Rory McIlroy on Saturday shot a third straight five-under 67 to move to within one stroke of the leaders after the third round of the Turkish Airlines Open.
Jaco van Zyl of South Africa maintained a share of the lead after a 70 to sit tied with Victor Dubuisson (67) on 16-under 200.
McIlroy dropped his first shots of the tournament with bogeys on the third and 10th, but also had five birdies and an eagle on the 13th.
“I feel if I play the same way and execute a little bit better, there’s definitely a lower score out there for me,” the four-time major winner said. “I got off to a bit of a slow start. I don’t know why. I just felt very lethargic out there today and couldn’t really get any energy. To finish the way I did was very pleasing, because I needed to dig in deep and finish the round off well, which I did.”
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat (66) shared third place with McIlroy.
Van Zyl has led since carding a 61 in the first round and was at 16-under after 28 holes. He has now played the last 26 holes in even par as he pursues his first European Tour title.
“It was kind of a slow day out there today,” Van Zyl said. “I did what I needed to do on some holes and let a couple opportunities slip on the back nine.”
Dubuisson’s only tour victory came at the Turkish Airlines Open in 2013, and he is trying to rediscover some form after earning just two top-10 finishes this year.
“My long game has been really, really good since the beginning of the year, but my short game was just really, really bad,” Dubuisson said. “I changed my putter a month-and-a-half ago, and today was a great performance... This is a course I feel great on.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but