Another weekend down. This time, we got to witness golf’s third major championship of the year, along with USA Soccer winning their second straight CONCACAF title. I know most of you may be experiencing delayed Sunday blasé with the long weekend, so let’s not waste any time and get right into it.
WYNDHAM CLARK WINS HIS FIRST MAJOR AT THE US OPEN
Wyndham Clark fended off some of golf’s giants to take home his first major. Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Rickie Fowler were hot on his tacks all the way til the last puts. With ice in his veins, Clark hit one of the best lag puts I’ve ever seen to seal the win. This was also after one of the greatest club twirls ever just a few holes back:
Clark’s win made it five consecutive years that the winner of the US Open took home their first major, with the previous four being Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Gary Woodland. Needless to say, I am throwing serious action on a newcomer to win next years title at Pinehurst.
As much as I was rooting for Ricky or Rory to win, watching Clark’s reaction to his dreams coming true made me feel bad for not rooting for him. Ten years ago, he lost his mother to breast cancer, and he said this about her presence this weekend: “I miss her, and it’s obviously great to think about her, and being here in L.A. and winning something like this makes me think of her even more than maybe my day-to-day when I’m not playing a championship.” You can tell how much it meant for him when the his final putt dropped on 18:
One player I will bet on to win anything and everything is Scottie Scheffler. Now here’s a guy (cue Chris Collinsworth GIF) that can swing a golf club. He said it himself that he didn’t play well, yet somehow he managed to finish third, only three stokes back of the leader. On my worst days, a blind 80 year old granny could beat me by nine strokes on each side. On Scottie’s worst days, nearly none of the golf’s top athletes can best his score. The feeling of being so consistently dominant at one thing is something I’ll never experience, but I can only imagine how good it really is.
My last notes on the US Open are on Rory and Rickie. Rory is playing with a fire that I hope never dies down. Something that I have been trying to wrap my head around is the fact that some people don’t like him. How can that be true? He seems like the sportsman of all sportsmen, taking all of the punches that came with the whole PGA vs LIV situation, yet he still catches strays in the media every now and then. Ricky on the other hand has turned into a tragic player who has been on the cusp his whole career. I just really hope he won’t end up like the Marionos, Iversons, and Barkleys of the world. That being said, golf is a sport that you can win at the highest level, even in your late years, as proven by Phil Mickelson with his PGA Championship win at 50 years old in 2021. So, Ricky still has plenty of time to get the job done.
USA BEATS MEXICO IN SEMIS, CANADA IN FINALS TO TAKE HOME SECOND STRAIGHT CONCACAF TITLE
Before we get into this, CONCACAF stands for The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football. I didn’t know that prior to the quick google search, so I just had to get that out there. Maybe if they didn’t make the acronym so stupidly long the sport would get more traction in the states. How about NASA? The North American Soccer Association works, and NASA is a rather unique, unused name if I do say so myself. I gotta pat myself on the back for thinking of that in an instant, but my main point here is that my soccer knowledge is not as up to speed as other sports. However, this young team helmed by Christian Pulisic is starting to demand more and more of my attention.
The World Cup last November was a blast to watch, and it put our nations’ team back in the minds of sports fans across the country. No tie has ever felt better than the one we had against England, nor did any non-win give more hope for the future of a team. Since then I have been keeping a close eye on the squad, which led to the games this weekend.
I didn’t watch the prelims for the CONCACAF tournament, but I did watch the 3-0 victory in the semis against Mexico, and I am over the moon pleased with my decision. Everything I dislike about the sport was nonexistent. Above all else, the game was physical, with three red cards dished out to match the three goal total for the game. There is a clear rivalry between these teams, but much like the Celtics-Sixers rivalry, the it’s been one sided since the start of the century. In fact, the US has double the wins (18), and they have only had draws in eight of their 35 meetings. It must feel bad to know that you can’t beat a country in any sport, even your own, especially when said sport is fifth in popularity for the opposing country. A cross country joke is low hanging fruit, so I’ll leave it unpicked.
As for the final against Canada, I was too wrapped up in the US Open to throw it on. I was worried about our chances since McKennie and Dest both couldn’t pay because of their red cards in the Mexico match, but those worries were put to rest by a 2-0 win.
I can sit here and list stats that I didn’t witness, or I can just give my thoughts on the team and the sport’s future. I think that this team has the exact level of grit and desire to prove haters wrong to succeed and grow the sport. They play with a chip on their shoulder and are so fun to watch. Although this roster doesn’t stand a chance against the powerhouse countries like Brazil and France, this team could encourage younger athletes to use their feet instead of their hands, growing us a World Cup contender of the future.