PGA TOUR
Ricky Barnes had an eagle and seven birdies in an eight-under par 64 on Thursday to seize a one-shot lead in the first round of the US PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Barnes matched a course record at TPC Louisiana, where the water-logged course saw players allowed to lift, clean and place their balls in the fairway.
The American golfer, who has missed the cut in seven of his last nine starts, had a one-shot lead over former US Open champion Lucas Glover and Boo Weekley.
It was a further stroke back to D.A. Points and Morgan Hoffmann on six-under 66, with South African Ernie Els heading a group of 10 players on 67 that also included Australian Matt Jones and Rickie Fowler.
Chinese schoolboy Guan Tianlang, two weeks after a historic Masters debut as the youngest player at Augusta National, carded an even par 72. The teenaged star is playing on a sponsor’s exemption.
Barnes is hoping he can be consistent enough to continue the celebratory tone of the week that began with the birth of daughter Natalie.
“I just haven’t gotten off to good starts in the first couple of days,” Barnes said of his missed cuts this year. “It seems like I’m always just chasing the cut.”
He gained early momentum with an eagle at the par-five second hole, where he drained a 12-foot putt.
A birdie at the fourth was balanced by a bogey at six, but Barnes caught fire on the back nine with six birdies coming home.
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
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