England's Ross McGowan equaled the lowest round of his European Tour career to share the lead after the first round of the Italian Open on Thursday.
McGowan carded an eight under par 64 to be alongside Paraguay’s Marco Ruiz, leading by a stroke from World Cup-winning Scot Marc Warren, England’s Mark Foster and South African Hennie Otto.
On a day of low scoring, the US’ John Daly bounced back from his missed cut at last week’s Spanish Open with a 67 while Ryder Cup hopeful Nick Dougherty scored a 71.
The 2006 English amateur champion McGowan had four successive birdies from the 13th as he turned in a superb 30.
Two more birdies in his last four holes completed his day’s work.
“On the important holes you have to drive well, but I also holed out well from 10 feet and in,” McGowan said. “The next goal is to try to secure my card for next season, then I’ll take it from there.”
Ruiz is ranked only 410th in the world, but won in Argentina in December and was leading for a while in Seville last Sunday before slipping back to 15th.
Another Paraguayan, Fabrizio Zanotti, is also in the top 10 after a 66 and they are further examples of how a tiny golfing nation — just six courses — can still pack a punch.
Carlos Franco has won four times in America, Julieta Granada and Celeste Troche won the women’s World Cup last year and there was also the occasion when Scotland lost to them in the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews.
Daly was delighted to have shown some improvement in his game at long last, having made it through to the weekend in only two of his 10 events in the US this season and having failed in Seville as well.
The 42-year-old former Open champion, who has slumped to 609th in the world, underwent stomach surgery a month ago.
“This is the healthiest I’ve been in more than a year — it was brutal with the pain and it’s nice to have my swing back,” he said.
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
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
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS