Tiger Woods hopes of a fifth consecutive tournament victory nosedived yesterday when Ernie Els swept by him to take the lead after three rounds of the Dubai Desert Classic.
Woods ended his run of 21 straight sub-par rounds dating back five months with a lackluster one-over 73.
Els, looking for a record fourth win in Dubai, equaled the best round of the tournament to date with a seven-under 65, sparked by an eagle-three at the 10th.
The big South African, who lost to Woods in a playoff here two years ago, had started the day trailing the American by four strokes. By the end of it he led him by four and was in pole position for today's climax.
It was far from being a two-horse race however, as defending champion Henrik Stenson, who edged Els and Woods last year, stayed firmly in the hunt with a 68 which left him just one stroke off the lead and playing with Els in the final pairing today.
In-form Englishman Lee Westwood (68) was tied for third with Ulsterman Graeme McDowell (69), while Woods' finishing bogey dropped him into a share of fourth place with six others, including Sergio Garcia (70).
Colin Montgomerie hopes of getting back inside the top 50 in time to qualify for The Masters were dealt a blow when he could only manage a 73, leaving him well down the field.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
AFP, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Australian Lindsey Wright leads the women's Australian Open golf going into today's final round but world No. 3 Karrie Webb is poised one shot off the lead to claim her fourth Open title.
Wright, one of the few Australians playing on the US LPGA Tour, fired her third consecutive round of 72 yesterday to be three-under 216.
Webb and South Korea's Shin Ji-yai are joint second on the leaderboard at two-under 217.
Wright, ranked 62nd in the world, last year beat then world No. 1 Annika Sorenstam in a round at the World Matchplay Championship. And, despite the presence of Webb, is confident her experience will be worth something in the home stretch.
"I feel relaxed, like it's no big deal," Wright said.
Defending champion Webb overcame a near disaster to card an even-par 73.
Webb's brush with disaster came at the fourth hole when she pulled her second shot and landed in a greenside bunker.
She bladed the bunker shot across the green and into unplayable rough, took a penalty, chipped on and two-putted for a seven.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
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