New world No. 1 Lee Westwood struck a six-under-par 66 in the first round of the HSBC Champions yesterday to lie one shot off the pace set by his Ryder Cup teammate Francesco Molinari.
However, Tiger Woods, the man Westwood ousted from the top of the golf rankings, lurked dangerously just three shots off the lead in the US$7 million tournament at the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai.
Molinari hit seven birdies to finish with a 65, one ahead of England’s Westwood, with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, Noh Seung-yul of South Korea, and Japan’s Yuta Ikeda all tied on 67. Woods is just a stroke back after a 68.
“It was obviously a good round as the conditions were perfect. I know the scoring was a bit lower than what most people had expected, but most importantly, I played well and putted well,” Italy’s Molinari said.
“Everything seems to be in the right place at the moment,” he added.
Westwood, who this week ended Woods’ five-year reign as world No. 1, showed little rust from recent inaction due to a calf injury.
“It’s nice to go out there and show everybody that there is a particular reason why I got to [world No. 1]. I think I did that today,” he said.
The tournament — Asia’s biggest — has grown in stature with its elevation last year to become one of four World Golf Championships and the battle for No. 1 has boosted its profile.
Woods’ ouster from the top ranking followed a nightmare period that began with revelations of serial philandering and subsequent plummeting form, but the world No. 2 served notice yesterday he is still a force.
Woods, who has not won a tournament this year, bogeyed his first hole, but that was his only blemish in a round in which he showed flashes of brilliance.
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
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
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