Aaron Rai stands on the brink of a first European Tour victory after the Briton yesterday shot a two-under-par 70 to extend his Hong Kong Open lead to six strokes with just one round to play.
Rai, who started the day leading by four shots after hitting a course-record 61 on Friday, increased his advantage by another two shots to reach 16-under for the opening three rounds at Fanling.
The 23-year-old had seen his lead reduced to a single shot by Park Hyo-won by the time he reached the turn, but a run of three birdies over eight holes and a back-nine implosion by the South Korean ultimately increased his advantage.
Photo: AFP
While a bogey at the last gave his pursuers a glimmer of hope, victory today and a US$333,330 purse would represent the biggest career win for Rai, who has claimed three wins on the Challenge Tour.
Leading the chasing pack is last year’s Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood, who moved into a share of second place alongside fellow Briton Matthew Fitzpatrick thanks to a four-under round of 66.
Sergio Garcia shot the best round of the day, a six-under 64, to sit in fourth after his trek around Fanling included an eagle at the par-four 10th.
However, last year’s US Masters champion is seven shots adrift of Rai alongside Park and Jason Scrivener from Australia on nine-under for the tournament.
Reigning Masters champions Patrick Reed fell completely out of contention when his one-under 69 saw him drop into a share for 53rd with a three-round total of 209, one-under par for the tournament.
None of Taiwan’s players made the cut.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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