victory sunday

Rory McIlroy didn’t back down.

The Irish golf star had stood up for himself amid verbal abuse and other inappropriate behavior from some American fans during the Ryder Cup this weekend at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y.

After helping Team Europe fend off a massive U.S. rally for a 15-13 victory Sunday, McIlroy had plenty more to say about what he witnessed from fans during the three-day event.

“I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” McIlroy said during his team’s post-tournament press conference. “I think golf should be held to a higher standard than than what was was seen out there this week.

“Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people. And, you know, sometimes this week we didn’t see that.”

McIlroy went 3-1-1 during the event while enduring boisterous jeers and insults from members of the crowd who were doing their best to disrupt him while he lined up to swing or putt. At one point Saturday a cup of beer appeared to sail out of the crowd and hit the brim of a hat worn by McIlroy’s wife, Erica Stoll, who was walking next to her husband.

The reigning Masters champion didn’t take such treatment quietly, clapping back at times with profanity or gestures of his own.

At one point during foursome play Saturday morning, McIlroy told some boisterous Americans to “shut the f— up.” He then proceeded to send his shot to within three feet of the hole, setting up Tommy Fleetwood‘s putt to clinch the European pair’s win.

Asked Sunday how satisfying that particular set of events was, McIlroy replied, “Very f— satisfying.”

On Monday morning, U.S. golf legend Tom Watson congratulated the European team on their win in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The four-time Ryder Cup player and two-time captain also wrote: “More importantly, I’d like to apologize for the rude and mean-spirited behavior from our American crowd at Bethpage. As a former player, Captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened.”

In general, McIlroy said, “we shut them up by our performance and how we played. You know, I chirped back a few times because it got to me a few times. [But] we tried to handle everything that came our way with class and poise and for the most part I felt like we did that.”

The amount of security and police present at the tournament was increased as the weekend went on, a step McIlroy didn’t think was necessary.

“The police out there and the amount of the security presence was insane,” McIlroy said. “It’s not like — nothing was going to happen. There wasn’t really going to be any sort of physical altercation or anything like that. … There was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behavior, but look, it’s a minority of the crowd. It’s not the majority. The majority of people here are true golf fans and are respectful and [hope] that both teams have the same chance to hit the shots and play a fair contest.”

McIlroy added that he hopes those respectful fans are the ones who show up at the next Ryder Cup, which will be held in his homeland.

“We will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable.”

That said, McIlroy and his European teammates did appear to take part in a little playful taunting of their own after their win Sunday. President Trump posted a video on Truth Social that showed the group hoisting their trophy and singing, “Are you watching, Donald Trump?”

Trump, who attended the Ryder Cup on Friday, wrote in response: “Yes, I’m watching. Congratulations!”

NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz reasserted his superiority over Jannik Sinner with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory Sunday in the U.S. Open final — the third Grand Slam tournament in a row where these elite, young rivals met to decide the champion — for his second trophy at Flushing Meadows and sixth overall at a major.

President Trump sat in a sponsor’s suite in Arthur Ashe Stadium and received a mix of cheers and boos when he offered a wave beforehand and again when he was shown on videoboards after the first set. The match’s start was delayed by about a half-hour because thousands of fans were still outside in line, trying to get through the extra security measures in place because of the presence of a sitting president at the tournament for the first time since Bill Clinton in 2000.

Jannik Sinner reacts while losing to Carlos Alcaraz during the U.S. Open men’s singles final Sunday in New York.

(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

Perhaps the extra wait got to the No. 1-seeded Sinner, who was the defending champion. Right from the beginning, under a closed roof because of rain earlier in the day, No. 2 Alcaraz was better as he sought to reverse the result from when they met at the All England Club less than two months ago.

He did just that, putting his leads over Sinner at 10-5 in their head-to-head series, 6-4 in major trophies, and 2-1 in U.S. Open championships. Plus, this win allowed Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, to take away the No. 1 ranking from Sinner, a 24-year-old from Italy.

These two guys are so, so much better than the rest of men’s tennis at the moment.

They have combined to collect the past eight Slam trophies in a row, and 10 of 13. Novak Djokovic, whom Alcaraz eliminated in Friday’s semifinals, took the other three in that span.

Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates after defeating Jannik Sinner, of Italy, in the U.S. Open men’s singles final Sunday in New York.

(Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press)

Sunday’s showdown represented the first time in tennis history that the same two men played each other in three consecutive Slam finals within a single season.

This hard-court matchup followed Alcaraz’s victory over Sinner after erasing a trio of match points on the French Open’s red clay in June, and Sinner’s victory over Alcaraz on Wimbledon’s grass in July.

Both Sinner, who had won his past 27 hard-court matches at majors, and Alcaraz offered glimpses of why they are so good, although it was rare that both were at their best simultaneously on this occasion.

Alcaraz was elite in the first, third and fourth sets, Sinner’s top efforts arrived in the second.

In sum, Alcaraz was better and for longer, ending up with twice as many winners, 42-21.

Since the start of the 2024 U.S. Open, Sinner had won 33 of 34 matches at the majors and Sunday was his fifth straight final at those events. The loss? To Alcaraz at Roland-Garros.

Indeed, over the last two seasons, Sinner is now 1-7 against Alcaraz and 109-4 against everyone else.

Alcaraz, meanwhile, has won 37 of 38 contests since May. The loss? To Sinner at the All England Club — also Alcaraz’s lone defeat in a Slam final.

In 2025, Alcaraz now has more tournament titles (a tour-leading seven) than losses (his record is 61-6, also the best in men’s tennis).

During his defeat in Wimbledon’s final, Alcaraz was caught by a camera telling his team about Sinner in Spanish: “From the back of the court, he’s much better than me.”

So perhaps that’s why Alcaraz was aggressive Sunday with his sledgehammer of a forehand — and on-target too. Whenever even the smallest opening presented itself, Alcaraz tried to barge on through with that shot, going big early in points, which worked, either for an outright winner or forcing mistakes from Sinner.

Sinner had dropped a total of just one service game in his three matches leading into the final, but he did deal with an abdominal muscle issue in his semifinal Friday. Sinner and his coach said it was nothing serious, which might be right, but Alcaraz broke right away Sunday and five times in all.

To counteract the forehand effectiveness, Sinner made a tactical switch, going increasingly after Alcaraz’s backhand when possible. That both limited Alcaraz’s opportunities to strike a point-ending forehand and drew additional mistakes off the other wing.

Paid off for Sinner. Briefly.

In the first set and third, Alcaraz’s ratios were 11 winners to two unforced errors. Truly remarkable. In the second, those numbers swung the other way: five winners, 11 unforced errors.

An hour and 20 minutes in, it was a set apiece, after Alcaraz ceded one for the first time all tournament, allowing Neale Fraser to retain his distinction as the most recent man to win every set he played at the event — all the way back in 1960.

As Sinner worked his way into things, he would celebrate just about every point he gathered by looking at the corner of the stands where his two coaches and others, including Olympic champion ski racer Lindsey Vonn, were seated and pumped his right fist.

Ah, but it was Alcaraz who seemed to have more of the ticket-buyers on his side.

Fendrich writes for the Associated Press.