Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson won their respective matches at the WGC Dell Match Play in Texas to retain perfect records in contrasting fashion, while Jason Day overcame a back injury to join them with a victory on Thursday.
On a day that also saw third-seeded Rory McIlroy win to improve to 2-0-0, world No.1 Spieth oozed confidence with the state of his game at the Austin Country Club.
“Very pleased to get today done with quickly,” top-seeded Spieth told the Golf Channel after dusting off Frenchman Victor Dubuisson 5-and-4.
Spieth, who will defend his title at the Masters in two weeks, moved to 2-0-0 in the 64-man World Golf Championships event.
However, fellow American Mickelson said he had played poorly and been lucky to beat compatriot Daniel Berger in a bizarre finish to their match.
Five-time major champion Mickelson won 1-up when Berger conceded defeat after injuring his wrist when he struck a rock trying to play his second shot at the final hole.
Australian Day also remained perfect when he shrugged off back spasms that hit him after his tee shot at 15 on Wednesday to beat Thai Thongchai Jaidee 5-and-3.
“Yesterday it was definitely sore. It’s a disc and when it gets inflamed, everything just kind of goes into spasm and I can’t really move,” said Day, who won the Bay Hill Invitational on Sunday. Northern Irishman McIlroy beat American Smylie Kaufman 3-and-1 to keep pace.
Every player contests three matches in his group in a round-robin format, with 16 players advancing to the knockout phase that starts today.
Other players with perfect 2-0-0 records are Americans Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson, Bill Haas, Kevin Na and Brooks Koepka, South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, Englishman Andy Sullivan and Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
Australia yesterday won two of four races on the first day of the SailGP Sydney event on Sydney Harbour to finish the day atop the points table ahead of Britain and a French team who made an outstanding return after missing the first two events of the season. Australia also had a third and a second placing, finishing the day with 37 points, ahead of Britain with 32 points and France with 27. Britain won the second race of the day and Switzerland, who won the first race, were in fourth place overall. Australia’s prowess in the start box was again the