Americans Paula Creamer and Jane Park edged into a narrow one shot lead on a jam-packed leaderboard after the second round of the HSBC Women’s Champions yesterday.
The ailing Creamer, still feeling sick from a virus as she searches for her ninth career victory, mixed three birdies with two bogeys in a 71 to be joint leader with playing partner Park, who has yet to win on the US LPGA Tour.
Sitting a stroke behind on 139 are South Korea’s Kim Mi-hyun and Australia’s Katherine Hull, with Japanese superstar Ai Miyazato and another Korean, Yoo Sun-young, a shot further back.
PHOTO: AP
On a hot and humid day, no one made a significant break from the pack, with seven players tied for the lead at one stage.
DISASTROUS RUN
World No. 1 and defending champion Lorena Ochoa is in a pack of nine players on 142 and remains a threat despite a disastrous run to the clubhouse where she bogeyed the 12th, 14th and 18th.
Ochoa ended the day with a 73 but the third-ranked Creamer will be looking over her shoulder after the Mexican came from three shots down on the final day to beat her at the Thailand Open last weekend.
Ochoa was not the only one who floundered on the back nine, with one-time joint leader Miyazato struggling with bogeys at the 16th and 17th before a birdie on the last rescued her card.
Taiwan’s world No.2 Tseng Yani had another forgettable day, failing to make inroads by adding a 71 to her opening 72 to be five strokes adrift.
Park, based in California, is one of Creamer’s best friends on tour and she said she was honored to join her as joint leader.
AWESOME
“Getting my first win here in Singapore would be awesome, but I’m just going to take it one shot at a time,” she said, adding that Ochoa still remained the danger woman.
“You can never forget about Lorena because that girl is crazy. She makes putts from everywhere and you can never rule her out,” Park said.
“But I will try not to concern myself with the leaderboard too much until Sunday. I know getting my first win will be the toughest one,” she said.
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
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
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
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
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