The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Wozniacki shows wacky side during Novak interview
- McIlroy takes hefty eight-stroke lead into US Open final round
- Just a matter of time before Jason wins a major
| Wozniacki shows wacky side during Novak interview Posted: 19 Jun 2011 06:49 PM PDT CAROLINE Wozniacki revealed her mischievous side again at Wimbledon on Saturday as the world number one hijacked Novak Djokovic's pre-tournament press conference. After dodging the west London showers for some practice on the All England Club grasscourts, the blonde Dane sat down in the main interview room and began a spoof interview with the Serb. World number two Djokovic, known on Tour as 'Joker' for his comic impersonations of fellow players, broke off from answering the normal questions about his form, his fitness and his Wimbledon hopes to engage in some light-hearted banter with his fellow Monte Carlo resident. "You know, you had this losing streak of one, so what are you going to do to change that?" the 20-year-old, introducing herself as a reporter from the Monaco newspaper, asked Djokovic, referring to his French Open semi-final defeat by Roger Federer which ended his 43-match winning streak. "Well, you know what? I will try to look up to some women players who have been so consistent with their wins, for example like Caroline Wozniacki. "I don't know if you've heard about her," replied Djokovic. "She's been winning so much. I'm going to try to look some of her matches and try to break this losing streak of one, you know, try to get on the right path." The giggling Wozniacki then asked Djokovic who his favourite woman player was. "Well, we'll have to keep that a secret," he said. "I think I already discovered one of my favourite women's players. I just said her name. She's actually my neighbour, as well... she actually lives in the street where you come from. "From time to time we have coffee there on the beach and just relax and have lunch, have a jog." The bizarre exchange finally came to a halt when a WTA official had a quiet word in Wozniacki's ear. "I cannot even talk anymore. They're pulling me," Wozniacki said. – Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| McIlroy takes hefty eight-stroke lead into US Open final round Posted: 19 Jun 2011 06:45 PM PDT LONG regarded as the heir-apparent to Tiger Woods as the game's greatest player, Rory McIlroy believes his time has finally come to start piling up major titles. Aged just 22, the mop-haired Briton will take a commanding eight-shot lead into the final round of the US Open at Congressional Country Club where he has completely overshadowed his closest rivals in record-breaking fashion. Despite his tender years, his golfing maturity already matches his sublime talent and the popular Northern Irishman is confident that hard lessons learned from his Masters meltdown two months ago will help him seal victory here. "From the experience that I had at Augusta, I know now how to approach tomorrow," world number seven McIlroy told reporters after posting a three-under 68 in Saturday's third round. "I know what I need to do tomorrow. "At Augusta, it was all a little bit new to me, going into the final round with the lead. I didn't know whether to be defensive, aggressive, go for it, not go for it but now I know what I need to do. "I have a clear mind going out there tomorrow, and I just need to stick to my game plan." In April, McIlroy let the 2011 Masters slip through his hands as he blew a four-shot lead after 54 holes with an ugly closing 80 at Augusta National. Despite the extreme disappointment of that unforgettable day, he patiently handled his post-tournament media responsibilities with astonishing grace and feels he has since developed the killer instinct required at major level. "I think they go hand in hand, having a little bit of attitude and a killer instinct," said McIlroy, who has held at least a share of the lead in six of his last seven rounds in the majors. "That's what you need on the golf course, especially in the position that I find myself in. "You can't get complacent. No lead is big enough, so you need to just keep going. "Today, I tried to set myself little goals, just because it kept me from focusing on the leaderboard, on how far ahead I was. The big goal I set myself was to try and get to 15 (under). I didn't quite achieve it, but I don't mind." McIlroy's game is ideally suited to the rain-softened conditions on Congressional's Blue Course this week. His long hitting has helped him cope with the challenge of the second longest layout to stage a US Open while he has continually peppered the flags on the unusually receptive greens with his high ball flight. – Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Just a matter of time before Jason wins a major Posted: 19 Jun 2011 06:45 PM PDT THE fresh-faced kid from the island keeps putting his name on leaderboards at the majors. Eventually, he's bound to figure out a way to win one of these. Were it not for Rory McIlroy, that story line would belong to Jason Day, the player from Down Under who has been doing a very good job playing under the radar at the majors this year. Day, who was climbing to a second-place finish at Augusta while McIlroy was melting down, was in a tie for third after Saturday's third round at the US Open. His round of six-under 65 began before McIlroy got to the course. It left the Aussie nine shots out of the lead, but still, he'll have the second-to-last tee time in the final round, paired with the world's second-ranked player, Lee Westwood. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday. "The more times I put myself in this position, the better chance I have of winning a tournament," Day said. Odds are he'll get there. He has six top-10 finishes this year, including The Players, the Byron Nelson and the Masters. He's on a steady climb from 224th in the world in 2008 to 18th this year. He's 23 and off to a good start in the quest to join Greg Norman, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott and all the others on the long list of Australia's favourite golfers. Day came into the weekend at one-over, 12 shots behind McIlroy, but not willing to give in to the sense of the inevitable that's slowly smothering Congressional. "Playing for second place, I guess you're playing for first loser," Day said. "I went out there and I just said, `Look, I've got to put up at least a decent score today to actually have a shot." On a day in which birdies and red numbers covered the course, Day fit right in. He made six birdies, not a single bogey and his name kept shooting up the leaderboard. He knew it was possible when he was walking to the first tee box and saw Webb Simpson, who started the day tied for last, making the turn at four-under en route to a 66. "I saw that. I knew the front nine. If you could play well, you could go out and shoot a low score.," Day said. So, he did. And while McIlroy has plenty of mistakes to learn from his Masters finish, Day went through a much different experience at Augusta. He was playing under the radar - everyone was that day - and suddenly found himself in the middle of one of the wildest endings in the history of the tournament. He birdied four of the last seven holes, making clutch putts at 17 and 18 that put him in position to win. Charl Schwartzel overtook him but the second-place finish looked pretty good on a resume that also includes a 10th-place finish at the 2010 PGA. – AP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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