Ai Miyazato, the Japanese star chasing a first LPGA Tour title, hit a second round 66 at the Evian Masters on Friday to grab a share of the lead.
On nine under par 135, she shares the halfway lead with Wales’ Becky Brewerton and South Korea’s Choi Na-yeon, who both shot 68. They trio lead by one from South Korea’s Kim In-kyung (69), with France’s Karine Icher producing a fine 69 to stand in the group of five players tied for fifth place on seven under par.
Taiwan’s Teresa Lu shot an even-par 72 to sit on one-over, while compatriot Candie Kung shot a 74 to be even-par after two rounds. World No. 2 Yani Tseng was a disappointing three-over after her even-par second round.
PHOTO: AP
Miyazato, 24, is in her fifth season on the LPGA circuit, and this is her sixth appearance at Evian.
Brewerton, one of three first-round leaders, broke free of the field with three birdies and a long eagle putt at the seventh in an outward nine of 31. She picked up another shot at the 11th but then bogeyed the 16th and 17th.
Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson made a bold move with a 66 to join the tie fifth place. The highlights in a nine-birdie round included a chip-in from 20 feet at the 11th, and she then holed monster putts for more birdies at the 14th and 16th. She would have been even closer if she hadn’t three-putted the short 17th for bogey.
After an opening 75, world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa made a stuttering start with bogeys at the first two holes. But she hit back with five birdies for a 69 and a level par total.
US teenager Michelle Wie, twice a runner-up at Evian, improved her position with five birdies in a 71 for one under par. But France’s Gwladys Nocera, who lives in Lausanne and practices regularly at Evian, was a huge letdown. Last year’s European No. 1 missed the cut after a 76 for seven over par.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
■SAS MASTERS
REUTERS, BARSEBACK, SWEDEN
Argentine Ricardo Gonzalez had another good day with the putter on Friday, firing a second consecutive five-under 68 to hold the halfway lead in the SAS Scandinavian Masters.
The 39-year-old, seeking his fourth European Tour title, finished on 10-under 136, one ahead of first-round leader Lee Slattery of Britain.
Slattery (70) endured a one-hour suspension for the second day in a row after lightning again held up play. Briton Richie Ramsay (70), Swede Martin Erlandsson (70) and Pablo Larrazabal (71) were joint third on 140.
Gonzalez, who is 153rd on the money-list, has benefited from what he did on a short break after failing to qualify for last week’s British Open.
“I have a farm about 600km south of Buenos Aires called Handicap Cero, an education center and golf academy for poor kids of around 10-15 years old,” Gonzalez said. “Last week I was working nearly 12 hours a day felling trees and stacking timber. It’s all worth it. I want to give something back for what golf has given me.”
Another player striving to help youngsters is tournament favorite Henrik Stenson. The world No. 7 has pledged his winnings this week to a foundation he has set up for young Swedish golfers.
Things have not gone according to plan for the Swede on the course though and he needed to birdie his final hole to make the cut with a 74 for 147, one over.
■CANADIAN OPEN
REUTERS, OAKVILLE, ONTARIO
Jerry Kelly of the US dodged lightning, rain and another day of delays to take a one-shot lead at the weather-battered Canadian Open on Friday.
Kelly began the day by completing his first round then managed to squeeze in 15 holes of his second, mixing five birdies with a bogey to get 11-under before play was finally halted, capping another miserable day at Glen Abbey.
No one managed to complete the second round, but several players made dramatic moves up the leaderboard.
Australian Nathan Green opened with four consecutive birdies to sit on six under through 12 holes, one stroke behind the leader alongside Colombia’s Camilo Villegas, American Tim Herron and Briton Martin Laird at 10-under.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS