The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Mickelson misses magical 59 by a single shot
- Ferrari’s Alonso predicts tighter F1 race
- What’s all the fuss about Lin Dan?
| Mickelson misses magical 59 by a single shot Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:29 PM PST SCOTTSDALE (Arizona): Phil Mickelson came tantalizingly close to golf's magic number of 59 on Thursday, a near-miss at his last hole leaving him with a 60 and a four-shot lead in the US PGA Tour Phoenix Open. Mickelson's 25-foot birdie attempt at his final hole of the day - TPC Scottsdale's par-four ninth - curled around the rim of the cup but didn't drop. "You don't have chances to shoot 59 often," he said. "To have that putt on line - I'm kind of mortified that it didn't go in." Only five golfers have carded 59s on the US PGA Tour, most recently Australian Stuart Appleby in the 2010 Greenbrier Classic. Paul Goydos also accomplished the feat in 2010 at the John Deere Classic. Al Geiberger (1977), Chip Beck (1991) and David Duval (1999) have also posted 59s on the US tour. Japan's Ryo Ishikawa carded the lowest round on a major professional tour with a 12-under 58 to win the 2010 Crowns on the Japan Tour. Bo Van Pelt had a 59 in the pro-am here on Wednesday, which doesn't go into the record books as an official tournament round. Mickelson's 11-under 60 gave him a four-stroke lead over five players when darkness halted play in the first round with 33 players still on the course. None of those who were to return to complete the round on Friday morning were threatening the lead. Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Americans Brandt Snedeker, Ryan Palmer, Ted Potter and Jeff Maggert were tied on 64. South Korea's Y.E. Yang and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts were among nine players on six-under 65. But the day belonged to Mickelson, who was coming off a tie for 51st at Torrey Pines last week and was equal 37th in his first start of the season at La Quinta, California, earlier in January. Teeing off on 10, the four-time major champion opened with four straight birdies. He strung together four more from the par-three 16th through the par-four first. He birdied the par-five third despite finding a fairway bunker and moved to 10-under with a birdie at the fourth. He managed just one more birdie, however, making a seven-footer at the par-three seventh. Mickelson matched his best career round. He posted the same score in the second round of the Phoenix Open en route to his second title here. Among those chasing him, Harrington is playing the Phoenix Open for the first time. "It's a nice score, obviously, seven-under par," the three-time major champion said. "It's a little bit behind Phil, but still a nice score in itself. "I pretty much got the most out of the round for the first 15 holes, then had three chances the last three holes and didn't hole the putts." — AFP |
| Ferrari’s Alonso predicts tighter F1 race Posted: 01 Feb 2013 04:06 PM PST MILAN: Fernando Alonso (pic) said yesterday said that he believes the battle for Formula One supremacy will be a lot tighter this year ahead of his bid to replace two runner-up places to Sebastian Vettel with a maiden title for Ferrari. Last season's world championship was remarkable for the fact there were seven race-winners in the first seven races before Alonso went toe-to-toe with Red Bull ace Vettel in a decisive, thrilling finale at Interlagos. Vettel, the sport's youngest-ever three-time world champion (2010, 2011, 2012), finished sixth at the legendary Brazilian circuit, where Alonso was second, to beat his Spanish rival to the title by only three points. Alonso, speaking at the launch of Ferrari's new F138 car for the upcoming season, indicated that their anticipated duel in 2013 could leave rivals trailing in their wake from the season-opening Australian GP in March. "I think the likelihood of seeing seven different race winners in the first seven races, like last year, will be impossible," he said. "There will be a maximum of two or three teams" battling for the title, he added, "and one of those will definitely be Ferrari." Alonso, a two-time world champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006, joined Ferrari for the 2010 season and finished runner-up to Vettel. He finished a disappointing fourth the following season but in 2012 won three times and secured a total of 13 podium places before being pipped by Vettel at the finish. Afterwards, he said: "Next year, we will try and improve the car, trying to start further up the grid, thus avoiding accidents. Let's hope we also have a bit more luck." The F138 - whose name represents the current year and the car's V8 engine, which will be used for the last time this season - was unveiled at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters in northern Italy on Friday. Ferrari described it as "an evolution of last year's race-winning car, although every single part has been revised in order to maximise performance while maintaining the characteristics which were the basis of the F2012's superb reliability". The "Scuderia" have retained the front and rear pull-rod suspension set-up introduced last year but said they had "refined it for maximum aero advantage". "The rear of the car is much narrower and more tapered than before," added Ferrari, although "significant modifications will be made to the car's aero package" before the Australian Grand Prix on March 17. One major change Ferrari has made, one year ahead of schedule, is in the electronics domain with the early introduction of the single control unit that will be used in 2014. "This has involved a lot of work to integrate and control all its features in terms of both software and hardware," added the team. Alonso is set to get his first taste of the F138 at a pre-season testing session in Barcelona from February 19. It means Brazilian Felipe Massa will be at the wheel for the first pre-season test at Jerez in Spain next week. Massa, who finished seventh overall last season, believes the car is equipped sufficiently to allow Ferrari to aim for both the drivers' and constructors' titles. — AFP |
| What’s all the fuss about Lin Dan? Posted: 01 Feb 2013 04:09 PM PST [unable to retrieve full-text content]KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei is in no mood to find out the reasons behind Lin Dan's continued absence from the international scene. |
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