Joaquin Niemann wins LIV Golf Mexico City with stellar final round

Joaquin Niemann wins LIV Golf Mexico City with stellar final round
Captain Joaquín Niemann, of Torque GC, hits from a bunker on the second hole during the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (AP)
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Updated 28 April 2025

Joaquin Niemann wins LIV Golf Mexico City with stellar final round

Joaquin Niemann wins LIV Golf Mexico City with stellar final round
  • Niemann began his day two shots off the lead, but three birdies on his first seven holes put him in an enviable position

Joaquin Niemann was virtually flawless Sunday, firing a 6-under-par 65 at Club de Golf Chapultepec to earn his third championship of the season at LIV Golf Mexico City.
Niemann began his day two shots off the lead, but three birdies on his first seven holes put him in an enviable position. He added birdies on Nos. 10, 12, 16 and 18 to finish three strokes in front of the field at 16 under for the tourney.
The win came in front of family and friends.
“Yeah, it’s special,” Niemann said. “My mom came all the way. I think the first time my mom has seen me win, so that’s pretty cool. So yeah, I had my mom here, Didi, my wife, my friends, my team. It’s been a really good couple months, so yeah, happy.”
The Torque GC captain from Chile had one bogey, on the 14th.
Following his third tournament win, Niemann remains in the lead for the individual season-long championship, a title that narrowly evaded him in 2024 as he finished second to Jon Rahm.
He also locked in a spot at the US Open in June.
“Yeah, it’s nice,” Niemann said. “I feel like I wanted to be there (at the US Open), so yeah, it’s great to keep doing what I’m doing, hitting the ball great, making putts, and yeah, hopefully keep it rolling.”
The 26-year-old was barely pressed late, with the best charge coming from the incredible round turned in by Ripper GC’s Lucas Herbert, a 10-under 61 beauty that featured an eagle and eight birdies.
Herbert essentially ran out of runway to complete the comeback, coming into the day too far behind the leaders to catch up. However, he did help Cameron Smith’s (72) Ripper squad finish in second in the team standings, behind Jon Rahm’s (68) Legion XIII.
“Just one of those rounds where everything comes together,” Herbert said. “I thought I played pretty decent the last two days, I just didn’t get many breaks, and I just felt like today every time there was a line ball sort of thing I got the right kick and I’d make a putt where I needed to or just anything — just that sort of stuff. It just kept the momentum going through the round.
“Look, I played great, really enjoyed feeling everything I felt the last few holes, but it’s just one of those rounds where it all just clicks for you, and it was a pretty cool feeling to do it at an event like this.”
Bryson DeChambeau, leading the pack coming into the day, was attempting to go wire-to-wire but came up well short with a final-round 71 and had to settle for a tie for second with Herbert at 13 under.
Rahm was fourth among individuals at 12 under, while Smith and Legion’s Tyrrell Hatton (68) finished in a tie for fifth (11 under).
“It’s pretty hard to make it more special than this moment right now,” Niemann said. “I mean, this place is amazing. It was a good battle with Bryson, with Cam, so I’m happy to be in this position right now.”
Torque finished the tournament in third place, while 4Aces was fourth.


Serie A chief dismisses Rabiot concerns over Milan’s Australia fixture

Serie A chief dismisses Rabiot concerns over Milan’s Australia fixture
Updated 7 sec ago

Serie A chief dismisses Rabiot concerns over Milan’s Australia fixture

Serie A chief dismisses Rabiot concerns over Milan’s Australia fixture
Italy’s Serie A have turned the unavailability of the San Siro in February due to the Winter Olympics into an opportunity for Italian football to increase international visibility
Rabiot said: “It’s completely crazy”

MILAN: Footballers should respect the money they make and their employers, Serie A Chief Executive Luigi De Siervo said on Wednesday in response to AC Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot’s concerns over his club’s planned league match in Australia.
Italy’s Serie A have turned the unavailability of the San Siro in February due to the Winter Olympics into an opportunity for Italian football to increase international visibility, and Milan’s fixture with Como will be played in Perth.
Rabiot, currently on international duty with France, called the decision crazy when he spoke to French newspaper Le Figaro on Tuesday.
“I was surprised when I learned that AC Milan will be playing a Serie A match against Como ... in Australia,” Rabiot said.
“It’s completely crazy. But these are financial agreements to give visibility to the league, things that are beyond us.
“There’s a lot of talk about schedules and player health, but this all seems truly absurd. It’s crazy to travel so many miles for a match between two Italian teams in Australia. We have to adapt, as always.”
De Siervo, attending a Serie A assembly meeting in Rome, was asked about Rabiot’s remarks that these decisions are taken without the input of players.
“He’s right, but Rabiot forgets, like all footballers who earn millions of euros, that they are paid to carry out an activity, to play football,” De Siervo told reporters.
“He should have respect for the money he earns, complying with the wishes of his employer, Milan, who accepted and pushed for this match to be played abroad.”
UEFA, while opposed to domestic league matches being played abroad, reluctantly approved the fixture on Monday (along with a LaLiga game in Miami), saying that FIFA’s regulatory framework, still under review, lacks sufficient clarity and detail.
De Siervo, however, believes football needs to follow the example of other sports if the game is to continue to grow.
“Last year’s Tour de France started from Florence, the Giro d’Italia often begins abroad. This is done to strengthen the product, not weaken it,” he said of the cycling events.
“The NFL and NBA have been playing away from the US for years, with the concept of being a global product.
“UEFA said it was against it, but accepted the exceptional nature of this event. We believe, however, that this can be a model that the world of football, with precise rules, must follow if it is not to lose out to other sports.”

Germany’s Woltemade not yet in team training after flu

Germany’s Woltemade not yet in team training after flu
Updated 28 min 40 sec ago

Germany’s Woltemade not yet in team training after flu

Germany’s Woltemade not yet in team training after flu
  • Woltemade missed Germany’s training on Tuesday after joining the team a day late due to his illness
  • The 23-year-old is firmly in the spotlight ahead of the qualifiers

BERLIN: Germany striker Nick Woltemade returned to light individual training on Wednesday after recovering from a flu, as the national team prepare for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Northern Ireland.
The Germans, third in Group A on three points, host Luxembourg on Friday before traveling to Belfast to face Northern Ireland, second on goal difference, three days later. Slovakia are top on six points with Luxembourg bottom on zero.
The 23-year-old Woltemade, who has made a strong start since joining Newcastle United this season, scoring in the Premier League and Europe, including Sunday’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, missed Germany’s training on Tuesday after joining the team a day late due to his illness.
Woltemade is firmly in the spotlight ahead of the qualifiers after quickly becoming a crowd favorite in Newcastle. Bayern Munich board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge last month had called Newcastle “idiots” for paying more than 60 million euros ($69.80 million) to VfB Stuttgart for him. Bayern had been keen to sign the player as well.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann also saw keeper Oliver Baumann return to training on Wednesday, easing concerns after Monday’s late call-up of Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu.
The top team from the group qualify for the 2026 World Cup to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, while the second-placed team go into the playoffs.


Calculators at the ready to determine African World Cup aspirations

Calculators at the ready to determine African World Cup aspirations
Updated 42 min 7 sec ago

Calculators at the ready to determine African World Cup aspirations

Calculators at the ready to determine African World Cup aspirations
  • The nine group winners all qualify automatically and will be determined when the group qualifying program ends on Tuesday
  • The four best runners-up from the nine groups will go into a playoff next month

CAPE TOWN: African fans will need their calculators over the next week of World Cup qualifiers to figure out if their favored team remains in contention for a place at next year’s finals in North America.
The nine group winners all qualify automatically and will be determined when the group qualifying program ends on Tuesday.
While that is simple enough, there is the possibility of an additional 10th African team reaching next June’s finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States via a lengthy playoff route.
The four best runners-up from the nine groups will go into a playoff next month to determine a sole African representative for a further intercontinental playoff planned for March.
Calculating the four best runners-up from the nine African groups would have been easy had Eritrea not withdrawn before the start of the campaign, but after the draw was made, and left one of the groups with five teams instead of six.
Therefore, because the five countries in Group E played eight qualifiers instead of 10 in all the other groups, the four best runners-up will be determined not by their overall points tally but by their results only against the third, fourth and fifth-placed sides in their respective groups.
In other words, any points that the runners-up accumulated in matches against the last-placed finisher are expunged, the Confederation of African Football has confirmed.
The penultimate round of qualifiers began on Wednesday and with two rounds to play, there are only two confirmed group winners, no confirmed runners-up and four teams condemned to last place.
Morocco and Tunisia last month secured top place in their respective groups, and a ticket to the 2026 World Cup, while Djibouti (Group A), Seychelles (F), Somalia (G) and Sao Tome and Principe (H) will finish last.
Effectively, the identity of the best four runners-up will only be determined when the last group matches are concluded on Tuesday, and even then the calculators will be needed to see who heads to the playoffs.
Some of the continent’s heavyweights, and former World Cup finalists, like Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, look likely to miss out on automatic qualification, so will be particularly anxious to see if they can keep their World Cup hopes alive via the playoffs.


Barcelona reject Israeli basketball team training facility request

Barcelona reject Israeli basketball team training facility request
Updated 08 October 2025

Barcelona reject Israeli basketball team training facility request

Barcelona reject Israeli basketball team training facility request
  • “We don’t want to have any problems,” explained the club source, after an increase in protests against Israel because of the Gaza war
  • Spain’s government has labelled Israel’s actions a “genocide“

BARCELONA: Barcelona rejected a request from an Israeli basketball team to train at their facilities next week, a club source confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.
The Catalan club said it was for logistical and public order reasons that they would not allow Hapoel Jerusalem to train on their Palau Blaugrana court before a match against Baxi Manresa on October 15 in the EuroCup competition.
“We don’t want to have any problems,” explained the club source, after an increase in protests against Israel because of the Gaza war.
The source said on that day preparations would also begin for a Barca handball match in the Champions League, and that Manresa were obliged to allow their opponents use of their court.
Valencia Basket are due to face Hapoel Tel Aviv, another Israeli team, in the EuroLeague competition on the same day.
The pro-Palestinian BDS movement, calling for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, has called for that match to be canceled.
Spain’s government has labelled Israel’s actions a “genocide” and prime minister Pedro Sanchez in September called for Israeli teams to be excluded from international sport.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,183 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
They launched their Gaza offensive in October 2023 in retaliation for an unprecedented cross-border attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.


England captain Kane could miss Wales friendly

England captain Kane could miss Wales friendly
Updated 08 October 2025

England captain Kane could miss Wales friendly

England captain Kane could miss Wales friendly
  • Kane joined up with England despite suffering an ankle issue in Bayern’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt
  • The 32-year-old, who is England’s record scorer with 74 goals, sat out Wednesday’s session

LONDON: England captain Harry Kane could miss Thursday’s friendly against Wales after the Bayern Munich striker was unable to train on Wednesday.
Kane joined up with England despite suffering an ankle issue in Bayern’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Speaking after the Frankfurt game, Kane said: “I am recovering at the moment — I took a knock. A few days and then I should be fine, so no problem for the national team. I will be there on Monday.”
But the 32-year-old, who is England’s record scorer with 74 goals, sat out Wednesday’s session, along with uncapped Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah.
The Football Association said the pair were “following their own respective routines indoors” as the remaining 22 players trained at St. George’s Park.
Kane had scored against Frankfurt to reach 18 goals in just 10 matches for Bayern this season.
Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford, Jarrod Bowen and Anthony Gordon will be among the contenders to replace Kane if he is unable to face Wales.
Thomas Tuchel’s side welcome Wales at a sold-out Wembley before attention turns to Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier in Latvia.
England sit top of Group K, seven points clear of second-placed Albania, as they look to clinch their place at next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Three Lions have won all five of their qualifiers, with three games remaining.