Few putts intimidate golfers more than the slick, downhill breaker. The combination of speed and slope makes these putts difficult to judge, causing many players to misread the line or instinctively steer their putter toward the hole—resulting in a putt that misses on the low-side or races past the cup.

Luckily, the solution is simpler than most golfers realize. According to GOLF Top 100 Teacher David Armitage, the mistake most amateurs make on these tricky breaking putts isn’t with their stroke or technique — it’s focusing on the wrong target.

Stop focusing on the hole

To master slippery, sidehill putts, Armitage says golfers need to rethink their approach.

“They [amateurs] are trying to almost make the putt turn a corner,” Armitage says. “The hole is the distraction.”

Instead of trying to guide the ball, Armitage says to think of breaking putts as straight putts to a specific point: the apex, or the highest point on the intended line before breaking toward the hole.

Concentrating on the apex allows you to start your putts on line and let the green do the work. And to find the apex, you just need a reliable green-reading routine. Whether you prefer to walk around the putt to study the slope from multiple angles, use AimPoint or another method, the key is developing a consistent process that you trust.

“Reading greens is a skill set that you’ve got to practice,” Armitage says. “You’ve got to have a process — something that you believe in.”

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Mark the apex with a tee

While many amateurs can correctly identify the apex by reading the green, they usually forget about it once they stand over the ball.

“They’re [amateurs] reading the green to the apex correctly, but then they’re looking at the hole,” Armitage says.

To keep yourself locked in on the apex, Armitage recommends practicing with a tee. When you address each putt, zero-in on that point — not the hole.

“Forget the hole,” he continues, “let the hole be the end spot, but don’t let it be the end-all-be-all.”

Once you’ve chosen your line and set up to the putt, your job is simple: roll the ball to the apex, trust your read and let the green do the rest.

A dominant India thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan 7-1 in their return leg match of the FIH Pro League here on Friday.

In their previous fixture, India were held 2-2 by hosts England in regulation time, but then lost 1-4 in the shootout.

In their earlier meeting, India clinched a 4-3 win against Pakistan, courtesy goals from Abhishek, Nilakanta, Sukhjeet and Rajinder.

India will take on England in their final match here on Sunday.

In the match against Pakistan on Friday, India secured a penalty corner in the ninth minute, but Harmanpreet’s flick was denied by the Pakistan defence.

Pakistan shocked India by taking the lead in the 13th minute when Abu Mahmmod converted a penalty corner with a powerful flick.

India responded back in the 20th minute, when Harmanpreet’s flick was neatly deflected in by Sukhjeet from a set piece.

India secured another penalty corner in the 26th minute and this time Harmanpreet scored, finding the top corner of the Pakistan goal. 

India earned another penalty corner in the 29th minute but failed to capitalise on the chance.

India had six penalty corners in the first 30 minutes against Pakistan’s one.

India secured back-to-back penalty corners four minutes into the third quarter which resulted in a stroke and vice-captain Hardik Singh made no mistake from the spot.

Pakistan secured two penalty corners in quick succession but faltered, resulting in India’s fourth goal from a counter-attack through Jugraj Singh after being fed by Dilpreet Singh.

Abhishek made the scoreline 5-1 in favour in the 41st minute with a superb reverse hit after receiving a fine ball from Sukhjeet.

Pakistan had another penalty corner soon but wasted the chance.

India secured four back-to-back penalty corners in the 44th minute and Rajkumar Pal scored from a rebound from the last set piece.

India secured another penalty corner in the 50th minute, but they miscued the opportunity.

Dilpreet Singh extended India’s lead with a fine scoop goal from in front after being brilliantly fed by Mandeep Singh in the 54th minute.

Pakistan secured two consecutive penalty corners seconds later but lacked firepower to breach the Indian defence.

Ellyes Skhiri’s unfortunate own goal in Tunisia’s 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands took the tally of own goals at the FIFA World Cup 2026 to 12, equalling the record for the most in a single men’s World Cup tournament, previously set in Russia in 2018. Tunisia captain Skhiri inadvertently turned Denzel Dumfries’ low cross into his own net in the third minute of Thursday’s Group F clash in Kansas City, handing the Netherlands an early lead on their way to sealing top spot with an unbeaten group-stage campaign.

The 12th own goal of the tournament continues an extraordinary trend, with more than 18 per cent of all own goals in men’s World Cup history coming in the ongoing edition, according to Opta Analyst. A total of 66 own goals have now been recorded across all FIFA World Cup tournaments.

The run of own goals began when Paraguay’s Damian Bobadilla turned the ball into his own net against the United States. Switzerland defender Miro Muheim then gifted Qatar a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser before Qatar’s Mohamed Manai scored into his own goal in a 6-0 defeat to Canada.

Other players to score own goals at the tournament are Egypt’s Mohamed Hany, Iraq’s Aymen Hussein, Jordan’s Yazan Al-Arab, Australia’s Cameron Burgess, Saudi Arabia’s Hassan Al-Tambakti, Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov, Qatar’s Mahmud Abunada, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and Tunisia’s Skhiri.

Hussein’s own goal carried an unusual statistical footnote as he also scored for Iraq in the same match against Norway, making him only the third player in men’s World Cup history to score at both ends in a single game.

Qatar have become only the third team to score two own goals at a single men’s World Cup, matching Bulgaria’s unwanted feat in 1966 and hosts Russia in 2018.

Historically, Mexico hold the record for the most own goals by a nation with four, while France have benefited the most, with opponents scoring six own goals in their favour.

The first own goal in World Cup history was scored by 18-year-old Mexico defender Manuel Rosas during a 3-0 defeat to Chile at the inaugural tournament in 1930. Five World Cup editions have finished without an own goal, with Italy 1990 the most recent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Uruguay face Spain in a crucial World Cup clash on Saturday, but a number of players, including Manchester United’s Manuel Ugarte, have turned against manager Marcelo Bielsa

Manchester United and Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte has been involved in a ‘revolt’ against his national team manager Marcelo Bielsa just hours before their must-not-lose World Cup encounter against Spain.

La Celeste face Spain knowing they need to avoid defeat to stand any chance of qualifying for the Round of 32, following a disappointing start to the tournament. Uruguay have picked up just two points from their opening two matches, having been held to a draw against minnows Saudi Arabia and then Cape Verde.

And now, it is suggested that a group of players have begun to rebel against Bielsa after injuries were sustained in training due to excessive preparation. GiveMeSport report that Ugarte, Federico Valverde, Rochet and Rodrigo Bentancur – amongst others – called their coach to a meeting before their forthcoming fixture against Spain, dissatisfied with gruelling training sessions organised by Bielsa.

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It is added that Uruguay pressed the former Leeds United boss to implement tactical adjustments before their next fixture, following a disappointing run of results. However, Bielsa then countered with a team meeting of his own, rejecting the notion of adopting a defensive approach against Spain and maintaining that they would persist with their existing tactics, potentially exposing themselves to more injuries.

El Espectador, meanwhile, reported that he also accused his players of attempting to force him out over his choice to leave Luis Suarez and Nahitan Nandez out of his squad selections.

The 70-year-old also allegedly claimed that he had played a significant role in shaping the careers of several national team players, including Maxi Araujo and Sebastian Caceres.

Uruguay sit second in Group H but are guaranteed to drop out of the top two and fail to secure qualification for the knockout phase if they lose to Spain on Friday.

A draw would guarantee a place in the Round of 32 if Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia draw in the other final group game, while a draw for Uruguay and a win for either Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia would drop them to third and leave them an anxious wait of progressing via the best eight third-place route.

Speaking openly about his preparations for Uruguay’s fixture against Spain, Bielsa stated at a press conference: “We are approaching tomorrow’s match as a final. One of the best ways to defend is to make sure the opponent has ⁠the ball for less time.”

He further commented on Luis de la Fuente: “It seems to me that, with the type of soccer that he achieved with Spain, which is unique, and his entire work there, which is significant, it definitely doesn’t reflect my own style. It’s a type of soccer a lot more beautiful than what I achieved with my team. The truth is that what he has accomplished with Spain is admirable.”

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This is not the first occasion that Bielsa has attracted attention at this summer’s tournament across North America. Earlier this month, the experienced head coach declined to participate in a World Cup photoshoot with the media, pictured staring at the ground while photographers attempted to capture his portrait.

Providing a justification for the peculiar display, Bielsa added: “I don’t have to give any explanation, the picture was taken the way it was taken. I’m not a model.”

He added: “There is a limit in terms of what we need to explain. If I’m wearing glasses, ‘why am I wearing glasses?’

“You look somebody in the eye, ‘why do you do that?’ There is nothing wrong about wearing glasses or looking into somebody’s eyes or looking down.”

Uruguay are set to play Spain at the Estadio Guadalajara at 1am BST on Saturday morning. Cape Verde are also in action against Saudi Arabia simultaneously in Houston, as Group H reaches its conclusion.

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

India: Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Mohith Honnenahalli Shashikumar, Suraj Karkera, Amit Rohidas, Sumit, Sanjay, Yashdeep Siwach, Amandeep Lakra, Jarmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Rajinder Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Aditya Arjun Lalage, Dilpreet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Selvam Karthi

Pakistan: Ammad Butt (captain), Abdullah Ishtiaq Khan, Muhammad Abdullah, Arbaz Ahmad, Mubashar Ali, Khan Nadeem, Sufyan Khan, Moin Shakeel, Waheed Ashraf Rana, Hannan Shahid, Zikriya Hayat, Arshad Liaqat, Usama Bashir, Ahmad Nadeem, Ghazanfar Ali, Muhammad Hammadudin, Rehman Abdul, Afraz, Waleed Rana, Umair Sattar, Abu Mahmood, Ali Raza, Abdul Manan, Muhammad Ammad, Waqar, Muneeb Ur-Rehman, Junaid Manzoor

Norway vs France Live Score: Team news: Haaland and Odegaard benched! Both playing elevens announced

We have a massive twist from the Foxborough dugout! Following his “pressure cooker” comments yesterday, Norway head coach Stale Solbakken has thrown a tactical curveball by heavily rotating his squad. Generational superstar Erling Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard both start on the bench tonight.

Meanwhile, Les Bleus field an incredibly formidable starting eleven under assistant Guy Stéphan, led upfront by the explosive Kylian Mbappé.

Here are the official, full-name lineups for both teams:

Norway Starting XI: Goalkeeper: Egil Selvik

Defenders: Fredrik André Bjørkan, Henrik Sælebakke Falchener, Leo Østigård, Fredrik Aursnes

Midfielders: Thelo Aasgaard, Patrick Berg, Kristian Thorstvedt

Forwards: Andreas Schjelderup, Jørgen Strand Larsen, Oscar Bobb

Subs: Ørjan Nyland, Egil Tangvik, Morten Thorsby, Kristoffer Ajer, David Møller Wolfe, Alexander Sørloth, Sander Berge, Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard, Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, Torbjørn Heggem, Antonio Nusa, Jens Petter Hauge, Sondre Langås, Julian Ryerson.

France Starting XI: Goalkeeper: Mike Maignan

Defenders: Théo Hernandez, Maxence Lacroix, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Koundé

Midfielders: Manu Koné, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Désiré Doué

Forwards: Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé

Subs: Brice Samba, Robin Risser, Malo Gusto, Lucas Digne, Marcus Thuram, Bradley Barcola, N’Golo Kanté, Adrien Rabiot, Ibrahima Konaté, William Saliba, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Lucas Hernandez, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Rayan Cherki, Maghnes Akliouche.

WWE star Sami Zayn is set to take on Cody Rhodes and Gunther in a triple threat match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Night of Champions on Saturday.

Since the calendar flipped to 2026, Zayn has elicited a different reaction from the crowd. The smattering of boos toward him that started the year have grown louder. Zayn’s complaints about not being respected enough or not getting the opportunities he believes he deserves have also reached a fever pitch.

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Sami Zayn and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes speak during SmackDown at Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy, on June 5, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

There have been complaints about Zayn’s different character work over the last few months. But anyone who has been in a position where they are the veteran of an organization and have seen the rest of their colleagues gravitate to the new shiny object or the rockstar of the group, they might be able to feel for Zayn a bit more.

He told Fox News Digital in an interview that his character now is a “bit of a choose your own adventure.”

“Well, it’s kind of interesting because it might mean something different to different people. … There’s so much to say about this. I don’t even know where to start. It’s basically something where it’s up to you. It’s a bit of a choose your own adventure,” he said. “I think if you’re a fan of mine and have been for a long time and you kinda wanted to see me win the big one and this and that and you just stuck with me and you weren’t like as fickle or as fair-weather as some fans who tend to tire out a bit quicker. If there’s a bit more of an emotional connection there and you have not yet been alienated, then you still might very much be on my side – the ‘ride or die fans’ as I call them. But they might be totally with me and to them, not a whole lot has changed, and to these other fans, they might have gotten sick of it.

“And you know, when I was working with Trick Williams and wrestling Trick Williams, it became very evident that here’s this new thing that’s very exciting and it’s like, ‘We’ve seen this. We’ve seen you. And it’s like you’re this comfortable pair of jeans and we get it but we want this now.’ And so then to kind of take that and go, ‘Ah, noted,’ and play with that a little bit and turn it to your advantage, it’s going to mean something different to those fans. So, that’s kind of the goal with this character at the moment. You can have it one way or you can have it another way. It’s kind of up to you. And the behavior will mean something different to one group of fans versus another.”

Zayn suggested he took some inspiration from how fans reacted to John Cena and Roman Reigns over the years.

He said Cena and Reigns didn’t necessarily change who they were. They just leaned into where the fans were taking them.

Sami Zayn makes his entrance during SmackDown at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I., on June 12, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)

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“And the reason why I think this is a little different and I don’t want to get into the whole psychology of it all or get into big character breakdown but when I’m envisioning things about this, I look at guys who really split the crowd in the past like Cena for years, or Roman Reigns when he was like ‘The Big Dog’ and he was clearly the No. 1 good guy but a lot of fans were booing him and all this kind of stuff, those guys, the one thing I noticed about them is their behavior didn’t really change whether they liked them or they didn’t,” he said. “They were just themselves. And the idea of being like my behavior changes depending on whether you like me or you don’t like me, which I think could be really interesting. And part of what excites me about that is it really kinda goes from crowd to crowd.

“So, when I go to Saudi, I don’t know if I’m going to be treated the same way by Boston and I don’t know if it’s going to be same as when I go to New York. And I don’t know if it’s the same when I go to Montreal or Toronto or London or Paris. So, that, to me, is very exciting.”

Zayn had been one of the top babyfaces for a few years and his popularity sky-rocketed when he joined The Bloodline as the “Honorary Uce” and later turned on Roman Reigns and Jey and Jimmy Uso.

He still heard cheers in the years after the moment at Elimination Chamber 2023. Fox News Digital asked Zayn whether it was “refreshing” to feel some heat from the crowd.

“Yeah, it depends. I guess it depends on what your goals are,” he responded. “I don’t know maybe I’m old school in this way even though I’m playing with a new school idea here but I’m a little old school in that if I want to be cheered then I’m working toward getting cheered. If I want to be booed, then I’m working toward getting booed. But now I’m playing with this kind of avant garde sort of new thing where it’s a bit more like, let’s see what happens here. Let’s see what happens there and maybe I will take those cheers thank you very much and maybe I will nudge some boos if the situation calls for it.

Sami Zayn and Trick Williams react during the United States Championship match at WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

“So, it’s a bit different. To me, it really depends on what the goal is. If this was two or three years ago and I’m going and I’m trying my best to get people to get on board with me for the sake of the story, the character, whatever and they’re outright rejecting me, I don’t think that would feel great. It feels better when you’re the manipulator because that’s what we are in a way. If I take them where I want to be taking them, then it feels great.”

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Night of Champions will take place at 1 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN.

Matt Fitzpatrick is one of the hottest players in the game right now.

The 31-year-old Englishman is the only PGA Tour player with three wins thus far this season, and is fresh off a 22nd-place finish at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock.

Fitzpatrick is a famously data-driven player in his approach to each golf course, and is known to take copious notes on every shot he hits. Those insights are aided by his official performance data partner Protiviti, which works closely with Fitzpatrick and his team to help turn his practice observations and tournament-round statistics into actionable insights for smarter preparation via a custom-built analytics platform, mobile app and AI powered tools.

On this week’s episode of Subpar, hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz asked Fitzpatrick if he would be willing to share one of his written observations after something bad happened on the course.

“None of them were written down,” Fitzpatrick said with a laugh. “They were more said out loud.”

Fitzpatrick has played in 12 U.S. Opens since 2014 and won the 2022 edition of the championship at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Stoltz decided to put Fitzpatrick on the spot: Which U.S. Open venue is his favorite, excluding the course where he won?

Despite the recent sting of a difficult weekend in Long Island with rounds of 74-73 on Saturday and Sunday, Fitzpatrick acknowledged that Shinnecock would still be his pick.

“I really like Shinnecock, to be fair,” he said. “I’ve played two U.S. Opens there. I think that’s the place I’ve played the most. I really liked the setup in 2018. I thought it was really difficult, but it was really fair.

“I think people forget that the one thing that I feel that that place offers you, for the most part, apart from maybe a couple of greens, is that if you are out of position, you can get it into a position where you still have a chance of an up and down,” he continued. “And I think that is a big thing. Yeah, the up and down is tough, but you could still be fat side of the green and have a chip, and I felt, that year, it played well from that standpoint. I figured it was the same this year, obviously different conditions with how soft the greens were the first two days, but I would honestly say, Shinnecock is a great venue.”

For more from Fitzpatrick, including a course he’d like to see host a U.S. Open return, check out the full episode of Subpar below.

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Ben Stokes takes three early wickets before Ben Duckett hits 113 with the bat as England fight back on day two of the third Test against New Zealand, reaching the close on 223-2 – now 215 runs behind New Zealand’s first innings of 438.

READ MORE: Duckett & Stokes haul England back into third Test

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