Rory McIlroy conceded he did not adapt to the difficult conditions at Royal Troon as he carded a dismal first round at The Open.
McIlroy's hopes of clinching his first major title in a decade took an early blow as he went round in a seven-over par 78 on Thursday.
The Northern Irishman came agonisingly close to winning a fifth major title at the U.S. Open last month, only to wobble on the final holes.
And while McIlroy took time away from the game to re-focus, he could never get going on day one in Scotland, and in windy conditions, sliced a shot on the 11th so far into the rough, that spectators had to help look for the lost ball.
"Yeah, a difficult day," McIlroy said.
"I felt like I did OK for the first part of the round and then missed the green at the Postage Stamp there and left it in [the bunker] and made a double.
"But still, I felt like I was in reasonable enough shape being a couple over through nine, thinking that I could maybe get those couple shots back, try to shoot even par, something like that.
"You have a strategy that you think is going to help you, but when you get a wind you haven't played in, you start to think about hitting a few clubs that you haven't hit in practice. I just didn't adapt well enough to the conditions.
"Your misses get punished a lot more this week than last week [at the Scottish Open] or even any week, whether you miss it in a fairway bunker or even the rough. The rough... the balls that I hit in the rough today, the lies were pretty nasty."
McIlroy was not the only big-hitter to struggle on day one, with Bryson DeChambeau – who edged out McIlroy at Pinehurst – also floundered, carding five over.
"I could have thrown in the towel after nine and been like, I'm going home," he said. "It's a difficult test, something I'm not familiar with. I can do it when it's warm and not windy."
Shane Lowry (five under), Justin Thomas (three under) and Xander Schauffle (two under), however, all enjoyed much more fruitful rounds.
Meanwhile, Daniel Brown emerged as the surprise overnight leader. The Englishman carded a bogey-free 65, including six birdies, to take a one-shot lead into day two.
Holger Rune advanced to the Hamburg Open quarter-finals on Thursday as he looks to move on swiftly from his Wimbledon disappointment.
Rune's All England Club campaign was ruthlessly ended by Novak Djokovic in the fourth round, beaten in straight sets by the eventual finalist.
The Dane gave himself little time to lick his wounds and has quickly returned to the court and returned to form with his debut in Hamburg.
Looking for his first ATP Tour title of the year, the second seed followed up a straight-sets win over Fabian Marozsan by defeating Marco Trungelliti 6-4 6-3.
"It's been very intense since Wimbledon," Rune said. "I only had one day off, actually.
"I was like, 'I don’t want to rest, I want to go straight back to practice', because I was very disappointed.
"I went straight back to work on the things that needed to be done, and now I have the chance to train those things in matches."
Next up will be Arthur Fils, who booked his last-eight place by beating 2023 Hamburg finalist Laslo Djere 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.
Top seed Alexander Zverev remains a threat in the top half of the draw, however, and he will face Zhang Zhizhen in the quarters.
Russell Westbrook is on the move once again, but isn't yet at his final destination.
The Los Angeles Clippers agreed to send Westbrook to the Utah Jazz on Thursday, as part of a sign-and-trade deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Jazz are expected to reach a contract buyout agreement with Westbrook, opening the door for him to join the Denver Nuggets.
Denver will be the sixth team Westbrook has played for in the last seven seasons.
To complete the trade, Utah will also receive a swap of second-round draft picks and cash from Los Angeles, while shipping guard Kris Dunn to the Clippers.
The 35-year-old Westbrook was named the NBA MVP in 2016-17, averaging a career-high 31.6 points, along with 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists.
In 2023-24 for the Clippers, he averaged career lows of 11.1 points and 4.5 assists with 5 boards. He came off the bench in 57 of the 68 games he played, shooting 27.3 per cent from 3-point range - the second-lowest mark among the 226 players with at least 150 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Nuggets still believe he can provide depth off the bench and help them make another run at a title after being eliminated in the Western Conference semi-finals in May.
The Clippers were ousted by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, with Westbrook averaging 6.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the six play-off games.
In 1,162 games in a 16-year career, Westbrook has averages of 21.7 points, 8.1 assists and 7.1 rebounds. His 199 career triple-doubles are the most in NBA history.
Dunn has career averages of 7.9 points, 4.2 assists and 3.3 boards since being drafted fifth overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2016.
In starting 32 of 66 games for the Jazz last season, the 30-year-old Dunn averaged 5.4 points, 3.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds.
Cameron Norrie could not stand in Rafael Nadal's way as the former world number one stormed into the Bastad Open quarter-finals.
Nadal made light work of the Briton on Thursday, cruising to a 6-4 6-4 victory.
The 38-year-old, who skipped Wimbledon to prepare for the Olympics, will face fourth seed Mariano Navone in the last eight.
Speaking after his victory, Nadal said: "Great feelings. I've been a while without playing on the Tour, since Roland-Garros.
"To have the chance to compete well against a great player like Cameron is a great feeling. I think I played good tennis, in some moments I need to play a little bit more aggressive, but that is part of the journey today.
"I haven't been competing very often, so matches and victories like today help. To be in rhythm the whole match and hold the pressure on the opponent the whole match, that's something that I need to improve, because I didn't play enough."
Data Debrief: Nadal's Norrie dominance
That is now five victories for Nadal against Norrie in six career meetings. The Spaniard's only defeat to Norrie came at the United Cup in 2023.
Nadal has won those five matches without dropping a set in any of them.
Jamaican Fraser McConnell and driving partner Laia Sainz delivered a spectacular performance at the Hydro X Prix, securing a hotly contested second-place finish in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, during Round 4 of Extreme E on July 14th. This achievement followed their impressive second-place finish during the qualifying round on Saturday.
Opening the Round 4 Grand Final, E.ON Next Veloce’s Kevin Hansen stormed into an early lead ahead of ASXE’s Laia Sanz. Hansen built a lead of 10 seconds by the time the teams approached the Switch Zone. After the driver change, E.ON Next Veloce’s Molly Taylor set off with an advantage of 8.8 seconds as ASXE’s Fraser McConnell looked to close the gap heading into lap three.
Racing until the finish line, ASXE’s McConnell was all over the rear bumper of Taylor’s E.ON Next Veloce car in the closing moments but was unable to make the crucial move for the win, finishing just 0.65 seconds behind. The podium finish places McConnell and Sanz second in the championship table.
Opening the Grand Final, E.ON Next Veloce’s Kevin Hansen took an early lead, closely followed by ASXE’s Laia Sanz. RXR and Andretti Altawkilat were in pursuit, with Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Catie Munnings closely contesting the third spot.
Hansen built a commanding 10-second lead by the time the teams approached the Switch Zone. RXR suffered a puncture, allowing Catie Munnings in the Andretti Altawkilat ODYSSEY 21 to pass during the second lap, although Munnings picked up a time penalty for dropped flags.
After the driver change, E.ON Next Veloce’s Molly Taylor set off with an 8.8-second advantage as ASXE’s Fraser McConnell aimed to close the gap. Despite a valiant effort, McConnell was unable to overtake Taylor, who held on to secure a clean sweep for E.ON Next Veloce at the Hydro X Prix. Andretti Altawkilat claimed the final podium spot.
McConnell and Sanz’s consistent performance throughout the weekend has solidified their position as strong contenders in the championship, currently holding second place in the overall standings. This achievement highlights their skill and determination as they continue to compete at the highest level in Extreme E.
Charles Leclerc has said he is looking forward to working with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, something he described as an "incredible opportunity".
Hamilton will join the Italian team at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season, ending an 11-year stay with Mercedes where he has won six of his seven world titles.
The Brit's arrival at Ferrari will be Leclerc's third team-mate in what will be his seventh year with the team, following Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc is excited about the opportunity to work with the seven-time world champion, and insisted that Ferrari's move to sign Hamilton was not an indication that the Italian team are losing confidence in the 26-year-old.
"For me, it's an incredible opportunity," Leclerc told BBC Sport. "First, to learn from the most successful driver ever. And to prove myself as well against Lewis, who is a benchmark for everybody."
"Not at all, because Ferrari is Ferrari. And they need the best drivers in their cars. So, for the benefit of Ferrari, it is completely understandable.
"For me, I don't see any negative in that, because it's Lewis Hamilton."
Hamilton has history in his sights following his record-extending ninth win at Silverstone ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 39-year-old is one podium away from becoming the first driver to reach 200 top-three finishes in the competition's history.
Leclerc said he still needs convincing that he is the faster driver compared to his incoming team-mate, saying he sees no weaknesses in Hamilton's driving despite the veteran campaigner having gone two full seasons without a win before his victory at the British Grand Prix.
"Well, I need to be convinced that I am the fastest driver when I put the helmet on, but I am really looking forward to it, and it will be super interesting for me," said Leclerc.
"I have always said you learn from every single team-mate you have over your career. When I look at the way he drives - because we always look at each other and data - you don't really see any weaknesses. And that's where Lewis is incredible. He's only got strengths.
"So I'm really looking forward to seeing how he works with his engineers, the feedback, and all of these kinds of things, to learn and become better."
Leclerc has endured a difficult time in recent races, failing to score points at Silverstone and the Austrian Grand Prix, as many times in his previous 59 finished races, which has seen him slip to third in the Drivers' Championship.
Should Ferrari score 26 points at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, they will become the first team in history to reach the 10,000-point barrier in F1.
And despite Leclerc believes a return to the points is forthcoming under the guidance of team principal, Fred Vasseur.
"Fred has two very big strengths which are very important in F1 and especially in a team like Ferrari, where the passion is so high that in very good moments there are lots of emotions but there are also very big emotions whenever we are going through a tough time," said Leclerc.
"In F1, you need to be as flat emotionally as possible and Fred is always a little bit the balance.
"Whenever we have very difficult moments, he helps the team to be back at a reasonable level and not be too disappointed.
"And exactly the same when we win, to not be too high and bring us back down and tell everybody we've got to work because this is only one race."
Kevin Magnussen will leave Haas at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season, a statement confirmed on Thursday.
Magnussen's seven-year association with the team will come to its conclusion at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December having enjoyed two spells with the US-based team.
The team's announcement does not confirm who will join Oliver Bearman on the grid next season, with departing Alpine driver Esteban Ocon the emerging frontrunner.
Magnussen has also held seats at McLaren and Renault, but for the bulk of his 175-race career, 135 of those have been with Haas.
The decision means Haas will have an all-new F1 line-up next year, with Magnussen's current team-mate Nico Hulkenberg moving to the Sauber team as it morphs into Audi in time for the German company's official F1 entry in 2026.
Magnussen raced for Haas from 2017 until 2020, and was re-signed before the 2022 season to replace Nikita Mazepin.
His best result for the team is fifth, which he has achieved on three occasions.
Magnussen's highest championship finish for them was in 2018, coming ninth and helping Haas to a best finish of fifth in the Constructors' Championship that year.
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said: "Kevin has truly been a bedrock of our driver line-up over the years.
"Nobody's driven more races for us and we’ve had some memorable highlights together – not least a fifth-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2022 when Kevin returned to start his second spell with the team.
"He wasn't expecting to be driving a Formula 1 car that weekend, but he put in a remarkable performance that was a tremendous boost to the entire organisation and once again showcased his own talents behind the wheel."
Magnussen currently sits in 16th place in the Drivers' Championship, with five points. His best result came in Austria, finishing in eighth place.
“I’m proud to have raced for such a great team of people these last few years," Magnussen said.
"In particular I'd like to thank [owner] Gene Haas for his commitment to me, notably in bringing me back once again in 2022 when I thought, at that time at least, my time in F1 had ended. I've enjoyed some great moments with this team – memories I'll never forget."
Robert MacIntyre is Scotland's big hope ahead of The Open, though his preparations were delayed somewhat.
That is after he went "absolutely wild" in the wake of his victory at the Scottish Open last weekend.
MacIntyre became the first Scot to win the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999.
It is also 25 years since a Scot last won The Open, with Paul Lawrie triumphing at Carnoustie on that occasion.
MacIntyre is being tipped as an outside bet to lift the Claret Jug, though the 27-year-old said it was nevertheless vital he and his team were able to celebrate his Scottish Open victory in style.
"I'm not a big drinker, but when you get moments like that, and you've got family and friends there that have backed you since you were a young kid, it was quite right to go absolutely wild," he said.
"We did a good job of that. After this week's over, I'll sit down with my team and we'll reflect on it and probably celebrate again because it was a lifetime goal."
Speaking of his approach to The Open, MacIntyre kept it typically low-key.
"I'm not going out there trying to win a golf tournament," he said.
"If you bogey the first, you're thinking the golf tournament is getting further away from you.
"The minute you think that, your emotions are all over the place. You lose all control of yourself. You lose thought process, touch, everything.
"We all start off from level par and I've got as much chance as everyone else in the field.
"It's just about getting in that position on Sunday and seeing where the cards fall. Hopefully I'll have a chance. That's all I want."
Tommy Fleetwood tries not to think about his near misses at the majors, as he bids to put that frustration behind him by winning The Open.
Fleetwood has never won a major, but has finished in the top five in each of the four events.
Indeed, he was second at The Open in 2019, a year after he finished second at the U.S. Open.
Earlier this year, the 33-year-old placed T3 at The Masters, and ahead of taking to the course at Royal Troon on Thursday, Fleetwood said he attempts to ensure the past does not play on his mind.
"I try not to dwell on it too much," he said.
"I get frustrated like anybody else. I get down on myself like anybody else.
"I don't win anywhere near as much as I would like, and I'm probably not in a position in the game where I want to be, even though I'm doing perfectly well.
"It's not where I believe I can be, and the results don't always show that."
Fleetwood is one of four golfers to have finished inside the top 10 at each of the last two editions of The Open, along with Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young and last year's champion Brian Harman.
However, he is yet to win on the PGA Tour, though he does have seven European Tour titles to his name.
He added; "I try to focus on the positives and what I need to do to actually get to where I want to be or contend in tournaments and win tournaments.
"I try to focus on that every day, but yeah, to be sure, the game's annoying.
"Even when you play well, you come off frustrated because you might have missed a putt or you might have finished a shot or two behind where you thought you could."
Jamaica’s Ice Hockey team emerged victorious in the final match of the Challenger Series after beating a very strong Lebanon team 12-8 at the College Ice Arena in Toronto on Saturday evening.
In a pulsating match played before hundreds of cheering supporters, Jamaica took the early lead in the first period but fell behind after Lebanon scored three unanswered goals over the next 15 minutes of the first period. During the second of three 20-minute periods, Jamaica regrouped and fought back to take a 6-4 lead, before Lebanon pulled level at 6-6.
Buoyed by the enthusiastic support from the massive crowd, Jamaica asserted their authority on the contest to end the period at 9–6. With victory in sight at the start of the third and final period, the Jamaicans applied pressure on their Lebanese counterparts and extended their lead to 11-7 with four minutes left in the game.
Tight defensive work then ensured Jamaica added to their tally, though they also conceded another goal in the latter stages of the encounter. Reggie Millette and Givani Smith both scored a brace, while Maleek McGowan, Captain Taos Jordan, Amari Sellers, Tyler Drummond, Dante Sheriff, Avery Grant, Josh Mitton, and Marquis Grant-Mentis got the others.
The Challenger Series is a new tournament involving Puerto Rico, Lebanon, and Jamaica, who are all associate members of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
The Challenger Series began in Chicago in April, continued in New York in June, and culminated in Toronto on Saturday. At the end of the second leg in New York, Jamaica was in pole position and, as such, earned the automatic right to the final by virtue of the accumulation of points over the first two legs.
Lebanon defeated Puerto Rico 9-3 in the playoff for a spot in the final.
Across the three legs, Jamaica won six of their nine matches and now has an overall tally of 22 matches since it started to play competitively in 2019. Their record currently stands at 16 wins and six losses, with over 100 goals to their tally.
Don Anderson, president of the Jamaica Olympic Ice Hockey Federation (JOIHF), said the Federation is now setting its sights on establishing an ice rink in Jamaica as well as building a strong local program that will facilitate the team playing in qualifying tournaments for the Olympics. He added that expert opinion is that this team could be highly ranked globally if it had the opportunity to play at the next level amongst countries with Ice Rinks.
Red Bull's internal issues may hit their Formula One team down the line, so says McLaren chief Zak Brown.
While Max Verstappen remains in control of the drivers' championship, and Red Bull lead the constructors' standings, their 2024 season has been far from ideal to date.
Red Bull remain in pole on the track, but there have been issues off it as team boss Christian Horner's future appears uncertain, while lead designer Adrian Newey is leaving.
Even if they are not caught this season, McLaren chief executive Brown feels the issues will eventually catch up with Red Bull if they do not find a resolution.
And while Red Bull have scored points in each of the last 55 races, with Verstappen having seven wins this season, it was Mercedes who triumphed at the Austrian Grand Prix and Silverstone in the past two races, leaving Horner's outfit short of momentum.
Ahead of this week's Hungarian Grand Prix, Brown said: "I think the turmoil will have more of a mid to longer-term impact.
"Adrian Newey... this car was done last year, what they are racing now was done when everything was fine.
"It's more 2026 when you've got a new engine coming, what's going on with the driver front? That's where you potentially are going to see the lack of stability that appears to be there maybe come through a little bit.
"Winning holds things together and as that becomes more of a challenge for them, that's where you might see some more fractures in various relationships inside that camp."
Brown's McLaren are enjoying a fine campaign. Lando Norris, with one race win under his belt and many other near misses, sits second to Verstappen in the standings, while the team are third in the constructors' championship, just seven points behind Ferrari.
Indeed, six drivers have already tasted victory in 2024, which is the most in a single F1 season since 2012 (eight).
And Brown feels next season will be an even more intriguing battle.
"I think next year could be an epic season, right? You could have four teams fighting for the championship," he said.
"It would be naive to rule out someone who's not in the top four right now, because we do see how quickly things can change.
"Everyone has very similar technology, so there's no reason why others can't do what we've done the last year."
This weekend's race will be the 39th edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix in F1. Since its appearance on the calendar in 1986, it is one of only four races that have been held each year without interruption, along with the British Grand Prix, Italian Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix.
DRIVERS TO WATCH
Max Verstappen - Red Bull
Verstappen has won the last two editions of this race, and the Dutchman is aiming to become only the second driver in F1 history to win three in a row at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after Lewis Hamilton between 2018 and 2020.
But the three-time reigning champion comes into the event after finishing fifth and second in his last two outings. He has not gone three successive races without a win since 2021 and on that occasion all three victories went to Mercedes, who have won the last two races.
Is that a bad omen for Red Bull?
Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
Hamilton celebrated his first victory since 2021 as he triumphed for Mercedes at Silverstone last time out.
The Hungarian Grand Prix has always been one of his favourite races and no driver has won it more times (eight), had more pole positions (nine), reached more podiums (11) and scored more points (271) than Hamilton at the circuit.
There is also a landmark in the offing.
Hamilton has been on the podium 199 times in his F1 career (49 with McLaren and 150 with Mercedes). His next top-three finish will see him become the first driver to finish on the podium 200 times.
And even if Hamilton does not get a front-row placing in qualifying, do not rule him out. The last three Hungarian Grand Prix winners have not started from pole position. If this trend is repeated in 2024, it will be the second time that the winner has not started from pole position in four consecutive editions at the Hungaroring (four between 2008 and 2011).
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 255
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 171
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 150
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 146
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 124
Constructors
1. Red Bull - 373
2. Ferrari - 302
3. McLaren - 295
4. Mercedes - 221
5. Aston Martin - 68
Kyrie Irving has undergone surgery on a broken hand, but is expected to be fit for the start of next season.
Irving was part of the Dallas Mavericks team that reached the NBA Finals, only to go down to the dominant Boston Celtics.
The 32-year-old sustained his injury while training earlier in July, and has now gone through surgery to fix the issue.
Posting on X, Irving wrote: "Tribe, Thank you for all the messages and prayers. God truly knew that I needed to take a break from basketball after the long season and give myself some time to heal.
"I am in love with getting better at my craft, but now I must rest and recover."
While the Mavs did not confirm a timetable for Irving's return, it has been reported he is anticipated to return to action in around two and a half months.
The 2024-25 season is set to begin in October.
Irving averaged 25.6 points per game in the regular season across 2023-24.
The Mavs have brought in Klay Thompson as a free agent this off-season.
Alexander Zverev cruised into the second round of the Hamburg Open with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Jesper de Jong.
The top seed took one step closer to defending his title with a 6-2 6-2 victory on Wednesday.
De Jong took the opening game, but Zverev dominated after that, winning the next five in a row, before holding off the Dutchman's late fightback to take the first set.
The second was a carbon copy of the first, as De Jong was broken twice and given no way back in as Zverev closed out the match to set up a meeting with Hugo Gaston in the next round.
Data Debrief: Defending champion starts strong
After clinching the title on home soil last year, Zverev was always going to come out fighting in his defence.
He hit 29 winners and twice went on five-game winning runs to take the match away from De Jong before he could get any real foothold.
Patrick Mahomes has challenged the Kansas City Chiefs to "get better" as they aim to win an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl.
In February, the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 to lift the Vince Lombardi trophy for a second consecutive year.
However, it did not look like they would even reach the showpiece match at times due to their inconsistent offense.
Mahomes threw 14 interceptions, the most in a single season in his career, while his receivers dropped 25 catchable passes, the most by any such group since the 2012 Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Chiefs entered the postseason as the number three seed in the AFC, their lowest since Mahomes became the starter in 2018.
Though they still got the glory in the end, the quarterback, who is entering his eighth year, is eyeing some big improvements to ensure they are in a better position to lift the trophy again this season.
"It's time to get better," Mahomes said at the start of the Chiefs training camp. "Every season starts differently.
"You've got to come in with that same mentality you had the year before, even with a higher intensity, and even though we won the Super Bowl last year, we felt like we didn't play our best football, especially offensively.
"So, it's our goal to be better that way and coming in with that mentality every single day.
"The end result [last season] was awesome, but I think a lot of us still have a weird feeling in our mouth.
"It wasn't fun every single week having to try to just continue to get better and better and the results not paying off the way you wanted to.
"It wasn't a lot of fun. We have a lot of those same guys back, and they know how that felt, and so we're going to try to prepare ourselves better this year so that we can play better throughout the season and obviously try to end with the same result."
While the offense were not at their best last season, the defense defined their run to the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs had the second-best defense in the league, allowing an average of just 17.3 points per game in the regular season, and Mahomes is confident they will play a part in improving the level of the squad.
"We added a lot of speed," Mahomes added. "What's better than going against our defense?
"It's the best defense in the NFL, and we get to go against them every single day and really show where we're at and how we can get better."
The Chiefs will kick off the new season against the Baltimore Ravens on September 5.
Thiago Monteiro pulled off a shock in the second round of the Swedish Open, beating Casper Ruud in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals.
The Brazilian took just an hour and a half to see off the second seed 6-3 6-3 in Bastad on Wednesday.
Ruud successfully defended two break points in the opening game but could not gain the upper hand as Monteiro charged forwards, getting two breaks to take the set.
Monteiro continued to dominate in the second, though he only needed one break this time, and comfortably held off the Norwegian in the final game to make it into the next round, where he will face either Pavel Kotov or Duje Ajdukovic.
Data Debrief: Monteiro comes out on top
Monteiro did not give Ruud any sort of opening, winning all of his service games, and 75% of his service points (38/51).
The number two seed did not win more than one game in a row, and he will be hoping to put this result behind him quickly ahead of his doubles quarter-final with Rafael Nadal later on.
The fourth and final major of 2024 is here, as Royal Troon hosts the 152nd edition of The Open Championship.
Following his remarkable near-miss at the U.S. Open, the event offers Rory McIlroy one last chance to stop his major drought from stretching into an 11th year.
Bryson DeChambeau edged McIlroy out at Pinehurst and should again be among the contenders, while world number one Scottie Scheffler is targeting an improvement after a disappointing showing on home soil.
Ludvig Aberg, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa – who won the 149th Open three years ago – are also eyeing glory, while Tiger Woods will play his first Open at Troon in 20 years.
Here, we run through the best Opta stats and storylines surrounding the main contenders.
Can McIlroy bounce back?
McIlroy won his third major title at The Open in 2014, beating Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia by six shots at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. One month later, he made it four by winning the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Who would have thought that 10 years on, the Northern Irishman would still be yet to add another major title to his glittering trophy cabinet?
Perhaps his most gutting near-miss to date came at last month's U.S. Open. Neck-and-neck with DeChambeau at the top of the leaderboard as the final round drew to a close, McIlroy missed two putts from within four yards in the final three holes.
The world number two took three weeks off after that disappointment before struggling on the greens again at last week's Scottish Open, finishing tied for fourth as Robert MacIntyre triumphed on home ground.
McIlroy has had five top-10 finishes in his last seven Open Championship appearances, though, including finishing in the top five on each of his last three Open outings on Scottish soil.
He also finished in a share of fifth at his only previous Open at Troon in 2016, and produced his best Open performance of the last decade when the event was last held in Scotland, finishing third and two shots adrift of Cameron Smith at St. Andrews in 2022.
With 21 top-10 finishes in 37 majors since his 2014 PGA Championship win, McIlroy has generally put himself in contention on the big stage – an improvement he referenced at Tuesday's pre-tournament press conference.
The key, as he earlier told reporters after the Scottish Open, will be getting his putter to "cooperate" when it matters most.
Double bubble for Bryson?
Not since Woods completed his memorable 'Tiger Slam' has any player won the U.S. Open and The Open Championship in the same year.
Woods, of course, captured both titles as he won three straight majors to round off 2000, then kick-started 2001 by triumphing at The Masters.
Tom Watson (1982), Lee Trevino (1971), Ben Hogan (1953), Gene Sarazen (1932) and Bobby Jones (1926 and 1930) are the other players to have won both in the same year.
DeChambeau will attempt to write his name into the history books this week, though his record at The Open leaves plenty to be desired.
Only in 2022 (T8) has he finished higher than 33rd at the event, a placing he managed in both 2017 and 2021. Across his six participations, he has also missed the cut twice and finished in a share of 60th last year.
The American has really turned up at the majors this year, however, finishing T6 at The Masters and second at the PGA Championship before claiming his second U.S. Open title.
PGA Championship victor Schauffele is the only other player to finish inside the top 10 at each of this year's three majors to date.
Indeed, DeChambeau is 28 under par across this year's opening three majors (-2 at The Masters, -20 PGA Championship, -6 U.S. Open), a better aggregate score than any other player. Write him off at your peril.
Scheffler to stay on top?
Victory at Augusta seemed to be paving the way for a dominant year in the majors for world number one Scheffler, though that has not quite been the case, even if he is enjoying a fantastic season nevertheless.
His arrest on the eve of the PGA Championship was far from ideal preparation for that tournament, and it was followed by a disappointing showing at the U.S. Open.
Will he get back to form at Royal Troon, and become the ninth player to win both The Masters and The Open in the same year, and the first since Woods in 2005?
Scheffler's best finish at The Open was a tie for eighth in 2021. But he has won six of his last 10 tournaments this year (Arnold Palmer Invitational, Players Championship, Masters, Heritage, Memorial and Travelers).
That marks the most wins on the PGA Tour in a calendar year since Woods in 2009.
The last six major tournaments have been won by American players. It is the USA's longest streak of major wins since 1982, and Scheffler is the very best of the bunch.
Can Harman hold onto the title? The other contenders and Woods is back
Four golfers have finished inside the top 10 at each of the last two editions of The Open: McIlroy, Cameron Young, Tommy Fleetwood and Brian Harman, who won the Claret Jug last year.
Harman comes into The Open as the world number 13, though it is worth noting he has only finished in the top 10 in three majors (U.S. Open 2017, The Open 2022 and The Open 2023).
Scottish Open champion MacIntyre is one of only three multiple winners on the PGA Tour this year (he won the Canadian Open in June), along with Scheffler and McIlroy.
Home favourite MacIntyre is aiming to become the first Scottish winner of a major since Paul Lawrie in 1999.
In his three Open Championship appearances so far, Morikawa has either won (2021) or missed the cut (2022, 2023). He is one of two players to win The Open at the first attempt this century, alongside Ben Curtis in 2003.
What about Schauffele? He finally ended his wait for a major title at the PGA Championship earlier this year. Since the 2022 edition of that tournament, the world number three has played in 10 major tournaments and has never finished outside the top 20.
And, finally, Troon will welcome back Woods after a two-decade absence.
The 15-time major champion bit back at a suggestion he should be considering retirement, and will be out to prove his doubters wrong.
That being said, the last time he made the cut at The Open was in 2018, at Carnoustie (T-6th), and he failed to make the weekend at both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship this year.
Having also finished last of any player to make the cut at this year's Masters, Woods may be up against it at Royal Troon, though is firing on all fronts after Colin Montgomerie's retirement comments.
The course
Royal Troon is hosting The Open Championship for the 10th time. It will become the eighth course to welcome the tournament on 10 or more occasions and only the fourth venue in Scotland to play host that many times, after St. Andrews (30), Prestwick (24) and Muirfield (16).
The first Open at Troon took place 101 years ago, in 1923, and the course has welcomed the tournament at least once in every decade since the 1950s.
The most recent Open to be held at the venue saw Henrik Stenson edge out Phil Mickelson by three strokes back in 2016.
At that edition of the tournament, Stenson set records both for the lowest final score at a 72-hole Open (264) and the lowest score to par (20 under), with Smith matching that latter achievement two years ago.
Does more history await this year?
Rory McIlroy has no issues with repeated talk over his long wait for another major crown, preferring to have many "close calls" rather than missing out entirely.
The Northern Irishman is preparing to tee off at The Open Championship on Thursday, playing alongside Tyrrell Hatton and American Max Homa in the first two rounds at Royal Troon.
Much of the discussion before the 152nd Open has revolved around McIlroy's near-miss at the U.S. Open, having squandered a late lead by bogeying three of his final four holes.
That collapse included two woeful putts from close range, with Bryson DeChambeau seizing the chance to take the Pinehurst major, and brought further questions over McIlroy's game.
Yet the 35-year-old, who has not won a major since 2014 at the PGA Championship, would rather be close again than not be in the race.
"It [talk about another major win] doesn't bother me," McIlroy said at Tuesday's pre-tournament press conference.
"I know that I'm in a good spot. If I think about 2015 through 2020, that five-year stretch, I seldom had a realistic chance to win a major championship in those five years.
"So I'd much rather have these close calls. It means that I'm getting closer.
"I'd love to be able to play golf and get one over the line, but as soon as I do that, people are going to say, well, when are you going to win your sixth? So it's never-ending."
Messages of support flooded towards McIlroy after last month's disappointment at the U.S. Open, with Rafael Nadal, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods all reaching out.
McIlroy was none the wiser about Woods' kind words, however, having changed his phone number after taking a break following the Pinehurst failure.
"Full disclosure, I changed my number two days after the U.S. Open, so I didn't get it until he told me about it today," McIlroy added. "I was like, 'Oh, thanks very much'.
"So I blanked Tiger Woods, which is probably not a good thing. Tiger has been nothing but incredible to me over the course of my career, in the good moments and the bad. He sent me an incredible message after St. Andrews in 2022.
"I met Tiger when I was 15 years old, and I've built up a great relationship with him, his whole family. He really enjoys spending time with my mum and dad as well. It means a lot that he reached out.
"It means a lot that he waited a few days to reach out, which if he hadn't waited that long, I probably would have got it. But I caught up with him earlier.
"It's always nice when your hero and the guy that you had on your bedroom wall is reaching out and offering words of encouragement."
Jarren Duran hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning and the American League scored five unanswered runs to defeat the National League 5-3 in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas.
Shohei Ohtani staked the National League to a 3-0 lead with a three-run homer in the third inning off Tanner Houck, but the American League answered in the bottom half with three runs of its own.
Juan Soto doubled home a pair of runs and scored on pinch-hitter David Fry’s hit one out later.
Hunter Greene opened the bottom of the fifth by getting the first two outs, but Anthony Santander singled and Duran sent an 0-1 pitch 413 feet into the right-center field seats to give the AL a 5-3 lead.
Duran was named All-Star Game MVP.
Mason Miller struck out two in a perfect inning to earn the win and Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Kirby Yates each worked one scoreless inning before Emmanuel Clase fanned two in the ninth for the save.
Paul Skenes, 22, became the fifth rookie to start an All-Star Game and pitched a hitless first inning. His 11 big league games are the fewest for an All-Star.
The AL has won 10 of the last 11 All-Star Games and improved to 48-44-2 all-time in the Midsummer Classic.
Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago are set to represent the Caribbean at next year’s Netball World Youth Cup, after securing the top three spots at the just-concluded Americas Netball World Youth Cup qualifiers in Guadeloupe.
The young Sunshine Girls, who went unbeaten in the tournament, were crowned overall champions following a 54-29 win over Barbados young Gems in Sunday’s final, while Trinidad and Tobago young Calypso Girls downed Grenada 61-39 in the third-place playoff to take the final qualifying spot.
Jamaica’s Head coach Phyllis Thompson lauded her team’s gritty showing, particularly in the semi-final where they produced a late rally to top their young Calypso Girls counterparts 40-33.
“I am super excited and elated for the girls. They did the hard work coming into the tournament and it showed on the court. Of course we weren’t always flawless, we made our fair share of mistakes along the way, but the most important thing was to secure the win here and then work on tighten up our play going forward,” Thompson said.
“We have a very talented and determined group of girls and it showed in the semi-final against Trinidad when we were down two goals, I reminded them that we are still in the game and they went out and gave it their all to come out victorious. So I am very proud of them and like I said we will go back to the drawing board and work on what we need to for the World Cup next year,” she added.
While they were unable to upstage Jamaica in the final, president of the Barbados Netball Association, Dr. Carmeta Douglin struck a positive tone.
She admitted that closing the gap with world class teams like Jamaica is no easy task but, in the same breath, insisted that improvement is possible with the right structures.
The young Gems brushed aside Grenada 63-45 in the semi-final.
“Our Under-21 is not a bad team, but they still need a lot of work to get to the world-class level, as you can see. So we are looking to build on Under-14, to move to Under-16, to move to Under-21, to move to seniors. So we are looking at an Academy, where we have players in training all year round, and moving up through the age groups. So this is something we are planning,” Douglin said.
“Jamaica has been there, they have done that, and they are getting a lot more practice, a lot more exposure, because this Jamaica Under-21 team would obviously be playing in their Super League and playing with their seniors, who already have a really good start. So we need to get there, and it’s a building process, and we are working towards it,” she noted.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago’s Head coach Kalifa McCollin-Lopez welcomed the third-place finish by her team.
“I am very excited for the girls. They would have worked hard to reach here and I know they are really happy right now,” she said.
Though the losses against Barbados, earlier in the tournament, and Jamaica in the semi-final, were hard to take, McCollin-Lopez said they served as lessons for their improved performance in the third-place contest.
“Through those losses, we would have had to learn and grow from them; not to put themselves down too much because we had the game following, but to tidy up the mistakes (and) stick to (the) task. I think that is what we went out there and tried to do,” she shared.
The three Caribbean teams now join pre-qualified teams New Zealand, Australia, England, Fiji, and host nation Gibraltar for the Netball World Youth Cup, a competition for emerging Under-21 players, scheduled for September 19–28 next year.
A total of 20 teams will compete in the event. South Africa, Malawi, and Zambia qualify from Africa, and Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka qualify from Asia. The remaining six teams are yet to be decided.
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