Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen claimed his maiden European Tour title on Sunday when he defied a late charge from England’s Chris Wood to win the Sicilian Open by one shot.
The 22-year-old Olesen started the final round with a three-shot lead and despite being caught by Wood on four separate occasions, he made par at the last two holes for a closing 69 and a total of 15-under.
Wood finished a shot back in second after a 64, with Nicolas Colsaerts and Soren Kjeldsen tied for third on 12-under.
“It feels amazing. I had three seconds last year, so to finally get my first win is great,” Olesen said. “I’ve been playing some great golf this year, without all parts of my game coming together, but this week my long and short game both came together and it feels fantastic to finally get over the line.”
“I saw Wood was doing well when I arrived at the ninth, so I knew I had to go for it and make birdies, so it kind of made up my mind for me that I had to play attacking golf,” he added.
Wood, who now has six top-three finishes without a win, was delighted with his performance, after he matched Peter Lawrie’s course record from the opening round.
“It’s been coming for a while. I’ve been playing really well lately and not getting the scores,” the Englishman said. “It’s nice to play well and give myself a chance. I put it in the worst possible position off the tee on 17, but didn’t play a bad shot into the green.”
“The 18th was a tough hole, so I was pleased with a par to close. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough in the end, but I gave it my best shot and that’s all you can do,” Wood added.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care