The US’ Luke Guthrie left a quartet of former world No. 1s trailing in his wake with a blistering start to the BMW Masters in Shanghai yesterday, firing a seven-under 65 to sit three shots clear of compatriot John Daly.
The 23-year-old, who turned professional last year, had only 19 putts in his bogey-free round, which was boosted by an eagle at the par-five 15th when he holed a flop shot from the bank by the green after chipping in for birdie on the previous hole.
Guthrie, playing on the European Tour for the first time, was one of just 13 players to shoot under par as blustering winds made scoring tough at the Lake Malaren golf course.
Daly, commonly known as “Wild Thing,” fired a bogey-free round of 68 to sit alone in second at the high-caliber field event.
Another American, Peter Uihlein, shot a 69 to sit in third, one ahead of former US Open champion Graeme McDowell. The Northern Irishman easily holed the longest put of the day when he sank a near 100 foot effort for eagle on the par-five 13th.
McDowell was joined at two-under by Englishman Paul Casey and Simon Dyson, Scot Craig Lee, Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal, Gregory Bourday of France and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.
Former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy was a further shot back after a four-birdie round of 71 left him in contention.
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