GOLF

With the help of a hole-in-one, a hole-out from the fairway and a chip-in, Europe rallied against the United States after being swept in the opening foursome matches at the Solheim Cup, winning two of the afternoon fourball matches to reduce the Americans’ lead to 5-3 at Casares, Spain.

Emily Pedersen made a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th to ignite the Europeans’ comeback after the U.S. had its best-ever start, then Gemma Dryburgh holed out from the fairway on the 16th and Leona Maguire chipped in from off the green on the 18th to make it close again for Europe.

“I’m really proud of the way the entire team fought back in the afternoon,” European captain Suzann Pettersen said. “It’s not easy to stand on that tee in the afternoon knowing you’re down four after the first session. So I’ve got to say, hat’s off to all my players, the way they fought and the way they showed their character on this Friday afternoon. You get knocked down, you stand up, and you try it again, and that’s kind of what I told the girls and they did.”

LIV: Sergio Garcia of Spain had an eagle and four birdies for a 5-under 66 at Sugar Grove, Illinois, putting him in a five-way share of the lead in LIV Golf’s return after a five-week break.

Louis Oosthuizen, Anirban Lahiri, Jediah Morgan and Sebastian Muñoz also were at 66. Phil Mickelson was among those who couldn’t keep pace, posting a 74 for last in the field.

EUROPEAN: Jordan Smith of England coped well with the windy conditions to post a 7-under 64 and take a three-shot lead after the second round of the French Open at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

SOCCER

FRANCE: Substitute Jeremie Boga scored with a solo run in injury time to give Nice a 1-0 win at local rival Monaco after United States international Folarin Balogun missed two penalty kicks for Monaco.

Balogun, making his first start for Monaco after joining from Arsenal, had his first spot kick saved by Marcin Bulka in the 12th minute. He got a second chance in the 56th, but again only managed a low penalty that Bulka was able to parry.

GERMANY: Julian Nagelsmann, a former Bayern Munich coach, was hired to lead the men’s national soccer team through next year’s European Championship, which will be in Germany.

At 36, Nagelsmann is the youngest Germany coach since 34-year-old Otto Nerz was appointed in 1926.

SPAIN: In its first game since winning the Women’s World Cup, Spain scored a 3-2 victory against Sweden in a Nations League game at Gothenburg, Sweden.

TENNIS

GUANGZHOU OPEN: Top-seeded Magda Linette and local favorite Wang Xiyu advanced to the final after straight-set wins.

The 31-year-old Linette, a semifinalist at the Australian Open earlier this year, beat Yulia Putintseva, 6-2, 6-3. She will meet the 88th-ranked Wang in Saturday’s final.Wang defeated seventh-seeded Greet Minnen, 6-3, 6-4.

– News service report

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