Big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts fired a superb eight-under 64 yesterday to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the BMW Masters in Shanghai.
Colsaerts used his booming length to great effect, grabbing four of the nine birdies on his card at each of the par-fives on the rain-softened Lake Malaren layout.
Colsaerts lead by one shot from France’s long-hitter Alexander Levy, with compatriot Romain Wattel — no slouch off the tee himself — a further shot back.
Photo: AFP
The 2012 Ryder Cup winner has enjoyed a resurgence in form of late, shooting a rare round of 60 at the Portugal Masters three weeks ago, and only last month he destroyed the European Tour’s all-time long-driving record with a monstrous 447-yard blast at Celtic Manor in the Wales Open.
Colsaerts also blasted three birdies and an eagle on the par-fives in his opening round 66 on Thursday.
He acknowledged that the soft course and heavy conditions were playing into the hands of the men with the big guns off the tee.
“We spoke about this yesterday,” Colsaerts said after his round. “Some guys in the mornings had four-irons into the 10th and I hit a gap wedge. I think the condition of the golf course and the way the air is here makes a big difference. It will definitely suit long hitters, without a doubt.”
Ryder Cup star and last year’s US Open winner Justin Rose enjoyed one of the rounds of the day with a seven-under 65, but found himself seven off the lead going into the weekend.
“Put it this way, I don’t think Nicolas is going to come back to us,” Rose said. “I think I need another two low rounds to have a chance to win.”
One of the few shorter men off the tee to stand tall on the leaderboard was Northern Ireland’s 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell.
He is six back from Colsaerts after a three-under 69 left him decently placed at eight-under for the tournament.
“There’s a not a lot of short hitters on the leaderboard,” McDowell said. “Colsaerts moves it, Levy moves it, Wattel moves it, but there’s more to it than that. The soft conditions mean any iron is going to stop coming into these surfaces.”
Thomas Bjorn, fought back from four-over for the day after just three holes to record a five-under 67.
The Dane missed a short par-putt on the first and then took a disastrous triple-bogey eight at the third, but he repaired the damage in commanding style, with five consecutive birdies from the seventh hole and nine in all.
“You have days like that when, all of a sudden, it starts going your way. I’d like to play the first three again,” Bjorn said.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
RSS