After failing to win any of the past six majors, the US held the top five spots heading into the final round of the PGA Championship with unheralded duo Brendan Steele and Jason Dufner sharing the lead at seven-under-par.
Steele, who had not played a hole on the USPGA Tour before this year, is ranked 121st in the world, but he fired a confident four-under 66 at Atlanta Athletic Club, while, all around him, many of the sport’s elite struggled.
Steele has at least got a USPGA Tour win under his belt, he was victorious in the Texas Open in April, which is more than the 34-year-old Dufner, who has played most of his golf on the second-tier Nationwide Tour, can claim. Dufner carded a 68.
Britain’s Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, the top-ranked players in the world but neither yet to secure a major title, both looked well poised to mount challenges.
However, like so many this week, their prospects were hampered by misfortune on the tricky final four holes.
Instead, another US rookie, Keegan Bradley, was a stroke behind the leaders after showing intense concentration through his round of 69.
Veteran Americans, Scott Verplank and world No. 5 Steve Stricker, carded matching 69s and were respectively two and three shots behind the pacesetting pair.
Europe’s closest challenger was Dane Anders Hansen, whose consistent week continued with an even-par 70 to follow his rounds of 68 and 69.
Hansen is four strokes off the pace along with yet another unfancied American, DA. Points (71).
If there is to be an unprecedented seventh consecutive non-American win in a major then the best bet looks to be Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, who achieved a rarity of a bogey-free round on the challenging Highland course as he put himself in contention with a 66.
Tied with Schwartzel, five strokes off the lead, were Swede Robert Karlsson (67) and Australians Adam Scott (70) and John Senden (72).
However, Saturday belonged to the Americans, who seemed to be as surprised as everyone else to find themselves leading a major at the end of the third round.
Dufner, who cuts a casual figure on the course with his lank hair and slight paunch, ended his round in impressive fashion — making a mockery of the difficult 15th and 16th where he made birdies and then showing exactly how to handle the difficult water-protected 18th green with a confident par.
Also lurking in contention was American David Toms, winner in 2001 when the PGA Championship was last held here, who fired a best-of-the-day 65.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
RSS