Jason Bohn of the US wielded a red-hot putter to charge two shots clear in the first round of the New Orleans Classic in Avondale, Louisiana, on Thursday, with former world No. 1 David Duval three shots off the pace.
In pursuit of his second PGA Tour title, Bohn recorded four birdies in five holes around the turn on the way to a superb seven-under 65 at the TPC Louisiana.
His only blemish on a relatively calm morning came at the par-five last where he tried to reach the green in two, only to end up in water with his second shot.
The 36-year-old shrugged off his bogey, however, after ending the day two ahead of fellow Americans Jason Dufner, Chris Couch and Jeff Overton, Australia’s John Senden and Britain’s Greg Owen.
“I just putted extremely well today,” Bohn told reporters after recording eight birdies, one bogey and 26 putts. “Every good opportunity I had for birdie, I made it, and I made a couple of good par-saving putts, so just to lose one [stroke] on the last hole, I won’t be too concerned about it.”
Bohn, whose only PGA Tour victory came at the 2005 BC Open, tried to fade a three-iron from 220 yards with his second shot on 18.
“I was playing aggressive on the last hole,” he said. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d hit the exact same shot. Hopefully, I’d execute better than I did, but I was trying to make three there to be honest.”
Fellow American Duval, who has not won since the 2001 Dunlop Phoenix in Japan, was in upbeat mood after carding a flawless, four-birdie 68.
“I hit the ball pretty well,” said the 38-year-old after finishing level with compatriots Charles Howell III, Troy Merritt and Kevin Sutherland, and South Korean K.J. Choi, the 2002 champion. “I think breaking 70 is an accomplishment out here most of the time. The greens just seemed especially hard today compared to yesterday, so I’m very pleased.”
Asked if he felt ready to end his nine-year title drought, Duval said: “The few opportunities I’ve had in the last year or so, I felt comfortable. I felt like I was going to [win] at the [2009] US Open, the [2010] AT&T [Pebble Beach National Pro-Am]. I felt really good about what I was doing. I was comfortable in the situation, so I think that’s close.”
Duval, who held the top ranking in 1999, plummeted to 882nd after his 2001 British Open win amid injuries and personal trauma, but has since clawed back to 118th.
Last year’s winner Jerry Kelly of the US opened with a 71, while Spain’s Sergio Garcia returned a 73 and Canada’s Mike Weir a 76.
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
Two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed, setting up a semi-final against 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the California desert. In the men’s singles, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz put on a show with his acrobatic shotmaking under the lights to close out the day’s action, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the women’s doubles. Swiatek, one of the gold medal favorites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the
RSS