The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Golf: Tiger, Rose share lead at PGA Tour Championship
- Japan Open: Chong Wei faces Wei Feng in quarters
- Team Apido eye podium spot
| Golf: Tiger, Rose share lead at PGA Tour Championship Posted: 20 Sep 2012 04:29 PM PDT ATLANTA (Georgia): Tiger Woods and England's Justin Rose each fired four-under par 66s on Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the US PGA Tour Championship. Woods, who can capture the US PGA season playoff championship with a victory, and Rose - who dropped in a 50-foot birdie effort at the 18th - each fired six birdies and took two bogeys in the 30-player showdown at East Lake. "I played well," Woods said. "It was a very consistent round. I hit the ball well, made a few putts, got around well." Woods sank a long birdie putt at the par-3 second and a six-footer for birdie at the par-4 third. After a bogey at the fourth, Woods finished the front nine with a birdie and made another with a long putt at the 12th. Woods, in the final group, took a bogey at the 14th but answered with birdies at the par-5 15th and par-4 16th to claim a share of the lead. Rose, who has not won since March at Doral, answered a bogey at the second with a birdie at the next hole and a bogey at the seventh with back-to-back birdies to conclude the front nine and again at the 14th and 15th before closing with his impressive birdie. Sharing third on 67 were Americans Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar, Bo Van Pelt and Scott Piercy with Americans Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedeker, Zach Johnson, Robert Garrigus and Australian Adam Scott on 68. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who has won three of his past four starts, fired a 69. McIlroy, who played alongside Woods in round one, can also claim the playoff title with a victory as can Snedeker, Nick Watney and Phil Mickelson. Mickelson opened on 69. Watney fired a 75. All 30 players in the field have a chance at capturing the US$10 million playoff crown and some can claim the prize without winning the tournament title. Rose, who entered 24th of 30 in the playoff points standings, would need to win and have Woods finish no better than a three-way share of fifth and McIlroy fare no better than 17th. Woods controls his own destiny. "Winning takes care of everything," Woods said. Woods played somewhat cautiously at times in warm and breezy conditions, trusting his putter and positioning to help him make birdies. On the day, Woods reached 10 of 14 fairways and reached 13 of 18 greens in regulation. "This course demands you flight the ball well," Woods said. "You try to keep the ball below the hole because these greens are really quick. I had a couple good up and downs. This wind wasn't so bad. I'm used to playing in it." Woods was pleased to smash the ball off the tee at times as far as he did in his younger days. "I still have it in there. I just choose not to use it on every shot like I used to," Woods said. "It's nice to feel healthy enough to be able to clear 310 (yards) again like I used to." McIlroy laughed off comments by retired Aussie star Greg Norman that McIlroy intimidates Woods, who once boasted such an aura on his way to winning 14 major titles, the most recent of them in 2008. "He's definitely not intimidated by me and I don't think I'm intimidated by him," McIlroy said of his playing partner. "Hopefully we can just play out there and we have a lot of great battles to come." Thursday's pairing was the fifth time in four tournaments that Woods and McIlroy have played together and the eighth time this year. "I've gotten more comfortable playing with him. You get more comfortable being around somebody. We've been around each other a lot in these playoffs." McIlroy won the Deutsche Bank and BMW championship playoff events as well as last month's PGA Championship, his second career major victory after the 2011 US Open. "Tiger shot a little better than me, but the quality of golf out there was high," McIlroy said. - AFP |
| Japan Open: Chong Wei faces Wei Feng in quarters Posted: 20 Sep 2012 05:31 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 2 Lee Chong Wei and Chong Wei Feng won their matches in impressive styles to set up an intriguing battle between mentor and protege in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open. Top seed Chong Wei took only 26 minutes to dispose of former world junior champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 21-10, 21-12 in the second round to set up a meeting with Wei Feng. While Chong Wei was on fiery form, Wei Feng took 35 minutes to tame world No. 23 Ajay Jayaram of India 21-16, 21-16. It was his second successive win over a higher ranked player after beating world No. 7 Kenichi Tago of Japan a day earlier. In the past, he had scalped China's Chen Jin, Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat and Hu Yun of Hong Kong. Wei Feng is the sole back-up shuttler in the fray. Liew Daren caved in 14-21, 23-21, 16-21 to Vietnamese Nguyen Tien after a relentless fight for one hour and 12 minutes ended in vain. The 23-year-old Wei Feng, currently ranked 32nd in the world, wants to enjoy a good match against the London Olympic Games silver medallist. "The match will not be easy as Chong Wei is not showing any sign of slowing down. I just have to throw everything in my game to unsettle him," said Wei Feng in a telephone interview from Tokyo. The other three quarter-finals today will involve Tien Minh and Hu Yun; Taufik and Simon Santoso of Indonesia; and qualifier Kazumasa Sakai against Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand. In the men's doubles, Malaysia's Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong stormed into the quarter-finals but their Japanese opponents are looking equally good to spoil their party. Kien Keat-Boon Heong, bouyed by the news that they will be retained by the national body, crushed Patiphat Chalardchaleam-Nipitphon Puangpuapech of Thailand 21-8, 21-7 in 22 minutes to set up a meeting with Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato. Second round results Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei bt Viktor Axelsen (Den) 21-10, 21-12; Chong Wei Feng (Mas) bt Ajay Jayaram (Ind) 21-16, 21-16; Simon Santoso (Ina) bt Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) 21-8, 21-11; Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Akira Koga (Jpn) 21-11, 21-10; Kazumasa Sakai (Jpn) bt Wong Wing Ki (Hkg) 19-21, 21-18, 21-14; Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) bt Sho Sasaki (Jpn) 21-12, 21-12; Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) bt Liew Daren 21-14, 21-23, 21-16; Hu Yun (Hkg) bt Takuma Euda (Jpn) 21-12, 21-10. Men's doubles: Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki- Hendra Gunawan (Ina) bt Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) 16-21, 21-13, 21-19; Hiroyuki Saeki-Ryota Taohata (Jpn) bt Ashton Chen-Derek Wong (Sin) 21-12, 21-15; Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa (Jpn) bt Alven Yulianto-Markis Kido (Ina) 17-21, 21-15, 21-9; Kim Ki-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Kor) bt Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16; Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong bt Chris Adcock- Andrew Ellis (Eng) 21-11, 21-14; Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata (Jpn) bt Rasmus Bonde-Mads Conrad-Petersen (Den) 21-15, 17-21, 21-15; Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato (Jpn) bt Shohei Hoshino-Akira Kobayashi (Jpn) 21-12, 21-8; Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (Mas) bt Patiphat Chalardchaleam-Nipitphon Puangpuapech (Tha) 21-8, 21-7. * Matches involving Malaysians in other events Women's singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Tee Jing Yi 21-11, 21-10; Ai Goto (Jpn) bt Lydia Cheah 21-15, 15-21, 21-18. Women's doubles: Eom Hye-won-Jang Ye-na (Kor) bt Ng Hui Ern-Ng Hui Lin 21-17, 27-29, 21-10. Mixed doubles: Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying bt Noriyasu Hirata-Miyuki Maeda (Jpn) 21-17, 21-16; Tan Wee Kiong-Ng Hui Lin bt Maneepong Jongjit-Savitree Amitrapai (Tha) 21- 12, 21-15. |
| Posted: 20 Sep 2012 05:10 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Team Apido Yamaha Boon Kui team manager Hairul Azuan Abdul Rahman is confident of a good outing for his team in Round 7 of the Petronas AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship in Kluang from Sept 22-23. Hairul said after the hard work put in by the back room boys, he believes his riders will be on the podium in Kluang. The team's rider Ahmad Abdul Kadir (pic) finished 11th overall last year as they were bogged down by technical issues. Ahmad had three podium finishes from the first six rounds this year. And the Sarawakian earned himself the right to sit in second overall in the CP115 standings with 84 points, just seven points shy of Petronas Syntium Moto Yamaha AHM's Shahril Izzuwan Mohd Noor, who leads with 91 points. "We had major problems setting up the bike last year and we were always one step behind the other teams despite our hard work," said Hairul. "After the season ended we immediately started working on analysing the bike and comparing it to the competitors and fixing it along the way. "I am certain Ahmad will be there with the frontrunners in Kluang. He has been working hard to keep his fitness in check and the team mechanics have already prepared a competitive bike. Hopefully, Ahmad can end up on the podium and keep his CP115 title hopes alive." |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan