MICHIGAN--Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho carded an eagle on their way to a 6-under 64 to join a three-team tie for first place after one round of the Dow Championship on Thursday in Midland, Mich. The all-Thailand team of Chanettee Wannasaen and Jaravee Boonchant and two top-12 players in the world, Ruoning Yin of China and Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand, joined Ewing and Kupcho at 64 after their first round at Midland Country Club. The only official team event on the LPGA schedule, the Dow Championship had players compete in foursomes (alternate shot) on Thursday and will do so again Saturday. The field will play four-ball (best ball) in the second and final rounds. Ewing and Kupcho started their day on the back nine and birdied the 11th and 12th holes before a run of pars. After a birdie at No. 18 and a bogey at the first, they went birdie-eagle at the next two holes for a jolt. "We're both pretty consistent," Ewing said. "Just kind of trusting each other and knowing our games and able to roll in some putts, and certainly a 3 on a par-5 is always going to help, with only two out here." Kupcho, a onetime major champion, said she sees every hole at Midland as a birdie hole. She's playing with Ewing, who is on the biggest heater of her career with three straight top-five finishes, including at two majors. "I asked her about 20 times," Kupcho said of teaming up with Ewing, "and then she finally said yes." "We have played (the) Solheim (Cup). We've never played together, so it's been fun kind of knowing that our games are very similar to put them up together," Ewing said. Boonchant and Wannasaen had the only bogey-free card among the trio at the top. "We hit many fairways, many greens, give ourselves ... a lot of opportunity to make birdies," Boonchant said. "With (Wannasaen's) putting, she's like rolling everything. I think most of our birdies come from her." Yin and Thitikul also started on the back nine and rang up six birdies and a bogey for a 5-under 30. They added one final birdie at the par-3 seventh hole to get to 6 under. "(Thitikul's) putter is just so hot. You don't want to touch that. It's getting hot," Yin joked. "My job was just to hit a shot, just make sure the ball is on the green, and she'll make everything. It's pretty fun." Two teams are one off the pace at 5-under 65: Americans Jennifer Chang and Annie Park, and Taiwan's Ssu-Chia Cheng and Wei-Ling Hsu. Lexi Thompson is playing with Brooke M. Henderson of Canada, and the pair also eagled the par-5 third Thursday en route to a bogey-free, 4-under 66. They're tied for sixth with Englishwomen Charley Hull and Georgia Hall, as well as Yealimi Noh and South Korea's A Lim Kim.
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany-- Georgia staged the biggest upset in Euro history with a 2-0 win over Portugal on Wednesday to stride into the knock-out phase of their first major tournament, thanks to an early Khvicha Kvaratskhelia strike and a Georges Mikautadze penalty.
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BERLIN-- Hoary old cliche it may be but in the final analysis the simple truth is that the irrepressible, irresistible Austrians wanted it more than the Dutch in their final Euro 2024 Group D clash. Maybe the fact the Netherlands were already guaranteed a last-16 place spiked their guns, or perhaps there was nothing they could do to repel the industry and energy of the Austrians. Either way, the men from the mountains towered over their opponents from the low countries by the end of a sizzling 3-2 victory at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. "When you win like that, win the group, score the winning goal, it doesn't get any better than that," said Austria's man-of-the match Marcel Sabitzer. "Now we need to calm down, clear our heads and then keep attacking." The die had seemed cast from the kick off. Well set up, disciplined, and with a measured plan to execute, the Austrians instantly set about their task with furious energy as soon as the whistle blew. While the Netherlands were a team of step overs, fancy flicks, jinks and arms thrown up in frustration, the men in white buckled down to the job in hand - namely clearing their lines, maintaining their shape and employing a great high press and strong, physical tactics to snuff out Dutch inspiration whenever it threatened to momentarily catch light. Austria's approach was rewarded almost before either bench had a chance to get comfortable, pressing Dutch rightwinger Donyell Malen to scythe the ball past his own goalkeeper after only five minutes. If red-faced Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman was sanguine in appearance, his demeanour suggested he was far less so in outlook, and he appeared to seethe on the touchline. The last time the Oranje played at a Euros in this neck of the woods, they emerged champions in West Germany. Koeman was among the heroes who won the final 36 years ago to the day. How, on a balmy evening in Berlin, he must have yearned for the majesty of a Ruud Gullit or menace of a Marco van Basten. Mercurial to the point of confusing themselves at times, the Dutch lacked purpose, with their lead striker Memphis Depay drifting in and out of the game in the early stages, at times looking more like an NBA player in his white headband than a striker closing in on the Dutch all-time scoring record. BETTER SIDE The Austrians looked, and were, the better side. Pressing and never allowing the Dutch to settle on the ball, they went in at the break comfortably in the ascendancy. But blink and it was gone. Whatever words of wisdom Koeman conjured from his increasing incandescence at halftime clearly worked and within minutes of the kick off a momentary lapse saw the Austrians dispossessed in their own half. Given a glimpse of the hare, the Dutch were off on the breakaway and Cody Gakpo made no mistake, curling the ball home, levelling the scores and reigniting an orange wall of fans who had been muted for the first 45 minutes. But even then the goal seemed little more than a solitary finger stuck in a dike the Austrians were determined to breach. When a powerful Romano Schmid header flew past Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen it sparked a deafening roar from the red end as the sun started to dip below the stadium roof. An all-too brief glimpse of Depay magic dragged the Dutch level again in the 75th minute with a goal that was viewed from every conceivable angle by VAR before being awarded and a scoreline which flattered them. Not for long, though, as Austria’s army of fans were sent into delirium when a Sabitzer howitzer flew into the roof of the net with 10 minutes remaining to seal a famous victory and leave Austria top of Group D. France finished second after a 1-1 draw with Poland and the Netherlands qualified for the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed finishers. While the Austrians were left to contemplate a job superbly executed, the Dutch have some thinking to do. “We are all responsible for this," Netherlands skipper Virgil van Dyke said. "If we want to achieve anything in this tournament, something has to change."
DORTMUND, Germany- - As France struggled again to turn chances into goals at Euro 2024 in a 1-1 draw with Poland on Tuesday, a frustrated Kylian Mbappe ran over for an exchange with Didier Deschamps, pointing animatedly to different corners of the pitch. The first-half debate between captain and coach summed up the challenge for France who have found the back of the net only twice in three games at the tournament: once from an own goal against Austria and a penalty scored by Mbappe against Poland. The draw - which means France finished second in Group D, the first time in Deschamps' 12 years in charge that they have not topped a group stage pool - will do little to settle the unease among fans at their team's lack of goals. As in previous matches in Germany, France looked dangerous with wingers Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola - making his first start in the national team as Deschamps reworked his attack - offering lots of threat. Mbappe, back from sitting out the 0-0 draw with the Netherlands, seemed uninhibited by the mask he wore to protect the broken nose that he suffered in the 1-0 opening win over Austria, powering his way past defenders with ease. The Real Madrid-bound striker showed signs of working well with Barcola before breaking the deadlock to score his 48th goal in 81 appearances for France, but his first at a European Championship, from the penalty spot in the 56th minute. In a sign of how France's dominance, their 55 touches in their opponents' penalty box were more than any team in a match so far in Germany, according to Opta. Deschamps turned to experienced forwards Antoine Griezmann, who he had dropped to the bench, and Olivier Giroud in an attempt to put the match beyond doubt. But it was Poland's veteran captain Robert Lewandowski who scored the game's only other goal, also scoring from the spot with a re-taken penalty. Deschamps was left to express his frustration once again at France's lack of ruthlessness. "We have to accept it, even if we did what we did by creating the chances," he said. "At least we’re qualified and we know when we’ll play. A new competition will start. We’re not going to live with regrets. We could have been more efficient, we were not able to double our advantage." France now face the runners-up in Group F, a spot currently occupied by Turkey and which they can secure with a draw against Czech Republic on Wednesday. Turkey have conceded four goals in their two Euro 2024 matches so far, offering hope for Deschamps and his misfiring team that they can rediscover their scoring touch.
LEIPZIG, Germany-- Mattia Zaccagni curled home a 98th minute equaliser as defending champions Italy booked a last-16 spot at Euro 2024 on Monday with a 1-1 draw against Croatia, whose tournament hopes were left hanging by a thread, and will next face Switzerland.
