Sports
South Korean duo take 1-stroke lead after 3 rounds in Michigan team event
Apr 23, 2026; Houston, Texas, United States; Hye-Jin Choi of Korea hits a tee shot on the first hole during the first round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi and Hyo Joo Kim posted a steady 1-under-par 69 and vaulted past three duos to take a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Dow Championship on Saturday at Midland (Mich.) Country Club.
The South Korean team sits at 10-under 200, one stroke ahead of Gina Kim and Yana Wilson, who carded an even-par round of 70. Another pair of Americans, Alison Lee and Lilia Vu are in solo third place after a 1-under 69 and 8-under total of 202.
The LPGA’s lone team event featured 72 two-woman teams when play began Thursday. The 34 teams that made the 36-hole cut played foursomes (alternate shot) today and will play four-ball (best ball) on Sunday.
The Korean duo had a lot of vocal support as they surged to the lead.
It wasn’t just local fans but a lot of Korean people and fans also came out,” said Choi. “So instead of it just being us two it definitely felt like a Korea team.”
The Koreans put up four birdies and three bogies in very windy conditions. Two of the bogies occurred on the lone par-5 holes on the course.
Kim and Wilson birdied the par-3 finishing hole to finish one stroke behind the leaders.
Vu and Lee reeled off three consecutive birdies on holes four through six and birdied No. 10 to take the lead at 11-under. But the duo suffered a triple-bogey on the par-4 16th hole to wipe out three of the four gained strokes.
“I feel like we got off to a slow start yesterday and didn’t really — I mean, I didn’t make any birdies until our 10th hole,” said Vu. “Just being more aggressive and there is nothing to lose. I trust her game and hopefully she trusts mine and we can go out there and have fun.”
Norway’s Celine Borge and Germany’s Polly Mack, who led after two rounds, plummeted down the leaderboard to a tie for 13th place (-4) after an 8-over round of 78.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda and her partner, Germany’s Olivia Cowan struggled to a 6-over par 76 and fell six strokes off the pace at 4-under.
At age 65, Hall of Famer Juli Inkster and her partner Angel Yin recorded an even-par round and passed five teams to finish at 3-under and into a tie for 20th.
Lee has known Vu since she was 12 years old and both attended UCLA. She knows they will have to go low on Sunday.
“Yeah, definitely. I feel like especially best ball format if we want to win tomorrow we have to make a ton of birdies. Besides that, I think we’re just going to try to go out and have a lot of fun and hopefully the putts drop.”
Choi is looking also forward to Sunday’s final round.
“Rather than foursomes, four-ball is obviously easier for the players, so for tomorrow for four-ball, the mindset will just be doing our best individually and hopefully that will translate,” she said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
George Russell on Barcelona pole, Lewis Hamilton P2
May 23, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CANADA; Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton (44) during the qualifying session of the Lenovo Grand Prix Du Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images Lewis Hamilton finished just 0.064 seconds behind polesitter George Russell in qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, a spot Hamilton believes puts his Ferrari team “in a good position to be able to fight” for first place in Sunday’s race.
In finishing just behind the Mercedes driver, Hamilton notched his best qualifying performance ahead of a Grand Prix. His position for Sunday’s 66-lap race will be his first Grand Prix front-row start since 2024’s British Grand Prix.
“All weekend we’ve been kind of four-tenths off these guys [Mercedes], so even with the upgrade we thought maybe that’s where we were,” said Hamilton.
“But for us to be that close, less than a tenth between us, it’s a real showing of the hard work everyone at the factory has done to bring these upgrades to this track, so a big, big thank you to everyone back in Maranello.”
The seven-time World Champion topped Qualifying 1 on Saturday. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, finished less than half-a-tenth behind Russell in Q2 before suffering a crash at the start of Q3.
“We’ve just got to keep pushing, keep developing, and I’m hoping tomorrow we can squeeze some more out of this and I hope we keep up with these guys for once,” Hamilton said.
Runaway championship leader Kimi Antonelli came in third in the other Mercedes, with McLaren’s Lando Norris taking the fourth slot.
“It has been a little bit of a difficult weekend for me, didn’t really have the feeling in the car,” said Antonelli, who has 156 points after just six races, a whopping 66 points ahead of Hamilton and 68 ahead of Russell.
“It’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow,” Russell said. “Lewis did an amazing job to get up there. We thought the fight was with ourselves and McLaren and Lewis was very fast in that session.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rangers place OF Evan Carter (oblique) on injured list
May 17, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers center fielder Evan Carter (32) catches a fly ball for an out against the Houston Astros during the eighth inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images The Texas Rangers placed outfielder Evan Carter (oblique) on the 10-day injured list on Saturday. In a corresponding move, the club recalled utility man Cody Freeman from Triple-A Round Rock.
Carter exited Friday’s game against the Boston Red Sox due to right oblique soreness. It is now being labeled as a right oblique strain.
Carter recorded six home runs, 21 RBIs, 10 stolen bases and a .172/.292/.321 batting line for the Rangers this season. His defensive ability in center field has been even more critical. Baseball Savant ranks him in the 94th percentile in Fielding Run Value.
Freeman suited up in 36 games for the Rangers last season, batting .228 with three home runs and 15 RBIs. He is hitting .341 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 10 games in Triple-A this season and went 1-for-2 in his lone game for Texas.
He has experience playing left field, right field, second base, and third base in the majors.
Texas also recalled right-hander Joe Ross from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned right-hander Luis Curvelo to the same affiliate. In addition, right-hander Michel Otanez was designated for assignment.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Penguins acquire Oliver Okuliar from Panthers for Emil Pieniniemi
Providence Bruin Matthew Poitras gets wrapped up by Charlottte wing Oliver Okuliar in the second period. The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward Oliver Okuliar from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Emil Pieniniemi.
Okuliar played for Skelleftea AIK in the Swedish Hockey League last season, posting 15 goals and 14 assists in 46 games. During the postseason, the 26-year-old was tied for the league-lead in goals (six) and helped lead his team to the SHL Championship.
During the 2024-25 season, Okuliar played for the Charlotte Checkers in the American Hockey League, recording 19 goals and 22 assists in 69 games.
Pieniniemi, 21, was a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Last season, he recorded three points in nine games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
–Field Level Media
George Russell on Barcelona pole, Lewis Hamilton P2
Rangers place OF Evan Carter (oblique) on injured list
