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Flawless Nelly Korda shows at Women's Open she can dominate in any conditions

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Flawless Nelly Korda shows at Women's Open she can dominate in any conditions

ST ANDREWS, Scotland — As the No. 1 player in the world, Nelly Korda has become used to wearing a target on her back. Heavy expectation necessitates a sudden fall and, so, when she followed a run of six wins in seven tournaments with three successive missed cuts, gravity introduced itself without a handshake.

Since that streak — which included victory at the Chevron Championship, her first major since 2021 — ended in May, criticism that Korda is a “dome golfer,” a player who looks in ideal conditions but struggles in the more arduous tests, has returned in some quarters.

St Andrews, with its sidewards rain and howling gales, looked like a course designed to bolster that assertion.

After these first two days at the Old Course, Korda has placed that characterization on notice, posting successive 4-under rounds to start this Women’s Open and give herself a three-shot cushion on her nearest rivals, Lilia Vu and Charley Hull.

The 26-year-old Korda was utterly flawless on Friday. To shoot a bogey-free, 4-under 68 with without even the slightest hint of trouble is no mean feat amid the elements. To do so while feeling mildly frustrated that another five gettable birdies were not converted is a different level of comfort than anyone in the field has been able to find so far.

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She had good looks at birdie from inside 20 feet on Nos. 4, 7, 10, 12, 14 and 16 but missed by a cup or lipped out each time. It looked like her putting may hold her scoring back but she rolled in a 20-foot birdie at the infamously tricky Road Hole on 17 and sunk another testing putt on 18.

Korda’s finishes at the Women’s Open have been respectable placing T9, T14, T13, T41 and T11 since 2019 but links golf was not supposed to be a style of golf that she could conquer with the lower ball flight, right-to-left action off the tee and creative chip shots required all outside of her supposed comfort zone.

Golf is not the only sport that searches for the fabled all-rounder. The tennis world of her brother Sebastian Korda, ranked number 16, also does it.

Completing the grand slam set is viewed as the pinnacle because it displays that a competitor is not just formidable on a certain surface or event, they are the ultimate because their game can answer any challenge thrown at them.

“This year I’ve won on just so many different types of grasses in different types of conditions that you just kind of always have to adapt,” Korda said.

“That’s the same thing in tennis, same thing in life. You’re always adapting to your situations at hand, and I think that’s what’s so fun about links golf is you’re literally starting it 30 yards left of your target. I’m not a fade player but I’m hitting massive fades.

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“I think it’s fun hitting these little low drivers, too. I’m having fun, and I enjoy links golf a lot. You have a lot of 30-footers that feel like 50-footers out here because you’re hitting it into the wind.

“Then also the one that I had on 8, which was like a 20-footer and I hit almost like a 40-footer. It’s all about distance control out here and kind of getting it within a certain range so you have an easy two-putt.

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‘Just do the best you can’: Exhaustion is part of it for the Women’s Open field

“I think I’m more adapted to the mindset of literally just taking it a shot at a time, not thinking ahead of myself and trusting my lines a lot. You’re literally hitting slingers in. I mean, I hit a hybrid 150 yards today on 2 and that’s my 200 (yards) club. It’s all about just trusting the process and trusting what you have in your hand.”

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From tee to green, there was little to separate Korda and her playing partners, Vu and Hull. But her entire round contained not one miscontrol shot.

Vu had to escape a bunker on 10 and Hull found herself wide on a couple of awkward mounds but the divergence that led to a five-shot swing between Korda and overnight leader Hull was all down to the putter.

Korda has not been afraid of a putter change but she mixed things up before this tournament, moving to a TaylorMade Spider for the first time. She said she had previously been using a square-back mallet but felt like she needed something new to look at and is enjoying the roll she is getting from it.

In contrast, Hull three-putted on 2, 10 and 14. Even when Hull got her first birdie of the day on 5 (after smoking her second cigarette of the day), Korda responded immediately by sinking a 12-footer of her own, which felt like a reinstatement of her dominance.

“I left a lot of putts out there,” said Hull.

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“Nelly had 30 putts and I had 36 putts. So that’s six shots that I’ve lost to her on the greens.

“Am I three shots behind Nelly? That’s nothing going into the weekend, especially on this golf course. I feel like I’m hitting it equally as good, she just holed a few more putts than me today.

“Lilia is the one to watch, as well, because when it gets windy she kind of just sticks in there. She’s a good scrambler.”


Hull, left, and Korda were two-thirds of a super group at the Women’s Open. (Andy Buchanan / AFP via Getty Images)

If the R&A were hoping to increase the profile of women’s golf this week then their creation of a super-group comprised of world number one Korda, top Brit Hull and the defending champion Vu — aiming to become the first player to retain the trophy since Yani Tseng in 2011 — was a smart way of going about it.

By the time the trio had made it to the fifth hole — the 14th of their round — the crowd following them was around 400 strong with lines three and four people deep.

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This was the elite of women’s golf all together playing at the home of golf but its exposure was limited given that Sky Sports’ coverage of the event only starts at noon this week. Having teed off at 7:55am, just under 12 hours since they had finished a six-hour-plus round Thursday, they only had three holes remaining.

There is the unusual reprieve that the same trio are one, two and three on the leaderboard so will compete at close quarters again but it does little to help the absence of a superstar in women’s golf.

Korda seems reluctant to step into the silhouette herself but two more machine-like rounds at St Andrews and she may have to wear the suit.

(Top photo: Andy Buchanan / AFP via Getty Images)

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UAB players take field hours after stabbing incident leaves two hospitalized

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UAB players take field hours after stabbing incident leaves two hospitalized

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University of Alabama at Birmingham football players took the field in Birmingham, Alabama, Saturday just hours after tragedy struck.

Two players from UAB were allegedly stabbed by a teammate at the team’s training center ahead of a game against South Florida, a university official confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

Both were reported to be in stable condition at a hospital. The names of the victims and the player in custody were not released.

Saturday’s game kicked off at 3 p.m. ET, and USF cruised to a 48-18 victory.

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Two UAB football players were stabbed hours before their game Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.  (Wes Hale/Getty Images)

An online inmate inquiry from the Jefferson County Jail showed that Daniel Israel Mincey, 20, was arrested by the UAB Campus Police just after noon Saturday and is facing charges of “aggravated assault — A to M — attempted murder.” The university would not confirm whether Mincey was a player involved.

MAN WHO SHOT AND KILLED UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FOOTBALL PLAYERS SENTENCED TO 5 LIFE TERMS

Mincey is a redshirt freshman who joined the team after one season at Kentucky, according to the UAB football roster.

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The two players were attacked Saturday morning at the Football Operations Center, the training center for the Blazers’ football program. (Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

There appeared to be concerns about whether the game would proceed as scheduled given the incident, but a spokesperson confirmed that the university elected to play.

“We’re grateful to report that two players injured in an incident this morning at the Football Operations Building are in stable condition. Our thoughts are with them and their families as they recover. The suspect — another player — remains in custody, and an investigation is taking place,” a spokesperson said.

USF quarterback Byrum Brown threw for 353 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in the blowout win. UAB held a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but USF scored 27 unanswered points.

A South Florida Bulls helmet near the sideline during a game between the South Florida Bulls and the Miami Hurricanes Sept. 13, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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The highlight of Brown’s day was a 60-yard touchdown pass to Mudia Reuben, which gave USF a 24-10 lead on the first play of the third quarter. Nykahi Davenport added 117 rushing yards and a touchdown run for USF.

UAB quarterback Jalen Kitna had 230 passing yards but was also responsible for three costly interceptions.

Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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UCLA loses in blowout to Washington in possible Rose Bowl swan song for Bruins

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UCLA loses in blowout to Washington in possible Rose Bowl swan song for Bruins

Somebody should check with SoFi Stadium to see if it rescinded its offer.

In what could have been UCLA’s last game at the Rose Bowl after 43 years of calling the place home, the Bruins unfurled the kind of showing that no one would ever want to relive or put in a scrapbook.

If this was goodbye, it was a sad sendoff.

There were lost fumbles, a laughably bad fake field goal that resulted in a touchdown for the other team and a dropped pass that probably cost UCLA its own score. And that was just in the first half.

Adding injury to insult, UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava took a crunching hit that sidelined him late in the third quarter, ending his gritty return from a concussion that had forced him to miss his team’s last game.

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UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava passes in the first half against Washington on Saturday night.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

There’s mercifully only one game left for the Bruins this season after a 48-14 loss to Washington on Saturday night led to a fast-emptying stadium, no fond farewells in store for the home fans amid an announced crowd of 38,201 that was too depleted by game’s end to boo.

The site of UCLA’s next home game remains as big of an unknown as its next head coach. School officials have said they are still contemplating plans for where the team will play in the future, though that decision could be up to a court to decide given the Bruins have nearly two decades left on a Rose Bowl lease that doesn’t expire until the summer of 2044.

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It’s believed that if school officials have their way, they will move to SoFi Stadium in time for their 2026 season opener.

Wherever the Bruins play, they have a lot of improvements to make. They looked lethargic in falling behind by 34 points Saturday while making one mistake after another on the way to a fourth consecutive defeat.

By the time he entered the game, there was little backup quarterback Luke Duncan could do except make the final score slightly more palatable. He succeeded on that front, firing a 37-yard touchdown pass to Mikey Matthews late in the third quarter that helped UCLA (3-8 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) avoid a shutout.

There was another highlight for the Bruins early in the fourth quarter when Kanye Clark forced a fumble on Washington’s punt return, allowing Jamir Benjamin to pick up the ball and run 13 yards for a touchdown.

But make no mistake: This was complete domination by the Huskies (8-3, 5-3), who rolled up 426 yards of offense while holding the Bruins to 207 yards, including just 57 yards rushing.

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Washington alumnus and comedian Joel McHale performed a short recorded bit that was shown on the scoreboard before the game, but the real slapstick was about to come.

The Bruins coughed up two fumbles in the first half and would have lost a third had the Huskies not been called for defensive holding on the play, nullifying the turnover.

UCLA quarterback Luke Duncan throws during the second half against Washington on Saturday.

UCLA quarterback Luke Duncan throws during the second half against Washington on Saturday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala dropped what could have been a touchdown pass at the Huskies’ 38-yard line with nothing but open field in front of him.

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But there was no blunder quite like what happened when the Bruins lined up for a 46-yard field goal late in the second quarter. Holder Cash Peterman took the snap and flipped the ball over his shoulder as kicker Mateen Bhaghani circled behind him, the ball hitting the turf instead of Bhaghani’s hands.

Washington’s Alex McLaughlin picked up the ball and ran 59 yards for a touchdown that put the Huskies ahead, 20-0. It was the second straight game UCLA was held scoreless in the first half.

Things never got appreciably better, the Bruins left adrift without a haven in sight.

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LSU national champion Breiden Fehoko retires from NFL at 29

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LSU national champion Breiden Fehoko retires from NFL at 29

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Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko, who won a national championship with LSU in 2020, announced his retirement on Friday at age 29. 

Fehoko, who began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020, made the announcement on Instagram. 

Los Angeles Chargers defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko (96) reacts after the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Jan. 1, 2023. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)

“Sometimes in life you just get a sense of fulfillment & for me it’s now. 29 years old and I couldn’t be happier with the journey of where this game has taken me,” his post read. 

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“To my family you guys never let me quit and more importantly never let me stop believing in myself. I’m thankful for every coach, teammate, trainer, opponent, agent, etc. because you guys made me a better version of myself every time I stepped on that football field.”

Fehoko played two seasons at Texas Tech before joining former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron in the SEC for two seasons, culminating in a national championship with the Tigers in 2020. He finished his collegiate career with 71 tackles and four sacks across 48 games.

Breiden Fehoko (96) of the Los Angeles Chargers tackles Derrick Henry (22) of the Tennessee Titans in the third quarter of the game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Dec. 18, 2022. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

A journeyman, Fehoko signed with the Chargers in 2020 after going undrafted that year. He made his NFL debut that season in a Week 12 game against the Buffalo Bills.

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Fehoko appeared in 19 games for the Chargers, registering 36 tackles across three seasons. 

He signed with the Steelers in 2023, but never appeared in any games. He signed with the team in August but was later released before the start of the season.

Breiden Fehoko (96) of the Pittsburgh Steelers lines up during the second half of a preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 24, 2023. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

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“I’m not a fan of long novels but I’m glad to say I’m retiring from this great sport of football,” Fehoko post read. “I’m so blessed to have a head start in life & I look forward to my next chapter with my family. I’ll miss the team dinners, bus rides, training camps, and everything in between. I won’t miss conditioning.” 

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