India’s Jeev Milkha Singh and Gregory Bourdy of France led the way after the Irish Open first round on Thursday, while world No. 2 Rory McIlroy was five shots off the pace after making two late errors on the greens.
Singh and Bourdy shrugged off the rainy, windy conditions to shoot matching seven-under 65s as the tournament returned to Northern Ireland for the first time since 1953.
Britons Mark Foster and Andrew Marshall were in joint third place on 66 alongside Frenchman Edouard Dubois, Finn Mikko Ilonen, Swede Oscar Floren and Australia’s Matthew Zions.
Triple-major champion Padraig Harrington was among a group of players on 67. Former US Open winner Graeme McDowell and British Open champion Darren Clarke carded 71s.
The appearance of Northern Irish trio McIlroy, McDowell and Clarke and Irishman Harrington at the Royal Portrush links course in County Antrim has helped the European Tour achieve a first by declaring a sellout for all four days.
“The atmosphere and the feel to the golf course is fantastic,” the 40-year-old Singh said. “When you have so many people cheering and watching you I think you feel great.”
Englishman Foster said fans had been waiting to get on the course at six o’clock in the morning.
“There were people queuing to get in even though the rain was coming sideways,” he said. “I’ve never seen a buzz in the players’ lounge like there is this week. People are raving about the course and the size of the crowds.”
McIlroy was four-under for his round until he three-putted the 16th and 18th to finish with a 70.
McIlroy has missed the cut in four of his past five outings.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite