Rising star Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka combined superbly to give Germany the edge over Australia after the first round of the Omega World Cup yesterday.
The pair, world ranked 26th and 212th respectively, fired eight birdies and an extraordinary eagle over the bunker-strewn Olazabal Course in their 10-under-par round of 62.
It gave them a one-stroke lead over unheralded Australian pair Richard Green and Brendan James.
The US, represented by former Open winner Ben Curtis and Brandt Snedeker, lie alongside Spain and Canada in three-way share of third place on eight-under-par.
The highly-fancied Swedish pair of Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson are a shot further back after firing a 65.
The players predicted that the barrage of birdies during the first day’s fourball session would not be repeated in the tougher foursomes format today.
Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang (林文堂) and Lu Wen-teh (呂文德) had a four-under-par round of 68, putting them level with Gregory Havret and Gregory Bourdy of France, Bae Sang-moon and Kim Hyung-tae of South Korea and Alastair Forysth and Colin Montgomerie of Scotland.
■ AUSTRALIAN MASTERS
AFP, MELBOURNE
South Africa’s Tim Clark reeled off two eagles and three birdies to join Australian Scott Hend in the lead after the opening 18 holes of the European Tour co-sanctioned Australian Masters at Huntingdale yesterday.
Clark’s afternoon round of five-under 67 was interrupted by a three-hour electrical storm delay and was two shots off the pace at the time before grabbing birdies on the 15th and 16th holes in benign conditions.
The world No. 43, who was runner-up in the US Masters two years ago, earlier had joined Hend in the lead after 10 holes following eagles on the downwind par five seventh and 10th holes.
“I had two eagles all year on the US Tour so that was quite a shock for me, but downwind they were reachable and that was where you had to make your score up on a day like this,” Clark said.
Two-time major winner John Daly had a torrid opening round with a four-over 76. The American said he was just focused on survival and kept his signature driver under wraps for much of the round.
■ CASIO OPEN
AFP, KOCHI, JAPAN
Japan’s Komei Oda shot a sizzling six-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round amid tight security at the Casio Open men’s golf tournament yesterday.
Police stepped up security at the Kuroshio Country Club course after a grenade exploded at its clubhouse last week and an anonymous caller claimed to have buried landmines demanding the cancelation of the tournament.
Another grenade went off last Saturday at a local food company owned by the manager of the golf-links.
Oda, who has yet to win a title on the Japan Tour, carded three birdies on both nines without a bogey, one stroke above fellow Japanese Achi Sato and two strokes above Keichi Kuboya and Hiromichi Kubo.
Sato sank six birdies to tie with Oda on the 15th hole, but bogeyed the 17th hole to go back to second place.
Japan’s teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa, 17 who posted his second title on the tour earlier this month, hit a 70 to share 20th place with 13 other golfers.
Yeh Wei-tze (葉偉志) of Taiwan fired 73, while Lin Keng-chi (林根基) shot 74.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
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
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
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