Five successive tournament appearances finally took their toll on Graeme McDowell yesterday as his attempt to win the European Tour money-list all but vanished into the Arabian night.
The Northern Irishman, second in the money-list needing to overturn a deficit of 290,000 euros (US$384,600) on German Martin Kaymer, made a good start to his Dubai World Championship second round with three early birdies, before coming unstuck around the turn.
“I was in the middle of the eighth fairway with an eight-iron in my hands and missed the green right and made bogey,” McDowell told reporters after fading to a 73 for a one-over total of 145.
“In the middle of the ninth fairway I had a seven-iron in my hand, missed the green right again and made bogey there. I was then very quick to lose patience with myself and I kind of lost control of the ball and couldn’t get it going on the back nine,” he said.
“I am frustrated because I’m not doing what I should be doing this week. I just don’t think I have a huge amount left in the tank,” he said. “I’ve certainly got that feeling maybe it’s one step too far. I’m a mentally tired man.”
Kaymer shot a 70 yesterday to finish seven-under on 137, two behind joint leaders Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher of Britain.
KING’S CUP
AFP, KHON KAEN, THAILAND
Prom Meesawat of Thailand signalled his return to form by taking a share of the second-round lead with Australia’s Tony Carolan at the King’s Cup yesterday.
Prom posted a five-under-par 67, while overnight leader Carolan returned with a 69 for a two-day total of nine-under-par 135 at the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Club.
South African Jbe Kruger fired a sparkling 65 to lie in third place on 136.
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