Jaco van Zyl on Thursday opened up a one-shot lead at the BMW SA Open Championship as 33 players were left unable to complete their first rounds due to the threat of lightning.
The South African veteran is seeking his first European Tour title having finished runner-up on four occasions.
After firing an opening 65 to take the lead ahead of compatriot Shaun Norris, the 36-year-old admitted that conditions got tougher as the day progressed.
“By the time we got to our eighth hole, the wind really started picking up and it was warming up a little bit, so it just got so much tougher out there,” Van Zyl said.
Van Zyl is playing the tournament for the 15th time, but his best finish was 12th in 2014.
Victory on Sunday would not only give him a first European Tour title, it would also allow him to join an illustrious list of home winners such as Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Hennie Otto and Richard Sterne.
Starting on the tenth, Van Zyl birdied his first and the 13th before back-to-back gains on the 15th and 16th saw him turn in 32.
A further birdie came on the first and was then followed by an eagle on the par-five second to move him to seven-under and a two-shot lead.
Norris was two shots back after he birdied the 11th and 12th before an eagle on the 15th catapulted him up the leaderboard. Another birdie came on the 17th, but a shot was given back on the next as he turned in 32.
A birdie on the first got him back on track before a dropped shot on the fourth and a birdie on the fifth had him five-under through 14 holes.
However, he would soon have a share of the lead as he picked up a birdie, despite a wayward tee shot on the eighth and Van Zyl dropped his only shot of the day on the seventh after a chip from an awkward lie on the edge of the green.
However, Van Zyl responded in impressive fashion, putting his approach on the eighth to three feet and moving back ahead.
On 67 were fellow South Africans Jbe Kruger and Keith Horne, while two-time champion Retief Goosen was a further shot back alongside Daniel Brooks, Estanislao Goya, Justin Walters and Ross McGowan.
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