GREENSBORO, N.C. -- England's Aaron Rai produced a steady finish for a final-round 64 to win on the PGA Tour for the first time during a grueling day of golf at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday.
Rai's two-stroke victory, which came by playing 36 holes on the final day at Sedgefield Country Club, will be largely associated with Max Greyserman's misfortune as a four-shot lead evaporated on the back nine with dusk fast approaching.
Rai's first title on the PGA Tour came in his 89th appearance. He finished at 18-under-par 262 after earlier posting a third-round 68. He was bogey-free for the last round, sinking a 6 1/2-foot birdie putt on the last hole.
Greyserman (66, 69), bidding for his first tour victory, ended in second place at 16 under. J.J. Spaun (66, 64) and Japan's Ryo Hisatsune (64, 67) tied for third at 15 under.
Greyserman had two eagles in the final round, including one from 91 yards out on the fairway on the 13th hole. But his quadruple-bogey 8 on No. 14 resulted in a four-shot lead vanishing. His tee shot went out of bounds and it deteriorated quickly from there.
But he recovered to regain the lead on the next hole with a birdie. Then came a four-putt double-bogey on the par-3 16th to give the lead back to Rai, who was playing in the group in front of him.
Greyserman, 29, was runner-up two weeks earlier in the 3M Open. He notched his fourth top-10 result of the year.
Greyserman's third-round 66 put him three strokes in front of amateur Luke Clanton, who rallied with a career-low 62, entering the fourth round.
Greyserman, who played collegiately about an hour away at Duke, had gone 56 consecutive holes without a bogey until the fourth hole of the final round. He responded moments later with an eagle on the next hole. That was his second eagle in a nine-hole stretch, posting one on No. 15 of the third round.
Second-round leader Matt Kuchar (70 third round) was at 11 under for the tournament when he chose not to finish the final hole because of darkness. Since the dawn of the FedEx Cup playoffs in 2007, Kuchar had qualified for every edition of the postseason, but he needed to win the tournament in order to play next week's FedEx St. Jude Classic.
For some golfers, Sunday's endurance test began prior to the third round as they completed remaining holes from the second round. The postponement of Thursday's first round and another weather delay Friday created havoc for the tournament's schedule.
Clanton, who played 39 holes Sunday, finished in fifth place at 14 under after recording 62 and 69 for the last two rounds. He received plenty of attention throughout the day, pulling within a shot of the lead in the third round, when he had eagles on Nos. 13 and 15.
"Again, just being out here in contention and being able to say that I was kind of close to the lead coming down the stretch is awesome," Clanton said. "It's a lot of learning for me and again, as a 20-year-old, it's pretty sweet."
The Florida State star, who was the only amateur in the field and will begin play Monday in the U.S. Amateur in Minnesota, contended before bogeying his last two holes of the fourth round (Nos. 8 and 9).
--Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
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Two weeks ago, Lottie Woad was the world's No. 1 amateur. On Sunday, the 21-year-old Englishwoman became an LPGA Tour champion in her professional debut. Woad won the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open by three strokes, matching her age at 21-under par after closing with a 4-under 68 at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland. "It's a pretty good outcome, I guess," Woad said. "Definitely wasn't expecting to win my first event, but I knew I was playing well." Woad capped a remarkable month with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th hole. She won the Women's Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour as an amateur three weeks ago and missed a playoff by one shot the next week at the Evian Championship major before deciding to skip her senior season at Florida State and turn pro. Woad, who held the lead after the second and third rounds, started strong Sunday with birdies at Nos. 2 and 3. After nine consecutive pars, she birdied Nos. 13 and 14 before a lone bogey at the par-4 16th. "There aren't that many scoreboards out, there to be honest," Woad said. "... I knew it was probably quite tight because I was only a couple under at the turn, but then when I had the two birdies early on the back nine, I'd knew I'd gotten a bit of a lead by then." Woad matched the rare accomplishment by Rose Zhang, who in June 2023 became the first player in 72 years to win in her LPGA Tour debut at the Mizuho Americas Open. Beverly Hanson won the Eastern Open in her debut in 1951. Woad collected $300K in her first pro payday and will carry a mountain of momentum into next week's fifth and final major, the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. "Trying to just be up there really," Woad said of her expectations next week after tying for 10th place last year at St. Andrews. "That's all you can ask for." South Korea's Hyo Joo Kim matched Woad's 68 on Sunday to finish in solo second place at 18-under. She reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th but fell back with consecutive bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16. Spain's Julia Lopez Ramirez shot the round of the day with a 7-under 65 to finish in a tie for third at 14-under with South Korea's Sei Young Kim (73), who closed with a costly double bogey at the 18th. "My game was in a very good place, very consistent," Lopez Ramirez said. "I played under par every day. I think honestly that's a success and growing my game, and I'm excited for having the opportunity to play next week and to show up again." World No. 1 Nelly Korda (71) claimed fifth place at 13-under. Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen (76) began the day tied for second but slipped to sixth at 11-under after a triple-bogey at No. 18.
The World Junior Summer Showcase is in full swing, and Maple Leafs top prospect Ben Danford is shattering expectations, truly proving how good of a player he can be. The Toronto Maple Leafs' defensive prospect, Ben Danford, is among the 44 players who were invited to Hockey Canada's World Juniors Summer Showcase. Hockey Canada finally unveiled the 44 prospects who will head to Minnesota for the showcase, after they held the roster release back while the organization dealt with several injuries, which begins Sunday and runs through August 2 in Minneapolis. Defensive prospect Ben Danford is the only Maple Leafs player invited to the annual showcase, where Canada's World Junior staff will get their first look at what their team might look like for the 2026 World Juniors, which will also take place in Minnesota in December. Danford is being called the best player at the World Juniors Summer Showcase Danford has been exceeding expectations, and one source revealed that he has been the best player at the World Junior Showcase so far. The source said Danford is steady, smart, and hard to ignore on the ice. 'Ben Danford has been the best player at the World Junior Showcase he's steady, smart, and impossible to ignore. Makes every shift count, whether he's breaking up plays or starting the rush. Canada's blue line is in good hands.' - An unnamed source The Maple Leafs selected Danford with their first pick (31st overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft. During his visit to Toronto's development camp earlier this month, the defender revealed that he's receiving mentorship from current Leafs defensemen as well as some alumni like Mark Giordano. The 6-foot-2 Danford could make for an excellent fit for Canada should he make the team. He is responsible in his own end, and he demonstrated leadership capabilities when he was named captain of the Oshawa Generals ahead of the 2024-25 OHL season.
Throughout the season, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred visits all 30 team clubhouses in an attempt to strengthen his relationship with the players. But when Manfred visited the Philadelphia Phillies last week, he did anything but strengthen his relations, at least not with Phillies star Bryce Harper. As reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan, Harper wasn't a fan of a conversation that seemed to be heading toward the possibility of implementing a salary cap in the game. Harper stood nose to nose with Manfred, telling him, "If you want to speak about that, you can get the [expletive] out of our clubhouse." Passan's report says that Manfred reportedly responded that he was "not going to get the [expletive] out of here." Manfred's main source of argument comes from his view that it's an important issue to discuss and has a direct impact on the game of baseball. Nick Castellanos, who's been known to have a fiery side of personality himself, helped to mediate the situation by saying, "I have more questions" to Manfred. Because the meeting continued, things settled down, and eventually, Manfred and Harper shook hands. Though Harper did not answer phone calls from Manfred the next day. "It was pretty intense, definitely passionate. Both of 'em. The commissioner giving it back to Bryce and Bryce giving it back to the commissioner. That's Harp. He's been doing this since he was 15-years-old," Castellanos told ESPN. Both Harper and Manfred declined to comment to ESPN on the matter. Manfred is certainly in a difficult spot with players themselves against a salary cap, as well as the MLB Players Association, which is adamantly against it. But some team owners are for it, most notably Baltimore Orioles owner David Rubenstein, who purchased the club in August 2024. It's certainly worth noting that the 1994 players' strike was a result of the league's effort to move to a salary-cap system. That is the worst-case scenario for MLB. And it seems to stress out Manfred. "Rob seems to be in a pretty desperate place on how important it is to get this salary cap," Castellanos added in his comments to ESPN, "because he's floating the word lockout two years in advance of our collective bargaining agreement [expiration]. That's nothing to throw around. That's the same thing as me in a marriage saying, 'I think divorce is a possibility. It's probably going to happen.' You don't just say those things." It's also important to note that Harper is a client of baseball super agent Scott Boras, and Castellanos is a former Boras client who now represents himself. Boras is known for bargaining for a ton of money for his clients, so that may provide one explanation of many for why Harper would be so against the discussion. It seems the only thing all parties can agree on is that no one wants a work stoppage in Major League Baseball. But that might just be where the agreements end.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have made multiple significant upgrades on the defensive side of the ball throughout the 2025 offseason. Pittsburgh traded veteran free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange of Jonnu Smith and superstar cornerback Jalen Ramsey, as the team was able to make a crucial upgrade in the secondary. The Steelers also signed generational linebacker TJ Watt to a three-year extension as well, as Watt is now the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Despite multiple new players looking to make an impact in 2025, many returning players will look to play at an elite level as well. Among those players is linebacker Patrick Queen, as the veteran will look to play a bigger role throughout his second season in Pittsburgh. Queen appeared in all 17 games last season for the Steelers, as the former Baltimore Raven is a reliable linebacker who has remained extremely durable throughout his career. When asked for his opinion on Queen's performance throughout the opening week of training camp, Steelers insider Mark Kaboly took a moment to share his thoughts. "I'll tell you another guy who's stepped it up in non-padded practices, Patrick Queen," Kaboly stated. "He seems like he's feeling a bit more comfortable here, so that's huge." Kaboly then went on to speak about Queen's availability in 2025, claiming that the veteran will more than likely be on the field for almost every defensive snap. "It looks like they are going to have two three-down linebackers," Kaboly explained. Kaboly's comments may not come as surprising to many, as Queen was elite during his time in Baltimore and is widely expected to play at that level again in his second year in the Steel City. Despite being a Pro Bowler in 2024, Queen had an up and down season throughout his first year in Pittsburgh. The veteran was credited with one sack and two forced fumbles in 2024, as the former Raven was unable to record a single interception throughout the entire season. With Queen set to have a bounce back year in 2025, many feel as if the Steelers have a top defensive unit in all of football. Pittsburgh's defense features an encouraging mix of younger and veteran players, as Queen finds himself playing amongst some of the top pass rushers in the league. Queen looking more comfortable throughout his second training camp in Pittsburgh is a massive win for the Steelers, as the linebacker may very well get back on track in 2025. Steelers' Patrick Queen Could Play A Major Off-Field Role In 2025 With Queen set to thrive in 2025, the Steelers are expected to continue evaluating the veteran throughout the course of training camp. Pittsburgh is expected to keep a close eye on rookies Jack Sawyer and Carson Bruener as well, as both players will look to shine in their first year with the Steelers. Queen may emerge as an excellent mentor for both Sawyer and Bruener, as the rookie linebackers will be under the wing of multiple elite veterans throughout their rookie season. Sawyer, a fourth-round selection out of Ohio State, is a promising young linebacker who will look to turn heads throughout training camp. Sawyer was a star at the college level as well, as the former Buckeye played a crucial role in Ohio State's National Championship run last season. Bruener is expected to be a top beneficiary of Queen's presence, as the former Washington star will try to fight his way towards a bigger role in 2025. With Queen set to play at an elite level once again in 2025, the Steelers' defense is widely expected to be a top unit in all of football. Queen should be an excellent mentor for the younger members of the defense as well, as the veteran could help multiple players thrive this season. With the first few days of training camp officially complete, the Steelers are expected to continue evaluating the performance of Queen and other key players.