World No. 1 Lee Westwood handed out a six-and-five mauling to Denmark’s Anders Hansen on the opening day of the Volvo World Match Play Championship on Thursday.
The 38-year-old Englishman carded six birdies in eight holes from the fourth to leave Hansen trailing and he was delighted to have completed his day’s work on the 13th.
“The less holes you can play are obviously to pay dividends down the road and down the tournament,” Westwood said.
Compatriot Luke Donald, the world No. 2, was also in impressive form, defeating Ryan Moore of the US four-and-three.
Donald said he would like to take on Westwood in tomorrow’s final.
“I would love to play Lee,” Donald said. “There’s more satisfaction when you can take down the No. 1 player in the world.”
Elsewhere, Northern Irish pair Graeme McDowell, the US Open winner, and Rory McIlroy enjoyed opening wins.
McIlroy saw off Retief Goosen of South Africa by one hole by chipping in at the last, while McDowell defeated Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, also of South Africa, three-and-one.
The day’s other three winners were Kaymer, who overcame South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun two-and-one, and Spanish duo Alvaro Quiros and Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Quiros saw off Paul Casey six-and-five and veteran Jimenez overcame Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa by the same score.
The match between Ryder Cup teammates Ian Poulter and Francesco Molinari was halved, with the Englishman sinking a five-foot birdie putt on the last.
MADEIRA ISLANDS OPEN
AFP, MADEIRA, PORTUGAL
England’s Chris Gane mastered 50kph winds to card a five-under 67 for a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Madeira Islands Open on Thursday.
Gane edged out France’s Francois Delamontagne and Lloyd Saltman of Scotland.
Gane said he owed his success to compatriot Tom Whitehouse, who was two-over on Thursday.
“Golf’s a very bizarre game — I felt pretty low after the final round last week and I had about seven hours to kill before my flight, so I spoke to Tom Whitehouse and he agreed to have a look at me hitting a few balls,” the leader said. “He gave me a lesson for about 45 minutes and it’s changed everything.”
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