Australia’s Sarah Kemp seized a share of the lead at 11-under 131 after the second round of the US$1.4 million LPGA Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Kemp shot an eight-under 63 on Friday to share the lead with American Laura Diaz who had a 67.
American Morgan Pressel was in third place after a three-under 68. She shared the first round lead with South Korea’s Kim Song-hee and Diaz.
PHOTO: AFP
Kim, of Sydney, shot a 71 on Friday and was one of nine South Koreans in the top 20, but four strokes adrift of Kemp.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was in a group at 136 after shooting a 68, Candie Kung was at 140 after a one-over 72 and Amy Hung was on par at 142 after her second 71.
■PGA NATIONAL
AFP, BETHESDA, MARYLAND
World No. 1 Tiger Woods leaped into the lead after two rounds of the PGA National with a four-under par 66 on Friday, but was far from happy with the way he landed atop the leaderboard.
Woods, who doubles as tournament host this week at Congressional Country Club, stood on 10-under 130 after 36 holes in the US$6 million event, one stroke ahead of Australian Rod Pampling, with American Anthony Kim two adrift.
Defending champ Kim, the first-round leader after a course-record and career-low 62, struggled to a 70 to stand third, one stroke ahead of US veteran Jim Furyk.
Pampling, first on the course, fired his low round of the year, 64, to jump into contention but knows his task of outdueling Woods will be a tough one.
“I don’t think you can go through the history books and find a guy who has been as consistent as Tiger. It’s just amazing,” Pampling said.
“We’re fortunate to be playing in the same era where we can watch Tiger.” he said.
■FRENCH OPEN
REUTERS, ST QUENTIN, FRANCE
Padraig Harrington’s abysmal run of form continued when he missed the cut at the French Open on Friday, trailing 15 shots behind second-round leader Rafa Echenique of Argentina.
Echenique, runner-up at last week’s BMW International Open, carded a four-under 67 for a 10-under total of 132.
Germany’s Martin Kaymer (72), South African Charl Schwartzel (66) and Britain’s Steve Webster (65) shared second spot on 134, but Harrington missed his fifth successive cut after limping to a 75 for 147, five over.
Shane Lowry shot 72 for a total of 141.
US Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina (70) missed the cut on 145.
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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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