Rising Englishman Oliver Wilson upstaged golf’s big guns with a 69 in blustery conditions to take a one-shot lead at 12-under after three rounds of the rain-delayed HSBC Champions yesterday.
Australian 2006 US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy was in outright second after carding a two-under 70, with the top-line trio of America’s Phil Mickelson, Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson at 10-under.
On a cold, windy day at the Sheshan International Golf Club, talented young South African Charl Schwartzel shot the lowest score of the round, a 67 that put him tied for sixth alongside Australian Adam Scott at eight-under.
After all of Friday was washed out, the players returned to the course yesterday to start their fourth rounds, with Wilson, Ogilvy and Mickelson all maintaining their scores after two holes.
Playing in the group ahead of them, Garcia also remained at 10-under, but Stenson had a double-bogey in fading light on the third hole after a birdie on the first to fall back to nine-under.
The players will resume their rounds just after dawn today.
In one of the most dramatic incidents of the day, American world No. 8 Anthony Kim was disqualified midway through the third round after he damaged his driver tapping it on a sprinkler head, yet still played with it.
“I was pretty shocked. I didn’t think that would be the case, but the rules are the rules and I have no problem with that,” Kim said.
■CMN CLASSIC
AFP, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA
Steve Marino fired a six-under 66 on Saturday to move atop the leaderboard alongside Scott Verplank after three rounds of the US$4.6 million Children’s Miracle Network Classic.
Verplank, the overnight leader lost the outright lead when he bogeyed the final hole for the second straight day.
He carded a three-under 69 to stand tied with Marino on 19-under 197.
They were two shots in front of Davis Love, who posted a 64, and Scott Sterling, who recorded a 66.
Marino shot three birdies and took his total of birdies for the week to 19 without a bogey so far.
■MIZUNO CLASSIC
AFP, SHIMA, JAPAN
British Open champion Shin Ji-yai of South Korea hit a sizzling five-under 67 for a comfortable six-stroke victory at the Mizuno Classic yesterday.
The 20-year-old sank one eagle, four birdies against one bogey for a three-round total of 15-under 201 to win her second US LPGA Tour title, beating Japan’s first-round leader Mayu Hattori on 207.
“This course suits my play very well. It made it easier to play. I thought I would win when I eagled the seventh hole,” Shin said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but