Second-round leader American Bobby Gates shot a one-under-par 71 in windy conditions to hold a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Australian PGA yesterday.
Gates, who will play on the US PGA tour next season after qualifying from the Nationwide tour this year, had a 54-hole total of 12-under-par 204. He made a 10-foot putt for par on the 18th after his approach missed the green.
Australian Aaron Townsend, who led for much of the back nine, bogeyed the final two holes to shoot 70 and was level in second with Peter Senior, a regular on the US Champions tour who shot 68.
Akio Sadakata of Japan was in a group tied for fourth after a 67, two behind Gates.
Gusting winds on the Coolum course kept the scores higher than the opening two rounds, with 42 double bogeys and eight triple bogeys or worse recorded by the cut-down field of 70 yesterday.
“This is a course where it’s difficult to avoid bogeys,” Gates said. “The first five holes were tough. I don’t think there was a stage where we knew what the wind was going to do, and if we did, it changed quickly.”
Townsend, who turned professional in 2003, has only two wins on the Australian secondary tour in his career.
The best round of the day came from Australian Steve Bowditch, who shot 66 and was the only player on the leaderboard who started off the 10th tee. Organizers sent yesterday’s groups off in threesomes off two tees because of threatened bad weather, but outside of a few early showers, the day was free of forecast thunderstorms.
Last week’s Australian Open winner Geoff Ogilvy shot 71 and defending champion Robert Allenby 72. Both were six strokes behind the leader.
Gates got an early gift from his two playing partners — Liang Wenchong of China and Australia’s John Senden, who trailed the American by one going into the third round — when both double-bogeyed the par-five first hole. Senden went into the water that lines the left of the fairway and Liang took two shots to get out of a greenside bunker.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care