Oliver Wilson held off Rory McIlroy to capture his first European Tour title with a one-shot victory in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Wilson carded a two-under 70 in the final round on the Old Course at St Andrews as McIlroy came up just short after a bogey on the 17th hole. Wilson finished at 17-under 271, with McIlroy (68) in a three-way tie for second with Richie Ramsay of Scotland and Tommy Fleetwood of England.
The 34-year-old Wilson, currently ranked 792nd in the world, had finished second nine times in his 227 previous Tour events, but lost his card two years ago and was competing this week on an invitation.
“It’s all really hard to believe, as I have dreamed of this moment many times in my career, and in the circumstances it has happened I can’t believe it,” said Wilson, who started the day with a three-shot lead. “So it’s a dream come true to win a tournament at St Andrews.”
McIlroy started with a double-bogey, but then made four straight birdies and picked up two more shots after the turn before putting from off the green and into the infamous Road Hole bunker at the 17th. At the first hole, his ball spun back off the green into the Swilcan Burn.
“I feel I cost myself the tournament in the space of 20 yards at the front of the green at the first and over at the Road Hole bunker, with both not too far away from each other,” McIlroy said. “They were the only two mistakes I made all day.”
Ramsay had a two-shot lead after birdies at 14 and 15, but then handed the shots back with bogeys on the next two to shoot 67.
Fleetwood had a chance to force a playoff, but missed a six-foot putt at the 18th to settle for a 68.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite