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.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
San Francisco Giants pitcher Teng Kai-wei impressed against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday despite an 8-1 loss in the opener of the team’s nine-game road trip. Teng, the only Taiwanese pitcher active in MLB, struck out five while allowing two hits and one walk over four innings at Chase Field to finish with a no decision, as the teams were tied 1-1 when he finished his outing. He surrendered the lone run of his outing in the bottom of the first, which began with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and two strikeouts. Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Geraldo Perdomo advanced to third on
RSS