Chad Campbell eagled his final hole at TPC Summerlin on Friday to seize a share of the lead along with Troy Matteson in a US$4.2 million USPGA Tour event.
Campbell eagled the par-five ninth to complete a nine-under 62 for 129. Matteson followed his career-best first-round 62 with a 67 for 129.
Campbell, who once played for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, also had seven birdies in a bogey-free round.
Matt Kuchar, coming off a victory two weeks at Turning Stone in the tour’s Fall Series opener, fired a 64 to join Ryan Moore (63), Bob Heintz (67) and Scotland’s Martin Laird (67) on 12-under 130
Moore’s round was highlighted by an eagle at the par-five 16th.
“Every hole is a birdie hole if you can get in position,” Moore said. “So even if you do make a bogey or two, you feel like you can bounce back right away and make some birdies.”
Rickie Fowler carded a 64, America’s 2008 college player of the year getting to 11-under 131 in his first PGA Tour start as a professional.
Three-time Las Vegas winner Jim Furyk was also 11-under after a 67, along with Scott Piercy (67) and overnight co-leader Tom Pernice, who fired a 69.
Pernice, who won his Champions Tour debut last month, had shared the first-round lead with Matteson and Spencer Levin.
Piercy’s wife, Sara, gave birth to their son, Jett, on Thursday night.
Hunter Mahan, who played with Furyk on America’s victorious Presidents Cup team last week, carded a 63 to join a group on 133 that also included Levin.
“Yes, I hit a lot of fairways,” Mahan said. “I gave myself a lot of good looks with some short irons and was able to make some.”
Among those who failed to make the cut at 138 were defending champion Marc Turnesa of Australia and Presidents Cup team member Anthony Kim.
■
PORTUGAL MASTERS
REUTERS, VILAMOURA, PORTUGAL
Padraig Harrington was disappointed to miss out on a magical 59 after reeling off 10 birdies in a brilliant 62 in the Portugal Masters second round on Friday.
The triple major champion’s 10-under-par return equaled his previous best and pushed the Irishman within two strokes of leader Francesco Molinari of Italy, who carded a 66 for 129.
South African Charl Schwartzel bogeyed the last for a 65 but held second spot on 130. One behind Harrington on 132 were South African Retief Goosen (64) and Spain’s Pablo Martin (66).
“I was very uncomfortable all day on the greens and will have to improve over the weekend,” said Harrington, who is chasing his first win this year and second European order of merit title.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute