Golf’s final major championship of the year concluded with the second straight first-time major winner besting the world’s top players.

Thirty-six-year-old American Brian Harman won the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England on Sunday and the $3 million first-place prize. The surprising win comes just a month after Wyndham Clark was able to fend off Rory McIlroy to win his first major championship at the U.S. Open in Los Angeles.

The major championship season began with fireworks as Jon Rahm outdueled Brooks Koepka in a PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf battle at the Masters. Koepka was able to rebound at the PGA Championship to claim his fifth major title, giving new life to the LIV circuit that would agree to merge operations with the PGA Tour less than a month later.

Although LIV can technically still recruit players from the PGA Tour, there is far less friction than a year ago when Champion Golfer of the Year Cam Smith defected from the PGA Tour shortly after his first major victory at St. Andrews.

Twice As Nice

About 500 miles south of the Open Championship, Jonas Vingegaard claimed his second straight Tour de France victory in Paris on Sunday and the nearly $550,000 winner’s payout.

After a tight battle with 2020 and 2021 champion Tadej Pogačar that saw the two cyclists separated by mere seconds at the end of several stages, the Danish rider pulled away in the final days to win by more than seven minutes.

Meanwhile, the second edition of the Tour de Frances Femmes — a new women’s event launched last year — began on Sunday in Clermont-Ferrand. The race will play out over eight stages, ending on Sunday, July 30.

Lionel Messi’s first game in an Inter Miami uniform was everything MLS could have hoped for — and then some.

After over a month of fanfare since the Argentinian legend announced he was coming to the U.S. for the next chapter of his career, 21,000 fans squeezed into a sold-out DRV Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Friday night for Messi’s debut in a Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul.

Anticipation built as the superstar sat out the first half before subbing into the game in its 54th minute. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner made fans wait until stoppage time to see his magic — netting a free kick before time expired to seal a 2-1 victory that set social media ablaze.

Among the stars catching Messi’s debut in person were Kim Kardashian, LeBron James, and Serena Williams.

Viewership numbers are not available for Messi’s debut on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV — specific figures have not been released all season. But Apple had been heavily promoting Messi’s presence in the days leading up to Friday’s match.

Inter Miami has its second Leagues Cup group stage match at Atlanta United on Tuesday, but it is unclear if Messi will suit up. The 36-year-old has traditionally not played on artificial turf — the playing surface at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Either way, Inter Miami is in good shape to make the knockout round that could see Messi make his second MLS appearance.

Before his debut, sports retailers had already been struggling to keep Inter Miami gear in stock. With Messi already bringing the heat, expect the mania to only continue.

Day 5 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup is underway on Monday, with the tournament favorite USWNT off and running after a confident win over the weekend to start their title defense and quest for a third straight trophy.

In front of 41,000-plus mostly American fans at a packed Eden Park stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, the U.S. handily beat Vietnam 3-0 as 22-year-old Sophia Smith led the way with two goals in her first World Cup appearance. USWNT co-captain Lindsey Horan — who joined the Front Office Sports Today podcast ahead of the World Cup — also scored a goal.

The 9 p.m. ET match on Friday drew 5.26 million viewers on Fox, making it the second–most watched group stage match on English language television — just behind USA-Chile in 2019. Another 1 million U.S. viewers caught the game in Spanish on Telemundo.

This week, the U.S. heads to the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island — for their second group stage match in Wellington against the Netherlands, who beat Portugal 1-0 on Sunday. Last week, the Dutch squad raised concerns with FIFA about the safety of their practice site — a cricket venue in the coastal city of Tauranga.

USA’s tilt against the Netherlands — a battle for first place in the group — will be the last guaranteed primetime spotlight on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. The U.S. needs to successfully close out group play in top positioning to ensure primetime TV matchups for games in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals — should they advance.

SlamBall has officially made its much-awaited return to the sports landscape.

A tripleheader of 20-minute games kicked off the action on ESPN Friday night — followed by several more matchups that night and throughout the weekend on ESPN+. SlamBall is indeed receiving a rights fee from ESPN as part of the two-year media rights contract.

The relatively small crowds at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas appeared mostly subdued as the basketball/football combo sport came back to life after a 20-year hiatus. The venue that hosted the weekend’s games normally has a capacity of about 2,500 for UNLV women’s basketball games.

Former NBA player Nate Robinson was among ESPN’s announcing team that tried to make sense of the hybrid competition for viewers at home. Ratings have not been released and it’s unclear how much of an impact SlamBall made in its return. Recaps and reviews of the weekend’s action are limited online, and no SlamBall content seemed to be making any dramatic effects on social media. 

SlamBall is scheduled to play more games each of the next four weekends. ESPN2 will show three games each weekend, and ESPN+ will carry the remainder until the playoffs return to the main ESPN channel in mid-August.

The league has raised $11 million in funding to get back in action with support from major inventors like Michael Rubin and David Blitzer.