Spain’s Alejandro Canizares carded a 62 to carve out a one-shot lead over England’s Seve Benson on a windswept opening day at the Trophee Hassan II on Thursday. Canizares hit 11 birdies against just a single bogey to take an early edge over Benson, the golfer named after Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros who is seeking a first European title in his 104th tournament.
“It was one of those days for me, my swing felt great, I started putting well and the putts went in,” Canizares said after his 10-under score.
The 31-year-old, with one European Tour title to his name thanks to the 2006 Russian Open, credited hard work for Thursday’s round Thursday.
“I was lucky that after a couple of sessions with my coach and a putting session with Phil Kenyon this week, it’s started getting a lot easier so I am very happy to perform well this week,” he said. “I think I played one of the best rounds I’ve played. I missed a couple of drives and from the fairway I missed one shot that cost me a bogey, but that was about it I think.”
Benson, 27, carded a round of 63 that featured birdies at his last four holes, while Sweden’s Magnus Carlsson and Connor Arendell of the US are a shot further back.
Arendell finished eighth at Qualifying School in November last year to earn his card for this season, but missed the cut in his first four events of this year.
“It’s a great start,” the 23-year-old from Florida said. “I gave both tours a try, Q-School wise, but I just think this is the best thing for me now that the PGA has done away with getting your card [through qualifying].”
“I think it’s huge, coming over here getting that experience, the traveling; week to week the courses vary quite a bit compared to the US so you are working a lot on getting used to the greens and the courses. It’s tough, but I think over time it will make it that much easier when I’m in the US.”
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