Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Sports

Toiling Tiger's winless run closes in on two-year mark
Aussie shoots flawless round to take a one-shot lead
Malaysia target team title in world junior tourney

Toiling Tiger's winless run closes in on two-year mark

Posted: 27 Oct 2011 05:09 PM PDT

Oct 27 (Reuters) - With the two-year anniversary of his last tournament win fast approaching, Tiger Woods is preparing for next month's Australian Open amid growing doubts over whether he can ever regain his former dominance.

His world ranking has slipped to a mind-boggling 55th and golfing greats Nick Faldo and Greg Norman have both said that Woods is incapable of adding further major titles to his career haul of 14.

Woods himself bristles at such notions and, as the greatest player of his generation and arguably of all time, he can point to previous achievements as a guide to the likely way forward.

"I've heard that before," a steely-eyed Woods said earlier this month of the comments made by Faldo and Norman. "It's not the first time I've heard that. And I've kept on winning them, too."

However, time is beginning to run out for the former world number one who will celebrate his 36th birthday in December and has already undergone four surgeries on his left knee.

Ever since Woods's world was seismically shifted by lurid details of his marital infidelities at the end of 2009, he has struggled on and off the course.

His marriage disintegrated, he battled injuries to his left knee ligaments and Achilles tendon earlier this year and has been working through the fourth swing change of his career.

A combination of injuries and poor form severely curtailed his 2011 PGA Tour campaign and he ended up a lowly 128th in the money list with earnings of $660,238 from just nine starts.

After failing to qualify for the lucrative FedExCup playoffs, Woods was urged by U.S. Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples to try and play himself into form ahead of the Nov. 17-20 tournament in Melbourne.

Consequently, Woods added the Frys.com Open in California to his schedule, his first appearance in one of the PGA Tour's Fall Series events which generally attract only the journeymen on the circuit and players striving to retain their cards.

Woods finished in a tie for 30th at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin but he was greatly encouraged after shooting three-under-par 68s in his last three rounds.

GETTING BETTER

"I got better every day," the 71-times PGA Tour winner told reporters after competing in his first PGA Tour event in almost two months. "Unfortunately, there were a couple of times where I kind of didn't get the momentum going when I had a couple of chances to make putts or I hit a bad shot.

"I felt very comfortable, and I just need to keep staying the course. The game's coming."

Woods played with his good friend Arjun Atwal in the final round at CordeValle and the Indian marvelled at the American's form, especially with the driver, as he birdied four of the first six holes.

"He is very close, very close to his best," Atwal told Reuters. "It's just a matter of Tiger playing a few more competitive rounds and everything else will be sorted out.

"His driving was so much better than it was when he was winning all those tournaments with Hank," Atwal added, referring to Woods's former swing coach Hank Haney.

"Even his (fairway) misses were only just off line. Tiger's still flying the ball 310 (yards) off the tee but his shots aren't off the map any more. And that old sound on impact is back."

Atwal and Woods are neighbours in Windermere, Florida, where they regularly play practice rounds together.

Injuries are no longer a problem for Woods, who says he has regained strength and the "explosiveness" back in his left leg since being sidelined for three months earlier this year.

His other main problem, lack of competition, is slowly being corrected and his next event will be the Nov. 10-13 Australian Open before he represents his country the following week at the Presidents Cup.

Woods has not triumphed anywhere since Nov. 15 2009 when he clinched the Australian Masters.

If he continues the encouraging progress he made at CordeValle, he could complete a tortuous journey somewhat fittingly on Australian soil by ending a two-year wait to get back into the winner's circle.

Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Aussie shoots flawless round to take a one-shot lead

Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:33 PM PDT

PETALING JAYA: Australian Robert Allenby got off to a superb start in the US$6.1mil CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia by firing an eight-under 63 to set the pace in the first round at the Mines Resort and Golf Club.

Allenby, who was terrorised by a monkey while practising on the 10th hole earlier this week, had no such problems yesterday.

In fact, it was smooth sailing for the 40-year-old as he signed off with a flawless card to lead the 48-man field by one shot.

US PGA Tour rookie Jhonattan Vegas was second with a seven-under 64 while Fredrik Jacobson of Sweden was third with a six-under 65.

Allenby, ranked 63rd in the world, was one of the early finishers and he was delighted with his eight birdies and blemish-free start.

The 63 is Allenby's best round since he fired a final-round five-under 65 at the AT&T National in July.

And Allenby is looking for his first win since December of 2009 – when he won back-to-back titles at the Nedbank Challenge and the Australian PGA Championship.

"I made a lot of nice putts and hit the ball really well all day," said Allenby.

"I had just one wayward tee shot at the last but I made a good par save after that. Overall, I'm very happy with my golf. I've been playing well for a while but I just have not really put the scores on the board.

"To have a bogey-free round and to shoot eight-under here is a great score."

Allenby also said that he felt comfortable on the course.

"It sets up really well for me. There are holes where you can drive the ball long and straight but there are also a lot of holes where you have to have good iron play.

"My iron play was solid today.

"My putting has been letting me down of late but I'm working hard on it.

"I'm starting to make some putts and hope that's how it stays for the rest of the tournament," said Allenby, who finished fifth in last year's inaugural Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia.

Vegas, who won the Bob Hope Classic this year in his rookie season, stayed in touch with Allenby with a magnificent finish – where he birdied his last four holes.

"I had a really good round. Hopefully I can keep that going for the next three days and hold the trophy on Sunday," he said.

"I hit the ball beautifully. I kept hitting the fairways and the greens, made some good putts and finished with four birdies in a row, which was a nice way to end the round.

"Winning earlier in the year was like a dream come true.

"I feel like I'm starting to play well again like how I did earlier in the year, which is nice."

Defending champion Ben Crane of the United States was tied on 19th spot with a two-under 69 while Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee managed similar 68s to be the best Asian finishers.

First round scores

63: Robert Allenby (Aus);

64: Jhonattan Vegas (Ven);

65: Fredrik Jacobson (Swe);

66: Cameron Tringale (US), Jimmy Walker (US), Bo Van Pelt (US);

67: Scott Stallings (US), Stewart Cink (US), John Senden (US), Jeff Overton (US), Mark Wilson (US);

68: Brendon De Jonge (Zim), Tommy Gainey (US), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Carl Pettersson (Swe), Kyle Stanley (US), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Siddikur Rahman (Ban);

69: Charley Hoffman (US), Ben Crane (US), Jerry Kelly (US), Ricky Barnes (US), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jonathan Byrd (US), Milkha Jeev Singh (Ind), Chez Reavie (US);

70: Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha), Spencer Levin (US), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Jason Dufner (US), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn);

71: Jbe Kruger (Rsa), Ryan Palmer (US), D.A. Points (US), Chris Kirk (US), Lucas Glover (US), Brian Davis (Eng), Ryan Moore (US), Danny Chia (Mas), Brandt Snedeker (US);

72: Stuart Appleby (Aus), Shaaban Hussin (Mas), Chan Yih-shin (Tpe), Vijay Singh (Fij);

73: Angel Cabrera (Arg), David Gleeson (Aus);

74: Brendan Steele (US);

75: S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind).

SECOND ROUND TEE-OFF TIME

8.00am: S.S.P. Chowrasia, Brendan Steele;

8.10am: Angel Cabrera, David Gleeson;

8.20am: Chan Yih-shin, Vijay Singh;

8.30am: Stuart Appleby, Shaaban Hussin;

8.40am: Danny Chia, Brandt Snedeker;

8.50am: Ryan Moore, Brian Davis;

9.00am: Lucas Glover, Chris Kirk;

9.10am: Ryan Palmer, D.A. Points;

9.20am: Tetsuji Hiratsuka, Jbe Kruger;

9.30am: Jason Dufner, Kiradech Aphibarnrat;

9.40am: Chinnarat Phadungsil, Spencer Levin;

9.50am: Chez Reavie, Jeev Milkha Singh;

10.00am: Jonathan Byrd, Camilo Villegas;

10.10am: Ricky Barnes, Jerry Kelly;

10.20am: Ben Crane, Charley Hoffman;

10.30am: Siddikur Rahman, Thongchai Jaidee;

10.40am: Kyle Stanley, Rory Sabbatini;

10.50am: Carl Pettersson, Brendon De Jonge;

11.00am: John Senden, Tommy Gainey;

11.10am: Mark Wilson, Jeff Overton;

11.20am: Stewart Cink, Scott Stallings;

11.30am: Jimmy Walker, Bo Van Pelt;

11.40am: Fredrik Jacobson, Cameron Tringale;

11.50am: Robert Allenby, Jhonattan Vegas.

Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Malaysia target team title in world junior tourney

Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:31 PM PDT

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia go into the World Junior Badminton Championships, which begin in Taiwan today, hoping to make history by capturing the team title for the first time.

Malaysia, who are led by top singles ace Zulfadli Zulkifli, have been given top billing in the absence of China.

Malaysia should have no problem topping Group W1, which also comprises Hong Kong and the United States, to set up a possible last eight clash with Denmark.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching and training chairman Ng Chin Chai believes it's time Malaysia won their first team title at the world junior event.

"We have a better chance in the absence of China, who have withdrawn from this tournament. At the Asian Junior team event in July (in Lucknow), we lost to China in the final," said Chin Chai.

"Our goal is to win the team title for the first time. We have a balanced team. We finished third after beating Indonesia in the bronze medal playoff last year ... we hope to do much better this time.

"South Korea are possibly our biggest threat. They did not play at the Asian junior meet in India and we do not really know their strength. Denmark could be tricky too as they are led by world junior champion Viktor Axelsen."

The individual event will begin on Nov 1 and Chin Chai is hoping that Malaysia will continue to keep up with their good tradition in the doubles event.

Last year, Malaysia won the boys' doubles title through Ow Yao Han-Yew Hong Kheng, who defeated compatriots Nelson Heg Wei Keat-Teo Ee Yi in the final.

Nelson-Ee Yi will be seeking to go one better this time, especially after failing to bag the boys' doubles title in Lucknow.

"The boys are on the right track. We are hoping that our girls' doubles players will also get on the podium," said Chin Chai.

Malaysia will have three girls' pairs – Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, Sonia Cheah-Yang Li Lian and Shevon Lai Jemie-Joyce Choong Wai Chi.

Of the three, Mei Kuan-Meng Yean look to have the best chance to go far.

Chin Chai said that KLRC's Zulfadli would have a tough task to become the country's first world junior singles champion as Axelsen is the hot favourite to retain the title.

The Squad

Boys' singles: Zulfadli Zulkifli, Goh Giap Chin, Soong Joo Ven, Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub.

Boys' doubles: Nelson Heg Wei Keat-Teo Ee Yi, Low Juan Shen-Sant Enos, Tai An Khang-Calvin Ong Jia Hong.

Girls' singles: Sonia Cheah, Yang Li Lian, Lim Yin Fun, Lim Chiew Sien.

Girls' doubles: Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, Sonia Cheah-Yang Li Lian and Shevon Lai Jemie-Joyce Choong Wai Chi.

Mixed doubles: Nelson Heg-Chow Mei Kuan, Tai An Khang-Shevon Lai Jemie, Calvin Ong Jia Hong-Lee Meng Yean, Sant Enos-Joyce Choong Wai Chi.

Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Khamis, 27 Oktober 2011

The Star Online: Sports

The Star Online: Sports

0 ulasan:

Catat Ulasan