sharp with the putter this week. I was sharper than I was at Augusta, and it's been a little bit kind of here and there this year.

"My bad weeks have been okay and my good weeks are really good, but I needed to put in a little bit of work."

Paying tribute to champion Morikawa, who has two major wins from eight starts, Spieth added: "He swings the club beautifully, gets it in positions that make it very, very difficult to not start the ball online, so therefore, he's going to be very consistent tee to green.

"At 24, obviously there's a bright future ahead."

Lewis Hamilton refused to accept responsibility for the sensational first-lap crash that sent title rival Max Verstappen out of the British Grand Prix and into the Silverstone barriers.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said Hamilton was guilty of "dirty driving" and questioned how he would sleep after the incident at Copse Corner that caused Verstappen to need hospital checks.

After the race was red-flagged and once Hamilton served a 10-second time penalty, the British driver went on to win his home grand prix and in doing so cut Verstappen's championship lead to only eight points.

"I've been giving my all this past week," Hamilton said afterwards. "Of course I always try to be measured in how I approach, particularly in battling with Max, he's very aggressive, and today I was fully alongside him and he didn't let me into space.

"Regardless of whether I agree with the penalty, I take it on the chin and I just kept working."

Verstappen was initially treated by medics at Silverstone but then needed to be taken to hospital.

"He's bruised, he's battered, but no broken bones. It was by far the biggest accident of his career," Horner said on Channel 4.

The Red Bull boss made his "dirty driving" claim just minutes after the crash, which saw Hamilton come up on the inside of the pole-sitter, only for their wheels to touch and Verstappen to suffer a crash that left his car a wreck.

"The penalty doesn't fit the crime," Horner said. "He's had no penalty because he's gone on to win the grand prix. It's a desperate move that you wouldn't expect from a seven-time world champion.

"It's just irresponsible and a sign of desperation and it's completely destroyed the car."

Horner said Red Bull would "consider our options" over a possible post-race protest, after Hamilton celebrated a record eighth victory in the British race.

"I don't think Lewis can take any satisfaction from a victory like that because we were lucky today that a driver wasn't badly hurt," Horner said.

"I hope he can sleep well tonight because that's not good driving."

Horner suggested the crash could ramp up the excitement for the rest of the season, backing his young driver to come back strongly.

"He's fit, he'll recover quickly and he's mentally very, very strong," Horner said. "If anything it'll just make him more determined.

"It just raises the stakes. It didn't need to be like that because it could have been a great race between the two drivers today."

Tadej Pogacar clinched a second successive Tour de France general classification title as Mark Cavendish narrowly missed out on a record-breaking 35th stage win.

It was a racing certainty that Pogacar would be crowned on the Champs Elysees on Sunday after dominating the 21-stage tour, having secured top spot on Saturday ahead of the largely processional finale in Paris.

Cavendish made sure of the green jersey as the tour's top sprinter, but hopes of a 35th stage win were dashed when Wout van Aert snatched glory in the French capital.

Cavendish had powered from 30 stage wins at the start of the 2021 Tour to 34 during the course of the past three weeks, matching Eddie Merckx's long-standing record, but the Manxman could not nose ahead of Van Aert in a frantic finish.

Van Aert's success means his Belgian compatriot Merckx continues to hold a share of that stage-win record, and it raises the question of whether Cavendish will return in 2022 in an effort to take sole ownership.

The sprint was suitably phenomenal, with Jumbo-Visma's Van Aert keeping enough in reserve to get ahead of countryman Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), who took second, and third-placed Cavendish (Deceuninck-QuickStep).

It means Van Aert became the first Tour rider since 1979 to win a sprint, a mountain stage and an individual time trial in the same edition of the race.

The time-trial success came on Saturday, and it was remarkable he had so much left in the tank 24 hours later.

Van Aert said on Eurosport: "This tour has just been amazing. It's been such a roller coaster, but to finish with a weekend like this is beyond expectations."

His next target will be an Olympic gold, with Van Aert revealing he was due to travel from Paris to Tokyo later on Sunday.

He realised after sealing victory that he would be a man in demand over the coming hours.

"I guess I put myself in trouble because I have to take a flight tonight," Van Aert added. "We'll see if I can get there.

"It's definitely not a pity. I went for it today because a victory like this is priceless."

Collin Morikawa produced a stunning final round to win The Open by two strokes from Jordan Spieth at Royal St George's.

The 2020 US PGA Championship winner added a second major to his list of honours in only his eighth appearance in such tournaments, with this his debut at the oldest of golf's four headline events.

His blemish-free 66 on Sunday ensured he overturned the one-stroke overnight lead that Louis Oosthuizen had held, while Spieth closed with the same score as he came up just short.

Morikawa nailed a lengthy birdie putt on the 14th, just after Spieth's run of four gains in four holes around the turn had cut the gap to one, and the 24-year-old never looked back as he sealed the prize on 15 under.

 

Spieth, the 2017 champion at Royal Birkdale, and Oosthuizen, who triumphed at St Andrews in 2010, had each been chasing a second Claret Jug.

But Morikawa showed nerves of steel as he refused to wilt in the sunshine on the Kent coast, the American averaging 1.5 putts per greens in regulation.

He needed to hit such a high level to keep Spieth at bay, his compatriot rallying from two over for the day after six holes to close at 13 under.

Oosthuizen endured the frustration of finishing as runner-up at the US PGA Championship and the U.S. Open this year and he suffered more disappointment following a closing 71.

Pre-tournament favourite Jon Rahm wrapped things up in style with a 66 and he will return to the world number one spot next week, displacing Dustin Johnson. 

Reigning champion Shane Lowry finished at six under, while Rory McIlroy closed with a 71 to wrap up a low-key outing at even par.

SHOT OF THE DAY

Morikawa's approach shot on the 14th was short and left him with a long uphill putt for birdie on a par five that was playing at a generous average of 4.6.

Spieth was on the charge and momentum looked to shift in the three-time major winner's favour, but Morikawa turned a potential negative into an overwhelming positive with one decisive swipe of the putting blade.

It was the point at which the engravers may as well have started putting his name on the silverware.

CHIPPING IN

Shane Lowry: "I really enjoyed the whole week. It was an amazing experience. Walking down the last hole today was one of the coolest things you'll ever get to do, and I got to do it."

Rory McIlroy: "For me at the minute it's just the process of trying to work my way back to the sort of form and the sort of the level that I know I can play at."

Brooks Koepka: "I like coming over here and playing links golf. It's always a bunch of fun, and I've always said that it's the one tournament a year where the fans actually know what a good shot is."

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME

- Louis Oosthuizen's last three major results are now tied second (US PGA Championship), second (U.S. Open), and tied third (The Open).

- Shane Lowry's failure to retain the Claret Jug means no player has successfully defended the honour at Royal St George's since Harry Vardon in 1899.

- Germany's Matthias Schmid won the silver medal for low amateur after finishing two over par.

Collin Morikawa held the lead after nine holes of the final round at The Open as Louis Oosthuizen slipped back on Sunday.

Morikawa, the 2020 US PGA Championship winner, reached the turn 14 under overall as the American moved four strokes clear of overnight leader Oosthuizen, with Jordan Spieth now his closest rival.

South African Oosthuizen is eyeing a wire-to-wire triumph at Royal St George's, where he and Spieth are each looking to lift the Claret Jug for a second time.

Oosthuizen won it in 2010 at St Andrews, while Spieth – who was 11 under through 10 – triumphed at Royal Birkdale in 2017.

It would be a bitter pill to swallow for Oosthuizen should he miss out in Kent, as he has already endured two runner-up finishes in majors this year and six in his career.

Jon Rahm got himself into the mix at eight under through six before giving a stroke back, with Corey Conners, and Dylan Frittelli on the fringes.

Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka carded a final-round 65 to close on eight under, leaving him to lament Saturday's 72.

"It's definitely a missed opportunity," he said. "I didn't play good enough on Saturday. Doesn't really matter what I finished today. I didn't have a chance to win. That's disappointing."

 

Casper Ruud won his third ATP Tour title on Sunday thanks to a straightforward win over Federico Coria in the Nordea Open final.

The Norwegian needed just under 90 minutes to see off Coria, who was competing in his maiden tour-level final, getting the job done to win 6-3 6-3.

Ruud's electric start set the tone for the contest, as he raced into a 4-0 lead thanks to successive breaks – although Coria broke back to make it 4-1, his opponent's wobble was only brief.

Coria ensured the match was a little tighter initially in the second set, but Ruud's class showed as he rattled off three breaks on the trot and eventually converted his fifth match point in front of a joyous support.

"It was an incredible week, maybe the best week of my life," Ruud said after sealing the title without losing a single set.

"It's an incredible feeling playing here in Bastad with the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish support. There is nothing like that home crowd feeling.

"To win here means a lot. You get a little extra nervous as the No. 1 seed. Me and my father [former player Christian Ruud] have been joking about when I am going to beat him at this and this, and now I think I have beaten him in everything!

"The Ruud family can finally bring the trophy home to Norway. It is a special feeling having him here with me."

Tamara Zidansek recovered from a set and early break down to beat Clara Burel and win her first WTA singles title at the Ladies Open Lausanne.

The Slovenian had lost her previous two finals, including at the Copa Colsanitas in April, but she lived up to her top-seed billing on Sunday by beating Burel 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.

Burel had eliminated second and fifth seeds Fiona Ferro and Caroline Garcia en route to her first final and made a fast start by breaking Zidansek twice in the first three games.

Former junior world number one Burel was in control at 4-0 up and saw the job through in the first set, despite Zidansek pulling it back to 5-4 at one point, with a backhand winner.

Zidansek was a break down in the second set when beginning her impressive comeback, which saw the French Open semi-finalist take four of the next five games.

But Burel continued to match her opponent as the second set went to a tie-break, with Zidansek recovering from 4-2 down to take it 7-5 and level up the contest.

World number 50 Zidansek took control from that point and eased to victory in the third set with three breaks, clinching her maiden title when Burel miscued a backhand.

 

Lewis Hamilton was accused of "dirty driving" by Red Bull boss Christian Horner after a first-lap collision put Max Verstappen out of the British Grand Prix.

A breathtaking start to the race culminated in title rivals Hamilton and Verstappen making contact at Copse Corner.

Verstappen was sent spinning off the track and into the barriers, with his car left in a crumpled heap.

The championship leader was able to walk away from the wreckage but was left "massively winded", according to team principal Horner.

It was the most sensational moment of the season, reflective of the intensity of the rivalry between reigning champion Hamilton and this year's leader in the standings.

Hamilton was looking to get ahead of his rival on the inside when wheels touched and Verstappen was sent spinning off the track, Horner denouncing what he considered "a desperate move".

Horner was furious with Hamilton, whose driving was scrutinised by the stewards as the race was red-flagged, with the cars returning to the pit lane while the barrier was repaired.

Verstappen was said to have come out largely unscathed, while Hamilton received a 10-second time penalty when the race eventually resumed.

"He's gone to the medical centre for a check-up. But that's a hell of a relief to see him get out because that corner's one of the fastest on the calendar," Horner told Channel 4.

"[It was] completely out of order [for Hamilton] to stick out a wheel on the inside there. It was way too far. Every driver that's driven this circuit knows you don't stick up the inside at Copse.

"He's done it and obviously his front left has made contact with Max's right rear, on one of the fastest corners in the championship and he's put him in the fence. Thank god he's not been hurt. As you can imagine, we're pretty annoyed about things.

"I think it was a desperate move. He failed to make the move in the first part of the lap which he was obviously geared to do.

"Then it was a desperate move sticking a wheel up the inside. Copse is one of the fastest corners in the world, you don't stick a wheel up the inside, that's just dirty driving.

"That's just not on and I'm just relieved to see our driver's walked away because that could have been a very, very nasty accident."

Pablo Carreno Busta beat Filip Krajinovic in the final of the Hamburg European Open to lift his first ATP 500 trophy.

Spanish second seed Carreno Busta wrapped up a convincing 6-2 6-4 win over Krajinovic of Serbia in one hour and 23 minutes.

Krajinovic, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, had no answer to Carreno Busta's serve as he won 81 per cent (21/26) of his first-service points.

Carreno Busta broke Krajinovic's serve twice in the first set before he served out. 

Krajinovic showed more fight in the second set, but he was unable to create a break chance, and when he offered one to Carreno Busta his opponent seized it.

The victory gave world number 13 Carreno Busta, who did not drop a set in the tournament, his 17th win on clay this season.

 

Max Verstappen crashed out of the British Grand Prix on the first lap after a stunning collision with title rival Lewis Hamilton.

It had been a dazzling start to the race with the front-row pair going neck-and-neck in the opening corners.

They came close to making contact earlier on the lap before they finally did so at Copse Corner, Hamilton looking to overtake championship leader Verstappen on the inside but clipping the Red Bull driver's right rear wheel.

The tyre came flying off and Verstappen's car went crashing across the gravel and into the barriers at high speed.

Verstappen was able to walk away from the incident without any serious injury, but was said by team boss Christian Horner to be "massively winded".

Hamilton reported damage to his Mercedes car over the radio to his team, and told them: "I was ahead going in there, man. He turned in on me, man."

The result was that the race was red-flagged to allow for repairs to be carried out to the barriers, meaning it would have to re-start.

Barbora Krejcikova won the Prague Open on Sunday with a comfortable win in straight sets against Tereza Martincova.

World number 13 and tournament second seed Krejcikova eased to a 6-2 6-0 win over her Czech compatriot Martincova in one hour and five minutes.

The win was the French Open champion Krejcikova's first on hard courts and came courtesy of 26 winners across the 14 games.

At 2-2 in the first set Krejcikova secured a break against the world number 78 and from that point never looked back.

Krejcikova has now chalked up an impressive 20 wins from her last 21 matches.

The 25-year-old's solitary loss in that time was in the fourth round of Wimbledon at the hands of eventual champion, and world number one, Ashleigh Barty.

 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.