A Sports Filled Weekend

Henrik Stenson prevailed over Phil Mickelson by three shots at the British Open at Royal Troon in Scotand and he needed to be almost perfect to do it. How good was Stenson? Well, Mickelson’s final score of 267 (he shot 65 on Sunday) would have won all but two British Opens covering more than a century, according to the Associated press. Instead, he wound up as the runner-up in a major for the 11th time.

Stenson’s 51-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole and his birdie on 18 sealed his 20-under 264, the lowest 72-hole score in a major. It was his first major victory and the first in a major by a Swedish male. That birdie on 18 was his 10th birdie of the round and allowed him to shoot an 8-under 63 to tie Johnny Miller for the lowest closing round by a major champion. Ironically, Mickelson shot 63 in the opening round.

Boxing

Despite breaking his right hand tearing a biceps muscle, Deontay Wilder kept his WBC heavyweight title on Saturday night in Birmingham, Alabama, recording an eighth-round technical knockout of Chris Arreola. Wilder scored a knockdown in the fourth round but mostly was forced to rely on his jab the rest of the way. Wilder is 37-0, 36 by knockout.

Autos

Despite starting 18th, Matt Kenseth claimed his second win of the season, winning the New Hampshire 301 on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Kenseth beat the suddenly-resurgent Tony Stewart by 1.982 seconds. Stewart, who plans to retire after this campaign, solidified his position in the top 30 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings — and in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship – by finishing second. Joey Logano nipped Kevin Harvick for third.

Baseball

The New York Yankees stopped the Boston Red Sox’s winning streak at six on Sunday night, prevailing 3-1. … New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom threw a one-hitter (the opposing pitcher got the only hit) in a 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. … Starling Martin’s home run in the 18th inning lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. … In his first game with the San Diego Padres, Edwin Jackson carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Pads beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 to sweep the weekend series.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman