South Korean veteran K.J. Choi moved within sight of his ninth PGA Tour victory when he earned a share of the lead with American Scott Brown after the third round at the Farmers Insurance Open on Saturday.
Choi birdied the par-five 18th to shoot even-par 72 and join Brown (70) at nine-under 207, one shot ahead of Jimmy Walker and Gary Woodland at Torrey Pines in southern California.
Twenty-three players were bunched within four shots on a packed leaderboard, as rain and strong winds were forecast to lash the course in yesterday’s final round.
Choi, winless on the PGA Tour since 2011, was delighted to give himself a chance of ending his drought.
“This course is very important on the tee shot and second shot, but more important is iron play,” the 45-year-old said.
“Today my greens in regulation was a little bit low, but my chipping was good and the putting was good,” he added.
Co-leader Brown recently became a father for the second time, but said that he was focused on trying to secure his second tour victory.
“Any time you’re close to the lead or in the lead, it’s obviously a pretty good feeling,” he said. “I’ve been driving it well for three days, really, and hopefully if I can continue that tomorrow [yesterday], I’ll be able to post another decent number. The weather’s going to be brutal, so we’ll just see how it goes.”
Swede Jonas Blixt shot his second straight 66 to vault within two shots of the lead, an unlikely position after he opened with a 77.
Nobody has recovered from such a poor start to win the tournament.
Fuzzy Zoeller overcame an opening 76 in 1979 and Pete Brown did the same in 1970.
“You don’t get too many chances to win on this tour, and when you do, you really got to try to get it,” said Blixt, the 2014 Masters runner-up with Jordan Spieth.
“I felt like there was a low score out there on the South Course. I shot low here before and figured maybe I can have one of those rounds today and hopefully one tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.”
The day provided plenty of excitement, with American Ben Crane and Swede Freddie Jacobson both holing out with long irons to eagle the par-four 15th, but Jason Gore’s albatross from 250 yards and the par-five 18th was the pick of the bunch.
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
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS