Phil Mickelson, with the help of a hole in one, and Ernie Els put themselves back into contention at the Scottish Open, but it was Angel Cabrera who set the halfway pace at Loch Lomond.
Cabrera, last year’s US Open champion, added a 68 to his first round 65 to head the field at nine-under, a shot clear of Ireland’s Damien McGrane (66).
Mickelson (67) and Els (66) are well-placed, four shots off the leader, but Colin Montgomerie was not around for the weekend after a 75 left Scotland’s No. 1 at two-over, well outside the cut mark.
PHOTO: AP
Overnight leader Thongchai Jaidee from Thailand could not sustain the pace of his opening 64, but he was only two shots off the lead after a level par 71, that he concluded by chipping in from off the green on his final hole.
Argentina’s Cabrera might have been further clear but for a bogey on the 18th, where his drive found the sand.
Mickelson’s ace at the short fifth, his 14th hole, proved to be the catalyst for a turnaround that catapulted him from the brink of missing the cut to the heels of the leaders.
From 198 yards, the left-hander struck a five-iron that never left the line of the pin. After pitching 12 feet short, the ball trundled into the hole to a huge roar from the green-side gallery.
The ace was followed by a birdie four at Mickelson’s next hole and a three on his 18th completed his round.
With Montgomerie gone, Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, gave the home fans something to cheer about by adding a second round 68 to his opening 67, to stand two shots off the lead in a group that included Thongchai, Dane Thomas Bjorn (68), Simon Khan and Australian left-hander Richard Green.
Lawrie is looking for his first win since 2002 and has a particular incentive for ending his drought now that sons Craig and Michael are regular spectators at his tournaments.
“Daddy’s been useless for a while now,” he said. “It’d be nice to get a win on the board just to shut them up.”
■JOHN DEERE CLASSIC
AFP, SILVIS, Illinois
American Will MacKenzie fired a bogey-free seven-under 64 on Friday to seize a two-stroke lead after the second round of the US$4.2 million PGA John Deere Classic.
MacKenzie began the day one stroke behind South Korea’s Charlie Wi and American Ken Duke, but birdied three of his first eight holes once he opened the round, then finished with four birdies in his final eight holes.
MacKenzie stood on 13-under 129 after 36 holes, with Wi and Americans Kenny Perry and Eric Axley sharing second on 131, one stroke ahead of American Brad Adamonis and two better than Britain’s Brian Davis.
■JAMIE FARR CLASSIC
AFP, SYLVANIA, Ohio
Paula Creamer fired a six-under 65 on Friday to stretch her lead to six strokes after the second round of the US$1.3 million LPGA Jamie Farr Classic.
The 21-year-old American followed up a course-record 11-under 60 on Thursday with seven birdies and a single bogey to stand on 17-under 125 after 36 holes, with South Korea’s Ji Eun-hee second on 131 after a 66 on Friday.
Creamer was on target most of the time, taking her only bogey at the par-four fourth and settling for a finish that was one stroke shy of the LPGA record for 36 holes.
Australia’s Rachel Hetherington and South Korea’s Choi Hye-jung shared third, 10 strokes off the pace, with Canada’s Alena Sharp, South Korea’s Young Kim, American Stacy Lewis and Britain’s Janice Moodie all on 136.
Creamer seeks the third title of her fourth LPGA season, which would pull her level with former world No.1 for second on the season win list behind world No.1 Lorena Ochoa of Mexico, a six-time winner this year.
Both Ochoa and Sorenstam are skipping this week’s event.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set