World No. 2 Lee Westwood opened up a five-shot lead at the Indonesian Masters yesterday, shooting a superb six-under 66 in his third round.
The Englishman bogeyed the last hole, but was still 16-under on 200, putting himself in an excellent position to mark his 38th birthday with a victory at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
Westwood was the world No. 1 for 17 weeks before being replaced by Martin Kaymer of Germany in February and he could regain the top spot if he wins today and Luke Donald does not in the US. The Englishman, who had to complete the last two holes of his second round early yesterday morning, has won more than 30 titles in his career and said: “I’ve been in this position before and I’ll try not to get ahead of myself.”
Photo: AFP/ASIAN TOUR
He said he was focusing on taking the title in Jakarta, rather than thinking about the consequences.
“I’m here to win a tournament. World rankings seem to take care of themselves,” said Westwood, Europe’s No. 1 in 2000 and 2009.
Reverting to the conventional putter from the belly putter worked wonders for him on the course as he shot sets of three birdies in a row, from the first and ninth holes.
Photo: AFP/ONEASIA
Asian Tour rookie Park Hyun-bin of South Korea fired a 70 to share second place with Thitiphun Chuayprakong of Thailand (69) on a 205 total at the US$750,000 event, which is being held for the first time.
Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng fired a 69, including an eagle three on the 12th hole, to lie fourth, while Bangladeshi Siddikur, Filipino Antonio Lascuna and Thai duo Prom Meesawat and Thongchai Jaidee were one stroke further back.
Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang carded a 70 for a three-round total of 208.
? CHINA OPEN
AP, CHENGDU, China
Nicolas Colsaerts eagled the first hole and went on to shoot a six-under 66 yesterday to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the China Open.
The Belgian added five birdies to go with a single bogey for an 18-under total of 198 at the Luxehills International Country Club in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
“I’m pleased the way I played and it is always nice to get off with an eagle start,” said the 28-year-old from Brussels, who regained his European Tour card last year. “I don’t mind going out in the lead because any advantage you have over the other guys always helps, but there will be some more low scoring out there on the final round, so we’ll see what happens.”
South Korean teenager Han Chang-won was one stroke back after chalking up seven birdies on his way to a bogey-free round of 65.
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