Midday Sports News for 19 June 2025
Golfer Dame Lydia Ko needs just one more major victory to complete a career grand slam and feels the PGA Championship is one that she could win.
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RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Steven Alker, Tim Petrovic join lead at Kaulig Companies Championship
Steven Alker plays his shot on the fourth hole during the second round of the Kaulig Companies Championship 2025 at Firestone Country Club on 20 June 2025 in Akron, Ohio. Photo: David Berding / Getty Images / AFP Tim Petrovic fired a 66 and New Zealand's Steven Alker posted a 67 to join Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina for the 36-hole lead at the Kaulig Companies Championship, the third major of the PGA Tour Champions season, in Akron, Ohio. Gonzalez was a first-round co-leader and shot 68 on Friday (local time) to stay in contention. The leading trio is 5-under-par 135 after two rounds, one ahead of Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, whose 66 Friday brought him to 4 under. Sweden's Freddie Jacobson (67) is alone in fifth at 3 under. Petrovic balanced seven birdies against three bogeys Friday at Firestone Country Club, finishing by rolling in a birdie putt at the par-4 ninth to grab his share of the lead. Petrovic, 58, is the surprise of the week thus far. He has yet to win on the PGA Tour Champions and entered the week a pedestrian 38th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. "I've been hitting it well the last few weeks and I just haven't had much to show for it because I haven't really had many putts," Petrovic said. Tim Petrovic of the US plays his shot on the sixth hole during the second round of the Kaulig Companies Championship 2025 at Firestone Country Club on 20 June 2025 in Akron, Ohio. Photo: David Berding / Getty Images / AFP "Then made a couple long putts early, I'm like, 'Oh, wait a second, maybe we've got something going here'." Alker, the 2022 and 2024 Schwab Cup winner, is hunting for his second senior major championship. He birdied four of his first six holes Friday before dropping off a bit, with two bogeys and a birdie the rest of the way. "If you get a good start around this golf course you kind of don't have to be as aggressive as you normally would be," Alker said. "Yeah, just pleased to get under par again out here." One of the rounds of the day belonged to Jimenez, the current Schwab Cup leader with three wins under his belt already in 2025. He was 5 under par through 16 holes before taking his only bogey of the round at No. 17. If not for that bogey, he'd be part of the tie at the top. "You need to have a lot of patience here," Jimenez said of Firestone. "It's a golf course that you have a couple slopes in the fairway, 4, 8, 9 ... It's a very fair golf course overall. You need to hit good, here is no luck, you need to hit good to score well." Angel Cabrera of Argentina, the PGA Tour Champions newcomer who won the first two majors of the season, is not far behind at 1 under after shooting 68 Friday. - Field Level Media
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
Football: Auckland City trounced by Benfica in second heavy Club World Cup defeat
Auckland City FC goalkeeper Nathan Garrow (R) clears against Benfica. Photo: photosport Auckland City's slim hopes of advancing through the pool stage at the FIFA Club World Cup are over after a second humbling defeat, trounced 6-0 by Benfica. The Navy Blues capitulated in the second half after trailing the Portuguese side 1-0 at the interval, in a performance which followed up a 10-0 thrashing from German giants Bayern Munich in their opener . The results mean Auckland City have no chance of qualifying for the knockout stage, and will only be playing for pride in their final match against Argentina side Boca Juniors on Wednesday morning (NZT). This morning's match featured a delay of more than two hours at halftime due to a heavy storm, at which stage Auckland trailed 1-0. At that stage they had defended more stubbornly than the rout against Bayern Munich, led by a series of quality saves by goalkeeper Nathan Garrow. SL Benfica's Angel Di Maria and Auckland City FC's Haris Zeb. FIFA Club World Cup USA 2025, S.L. Benfica v Auckland City FC, Inter & Co Stadium, Orlando, Friday 20 June 2025. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Photo: photosport The dam burst on the stroke of halftime when former Manchester United star Angel di Maria converted from the penalty spot. The lengthy halftime delay may have affected semi-professional Auckland's focus as Benfica's mountain of attacking raids started to find creaks in the defence. Vangelis Pavlidis and Renato Sanches added goals soon after the break, before Leandro Barreiro scored in the 76th and 78th minutes and Di Maria converted a second goal from the spot to round out the scoring. - RNZ / Reuters Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
NRL: NZ Warriors v Penrith Panthers - what you need to know
The Warriors and Panthers will line up without their travel-weary Origin stars. Photo: RNZ Warriors v Panthers Kickoff: 5pm Saturday, 21 June Go Media Stadium, Auckland Live blog updates on RNZ Sport Penrith Panthers have traditionally been among the Warriors' toughest opponents through their time in the NRL, with the head-to-head record favouring them 32-19, plus a draw. The Warriors have even struggled to defend their home patch against them, with the Panthers enjoying a 14-11 edge on the road and they are deadlocked 10-10 at Mt Smart. Their biggest margin of victory came in 2013, when Kiwis Isaac John and Lewis Brown - both former Warriors - scored five tries between them in a 62-6 Penrith victory in Sydney. That was the Warriors' biggest-ever defeat, until their 70-10 Anzac Day debacle against Melbourne Storm in 2022. The Warriors enjoyed their biggest win in 2001, when Francis Meli, Justin Murphy, Logan Swann and Clinton Toopi all had try doubles in a 52-8 result at home. Current Panthers coach Ivan Cleary kicked 6/10 conversions for the Warriors that day. Penrith have won eight of the last nine meetings, dating back to 2019 - the last time these two teams met in Auckland - but the makeshift Warriors took the honours last year, with an upset 22-20 win at 'Magic Round' in Brisbane. Fullback Taine Tuaupiki scored a late try and converted for the win. Both teams are coming off bye weeks and both have lost after their previous byes this season. The Warriors (10-3) have won back-to-back outings across the Tasman, since their last loss to Canberra Raiders at home. They lost co-captain Mitch Barnett to a season-ending knee injury against South Sydney, but produced probably their best performance - especially in a 28-0 second half - against Cronulla Sharks. Ivan Cleary has taken the Warriors to two Grand Finals - one as a player and one as a coach. Photo: This fixture will mark the start of a very favourable schedule that includes four home games and a bye over the next seven weeks. After winning their season-opener against the Sharks at Las Vegas, Penrith (5-1-7) lost five straight and sat at the foot of the NRL table, but two wins and the bye have helped boost their standing to ninth, just a point outside the playoff cut halfway through the season. Those wins only came against Parramatta Eels (16th) and Wests Tigers (13th), and they were preceded by a loss to Newcastle Knights (15th), so they're not exactly hitting their straps yet. Warriors: 1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3 Adam Pompey, 4 Moala Graham Taufa, 5 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 6 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7 Luke Metcalf, 8 James Fisher-Harris, 9 Wayde Eagan, 10 Marata Niukore, 11 Leka Halasima, 12 Jacob Laban, 13 Erin Clark Interchange: 14 Te Maire Martin, 15 Jackson Ford, 16 Demitric Vaimauga, 17 Tanner Stowers-Smith Reserves: 18 Sam Healey, 22 Ed Kosi With Origin II played in Perth on Wednesday, players involved in this game could not fly back across Australia and then the Tasman in time to recover, so Kurt Capewell will miss his first game of the season. That's probably just as well - the Warriors wouldn't want to lose a second player to injury, trying to back up from the rep showcase. With Rocco Berry and Ali Leiataua still sidelined, his place in the centres has been taken by Moala Graham Taufa, who will join Souths next season. Wayde Egan returns, after missing the Sharks game with a hip complaint, but Sam Healey remains among the reserves, just in case. Winger Ed Kosi is still in the gameday squad, which suggests there's an outside chance Roger Tuivasa-Sheck may yet revert to the midfield. Te Maire Martin will bring up his 100th NRL game against Penrith. Photo: Photosport Te Maire Martin is named for his 100th NRL game, which is some achievement, after he 'retired' in 2020 with a brain bleed. Panthers: 1 Daine Laurie, 2 Thomas Jenkins, 3 Izack Tago, 4 Casey McLean, 5 Paul Alamoti, 6 Blaize Talagi, 7 Brad Schneider, 8 Moses Leota, 9 Mitch Kenny, 10 Lindsay Smith, 11 Scott Sorenson, 12 Isaiah Papali'i, 13, Matt Eisenhuth Interchange: 14 Trent Toelau, 15 Liam Henry, 16 Luron Patea, 17 Luke Garner Reserves: 18 Luke Sommerton, 19 Jack Cole Much to Cleary's disgust , Penrith are far more depleted by the Origin logistics, with son Nathan, captain Isaah Yeo, winger Brian To'o, fullback Dylan Edwards and second-rower Liam Martin all unavailable. Prop Lindsay Smith was called into the NSW squad and travelled to Perth, but didn't take the field, so he will take his place in the starting line-up. The Panthers should be used to covering for their rep stars at this time of the season and have enough depth to ambush unprepared opponents. Their gameday squad features Kiwis Moses Leota, Scott Sorenson, Isaiah Papali'I, Luron Patea, Casey McLean and Trent Toelau. Without Cleary, Blaize Talagi will be called on to stamp his class on the game, something he has already done this season - his first at the Panthers. He scored 11 tries in 19 appearances for Parramatta last season and showed his ability in Penrith colours, when he scored a try and assisted on four in the 30-30 draw with North Queensland. Of Māori descent, Casey McLean made his Kiwis debut against Papua New Guinea, scoring four tries on the wing. Playing at centre, he's scored six tries in 10 outings for Penrith this season. "It's going to be different. I'm not sure what it's going to feel like, because I've never experienced it before. It's one of those things that you'll find out on gameday." - Penrith prop Moses Leota, looking forward to facing former teammate James Fisher-Harris "Still got some fond memories and some people there I've got a lot of respect for, particularly Ivan, but that's kind of dwindled now. I'm just glad that the fans get the champions at our stadium." - Warriors coach Andrew Webster , not emotional about facing his old club Webster will have his troops geed up for this one, with former Panthers Fisher-Harris, Egan and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak on board. The Wahs are locked in right now and could put up a score.
