World No. 12 Adam Scott was well placed to mount an assault at the Ballantine’s Championship despite getting off to the worst possible start in his first round yesterday.
It was a day when the Blackstone Golf Club’s picturesque mountain setting in Icheon, South Korea, was illuminated by bright sunshine and clear skies to reveal all its glory and its toughness.
With a fierce, chilly wind ripping through the valleys, Scott, starting his round from the 10th tee early yesterday, put his drive into the middle of the fairway, but then found water and took a double-bogey six.
“Somehow, I drove it down the middle of the fairway [on 10], but it was straight into the wind and it was freezing cold and I couldn’t feel my hands,” the highest-ranked player in the field said. “Second shot was, you know, a cold golf swing with a stiff body. Straight in the water, so an easy double.”
Scott warmed to his task, kept his ball under control and finished with a birdie at the ninth, to card a one-under-par 71, just three shots off the lead held by world No. 168 Victor Dubuisson of France.
Scott was just a shot behind five players tied for second place on two-under 70: England’s Paul Casey, Richie Ramsay of Scotland, Jamie Donaldson of Wales, Englishman Mark Foster and South Korea’s own Jung Ji-ho.
Casey, the former world No. 3, was happy to have put his injury hit-start to the season behind him on a difficult day in the gusting winds.
“I’m very happy with two-under,” said the current world No. 45, who only returned to playing last month, after dislocating his shoulder snowboarding in the winter.
Scott’s finishing flourish left the Australian pleased with his day’s work.
Scott was joined at one-under by eight other players on a day where a full field of 156 golfers teed off, but only 16 managed to break par.
British Open Champion Darren Clarke, playing in his first tournament in South Korea, struggled with his putting on the undulating greens and returned a disappointing five-over 77.
Irishman Paul McGinley, who famously holed the putt to win the Ryder Cup for Europe in 2002, was one of those tied with Scott at one under on a grueling morning.
McGinley grimaced as he stepped into the scorer’s hut, but insisted he was happy with his round.
Most players found control into the greens difficult in the conditions and Scott was no exception.
Taiwan’s Kao Shang-hung scored a 72, Lin Wen-tang scored a four-over 76, Wei Chih-lu scored a five-over 77 and Chan Yih-shin scored a 10-over 82.
Additional reporting by staff writer
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
FAST AND LOOSE: Despite command struggles, Ohtani has pitched his way out of trouble after falling behind in counts, which manager Roberts credited to his velocity Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday night tossed six innings of no-hit ball, gave himself an early lead with a home run and still was not satisfied with his performance. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar dropped some expletives that were picked up by the on-field mic as he struggled with his command in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. He struck out seven, walked four and gave up an earned run in the fourth inning while visibly fuming on the mound. Ohtani (5-2) earned his third consecutive victory. “Just command was off, and I just felt like I was battling the lack of
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
RSS