The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Tiger Woods takes charge at Torrey Pines
- Djokovic sets sights on career Grand Slam
- Doping chief wants US decisions on Lance Armstrong's fate
| Tiger Woods takes charge at Torrey Pines Posted: 27 Jan 2013 06:48 PM PST LA JOLLA (California): Tiger Woods strengthened his hold on the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday, carving out a six-shot lead with 11 holes to play at the Torrey Pines course where he has won seven titles. Seeking the 75th victory of his legendary career, Woods fired a three-under par 69 in a third-round that was wiped out Saturday by fog, then birdied three of the first seven holes in his fourth round before darkness halted play. Woods was on 14-under par 202 after 54 holes, then birdied the par-3 third, par-four fourth and par-5 sixth before a par at the seventh at dusk left him on 17-under at a course where he has won six PGA events and the 2008 US Open. "I drove it great in the morning. I drove it on a string all day," Woods said. "I've got 11 holes to play and I've got to go out and play them well." Americans Nick Watney and Brandt Snedeker shared second at 11-under with Canada's Brad Fritsch fourth two shots further back. Snedeker had five holes to play. Watney had twice as many. Fritsch had 11 to finish. No other rivals were within nine strokes of Woods, who could beat his record victory margin at the $6.1 million event, an eight-stroke triumph in 2008. Woods has been the sole leader of an event 41 times after 54 holes and won 39 of those tournaments. Past success at Torrey Pines has been a precursor to strong seasons from Woods, a 14-time major champion who at age 37 hopes to close the gap on the career record 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus after seasons diminished by injuries and the aftermath of an infamous sex scandal. A victory Monday would put Woods seven shy of Sam Snead's all-time PGA title mark of 82. The Farmers would be the third event Woods has won seven times in his career, joining tournaments at Bay Hill and Firestone and all one shy of Snead's PGA record eight career wins at Greensboro. Woods wore a gray sweater in cool conditions for the fourth round start but said he would don his familiar red shirt for Monday's concluding holes. Defending champion Snedeker, who rallied from seven strokes down to win the event last year, birdied three of the first six holes to charge again, but was only one-under over the next seven holes while Woods pulled away. Watney's charge fizzled as well. He birdied three of the first four holes and then scored four pars before darkness fell. - AFP |
| Djokovic sets sights on career Grand Slam Posted: 27 Jan 2013 06:42 PM PST MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic set his sights on completing the elusive career Grand Slam at this year's French Open after confirming his mastery of men's tennis at the Australian Open. With six Grand Slam titles at the age of 25, the Serbian world number one could be forgiven for taking it easy but immediately after clinching his fourth Melbourne win, his mind was on Roland Garros in May. Djokovic has gone from the Paris quarter-finals to the semi-finals and the title match in successive seasons, falling to seven-time winner Rafael Nadal last year, and now he wants to take the last step. "I want to go all the way in the French Open. I went to the finals last year and had a great match against Rafa, but he's always the favourite on that surface and he's the ultimate player to beat on clay," Djokovic said. "But I think if I continue on playing well, stay healthy, I can have a chance." It all seemed routine for Djokovic as he beat Andy Murray in four sets, picked up the trophy and US$2.5 million winner's cheque, and then headed straight to the airport, eschewing parties and the usual day-after media commitments. Djokovic was anxious to hurry home in good time for this week's Davis Cup tie with Belgium. The surface? Clay. "It's going to be a lot of fun next weekend to see how I can adjust to a clay court in indoor conditions, playing away Davis Cup, which is always tricky," he said. "But, look, right now my thoughts are on this trophy, enjoying it as much as I can. Hopefully I'm going to have time to recover and get ready for that tie." Australian Open victories in 2011 and 2012 proved a springboard for Djokovic, who put together 145 wins against just 18 losses over the two seasons and finished both years as the world number one. With Nadal's physical state unknown, following his long break with knee problems, victory in Paris does not look a long shot for Djokovic, who would surely then target the hallowed calendar-year Grand Slam. Djokovic received the trophy from Andre Agassi, another four-time Australian winner who managed to lift all four Grand Slam titles during his career. Last week, Agassi said Djokovic had lifted the sport to new heights. But asked whether he was now taking tennis into a new era, the Serb parried. "I leave you guys to judge about changing the game or not. I'm just trying to play this game with 100 percent of devotion, love, passion, and fun also," he said. "I mean, 25 years old and I've won six Grand Slams and have a lot of trophies. It's amazing. You know, I'm just trying to embrace this moment and enjoy it as much as I can and see where tomorrow brings me." - AFP |
| Doping chief wants US decisions on Lance Armstrong's fate Posted: 27 Jan 2013 06:40 PM PST NEW YORK: American jurors and US anti-doping officials should decide Lance Armstrong's fate rather than the International Cycling Union, the main investigator who has chased Armstrong for years has said. US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief executive Travis Tygart spoke to the CBS television network in an interview broadcast on Sunday, saying he thinks the US Justice Department should join a fraud case against Armstrong. And Tygart also wants Armstrong to testify before USADA rather than the world cycling governing body UCI, saying USADA-gathered evidence contradicts Armstrong's claims that UCI never assisted him in covering up a positive test. "He exonerated, essentially, the UCI and our information, and the evidence, is different than that," Tygart said. "I think their involvement was a lot deeper in him pulling off this heist than he was willing to admit to." In announcing the "60 Minutes" interview on Friday, CBS said Tygart had imposed a February 6 deadline for Armstrong to testify under oath before USADA or lose any chance of having his life ban from competitions reduced. "He would have to come in just like all 11 of his teammates did and testify truthfully about all of those who were involved with him pulling off this grand heist," Tygart said. Armstrong lawyers say the 41-year-old Texan, who was stripped of seven Tour de France titles based on USADA-gathered evidence, would not be able to meet the deadline and was likely to tell his story to the UCI, a group tainted in Tygart's mind where Armstrong is concerned. "The access they had to inside information - to how the tests work, what tests went in place at what time, special access to the laboratory - he was on an entirely different playing field than all the other athletes," Tygart said. Tygart wants to see Armstrong tell his story in court, specifically in a $90 million fraud case brought by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis, himself an admitted dope cheat stripped of a Tour de France title. The fraud lawsuit claims Armstrong lied about doping to get US Post Office sponsorship for the team that dominated the Tour de France for years. The US Justice Department ended an 18-month probe of Armstrong last year without filing charges. US government officials are expected to decide in the next few weeks whether or not to join the Landis lawsuit. "I think they have to join the suit," Tygart said. "I mean, we were surprised the criminal case didn't go forward based on the evidence that we had seen and generated through our investigation. "So we'll be once again shocked if they don't join the suit. "I think a jury should have an opportunity to decide whether the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars that were defrauded by this team and Lance Armstrong and his associates, whether or not the government should be paid back for that." Armstrong denied taking any banned substances after 2005 but Tygart says plenty of evidence shows Armstrong's Tour de France efforts in 2009 and 2010 were enhanced by banned substances, which could help the fraud case against the cyclist. "The evidence is clear. His blood tests in 2009, 2010, expert reports based on the variation of his blood values from those tests, one to a million chance that it was due to something other than doping," Tygart said. "There's a five-year statute on a fraud criminal charge. If the last point of his doping, as we alleged and proved in our reasoned decision, was in 2010, then the statute has not yet expired and he potentially could be charged with a criminal violation for conspiracy to defraud." Tygart also said Armstrong lied when he denied trying to buy USADA's silence. "I received a phone call from one of his closest associates and they offered us the money," Tygart said, refusing to identify the middleman but saying there was no mistake about the attempt to pay USADA to back off. - AFP |
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