China’s Yan Liu recorded a rare albatross — a three-under-par score on a hole — and emerged with the lead after the second round of the Chevron Championship on Friday in The Woodlands, Texas.
On the par-5 eighth hole at The Club at Carlton Woods, Liu’s second shot, a 7-iron from 170 yards out, found the hole.
Liu wound up shooting an even-par 72 for the day, leaving her at seven-under 137 in the first LPGA major of the season.
Photo: AP
Four players are tied for second at six under: Lindy Duncan, who shot a six-under 66 on Friday; Sarah Schmelzel, 68; Japan’s Mao Saigo, 68; and South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, 71.
Angel Yin (second-round 70), Belgium’s Manon De Roey (71) and South Koreans Hye-jin Choi (71) and Haeran Ryu (74) share sixth place at five under. Ryu and Liu were the coleaders after the opening round.
Additionally, China’s Weiwei Zhang was five-under through 15 holes and five-under for the tournament when play was suspended due to darkness on Friday evening.
Liu said of her albatross, “I take my 7-iron and I see the ball [went] in, so that’s a really cool thing, but I think [the TV crew does not] have video for that hole. Little sad.”
“I think I jump twice on the fairway. Just very happy and so excited. Players in [my] group say congrats to me, so that’s very nice,” she said.
The rest of her round was forgettable. Liu made four bogeys, and her lone birdie came on the par-5 18th hole.
Liu, a 27-year-old who has yet to win an LPGA event, admitted she would feel some pressure entering the weekend as the leader.
“I think definitely I will feel a little bit, because this — well, this is major,” she said. “I know the course going to be harder, harder, so I think just I just stay ... patient, calm. Because I’m very emotional person, yes,” she said.
Duncan started her round well, recording five birdies and four pars on the back nine, which she played first. Then, after back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6, she closed with three consecutive birdies.
“I think I’ve been hitting the ball well,” Duncan said. “Then I’ll have a round where I putt well and I have a good feel on the greens, and that really helped me today. I just dropped a couple long ones and kept the momentum going with the short ones as well.”
World No. 1 and defending champion Nelly Korda bounced back from a 77 in the first round with a 68 on Friday, leaving tied for 46th at one-over par. Also at one-over par was world No. 3 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who shot a second-round 72.
Two Taiwanese are also taking part in the championships. Chien Pei-yun was tied for 64th at two-over par after a second-round 72, while Hsu Wei-ling was in joint 109th at six-over par following a second-round 70.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying
RSS