European Tour great Colin Montgomerie headlines the strongest field ever assembled for the Avantha Masters teeing off in India today.
Montgomerie, an eight-time winner of the European Order of Merit, faces a tough challenge from a strong field in which 50 of the 156 players have tasted victory on the European Tour and 38 have secured titles on the Asian Tour.
The Scot is to be joined by fellow former European Ryder Cup stars Niclas Fasth of Sweden, Ignacio Garrido of Spain, England’s David Howell, Italy’s Edoardo Molinari, Frenchman Thomas Levet and Philip Price of Wales.
Photo: AFP
Leading the Asian challenge at the 1.8 million euro (US$2.3 million) event are to be four Asian Tour Order of Merit champions — Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, the Indian duo of Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh, and China’s Liang Wenchong.
Montgomerie, who turns 50 in June, is to make his maiden appearance at the tournament as he strengthens his ties with India, where he has designed a new course in Goa.
“India is unquestionably one of the world’s biggest growth areas for golf, so I’m really looking forward to teeing up in the Avantha Masters,” the Scot said in a statement released by the organizers.
“Having recently added a project in Goa to my golf course design portfolio, I hope to play my part in the development of the game in India,” he said.
Among the home crowd favorites for the tournament, co-sanctioned by the European and Asian tours, is to be caddie-turned pro S.S.P. Chowrasia, who won the Avantha Masters in 2011. South Africa’s Jbe Kruger won last year.
Chowrasia, 34, became only the third Indian after Arjun Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh to win a European Tour title when he captured the Indian Masters in 2008.
“When you win on the European Tour twice, it means you must be doing something good,” said the soft-spoken Chowrasia, who was formerly a caddie at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club where his father tended the greens.
“Now I am a much better player. I am excited about this tournament because I have played at the Jaypee Greens many times and know what to expect. This is one event every Indian player wants to win,” he added.
The fourth edition of India’s richest golf event is to be held at a new venue — the 6,718m par-72 Jaypee Greens in Greater Noida.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
FOCUS: ‘We came out here with a goal in mind ... to keep our foot on their throat and on their neck, and continue to play 48 minutes of basketball,’ Donovan Mitchell said The Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday thrashed the Miami Heat to cruise into the next round of the NBA playoffs as the Golden State Warriors battled past the Houston Rockets 109-106 to move to the brink of a series victory. After pounding Miami 124-87 in game three on Saturday, No.1 Eastern Conference seeds Cleveland once again piled on the misery for their outclassed opponents with a crushing 138-83 victory to complete a 4-0 series win. The 55-point drubbing was the largest series-clinching victory in NBA playoff history and sets up a series against either the Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks in
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Shuttler Lin Chun-yi yesterday kept Taiwan on the board as they faced their first major challenge of the group stage after marching into the last eight at the Sudirman Cup Finals in Xiamen, China. Taiwan were losing 3-1 to South Korea as of press time last night, with only the men’s doubles match remaining. Taiwan and four-time champions South Korea have already progressed to the quarter-finals, after Taiwan on Monday blanked the Czech Republic 5-0 without giving up a single game. Before last night’s tie, Taiwan were undefeated in Group B, with a 9-1 match record, ahead of South Korea, who, although also