HOYLAKE, England: Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have combined to salute Rory McIlroy’s performance in capturing the British Open title for the first time in his career.
The 25-year-old Northern Irishman became the third youngest golfer in the modern era, after the two American greats, to land three of the four major championships when he triumphed by two strokes at Royal Liverpool on Sunday.
“I like his swagger,” said 18-times major winner Nicklaus on his official Facebook page. “I like the way he handles himself.
“I like his desire to be great. I like his desire to do the things he needs to do. I like that in a young guy. He’s cocky in a nice way.”
McIlroy went into the last day holding a six-stroke lead and Nicklaus said he was particularly impressed with the way he protected his advantage with a safety-first 71 in the final round.
“He didn’t take some of the chances that he did in the other rounds as far as the clubs he hit off the tee,” added the Golden Bear.
“Rory didn’t put himself in position to lose the golf tournament. He did what he needed to do ... It’s about shooting what you have to shoot to win the golf tournament.”
Woods, who finished 69th of the 72 players who made the cut at Royal Liverpool in only his second competitive appearance since undergoing back surgery in March, compared new world number two McIlroy to his great rival Phil Mickelson.
“The way Rory plays is pretty aggressively,” said the 14-times major champion. “When he gets it going, he gets it going. When it gets going bad, it gets going real bad — it’s one or the other.
“He’s very similar to what Phil does. He has his hot weeks and he has his weeks where he’s off. And that’s just the nature of how he plays the game.
“He hasn’t really been making the amount of putts that he did a couple of years ago, but now he’s starting to make those 10- to 15-footers. That turns rounds around,” Woods said.
“You make two or three birdies in a row, you make a par putt here and there. Next thing you know a round where you would normally shoot one- or two-over and all of a sudden it’s a 69 and then you get the hot round and it’s a 66 or 65.”
Mickelson said it would be tough for McIlroy, who has only Australian Adam Scott ahead of him in the rankings, to dominate world golf the way Woods and Nicklaus once did.
“We used to say there will never be another Nicklaus and then along came Tiger,” said the five-times major winner.
“You never want to discount the possibility of someone coming along and dominating but nobody has really asserted themselves week in and week out the way Tiger did for such a long period of time.
“We’ll have great performances, like Rory this week, like Martin Kaymer at last month’s US Open ... but it’s very hard to do that week in and week out the way Tiger did.”
McIlroy’s Ryder Cup partner Graeme McDowell said the acid test for his friend now was to continue to score well on a consistent basis even when he was not at his best.
“Tiger had that capability of getting the job done ugly,” said McDowell after finishing tied ninth at Hoylake. “Perhaps Rory has to prove he’s got that side to him.
“I can just sort of sit back and admire how good Rory is and we’ll watch from there. But the third leg of the major grand slam at 25 — that’s pretty good.”
Nicklaus and Woods hail McIlroy’s Open victory
Nicklaus and Woods hail McIlroy’s Open victory
Luka Doncic, LeBron James lead Lakers past 76ers in return to lineup
- Doncic posted a triple-double, finishing with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists
- Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren scored 25 points each as Oklahoma City tied a franchise record with their 15th straight win over Utah in Salt Lake City
NEW YORK: Luka Doncic and LeBron James combined for 60 points in their return to the lineup as the Los Angeles Lakers topped the host Philadelphia 76ers 112-108 on Sunday night.
Both missed the first two games of this road trip, Doncic due to the birth of his second daughter and James with back and foot injuries. James scored five straight points after Philadelphia tied the game at 105 with 1:29 left to create separation.
Doncic posted a triple-double, finishing with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. He only shot 9-of-24 from the field, but James was an efficient 12-of-17 for 29 points, while adding seven rebounds and six assists.
Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Joel Embiid added 16 points for the Sixers but shot just 4-of-21 from the floor.
Thunder 131 Jazz 101
Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren scored 25 points each as Oklahoma City tied a franchise record with their 15th straight win over Utah in Salt Lake City.
Despite being without reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the first time this season along with two other starters, the Thunder dominated from the start. Oklahoma City shot 58 percent from the field and was 21 of 42 from beyond the arc.
Kyle Filipowski led the Jazz with 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting with 10 rebounds. Walter Clayton Jr. and Taylor Hendricks scored 20 points each off the bench.
Knicks 106 Magic 100
Jalen Brunson scored eight points during a decisive run to open the second half for New York, which earned a 106-100 win over Orlando after the visitors lost forward Franz Wagner to a lower leg injury.
Brunson finished with 30 points and nine assists and Josh Hart (17 points, 12 rebounds) posted a double-double for the Knicks, who overcame the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns (left calf) to close out a perfect three-game homestand and improve to 13-1 at home.
Anthony Black (14 points, 11 rebounds) recorded a double-double off the bench for the Magic, who lost for only the fourth time in 14 games. Jalen Suggs scored 17 points while Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane had 16 apiece.
Celtics 121 Raptors 113
Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, Derrick White added 27 and visiting Boston held off Toronto for their fifth straight win.
Payton Pritchard scored 15 points for the Celtics, who have won 10 of 12. Neemias Queta had 11 points and 11 rebounds while Anfernee Simons scored 12.
Brandon Ingram scored 30 for the Raptors, who have dropped three straight. Scottie Barnes added 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, helping erase a 23-point deficit early in the second half before Boston used a late surge to come out on top.
Nuggets 115 Hornets 106
Jamal Murray had a huge opening stretch en route to 34 points and Nikola Jokic joined the production with 28 points and 11 assists as Denver defeated host Charlotte.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had 14 points and Peyton Watson added 10 as the Nuggets improved to 11-2 in road games. They’ve won 10 straight away from home, aided by shooting 51.8 percent from the field against Charlotte.
Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 24 points, Brandon Miller posted 17, KJ Simpson poured in 16 and Kon Knueppel chipped in with 14. Liam McNeeley contributed 13 off the bench for the Hornets, who have lost three of their last four games.
Grizzlies 119 Trail Blazers 96
Santi Aldama came off the bench to score 22 points and Kentavious Caldwell- Pope and Jaylen Wells added 16 apiece to lead Memphis to a victory over visiting Portland.
The Grizzlies won for the fifth time in six games and recorded back-to-back home wins for the first time this season. Aldama and Caldwell-Pope were part of the Memphis bench that produced 69 points, along with Jock Landale (15 points, eight rebounds) and Cam Spencer (12 points, six assists). Starter Zach Edey had 12 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Portland was held to fewer than 100 points for only the second time this season. The Trail Blazers, who lost for the fifth time in six games, were led by Jerami Grant with 21 points and seven rebounds. Deni Avdija added 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Warriors 123 Bulls 91
Visiting Golden State sank 22 threes — their second most of the season — and never trailed in a 123-91 slamming of Chicago.
The Warriors played without Steph Curry (quad), Draymond Green (foot) and Al Horford (sciatica), but looked smooth from the start. Seven Warriors made threes as the visitors finished 22-of-47 (46.8 percent) from behind the arc. Brandin Podziemski came off the bench, sank five threes and finished with a game-high 21 points. Quinten Post had five threes and 19 points. Jimmy Butler had two 3-pointers and also had 19.
Josh Giddey led the Bulls with 18 points and five assists, and Matas Buzelis tallied 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
