KARACHI: Pakistan’s leading professional golfer, Ahmed Ali Baig, has advanced to the final rounds of the Singapore Open after producing a composed performance over the first two days of competition at the Tanah Merah Country Club.

Baig, who has been in consistent form this season, carded rounds of 68 and 71 for a two-day total of five-under-par (137) to comfortably make the cut, which was set at four-under-par. His strong play over the first 36 holes has placed him in a tie for 50th position going into the third round.

The 26-year-old from Lahore began the tournament impressively with a four-under 68 in Thursday’s opening round, displaying precision and control throughout.

He produced a flawless front nine with a bogey-free 33, supported by sharp iron play and confident putting, registering 16 greens in regulation and needing only 32 putts overall.

In the second round on Friday, Baig posted a one-under 71 to maintain his position inside the qualifying mark. Despite a slightly slower start that included bogeys on holes 1 and 3, he regained momentum on the back nine, firing birdies on holes 13 and 17 to finish the day under par once again.

His second-round stats reflected 12 greens in regulation and an improved putting performance with just 30 putts.

At the top of the leaderboard, Korea’s Soomin Lee leads the field at 12-under-par, closely followed by a large chasing group at ten-under, including John Catlin, James Piot, and Jeunghun Wang.

The 2025 NWSL playoffs are here and just like in the regular season, everyone is chasing the Kansas City Current after the Shield-winners’ historic season. Kansas City is the undeniable favorite to win the NWSL Championship on Nov. 22, but historically, the NWSL has been anything but predictable.

Could one of the other seven teams go on a run for a few weeks and lift the trophy? Of course? Will they? Well… here’s why each team will — and won’t — win the NWSL Championship.

Next game: at KC Current, Nov. 9, 12:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN

Why they will win: Talent and tactics. Gotham is not your average No. 8 seed. This is a team that should have finished higher up the table, but laid an egg on Decision Day. Still, Gotham is loaded with championship-caliber talent: little over a month ago, they were lighting up the league with new arrival Jaedyn Shaw joining the healthy, in-form Rose Lavelle and the workhorse Jaedyn Shaw.

If Esther González, with her 13 regular-season goals, is healthy, she has proven capable of carrying the team throughout the season.

Why they won’t win: Defensive lapses. Only Kansas City conceded fewer goals than Gotham’s 25 this season, granted, but the way in which Gotham has conceded goals is something Kansas City could feast on. Gotham endured self-inflicted mistakes trying to play out of the back in Sunday’s loss to North Carolina, and that’s exactly what happened the first time that Gotham and Kansas City met in June, when the Current took the lead three minutes into the match.

Next game: at Washington Spirit, Nov. 8, 12 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

Why they will win: A gritty identity. Louisville can play a direct, purposeful style of play and punish teams on counterattacks thanks largely to forward Emma Sears. Their 41% average possession ranks dead last in the league, per TruMedia, but they produced 35 goals and 10 wins from that. It’s the type of soccer that won’t always win award, but can be very effective over a 90-minute knockout game. And maybe — just maybe — their postseason naivete could play to their advantage like it did for, say, the 2016 Western New York Flash.

Why they won’t win: Late-game management. Louisville had a propensity to drop points late in games far too often this season, which left them to fight for a playoff berth until the final moments of Decision Day instead of trying to host a playoff game. That trend could creep back up on an inexperienced squad playing in the franchise’s first playoff game — and in one of the most hostile environments in the league.

Next game: at Portland Thorns, Nov. 9, 3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN

Why they will win: They grab hold of the game. San Diego kept the ball more than any other team in the regular season — 59.4% per TruMedia, over 6% more than next-closest Gotham FC — and that allowed the Wave to frequently dictate the flow of games. The Wave served up another taste of that in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Kansas City when they jumped out to an early lead.

The French connection of Kenza Dali and Delphine Cascarino remains electric, and they could be the difference-makers.

Why they won’t win: Inconsistent final product. Their possession game is great, but too often this season, San Diego has failed to muster enough in the final third. The Wave’s run of four straight games without a goal just after the summer break was the worst of the stretches.

They came alive, finally, in a 6-1 win against the Chicago Stars on Oct. 18, but that game was an anomaly — and with all due respect, Chicago is not Portland nor any other playoff team. If San Diego needs to chase this game at Providence Park or another should they advance, that could spell trouble.

Next game: at Orlando Pride, Nov. 7, 8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime

Why they will win: Experience and resolve. Stay with me through the potential cliches and yes, get your ChatGPT jokes out of the way: Laura Harvey is the winningest coach in league history. Yes, even the all-time great Reign teams she coached came up short in the playoffs, but Harvey and the ageless Jess Fishlock keep finding ways to win (or score) even when the expectations are relatively low. They’ve overachieved this year, and they are certainly capable of making Orlando sweat.

Why they won’t win: They don’t score enough. Seattle’s 32 goals scored this regular season tied with the last-place Chicago Stars and ranks worst among all playoff teams. What’s worse is that, per TruMedia, the Reign over-performed from 25.19 expected goals — the worst mark in the league. Their 162 chances created also ranks last in the NWSL this season. Seattle managed to grind out results this season, none more impressive than handing Kansas City one of its three losses in an early-season meeting.

Next game: vs. Seattle Reign, Nov. 7, 8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime

Why they will win: It’s all finally clicking. Orlando was never going to repeat last year’s near-invincible double-trophy season. Orlando is also than their mid-season slump suggested. The Pride enter the playoffs on a five-game unbeaten streak highlighted by a big 3-2 road win over the Spirit in a rematch of last year’s final.

What made Orlando great last year is that everyone on the roster was playing to their utmost potential, even the role players who don’t get the spotlight. That theme has returned in this late-season peak, with Carson Pickett, Kerri Abello and Haley McCutcheon among those scoring or creating goals. Timing is everything, and the Pride might feel that it is on their side.

Why they won’t win: They’re trapped on the wrong side of the bracket. Orlando’s path to a repeat NWSL Championship starts with a scheduling oddity and a trap game: a rematch of Sunday’s regular-season finale with Seattle. That 1-1 draw was a toss-up much like Friday’s quarterfinal will be, and whoever wins on Friday will likely have to go to Kansas City for a semifinal.

The odds are not with either team there, and while Orlando has been more productive than Seattle, the Pride still sit middle of the pack in the NWSL this year in chance creation and expected goals.

Next game: vs. San Diego Wave, Nov. 9, 3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN

play

Olivia Moultrie: I can’t wait to continue my journey with the Portland Thorns

USWNT’s Olivia Moultrie believes signing a contract extension with the Portland Thorns is the right decision at this stage in her career.

Why they will win: They own the midfield. Well, they will win if they can own the midfield. Sam Coffey, Olivia Moultrie and Jessie Fleming are perfectly capable of that. All three have been influential in Portland’s steady late-season form, and Coffey is one of the best midfielders in the league. They have their work cut out for them against fellow Midfielder of the Year candidate Kenza Dali and the dynamic Gia Corley.

This quarterfinal will be won and lost in midfield and the Thorns should have a raucous Providence Park crowd behind them.

Why they won’t win: A disconnect reemerges. The early-season Thorns suffered from the same issues as the 2024 Thorns: inconsistency and incongruity. They’ve largely shaken that off over the past month or two to hit their stride, but the issue of players being out of sync has popped up sporadically over these past two seasons. Largely, individuals have carried them through those stretches, whether Sophia Wilson last season or Coffey or Moultrie this year.

San Diego is well organized — not to mention a stacked Spirit team potentially awaiting in a semifinal — and could force the Thorns to stray from their identity.

Next game: vs. Racing Louisville, Nov. 8, 12 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

Why they will win: Consistency. The Spirit have quietly marched through the season in Kansas City’s shadow, but player for player, they feel like they can stack up with the league’s best — as forward Trinity Rodman recently said. When healthy, the Spirit has the offensive firepower to match Kansas City, and the central combination of Esme Morgan and Tara McKeown has largely been up to the task.

Much like last year, when the Spirit sat in the shadow of Orlando’s dominance, Washington is the best team nobody is talking about.

Why they won’t win: Mounting injury concerns. Washington had nothing to play for on Decision Day and smartly opted to rest players, but the sight of only three healthy field players on the bench — with two goalkeepers named just to have a legal roster — underscored some of the injury concerns for Kansas City’s most legitimate challenger. All eyes are on forward Trinity Rodman and whether she returns from her sprained MCL, but how close to 100% will Croix Bethune and Leicy Santos be, just to name two other major players?

Rodman, especially, had to labor through the pain during last year’s playoffs. She and some teammates will have to do the same again this year.

No. 1 seed Kansas City Current

Next game: vs. Gotham FC, Nov. 9, 12:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN

Why they will win: They are unstoppable. This is the best team in NWSL history. Kansas City set records for wins (21), points (65), goals against (13) and shutouts (16). The Current are richly deep in talent in their front six, from the steady Lo’eau LaBonta to the flashy Debinha, and they punish teams ruthlessly and quickly on the counterattack. They control games out of possession better than any team since the 2018 North Carolina Courage, and this year, they’ve had the defense (for a full season) to back up their attack.

By all logic, this team should beat any opponent and lift the trophy on Nov. 22.

Why they won’t win: If Chawinga isn’t healthy… Finding faults with Kansas City, who only lost three times all season, feels like splitting hairs. But one major question is the adductor injury to back-to-back NWSL Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga, who is day-to-day and missed Sunday’s game, two weeks after sustaining the injury.

The sample size is small to evaluate Kansas City’s games without Chawinga, but the Current are less productive (see: 1-0 loss to Houston last month) and less unpredictable, as Sunday showed. And what if Bia Zaneratto, who left Sunday’s game injured, is also unavailable?

GAINESVILLE, FLA. — THIS OFFSEASON, months before the Florida Gators could focus on its pursuit of back-to-back national titles, a feat the program had previously achieved in 2006 and 2007, head coach Todd Golden first needed another championship roster.

He had known the best backcourt in America would graduate and push for spots on NBA rosters, but he couldn’t predict Denzel Aberdeen receiving NIL offers that would turn Florida’s new potential leader into what Golden called a “cap casualty,” ultimately departing for Kentucky. At that point, he didn’t know whether Alex Condon would remain in the 2025 NBA draft or return to Gainesville.

Through that draft process, though, not only did Condon decide to return, but he crossed paths with former Arkansas star Boogie Fland and tipped the scales of Florida’s title defense.

“I was like, ‘Come to the Gators. We might have to all run it back,'” Condon told ESPN of their conversation at a Brooklyn Nets workout. “So I don’t know if that swung his decision at all, but seeing him [commit to Florida] really helped me out with my decision.”

Fland clarified: “For sure, it added to my decision, especially when I knew everybody was coming back.”

That fortuitous meeting between Condon and Fland wasn’t the only stroke of luck Golden’s Gators benefited from as they prepared to chase another ring. To have a realistic chance at etching their names next to the John Wooden-era UCLA Bruins as only the second school to achieve a two-peat more than once, Florida needed more dominoes to fall. A chance connection to an Ivy League star and a watch party at Golden’s house were the next foundational pieces in the Gators becoming only the second reigning champion in the past decade to earn a top-three ranking in the following year’s preseason AP Top 25 — expectations that they are collectively embracing.

“I think we need to lean into [the pressure] a little bit because this team at some point is going to fail,” Golden said. “That’s just the bottom line. And I would love to be able to say, we’re going to go 31-0 before the NCAA tournament. That’s not going to happen. I think for us to be the best we can be, we need to, at some point, deal with that — the frustration, the vulnerability, the disappointment — to really grow.

“If we try to protect our guys from that pressure, I’m not sure we’re ever going to be able to experience that.”

THREE DAYS BEFORE Princeton’s season finale, Xaivian Lee was mesmerized, watching Florida flirt with a 100-point game against Alabama from a dorm room in New Jersey.

The two-time All-Ivy League guard couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. There was a Walter Clayton Jr. to Will Richard to Condon whip-around that ended with a dunk. An Alijah Martin slam on a fast break. Thomas Haugh got a finish in transition, too. And Clayton stood out as the maestro of a furious attack.

That’s when Lee began to envision himself in a blue and orange jersey.

“I just remember they were playing really fast and Condon was getting a billion lobs and I thought that it was good offense,” Lee said about watching that game. “It was fun. It was fast-paced, flowing. And everything was open and they were getting up and down the court.”

After the Gators punched their ticket to the Final Four a few weeks later, Lee received a text from someone new. Golden had broken his own rule of not recruiting during the NCAA tournament — he didn’t want potential reports to distract his team — to capitalize on the fact that Lee and Haugh, teammates during prep school, had kept tabs on each other through a group chat, including Lee’s decision to enter the transfer portal.

A week after the confetti fell at the Alamodome, Lee committed to Florida.

Golden’s decision to limit recruiting during the postseason put Florida in a tough spot. By the time his team had cut down the nets after a come-from-behind win over Houston in the title game, he had an inkling that Lee would join the squad, but he still had more work to do. While the frontcourt seemed to be intact after a flurry of NBA-related decisions — with Condon, Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu opting to return — the backcourt still had more questions than answers after Aberdeen’s surprising departure.

Fortunately for the Gators, another elite guard was having second thoughts about his future.

Fland was a five-star prospect who entered the 2024-25 campaign as a projected lottery pick before a thumb injury interrupted his season and, with it, his shot to prove that he could excel at the next level. It didn’t help that NBA teams questioned the measurements of the 6-foot-2 guard. A return to college — and maybe Florida, after his convo with Condon — began to feel like his best move.

“To be honest, I didn’t have a plan of coming back to college basketball,” Fland said. “I was going to tough it out and see what the draft experience was like and see what the scouts were saying. And then when I was in New York doing my predraft workout, I had a private meeting — that became public — with Coach Golden and the staff and the proposal was fantastic … it made me think and self-evaluate about the last year and things that I wasn’t able to accomplish and the things I need to work on.”

The phone kept ringing after Golden and Fland connected, with either Condon or Fland wanting to know whether the other had committed.

“As soon as [Fland] goes in the portal, I’m like, ‘Dude, this is a picture-perfect situation for both sides,'” Golden said. “It just really is. We need a point guard and another ball handler with [Lee]. We needed one more really talented guy and we had what I thought were all the other pieces really in place. We had the whole frontcourt back and for [Fland], I’m like, ‘This guy is going to be so much better this year just from last year’s experience.”

AS HE LOOKED at his roster over the summer and thought about its chance to make history, Golden had to remind himself that most of his players might not understand the past.

“Some of them hadn’t been born yet,” he said about the program’s 2006 and 2007 national title runs, a stretch led by Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah, a trio of future lottery picks and NBA standouts.

He aimed to solidify the magnitude of the moment by inviting the team to his house to watch “SEC Storied: Repeat after Us,” an ESPN documentary about the program’s two-peat, once practice began in August.

“I wanted them to understand how tight that team really was and about their relationships and that it was about more than making money in the NBA,” Golden said. “They loved each other, man. That was why they were really, really good. I wanted to show them the documentary because the second year was really hard for those guys. It was tough.”

At the Final Four, Condon got in touch with Horford and visited Noah’s house later that summer. Connecting with them helped Condon understand where this team could cement itself in the annals of Florida men’s basketball history if they can accomplish what Horford and Noah’s Gators did almost 20 years ago.

“I think creating a legacy is something we want to do,” Condon said.

Emulating the bond that the 2005-07 rosters had is why the 2025-26 Florida Gators have all been intentional about building their chemistry this offseason. There have been frequent trips to Dragonfly, a local sushi joint, but some members of the team prefer a nearby hibachi restaurant with unlimited portions. The team also went snorkeling with turtles in a den on a recent Sunday, a first-time experience for many of them.

“[Lee] and [Fland] have done a good job of hanging out with us off the court and starting to build those connections,” added Condon. Scattered around Golden’s office are trinkets yielded by the bond of last year’s group.

There is a framed key to the city that was presented to the team by Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward when the Gators returned with their new hardware. In another frame, there is a proclamation from the U.S. Senate that commemorates the day they won the program’s third national title, and a signed letter from President Donald Trump that Golden picked up on the customary trip to the White House.

But it’s the sea of shoes that have arrived in droves — 32 pairs, to be exact — that align his office and highlight the role Florida now plays in the Jordan Brand hierarchy, also stamping the benefits of a national title run.

“I don’t know a ton about shoes,” Golden said. “But the kids love that s—.”

When he was the head coach at San Francisco, Golden said he had just four pairs of shoes in his office. That fortune, though, also comes with a pressure that is magnified with his entire frontcourt back — 7-foot-1 center Micah Handlogten (2.6 PPG) should play a bigger role this season — and a new pair of elite guards.

Lee and Fland both thrive with the ball in their hands, but they’ll have to share the load this season and find the same synergy that anchored last year’s backcourt. The frontcourt will also demand a few tweaks. Haugh will have to showcase a perimeter game and versatility he mostly demonstrated in spurts a year ago. Chinyelu and Handlogten will play more significant roles for a deep frontcourt, too. Are they ready for that? Condon was never the same after he suffered a midseason ankle injury last year, though he’s doing extra workouts on a stationary bike after every practice to increase his durability.

At this time last year, Florida had not yet been viewed as a real contender. The fanfare came later. That’s the difference between the two iterations of these teams: The expectations for 2025-26 were set at a high level before the season even tipped.

Golden knows the Gators can either run from them, or — like the 2007 and 2008 national title teams — use those great expectations to make history.

“We flew under the radar for a long time last season,” Golden said. “This year … we’re going to be preseason top-five most places, so we’re not going to have the ability to do that. And I want the guys that are back to feel the pressure and the pride of trying to repeat.”