Virada Nirapathpongporn is a rookie. She sounds like a veteran.
"I'm back where I belong again," the 24-year-old Nirapathpongporn said Friday after taking the second-round lead at the LPGA Corning Classic. "I have been here before on the leaderboard and winning golf tournaments. I just have to go out with the belief in myself, believe in all the work that I've done, keep on moving forward."
The former Duke star, who won the 2002 NCAA title and 2003 US Women's Amateur, shot a 5-under 67 for a two-round total of 133, one shot better than Brandie Burton (68) and first-round co-leader Nancy Scranton (69).
PHOTO: AP
Given her college and amateur success, Nirapathpongporn certainly is accustomed to being in the lead. But after an accident two months ago -- a resistance tube she used for stretching exercises snapped off a doorknob and struck her right eye, causing internal bleeding -- she was elated to be playing so well so quickly.
"I just learned a lot, not to take anything for granted," said Nirapathpongporn, who has three top-20 finishes this year. "If I ever have a chance, I take it. The injury taught me that. There's no holding back."
Darron Stiles grabbed a two-stroke lead with a 6-under 64 in the second round of the St. Jude Classic while winds gusted to 20mph for a second straight day.
Stiles turned in eight birdies with a double-bogey for a 133 total through 36 holes, giving him only his second lead on the US PGA Tour and his first by himself. He shared the first-round lead here in 2003 with Jay Haas and Richard Johnson.
French golfer Adrien Mork carded the first official 59 in the history of the European Tour during the Moroccan Classic Challenge Tour event on Friday.
"It feels like a dream to have done this. I do not think I fully realize yet what I have done. I feel great, but quite numb," Mork said.
The 26-year-old Mork's 12-under-par round gave him a 36-hole total of 122, 20 under par on the Golf du Soleil course in Agadir. He shot 63 in the first round.
His total beat by three strokes the record shared by Tiger Woods and Frankie Minoza of the Philippines as the lowest 36-hole aggregate on any of the European, Challenge and Senior Tours. It also beat Ernie Els' low 36-hole record of 18-under at the Heineken Classic in Melbourne in 2004.
WOODS OUT
Still coping with the death of his father, Tiger Woods decided on Friday to skip the Memorial Tournament for the first time, meaning he will be coming off the longest layoff in his career when he goes to the US Open.
Woods had until Friday to enter next week's Memorial, and tournament officials held out hope until the final minute.
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
TECH ISSUES: Before Sinner’s match against Diallo the lights went out at the courts, and during it the electronic line-calling system partly failed and an alarm sounded Jannik Sinner on Monday ignored technical issues interruptions and a blaring alarm to defeat Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) on a day of distractions at the Cincinnati Open. The top-seeded defending champion got down to business against the 35th-ranked Canadian, who was plagued by eight first-set double faults and 49 unforced errors in the match as he faced the best in the world. Sinner recovered smoothly from an early break down and had his hands full on his way into the fourth round, sending over an ace on match point after saving a set point in the tiebreaker. Play was stopped briefly with
RSS