Australia’s Matt Jones and George McNeill overcame strong winds to share the first-round lead at six-under 66 in the USPGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open on Thursday.
“It was very windy. Just had to judge it right,” Jones said.
Jones eagled the par-five second hole and had five birdies and a bogey on the Trump International course.
“I had unbelievable ball-striking,” Jones said. “I think I was pin high every hole except 17, when I wanted to be a bit short of it, then I made good putts, had a good eagle to get started and had a great day.”
McNeill, who won the 2007 Frys.com Open for his lone USPGA Tour title, had a bogey-free round.
“It’s just like Florida, so it felt comfortable, and I happened to play well,” McNeill said. “Obviously, I hit it pretty well and putted pretty well, and the few greens that I missed, I chipped then close and had tap-ins and everything else, so I avoided the mistakes.”
Ben Curtis was a stroke back at 67.
“With the windy conditions, the big thing is to keep the ball in play, keep it in the fairway and hit a lot of greens and that’s what I did,” Curtis said. “I just tried to make a lot of controlled swings and hit the ball solid and get it going in the right direction.”
Jeff Overton, Todd Hamilton, Kevin Kisner and Daniel Summerhays followed at 68.
“It was hard,” Overton said. “A lot of wind.”
He made a double-bogey after hitting into the water on the par-four 12th, his third hole of the day, then finished the round by holing a seven-iron from 147 yards for eagle on the par-four ninth.
“The wind was howling off the right, and I started 25 yards right of the hole and I hit a draw and I thinned it just a little bit, which kept the ball down, otherwise I think the ball would have overhooked and went in the bunker,” Overton said.
Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa, playing the event for the first time after failing to qualify for the World Golf Championship event at Doral, shot a 70.
Michael Bradley, the winner in 2009 and last year, opened with a 72.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or