Andrew Loupe rolled in a birdie putt at his last hole to take a one-shot lead over Roberto Castro after two rounds of the Wells Fargo Championship on Friday.
Loupe, who shared the overnight lead, had four birdies and three bogeys in his one-under 71 at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina.
His eight-under total of 136 put him one in front of fellow American Roberto Castro, who had seven birdies and an eagle at the tough 18th in his six-under 66 for 137.
Chesson Hadley (67) and Mark Hubbard (68) shared third on 138, while five-time major champion Phil Mickelson and former Wells Fargo winner Rickie Fowler were in a group of six players on 139.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland got off to a solid start, with three birdies and an eagle on the front nine, but he closed with back-to-back bogeys in a three-under 69 that left him six adrift in a big group on 142.
Loupe is in unfamiliar territory atop the leaderboard, having never been in that position through 36 holes of a PGA Tour event.
In search of a first tour title, he missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open and Zurich Classic in his last two starts.
“I thought I played solid,” said Loupe, whose finishing birdie came after a three-putt bogey at the eighth.
Mickelson bogeyed the ninth, his finishing hole, but he was delighted to pick up a shot at the difficult 18th among his three birdies in a two-under 70.
Fowler had five birdies and a bogey in his four-under 68. He and Mickelson were joined on 139 by Steve Wheatcroft, the overnight co-leader who ballooned to a 74, Brian Harman (70), Daniel Berger (71) and Scott Langley (69).
One day after Fowler and McIlroy had to dodge a ball thrown by a fan, another oddity occurred in the disqualification of Zac Blair for using a non-conforming club.
That club was his putter, which he bent when he hit himself in the head with it after missing a birdie attempt at the fifth hole.
“I am going to learn from this mishap and move on,” said Blair, who posted on Twitter a video of Woody Austin smacking his own head with his putter in 1997.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care