The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Brutal golf course dooms US Open hopefuls in final round
- Queen’s title will boost Wimbledon bid, says Andy Murray
- Chong Wei misses the days top players bring out the best in him
| Brutal golf course dooms US Open hopefuls in final round Posted: 17 Jun 2013 05:18 PM PDT BOGEYS on the last two holes on Sunday doomed Hunter Mahan's US Open title dream, but for some the brutal truth came much sooner as Merion refused to allow the champion a level-par finish. England's Justin Rose managed an even-par 70 final round to win his first Major title on one-over 281 for 72 holes, but a course many feared would be weakened by rain instead swatted aside contenders time and time again. American Mahan, playing in the last pair, settled for a share of fourth on 285, his best Major finish, but he was in the title hunt for much of the back nine after starting with only one bogey and 13 pars in his first 14 holes. A double bogey at the 15th after finding a bunker and his stumbles at the close were enough to thwart his bid, but he gave credit to the formidable test provided at the 6,996-yard layout whose mix of long and short holes was stern. "It was hard," Mahan said. "It was a difficult test. The pins were brutal. They're sitting on three to four degree slopes. So it was tough. I tried hard all day and had some opportunities, but just didn't make a few putts. "Man, it was brutal out there. It was tough finishing. But swung it pretty well, kept my composure. I played hard until the end and I can't be too disappointed with the results or too down on it. That's missing the whole point." For England's Luke Donald, the downfall came on the third hole when his tee shot struck one of the workers who was walking the course with another group. "I hit driver on the third hole and pulled it left and didn't realise there was anyone over there," Donald said. "I hit her in the elbow. And she was in some pain and felt a little bit faint. I felt a little bit faint, too, watching it. You never like that to happen and it was a very tough break for her." After the mishap, Donald took a bogey at the third to start a run of three bogeys in a row, then a double bogey at six and, after a birdie at seven, made two more bogeys to end any chance at victory after starting the day two adrift. But he refused to blame hitting the worker for his collapse. "I felt pretty bad at the time. But it was business as usual in the fourth," he said. "Obviously I played that stretch pretty poorly but I don't really use that as an excuse." For Steve Stricker, who at 46 could have become the oldest US Open champion and second-oldest winner in Major golf history, disaster came early when he began one off the lead and ended with a 76 that left him sharing eighth on 286. He hit out of bounds off the second tee and sanked another shot on the way to a triple-bogey eight and managed only one birdie all day. "I had a good week but still it's disappointing," Stricker said. "Not what I was looking for. Nature of the game I guess. It puts you in your place rather quickly at times." And Jason Dufner charged into a share of fourth with a 67, causing a stir by starting the back nine with three birdies in four holes only to take a triple bogey seven at 15. Were that a par instead, he would have been one shot behind Rose, but it only takes one bad hole for Merion to strike. "The majority of the time you were playing defence, to be honest with you, depending on the hole location and where you were, which is tough for us because we're used to having 15 feet and going for it," Dufner said. — AFP |
| Queen’s title will boost Wimbledon bid, says Andy Murray Posted: 17 Jun 2013 05:20 PM PDT LONDON: Andy Murray believes his third Queen's Club title will act as the perfect foundation to launch his latest bid to win Wimbledon. Murray hardly had time to finish celebrating Sunday's 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Croatian fifth seed Marin Cilic in the final of the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event before thoughts turned to his prospects of ending Britain's 75-year wait for a male winner of the singles' title at the All England Club. The 26-year-old arrived at Queen's last week dogged by fears over his fitness after a lower back injury forced him to miss the French Open. But Murray coped well with the gruelling demands of a rain-affected schedule, enjoying two gritty come from behind wins over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Cilic and even surviving a nasty fall in the final which briefly left him clutching his groin in pain. All in all it was an extremely satisfying seven days for the world No. 2 with Wimbledon just a week away. "I feel good. I'm a bit tired just now. It's been a long five days," Murray said. "The last couple of days were tough matches against two top grass court players. Because of the way that the weather worked out, it's been mentally a quite draining week. I'm happy I managed to finish it with a win. "So I'll go away and probably take a day off tomorrow and then start hitting on Tuesday (today) and work on a couple of things in the build-up to Wimbledon. "The most important thing in the next week or so is just to make sure I keep improving the strength of my back and make sure there's no setbacks. "And then when Wimbledon comes round it's all about how you play. "Anything can happen. You can lose a bit of confidence; you can gain confidence. You can pick up a niggle; you can feel 110%. You never know. "But I'm in a good place and I just need to keep working hard the next week." Since losing to Nicolas Mahut in the second round at Queen's last year, Murray has been in dominant form on grass. He reached his first Wimbledon final, losing to Roger Federer, and then returned to the All England Club a few weeks later to avenge that loss by thrashing the Swiss great for Olympic gold. Murray finally won his first Grand Slam on the back of that run, lifting the US Open title on the hard courts of New York in September. "All of the Slams or the big events that I play in now, I would hope that I'd have a little bit more confidence in myself and a bit more belief," he said. "Just because I won the US Open it doesn't mean I'm going to do great there or because I played well on the grass last year. There's no guarantees at all in sport. "You've got to go in there, work hard, and be prepared to go through some tough moments and find a way to deal with them. "Hopefully I can do that at Wimbledon." For years it seemed the weight of expectations on British players at Wimbledon was a crushing burden that made it impossible for them to succeed. But Murray thrives on the pressure and is experienced enough not to let the media whirlwind blow him off course. "With each year that passes, you kind of know what sort of stuff you can and can't do, and what's going to get you in the best mindset for the tournament and physically get myself in the best shape possible," he said. "I'm experienced enough to deal with it and go into Wimbledon with no issues." — AFP |
| Chong Wei misses the days top players bring out the best in him Posted: 17 Jun 2013 05:40 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei (pic) is feeling more lonely at the top. Last week, one more of his former formidable challengers – Taufik Hidayat, who had pushed him to where he is now – retired from the sport after losing in the opening round of the Indonesian Open. The 30-year-old Chong Wei went on to win the title for the fifth time – rather easily as no one, except for 2009 world junior champion Wang Zhengming of China, managed to give him much of a fight. With Taufik out, there is only two more left in the "Famous Five" group. Last year, Peter-Gade Christensen of Denmark quit while South Korean Lee Hyun-il left the national team to take part in only the fun and invitational tournaments. This leaves only Chong Wei and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan to lead the charge but then the latter has shown a lack of commitment in the sport. Since beating Chong Wei in the final of the London Olympic Games in a narrow fashion, he had shied away from all international tournaments. He competed in the Asian Badminton Championships but conceded a walkover in the quarter-finals to team-mate Zhengming. Lin Dan will renew his rivalry with Chong Wei at the World Championships in Guangzhou, China in August but everyone is in the dark over the form of the four-time world champion. Chong Wei said he had to find new motivation every day to consistently stay at the top of his game. "I miss all those days when all these players use to bring out the best in me. They were the motivation for me to go higher and higher," said Chong Wei. "I will not forget the 2007 Japan Open final. Taufik was the favourite then but I managed to beat him. It was so close. Both of us played all out and it was one of my best matches against Taufik. In fact, after that, I was beating him more consistently," he said. "On court, Taufik is ruthless. Off it, he is one of my good buddies. I also share the same relationship with Peter. Although they are not around, I still do my best to take every tournament seriously. I cannot go to a tournament and take it easy or simply withdraw if I do not have the mood to play ... that is not in my blood," he said. Currently, the only motivation that is pushing Chong Wei on, is the hope of becoming the country's first world champion. "I know the nation's expectations are sky high on me to deliver at the world meet. I want to do well too. I have done well in the Super Series by winning many titles but have been unlucky when it comes to the world championships," he said. "I have about six weeks to prepare for the world meet. I cannot assure that the world title will be mine but I am sure I will train harder and make sure that my preparation is the best ever," said Chong Wei. When asked about Lin Dan, the man who had destroyed many of his dreams and seen as a possible spoiler again at the world meet, Chong Wei said: "I do not know what is his game plan. Every player may have a different strategy. For almost a year, he did not have any quality tournaments and I am not sure how he would be able to rise to the occasion in the world meet. But for a four-time world champion, that itself could be a motivation ... I do not know. "For now, I just do not want to be concerned or worried about him. I have a heavy responsibility to deliver at the world meet, I would rather focus on that mission and look at what other ways that I can further improve myself," he added. Before the Guangzhou trip, Chong Wei and his team-mates will leave for Hong Kong on July 27 for a week's centralised training. For the record, Chong Wei lost to Lin Dan 21-15, 10-21, 19-21 in the final of the last world meet in Wembley in 2011. |
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