Paul Casey put himself halfway home to the richest prize in golf yesterday morning, taking advantage of a hot putter early and late, sloppy mistakes by Shaun Micheel to build a 3-up lead.
Casey rolled through his previous three opponents, none of his 36-hole matches lasting more than 33 holes. And this one looked like it might be headed in the same direction.
never trailed
The 29-year-old Englishman never trailed in the morning, but the match remained tight until it turned on the 16th hole.
From a fairway bunker, Casey did well to come up a yard short of the green, still some 70 feet from the flag. Micheel was in the middle of the fairway, but hit too much club and sailed the green, the ball stopping next to the bleachers. After dropping into a matted, muddy lie, he tried to flop a chip up the steep slope, but sculled it over the green.
Casey three-putted from off the green for bogey, but Micheel missed a 5-foot putt and took double bogey to fall 2 down.
It appeared Micheel's caddie gave him either the wrong yardage or the wrong club, for when Micheel walked toward the 17th tee he barked at caddie Tony Lingard, "Don't say another word to me the rest of the day."
Micheel then pulled his tee shot on the par-5 17th, clipped another tree on his second and had to hit 3-iron for his third shot, while Casey was safely on the green in two for another two-putt birdie that put him 3 up.
They halved the 18th hole with two-putt birdies.
?1 million
At stake for the winner was ?1 million (US$1.8 million), the richest payoff among official golf tournaments in the world. For Micheel, a victory was almost certain to put him into the top 50 in the world ranking and get him into the American Express Championship at The Grove outside London in two weeks.
The championship match wasn't the first time Micheel and Casey had squared off. They played in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa in California two years ago, with Micheel winning in 21 holes.
Micheel had an early chance on the par-3 second, but missed a 10-foot birdie and Casey saved par with a 6-foot putt. Micheel did well to escape with a halve on the third after hitting into a fairway bunker and having to lay up some 130 yards short of the green. His third shot nestled 4 feet behind the hole for a par.
But from there, Casey took over.
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS