The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Baddeley close to fulfilling Presidents Cup dream
- Van der Valk fires six birdies to take seven-shot lead into final round
- Yew Ming and Co fail to get past first qualifying round
| Baddeley close to fulfilling Presidents Cup dream Posted: 24 Sep 2011 06:32 PM PDT ATLANTA (Reuters): All year, Aaron Baddeley has dreamed of playing in his first Presidents Cup and the Australian has given himself every chance of achieving that goal at this week's Tour Championship. Baddeley is among a handful of contenders for the final two spots on Greg Norman's 12-man International team to take on the United States at Royal Melbourne Golf Club from Nov. 17-20. Norman gave his fellow Australian a timely pep talk earlier this week, and Baddeley has capitalised on that motivation by surging into a tie for the lead in Saturday's third round. "That's been a huge goal of mine, to make that team and play down in Melbourne," Baddeley told reporters after firing a six-under-par 64 at East Lake to end the day level with American Hunter Mahan at nine-under 201. "It was definitely on the forefront of my mind to be able to knuckle down, play well this week and show Greg that I've got some form." Asked what Norman had told him during their conversation, Baddeley replied: "He told me he was just going to watch this week. He told me one other guy he was going to watch, and that was about it. "He said: 'Just go out, play good, win the golf tournament'. I said: 'All right'. For me it's a motivator." The other player Norman has been monitoring this week at East Lake is Australian John Senden who carded a 69 on Saturday to lie joint 24th in the elite field of 30. TITLE HUNT As long as Baddeley remains in the title hunt during Sunday's final round, he should clinch one of the two wildcard picks to be announced by Norman on Tuesday. The other is widely expected to go to another Australian, Robert Allenby, a Royal Melbourne expert who ended up 13th in the final Presidents Cup standings. The first 10 players on the team were decided by the world rankings. "I really want to be on that team, so I knew I had to play well this week," said the 30-year-old Baddeley, who has never previously played in the Ryder Cup-style team competition. "I got some good work done on Tuesday and Wednesday, especially on my putting, and I'm very pleased so far." The Presidents Cup has previously been staged at Royal Melbourne, in 1998 when Baddeley was an enthusiastic spectator. "I remember watching, going down there and seeing Freddie (Couples), seeing Jim Furyk, seeing all the guys down there, seeing Norman playing," said Baddeley, a three-times winner on the PGA Tour "I have always wanted to play in Presidents Cups. It's been a massive goal for me." |
| Van der Valk fires six birdies to take seven-shot lead into final round Posted: 24 Sep 2011 04:20 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Holland's Guido van der Valk fired an impressive five-under 67 to go seven shots clear of the field after the third round of the PGM-MIDF-KLGCC Classic at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club here yesterday. The 31-year-old Dutchman, bidding for his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) win, reeled in six birdies against a lone bogey for a three-day total of eight-under 208 and put some distance between him and second-placed Filipino Gerald Rosales, who returned with a one-under 71 for a 215 total. Japan's Yosuke Tsukada fired a 70 to move into third position – nine strokes behind Van der Valk. Malaysia's Nicholas Fung carded a dismal 74 to be tied in fourth spot with American Jonathan Moore, the current ADT Order of Merit leader. But it was the form of the flying Dutchman that caught the eye. Van der Valk, who finished joint second in the ISPS Handa Singapore Classic on the Asian Tour earlier this month, credited a new putting grip for his new-found surge of confidence on the greens. "I changed to the cross-handed grip and I'm more confident to make a stroke. I've always struck it well but when you have days with eight three-putts, it's not nice. Golf is more enjoyable now," said the Manila-based Van der Valk. He was four-under through 10 holes with birdies on the second, third, fifth and 10th holes before dropping his lone bogey at the par-three 11th. He, however, finished strongly with birdies on 17th and 18th holes to leave his rivals trailing. "I'm not doing much wrong as I've been hitting a lot of fairways and greens. I'll play smart golf tomorrow and take my chances as they come. I can't be playing conservative golf," he said. Rosales, meanwhile, was left to rue several missed close-range putts. "It was disappointing as I kept missing short putts. Guido is playing really well. I need the putts to drop to have any chance," he said. The RM200,000 tournament is the last leg of the ADT season and offers three places for the Asian Tour next season. The fight for at least one of the places intensified yesterday when the current third-placed Kao Shang-hung of Taiwan came in tied at 20th after a miserable seven-over 79. His poor showing has opened the door for Japan's Takafumi Kawane. The fourth-ranked Takafumi needs to finish at least in fourth position on his own today to overhaul Shang-hung. The 29-year-old Takafumi kept his slim hopes alive with a 77 to be placed in joint 11th position yesterday. LEADING THIRD ROUND SCORES (Malaysian unless stated) 208: Guido van der Valk (Ned) 71-70-67; 215: Gerald Rosales (Phi) 74-70-71; 217: Yosuke Tsukada (Jpn) 72-75-70; 219: Jonathan Moore (US) 74-72-73, Nicholas Fung 71-74-74; 222: S. Siva Chandhran 77-73-72, R. Nachimuthu 75-73-74; 223: Wittawat Sae-ung (Tha) 75-76-72, Pawin Ingkhapradit (Tha) 77-70-76; 224: Rashid Ismail 73-78-73; 225: John Shin (Can) 77-77-71, M. Sasidaran 76-76-73, Michael Moore (Aus) 77-74-74, Takafumi Kawane (Jpn) 74-74-77, Akhmal Tarmizee 73-74-78, Marlon Dizon (Phi) 73-73-79; 226: Zurie Harun 74-79-73, T.J. Kim (Kor) 76-76-74, Matt Jager (Aus) 75-74-77; 228: Chang Tse-peng (Tpe) 76-75-77, Kao Shang-hung (Tpe) 75-74-79, S. Murthy 75-73-80; 229: Cash Lee 75-76-78, Artemio Murakami (Phi) 72-79-78, Khor Kheng-hwai 79-78-72. |
| Yew Ming and Co fail to get past first qualifying round Posted: 24 Sep 2011 04:20 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Local interest in the singles event of the Malaysian Open tennis championships ended after national No. 1 Si Yew Ming and Co failed to lift their game in the first qualifying round at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday. The 32-year-old Yew Ming was given a wildcard to compete in the qualifying rounds but fell to Ukraine's Stanislav Poplavskyy – 12 years his junior – 4-6, 2-6. The second set was delayed for about 30 minutes due to lighting problems at the centre court with Poplavskyy leading 3-1. When play resumed, Poplavskyy continued from where he left off. Ipoh lad Yew Ming was quite pleased with his performance despite crashing out at the first hurdle once again. "He (Poplavskyy) made quite a few good returns on my service ... perhaps I could've done better," said the soft-spoken Yew Ming. "I will need to brush up on my shots, especially at the net, but overall I thought I played quite well. It was quite satisfying in the end." While the elder statesman of the national team failed to get past the first round, the juniors fared no better. Eighteen-year-old Ariez Elyaas showed flashes of brilliance in his match against China's Zhang Ze but crumbled in the second set to lose 4-6, 0-6 while 16-year-old Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak was totally outclassed by Taiwan's Jimmy Wang 1-6, 2-6. Another Malaysian youngster Wan Abdul Muiz was given a 1-6, 0-6 thrashing by Bulgaria's Alexander Lazov. Despite the early whitewash in the singles event, Malaysia will still have something to cheer for as Yew Ming will compete in the main draw of the doubles event , partnering rising American youngster Ryan Harrison. QUALIFYING RESULTS First round: Alexander Lazov (Bul) bt Wan Abdul Muiz (Mas) 6-1, 6-0; Zhang Ze (Chn) bt Ariez Elyaas (Mas) 6-4, 6-0; Jean-Rene Lisnard (Mon) bt Koki Matsunaga (Jpn) 6-3, 7-5; Mikhail Ledovskikh (Rus) bt Gong Mao-Xin (Chn) 6-4, 7-5; Chen Ti (Tpe) bt Scott Lipsky (US) 7-6, 6-3; Jimmy Wang (Tpe) bt Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak (Mas) 6-1, 6-2; Stanislav Poplavskyy (Ukr) bt Si Yew Ming (Mas) 6-4, 6-2; Mikhail Elgin (Rus) bt Jean-Julien Rojer (Aho) 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. |
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