Scottie hurtles toward history while Caitlin Clark's season goes sideways
Live Right Now: Scheffler closing in on history
Scottie Scheffler is already in rarified air. But a win today would make him just the fourth player in golf history to win the Masters, PGA Championship and Open Championship all before age 30. The other three are Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. We're talking about a different stratosphere.
Here's where things stand atop the Open Championship leaderboard with 18 holes to play:
Scheffler sits at 14 under par, four strokes ahead of the field thanks to a bogey-free round yesterday. The art of Scottie Scheffler is on full display.
Haotong Li is closest to Scheffler, with Matt Fitzpatrick one stroke behind at 9 under. The numbers don't lend much oxygen to the hopes of a comeback winner.
Oddsmakers have crowd favorite Rory McIlroy at 8 under as the most likely challenger to Scheffler's throne (+2000, via BetMGM). McIlroy shot a brilliant 66 yesterday, headlined by a 56-foot eagle putt and one of the most bizarre golf shots you will ever see. Playing his second shot from the rough on the 11th, McIlroy somehow unearthed another ball hidden below:
The only weirder thing that could happen at Royal Portrush today? Scheffler conceding a four-stroke lead. It would take a miracle.
The final pairing tees off at 9:30 a.m. ET, but you can follow the action all day with our live blog. Bookmark it.
All-Star: Clark's season takes nightmarish turn
When we last checked in with Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, they were having an odd, halting start to the WNBA season. Clark had been in and out of the lineup, the team had unceremoniously waived a celebrated offseason acquisition and the Fever looked like they were struggling to find their sea legs in the early going.
Things are worse now, even with a Commissioner's Cup:
Clark has not looked right when she's played, and her shooting numbers have dipped badly from her rookie season.
In particular, she hasn't been able to buy a bucket on the road, where she's made just two of her 35 3-point attempts.
The Fever are a middling 12-11 at the All-Star break.
Most distressing, Clark is hurt again, with her fourth non-contact injury of the season, all to different body parts. The timing of this one stinks; the WNBA brought its All-Star festivities to Indy this weekend, and Clark did not participate beyond her preselected role as a team captain. She missed not just the game but a highly anticipated 3-point contest appearance. Ben Pickman writes that Clark 'was set to be the affair's de facto representative.'
Her return timetable is uncertain, but a bigger concern is how long it will take for her to look fully like herself. To see Clark miss 10 games has been jolting. In four years at Iowa, she did not miss a game and only seemed to get stronger as she took on more volume.
More or less everyone in the WNBA has some reason to be upset about Clark's season. The league office just put on a marquee event — in which one of the teams was called Team Clark — without Clark on the floor. Other WNBA players, especially the stars, may be getting irritated with the apocalyptic terms in which Clark's absence is sometimes discussed. After all, the league has currently superior players who are playing, headlined by Napheesa Collier, MVP of last night's All-Star Game. And then there is Clark herself, not happy about it either.
So, a question for Sabreena Merchant, a women's basketball staff writer for The Athletic: Who in the WNBA is most annoyed with how Clark's year is unfolding?
💬 Clark is easily the most annoyed party at how her season has gone, with Fever fans a close second. There were such high hopes for how she would perform after a full offseason of rest and recovery, considering the giant step forward she took after the month-long Olympic break as a rookie. Instead, she has been plagued by muscle injuries, the latest causing her palpable emotional anguish as she took herself out of the game. For Fever fans who also root for the Pacers, seeing Clark struggle after already losing Tyrese Haliburton to an Achilles injury has to hurt doubly.
I hadn't thought about that last point, but what a brutal few weeks for Indy basketball fans. The Hoosier State turns its lonely eyes to you, new IU men's coach Darian DeVries.
News to Know
WNBA stars make statement
As Napheesa Collier accepted the WNBA All-Star Game MVP trophy after a record 36 points last night, chants of 'Pay them!' rang out throughout the arena. It was a reference to the increasingly contentious CBA discussions between the WNBA and the WNBPA. The All-Stars took the floor last night wearing shirts that read 'Pay Us What You Owe Us.' Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said yesterday she is confident in a new deal getting done, but the players believe there's a long way to go. Read the full report.
More news:
In Women's Euros action last night, Germany pulled off a miraculous win over France despite being a goal and a player down 15 minutes into the contest. The semifinals are set.
Manny Pacquiao, 46, made his return to professional boxing last night after a four-year absence. It ended in a controversial draw.
The Lakers are set to sign former Defensive Player of the YearMarcus Smart after a contract buyout with the Wizards, sources told The Athletic. A fresh start for the longtime Celtic.
Football season hasn't even started yet, but 14-year-old Brysen Wright made potentially the catch of the year at the NFL Flag Championships yesterday.
In Women's Euros action last night, Germany pulled off a miraculous win over France despite being a goal and a player down 15 minutes into the contest. The semifinals are set.
Manny Pacquiao, 46, made his return to professional boxing last night after a four-year absence. It ended in a controversial draw.
The Lakers are set to sign former Defensive Player of the YearMarcus Smart after a contract buyout with the Wizards, sources told The Athletic. A fresh start for the longtime Celtic.
Football season hasn't even started yet, but 14-year-old Brysen Wright made potentially the catch of the year at the NFL Flag Championships yesterday.
Watch Guide
📺 Golf: Open Championship, Final Round | NBC until around 2 p.m. ET
The final major day of the year in men's golf, before the Ryder Cup in a little more than two months.
📺 : Tigers at Rangers | 7:10 p.m. ET on ESPN
Likely on his way to a second straight Cy Young, Tarik Skubal takes the mound for Detroit against Nathan Eovaldi, who's got an even better ERA (1.58) than Skubal's (2.23). The Tigers lefty has done it in 30 more innings, though.
Pulse Picks
After Scottie Scheffler raised questions about happiness and fulfillment, Rustin Dodd connected with a professor to find answers. They talked about a few light topics, like the key to finding meaning in life.
As the Pulse's unofficial Sweden correspondent, I'm obligated to share my favorite Swedish delicacy — not IKEA meatballs, but candy. My personal favorites are Dumle, chocolate-covered toffees with an incredibly creamy filling (don't bite them!), and the cult favorite banana caramel Bubs. — Sam Settleman
'A data center like Meta's … guzzles around 500,000 gallons of water a day.' (🤯) You gotta read this story. — Chris Sprow
This helpful guide to making smart buys at a sports card show.
Old bits. When I was growing up, I used to think my dad was a wizard because he could predict when a traffic light would turn green. Now I do the same thing with my daughter and she shrieks in delight when I'm inevitably correct. Traditions matter. — Chris Branch
Our recap of all things fashion on the orange carpet at WNBA All-Star Weekend.
I'm a sucker for a true one-pot meal, and this is my latest fave — add a jammy egg! — Torrey Hart
Ian O'Connor's strong column on why the NFL Players Association deserves better than Lloyd Howell Jr., the executive director who stepped down last week. We also have a timeline of Howell's tenure.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Ronald Acuña Jr.'s unbelievable outfield assist.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The live blog from Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois 2.
Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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The odds seemed to be stacked against Lando Norris on Sunday as Oscar Piastri hunted him down at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix, trying to overcome different McLaren strategies and a 12-second gap after his Australian teammate made a second pit stop. Norris opted for a Hail Mary one-stop strategy when race engineer Will Joseph floated the idea mid-race. As the final laps unfolded, he had older tires and was racing in dirty air as they caught up to traffic with no DRS assistance. Piastri was quickly closing the gap, getting it within eight-tenths of a second with five laps to go. Advertisement It was a close battle, and the McLaren teammates came close to contact when Piastri locked up as he made a dive at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap. He was right on Norris's tail and was told by his race engineer to 'remember how we go racing' just beforehand. But, in the end, the Briton brought home McLaren's 200th grand prix victory as he finished 0.698 seconds ahead. 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Joseph asked over the radio, 'Keen for it?' Norris replied, 'Yeah, why not?' Norris explained after the race that 'it wasn't a terrible thought that I can make the hards last until the end. I just knew I'd have to push flat out for basically every single lap. That's when it gets a little bit tricky. The tires get hot. It's easy to make mistakes. 'I knew I could make the tires get to the end quite easily, but it was (harder) to stay ahead of the others.' When the one-stopper was proposed, Norris led Leclerc by five seconds and Piastri by seven, as they lapped quicker on their fresher tires. Even if a two-stop strategy went perfectly from there, Norris knew his chances were slim to fight for a win without either a safety car or a strategy gamble. But that wasn't necessary. Norris emerged from his Lap 31 stop to take hard tires, facing a 19-second gap to the lead. When Leclerc pitted again nine laps later, he'd cut this to 14. With 25 laps to go, Norris moved back into the lead while Piastri took his second and final pit stop – Russell also having pitted out of his way. Then it was a case of managing his tires and navigating traffic until the end, even as Piastri roared back. 'My confidence wasn't the highest, but it was my best chance of trying to do something,' Norris said of the one-stopper. 'It turned out to be a little bit trickier, but it actually allowed me to fight until the very end for the win. 'Not sure it still felt like the best strategy, but I think with how difficult overtaking was, it turned out to be pretty good.' Advertisement Every team discusses the various strategy options pre-race, and going into the Budapest contest, the two-stop option was the optimal choice. McLaren discussed the one-stop option, Piastri said, so he knew 'it wasn't completely off the table.' But it didn't think a one-stop strategy would be possible. 'We convinced ourselves that the one-stop was starting to get in the game as we progressed with the first stint,' McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said. 'It wasn't like entering the race with a one or a two stop (both possible), and we would have picked the equivalent. We thought that the two-stop would be the dominant strategy.' What muddies the waters is that Norris was ahead of Piastri. The Australian driver emphasized that it's 'very difficult to know from the cockpit what is going to be the best thing to do.' The McLaren duo started on the back foot after Leclerc bested them surprisingly to snare pole. It's notoriously difficult to overtake at the Hungaroring, and pit stops are often required to execute a pass. McLaren tried to pit Piastri early on Lap 18 to get ahead of Leclerc at the first stint's end. 'It wasn't obvious that we just had enough pace to blow past him and go and win that way,' Piastri said of his strategy. 'For Lando, there was virtually nothing to lose by trying a one-stop race. For myself, potentially there was.' Piastri was asked to consider a one-stopper early in his second stint, but he committed to a two-stop race, his eyes set on catching his championship rival and teammate. His radio message when told the gap to Leclerc, before being called into the pits for a second stop, showed where Piastri's mindset was: the championship. In the end, Ferrari thwarted McLaren's second attempt at an undercut when Leclerc stopped again on Lap 40. Piastri then used tires that were five laps younger to blast past him with a bold move around Turn 1's outside. He set off in his Norris pursuit, but came up short. Advertisement 'I knew that I was catching him a lot when I had clean air, but as soon as I got close, it was incredibly tough to stay close enough,' Piastri explained. 'Even if I had more laps, I'm not sure the result would have been any different. But I certainly tried.' F1 has seen relationships turn sour when teammates battle – whether it's for a win or the championship. Tensions flare and boil over, and rash decisions are made. But McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown isn't worried about any fallout between Piastri and Norris 'because of the communication, trust and respect we all have and they have for each other.' 'We're very fortunate to have the two personalities that we have,' Brown said before Sunday's race. 'We love the challenge. We like it. We talk about it. It's not the elephant in the room. We meet every Sunday morning after we've seen how qualifying is going. They know each other's strategy. We're totally transparent.' Brown has spoken with both drivers individually about whether they've ticked each other off at times, when there are 'windows of opportunity.' The answer has been no from both. The competition is heating up, but it's not hostile. Brown said, 'We're not feeling any tension. As the championship builds, I'm sure that tension will grow,' and the team does expect them to clash again like they did in Montreal. 'I'm positive they're never going to run each other off the track, and that's where you get into bad blood. So they're free to race. There are rules around our racing, which is 'respect your teammate.' They know that,' Brown said, later adding, 'If something bubbles up, we'll deal with it.' Piastri's one attempt at passing Norris on Sunday is an example of what Stella described as 'firm' and 'fair' racing between them. Stella added, 'At the same time, it was definitely within our principles. We had a bit of a lock-up with Oscar. But at the same time, Lando left some space because he knew that Oscar would have been at the limit of braking.' But the move may have come too early for Piastri. He said after the race that he likely 'needed to be at least a couple of tenths closer (for the pass to come off), which was going to take a mistake from Lando to achieve that.' Norris ⚔️ Piastri: How did they not collide?! 😱#F1 #HungarianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) August 3, 2025 McLaren is on a dominant streak, with Norris and Piastri securing four consecutive 1-2 finishes to close out the first portion of the season. It has won 11 out of the 14 grands prix, with Norris taking five wins to Piastri's six. McLaren's gap to the rest of the grid is well over 200 points, and while the drivers are just nine points apart, third-place Max Verstappen is nearly 100 points behind Norris in the drivers' standings. Advertisement Questions of fairness will keep arising in a one-team title fight. And Norris and Piastri have diverged on race strategies in the two most recent races. There's always a risk that things could go wrong in such scenarios. 'We want to give our two drivers the possibility to utilize, express their talent, pursue their aspirations, their personal success, and business to happen within the boundaries of the team interest and the fairness, the sportsmanship, and the respect for one another,' Stella said. 'For me, this is what I see. When we have a deviating strategy, when we have different options, I think this is part of racing. 'We want to make sure that neither driver is surprised, and I think neither driver was surprised. So far, I can only be very grateful to the way Lando and Oscar have interpreted the way we go racing as a team, as a group, which includes the drivers, and I'm sure this is going to be the same until the end of the season.' Additional reporting by Luke Smith (Top photo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri: Bradley Collyer/PA Images/Alamy Images/Sipa USA)
