Henrik Stenson was the best of those vying to win the European money list with a four-under 68 in Thursday’s first round of the US$8 million DP World Tour Championship, two shots behind surprise leader Alejandro Canizares.
Stenson, England’s Justin Rose and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell can clinch the Race to Dubai, formerly the European Order of Merit, with victory in the season finale.
The Swede — the Race to Dubai leader — sunk three birdies in the opening seven holes and was steady on the back nine, before three-putting on the final hole to end on 68.
Rose finished two-under in a solid, if unspectacular round as he dropped his first shot of the day on the 17th.
McDowell rallied from three-over with successive birdies on holes 14 to 16 to end on par.
England’s Ian Poulter and Welshman Jamie Donaldson, who can also win the money list should they prevail in Dubai and Stenson finishes third or lower, scored 69 and 68 respectively.
However, the day belonged Spain’s 30-year-old Canizares. The world No. 184 matched McDowell’s birdie run from 14 to 16 and dropped just one shot all round to card a 66.
Former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, seeking a first win of the year, sank birdies in three of the opening four holes on a cloudless morning at the Greg Norman-designed Earth course as girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki looked on.
However, bogeys on the fifth and eighth holes stymied McIlroy’s charge, and although the defending Dubai champion birdied the seventh, he dropped another shot after finding the water on the 18th to end on 71.
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