Ernie Els played himself firmly into contention at the Hong Kong Open yesterday, but defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez was happy just to be able to get around after a bout of food poisoning.
Organizers have billed the US$1.3 million tournament as a battle between four-time major winner Els and Spanish veteran Jimenez, who is looking for his third straight win in the territory.
The crowd-pulling pair endured contrasting fortunes in their opening round over the par-70, 6,699-yard course at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. An ill Jimenez struggled to a two-over-par 72, while South African hall of famer Els scored 66 to lie just two shots behind leader Jyoti Randhawa of India.
Photo: AFP
“I’ve been sick all night, vomiting, and I got no sleep,” said Jimenez, who admitted to having to visit the woods during his round. “I ate something that my body reacted badly to. Maybe it was the seafood, maybe it was the meatballs, but I had no chance at all today.”
The 50-year-old Spaniard, who is still hopeful of becoming the first player to win the Hong Kong Open five times, was in obvious discomfort as he traded three bogeys with a birdie.
“It was hard to get round,” said Jimenez, who won the title in 2004, 2007 and 2012 before last year’s victory.
Photo: AFP
Els bogeyed the first, but bounced back with six birdies against another dropped shot to finish four-under for the day, along with big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and seven others.
“On the front nine you would’ve thought I was a seven handicapper, but I pulled it together and played much better on the back,” said Els, competing in the Hong Kong Open for the first time.
“I feel for Miguel. I’ve had that over here and it’s not a lot of fun, but it’s not about me against him. There are 55 in the field,” said the South African, who turns 45 today.
Unheralded Randhawa, ranked 462 in the world, fired the round of the day with his 64.
“For me it’s really awesome. I really putted my heart out so I’m very happy with the way it went,” he said.
The Indian is one shot ahead of Filipino Angelo Que.
However, it was an utterly miserable day for Asia’s sole major champion, Y.E. Yang, who signed for a six-over-par 76, which included three double-bogeys. The South Korean, winner of the 2009 PGA Championship, needs a miracle in the second round to make the weekend.
VOLVO WORLD MATCH PLAY
AFP, LONDON
Graeme McDowell said he is eyeing more major success after the increasingly “focused” Northern Irishman made a winning start to his Volvo World Match Play Championship title defense on Wednesday.
McDowell, who came from three down to beat Jordan Spieth 2 and 1 in the opening singles match of Europe’s Ryder Cup win over the US at Gleneagles last month, was again out first at the London Golf Club in Kent, England. Yet Wednesday’s latest match was not as tricky for McDowell, who saw off-in form Frenchman Alexander Levy, winner of the Portugal Masters, 3 and 2.
Four birdies in the first six holes gave McDowell a comfortable lead he never looked like surrendering, despite Levy keeping the match alive with a birdie on the 13th.
McDowell’s Ryder Cup partner Victor Dubuisson prevailed over Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal, but there were defeats for Jamie Donaldson and Stephen Gallacher, who also played in the victorious European team, while Henrik Stenson halved his match with George Coetzee.
Patrick Reed of the US, unbeaten in his Ryder Cup debut, went down 2 and 1 to Sweden’s Jonas Blixt, while Thailand’s Tongchai Jaidee, last year’s runner-up, beat Italy’s Francesco Molinari by two holes.
The losers can qualify for tomorrow’s quarter-finals as they each have two more group ties to come.
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