Good Morning! Today is Monday, July 22. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.

GOLF

Amidst strong winds and difficult conditions, Xander Schauffele came from behind to win The Open at the Royal Troon in Scotland. This is Schauffele’s second major win of the year (PGA championship) and marks another highlight in the American’s incredible year. Here are the three main takeaways from across the pond:

• It was a struggle just to make the cut at this event– you can see how Max Homa reacted when he sunk this birdie on 18 to sneak into the weekend at +7. Only nine players finished the tournament with a score under par. Seriously, look at how difficult this golf course was.

• Although he ended up in a tie for second, Billy Horschel held the lead after some impressive scrambling on Saturday. Heading into the final round on Sunday, Horschel had a one stroke lead on six players, including the eventual champion.

• Schauffele made six birdies and shot a bogey-free 65 on Sunday, winning the tournament by two strokes. He’s now The Champion Golfer of the Year, which is not only an awesome title but also an accurate reflection of his impressive 2024 season.

MLB

Guess who’s back? Did you miss it? Let’s take a trip around the world of Major League Baseball, as all 30 teams resumed play after the all-star break:

• The Dodgers and Red Sox played three wildly entertaining games in Los Angeles. Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman hit a pivotal grand slam in the eighth inning to win game one. Game two went to extra innings, where Los Angeles pulled off a crazy comeback win. And in game three– well, you should head to top plays to see how Shohei Ohtani put an exclamation point on the Dodgers’ sweep.

• Houston trailed Seattle in the AL West for the entire first half of the season. Naturally, the Astros took two of three from the Mariners over the weekend and the two teams are now tied for the division lead. The standings might have them in lockstep, but while Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez hit for the cycle yesterday, Seattle ended the weekend by releasing their starting first baseman.

• Watch out for the Pirates! Pittsburgh won two of three games against the Phillies. That’s now nine wins in their last eleven games– I warned you this team was dangerous, didn’t I?

• Three individual highlights from the weekend… Royals starter Seth Lugo threw his first career complete game. The Palacios brothers produced a great highlight, when Pirates outfielder Joshua made a great catch right after Rays outfielder Richie hit a lead off home run. And Giants outfielder Jorge Soler hit the longest home run of the season.

USA BASKETBALL

We’ll start with the USA women, who took on the WNBA all-stars on Saturday. Team WNBA won 117-109 in a competitive game, no doubt heightened in intensity because of who was not selected for the national team. Arike Ogunbowale scored a WNBA all-star record 34 points in the victory. Don’t worry too much about Team USA’s chances at a gold medal– this is how things played out in 2021, too.

The USA men’s team had a very different experience at their most recent exhibition match. Taking on South Sudan, Team USA was down 58-44 at halftime. That’s right– the best players in the world were losing by double-digits against a country who gained independence in 2011. When JT Thor hit this three with 20 seconds left, it looked like South Sudan might pull off a monumental upset. And then LeBron James made a game-winning layup with eight seconds left to secure a 101-100 victory. The US survived, but they have a lot to work on before the Olympics begin next week.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted four new members on Sunday. Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer, Todd Helton, and manager Jim Leyland were each honored at the ceremony in Cooperstown, NY. Four very impressive baseball careers.

After a three year suspension, legendary horse trainer Bob Baffert has been reinstated by Churchill Downs. Baffert had fiercely denied responsibility for the failed drug test of his horse, the original winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby Medina Spirit. However, he’s now apologized, and the horse racing community decided that was enough to welcome him back. I’m going to wager that Bob’s horse is a heavy favorite at the Derby next May.

Continuing the theme of reinstatement, sports announcer Thom Brennaman has been hired as the lead play-by-play voice for football games on the CW. Brennaman has not been on the air for over four years, when he was heard saying a homophobic slur on a hot mic. Brennaman’s last moments on air have become sort of legendary, as his apology became mixed up in an ill-timed Nick Castellanos home run. We’ll see how it goes for the broadcaster this time around.

Finally, if you had missed it with all the other sporting news going on, Tadej Pogacar is your 2024 Tour de France champion. It’s Pogacar’s third Tour victory– congratulations Tadej!

TOP PLAYS OF THE WEEKEND

9 and 8: There’s just something really awesome about LeBron James and Steph Curry playing together. These signature plays– (play one) and (play two)– from the third quarter of their win against South Sudan start off our list.

7: Dodgers rookie Miguel Vargas taught veteran Tyler O’Neill a lesson on this double play. A rocket of a throw from the right fielder.

6: Jeff McNeil robs a home run for the Mets. Bonus points because he has a great nickname.

5: Shohei Ohtani hit a home run so far and so hard that you just have to see it. 116.7 MPH exit velocity and an estimated 473 feet… listen to the crowd as he hit this ball out of the stadium.

4: Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio had a fantastic five-minute stretch, pulling off the rare inning ending web gem into leadoff home run one-two punch.

3: Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker got creative on this out.

2: I’m going to guess you weren’t watching the Swiss Open. Sorry if you missed it, because Quentin Halys pulled off this awesome tennis shot that I guarantee will make you smile.

He didn’t win the tournament, but the NUMBER ONE play from the weekend has to go to Si-Woo Kim…

Another great weekend of athletes doing cool things. Never gets old.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MLB: Pick your favorite! First pitch at 1:05 PM on MLB.TV

• All 15 games on the schedule tomorrow are free on MLB.TV, so you can watch baseball all day long! If you like pitching, Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is on the mound, and Hunter Greene and the Reds take on ERA leader Reynaldo Lopez and the Braves. If you like rivalries, you can stay up for the Giants and Dodgers at 10 PM eastern. Or if you just want to check out a new team or player, today is the perfect day. Free baseball all afternoon… what a great way to start the week!

And that’s a Remix. Have a great Monday!