Europe Ryder Cup vice-captain Thomas Bjorn shot a six-under 66 at St Andrews to take a share of the first-round lead at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Thursday.
Bjorn, one of captain Colin Montgomerie’s five backups in the victory over the US at Celtic Manor, led eight other members of the team in their return to strokeplay.
The Links Championship was played over three courses and Bjorn was tied at the top of the leaderboard with Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina, who also played at St Andrews, Maarten Lafeber of the Netherlands, who shot 66 at Carnoustie, and Martin Laird of Scotland, who produced the same score at Kingsbarns.
Six players carded 67 and 14 more shot 68, including USPGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer.
Bjorn was not surprised to perform better than the Ryder Cup players just four days after their celebrations.
“I have done it before. I was vice-captain to Bernhard Langer [in 2004] so I knew how much the Ryder Cup would take out of me,” the Dane said.
Germany’s Kaymer was -closest to Bjorn at four-under at Kingsbarns.
He said he felt duty-bound to recover quickly from the celebrations.
“I was still very tired,” Kaymer said. “But now after the Ryder Cup it’s important for me to win this year’s Race to Dubai. That is my priority since I have obviously a very good chance of winning it.”
England’s Ross Fisher shot a 69 to get to within three shots of the leaders.
However, Montgomerie could shoot only a par 72 as he attempts to restart his playing career after two years concentrating on the match against the US.
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
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