Kookaburras cruise to fourth straight Pro League win
The Kookaburras have continued their hot form in Belgium with a convincing win over Ireland in hockey's Pro League.
In a week where they had already twice defeated India 3-2 in Antwerp, the Australians proved too strong on Tuesday night against the bottom-placed Europeans, winning 6-1.
The defending champions surged up to second in the standings after their fourth straight win, sitting on 21 points from their 11 matches, trailing only the Netherlands (32) and sitting just above Argentina (20), with games in hand on both.
Up 2-1 at halftime, thanks to Jeremy Hayward's 123rd career goal and a Blake Govers penalty stroke, the Aussies scored three times in a blistering third quarter to put the contest beyond doubt en route to their biggest win of the season.
"They knocked off Belgium yesterday, and we knew they would've wanted to come out hard and get another win so I'm proud of the boys to come out the way they did and put on a good performance," Cooper Burns said.
Burns was joined on the scoresheet after the main break by Connar Otterbach, his maiden international goal, and Jack Welch, while Govers got his second.
The two sides face off again at the same venue on Wednesday (11.30pm AEST) before heading to London for back-to-back contests against England.
"We will make a few tweaks, we'll take a look at what we can do better and we know Ireland will come out strong again, they'll want to win and play hard hockey so we'll come back with a plan and we'll stick to that," Cooper added.
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The Advertiser
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The Advertiser
17 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Minjee Lee well in the hunt at Women's PGA Championship
Minjee Lee has overcome more brutal conditions to remain equal second at the halfway point of the Women's PGA Championship in sweltering Texas. On a day when the average score soared as high as the mercury to almost 77, Lee carved out an even-par second round of 72 to stay strong at three under for the championship. The one-time world No.2 trails Thailand's now-world No.2 Jeeno Thitikul by three shots after the superstar Thai shot to six under with a late flurry. Chasing a maiden major, Thitikul birdied her last two holes in a second-round two-under 70 at PGA Frisco's Fields Ranch East course. The 22-year-old one-time world No.1 will carry the 36-hole lead into a major for only the second time, having tied for 12th after being the halfway pacesetter at the 2024 Chevron Championship. Playing as close to a home game as the Perth-raised, Dallas-based Lee gets, the Australian offset three bogeys with three birdies to stay firmly in the mix for a third major title of her own. 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The one-time world No.2 trails Thailand's now-world No.2 Jeeno Thitikul by three shots after the superstar Thai shot to six under with a late flurry. Chasing a maiden major, Thitikul birdied her last two holes in a second-round two-under 70 at PGA Frisco's Fields Ranch East course. The 22-year-old one-time world No.1 will carry the 36-hole lead into a major for only the second time, having tied for 12th after being the halfway pacesetter at the 2024 Chevron Championship. Playing as close to a home game as the Perth-raised, Dallas-based Lee gets, the Australian offset three bogeys with three birdies to stay firmly in the mix for a third major title of her own. Significantly, unlike the first round when she dropped two shots in the last three holes, Lee hung tough down the stretch with three back-nine birdies after slipping four strokes behind at one stage. Her late rally left Lee alongside Japan's Rio Takeda, who carded a one-under 71 to be tied for second. The pair are one shot ahead of sentimental favourite Lexi Thompson. The American continues to revel since retiring from fulltime professional golf, Thompson climbing to fourth with a a two-under round on Friday morning (Saturday AEST). Japan's Chisato Iwai and American Auston Kim, who both posted second-round 72s, are the only other players in red numbers at one under par. World No.1 Nelly Korda (74) is tied for 16th at two over after managing only one birdie for the day. Steph Kyriacou (75) is the next best of the Australians, one shot behind Korda, at three over and equal 25th. World No.8 Hannah Green is another stroke back after producing the shot of the day, a hole-out eagle at the par-5 13th, in a rollercoaster round of 74 that also featured a double bogey, four bogeys, two birdies and 10 pars. At five over after a 74-75 start, Karis Davidson also earned a weekend tee time after taking a sabbatical from golf last year to complete an aged and disability care course on the Gold Coast. At seven over, fellow Australians Gabriela Ruffels (77-74), Hira Naveed (75-76) and Grace Kim (73-78) all survived the cut by a shot. Minjee Lee has overcome more brutal conditions to remain equal second at the halfway point of the Women's PGA Championship in sweltering Texas. On a day when the average score soared as high as the mercury to almost 77, Lee carved out an even-par second round of 72 to stay strong at three under for the championship. The one-time world No.2 trails Thailand's now-world No.2 Jeeno Thitikul by three shots after the superstar Thai shot to six under with a late flurry. Chasing a maiden major, Thitikul birdied her last two holes in a second-round two-under 70 at PGA Frisco's Fields Ranch East course. The 22-year-old one-time world No.1 will carry the 36-hole lead into a major for only the second time, having tied for 12th after being the halfway pacesetter at the 2024 Chevron Championship. Playing as close to a home game as the Perth-raised, Dallas-based Lee gets, the Australian offset three bogeys with three birdies to stay firmly in the mix for a third major title of her own. Significantly, unlike the first round when she dropped two shots in the last three holes, Lee hung tough down the stretch with three back-nine birdies after slipping four strokes behind at one stage. Her late rally left Lee alongside Japan's Rio Takeda, who carded a one-under 71 to be tied for second. The pair are one shot ahead of sentimental favourite Lexi Thompson. The American continues to revel since retiring from fulltime professional golf, Thompson climbing to fourth with a a two-under round on Friday morning (Saturday AEST). Japan's Chisato Iwai and American Auston Kim, who both posted second-round 72s, are the only other players in red numbers at one under par. World No.1 Nelly Korda (74) is tied for 16th at two over after managing only one birdie for the day. Steph Kyriacou (75) is the next best of the Australians, one shot behind Korda, at three over and equal 25th. World No.8 Hannah Green is another stroke back after producing the shot of the day, a hole-out eagle at the par-5 13th, in a rollercoaster round of 74 that also featured a double bogey, four bogeys, two birdies and 10 pars. At five over after a 74-75 start, Karis Davidson also earned a weekend tee time after taking a sabbatical from golf last year to complete an aged and disability care course on the Gold Coast. At seven over, fellow Australians Gabriela Ruffels (77-74), Hira Naveed (75-76) and Grace Kim (73-78) all survived the cut by a shot. Minjee Lee has overcome more brutal conditions to remain equal second at the halfway point of the Women's PGA Championship in sweltering Texas. On a day when the average score soared as high as the mercury to almost 77, Lee carved out an even-par second round of 72 to stay strong at three under for the championship. The one-time world No.2 trails Thailand's now-world No.2 Jeeno Thitikul by three shots after the superstar Thai shot to six under with a late flurry. Chasing a maiden major, Thitikul birdied her last two holes in a second-round two-under 70 at PGA Frisco's Fields Ranch East course. The 22-year-old one-time world No.1 will carry the 36-hole lead into a major for only the second time, having tied for 12th after being the halfway pacesetter at the 2024 Chevron Championship. Playing as close to a home game as the Perth-raised, Dallas-based Lee gets, the Australian offset three bogeys with three birdies to stay firmly in the mix for a third major title of her own. Significantly, unlike the first round when she dropped two shots in the last three holes, Lee hung tough down the stretch with three back-nine birdies after slipping four strokes behind at one stage. Her late rally left Lee alongside Japan's Rio Takeda, who carded a one-under 71 to be tied for second. The pair are one shot ahead of sentimental favourite Lexi Thompson. The American continues to revel since retiring from fulltime professional golf, Thompson climbing to fourth with a a two-under round on Friday morning (Saturday AEST). Japan's Chisato Iwai and American Auston Kim, who both posted second-round 72s, are the only other players in red numbers at one under par. World No.1 Nelly Korda (74) is tied for 16th at two over after managing only one birdie for the day. Steph Kyriacou (75) is the next best of the Australians, one shot behind Korda, at three over and equal 25th. World No.8 Hannah Green is another stroke back after producing the shot of the day, a hole-out eagle at the par-5 13th, in a rollercoaster round of 74 that also featured a double bogey, four bogeys, two birdies and 10 pars. At five over after a 74-75 start, Karis Davidson also earned a weekend tee time after taking a sabbatical from golf last year to complete an aged and disability care course on the Gold Coast. At seven over, fellow Australians Gabriela Ruffels (77-74), Hira Naveed (75-76) and Grace Kim (73-78) all survived the cut by a shot.
