The US’ big-hitting Robert Garrigus, with his approach play in top order, rocketed into a one-shot lead after producing a blistering finish to the second round of the Tournament of Champions on Friday.
The 33-year-old holed out with a wedge from 66 yards to eagle the par-four 16th before unleashing two booming drives to set up birdies at the 17th and 18th for a 10-under-par 63.
After starting another surprisingly calm day at the picturesque Kapalua Resort three strokes off the pace, Garrigus ended it one ahead of the chasing pack at 14-under 132.
“It feels great,” Garrigus told reporters after taking control of the PGA Tour’s elite season-opening event, which brings together the winners from the previous year. “Leading a tournament after two days really doesn’t mean much, but it would be nice if I could finish it off this weekend.”
Swede Carl Pettersson, co-leader with the US’ Jonathan Byrd overnight, birdied the last for a 67 to lie second with Byrd a further stroke back after a 68.
Former Kapalua winners Ernie Els (64) and Jim Furyk (68) were tied for fourth at 10-under, alongside Italy’s Francesco Molinari (67) and the US’ Steve Stricker (67).
Els, who triumphed here in 2003 with a tournament record of 31-under 261, made the first significant move of the day, piling up nine birdies in a flawless display to set the clubhouse lead.
“I needed something like that to get me closer to the leaders,” the smooth-swinging South African said after regaining his putting touch in the second round.
However, Garrigus powered his way to the top of the leaderboard as cool, overcast conditions gave way to bright sunshine in the late afternoon.
His eagle at the 16th, where his ball spun back 15 feet before disappearing into the cup, put him one shot clear of Pettersson and he maintained control with his birdie-birdie finish.
“I worked very hard at my wedge game and today I had four wedges that actually hit the hole. It was a lot of fun. I love Maui. It feels great to be in this position,” said Garrigus, who booked his place in the elite field at Kapalua with his maiden PGA Tour victory at the season-ending Disney Classic last year.
Seven players in the elite field of 32 held at least a share of the lead on Friday and, with conditions calm and Kapalua’s fairways the widest on the PGA Tour, birdies were plentiful.
SPOILED BIRTHDAY
Meanwhile, Camilo Villegas’ 29th birthday celebrations turned sour when he was disqualified from the tournament for a rules violation spotted by a television viewer.
The Colombian had carded a one-under-par 72 in Thursday’s opening round, but he unwittingly violated Rule 23-1 at the par-five 15th where he twice chipped up to the green only to watch as his ball rolled back to him.
On the second occasion, he -illegally flicked away a loose divot of grass as the ball was trickling back down the slope.
Rule 23-1 states: “When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed.”
Villegas should have incurred a two-shot penalty for his infraction. Instead, he completed his round and was therefore disqualified from the PGA Tour’s season-opening event for signing an incorrect scorecard.
“I went to him before I made any formal announcement and he said he’d like to see it just to learn,” said Slugger White, the PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and competition. “I told him what happened. He could not have been bigger. Obviously he wasn’t trying to do anything [illegal]. He just didn’t know.”
After viewing the tape with White, Villegas agreed his infraction was clear-cut.
“While it is obviously a disappointing way to start the season, the rules are the rules,” the Colombian said. “When something like this happens, it’s important to me that you’re respectful of the game and the people involved.”
Villegas had booked his place in the field with a victory at last year’s Honda Classic.
AFRICA OPEN
REUTERS, EAST LONDON, SOUTH AFRICA
World No. 14 Retief Goosen and first-round leader Brandon Pieters had a day to forget at the Africa Open on Friday.
While Goosen missed the cut by two shots and fellow South African Pieters ballooned to a second-round 77, Austrian Markus Brier, Briton Miles Tunnicliff and South African Branden Grace were flying high at the top of the leaderboard.
Goosen, who has struggled with a minor injury this week, added a 73 to his opening 75 on a windy day at the East London Golf Club.
Pieters made a dreadful start to his round, following a quadruple bogey nine at the first with a double-bogey seven at the third and he ended up with a total 11 strokes worse than his opening 66.
Brier picked up eight birdies and one eagle in a seven-under 66 to join Grace (69) and Tunnicliff (69) in a share of the lead.
Tunnicliff, twice a winner on the European Tour, began with a spectacular run of five straight birdies before the wind picked up later in the day.
“The back nine was extremely tough and the wind was getting up more on every hole,” he told reporters. “I was just trying to survive out there at the end and keep the ball in play.”
“I played well here last year and I get good vibes from this course,” Tunnicliff added.
British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (67) was lurking menacingly on 137 with fellow South African Jaco Van Zyl (70) and Briton Ross McGowan (69).
Defending champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa returned a 70 for 139. Fine weather on Friday helped the tournament get back on schedule after the first round had been curtailed by bad light.
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