FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Even though Scotland and Morocco were the World Cup teams playing at Gillette Stadium on Friday, there were plenty of American fans inside the venue watching on TV as the U.S. beat Australia 2-0 across the country in Seattle.
They were certainly outnumbered by the blue-shirted Tartan Army and the red-clad Moroccan supporters, but the ones cheering for the red, white and blue didn’t consider themselves isolated at the home stadium of the NFL's New England Patriots.
“I don’t feel outnumbered at all,” said 39-year-old Boston resident Kaley Vescuso, who was wearing a blue USA jersey.
“It’s like a family reunion,” she said, standing in the middle of a large group of Scottish fans. “Our cousins are here.”
The TVs were on all around Gillette and when the U.S. scored to go up 2-0 a little over three hours before Morocco beat Scotland 1-0. A spattering of cheers echoed around the nearly empty stadium when Alex Freeman scored.
“It’s the best. The atmosphere is amazing, and being around all these fans from all around the world is amazing,” said 20-year-old Calder Reynolds, who is from nearby Wellesley and was dressed in a No. 86 Jack Hughes hockey jersey.
Reynolds brought along his 13-year-old sister Ellie, who admitted that she really didn’t watch soccer, but big brother convinced her to wear a Paul Revere-style three-cornered hat to go along with her red-and-white U.S. soccer shirt.
“I think it’s cool,” she said of her brother sporting a hockey sweater to a soccer match. “He’s really into it.”
Lots of U.S. fans were glued to the TVs to watch their team this year's World Cup, the first to have 48 teams in the field.
“The way that it’s sweeping the nation has been awesome,” Calder Reynolds said.
Sprinkled between many of the Scottish fans was 54-year-old Paul Schwerdt from Needham, Mass., who stuck out in his mostly white T-shirt with a USA logo.
“We perfectly timed it to get in here to watch the game,” he said. “It’s a fun time and a fun season. My brother-in-law is a mad soccer fan, and now I’m here and the Pats aren’t even playing.”
He did have on his baseball cap with a Patriots logo, though.
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
United States' Weston McKennie (8) celebrates after winning the World Cup Group D soccer match against Australia in Seattle, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — William Mouw had one of those brutal golf moments where a good shot produced a bad result, his approach on No. 16 hitting the flagstick and spinning back into a bunker.
Tied for second at the U.S. Open at the time, he ended up with a double-bogey 7 that quickly dropped him out of the top 10. Mouw recovered nicely with pars on his final two holes Friday to finish with his second straight round of even-par 70, and said afterward players sometimes have to accept bad breaks and keep fighting.
For those like Mouw, 25, that lesson didn't start at Shinnecock Hills. It began with surviving sectional qualifying just to make it there, and he was one of 43 players in the field who earned their way in on June 8. He needed to advance from a playoff in Canada where eight players were competing for three spots.
“I think it would have been obviously nice to not have to qualify, but it gives you an opportunity to compete and gain some momentum and confidence,” Mouw said. “I put up two good scores in Canada and made two very big putts on my 36th hole and the playoff hole to get in. It gave me a lot of confidence and carried it into this week.”
He was tied for 11th and joined by 21-year-old Ryder Cowan, who briefly held the lead in the first round and followed his 2-under 68 with a 72 Friday. Ben James and Max Greyserman, who both made it from the New York qualifier, shot 69s in the first round that had them in the top 10 when they started their second rounds, but they dropped back after James shot 72 and Greyserman 73.
Cowan, who will be a senior at Oklahoma, also had to deal with even more than 36 holes when his qualifier in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, required a three-man playoff for two spots.
“I mean, they call it the ‘Longest Day in Golf’ for a reason. It’s a long day, and you have like a week to prepare for the U.S. Open, maybe one of the most prestigious tournaments in golf," Cowan said. “It’s hard, because you come off of qualifying, you’re tired, you’re exhausted, and you don’t want to play.”
He remained in Florida and did play the next day, then flew home and took a day off to rest and recover.
Mouw missed the cut in his U.S. Open debut in 2022, a year after helping Pepperdine win the NCAA title. He turned pro in 2023 and won his first PGA Tour title last year at the ISCO Championship, when his 9-under 61 in the final round allowed him to make up a seven-shot deficit.
That got him a spot in this year's PGA Championship, where he made the cut, but his ranking wasn't high enough for an automatic entry into the U.S. Open. So he went out and earned one, and certainly showed a major championship mindset when he bounced back from his bad break.
“I would like to be under par, but I’m happy with two pars on the last two holes,” Mouw said. “Golf is a game of inches, and sometimes the breaks fall your way, sometimes they don’t. I’ve accepted that for today. I did get some good breaks today, too, so you can’t just look at the bad breaks. So I just took that.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Ryder Cowan reacts after missing a putt on the 10th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
William Mouw hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Ryder Cowan reacts after missing a putt on the 13th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
William Mouw hits from the bunker on the 13th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
