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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Aug 3

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The Wyndham Championship being contested in Greensboro, North Carolina this weekend is the final tournament of the 2025 PGA Tour regular season. Next week starts the three tournament FedEx Cup Playoffs when the best golfers in the world must qualify amongst the Top 70 for the FedEx St. Jude Championship (August 7-10), then the Top 50 for the BMW Championship (August 14-17) and then the Top 30 to compete in the final tournament of the season, the TOUR Championship (August 21-24) at East Lake in Atlanta.

Over the many years of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the PGA Tour and its players have constantly defended the ever-changing format. While the gradual cut-down (elimination of 20 golfers per tourney to send the best 30 golfers to the TOUR Championship), the various proposals to allow the top golfer to begin the final leg at (-10), counting down (-9), etc for the start.

It just didn’t work.

This year, the TOUR Championship will be played as a 72-hole stroke-play event, with all players starting the tournament at even par. The best performer over the course of four rounds at the TOUR Championship will win the FedEx Cup and the FedEx Cup bonus distribution total of cash is $100 million, with the FedEx Cup champion earning $10 million.

Not bad.

But, the tour still seeks a way to reward the players who score the most FedEx Cup points leading into East Lake and that brings us to No. 2 in the world, Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy decided to forego participation in the the FedEx St. Jude next week, the lone golfer among the 69 others who have qualified to take a week off.

You see, McIlroy is guaranteed to make the Tour Championship at East Lake regardless of his results in Memphis or the following week’s BMW Championship in Owings Mills, Maryland. McIlroy is second in the standings after three wins this season, including the Masters, and he’s some 850 points ahead of Sepp Straka who stands in third place leading into this week in Carolina.

Coming off the two or three week stint in Europe (Scottish Open and The Open), McIlroy will rest and practice for a big push in the grand finale, and that’s completely within the current rules.

After years of wrestling with the format which – at times – forced the players to participate each week, the PGA Tour seems to have thrown up its hands in surrender on the issue.

This column thought and thought of ways to correct the un-correctable, and then decided to consult with column contributor and avid PGA Tour fan, Chris Gallivan. The maven of mulligans thought long and hard and came up with the idea of a “Tiered System” to revert back to the gifted strokes method of operation and allow the No. 1 player top billing, but then to group players (maybe in fours) to trail the No. 1 by only a stroke, then another four to trail by only two, and so on.

The increase in the number of players in the hunt puts much more pressure on the No. 1 while it also forces players (No. 2 through 20+) to play each week of the Playoffs or else slip downward in the placings. A worthy idea for consideration, and an idea that will require more study by WWYI in crunching numbers from previous years’ play and playoffs.

Meanwhile, it’s Happy Trails for Rory McIlroy this week and we’ll see you in Atlanta where he’ll surely have plenty of practice rounds while the others are toiling away in the heat of Maryland.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The Boston Red Sox organization received significant blowback when they chose not to make any major trades before this past Thursday’s MLB trading deadline. The Sox made two smaller, less impressive deals, acquiring pitchers Steve Matz and Dustin May, both contributors but not the No. 2 starter Red Sox management was striving to obtain in a last minute deal. Matz pitched one inning of relief (the sixth inning) of Saturday’s 7-3 Boston win over the Houston Astros. May has yet to pitch for Boston.

The “inactivity” was widely criticized by media and fans, and even some MLB GM-types accused Boston’s head of baseball ops and GM Craig Breslow of being “difficult to deal with,” fueling the firestorm of more criticism on sports talk radio city-wide.

Digital Sports Desk believes the best trade made was the trade that wasn’t made, as Minnesota ace Joe Ryan was reportedly on the block, but at a high cost. Surely, the Twins were asking for the moon of Boston rookies and prospects and there was no long-term contract in sight if Breslow pulled the trigger on a deal.

Additionally, Boston OF Jarren Duran has been long rumored to be the fodder in place for a major deal, but slow down Trader Joes. Duran has proven to be the key piece of a Boston clubhouse that has evolved as the year progressed. Time after time, Red Sox players have spoken of the closeness that developed as the team struggled but then reeled off a 10-game winning streak before the MLB All-Star break and now have won six of their last seven games, including two over the LA Dodgers, two over the Minnesota Twins and two vs. the Astros – with a series finale scheduled for Sunday.

Boston is now (61-51), ten games over the .500 mark and in second place in the tough as nails American League East. The Red Sox are also in the driver’s seat for the two AL Wild Card slots, 1.5 games ahead of the floundering New York Yankees, losers of their last two games and 4-6 over the last 10 games. Consider this: New York was 9.5 games ahead of Boston on June 12th.

The key issue for Breslow and the Sox so-called inactivity was not even considering a trade involving any of Boston’s “Class of ‘25, in OF Roman Anthony, and INF Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell, nevermind Duran or utility man Ceddanne Rafaela – all serious commodities as the trade winds of hope blew hard for other clubs.

The trading deadline passed, and yes, the Red Sox must now rely on starters Walker Buehler (6-6) and Lucas Giolito (7-2) who go No. 2 & 3 behind All-Star Garrett Crochet(12-4).

The Red Sox are 19-7 since July 1, tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in the majors during that timespan. That said, the Red Sox are in the midst of the toughest portion of their 2025 schedule, with the next 10 games against clubs with .500 records or better. Another key factor since the beginning of July for Boston is the fact they are 11-5 in games decided by three runs or fewer and that includes eight one-run games.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Cooper Flagg or Cooper Criswell? Take your pick. Interesting note on Boston Red Sox pitcher Cooper Criswell. On Friday night, Criswell went (7.0 IP, seven hits, a run, two walks, four strikeouts) allowed a solo HR in the second inning but did not allow a run in the other 6.0 innings pitched. Criswell tied the longest start of his career and also recording his second career quality start (also 7.0 IP and 0 ER on 7/23/24 at Colorado). … The key factor: In his last seven starts, beginning 7/23/24, Criswell is 2-0 with a 1.49 ERA (6 ER/36.1 IP) and he’s allowed three earned runs or fewer in 17 of his last 19 starts, including two earned runs or fewer in 15 starts.

THE DISTRICT: Looks like the Washington Commanders will be based in The District, not Maryland, for many years to come. The D.C. Council voted to approve development of the RFK Stadium site in DC, which is the first step toward the Commanders building a new $3.7 billion stadium in the city. A second reading of the proposal to redevelop RFK and its campus and the subsequent vote on the project will occur on Sept. 17. If the plan passes that second vote, it would then go to D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser for approval. The plans call for a domed stadium and development of the entire area. More to come as the votes near.

THIS JEST IN: Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca did not get his NBA team when the Grousbeck family put the majority of the legendary C’s franchise up for sale. In multiple reports on Saturday, Pagliuca changed gears and investment strategy as he reportedly reached a deal to buy the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun for a record $325 million and move the team to Boston in 2027.

The news of the Pagliuca bid came on the same day Sportico reported that billionaire Marc Lasry is considering a bid to buy the Sun.

The WNBA league office issued a terse statement in reaction to the leak of the sale, noting, “Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams.”

The statement reviewed its history of expansion – past and present day – The league has announced five expansion teams that will begin play over the next five seasons with Portland (2026), Toronto (2026), Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030) joining the WNBA. Each paid a then-record $250 million expansion fee. The most recent expansion team is the Golden State Valkyries, a team founded this season and currently playing in the Chase Center in San Francisco, home of the Warriors.

In the process of expanding, nine other cities bid for start-up teams, including Houston, which the league singled out as getting a team in the future when it announced Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia in June. Boston did not bid, but continuous talk of Boston becoming a WNBA host city surfaced each of the past two years when the Sun played single regular season games at TD Boston Garden.

The WNBA continued, “Those other cities remain under consideration based on the extensive work they did as part of the expansion process and currently have priority over Boston. Soon-to-be Celtics team owner Bill Chisholm has also reached out to the league office and asked that Boston receive strong consideration for a WNBA franchise at the appropriate time.”

With the relocation reports and the WNBA statement at odds, one must remember the fact the W’s big brother had a number of clubs move over the years, including a very unpopular relocation from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008-09. The Sonics/Thunder were the third team in a string of relocat (Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis-2001) and a (Charlotte to New Orleans-2002) dance that resulted in Charlotte receiving a new expansion franchise. That doesn’t count the mysterious San Diego Clippers to Los Angeles move in 1984, a relocation without league permission, and the New Jersey Nets slide from East Rutherford, NJ to Brooklyn in 2012).

In 2021, the Atlanta Dream sold for $10 million and in 2020, the Las Vegas Aces went for $2m.

It seems the WNBA will have some accounting to do between the $250m and $350m now on the table.

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: “Paging Joey Chestnut. Paging Joey Chestnut,” as the Associated Press reported from Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania that a truckload of raw hot dogs spilled across a Pennsylvania interstate Friday after a crash that briefly clogged heavily traveled arteries in both directions. They caused a traffic jam, too.

Work crews were stuck with a job they did not relish — rolling up the scattered tube steaks for disposal. “Once those frankfurters leave the truck and hit the road, that’s all garbage, and it’s still pretty warm,” Shrewsbury Fire Company Chief Brad Daubermansaid, suffering in 85-95-degree temps which engulfed the East Coast.

State police said the tractor trailer had an unspecified mechanical problem on Interstate 83 a few miles north of the Maryland line as morning rush hour was wrapping up, causing the truck to push into a passenger vehicle. When the truck scraped along a concrete divider, its trailer was ripped open and the contents scattered all over the roads.

Four people required medical attention, Dauberman said, for injuries that police said were not life-threatening. Dauberman added, that emergency crews couldn’t help but see the humor in the situation, and his daughter texted him a photo of a hot dog-themed T-shirt.

“I can tell you personally, hot dogs are very slippery,” the fire chief said. “I did not know that.”

Obviously, no one thought of the one, guaranteed solution, as a call to five or 10 local dog pounds and turning a few dozen furry friends loose would’ve scooped up the raw dogs in a matter of minutes. Of course, the next morning might’ve been a bigger issue.

PGA Tour: Dahmen Leads After R-1

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GREENSBORO – First round leader Joel Dahmen (1st/-9) in his 232nd start on TOUR, bidding for his second career PGA TOUR title (2021 Corales Puntacana Championship).

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Dahmen totaled 10 birdies, including three consecutive on Nos. 7-9 to finish his round, against one bogey (par-4 14th). His (61) tied his career low round on TOUR (R2/2020 RSM Classic/finished T50).

It was Dahmen’s best finish in six prior starts at the Wyndham Championship is T42 (2017). It marked his sixth career 18-hole lead/co-lead in individual stroke play (0-for-5 to date) and his second outright 18-hole lead this season (Corales Puntacana Championship/finished T2).

Notes:
  • Following the Wyndham Championship, the Top 70 players in the FedExCup standings will qualify for next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship (the first of three events in the FedExCup Playoffs):
  • FedEx St. Jude Championship (Top 70 players following Wyndham Championship)
  • BMW Championship (Top 50 players following FedEx St. Jude Championship)
  • TOUR Championship (Top 30 players following BMW Championship)
  • Leaderboard (link)

Kaito Onishi (neck) and Nate Lashley (foot) WD after the first round of the Wyndham Championship

Please check PGATourCom for updated info.

Wyndham | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

1 Joel Dahmen 61 (-9)

2 Alex Noren 62 (-8)

T3 Cameron Young 63 (-7)

T3 Aaron Rai 63 (-7)

T3 Nico Echavarria 63 (-7)

T3 Mark Hubbard 63 (-7)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

PGA Tour: Wyndham Preview

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GREENSBORO – The 2025 Wyndham Championship is the 36th and last event of the 36 scheduled events in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup regular season. Since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007, the Wyndham Championship has played host to the FedEx Cup regular season finale (since 2008 at Sedgefield Country Club).

Following the Wyndham Championship, the Top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will advance to the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Every player ranked from Nos. 60-80 in the FedExCup standings are in the field: Tony Finau (No. 60), Rickie Fowler (No. 61), Davis Riley (No. 62), Kevin Yu (No. 63), Erik van Rooyen (No. 64), Nico Echavarria (No. 65), Emiliano Grillo (No. 66), Cam Davis (No. 67), Patrick Rodgers(No. 68), Byeong Hun An (No. 69), Matti Schmid (No. 70), Nicolai Højgaard (No. 71), Keith Mitchell (No. 72), Chris Kirk (No. 73), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 74), Gary Woodland (No. 75), Kevin Roy (No. 76), Alex Smalley (No. 77), Davis Thompson (No. 78), Eric Cole (No. 79), William Mouw (No. 80).

The Wyndham Championship winner will receive 500 FedExCup points, a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR and $1,476,000; the winner will also be exempt for The Sentry, THE PLAYERS Championship, Masters Tournament and PGA Championship in 2026.

  • This year marks the 86th annual Wyndham Championship, having been included on the PGA TOUR schedule since 1938 (the seventh-longest running TOUR event excluding the majors).

Following the Wyndham Championship, the Top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will advance to the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Every player ranked from Nos. 60-80 in the FedExCup standings are in the field: Tony Finau (No. 60), Rickie Fowler (No. 61), Davis Riley (No. 62), Kevin Yu (No. 63), Erik van Rooyen (No. 64), Nico Echavarria (No. 65), Emiliano Grillo (No. 66), Cam Davis (No. 67), Patrick Rodgers(No. 68), Byeong Hun An (No. 69), Matti Schmid (No. 70), Nicolai Højgaard (No. 71), Keith Mitchell (No. 72), Chris Kirk (No. 73), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 74), Gary Woodland (No. 75), Kevin Roy (No. 76), Alex Smalley (No. 77), Davis Thompson (No. 78), Eric Cole (No. 79), William Mouw (No. 80).

The Wyndham Championship winner will receive 500 FedExCup points, a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR and $1,476,000; the winner will also be exempt for The Sentry, THE PLAYERS Championship, Masters Tournament and PGA Championship in 2026.

Kitayama Takes 3M Open

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BLAINE (Minn) – Kurt Kitayama wasn’t sure he would qualify for the final two rounds of the 3M Open. It turned out to be a weekend to remember.

Kitayama shot 6-under-par 65 and held on to win the 3M Open by one stroke Sunday in Blaine, Minn., for his second PGA Tour victory.

“I feel like the game has been trending, and for it finally to kind of pay off now has been awesome,” Kitayama said.

Kitayama finished at 23-under 261 at  TPC Twin Cities for a one-stroke decision on Sam Stevens, who posted 66 on Sunday. Kitayama made a total of 20 birdies in the two weekend rounds.

Prior to that, he wasn’t certain he would make the cut in this tournament.

“On Friday, I was fighting my swing trying to find something,” Kitayama said. “Went to the range, trying to find something.”

He definitely discovered what was needed.

Kitayama, who tied a course and tournament record with a third-round 60 on Saturday, pretty much rode that wave of momentum. He had birdies on the first three holes Sunday — including a chip-in from the green side rough on No. 3 — and was 5 under through six holes on the way to a 29 on the front nine.

But after a bogey on No. 11, his lead was just two on England’s Matt Wallace, who had already completed his round. Kitayama rebounded with birdies on two of the next three holes.

Yet it took him three putts to finish the par-3 17th, with the bogey cutting the margin to one stroke. But Stevens, who had birdies on Nos. 14-16 to pull within striking distance, was all over the place on the 18th with his first three shots into the rough and scrambled for par.

Kitayama, in the next group, had a smooth final hole and won it with par.

The tournament title locked up a position for Kitayama in the FedEx Cup playoffs with one regular-season tournament remaining.

“Jumping up that much is great,” he said. “The goal is to make the playoffs and give yourself a chance.”

There was another special aspect of the result for Kitayama because his older brother, Daniel, was his caddie for the second week in a row.

Stevens settled for his third top-10 finish of the season.

David Lipsky and Wallace both registered 64s to share the distinction for the best score of the round, and they finished tied for third place at 20 under, along with Pierceson Coody (67) and Jake Knapp (68).

Wallace produced a bogey-free round, but finished with pars on his final three holes.

Chris Gotterup, who was aiming for his second title in three weeks, didn’t make a charge en route to a 69, tying for 10th place at 18 under.

Third-round co-leaders Thorbjorn Olesen (73) of Denmark and Akshay Bhatia (75) tumbled down the leaderboard and finished tied for 14th (16 under) and tied for 25th (14 under), respectively. Bhatia had seven bogeys Sunday.

Kevin Roy also registered 64 on Sunday, ending at 13 under.

–Field Level Media

Olesen Leads at 3M Open

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BLAINE – Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen overcame a double bogey and took over the lead at the 3M Open by posting a 5-under-par 66 Friday at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota.

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Olesen entered the weekend at 14-under 128, one shot above Jake Knapp (65 Friday) and two ahead of Pierceson Coody (65) and Sam Stevens (68).

Olesen was 1 over par six holes into his round after hitting his tee shot out of bounds at the par-4 15th and hitting a poor shot off his drop. He proceeded to birdie the next two holes to erase that blemish, then add four birdies on the front nine.

“There was two great shots there,” Olesen said. “On (No. 16), I hit it to I think 3 or 4 feet, and also on 17 I hit it really close. Yeah, I mean, my iron play has been great. I didn’t — I felt pretty comfortable even though I made a double still, so that’s a good thing.”

Olesen, 35, is a veteran with eight wins on the DP World Tour but none in the United States. He started the week No. 129 in the FedEx Cup standings but said he’s simply taking every week as it comes.

“Every week is an opportunity to try and bounce back and do something special,” Olesen said.

Knapp is bogey-free through 36 holes as he seeks his second PGA Tour win. He opened his round with three straight birdies at Nos. 10-12.

“Feel like I’m kind of doing everything pretty good for the most part,” Knapp said. “I haven’t made too many putts, but yeah, I feel like it’s been, you know, kind of mistake-free for the most part. I haven’t really had to scramble too much.”

Tied for fifth at 11 under were Japan’s Takumi Kanaya (bogey-free 64), German Matti Schmid (68) and Chris Kirk (67).

A collection of notable names at 10 under included Wyndham Clark (65), Chris Gotterup (69), Akshay Bhatia (66) and Joel Dahmen (65). Alex Noren of Sweden joined them there by posting the round of the day, a 9-under 62 with an eagle-birdie-birdie-bogey finish.

“Today I understand why I love golf so much,” Noren quipped. “It’s a fantastic sport because it is tough and then when you get it right, it’s lovely.”

Canadian Adam Svensson broke the course record Thursday with an 11-under 60 but turned the wrong way Friday, posting a 4-over 75 to drop back to 7 under.

Max Homa (8 under following a 68), Rickie Fowler (7 under; 70) and Sam Burns (7 under; 64) made the cut, which landed at 5 under par as Friday’s round finished.

Those who missed the weekend included China’s Haotong Li (4 under), who was in the final Sunday pairing with Scottie Scheffler at last week’s Open Championship; Sahith Theegala (2 under); and Tony Finau (4 over), a former 3M Open champion who made back-to-back double bogeys en route to a 77 Friday.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: Preview for 3M Open

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BLAINE, Minn – The 2025 3M Open is the 35th of 36 FedEx Cup Regular Season events which means we are coming down the home stretch of the PGA Tour’s regular season.

The PGA TOUR returned to Minnesota for the seventh straight season, which debuted in 2019 as the TOUR’s first non-major event in Minnesota since the 1969 Minnesota Golf Classic (won by Frank Beard at Braemar Golf Club) and first official PGA TOUR event in the state since the 2009 PGA Championship (won by Y.E. Yang at Hazeltine National Golf Club).

TPC Twin Cities was designed by World Golf Hall of Fame member Arnold Palmer, who worked in consultation with Minnesota native and PGA TOUR veteran Tom Lehman.

Ten players in the field have competed in all six previous editions of the 3M Open: Cam Davis, Tony Finau, Brice Garnett, Chesson Hadley, Tom Hoge, Beau Hossler, Patton Kizzire, Peter Malnati, Troy Merritt, and Sam Ryder.

Four past champions of the 3M Open are in the field: Cameron Champ (2021), Tony Finau (2022), Lee Hodges (2023), Jhonattan Vegas (2024).

Vegas won the 2024 3M Open by one stroke over Max Greyserman, earning Vegas his fourth career PGA TOUR title in his 299th start. He became the first international winner of the event and the first player in tournament history with a win and runner-up (2021). Vegas seeks to become the first repeat winner in tournament history.

Maverick McNealy is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 18 in the Official World Golf Ranking; has six top-10s this season, highlighted by a runner-up at The Genesis Invitational.

Following next week’s Wyndham Championship (July 31–Aug. 3), the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings will earn a spot in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

  • There are 18 players in the 3M Open field who rank between Nos. 60-80 in the FedExCup standings entering the week: Davis Riley (No. 60), Kevin Yu (No. 61), Erik van Rooyen (No. 62), Rickie Fowler (No. 63), Cam Davis (No. 65), Patrick Rodgers (No. 66), Byeong Hun An (No. 67), Matti Schmid (No. 68), Keith Mitchell (No. 70), Emiliano Grillo (No. 71), Davis Thompson (No. 72), Eric Cole (No. 73), Alex Smalley (No. 74), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 75), Kevin Roy (No. 76), Chris Kirk (No. 77), Gary Woodland (No. 78), Ryo Hisatsune (No. 79).
  • At No. 85 in the FedExCup, Adam Scott will make his tournament debut at the 3M Open; Scott’s best finish in 15 starts this season is a T12 at the U.S. Open.

The 3M Open | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota

YARDS/PAR: 7,431 yards/Par 71

ARCHITECT: Arnold Palmer

PRIZE Money – Purse: $8,400,000/$1,512,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Johnattan Vegas

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW: (link)

OFFICIAL SITE: (3M)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @3MOpen #GolfThatMatters

Second Round at The Open

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PORTRUSH (Northern Ireland) – The 2024 British Amateur champion Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark holds his first lead/co-lead after any round on TOUR. He has two prior starts on the PGA TOUR, the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon (T60), and last week’s 2025 ISCO Championship where he missed the cut.

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Haotong Li of China finished solo-third in his debut Open Championship start in 2017, his best finish in 47 prior TOUR starts. He holds his second 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR, the last being the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions (T24).

Matt Fitzpatrick of England recorded his best opening-round score in his 10th start at The Open Championship. His previous best opening round was a (69) in 2017.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa posted his best score in 17 Open Championship rounds with the previous best being (68s) in R1/2021, R3/2022. Bezuidenhout holds his first lead/co-lead after any round in 119 PGA TOUR starts.

Harris English is making his 10th Open Championship start, with his lone Top-25 finish coming in 2013 (T15). He holds the first-round lead/co-lead for the sixth time on TOUR, and is 2-for-5 to date converting to victory (2013 FedEx St. Jude Championship and 2021 The Sentry.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (T6/-3) carded an opening-round (68) in bid to become the second straight player to win the PGA Championship and Open Championship in the same season (Xander Schauffele/2024). Scheffler is the only player to finish inside the Top 10 in the first three majors of 2025 (4th/Masters Tournament, 1st/PGA Championship, T7/U.S. Open).

The 2025 Masters Tournament champion and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (T20/-1) could become the first player to win the Masters and Open Championship in the same year since Tiger Woods in 2005. McIlroy opened in 2019 at Royal Portrush with a (79).

The 2019 Open Championship winner (at Royal Portrush), Shane Lowry (T20/-1), recorded a 70 in R-1, but opened with a 67 in 2019.

In bid to become the first player to successfully defend at The Open since Padraig Harrington (2008), 2024 Open Championship winner Xander Schauffele (T32/E) posted a par (71).

The Open | Notes

  • Winds were blowing from SE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 23 mph
  • Five players sharing the first-round lead is the most at The Open Championship since a record six shared the lead at Royal St. George’s in 1938 (Jimmy Adams, Bill Cox, Ernest Whitcombe, Marcel Dallemagne, John Fallon, Jimmy Bruen Jr.).
  • A victory by any of the co-leaders would mark the 12th consecutive first-time Open Championship winner; the event has currently had 11 first-time winners, equaling the longest streak from 1994-2004; Ernie Els in 2012 is the last player tobecome a multiple winner of The Open Championship.

The Open | Leaderboard after 18 Holes

T1 Jacob Skov Olesen 67 (-4)

T1 Haotong Li 67 (-4)

T1 Matt Fitzpatrick 67 (-4)

T1 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 67 (-4)

T1 Harris English 67 (-4)

T6 Four Players 68 (-3)

Full Leaderboard: (The Open)

The Open Championship

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PGA Tour, LIV Players Tee-it-Up at Royal Portrush

PORTRUSH (Northern Ireland) – The 2025 Open Championship is the 33rd of 36 FedEx Cup regular season events. It is the final major of the season. Also being contested this weekend, The Barracuda, is the 34th of 36 events. There are only three weeks remaining until the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs

This weekend:

  • It’s the final major championship of the season (Previous Winners: Rory McIlroy/Masters Tournament, Scottie Scheffler/PGA Championship, J.J. Spaun/U.S. Open)
  • The Open returns to Royal Portrush for the third time: 1951 (won by MaxFaulkner), 2019 (Shane Lowry)
  • Adam Scott is scheduled to make his 97th consecutive major championship appearance, dating to the 2001 Open Championship; only Jack Nicklaus (146) has played in more than 100 straight majors
  • Chris Gotterup, winner of last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, qualified for The Open Championship via The Open Qualifying Series as one of the top three finishers, not otherwise qualified (others: Nicolai Højgaard, Matti Schmid).
  • The last player to win on TOUR and win a major the following week: RoryMcIlroy (2014 WGCBridgestone Invitational, 2014 PGA Championship). (The PGA used two be the final major of the season).

The 153rd Open | Royal Portrush

  • 54 players in the field competed in the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, including nine of the Top 10.
  • The last 11 winners of The Open Championship won the event for the first time, starting with Phil Mickelson in 2013, tying the longest streak of first-time winners at The Open (1994-2004).
  • With three weeks remaining until the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, notable players in the field outside the Top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings entering The Open Championship include: Rickie Fowler (No. 71), Nicolai Højgaard (No. 73), Wyndham Clark (No. 78), Adam Scott (No. 83), Rasmus Højgaard (No. 84), Tom Kim (No. 87)

The Open | Tournament Preview

COURSE: Royal Portrush Golf Club, Portrush Northern Ireland

YARDAGE/PAR: 7,381 yards and a Par 71

ARCHITECT: Harry Colt

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Xander Schauffele

PRIZE Money (Purse/Winner’s Share): $17,000,000/$3,100,000

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @TheOpen

PGA TOUR SITE: (The Open)

PGA Tour: Gotterup Ties Course Record

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NORTH BERWICK (Scotland) – Chris Gotterup tied the course record with a 9-under-par 61 to take a two-shot lead at the midway point of the Genesis Scottish Open on Friday in Scotland.

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The round included a 6-under 29 on the front nine of The Renaissance Club to move Gotterup to 11-under 129 for the tournament.

England’s Harry Hall was alone in second place at 9 under following a 6-under 64 in the second round.

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (65) was in a group of three tied for third place at 8 under, along with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (63) and Marco Penge (67).

Gotterup, 25, is looking for his second career PGA victory. He won at Myrtle Beach last year.

Gotterup carded nine birdies in the bogey-free round, six coming during his dynamic front nine.

“I definitely played good today,” Gotterup said. “Not a lot of wind in the morning which was obviously beneficial. But yeah, it’s funny, when it flips you get some holes that you like and some holes that you don’t like and vice versa.

“I think there’s definitely certain holes that feel nice. Nice three pars to finish. You just take what you can get, what the course gives you with the wind.”

Gotterup is trying to play his way into next week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush. He currently has a flight to California scheduled for Monday.

Gotterup missed the cut in eight of his first 12 events this season but has rallied by making eight of the past nine cuts. He had four straight top-20 finishes in one stretch.

Hall, 27, had seven birdies and one bogey during his strong round. He followed that lone bogey with a stretch of four birdies in a row at Nos. 3-6.

“This wind position allows you to hold the green on a couple par-5s, and yeah, it made 5s drivable,” Hall said. “Definitely an easier wind.”

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy improved three shots in the second round to a 65 and is in a group of seven tied for sixth place at 7 under overall. McIlroy was the biggest mover in the group, jumping 27 spots.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” McIlroy said. “I did a lot of good things today. Still a couple of loose shots here and there but overall I thought it was a good day and obviously excited for the weekend right in the thick of things, in contention going into the last two days, and you know that’s where — if there is anything you need to work on in your game, that’s where it’s going to show when you’re under that sort of pressure trying to win a golf tournament.”

First-round leaders Sepp Straka of Austria and American Jake Knapp also were at 7 under after each shot a 1-under 69. Another first-round leader, Victor Perez of France, was at 6 under following an even-par 70, while Nico Echavarria of Colombia plummeted from a tie at the top to a tie for 27th at 4 under following a 72.

U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun failed to make the cut after a 72 that put him at 2 over par through two rounds. Scotland’s Calum Hill was just one shot off the lead after the opening round but failed to make the cut after shooting a 7-over 77 on Friday.

Collin Morikawa (4 over) also missed the cut.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: Campbell Wins John Deere

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SILVIS – (Wire Service Report) – It was quite a golf anniversary for Brian Campbell. Ten years to the week since he made his PGA Tour debut, he won the John Deere Classic.

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Campbell’s par on the first playoff hole gave him his second career victory on the tour, winning Sunday at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

“It all started here as an amateur, my first invite here,” Campbell said. “I’ve loved it ever since.”

He loves it even more now.

Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo scrambled on the extra hole, the par-4 18th, and Campbell’s steady approach was enough.

Campbell, who also won the Mexico Open at Vidanta World in a February playoff, and Grillo, bidding for his third PGA Tour triumph, both posted 4-under-par 67s to finish regulation at 18-under 266. Campbell is the sixth multiple winner on the tour this year.

“To be let alone in a playoff and to finish it off this way, it’s just been amazing,” Campbell said.

Campbell’s double bogey on No. 15 nearly cost him, but he rolled in a birdie two holes later.

As he waited to see if there would be a playoff, Campbell opted for rest instead of going through another warm-up. He figured he had hit enough shots during the tournament.

“It’s grueling out here. We’re sweating. It’s just hot,” he said. “I think we really needed to take a break, get some water, rather than go out and beat balls and putt for who knows how many minutes.”

Grillo’s tee shot on the playoff hole went into the right rough and he never fully recovered from that.

“I think I hit every fairway today, except for that first in the playoff,” he said.

David Lipsky, who was in the final pairing, hit his tee shot into the rough on No. 18 and missed a par-saving putt from 15 feet away, dropping out of a would-be spot in the playoff with his 68. He tied for third place with Kevin Roy (65).

“I’m just really happy how I had a really good mindset, kept plugging away and grinded it out,” Lipsky said.

Lipsky’s bogey on No. 15 put his title chances in jeopardy, but an eagle 3 on No. 17 — coming on a putt of less than 8 feet — pushed him into a share for the lead.

“I’m going to look at the positives and take that from this week,” he said.

Carson Young (64), Lucas Glover (64), Jacob Bridgeman (64), Matt Kuchar (66), Kurt Kitayama (67) and Max Homa (69) all ended at 16 under in a tie for fifth place.

Again, the leaderboard was full of contenders.

“The first scoreboard I saw everybody was going bananas, and you kind of knew that would happen,” Glover said. “No wind, soft conditions, the rain (Saturday) softened everything up.”

Seventeen golfers, including amateur Jackson Koivun, ended up within three shots of the lead. Koivun (67), a 20-year-old, was among seven golfers at 15 under.

Homa was 3 under for the day through four holes and held the lead at 16 under before an uneven finish.

Beau Hossler and Michael Thorbjornsen set the early pace with torrid 63s for the day’s best rounds.

Third-round leader Davis Thompson shot 72 and tied for 18th place at 14 under. His fourth bogey of the day came on the final hole.

First-round and 36-hole leader Doug Ghim dropped to a tie for 31st place at 11 under after his Sunday score of 69.

South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter, who won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in a playoff a week earlier for his first tour victory, withdrew prior to the final round.

–Field Level Media