The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Good vibes for Prugh on return to CordeValle
- Sapura captain out to fulfil role against Tenaga
- New Zealand squad rally around understudy after Carter’s withdrawal
| Good vibes for Prugh on return to CordeValle Posted: 04 Oct 2011 06:42 PM PDT SAN MARTIN, California, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Twelve months after falling agonisingly short of claiming a first PGA Tour victory in his rookie season, Alex Prugh is back at the same venue with lofty hopes for this week's Frys.com Open. Prugh tied for second at a wet CordeValle Golf Club last year, just one stroke behind fellow American Rocco Mediate, after very nearly eagling the penultimate hole. "I definitely have very good feelings coming into this week," the 27-year-old from Spokane, Washington, told Reuters on Tuesday after completing a lengthy practice session with his belly putter. "Coming back here, I've had a lot of people remind me of the drive I hit on 17 which I almost made. Hopefully I can create fireworks like that again this week." Prugh very nearly aced the par-four 17th in the final round, his ball landing a foot short of the cup before bouncing forward three feet beyond. Though he tapped in for his eagle two, his playing partner Mediate remarkably also eagled the hole after laying up short of the green off the 17th tee. Mediate asked Prugh to mark his ball on the green before he stunningly holed out from 116 yards for his fourth eagle of the week, effectively securing the title. "I know the fans loved all that shot-making here at CordeValle last year and I loved it too," beamed Prugh, who won the 2009 New Zealand Open. "And it's always nice making a two on a par-four." Prugh ended his maiden season on the PGA Tour with four top-10 finishes in 28 starts, and was nominated for rookie of the year. Though his 2011 campaign has not been as successful, he was greatly encouraged by his tie for 29th at last week's Las Vegas Open where he recorded four successive sub-70 rounds. "I had a nice solid tournament which always gets a little confidence going," said Prugh, who lies 167th in the money list and needs to break into the top 125 to secure full playing privileges for next year. "I loved this course the first time I played it and I can't wait to get out there on Thursday. There are definitely some scoring holes coming in and fortunately I capitalised on those holes last year." Asked to assess a 2011 season where a tie for 20th at the Sony Open in January has been his best finish, Prugh replied: "This year, it's been a lot slower. I've been working on a bunch of things but I feel like my game is good. "There are still three tournaments left so I have plenty of time to get it together and keep my (PGA Tour) card." |
| Sapura captain out to fulfil role against Tenaga Posted: 04 Oct 2011 06:15 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Sapura captain S. Kuhan (pic) hopes to lead by example against Tenaga Nasional in a Premier Division showdown of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) today. The former international wants his team to get their penalty corner battery working in full steam. And Kuhan hopes to add to his dismal tally of two in five matches thus far. "Our penalty corner conversion rate is very poor this season. To date, we have only scored six from the numerous chances that came our way. I hope we can get it right as we need to make every goal-scoring chance counts," said Kuhan, a penalty corner specialist. "But it is not going to be easy to score against Tenaga goalkeeper S. Kumar as he was named the best goalkeeper in Asia last year. On top of that, they have a solid defence marshalled by national skipper Mohd Madzli (Ikmar)," added Kuhan. Sapura are now placed second behind leaders Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in the nine-team league. Both are on 15 points after five matches but KLHC, last year's double champions, have a better goal difference. For Tenaga, they are placed third on 13 points after six matches. Kuhan warned his team-mates not to take Tenaga for granted. "Our matches against Tenaga have always been close. It is going to be the same tomorrow. We need to be on our toes," said the 35-year-old Kuhan, who has been Sapura's captain since 2000. Last season Sapura played Tenaga four times – twice in the league and twice in the knockout stage. Sapura lost the first league match 2-3 but bounced back to win 2-0 in the second encounter. In the semi-finals, Sapura drew 2-2 in the first leg and then won 2-0 in the return leg. For Tenaga, their hopes of landing the league title are as good as over after losing 1-2 to KLHC in their opening match. But Tenaga coach Lailin Abu Hassan still wants his team to get a positive result against Sapura. "We finished second last season and we want to retain that spot this season," said Lailin. While Sapura will face an uphill task against Tenaga, KLHC, powered by eight national players, are expected to collect full points against Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) today to retain their number one position in the standings. |
| New Zealand squad rally around understudy after Carter’s withdrawal Posted: 04 Oct 2011 06:14 PM PDT WHILE New Zealand reacted to the World Cup–ending injury to Dan Carter as something akin to a national disaster, the All Blacks rallied around his understudy Colin Slade. The loss of star playmaker Carter has dominated the New Zealand news since he suffered a serious groin injury on Saturday with many questioning the ability of the novice Slade to fill his boots. But All Blacks backs coach Wayne Smith led the Slade fan club yesterday, saying the team's expectations were really high and that, despite Carter's absence, "we haven't altered the bar at all". Smith said Slade had similar strengths to the ace pivot "so plans remain the same, expectations are exactly the same, belief of the squad is exactly the same. We don't see anything's changed." In New Zealand, where rugby is treated almost like a national religion, there is desperation across the country for the team to lift the World Cup for the first time in 24 years. Although the All Blacks are the most successful team in the history of the sport, the only time they have won the World Cup was when they hosted the inaugural tournament in 1987. The 29–year–old Carter, an astute onfield general and veteran of 85 Tests, was seen as the rugby messiah who would change that, but Smith said the team had just as much faith in Slade, 23, who has a mere nine internationals behind him. "He's got huge credibility in the squad and there's a lot of belief in him. "In my experience, if you walk in the company of people who believe in you, you're going to achieve," he said ahead of New Zealand's quarter–final against Argentina in Auckland on Sunday. All Blacks back–row Kieran Read said the team felt for Carter who was "a massive part" of the squad but had confidence in Slade to fill the demanding role. "He's a pretty cool customer. He's got a level head on his shoulders and he's done an outstanding job last week (against Canada) and he'll handle it." Although Aaron Cruden, who played six Tests for the All Blacks last year, has been added to the squad following Carter's withdrawal, Smith gave no guarantees he would get any game time. Scrum–half Piri Weepu who has played a lot of Super rugby in the number 10 jersey is the likely backup to Slade, a role he has filled twice this year. – AFP |
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