Rory McIlroy recovered from Friday’s sloppy start with six birdies in a 10-hole stretch for a four-under 66 to build a three-shot lead among early starters at the Honda Classic.
A growing gallery in warm sunshine at the PGA National Golf Club saw a familiar game — the McIlroy who won the Honda Classic two years ago to reach No. 1 in the world for the first time, not the guy who walked off the course last year at the height of his frustrations.
Swinging freely and putting beautifully, McIlroy hit his stride on his back nine with four birdies in five holes, including the par-four No. 3 when he smashed a drive about 32m behind Adam Scott and had only a 6-iron into the green on the 537.9m hole.
At an 11-under 129, he was three shots clear of Russell Henley, who had a 69. Lee Westwood (65) and Russell Knox (63) were four shots behind.
Phil Mickelson, playing a PGA National for the first time since he was an amateur, had a short week. He made just four birdies over two rounds, went bunker-to-bunker around the 16th green for double-bogey and had a 71. Mickelson was virtually certain to miss the cut.
Tiger Woods was among the late starters. He began his round at one-over, outside the cut line and 12 shots behind McIlroy.
“This year is obviously a lot different,” McIlroy said. “Got off to a good start. I’m confident. I’m playing well. This is the second straight tournament I’ve opened with a 63, so if I can keep building on these good starts, then hopefully I can start converting.”
After a 63 in Dubai, he said he was pressing too much in the final round and wound up in a tie for ninth.
Friday was another step in the right direction, despite two errant tee shots on the 11th and 12th holes that led to bogeys. His round changed with a tee shot into six feet on the 16th hole for a birdie, and then a 12-foot birdie on the 18th to wrap up his front nine and earn back the two shots he had dropped.
“Watching Rory play is amazing when he’s swinging like this,” Adam Scott said.
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