Scotland’s David Law burst to the top of the leaderboard on Wednesday as the European Tour returned to action at the British Masters in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Law began his first round at Close House with five straight pars, but then birdied the next five holes, produced a brilliant up-and-down from thick rough to save par on the 11th, and went on to birdie the 12th and 13th.
The resulting seven-under 64 left the 29-year-old a shot ahead of Oliver Fisher, Garrick Porteous and Renato Paratore, with 2018 winner Eddie Pepperell among those two shots further back.
The European Tour has resumed behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All players, caddies and officials were tested for the coronavirus before traveling to the venue and again when they arrived, with no positive tests reported. Masks are required to be worn indoors and social distancing measures are being observed.
“I felt a little bit violated, I must say,” Fisher said of the nasal swab test. “It felt like he was trying to find my brain in there somewhere.”
Law had missed five cuts at seven tournaments this year, including four in a row before the tour shut down due to the pandemic.
“I did not really know what to expect,” Law said. “You need to know it might not go your way this week. It’s only one round, but it’s a very positive start.”
“It was guilt-free time at home, because there were no tournaments on that you were missing to be at home. It was a strange time, but I got time at home with the family — we have a 19-month-old daughter and we’ll never get that time again.”
Despite the lack of spectators, Pepperell had one particular viewer in mind when he recovered from a slow start with four birdies in six holes from the sixth.
“I think having TV cameras there was a bit of a godsend,” Pepperell said. “When they’re there, you’re aware you’re on television. My mum’s watching, so I want to impress her.”
One of the most impressive rounds of the day came from former US Open champion Michael Campbell, who said that he was “completely flabbergasted” with an opening 68.
Campbell has not made a cut on the European Tour since 2013, as he struggled with a foot injury and loss of form, but the 51-year-old New Zealander rolled back the years with the help of his caddie, his 21-year-old son, Thomas.
“My expectations were pretty much none,” Michael Campbell said. “I wanted to get out here and enjoy myself with my son Thomas. When I had my success from 1999 to 2005 he was only seven, so he can’t remember.”
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
Marc Marquez continued his winning streak as he cruised to victory in the Hungarian GP sprint by two seconds on Saturday night to pad his championship lead. It was a seventh straight Sprint victory for the Spaniard, who has also won the last six longer Sunday grand prix races on his factory Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio, an Italian with the VR46 Ducati satellite team was a distant second at Balaton Park, followed by his team-mate and compatriot Franco Morbidelli third. Marquez, a six-time world champion, started the race from pole position. “I felt someone really close on the first corner, from there I
RSS