EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France | Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 3 Lydia Ko won The Amundi Evian Championship in 2015, defeating Lexi Thompson by a whopping six shots at Evian Resort Golf Club, and she’s back at it again in the 2023 edition of the major championship. Ko opened her week in Evian-les-Bains with a 5-under 66, a bogey-free round that saw her hit six of 13 fairways and 11 of 18 greens and need just 24 total putts. Starting on No. 10, the 19-time LPGA Tour winner made seven consecutive pars to kick off the day, finally breaking through with a momentum-shifting birdie on the par-4 17th hole.
Turning in 35, the major champion made four more birdies on the front nine, three of which came in her last five holes on Nos. 5, 7 and 9, to post at 5-under and sit two back of the lead held by Paula Reto at 7-under. It’s the seventh time that Ko has opened the Amundi Evian Championship with a round in the 60s, most recently in 2022 when she also carded a 66 in the first round.
Riding the par train early wasn’t something that Ko saw as a negative. In fact, the LPGA Tour veteran considered those holes to be some of the most critical to her low score on Thursday.
“I holed a lot of good par putts, and even on my 17th hole, today on the eighth, I had like a 10ish-footer for par and I was able to hole that, and hole a couple other ones that were similar to that,” said Ko, who ranks fifth in putting average (28.78) and 14th in putts per green in regulation (1.76) on Tour this season. “Sometimes the birdies are obviously important because it takes strokes off your total, but sometimes the par saves are just as important because it keeps the momentum going.
“For me, I didn’t have the greatest start with my long game, so making those par saves, I wasn’t losing shots even though I wasn’t putting myself in good positions. I was really patient out there and I think that is such a big key at any event, but especially at major championships. It’s 72 holes of golf and it requires a lot of patience.”
Ko has had patience in spades this season as 2023 hasn’t been what she might’ve hoped for after a banner year in 2022. Opening with a tie for sixth at the Honda LPGA Thailand in her first start of the year, the New Zealand native hasn’t found the top 30 since, recording a best finish of T31 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in her last nine starts. But Ko is gritty and she loves Evian Resort Golf Club, as evidenced by her past performances at this venue, where she has seven top-10 finishes. The scenic course nestled at the base of the Alps seems like the perfect place for Ko to flip her season on its head and get the train back on the tracks.
“I’ve played this golf course with some of the best ball striking, some of my worst ball striking, and I think because of that, I feel like I’ve played it in a lot of different spots here,” said Ko. “I think the longer you play at a golf course you realize you make so many different memories, whether it’s good or bad, and I try and draw on the good memories. It’s just a fun little golf course. The golf course itself has changed with some hole changing, like par 5s to par 4s, and par 4s to par 5s, so it’s not the same, but I just try and draw back on them.”
Another experience Ko has been drawing back on this week is her first Amundi Evian Championship in 2013. Norway’s Suzann Pettersen won that year, beating Ko by just two strokes, and the 2023 European Solheim Cup captain is on-site this week in Evian-les-Bains, bringing up even more memories from 11 years ago for the now 25-year-old.
“I think I only played this once as an amateur, and I was in the final group with her,” Ko said. “I remember I hit a chip on the last and I was like two shots behind, but she made a great two-putt and par and won I think by two shots. That was the first time I put myself in contention really at a major championship, or at any other LPGA event, so it was just really fun and for me.
“Suzann was one of the players that I had seen on TV and now she’s a European team Solheim Cup captain. A lot of things have happened in those 11 years, but I remember when I saw her win and her getting that champagne shower on the last thinking, I would love to be in her shoes one day. I feel lucky to call myself a past champion alongside her.”
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.
Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively
Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.
It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.
Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.
The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.
Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.
The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.
Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.
San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.
Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.
Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024
It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.
As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.
In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).
However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.
And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.
In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).
Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.
Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.
Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.
A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.
A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.
A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
