Englishman Lee Westwood took the third-round lead at the Dubai Desert Classic after shooting a five-under 67 yesterday to go one shot clear of Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain and two others.
Westwood, three shots behind US Open champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn at the start of the third round, had three birdies in his first four holes to move up the leaderboard. He birdied the 13th for a share of the lead with Bjorn and then went ahead by one when the Dane bogeyed the 15th.
Cabrera-Bello birdied the 18th to finish with a three-under 70 to remain tied for second with Stephen Gallacher (68) of Scotland and Marcel Siem (68) of Germany.
German Martin Kaymer (70) and McIlroy (72), who was even par on the day, are among four players with a share of fifth place, two shots back. Bjorn (73) was a further shot back.
Bjorn, 40, and McIlroy began the day 13-under after rattling in a succession of birdies in near-perfect conditions on the first two rounds.
Yesterday was a different story, however, as offshore gusts buffeted the Majlis course and temperatures topped 30°C, making it tough for the leading trio as they teed off under a searing midday sun.
By the turn, Bjorn was one-under for the round, having squandered a 2 foot birdie chance on the ninth green, while McIlroy, 22, was on par.
It could have been worse for McIlroy. Normally so strong on this long game, the world No. 2 missed the fairway from the tee on four of the opening nine holes, most calamitously on the seventh when his drive cleared the lake but then rolled back into the water for a penalty shot.
He made partial amends, staying calm to sink a 20 foot putt down the slope to escape with a bogey.
McIlroy’s solitary birdie of the opening nine came on the second hole, sinking a 10 foot putt on the short par four and all the while Westwood, 38, was gaining ground.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS