European Ryder Cup rookie Ross Fisher made an excellent start in the Dutch Open first round on Thursday.
The Briton’s five-under-par 65 left him in fourth place, three strokes behind leader Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium.
European captain Colin Montgomerie will also be heartened by solid performances from two other Cup rookies at the Hilversumsche course.
German Martin Kaymer produced a 67 in his first competitive round since winning the US PGA Championship and Italian Francesco Molinari a 68.
With just over three weeks before Europe take on the Americans at Celtic Manor, Montgomerie has already seen two of his players, Miguel-Angel Jimenez and Edoardo Molinari, finish first and second in the European Masters.
Fisher opened his round with an eagle and showed the form that earned him the Irish Open title last month.
Fisher has his British coach Denis Pugh, also teacher to Molinari brothers Edoardo and Francesco, with him to try to keep his swing in the groove.
Kaymer is expecting even better things.
“A guy shot eight-under today and if I can improve my long game I can too,” the young German said.
The “guy” in question, leader Colsaerts, lit the blue touch paper by picking up five birdies in the last six holes for his 62 to hold a two-stroke lead over India’s Shiv Kapur and Briton Kenneth Ferrie.
Ferrie partnered Colsaerts in the three-ball of the day, with the third man in the group, Briton Nick Dougherty, returning a 65.
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
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB