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WAMC Sports Report 7/21/25: Scottie Scheffler dominates in British Open victory for his 2nd major title this year

Scottie Scheffler of the United States poses for photographers with the Claret Jug trophy after winning the British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Sunday, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Francisco Seco/AP
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AP
Scottie Scheffler of the United States poses for photographers with the Claret Jug trophy after winning the British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Sunday, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Scottie Scheffler is the champion golfer of the year and one step closer to the career Grand Slam. The world's No. 1 player dominated the British Open on Sunday at Royal Portrush. He led by as many as seven shots and shot a 68 to win by four shots. Scheffler won his second major of the year after the PGA Championship. Now he goes to the U.S. Open next year with a chance to complete the Grand Slam. Harris English was runner-up. Rory McIlroy started slowly and never had a chance before an adoring gallery in his native Northern Ireland.

Rory McIlroy's legion of fans came in hope more than expectation to the final day of the British Open at Royal Portrush. He needed a minor miracle to catch Scottie Scheffler and it wasn't to be. McIlroy shot 2-under 69 to finish in a tie for seventh place and seven strokes behind the world No. 1. It didn't stop the locals from celebrating their favorite son in his homecoming after winning the Masters in April to complete the career Grand Slam. McIlroy says “I’ve gotten everything I wanted out of this week apart from a claret jug."

Former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark says he wants to make good for damaging a locker at Oakmont. Clark damaged the locker at the century-old Pittsburgh-area club when he missed the cut at the U.S. Open last month. Oakmont Country Club's president sent a letter to members informing them Clark had been banned from the property until he pays for damage, donates to charity and goes through anger management. Clark says he will pay for the damage. He says he wants to give back to the community and do anything he can to make the club realize it won't happen again.

MLB

Final N.Y. Yankees 4 Atlanta 2

Aaron Judge hit his 36th home run of the season and tied Alex Rodriguez for sixth place in Yankees history as New York defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-2. Judge’s solo homer in the first inning was his 351st with the Yankees, matching A-Rod and behind Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra. Marcus Strohman gave up one run on five hits over six innings in his fourth start since returning from a knee injury. Paul Goldschmidt was 1 for 3 with an RBI, and Giancarlo Stanton was 3 for 5 with a run scored.

Final N.Y. Mets 3 Cincinnati 2

Pete Alonso didn’t start Sunday for the first time in more than a year because of a bruised right hand, but the New York Mets’ All-Star first baseman extended his team-record streak for consecutive games played by entering as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning of a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Alonso has played in 354 straight games, second-most in the majors behind Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson, who has played in 718 consecutive games. Alonso said his hand “felt horrible” Saturday after he got jammed on a swing in the batting cage and again during the game. He said he was concerned Saturday night, but X-rays on the hand were negative and he received treatment before the series finale Sunday.

Final Boston 6 Chicago Cubs 1

Wilyer Abreu homered twice and drove in three runs, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 6-1 to avoid a series sweep. Alex Bregman also connected for Boston, and Garrett Crochet pitched six effective innings in his fourth consecutive win. The Red Sox went ahead to stay when Trevor Story opened the seventh with a walk and Abreu hit a drive to right-center off Ryan Pressly for his 19th homer. Boston improved to 12-3 in July. It had won 10 in a row going into the series. Chicago wasted a sharp performance by Cade Horton, who pitched 5 2/3 innings of two-hit ball. The Cubs had won five of six.

Final L.A. Angels 8 Philadelphia 2

Final Toronto 8 San Francisco 6

Final Kansas City 7 Miami 4

Final Minnesota 7 Colorado 1

Final Baltimore 5 Tampa Bay 3

Final Cleveland 8 Athletics 2

Final Houston 11 Seattle 3

Final Detroit 2 Texas 1

Final San Diego 8 Washington 1

Final Arizona 5 St. Louis 3

Final Milwaukee 6 L.A. Dodgers 5

NFL

President Donald Trump is threatening to hold up a stadium deal for Washington's football team if it doesn't restore its old name. Trump said Sunday on his social media site that the Washington Commanders should revert to the Redskins and the Cleveland Guardians should return to the Indians. Later in the day, he threatened the NFL team's stadium deal. The Commanders and Guardians changed their names in 2022 after years of debate over logos and names considered offensive. Both teams have stated they have no plans to change them back.

The Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions already have kicked off training camp. Rookies for several other teams have also reported. All veterans across the league are due this week. The NFL season is underway. The road to San Francisco for Super Bowl 60 begins in the grueling summer heat. Some teams have new coaches. A couple of old coaches have new teams. Star players have switched uniforms. There are position battles to determine. And, plenty of storylines to watch. Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles aim for a repeat. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs look to rebound after being denied the first three-peat in Super Bowl history.

NASCAR

Denny Hamlin went back-to-back at Dover Motor Speedway, holding a late lead through a rain delay and an overtime finish Sunday for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's series-best fourth victory of the season. Hamlin won in the No. 11 Toyota for the second straight time at Dover to add to wins this season at Martinsville, Darlington and Michigan. Hamlin has 58 NASCAR Cup Series victories, leaving him two short of Kevin Harvick for 10th on the career list. The 44-year-old Virginia driver might hit that mark this season as he chases his first career Cup championship. Hamlin held off JGR teammate Chase Briscoe for the victory. Hendrick Motorsports drivers took the next two spots, with Alex Bowman third and Kyle Larson fourth.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Authorities say an Ole Miss freshman football player has been killed in a shooting in Tennessee. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says law enforcement officials found 18-year-old Corey Adams with a gunshot wound late Saturday in a vehicle in Cordova on the outskirts of Memphis. Four other unidentified men were injured in the shooting. Authorities are investigating the death as a homicide. Adams, a New Orleans native, had been a highly touted defensive lineman. The football program at the University of Mississippi says in a social media post it is “devastated” to learn of Adams' death.

WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL TENNIS

Venus Williams is back on the tennis scene and ready to compete for the first time in more than a year but she wishes her younger sister Serena were with her at the DC Open. The tournament begins Monday in Washington. This is the first tour event for Venus Williams in more than a year. She turned 45 last month. She owns seven Grand Slam singles titles and another 14 in doubles that she won alongside Serena. Serena hasn't played since she retired after the 2022 U.S. Open.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

David Guistina is the host of Capital Connection, Legislative Gazette, and Morning Edition and the producer of the Media Project on WAMC.