Sergio Garcia stormed into a four-shot lead after three rounds of the Castello Masters on Saturday on the same Club de Campo course where he learned to play the game as a boy.
The Spanish Ryder Cup star, whose father Victor is still the club professional here, fired a five under par 66 for a 16 under par tournament total of 197.
England’s David Lynn and Simon Dyson and Swede Peter Hedblom, who all shot 68 on Saturday, joined Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen (70) at 12 under.
Garcia birdied the second with a long putt and then picked up shots on four consecutive holes to reach the halfway point five under for the day.
He hit trouble after the turn, hitting a wedge out the back of the 10th green and then blasting his tee shot left on 11.
He then missed a five-foot putt for birdie at the par three 12th, although Richard Finch, at the time level with the Spaniard on 14 under, missed his second putt from inside a meter.
Garcia birdied 13 and 14 and he improved to 17 under with another birdie at the par three 16th. He bogeyed the 17th but parred the last.
Alvaro Quiros, who won the Portugal Masters last week, started the day just two shots off the leaders but endured a torrid round, signing for a 76 to fall way back on four under.
Englishman Sam Little strengthened his chances of retaining his European Tour card for 2009 with a flawless five under par 66 to leave him six under, while Scotsman Stephen Gallacher had the round of the day — a six under par 65.
■ FRYS.COM OPEN
AFP, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
American Kevin Sutherland fired a seven-under par 63 on Saturday to seize a one-stroke lead after the third round of the US$5 million US PGA Frys.com Open.
Sutherland, who shot his second bogey-free round in a row, finished 54 holes on 14-under par 196, his career-low on the tour through three rounds as he seeks a US$900,000 top prize.
American George McNeill was second with 197 after a third-round 66 following a 63 on Friday.
Americans Paul Goydos, John Mallinger and Australian Steve Allan shared third on 198, one ahead of Americans Woody Austin and Cameron Beckman.
Sutherland opened with a birdie and added birdies on the par-5 fourth and the seventh.
He birdied the par-5 11th, made another at 12 and added birdies at 15 and 17 to move atop the leaderboard.
With so many players shooting low rounds, Sutherland relishes his place in the last group rather than as a lurker who had a chance to post a target score in yesterday’s play.
“I’d rather be in the last group,” he said. “If you go out and shoot that really good score, you are in a great spot to win. If you are a couple back, you still have to have some help.”
Goydos, in the hunt in his final event of the year, is familiar with Sutherland and impressed by how the leader is playing this week.
“I play almost all my practice rounds with Kevin. He has been playing well,” Goydos said. “He’s going to be tough to beat.”
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
RSS