Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez has a lot of work to do if he is to clinch a record-equaling fourth Hong Kong Open after a disappointing opening round yesterday.
The Spanish veteran signed for a level-par 70, one shot better than China’s teenage prodigy Guan Tianlang, but six strokes behind the early leader — journeyman David Higgins of Ireland.
Jimenez, 49, put together a mixed round, which saw four bogeys cancel out four birdies while 15-year-old Guan collapsed to a one-over-par 71 after a blistering start which saw him hold the lead for much of the morning’s play.
Jimenez was the pre-tournament favorite to win the US$1.3 million co-sanctioned European Tour and Asian Tour event due to being the highest-ranked player at 48 in the world to be competing.
A lack of big names means the Spaniard has a great chance to break his own record, set last year, as the oldest winner on the European Tour and to match Hsieh Yung-yo of Taiwan’s four wins in the southern Chinese city.
However, he got his title defense off to a poor start with a bogey at the second before bouncing back immediately with birdies at the third and fourth.
Another birdie at seven on the famous Fanling course took him to two-under, but he dropped a shot on the eighth to go out in one-under-par 33.
His shot of the day came on the ninth, where after a pulled drive he hit a low raking hook which somehow crept onto the front of the green. Buoyed, the winner of 19 European Tour titles then picked up a stroke on the 13th, but found water at 15, before missing a short putt on the 18th to finish level par.
Earlier, Guan — who caused a stir at the US Masters this year when he became the youngest player to make the cut in a major — made a sensational start, completing his opening 13 holes without dropping a shot.
Along the way, he picked up five birdies to lead the field at the Hong Kong Golf Club, but was undone by three consecutive bogeys and a costly triple-bogey on the ninth — the penultimate hole of his first round.
Higgins’ 64 leaves him one shot clear of Italy’s Andrea Pavan going into today’s second round. Seven players were tied in third on four-under, including Thailand’s Prom Meesawat.
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
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
RSS