South Korean Charlie Wi took advantage of calm morning conditions to take a one-shot lead in Thursday’s opening round of the New Orleans Classic in Avondale, Louisiana.
Seeking his first title on the PGA Tour, California-based Wi fired a six-under-par 66 to seize control at the TPC Louisiana.
Australian Nathan Green opened with a 67, along with Americans Jay Williamson, Parker McLachlin, Charles Warren, Eric Axley and John Merrick, while Britain’s Justin Rose and American Steve Stricker were among a group bunched on 68.
PHOTO: AFP
American world No. 5 Kenny Perry, back on the PGA Tour for the first time since losing the US Masters in a three-way playoff, carded a five-birdie 69.
Wi, who made his European Tour breakthrough with victory at the co-sanctioned 2006 Malaysian Open, has twice been a runner-up on the PGA Tour.
“Knowing that you can win and doing it is two different things. So it’s really important to make sure that you close the deal when you get a chance. But I’ve won before, so it’s not like I haven’t won,” he said.
■CORONA CHAMPIONSHIP
AFP, MORELIA, MEXICO
World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa sits atop the leaderboard after shooting an eight-under 65 to take a one shot lead after the first round of the LPGA’s Corona Championship on Thursday.
The defending champion leads South Korea’s Choi Na-yeon and Michelle Wie by one stroke in the US$1.3 million tournament.
Wie tied for 57th in Phoenix and tied for 67th in the Kraft Nabisco — shooting 71-81-81-71.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng tied at 12th with a four-under-par 69, while compatriots Teresa Lu and Amy Hung were further down the leaderboard. Lu was tied for 43rd with 72 and Hung was tied for 67th after shooting 74.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with