Francesco Molinari is heading to next week’s British Open in the best possible form after continuing to lead the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart course near Inverness.
Molinari added a five-under-par 67 in continuing calm conditions and move to 17-under and one clear of his rivals.
Less than a week ago, last year’s victorious Ryder Cup-winning star shot a blistering final-round 64 to snare second place in the French Open in Versailles.
Now the 29-year-old, London-based Italian is set to go one better and join his older brother, Edoardo as winner of the premier Scottish title.
“It was another good day and a 67 is a good score,” Molinari said.
“Before I went out today I noticed some of the guys out this morning had gone very low, so I feel as though tomorrow is going to be the same. So I will have to start again from scratch and just try and play my best,” he added.
Molinari earlier this year captured his third Tour victory in winning the Spanish Open.
Denmark’s Anders Hansen carded a seven-under-par 65 to move into second place on 16-under, one clear of compatriot Soren Kjeldsen and Scotland’s Marc Warren, who were among three players to post 64s.
Kjeldsen’s round included four opening birdies, while playing partner Warren capped his round by driving the front of the green at the shortened par-four 16th and then holed an 80-foot eagle putt.
Four-time Major-winning Phil Mickelson continues to improve heading to next week’s British Open, with the visiting American adding a 65 to share fifth place with three others on 14-under.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but