Paula Creamer on Thursday carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 64 to surge to the top of the leaderboard after the opening round at the Evian Championship in France.
With temperatures soaring up to 36°C at the Evian Resort Golf Club, Creamer made a brilliant start to make the turn at 31 before grabbing the lead with her seventh birdie on the par-five 18th.
It is the first time the 32-year-old American has led a major championship since she lifted the 2010 US Open title at Oakmont.
“I feel really just in control,” said Creamer, who was a teenager when she clinched the Evian Masters title in 2005, before it was given its status as a major. “It’s been several years where I felt like just all-in-all good in my shoes.”
“I think the key was no bogeys. Every time I put myself out of position, I was able to make par. I love this golf course ... it sets up really well for my game and it’s nice to come at a place you’ve won at,” she added.
American Brittany Altomare, who finished runner-up to Anna Nordqvist in 2017, joined the South Korean trio of Inbee Park, Ko Jin-young and Lee Mi-hyang at six-under.
Seven-time major winner Park has won the other four major championships, but is yet to win the Evian.
World No. 2 Ko, who won her first major at the ANA Inspiration in California in May, recovered well from an early bogey to finish with four birdies in a row.
Reigning Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall dropped two stokes on her final two holes to sign for a 69.
Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling carded an even-par 71 to finish in a group sharing 38th.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite