Charlie Wi seized a three-shot lead at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, following his tournament record nine-under 61 on Thursday with a three-under 69 in the second round.
The 40-year-old South Korean began the day tied for the lead with two others and he picked up in the second round right where he left off.
After his red-hot performance on the par-70 Monterey Peninsula course on Thursday, Wi played the par-72 Pebble Beach Links course on Friday.
He birdied two of his first six holes and had an eagle on the back nine to reach a 36-hole total of 12-under 130.
He was three strokes ahead of American Dustin Johnson, who shared the first-round lead in relation to par with Wi and Danny Lee of New Zealand. Johnson is alone in second after shooting an even-par 72 on Spyglass Hill.
Lee, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh of Fiji, Brian Gay and Brendon Todd were all tied for third at eight-under.
Johnson won back-to-back titles at Pebble Beach in 2009 and 2010, and is bidding to become the fifth player to have three or more victories at Pebble Beach.
Tiger Woods kept pace, but did not gain any real ground on the leaders with his two-under 68 on the Monterey Peninsula layout, considered the easiest of the three courses in the rotation.
Woods, who shot a 68 at Spyglass on Thursday, was tied for 17th, six strokes adrift of Wi.
Scores on Friday were not as low as the first round, which was played in sun-splashed, windless conditions. An unexpected heavy mist and cooler temperatures moved in quickly in the afternoon on Friday.
Singh played Spyglass on Friday, shooting his second straight 68 on the two more difficult courses, so he now has the luxury of playing Monterey in the third round.
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