Brandt Snedeker fired a nine-under par 63 on Saturday to take the lead at the Canadian Open, where overnight leader Hunter Mahan withdrew to be at the birth of his first child.
Mahan, who led the US$5.6 million PGA Tour event by two strokes after Friday’s second round, was on the practice range prepping for his weather-delayed third-round start when he received word that his wife, Kandi, had gone into labor. He departed right away for Dallas.
In his absence, Snedeker stepped up with a bogey-free round that gave him a 14-under par total of 202 and a one-stroke lead over Sweden’s David Lingmerth.
Lingmerth recovered from an opening bogey to post a seven-under 65, capped by an eagle at the par-five 18th.
Americans Matt Kuchar (64) and Jason Bohn (66) were tied for third on 204, while a group of five players on 205 included Dustin Johnson — who climbed up the leaderboard with a 63 — and John Merrick, who followed up a course record-equaling 62 on Friday with a 72 thanks to an eagle at the last.
England’s Greg Owen (67) and Americans Kyle Stanley (66) and Charley Hoffman (67) were also in the group on 205.
Snedeker, who won at Pebble Beach in February, but has battled to regain his form after a rib injury that followed, did not know Mahan had pulled out until he reached the seventh tee, when he noticed Mahan’s name had disappeared from the leaderboard.
LEFT WIDE OPEN
“That just kind of left the tournament wide open,” said Snedeker, the reigning FedEx Cup champion who had already birdied four of the first six holes, thanks in large part to solid putting on the course’s rain-softened greens.
He arrived at the par-five 18th needing a birdie to match the course record of 62 — most recently equaled by Merrick a day before.
A tee shot into the left rough ended his record bid, but a par was enough for the lead.
‘REALLY GOOD REASON’
However, Snedeker, who is a father himself, said he did not blame Mahan for abandoning the tournament.
“I wish them the best,” he said of the Mahans. “I know they’re probably both a little distraught that he’s not here, but this is the best part of their lives ... The next 72 hours is going to be so much fun for them.”
Johnson, who had played alongside Mahan in the first two rounds, agreed.
“It’s a good thing he is going,” Johnson said. “You never want to see someone withdraw, but there is a really good reason.”
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB