China’s Yuan Yechun yesterday blitzed the field for a one-shot lead after the second day of the European Tour cosanctioned Australian PGA Championship, but wily Adam Scott lurked dangerously for a weekend charge.
The big-hitting 22-year-old broke away from the pack with three consecutive birdies on holes 11, 12 and 13 before losing his touch with two bogeys.
However, he restored order with another birdie — his eighth of the day — for a seven-under-par 65.
It left him one clear of Australia’s Anthony Quayle, who mixed six birdies and an eagle with two bogeys in his 66.
World No. 18 Scott is well placed heading into today, two off the pace after draining three birdies in his final four holes.
“I pulled a seven iron somewhere that I didn’t like very much and made a bogey, but other than that, I think I pretty much hit 16 greens today — so it was fairly stress-free,” said Scott, who nailed an eagle for the second consecutive day at the par-5 15th in his 67.
“I rolled a lot of nice putts,” Scott said. “A lot went by the edge, but I made a couple as well.”
It left him tied for third with fellow Australian Wade Ormsby, who he has known since they were 13.
Another Australian and the defending champion, Cameron Smith, also made a move, stroking a bogey-free 65 to surge back into contention for a third Australian PGA title.
He sits four strokes behind Yuan after a disappointing first-round 74.
Smith said that he was drained on Thursday after an intense week at the Presidents Cup, where he was on Ernie Els’ International team, alongside Scott, that lost to Tiger Woods’ US team.
“It was tough yesterday, [because it was] so draining last week... It’s amazing what a day can do in the game of golf,” he said. “I didn’t play aggressively or anything — just did my stuff and walked away with seven birdies.”
American Cameron Champ, who won the Safeway Open on the PGA Tour this year, stroked a 70 to go with his first-round 71, leaving him five strokes adrift of Yuan.
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