Australia’s Brett Rumford, looking to go one better than his second place last year, shot a flawless nine-under 63 to take a three-shot lead midway through the Ballantine’s Championship yesterday.
The 33-year-old bagged four birdies on his outward nine and added five on the way home for a 10-under total of 134 after two rounds to top the leaderboard ahead of Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen, who shared second on seven-under.
World No. 1 Lee Westwood just missed an eight-foot putt for an eagle at his final hole and had to be satisfied with a 68 and a share of 11th, six shots off the pace.
Photo: AFP/HO/PARALLEL MEDIA GROUP
“I struck a little bit of magic out there today and it’s great to have these shots up your sleeve going into the weekend,” said Rumford, who is seeking his fourth European Tour title at the co-sanctioned event. “I’m in a position now to be thinking [about a win], for sure. At the beginning of the week, maybe not so. I haven’t come into this week with great form, but this is a fickle game and it changes from week to week.”
Jimenez finished his round with two successive birdies for a 67, while Kjeldsen picked up five shots on his back nine to card a 66.
Ireland’s overnight leader Damien McGrane bogeyed two of his last four holes to slump to an even-par 72 and a tie for fourth on six-under with Britons Rhys Davies and James Morrison.
World No. 12 Dustin Johnson was a shot further back tied for seventh with three others after struggling with his putting on the firm greens at the Blackstone Golf Course.
“I’m rolling it good and they look like they’re going in, but are just barely missing,” the tall American, a four times winner on the USPGA Tour, said after signing for a 69. “If I’d made a few in the last couple of days, then I’d be right up there in the lead. I just need to get some putts going early in the round tomorrow and hopefully feed off that.”
Three-time major winner Ernie Els hit a second successive 73 to miss the cut, along with South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun, Asia’s only major winner, and British world No. 17 Ian Poulter.
Taiwan’s Lin Wen-hong carded a three-under 69 to just scrap into the final two days with a one-over total after two rounds. Compatriots Lu Wei-chih, Lin Wen-tang, Chan Yi-shin and Chan Shih-chang all missed the cut.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by the European, Asian and Korean Tours.
Additional reporting by staff writer
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
RSS