Taiwanese veteran Lu Wen-teh proved yesterday he can still compete at the highest level after taking a first-day lead at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) with a five-under-par 67.
The 47-year-old rolled back the years at Linkou International Golf Club with a near flawless round which included six birdies.
It handed him a one-shot lead over the Philippines’ Artemio Murakami, Thailand’s Tannin Kwanchai, Japan’s Kawane Takafumi, Malaysia’s Iain Steel and Australia’s David Gleeson, who share second on 68.
PHOTO: AFP/ASIAN TOUR
Lu pared his opening four holes before dropping a shot on the 14th hole. He recovered brilliantly, reeling in three successive birdies starting from the par-four 15th to reach the turn in 34.
He continued his charge with another three birdies on his first four holes after the turn to take a first-round lead at the US$300,000 Asian Tour event.
“I’m very pleased with how I’ve played today. It’s good to know that I can still play so well even at this age,” laughed Lu, a five-time Asian Tour winner.
“My tee shots were good and I’ve no complaints with my putting too. Everything went well for me and I look forward to another day out in the golf course again tomorrow,” he said.
Steel, who welcomed the birth of his baby daughter three weeks ago, believes the timely arrival of his newborn has given him the added motivation of doing well this week.
“My daughter’s just three weeks old and hopefully she can bring me some good luck this week,” he said.
“It takes a little bit of stress away from the golf course, but it’s down to business now as I’ve got a few weeks before I go home again, so I’ve got to make hay while the sun shines,” Steel said.
Meanwhile, Murakami will be eager to return to his best form after a strong start where he marked his card with five birdies and a bogey.
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
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
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
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
RSS