BRITISH OPEN
American Brian Harman is a major champion and it was never in doubt. The 36-year-old captured the British Open at Royal Liverpool. He started the day with a five-shot lead and no one ever got closer than three on a rainy Sunday in England. Harman led the final 51 holes of this British Open. The one time it got tight on the front nine he made consecutive birdies. The rest of the day was a soggy walk on the links. Harman won for only the third time in his career, finishing the tournament at 13-under. He had gone 167 tournaments since his last PGA Tour title.
Rory McIlroy again was roaming near the top of the leaderboard of a major but saw his winless streak increase to 34 after a tie for sixth at the British Open. The four-time major winner says he won’t dwell about going into what will be his 10th season without a major. McIlroy picked up his seventh top-10 finish Sunday in the last eight majors he played and tried to stay positive going into the future. He says there was “a lot of optimism going into the rest of the year.”
SARATOGA RACE COURSE
At the second weekend of the 2023 Saratoga Race Course season on Saturday Wet Paint, ridden by jockey Flavian Prat and trained by Brad H. Cox, took the Coaching Club American Oaks in a time of 1:50.68. The purse for this year’s winner was $500,000. Prat also took first in the Grade I Diana Stakes in the opening race of the 2023 Saratoga season atop Whitebeam on July 15.
Jockey Jose Ortiz, who was thrown from his horse at Saratoga Friday in the Maiden Special Weight, suffered bruised ribs, but no fractures. Patrick McKenna of the New York Racing Association, the organization that oversees horse racing in the Empire State, says Ortiz will return to racing Wednesday.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday. Rolen was the only player to be voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America this year, and McGriff was selected unanimously by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee. Rolen credited his parents for raising him to be a good person, not a major league ballplayer. They were on hand in Cooperstown on Sunday, just as they were when he made his debut with the Phillies in 1996. McGriff said there was no greater honor than having fellow players deem him worthy of the Hall of Fame.
Anthony Rizzo hit his first home run since May 20 and went 4 for 4 as the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 8-5 to complete their third series sweep of the season. Gleyber Torres' two-run homer sparked New York’s four-run first inning against Jordan Lyles. Torres extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games but exited in the seventh because of left hip tightness. Luis Severino won for the first time in four starts since June 24. Rizzo also hit an RBI
double in the first and singled in the fifth before capping a 10-pitch at-bat with a single in the eighth. It was Rizzo’s 15th career four-hit game and first since August 2019.
Rafael Devers homered, Adam Duvall drove in two runs and the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Mets 6-1. Boston opened a four-run third inning with seven straight hits, chasing an ineffective Carlos Carrasco. Connor Wong had three hits for the Red Sox, who finished with 15 and took two of three games in the series. The victory kept Boston tied with the rival New York Yankees for last place in the rugged AL East, though both are six games above .500 and just two games out of a playoff spot. Francisco Lindor had an RBI single off the Green Monster for the disappointing Mets, who could be a surprising seller heading into the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
Bryce Harper drove in the go-ahead run in a four-run 10th inning and flashed more solid defense in his second career start at first base, leading the Philadelphia Phillies past the Cleveland Guardians 8-5 to avoid a three-game sweep. Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel blew his first save of the season in 17 chances when David Fry hit a solo homer with two outs in the ninth to tie it 4-all. Cleveland scored once in the 10th and loaded the bases with nobody out before Yunior Marte entered and pitched out of the jam for his second save.
NFL
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo passed a physical on his injured left foot and will begin training camp with the Las Vegas Raiders, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made. Training camp opens Wednesday. Garoppolo did not participate in organized team activities because of the foot injury. Coach Josh McDaniels expressed confidence from the beginning the newly signed quarterback would be ready for camp.
Cleveland Browns star Nick Chubb was one of several NFL running backs to take part in a Zoom call on Saturday night to discuss the current trend of their position being underpaid and devalued by some teams. Chubb is under contract through next season, but said he has already contemplated his future in a market increasingly becoming less friendly to running backs. Chubb was on the call with Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey and others. Barkley has threatened to sit out training camp in protest after he couldn’t come to terms on a long-term contract last week.
NATIONAL BANK OPEN
Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the National Bank Open, opting for additional rest after his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. Tennis Canada announced Sunday that Djokovic pulled out of the only Canadian stop on the ATP Tour schedule due to fatigue. The 36-year-old, 23-time Grand Slam champion was set to begin his hard-court preparations for the U.S. Open after falling to the top-ranked Alcaraz last Sunday in a five-set final at Wimbledon. American Christopher Eubanks, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, will gain automatic entry into the main draw as Djokovic’s replacement.
WORLD CUP
Cristiana Girelli’s goal in the 87th minute broke a stalemate and Italy kicked off the Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Argentina on Monday night. Italy put the ball in the back of the net twice in the opening half but both times were offside, before Girelli’s breakthrough header. Girelli came into the match as a substitute in the 83rd minute. The Italians have never dropped an opening match at the World Cup. But this time they faced tenacious Argentina, eager for its first-ever win in the tournament. NASCAR
The U.S. is set to play the Netherlands on Wednesday night.
NASCAR
Denny Hamlin returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway a year after his first-place finish was thrown out. Sunday's win is his record seventh at the track and the 50th in his Cup Series career. Hamlin also gave Toyota its 600th NASCAR victory. Hamlin passed Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon for most wins at the tri-oval track. Hamlin and his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch had their 1-2 finishes stripped a year ago by NASCAR for aerodynamics violations. This year, he finished ahead of runner-up Tyler Reddick. Martin Truex Jr., who won last week at New Hampshire, was third. Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five.
OLYMPICS
Officials from many of the sports on the Olympic program are still split on how to treat Russian athletes one year before the Paris Games and nearly a year-and-a-half since the country's invasion of Ukraine. Various governing bodies are increasingly allowing teams of Russians back into Olympic qualifying competitions as neutral competitors without national flags or anthems. Most sports initially barred Russians from competing soon after last year’s full-scale invasion. The International Olympic Committee strongly backs those moves even as the body itself says it hasn’t decided if athletes from Russia and ally Belarus can compete at the Paris Games.
WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
American Matt Cooper and his Dutch wife Ginni van Katwijk are high divers. They take risks diving off platforms that are taller than many buildings. In the World Aquatics Championships this week, men will dive from heights of 27 meters — that's about 90 feet — and women go from 20 — or 66 feet. Matt says the impact of going off a nine-story building into a tank of water is like a car crash at 85 kph — or 50 mph. Injuries are common as they try to manage the danger and stoke the adrenaline.
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