Rory McIlroy Pulls Classy Move After The Open Championship
Home country advantage wasn't enough for Rory McIlroy at this year's Open Championship but the 2025 Masters champion was still able to leave Royal Portrush in decent spirits.
After finishing tied for seventh with a two-under Round 4, the Northern Irish golfer waved to the crowd before heading back to the clubhouse starting preparations for the next tournament.
Fans reacted to the classy move on social media.
"That was special :)" a user smiled.
"Perhaps the most support I've ever seen for a single player," another said.
"Rory McIlroy has more top 10 Major Championship finishes than Arnold Palmer and is two shy of Ben Hogan's tally of 34," a fan pointed out.
"Hell of a week for Rory McIlroy," Jason Sobel commented. "Home crowd cheered their hearts out for him the entire way, he put on a show for 'em. Wasn't good enough to more seriously contend, but he's had more disappointing losses than this one."
"Royal Portrush rises for Rory McIlroy 👏" Sky Sports applauded.
"RORY! RORY! RORY! 🗣️ McIlroy is serenaded by the home fans one last time. 💚" Golf.com shared.
"Huge cheers for Rory McIlroy at the 18th hole."
Scottie Scheffler once again dominated on the way to his first Claret Jug — adding the third leg to his career Grand Slam with a three-under performance to hold onto a four-stroke lead over the field.
We'll see how Rory bounces back at the next stop on the PGA calendar.Rory McIlroy Pulls Classy Move After The Open Championship first appeared on The Spun on Jul 20, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
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New York Times
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Those numbers, however, don't tell the full story. RB Leipzig sacked manager Marco Rose in late March, as the club ended the Bundesliga season with 24 fewer goals than the previous campaign. They struggled to progress the ball cleanly through midfield, with a rotating cast of players unable to stamp their authority in the middle, seeing the talented attacking trio of Sesko, Xavi Simons, and Lois Openda drop deep more often to help drag the team forward with direct, individual play. Advertisement All three recorded considerably more touches of the ball in the middle third, while the quantity of Sesko's runs in behind dropped by over 31 per cent, unable to be as direct as he usually likes to be with his movement. Along with that, the number of shots Sesko took inside the box fell from 2.6 to 1.6 per game, while the rate at which he scored almost halved. Though his tally dipped, Sesko still managed 13 league goals, a respectable haul for a striker who only recently turned 22, in his second-ever season in one of Europe's top five leagues. And that's without considering the circumstances. The 2024-25 season was an education for Sesko, having to vary his off-ball movement, drop deeper to progress play, but still able to rely on his forward momentum and ferocious shooting ability to get in among the goals. Restore that regular service to Sesko on the transition, and his output is sure to swell. Delving into the tape and Sesko's frequent forays into midfield last season still provided glimpses of the destruction he can cause. Though not as silky as someone like Isak when he gets on the ball, Sesko is just as positive and forward-thinking with his dribbling, attempting — and completing — a similar number of take-ons per game to the Swede in league football last year. Here he is, for example, away at Wolfsburg, spinning away from David Odogu with a neat turn, before powering down the flank and clipping the ball onto Openda's chest in the box. Wing play isn't Sesko's usual game, but he is very happy to cut inside and shoot whenever he gets the chance from the opposite flank. Below against Frankfurt, we see his confidence to drive at goal and take on an audacious shot, tipped over the bar by Kevin Trapp. But it's the speed and control of the step-overs, keeping the ball close to his body as he unbalances defender Robin Koch with a quick shimmy, that is unusual, and so exciting for a player of his height and imposing physical frame. Sesko's bread and butter, however, is the counter-attack, a player who loves to pick up the scraps of opposition attacks before driving through the disorganised defence. He opened the scoring against Atletico Madrid back in September, picking up the ball after a blocked shot and stomping forward. His first touch is perfect to set him on his way, before showing terrific pace to leave three back-tracking midfielders in his wake, and squeezing the ball through to Openda for a shot. Jan Oblak makes the save, but Sesko follows it up with a strong leap to out-jump Robin Le Normand, showcasing another strength of his power forward profile. RB Leipzig take an early lead away at Atletico Madrid through Benjamin Sesko 🔥 That counter-attack though 👀 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 19, 2024 Only Liverpool generated more expected goals (xG) from fast break situations than Newcastle last season. With talented full-speed attackers in Anthony Gordon and Elanga, and a balanced, combative midfield trio further back, Sesko would have the platform to flourish. Despite all of the above, the real excitement surrounding Sesko centres on his ball-striking ability, capable of generating serious power on either side. When he gets it right, few players can hit a ball so sweetly, thumping home three goals from outside the penalty area last campaign. A spectacular, outside-of-the-boot finish on the break against Bayern Munich stole the headlines towards the end of the season, but this thunderbolt below at home against Werder Bremen demonstrated his technique best, lacing the ball into the top corner before goalkeeper Michael Zetterer had much chance to move. As we can see from his shot-map below, Sesko has performed well above expectation in Germany, largely driven by his ability from range. He has netted close to nine goals more than the quality of his shots would suggest the average striker should score with his chances, pointing to a striker who can find goals even when the chances don't regularly come his way. Still, Sesko's ability from range can be as much of a blessing as it can be a curse, often informing poor decision-making as his excitement to hit the ball clouds his judgement. His mazy run against Union Berlin below is a fine example of all Sesko can do well; picking up the ball in midfield and barging his way into a promising position, even producing a slick nutmeg to keep his momentum going. But Sesko's head is down, opting to hammer the ball with his left foot, and failing to spot the lung-busting run of David Raum on the outside. Sesko's sheer persistence to get a shot away often sees him try to force the issue, trusting that the power on his shots will take it through defenders and cause the goalkeeper problems. Close to one-third of his shots from outside the box were blocked last season, often lacking awareness of better options around him. Advertisement It's a trait that's proven to be frustrating for team-mates on a number of occasions, with an extreme example here against Wolfsburg. Again, Sesko does extremely well to swat away the challenge and burst into a dangerous area, but elects to shoot from a tight angle and with a defender in the way, much to the displeasure of Ridle Baku, who had checked his run in the middle. Sesko also has work to do with his one-vs-one finishing, often too predictable when he's bearing down on goal with just the goalkeeper to beat. He almost exclusively favours the side-footed placement shot into the far corner, but often allows the goalkeeper to read his intentions as he opens up his body. There was a high-profile miss against Portugal at the Euros, as well as this poor attempt away at Mainz, signposting his finish to Robin Zentner, while inexplicably turning down the pass to Simons to make it three. It's an unusually bad example, and not the kind of thing that Sesko should be judged upon — he is, statistically, one of Europe's most clinical finishers after all. But it represents the moments of inexperience that are still evident in Sesko's game. He is a young, developing centre-forward who will continue to make mistakes, and leave team-mates exasperated with his one-track mind in front of goal. Even with that in mind, Sesko's freakish physical profile and prodigious ball-striking ability still mean that he is likely worth the risk. His potential is sky-high, not only potentially game-breaking when given the chance to attack open spaces, but dangerous in the area too; tall, powerful, and able to attack set-pieces and crash home rebounds with force. No team scored more goals from open-play crosses than Newcastle last season — adding one of the world's tallest strikers, with an eye-catching ability to spring above defenders, is not going to hurt in that regard. He is a different prospect to Isak, more physical, stronger, and would enable Newcastle to take the more direct route to goal. But with his rare combination of attributes, more agile and powerful than anyone of his age or his height should be, Sesko could soon be just as uniquely devastating.