Lu Chien-soon shot a two-under 68 on Saturday to move into a share of third place at the US Senior Open, five strokes behind leaders Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer with one round remaining.
The Taiwanese player was slated to be in the second-to-last group yesterday, paired with Tom Kite.
Lu was once among the top Asian players in the world, a 32-time winner on the Asia circuits and a two-time winner of the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.
He was then forced to quit because of a bad back.
Lu went seven years, from 2001 to 2008, without playing competitive golf.
Through herbal medicines, physical therapy and ancient treatments, he recovered.
He turned 50 in December last year and wanted to test his renewed game against the best on the Champions Tour.
To do that, he had to go through Qualifying School.
Lu went on to earn the 12th and final spot to qualify for the Tour. He did it with a birdie on the eighth playoff hole.
This season, he has four top-10 finishes on the Champions Tour and now finds himself among some star company — in contention for the tour’s biggest prize.
“When I go on the course, since the first day, I just try to keep it on the path,” Lu said through an interpreter.
“I don’t want to do something aggressive. I think if I do it this way I have chance, even if it’s Top 10,” he said.
Asked how his countrymen back in Taiwan would react if he should win the Open, Lu replied, “Of course, everyone feels excited. You know, like not some sports are really famous, like baseball, golf right now, so everyone would cheer for me ... hero, yeah, hero.”
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set