LONDON — Rory McIlroy sported his green Masters jacket at Wimbledon on Wednesday as a large part of the European Ryder Cup team sat in the Royal Box on Centre Court.
McIlroy was joined by teammates Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinari. Captain Luke Donald and vice captain Thomas Bjorn were also on hand to watch defending champion Jannik Sinner’s second-round match against Nuno Borges.
French Open champion Mirra Andreeva and seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic were also set to play on Centre Court later.
McIlroy won his second straight Masters in April at Augusta National.
Europe beat the United States 15-13 last year in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Other dignitaries in the Royal Box included actors Charles Dance and Richard E. Grant and nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova.
Meanwhile, Wyndham Clark is dangerous when he gets on a heater, and he’s on a heater.
He won his first US Open in 2023 a little over a month after dusting the field at Quail Hollow. He shot 60 to win at Pebble Beach in 2024, then was runner-up two straight weeks to Scheffler at Bay Hill and The Players Championship the following month.
Clark had another closing 60 to win at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, followed that with contending late Sunday afternoon in the Memorial and early Sunday afternoon in the Canadian Open, and then he stood down a hostile gallery at Shinnecock to win the US Open. And then running on fumes, he got within two shots of the lead late Sunday at the Travelers and tied for fifth.
How long will it last? Two more months and it might be enough to end Scheffler’s four-year run as PGA Tour player of the year.
But that depends on Scheffler.
He is the defending champion at the British Open, and a victory by him or a half-dozen others could be what it takes to bring some clarity to the season Matt Fitzpatrick leads the PGA Tour in victories this season with three because one of them was Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he teamed with younger brother Alex to win. That gave Alex Fitzpatrick a two-year exemption, seen at the time as one of the great gifts ever from big brother.
Instead of flying to Turkey for the next European tour event, Alex Fitzpatrick headed to Doral for a signature event. And he got in the next one, and the one after that. He went from that supposed “gift card” to registering four top 10s in the signature events against the strongest fields.
His world ranking has gone from No. 140 to No. 62. More importantly, he is at No. 17 in the FedEx Cup and a lock for all the big stuff next year — and all the majors if he reaches the Tour Championship. AP
