Americans Paula Creamer and Jane Park edged into a narrow one shot lead on a jam-packed leaderboard after the second round of the HSBC Women’s Champions yesterday.
The ailing Creamer, still feeling sick from a virus as she searches for her ninth career victory, mixed three birdies with two bogeys in a 71 to be joint leader with playing partner Park, who has yet to win on the US LPGA Tour.
Sitting a stroke behind on 139 are South Korea’s Kim Mi-hyun and Australia’s Katherine Hull, with Japanese superstar Ai Miyazato and another Korean, Yoo Sun-young, a shot further back.
PHOTO: AP
On a hot and humid day, no one made a significant break from the pack, with seven players tied for the lead at one stage.
DISASTROUS RUN
World No. 1 and defending champion Lorena Ochoa is in a pack of nine players on 142 and remains a threat despite a disastrous run to the clubhouse where she bogeyed the 12th, 14th and 18th.
Ochoa ended the day with a 73 but the third-ranked Creamer will be looking over her shoulder after the Mexican came from three shots down on the final day to beat her at the Thailand Open last weekend.
Ochoa was not the only one who floundered on the back nine, with one-time joint leader Miyazato struggling with bogeys at the 16th and 17th before a birdie on the last rescued her card.
Taiwan’s world No.2 Tseng Yani had another forgettable day, failing to make inroads by adding a 71 to her opening 72 to be five strokes adrift.
Park, based in California, is one of Creamer’s best friends on tour and she said she was honored to join her as joint leader.
AWESOME
“Getting my first win here in Singapore would be awesome, but I’m just going to take it one shot at a time,” she said, adding that Ochoa still remained the danger woman.
“You can never forget about Lorena because that girl is crazy. She makes putts from everywhere and you can never rule her out,” Park said.
“But I will try not to concern myself with the leaderboard too much until Sunday. I know getting my first win will be the toughest one,” she said.
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
RSS