Plus World Cup Upsets And Baseball

It started off looking like a season to forget for Brooks Koepka.

Sidelined by a torn ligament in his left wrist, he missed the Masters tournament and hardly seemed in a position to defend his U.S. Open title.

But he did exactly that at Shinnecock Hills, holding off Tommy Fleetwood to win the Open by one stroke on Sunday.

The brutal layout of the course tells the story of his back-to-back titles: A year he was 15 under. This year? One over par.

He’s the first player to win the Open in consecutive years since Curtis Strange in 1988-89.

“I don’t want to say I didn’t think I could do it, but I knew that it was going to be that much more difficult, and to finally do it, it’s much more gratifying the second time,” Koepka said. “I can really appreciate how hard it is to win a major, and to win back-to-back is special.”

WORLD CUP: Upsets have been the story of the World Cup through its opening days. On Sunday, Mexico stunned Germany, one of the favorites to win the championship, 1-0. Hirving Lozano’s first-half goal stood up and Germany lost a first-round game for the first time since 1982. … Brazil, also a favorite, was held to a 1-1 draw by Switzerland. And on Saturday, plucky Iceland played Argentina to a 1-1 draw.

BASEBALL: The Houston Astros won their 11th straight game finished a road trip unbeaten in 10 games after knocking off the Kansas City Royals 10-0 on Sunday. Carlos Correa drove in three runs and homered in the eighth for the Astros. … The New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks as Brandon Nimmo hit a go-ahead two-run home run and Asdrubal Cabrera hit a solo shot in back-to-back at-bats in the top of the ninth. … In College World Series action, Arkansas drilled Texas 11-5 on Sunday, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman