World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa fired her second consecutive seven-under 66 on Friday to grab a one-stroke lead after the second round of the US$1.3 million LPGA Corona Championship.
The Mexican star, who won her second major title in the row last week at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, seeks her 21st career title and fourth crown in five starts this year.
Ochoa sank her third eagle in two days to finish 36 holes at 14-under 132 for a one-stroke lead over South Korean Park In-bee, who fired a 64.
Ochoa, who fired five birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round, is ready for a weekend chase for the crown.
“Well, it was a great day. No bogeys, I enjoyed that very much,” Ochoa said. “I’m going to for sure try to keep it up and go low one of the next two days. We have good conditions tomorrow and if it’s not windy, we can go low.”
Park birdied 10 holes, five each on the front and back nines, to match Ochoa’s course record and claim sole possession of second place.
“I think it’s a good thing to hold a course record,” Park said. “I’m very honored to tie the record. I played really well. My irons were very good and so was my putting. My driver was accurate, but I don’t hit it as far as Lorena.”
Park was second, two strokes ahead of first-round co-leader Kim Song-hee at 135. Kim birdied the first two holes but could not match the frantic pace set by Ochoa and Park, falling back with bogeys at nine and 13.
“I still feel good. I’m trying to focus on my game,” Kim said. “I did not play as well as yesterday, but I think I will do good tomorrow.”
Marloon Herrera was crying — happy tears. With Cuba trailing in the fifth inning of its Little League World Series (LLWS) opener on Thursday, Herrera lined a two-run double to give his team the lead. When the Czech Republic, representing Europe-Africa, made a pitching change, he ran over to give his third base coach a hug. Cuba went on to win 4-1. It was the first game at this year’s tournament for both sides, but it was also the beginning of Cuba’s second appearance in the series ever — and it was emotional. “You breathe baseball in Cuba,” manager Everaldo Machado said on
Taiwan on Friday beat Australia 11-0 at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Taiwan are represented at the tournament by Taoyuan’s Gueishan Elementary School, who won the Asia-Pacific regional tournament to earn the trip to the US. Australia are represented by the Hills Red team from Sydney. Taiwan advanced to a game tomorrow against Santa Clara, representing Cuba, who won 4-1 against the Czech Republic’s Brno, the Europe-Africa regional qualifiers. Australian starter Sayre Howick had a tough time controlling his pitches at Volunteer Stadium, one of which allowed Taiwan to open their account. They scored six in the inning and
World Boxing, an international amateur boxing organization formed last year after a breakdown in relations between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Association (IBA), has announced the admission of Taiwan, along with four other nations, into its growing list of members. In a statement released on its Web site on Friday, the Swiss- based organization said that in addition to Taiwan, admitted as Chinese Taipei, Bhutan, Ecuador, Fiji and Pakistan have also become members. The new members all have well-rounded national and international boxing programs as well as transparency in the leadership and management of their national boxing programs,
COOLED DOWN: Du Plessis apologized after the fight for comments about his Nigerian-born opponent, after Adesanya said he planned to take the belt back to Africa South African Dricus du Plessis yesterday took a flurry of body hits across four rounds before defeating Israel Adesanya by submission to retain his middleweight championship at UFC 305. After scoring some early takedowns, Du Plessis (22-2) had to withstand a flurry of body strikes from Adesanya through the middle rounds, which appeared to be taking a toll on the 30-year-old South African as the fight progressed. However, a left hook followed by three rights helped bring Adesanya down, giving Du Plessis the opening he wanted as he swiftly got the choke hold that forced the Nigerian-born New Zealander to tap out