American Jim Furyk shot a one-under-par 71 to maintain the lead in the second round of the US$5.75 million Chevron World Challenge on Friday.
The first-round leader, Furyk is at five-under 139, while South Korea’s K.J. Choi, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas are two shots adrift. Steve Stricker and Fred Couples are three strokes back at two-under.
Furyk was bogey-free until the last hole when he failed to make a 10-foot par putt after landing in the bunker on his approach.
PHOTO: AFP
Until the miscue on the final hole Furyk was error free, making birdies on the ninth and 16th hole. The 16th hole was his first birdie on a par five in 10 chances.
Unlike the first round when many of the players struggled in the colder conditions, the weather was pleasant and nine players finished under par for the two days.
■VOLVO MASTERS
AFP, BANGKOK
The season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia was left hanging on a knife edge after the third round ended with five players tied for the lead yesterday.
Overnight leader Lam Chih Bing of Singapore battled to an even par 72 at Thai Country Club and was joined at the top of the leaderboard on nine-under-par 207 by David Gleeson of Australia, who equaled the course record 63, compatriot Marcus Both (70) and Thai duo Chapchai Nirat (70) and Chawalit Plaphol (69).
Lin Wen-tang of Taiwan shot a 72 to be joint eighth on six under.
Lam, who led by two strokes after the third round, posted four birdies against as many bogeys as he failed to pull clear of the chasing pack in the US$750,000 event.
■SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN
AFP, PEARL VALLEY, SOUTH AFRICA
Michael Lorenzo-Vera of France climbed to the top of the South African Open leaderboard Friday after shooting a 65 to lie 12 under par for the tournament. Lorenzo-Vera enjoys a two-shot lead at the par-72 Pearl Valley Golf Estates course over Lee Westwood of England, Damien McGrane of Ireland and South African duo Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel.
The 23-year-old Frenchman scored five birdies on the front nine and two on the back nine.
Els’ second 67 in a row left him strongly positioned to capture his fifth SA Open title.
McGrane shot a spectacular 64, with a 30 on his front nine, while Schwartzel’s 65 also left him two off the pace.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite