American Brandt Snedeker, who missed the cut in his three previous Opens, made amends in thrilling fashion by seizing the lead with a six-under-par 64 in Friday’s second round.
While the majority of the field seemed stuck in reverse gear on a calm day at Royal Lytham and St Annes, the 31-year-old accelerated clear with a record-equaling 36-hole total of 10-under 130.
Overnight leader Adam Scott birdied the 18th to add a 67 to his opening 64 and former world No. 1 Tiger Woods (67) sprinkled his own special brand of stardust by holing out from a greenside bunker at the last to move into third place on 134.
Young Dane Thorbjorn Olesen (66) was fourth on 135, one ahead of a cluster of players including 1999 champion Paul Lawrie (71) and 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell (69).
Several high-profile players missed the cut, among them former world No. 2 Phil Mickelson, who tumbled to a 78 for 11-over 151 to continue his dismal record in the tournament.
Defending champion Darren Clarke also failed to make the weekend along with former world No. 1 Martin Kaymer, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Charl Schwartzel.
World No. 3 Lee Westwood parred the last four holes to scrape through by the skin of his teeth on 143 and second-ranked Rory McIlroy struggled to a 75 for 142.
Luke Donald (68), the world No. 1, notched four birdies in an outstanding five-hole burst from the fourth as he remained on the fringes of contention on 138.
Snedeker, who won the Farmers Insurance Open in California in January, reaped a rich harvest of birdies after ramming in a confidence-boosting 25-footer at the par-three first.
With most of his rivals toiling as light winds changed direction and organizers placed the flags in awkward spots on faster greens, Snedeker charged five strokes in front at one stage.
The American struck laser-guided approach shots at the sixth, seventh and ninth holes to set up three more birdie opportunities that he gratefully devoured as he raced to the turn in 30.
Snedeker, who has never won a major and missed the cut at The Open in 2008, 2009 and last year, made further inroads at the 11th and 12th before showing the touch of a master to get down in two from thick greenside rough at the 15th.
The American, who had a hole-in-one at the par-four 16th in practice on Wednesday, signed off with three more regulation figures to tie triple Open champion Nick Faldo’s 36-hole aggregate of 130 at Muirfield in 1992.
World No. 13 Scott has also yet to land his first major, but feels he is ready to achieve the breakthrough.
“This week is kind of a culmination of everything I’ve done over the last couple of years,” said the Australian who turned 32 on Monday.
Woods, dressed in all-grey as he attempted to end a four-year major drought, played down his exquisite bunker shot at the last.
Britain’s Richard Finch had the misfortune to take 10 at the par-four eighth on the way to a 79.
TRUE SOUTH CLASSIC
AFP, MAdison, Mississippi
American Billy Horschel fired a nine-under par 63 on Friday to hold a one-stroke lead at the PGA Tour’s rain disrupted True South Classic in Mississippi.
Horschel made eagles at the fifth and the 18th in his bogey-free round to reach a 13-under 131 total at the halfway stage.
Matt Bettencourt was one stroke back after a six-under 66, while first-round leader Jason Bohn was scheduled to finish his second yesterday morning. He was placed at 12-under through the front nine.
It was a tiring day for Horschel, who had to play 31 holes on Friday because heavy rains disrupted his first round the previous day.
The 25-year-old battled through another rain delay on day two and faced blistering heat later on during his second round.
Close to half the field were required to finish their second round yesterday.
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