Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen held a two-shot lead over the chasing pack after the second round of the Ballantine’s Championship yesterday as wind and rain lashed the mountainside course.
Derksen’s 69 gave him a nine-under total of 135, two strokes clear of Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (71) and South Korea’s Kang Wook-soon (69).
A shot further back are joint overnight leader Mark Brown, who shot a 73, Spain’s Pablo Martin (69) and Italy’s Alessandro Tadini (71).
PHOTO: AFP
Last week’s Volvo China Open runner-up Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano was among a group on five-under after posting a 74.
Brown briefly threatened to pull clear, but a disastrous run of four bogeys on his closing five holes in hammering rain cost the New Zealander.
Among the big names, Ernie Els is two-under for the tournament after a 74. Former Masters winner Fred Couples and Lee Westwood also made the cut. Defending champion Graeme McDowell crashed out.
Taiwan’s Lin Wen-hong was in a tie for seventh on five-under, Lin Wen-tang was even-par and compatriot Lu Wei-chih finished on one-over.
Charlie Wi takes route 66 to lead in New Orleans
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
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