Englishman Lee Westwood took the third-round lead at the Dubai Desert Classic after shooting a five-under 67 yesterday to go one shot clear of Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain and two others.
Westwood, three shots behind US Open champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn at the start of the third round, had three birdies in his first four holes to move up the leaderboard. He birdied the 13th for a share of the lead with Bjorn and then went ahead by one when the Dane bogeyed the 15th.
Cabrera-Bello birdied the 18th to finish with a three-under 70 to remain tied for second with Stephen Gallacher (68) of Scotland and Marcel Siem (68) of Germany.
German Martin Kaymer (70) and McIlroy (72), who was even par on the day, are among four players with a share of fifth place, two shots back. Bjorn (73) was a further shot back.
Bjorn, 40, and McIlroy began the day 13-under after rattling in a succession of birdies in near-perfect conditions on the first two rounds.
Yesterday was a different story, however, as offshore gusts buffeted the Majlis course and temperatures topped 30°C, making it tough for the leading trio as they teed off under a searing midday sun.
By the turn, Bjorn was one-under for the round, having squandered a 2 foot birdie chance on the ninth green, while McIlroy, 22, was on par.
It could have been worse for McIlroy. Normally so strong on this long game, the world No. 2 missed the fairway from the tee on four of the opening nine holes, most calamitously on the seventh when his drive cleared the lake but then rolled back into the water for a penalty shot.
He made partial amends, staying calm to sink a 20 foot putt down the slope to escape with a bogey.
McIlroy’s solitary birdie of the opening nine came on the second hole, sinking a 10 foot putt on the short par four and all the while Westwood, 38, was gaining ground.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set