The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Oosthuizen leads in Deutsche Bank event
- Stosur ousts Robson to reach Open's last eight
- Hunter-Reay wins, whittles Power's Indy lead
| Oosthuizen leads in Deutsche Bank event Posted: 02 Sep 2012 04:58 PM PDT NORTON: South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen fired an eight-under par 63 Sunday to seize a three-shot lead after three rounds of the US PGA Tour's Deutsche Bank Championship. Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, birdied seven holes in a row starting at the par-four fourth, and followed up his lone bogey of the day at 17 with a birdie at the par-five 18th at the par-71 TPC Boston. He had a 54-hole total of 19-under par 194. Oosthuizen surged past overnight leader Rory McIlroy, the world number one from Northern Ireland who carded a 67 for 197. Tiger Woods carded a 68 for a share of third place on 13-under 200 alongside fellow American Dustin Johnson, who posted a 65. Oosthuizen, who trailed McIlroy by one coming into the round, made it look easy. His string of seven birdies included four putts of 20 feet (six meters) or more, the seventh coming with a tap-in at the par-four 10th. His seven-under 29 on the front nine was a tournament record, as was his 54-hole total. "Louis put on a display right there," said McIlroy, who nevertheless wasn't conceding defeat. "I've come from farther behind before... It's going to be an interesting day tomorrow." The $8 million tournament, which is the second stop on the US tour's four-event playoff series, concludes on Monday, the US Labor Day holiday. McIlroy, who claimed his second career major title at the PGA Championship in August, opened with back-to-back birdies. Playing alongside him, Oosthuizen also birdied the second but didn't begin to pull away until the fourth. He drained a seven-footer to launch his run and after 20-footers at five and six made a short birdie putt at seven after a good shot out of the rough right of the green. He drained a 40-foot bomb at the eighth and a 23-footer at the ninth. "Every putt had perfect speed," he said. "I told Rory, 'Sorry, but you've got to take it when you can.'" With the putts dropping, Oosthuizen could afford to be aggressive. "I went at most of the pins," Oosthuizen said. "Once I started getting birdies, making putts, I started going at the pins because my swing felt great, and after 10 holes being 8-under, you always think about getting it to 59. I didn't do anything different from there on in." McIlroy finished with six birdies and two bogeys, two of his birdies coming in the last three holes to keep Oosthuizen from getting even further away. Woods had a relatively quiet day, but did enough to keep himself in the hunt. He said that Oosthuizen's round, and the 63 of Keegan Bradley, showed what would be needed. "I'm going to have to put together one of those rounds," Woods said. "It won't surprise me if somebody shoots 8- or 9-under par tomorrow because of where the pin locations are. Somebody is going to go out there and do it. It may be early, it may be late, who knows? But hopefully, I'm one of those guys." - AFP |
| Stosur ousts Robson to reach Open's last eight Posted: 02 Sep 2012 04:58 PM PDT NEW YORK: Defending champion Samantha Stosur squandered eight match points but finally subdued stubborn British teen prodigy Laura Robson 6-4, 6-4 in 98 minutes on Sunday to reach the US Open quarter-finals. The Australian seventh seed advanced to a last-eight meeting with either World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus or Georgia's Anna Tatishvili, who were set to meet in a later night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Robson broke Stosur in the third game of the match but the Aussie broke back in the next game and seized command, breaking again to take the first set and jumping ahead 5-2 in the second before struggling to close out the triumph. Robson held and broke and threatened to hold again to level the match before Stosur struck, firing a forehand winner that Robson sent wide to end the fight. "She had some good points. She made some great shots," Stosur said. "I'm playing really well. I'm glad to get another match. I'm happy to be into the quarters again." Stosur has lost all six career meetings with top seed Azarenka, never taking a set off the reigning Australian Open champion. Azarenka's most recent victory over Stosur came in last February's Doha final. Russian third seed Maria Sharapova, the 2006 winner, faced 19th-seeded compatriot Nadia Petrova for a quarter-final berth. The winner would meet either Czech fifth seed Petra Kvitova or French 11th seed Marion Bartoli. - AFP |
| Hunter-Reay wins, whittles Power's Indy lead Posted: 02 Sep 2012 04:59 PM PDT BALTIMORE, Maryland: Ryan Hunter-Reay kept his IndyCar title hopes alive Sunday with a victory in the Grand Prix of Baltimore, closing the gap on series leader Will Power with one race remaining. Hunter-Reay's victory, coupled with a sixth-place finish for Power, saw him move within 17 points of the Australian. The IndyCar season concludes on September 15 at Fontana, California. The 75-lap race on the 2.04-mile (3.28-kilometer), 13-turn temporary street course in downtown Baltimore featured nine cautions. Australian Ryan Briscoe, who won last weekend in Sonoma, California, was leading during the eighth caution. But when racing resumed on lap 70, Hunter-Reay surged past him into the lead. Briscoe's team argued that Hunter-Reay advanced his position before the green flag waved to signal the end of the caution period, when overtaking is allowed. But Hunter-Reay escaped a penalty. A last caution resulted from a multi-car crash involving Mike Conway, Justin Wilson, Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal. After the last restart, Hunter-Reay pulled away from the field over the final two laps. Power was running fifth but bumped Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and lost a spot. Hunter-Reay crossed the finish line 1.4 seconds ahead of Briscoe for his series-leading fourth victory of the season. He came to Baltimore 36 points behind Power, but is now just 17 adrift. "We still have a shot," Hunter-Reay said. "We all want it bad enough, we can go get this thing. The team deserves it. It's a matter of if we can put it together." Going into the season finale, Power tops the standings with 453 points to Hunter-Reay's 436. "It never comes easy," said Power, who got the three bonus points for earning the pole and leading the most laps (22). "We just have to do our best and fight like a dog till the end. We'll come out swinging." French rookie Simon Pagenaud finished third, while New Zealand's Scott Dixon and Barrichello rounded out the top five. - AFP |
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