Rory McIlroy said that PGA of America chief executive Derek Sprague has sent a personal apology for the abuse directed at him and his wife during Europe’s Ryder Cup victory in New York.

Europe held off a stirring fightback from the U.S. at Bethpage Black, where the Americans had gone into the final session 12-5 down before mounting a comeback in the singles, only to come up short.

Luke Donald‘s team — and McIlroy in particular — were on the end of abuse from a partisan crowd across the three days, with a beer from the crowd hitting McIlroy’s wife, Erica. The number of insults and jeers, some that occurred as he was in the process of hitting a shot, caused delays and led the PGA of America to add extra security.

“I got a lovely email from Derek Sprague apologizing,” McIlroy told BBC Sport as he prepared for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

“Erica worked with Derek at the PGA of America back in the day, so we know Derek and his wife pretty well. He couldn’t have been more gracious or apologetic and he wrote us a lovely letter, which we really appreciated.”

Sprague had said last month that he planned to issue an apology to McIlroy and his wife.

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley didn’t condemn the “passionate” home fans at Bethpage, where McIlroy felt the hostile atmosphere actually spurred Europe on.

“I take it as a compliment that they targeted me, but then at the same time, it was a tough week,” McIlroy said. “That made us better as a team. It galvanized us and it really put our arms around each other.”

In his first public comments since the Ryder Cup loss, Bradley said recently, “There’s no part of me that thinks I’ll ever get over this.”

Masters champion McIlroy is aiming to cap a memorable year as he prepares for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“I think back to the start in January of 2025 when I was last here and everything that’s happened since,” said McIlroy, who also won the Players Championship, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Irish Open.

“Honestly, in my wildest dreams, I didn’t know. I mean, I knew a year like this was possible, but it has just been an amazing 10 months.”

Information from PA was used in this report.

Inter Miami forward Luis Suárez will be suspended for the final game in the Round 1 MLS playoff best-of-three series against Nashville SC.

Suárez earned the one-game ban for kicking Nashville’s Andy Nájar in the second half of the match on Nov. 1 at Geodis Park, where Inter Miami lost 2-1. At the time of the incident, the referee did not issue the player a yellow or red card.

“The MLS Disciplinary Committee has suspended Inter Miami CF forward Luis Suárez for one match and fined Suárez an undisclosed amount under Disciplinary Committee Parameter 3 for violent conduct in the 71st minute of Inter Miami’s match against Nashville SC on November 1st. Suárez will serve his one-match suspension on November 8 during Miami’s match against Nashville SC,” the MLS Disciplinary Committee said in a statement.

Major League Soccer rules allow, however, for postgame disciplinary action to be enforced when a match official fails to issue a card for an offense on the field.

Suárez will now serve his second suspension from MLS action in 2025, after initially receiving a three-game ban for spitting on a member of the Seattle Sounders‘ staff following the Leagues Cup final on Aug. 31.

“Inter Miami CF accepts and respects the decision made by the MLS Disciplinary Committee,” the club said in a statement on Wednesday. At the same time, the club wishes to express its concern about the precedent set by re-refereeing a play that had already been judged by the match officials and VAR, and its confidence that the same standard will be applied in the future to all on-field situations, in any match and involving any team.”

Inter Miami will now enter the decisive final game of the playoff series without Suárez, as the team looks to qualify to the next round of the postseason. The Round 1 series is tied 1-1 after Inter Miami won the first game but lost the second.

The women’s college volleyball season is in the stretch run. We will run weekly updates on the field of 64 until it’s officially revealed by the selection committee on Nov. 30 (6 p.m. ET, ESPN).

There are 31 automatic bids with 33 at-large teams chosen by the NCAA volleyball committee. Volleyball seeds the top eight teams in each region, and the top four in each region serve as first- and second-round hosts. The rest of the bracket is filled out to balance it competitively and geographically. The highest-remaining seeds also host the regionals, and the 2025 Final Four is in Kansas City, Missouri, on Dec. 18 with the finals on Dec. 21.

Bracket watch

Halloween weekend was a scary one for previously unbeaten Texas with a pair of losses. The Longhorns lost their grip on the SEC race after falling to Texas A&M in five sets and then suffered a sweep to Kentucky. That further solidified Nebraska’s spot as the No. 1 overall team in the country. The Cornhuskers, who haven’t lost a set since mid-September, are the only undefeated team left in the country. Meanwhile, Texas did not fall off the top line. With a No. 2 RPI ranking, the country’s top-rated schedule and eight top-25 RPI wins, the Longhorns remain a firm No. 1 seed. The win for the Wildcats did catapult them to the top line. Kentucky is unbeaten in conference play with four matches to play.

Top seedings

No. 1 seeds: Nebraska, Kentucky, Texas, Pittsburgh

No. 2 seeds: Stanford, Texas A&M, Purdue, Arizona State

No. 3 seeds: Louisville, SMU, Creighton, Minnesota

No. 4 seeds: Indiana, Colorado, USC, BYU

No. 5 seeds: Miami, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Kansas

No. 6 seeds: Tennessee, TCU, Iowa State, Baylor

No. 7 seeds: Penn State, Florida, Xavier, UTEP

No. 8 seeds: Missouri, UCLA, Michigan, South Dakota State

Rest of the field (alphabetical): American, Auburn, Ball State, Campbell, Coppin State, Cornell, Dayton, East Tennessee State, Fairfield, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Jacksonville, James Madison, Kansas State, Long Island, Marquette, UMBC, Michigan State, Morehead State, Northern Arizona, Northern Iowa, Northern Kentucky, Prairie View A&M, Rice, San Diego, South Florida, Stephen F. Austin, UC Davis, Utah State, Utah Valley, Western Kentucky, Winthrop

(The rest of the field teams wouldn’t be seeded)

Bubble watch

Marquette fell to the fringes of the bubble with losses in three of its past four. Auburn strung together three wins since the last Bracketology to sneak into the field. With Texas A&M and Texas on the schedule in the next week, the Tigers’ stay in the field could be a short one. Cincinnati lost three times to probable NCAA tournament teams (Kansas, Baylor and TCU) to tumble out of the field, but with Colorado, Iowa State and Arizona State still to come, the opportunities to get back are plenty.

Last Four In: Illinois, Michigan State, Auburn, Marquette

First Four Out: Cincinnati, Florida State, Villanova, Arizona

Next Four Out: Oregon, Georgia, Utah, Tulsa

Conference breakdown

Big Ten: 11
Big 12: 8
ACC: 7
SEC: 7
Big East: 3
American: 2
CUSA: 2