FITZPATRICK WINS DUNHILL
posed for photos with his mother as they crossed the Swilcan Bridge, then made birdie from 10 feet on the storied 18th hole at St. Andrews.
Talk about a perfect way to close out a first European tour title in two years.
Fitzpatrick shot 6-under 66 on the Old Course to win the weather-affected Dunhill Links Championship by three strokes on Monday. The 2022 U.S. Open champion was 19-under par overall for an event that was reduced to 54 holes after heavy rain wiped out play on Saturday and Sunday.
Play was only possible on Monday after remarkable efforts from the greenkeepers at the three storied Scottish courses hosting the pro-am event — St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns — to make them playable. Large parts of Carnoustie, in particular, were unrecognizable on Sunday and there were still huge swathes of water on some fairways.
Ryan Fox, a recent winner at the BMW PGA Championship, shot 65 on the Old Course and was tied for second place with Matthew Southgate (66 at St. Andrews)
and Marcus Armitage (66 at Carnoustie).
Fitzpatrick, who won the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour in April, hadn’t won on the European tour since the Andalucia Masters in October 2021. This latest title comes a week after he was part of Europe’s Ryder Cupwinning team in Rome, where he claimed his first point in golf ’s biggest show after five straight losses across away matches in 2016 and 2021.
He played with his mother, Susan, in the proam at the Dunhill Links — and they won, too.
“It’s funny really, it was kind of a freewheeling week — playing with mum and just trying to enjoy it the best I can and see what happened,” Fitzpatrick said.
The 29-year-old Englishman shot 67 at Carnoustie on Thursday and 64 at Kingsbarns on Friday.
“I couldn’t ask for a better week,” Fitzpatrick said. “Aside from the weather, it really was a perfect week.
“Even with all my wins, aside from a major, you forget about them in the future, and you’ll always remember the one that you won with your mum.”
A total of 39 players either withdrew or retired ahead of the third and final round.
After Fitzpatrick finished his round, only the No. 381-ranked Armitage could realistically threaten the lead and he made three birdies in a four-hole stretch to close within two shots with three holes left at Carnoustie.
However, Armitage finished par-bogey-par to fall back into a tie for second.
Sebastian Soderberg of Sweden made 10 birdies in a bogey-free 62 at Kingsbarns and was alone in fifth place on 15 under overall.
Tennis
Carlos Alcaraz had to rally from a break down in the first set to beat 30thseeded Daniel Evans 7-6 (1), 6-4 and advance to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters. In the second set, the Spaniard committed only two unforced errors. Alcaraz will next face 18thseeded Grigor Dimitrov, who beat 13th-seeded Karen Khachanov 7-6 (6), 6-4.
• U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff was left off the American team for the Billie
Jean King Cup Finals, while second-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland is skipping the event for the second year in a row.
NBA San
Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren lived up to the hype in their first career NBA preseason games.
Holmgren had 21 points and nine rebounds in 16 firsthalf minutes, and the Thunder defeated the Spurs 122121 on Monday night. Wembanyama had 20 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes, mostly in the first half.
Wembanyama was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft. Holmgren was the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, but he suffered a foot injury in the offseason and missed all of last season.
• Kai Jones apparently wants out of Charlotte. Jones, the Hornets’ 19th overall pick out of Texas in 2021, announced on X, formerly known Twitter, that he has officially requested a trade from the organization. The Hornets have declined to comment on the matter.