The businesslike nature of Tiger Woods’ Buick Open win on Sunday signaled the world No. 1 has come to terms with his big British Open letdown and got his game back on track for the PGA Championship.
Almost overlooked in the outpouring of emotion that surrounded what might have been the final Buick Open was a superb week of steadily improving play from Woods, establishing him as the odds-on-favorite going into the year’s final major at Hazeltine Golf Club later this month.
For the first time in his career, Woods will play back-to-back events before heading into a major and moves on to Akron, Ohio, for the World Golf Championship event at Firestone Golf Club where he has won six times.
PHOTO: AFP
“I know what I’m doing wrong,” Woods told reporters after collecting his fourth win of the season and 69th of his career. “It’s just a matter of getting enough reps in. Next few days, I’ll be able to do that and hopefully solidify come Thursday. Firestone’s always a difficult track. If we don’t get any rain down there, it’ll be hard and fast.”
Back in action for the first time since The Open, where he missed the cut in a major for only the second time as a professional, Woods appeared to suffering from a major hangover when he arrived at Warwick Hills.
After an erratic opening round 71 left him eight shots off the pace, sparking suggestions he might even miss consecutive cuts for the first time as a pro, Woods hit back in spectacular style with a 63 — his lowest round of the year — on Friday, followed by a 65 and a bogey-free 69 on Sunday.
“I didn’t do a very good job the first day, but after that I got it going pretty good,” Woods said. “Hopefully, I’ll get a little bit of work in the next few days and be ready for Thursday. I’ve got a few things to work on, but I can use this as a little momentum going into the next two weeks.”
■CZECH OPEN
AFP, PRAGUE
Swedish rookie Oskar Henningsson, playing in his first European Tour season, captured his maiden title on Sunday with a two shot victory at the Czech Open.
Hennigsson, 23, who triumphed at the Qualifying School last November, shot a final round 67 for a 13-under total, beating England’s Sam Little and overnight leader Steve Webster, who finished tied for second.
The Swede had been three shots behind Webster after the third round, but birdies at the first, fourth and eighth holes edged him in front.
He had two more birdies on the way and even a bogey on the last couldn’t dent his victory march as he became only the third player after Jose Maria Olazabal and Gordon Brand Jr to win Qualifying School and then land a title in their maiden European Tour season.
“It feels great. I’m overwhelmed,” said the champion, who had started the tournament with a double-bogey at his first hole on Thursday. “I had no expectations that I would win this week, it feels strange, but good. I’ve a 10-hour trip home by car, so I will have a lot of time to think about it and what I have done.”
Zimbabwe’s Marc Cayeux, England’s Graeme Storm and Spain’s Ignacio Garrido — who led for much of the day before four bogeys in a row from the 10th — were tied for fourth on 10-under.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but