Henrik Stenson moved into contention at the BMW International on Thursday, forgetting his traumatic US Open where he described the Chambers Bay greens as like “putting on broccoli.”
The world No. 7 Swede shared the first round lead at the US Open before slumping to a 27th-place finish, aiming his anger at the controversial greens at the Pacific Northwest course.
However, the easygoing Eichenried Golf Club in Munich was more to his taste, as he fired a five-under-par 67, two shots off the lead held by Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain, England’s Daniel Gaunt and Denmark’s Lasse Jensen.
Stenson could have been one shot better off at the ninth hole when he pulled his approach left of the green and saw it bounce off a cart path into a hospitality tent.
After receiving a free drop, Stenson pitched to eight feet, but was unable to convert the birdie chance.
“I was in a good position to finish with five in a row, but I think the wind switched a little bit and I was in between clubs and went with the longer club and ended up way in the grandstand,” Stenson said.
Cabrera-Bello continued his recent good form. The Spaniard was fourth in Ireland, 13th in Sweden and runner-up in Austria last time out.
On Thursday, the 31-year-old carded a seven-under-par 65 after mixing four birdies with two bogeys in an outward 34.
The two-time European Tour winner added five further birdies, including getting up and down from the back bunker at the last.
Gaunt, a two-time winner on the Challenge Tour, also birdied his final hole — the ninth — as he holed a 20-foot putt to complete a round containing eight birdies against a single bogey.
Jensen has only had one top-ten finish to date on the European Tour, but the Qualifying School graduate produced a flawless display that included four successive birdies around the turn.
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
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
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
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