France’s Benjamin Hebert yesterday carded a “crazy” back nine in 28 shots to seize control of the Volvo China Open in Shenzhen as overnight leader Wu Ashun wobbled.
The Frenchman, who had started on nine-under after his first two rounds, seemed out of sorts as he reached the turn at even-par for the day after a bogey at the ninth and was six shots adrift of Wu.
However, three birdies in the next four holes moved him up the leaderboard before a spectacular birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie finish saw him open a three-stroke advantage at Genzon Golf Club.
“That’s golf. What a crazy game!” he told AFP. “I played very badly in the front nine. I didn’t feel very well in my swing.”
“I just tried to keep focused on what I’m doing and I found my rhythm so I’m happy,” he added.
The best-of-the-week round of eight-under 64 took the 32-year-old to 17-under par for the tournament.
Finland’s Mikko Korhonen, who shot 65, and Jorge Campillo (68), last week’s winner in Morocco, were sharing second on 14-under.
“I have been patient, I was patient all day today and I’ll try to keep up tomorrow,” Korhonen said. “It might be a wet day, so patience will be the key once again.”
In-form Campillo won on the European Tour for the first time a week ago and is firmly in the hunt for back-to-back triumphs.
“I hope to use my experience from last week to win,” Campillo said. “But if Benjamin plays like he did today, then it’s tough. Hopefully I have a chance.”
Hebert will today seek his maiden European Tour victory when he goes out in the final group with Korhonen and Campillo at 9:21am in an early start forced by the threat of storms later in the day.
“It’s my first time leading after 54 holes and we’ll see,” Hebert said. “It’s going to be a very early start, so hopefully we’ll have some good conditions.”
Wu’s hunt for a second Volvo China Open crown had started brilliantly with a tap-in birdie after almost holing his approach shot to the first.
He made further gains at the eighth and the 10th, and at that stage looked untouchable as his lead extended to four shots.
However, a wayward tee shot on the par-three 12th produced his first blemish when he failed to get up and down, and it precipitated a run of four consecutive bogeys as his lead evaporated to the groans of the huge home galleries tracking his every move.
“I don’t understand how I got those four bogeys,” Wu said. “I hit some really bad tee shots, making it tough for myself to save par after that.”
Wu did birdie the 16th and was still in the hunt after an even-par third round 72 left him on 13-under, four behind Hebert.
Former Ryder Cup star Victor Dubuisson was in sole possession of fifth after a third successive 68 took him to 12-under-par.
The Frenchman is to go out in the penultimate three-ball on Sunday alongside Wu and Spain’s Nacho Elvira, who was on 11-under.
Shenzhen teenager Kuang Yang made headlines on Friday, when he became the second-youngest player in European Tour history to make the cut. The 14-year-old amateur followed up his two opening rounds of 71 with a 69 to finish at five-under-par after three rounds.
Another home hero, world No. 39 Li Haotong, recovered from a sloppy 73 on day two with a fine 66 that got him to 10-under.
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