Langer shoots 68, takes early second-round lead
July 30, 2010
SAMMAMISH, Washington (AP)—Bernhard Langer overcame a shaky front nine with aneagle and birdie on the back nine to take the clubhouse lead at 3 under in thesecond round of the U.S. Senior Open.
After a fog delay of more than two hours brought play to a halt Fridaymorning, Langer shot a 2-under 68. He trails first-round leader Bruce Vaughan bya shot. Vaughan tees off later Friday afternoon.
Langer, the British Senior Open winner Sunday at Carnoustie, was 1 over onthe front nine after missing a short par putt on the ninth. He jump-started hisround with an eagle on the long par 5 11th hole, sinking a 40-foot putt for thefirst eagle on the hole this week. Langer then birdied the par-3 17th anddelicately two-putted on the 18th to finish his round.
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Tseng has four-shot lead at Royal Birkdale
July 30, 2010
SOUTHPORT, England (AP)—Yani Tseng certainly is consistent.
The 21-year-old from Taiwan shot her second consecutive 4-under 68 onFriday, taking a four-shot lead after the second round of the Women’s BritishOpen. The American duo of Brittany Lincicome and Christie Kerr joined Amy Youngof South Korea in the chase entering the weekend.
“There was no wind this morning and it was very calm, so it was nice outthere,” said Tseng, who is trying to win her third major championship. “Thecourse played totally different than what we played the last three days, so itwas really nice.”
Rain washed over Royal Birkdale in the afternoon, making things difficultfor the late starters—including defending champion Catriona Matthew ofScotland, who missed the cut by seven strokes after making a 10 at the par-four13th hole.
Her tee shot landed in a bush, and she eventually found the deep rough nearthe green. After three tries to hack her way out of it, Matthew ended up takinga penalty drop, chipping onto the green and two-putting for her 10—only tobirdie the par-3 next hole.
“After the 10 I just wanted to get in,” said Matthew, whose 10-2 sequenceon her scorecard was part of a 9-over 81. She missed the cut at 12 over.
Kerr certainly didn’t have any problems, posting the low round for thetournament with a 5-under 67. She made a pair of 10-footers for birdie on thefirst two holes, dropped a stroke at the eighth, then picked up four morebirdies to join Lincicome and Young at 4 under.
“I played really well today,” Kerr said. “I was determined to be morerelaxed out there. I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself since gettingthe No. 1 ranking and I hadn’t really realized that’s what was going on. So Ijust went out and did my thing today.”
Lincicome had a birdie at the second, then dropped four strokes in athree-hole stretch beginning at the 11th. She also took advantage of an easyfinish at Royal Birkdale, though, with a birdie at No. 15, an eagle two holeslater and another birdie at 18 for her 1-under 71.
Veteran Julie Inkster also shot herself into contention with a 2-under 70that left her five shots off the lead, doing so in the worst of the weather.Suzann Pettersen of Norway shot a 68 and Sun Young Yoo of South Korea had aneven-par 72 to join Inkster in a tie for fifth.
“It was rainy and tedious but I was very happy with the way I played,”said the 50-year-old Inkster, who bogeyed the third hole but recovered with abirdie at the fourth. She picked up two more birdies at the 15th and 17th tofinish her round with some momentum.
“There’s a lot of good names up there but we’re all going to be playing atthe same time tomorrow,” Inkster said, “so that’s going to help.”
Michelle Wie failed to take advantage of an early start time, hitting herfirst tee shot out of bounds. She ended up shooting a 4-over 76 that left her 10strokes off the lead.
Fellow American Christina Kim went the other direction with a 4-under 68that moved her into a tie at 2 under. She’s joined by Frenchwoman Anne-LiseCaudal (73), Japan’s Momoko Ueda (70), first-round leader Katherine Hull (74),and South Koreans In-Kyung Kim (72), Hee Kyung Seo (69), M.J. Hur (68) and JiyaiShin (71).
“There was no wind when we started, so I said to myself that I’ve got totake advantage of the conditions,” said Kerr, who won the LPGA Championship by12 shots earlier this season.
“The last time I was here at Birkdale (in 2005), I got the wrong end of thesplit,” Kerr said. “I had the worst of the weather in both the first andsecond rounds, but this time it has been different, so I knew I had a chance todo well.”
Kerr and the rest of the field will still have to chase down Tseng, who hasalready won the LPGA Championship and Kraft Nabisco Championship in her briefprofessional career.
The precocious young player made five birdies on Friday and dropped her onlyshot on the 373-yard par-4 third, when she drove into the bunker on the leftside of the fairway and failed to reach the green in regulation for the firsttime in 21 holes.
“I played another solid round and made a lot of putts,” said Tseng, whohad three birdies over the final five holes. “I have never led a major from thestart before, but I feel confident and believe I can continue to play well.”
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Golf-Women’s British Open second round scores (Reuters)
July 30, 2010
July 30 (Reuters) – Leading second round scores from theWomen’s British Open at Royal Birkdale on Friday (U.S. unlessstated):
136 Yani Tseng (Taiwan) 68 68
140 Amy Yang (South Korea) 69 71, Cristie Kerr 73 67,Brittany Lincicome 69 71
141 Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 73 68, Yoo Sun-young (SouthKorea) 69 72, Juli Inkster 71 70
142 Christina Kim 74 68, Momoka Ueda (Japan) 72 70, SeoHee-kyung 73 69, Katherine Hull (Australia) 68 74, M.J. Hur(South Korea) 74 68, Shin Jiyai (South Korea) 71 71, KimIn-kyung (South Korea) 70 72, Anne-Lise Caudal (France) 69 73
- – - -
(Editing by Tom Pilcher; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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Golf-Stunning 61 puts Fisher in charge of Irish Open (Reuters)
July 30, 2010
By Norman Dabell
KILLARNEY, Ireland, July 30 (Reuters) – Englishman RossFisher took control of the Irish Open early on Friday with ascintillating second round 10-under-par 61.
The 29-year-old improved his chances of a Ryder Cup debut bybreaking the Killarney club course record by three shots as hesurged to 12-under 130, five strokes clear of the field.
Last year’s World Matchplay champion also threatened torecord the first 59 on the European Tour as he ran up sixsuccessive birdies from the third hole and four in a row fromthe 11th.
He fell short of the magic mark, however, after missingchances in the closing holes.
“It was pretty flawless golf,” Fisher told reporters. “Aftera solid start I caught fire.
“It was a shame the run had to end on the ninth but then Igot into another great patch. I gave myself four good looks atbirdies at the last four holes but didn’t make them, and had tobe satisfied with a 61.”
Fisher bettered his career-best round by two strokes andprovided the platform for his fourth European Tour title.
Victory on Sunday would also move Fisher into Europe’s nineautomatic qualifying spots for this year’s Ryder Cup, a place hecould cement with success at the WGC Invitational in Ohio andthe U.S. PGA Championship next month.
“This is the start of three really important weeks for mewith the Ryder Cup coming up,” Fisher said. “And this (61) givesme a lot of confidence knowing I can make a lot of birdies.”
Three-times major winner Padraig Harrington, another hopingto qualify for the European team, carded a 67 on Friday to shareearly second place.
Denmark’s Anders Hansen (68), Spaniard GonzaloFernandez-Castano (69), South Korea’s Noh Seung-yul (69),Australian Brett Rumford (69) and Northern Irishman Michael Hoey(69) were also five shots behind Fisher.
(Editing by Stephen Wood; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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Golf-Scintillating 61 puts Fisher in charge in Ireland (Reuters)
July 30, 2010
* Fisher breaks course record to grab lead
* Englishman eager to secure Ryder Cup berth
*
By Norman Dabell
Ireland, July 30 (Reuters) – Britain’s Ross Fisher improvedhis chances of securing a debut Ryder Cup spot when he grabbedcontrol of the Irish Open on Friday with a scintillating secondround 10-under-par 61.
The 29-year-old broke the Killarney club course record bythree shots as he surged to 12-under 130, three strokes clear ofthe field.
Last year’s World Matchplay champion also threatened torecord the first 59 on the European Tour as he ran up sixsuccessive birdies from the third hole and four in a row fromthe 11th.
He fell short of the magic mark, however, after missingchances over the closing holes.
“It was pretty flawless golf,” the Englishman toldreporters. “After a solid start I caught fire.
“It was a shame the run had to end on the ninth but then Igot into another great patch. I gave myself four good looks atbirdies at the last four holes but didn’t make them and had tobe satisfied with a 61.”
Fisher improved his career-best round by two strokes andprovided the platform for his fourth European Tour title.
Victory on Sunday would also move Fisher into Europe’s nineautomatic qualifying spots for this year’s Ryder Cup, a place hecould cement with good results at the WGC Invitational in Ohioand the U.S. PGA Championship next month.
“This is the start of three really important weeks for mewith the Ryder Cup coming up,” Fisher said. “This (61) gives mea lot of confidence knowing I can make a lot of birdies.”
Fisher’s blistering round was the first he has played withnew caddie Phil ‘Wobbly’ Morbey, who was alongside Ian Woosnamfor Ryder Cup matches and the Welshman’s 1991 U.S. Mastersvictory.
“Wobbly’s been on tour for 30 years, he is so experiencedand he’s giving me so much self-belief,” added Fisher.
Italy’s Francesco Molinari drew up to second place with a66.
Molinari, who is hoping brother Edoardo can force his wayinto Europe’s Ryder Cup team so they can reform their 2009 WorldCup winning partnership, would virtually seal his place in ColinMontgomerie’s team for Celtic Manor with victory in Ireland.
Three-times major winner Padraig Harrington, just one ofEurope’s high profile players still not assured of a Ryder Cupplace, carded a 67 to be in a large group in third place fivestrokes behind Fisher.
A 68 also put tournament favourite Rory McIlroy in thatpack. Darren Clarke (70) is a further stroke back.
(Editing by Pritha Sarkar; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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AP Interview: European Tour chief eyes growth
July 30, 2010
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—The head of the European Tour says there isgreat potential to expand into Eastern Europe, Asia and even South America asmany countries step up their construction of world class courses.
George O’Grady also told The Associated Press on Friday that golf beingnamed an Olympic sport will “kick-start” the growth of the game in developingcountries as federations are given funding to attract and develop young players.
The European Tour’s schedule includes 26 tournaments in Europe, seven inAsia, six in the United States, five in the Middle East and four in SouthAfrica.
It was announced this week that Bahrain will be the next Middle Easterncountry to host a tournament, in January 2011.
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Tseng has 4-shot clubhouse lead at Royal Birkdale
July 30, 2010
SOUTHPORT, England (AP)—Yani Tseng of Taiwan has taken an early four-strokelead in the second round of the Women’s British Open after shooting a secondconsecutive 4-under 68 at Royal Birkdale.
Tseng had five birdies and a bogey to finish at 8-under 136 on Friday.
Cristie Kerr shot a 67 to move to 4 under. She was tied with fellow AmericanBrittany Lincicome and South Korea’s Amy Yang.
Sweden’s Suzann Pettersen shot a 68 and was at 3 under after failing to takeadvantage of birdie chances on the three closing par-fives. Also at 3 under wasSouth Korea’s Sun Young Yoo, who added a second-round 72 to her opening 69.
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Yani Tseng moves to 4-shot lead at Royal Birkdale
July 30, 2010
SOUTHPORT, England (AP)—Taiwan’s Yani Tseng took an early 4-stroke lead in thesecond round of the Women’s British Open on Friday after shooting a secondconsecutive 4-under 68 at Royal Birkdale.
Tseng had five birdies and a bogey to finish at 8-under 136 going into theweekend.
“There was no wind this morning and it was very calm, so it was nice outthere,” the two-time major winner said. “The course played totally differentthan what we played the last three days, so it was really nice.
“I feel very confident and if I stay patient over the weekend and just keepplaying the way I’m playing I have a good chance.”
Cristie Kerr shot a 5-under 67 to move to 4-under overall. She was tied withfellow American Brittany Lincicome and South Korea’s Amy Yang.
Sweden’s Suzann Pettersen shot a 68 to move to 3-under, despite failing totake advantage of birdie chances on the three closing par fives. Also at 3-underwas South Korea’s Sun Young Yoo, who added a second round 72 to her opening 69.
Tseng made her first birdie at the second, hitting her 8-iron approach to 15feet and holing the putt. She dropped a stroke at the third but birdied the longsixth, reaching the green with a 3-wood.
Tseng picked up three more birdies on the back nine. She hit a 6-iron toeight feet at the 14th, reached the green in two with a pitching wedge at the16th and also made it to the green in two at the 17th where she two-putted.
Kerr sank 10-foot birdie putts on the first two holes, dropped a stroke atthe eighth and picked up four more birdies on the back nine.
“I played really well today,” Kerr said. “I was determined to be morerelaxed out there. I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself since gettingthe No. 1 ranking and I hadn’t really realized that’s what was going on. So Ijust went out and did my thing today.”
Lincicome got to 4-under with a birdie at the second, then dropped fourstrokes in three holes from the 11th, including a double-bogey at 12.
Lincicome regained the four shots over the last four holes with a birdie at15, an eagle 3 at 17 and a birdie at 18 to finish with a round of 71.
Pettersen had an eagle at the long sixth and a birdie at the seventh as shereached the turn in 33. She birdied nine and 11 but then settled for pars therest of the way.
“I felt I took advantage of this side of the draw this morning so I’ve putmyself back in it for the weekend,” Pettersen said.
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With a 3rd heart, Compton shares Greenbrier lead
July 30, 2010
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP)—Erik Compton is a walking billboard fororgan donation and sheer determination.
He’s also at the top of the Greenbrier Classic leaderboard.
Playing on a late sponsor exemption, the 30-year-old double heart transplantrecipient shot a 7-under 63 on Thursday to share the first-round lead withrookie Matt Every in the inaugural tournament.
Compton spent eight straight days doing yard work at home in Miami before hegot the call Saturday to play in the tournament. He’s making the most of hislate invite, overcoming a slow start with nine birdies on the Old White course.
“You know, some guys miss six, seven cuts in a row and then win,” Comptonsaid. “I know I’m a good player, and I have a lot of the adversity in front ofme with the game and health. But I always feel like if I stick in there and keeptrying, something eventually good is going to happen.”
George McNeill, Pat Perez and Jeff Overton opened with 64s.
Nearly all of the field hadn’t played the course before this week, but itwasn’t a detriment—24 players were at 4 under or better.
While more than half of the field is in jeopardy of missing the FedEx Cupplayoffs and others are trying to secure spots in next month’s PGA Championshipat Whistling Straits, Compton is taking it week by week, looking to solidify afuture either on the PGA Tour or the Nationwide circuit.
A few years ago, it wasn’t looking so bright.
Compton was diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy at age 9. The diseaseinflames the heart and leaves it unable to pump as hard as it needs to. Hisfirst transplant came three years later and another occurred in 2008.
He didn’t think he’d play golf again and even sold his equipment after thesecond transplant. But his health improved quickly and he returned to the gamewithin weeks.
This season he’s made four cuts in seven starts.
In the past he might have denied that his double transplants would have beena bigger deal than shooting a low score, but not now.
“It affects so many people,” Compton said.
Compton’s stamina is good, though he admits it may not be up to the level ofother players. That’s in part due to the hilly terrain and expansive layout ofsome courses.
Fortunately for him, Old White is relatively flat.
“My health is great. I keep a good eye on it,” Compton said. “I’m almostlike a doctor now myself because I’ve been through so much and being able tomanage medications and take it on the road.”
Good friend Victor Billskoog, who’s carrying Compton’s bag this week for thefirst time, is hoping to attend the PGA Tour’s qualifying school and usesCompton as an inspiration.
“He has such a great story coming from the depths that he came from,”Billskoog said. “When I get down on myself and think about how hard I’m havingit, I think about Erik and his remarkable story.”
An accurate driver, Compton showed a good all-around game Thursday, reaching11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. He needed just 26 putts.
Things didn’t start out so good.
Compton bogeyed two of the first three holes, then rattled off seven birdiesover a nine-hole stretch. He also birdied the par-4 14th and his chip frombehind the green to the par-5 17th hit the flag, leaving him with another shortbirdie.
“I’m just trying to enjoy the opportunity,” Compton said. “It’s just thefirst round. I’ve played this sport long enough to know that (Friday) I tee offat 2 o’clock and might be seven back. So I’m just trying to be patient.”
Compton’s previous best round this year was 4-under 67 in February at theMayakoba Golf Classic. His best finish was a tie for 30th at the Arnold PalmerInvitational.
He qualified for the U.S. Open in June after a 36-hole sectional thatincluded a playoff. He shot 77-81 in the Open and missed the cut.
After missing the cut two weeks ago at the Reno-Tahoe Open, Compton wentback to his new home for some serious yard work, planting palm, oak and ItalianCypress trees and redoing the lawn.
“I’ve done flowers before, but nothing will grow in 150-degree weather inMiami,” Compton said.
After more than a week of getting his hands dirty, he got the call to playgolf again—and has come to appreciate the beauty of Old White, which hasundergone some tweaking and considerable floral touch ups in preparation for thetournament.
“This place is immaculate,” Compton said. “That why it’s so neat to seethe landscaping here. As a golfer, you like to have your yard look nice.”
Every, starting on the back nine, eagled the par-5 12th and had threestraight birdies to make the turn at 6 under. He added a birdie at the par-4sixth hole.
The 26-year-old Every’s best finish is eighth at the Phoenix Open in lateFebruary. He’s played in just 11 tournaments in the last five months afterbreaking his left pinky finger.
“My game’s coming around,” said Every, recently arrested in Iowa andcharged with possession of a controlled substance. He has denied possessingmarijuana.
Overton, seeking his fifth top-10 finish this season, had the chance to tiefor the lead but made bogey on the par-3 18th after his tee shot flew the green.
Brendon de Jonge, Charles Howell III, Aron Price, Matt Bettencourt and JohnRollins shot 65s. Jim Furyk, who’s fifth in the FedExCup points standings andcan jump past Ernie Els into the top spot with a second place or better finish,had a 68.
Carl Pettersson, winner of the Canadian Open last week, had a 71.
Afternoon play was stopped for 1 hour, 33 minutes due to storms.
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Second-round tee times for Cox Classic Presented by Lexus of Omaha (PGATOUR.com)
July 30, 2010
Second-round times. All times are local.
Cox Classic Presented by Lexus of Omaha Tee #2TimePlayers12:25 pmJay DelsingRick PricePeter Tomasulo12:35 pmJim HermanJustin HicksD.J. Brigman12:45 pmAndrew BuckleDustin RisdonJamie Lovemark12:55 pmB.J. StatenPhil TataurangiBarrett Jarosch1:05 pmEsteban ToledoDavid McKenzieJeff Brehaut1:15 pmGary ChristianTag RidingsBradley Iles1:25 pmJoe AffruntiBrandt JobeScott Dunlap1:35 pmTom ByrumMarc TurnesaDavid Hearn1:45 pmJonas BlixtJonathan KayeHunter Haas1:55 pmJohn DoumaBrady SchnellJhonattan Vegas2:05 pmDaniel BarbettiDaniel SummerhaysSteven Bowditch2:15 pmRay BeaufilsBryan DeCorsoChris Mundorf2:25 pmMatt MarshallDavid D. SchultzRaul Cortes12:25 pmWon Joon LeeMark AndersonBubba Dickerson12:35 pmRon WhittakerSteven AlkerJ.J. Killeen12:45 pmNick FlanaganJoel EdwardsDarron Stiles12:55 pmGavin ColesJason SchultzTodd Fischer1:05 pmKevin ChappellEwan PorterBobby MacWhinnie1:15 pmPatrick SheehanJohn KimbellMarco Dawson1:25 pmBrian SmockScott GardinerRob Oppenheim1:35 pmBobby GatesDave SchultzPaul Claxton1:45 pmBilly HorschelScott GutschewskiTed Brown1:55 pmDiego VanegasJeff CurlZack Miller2:05 pmJustin SmithJin ParkTrevor Murphy2:15 pmMiguel Angel CarballoSal SpalloneLeif Olson2:25 pmByron SmithRobert StrebFernando Mechereffe7:15 amMichael Clark IIGarrett OsbornFrank Lickliter II7:25 amJeff GallagherJim CarterLuke List7:35 amFabian GomezJason GoreTy Harris7:45 amDavid MathisJames HahnCasey Wittenberg7:55 amKent JonesKen DukeTjaart van der Walt8:05 amKyle ReifersAdam MeyerScott Stallings8:15 amAndrew SvobodaAdam BlandBrian Bateman8:25 amAlistair PresnellBob MayMichael Putnam8:35 amCamilo BenedettiChris SesslerKyle Stanley8:45 amJesse HutchinsOskar BergmanAlan Morin8:55 amNick MalinowskiColt KnostJustin Peters9:05 amManuel VillegasBen PortieJames Vargas9:15 amRoberto CastroNick RouseyShane Zywiec7:15 amDavid BranshawKeegan BradleyJosh Broadaway7:25 amJason EnloeBronson La’CassieBrad Elder7:35 amStephen PooleTommy GaineyBrad Adamonis7:45 amJon MillsBrendan SteeleScott Brown7:55 amJess DaleyDoug LaBelle IIDicky Pride8:05 amRyan ArmourNate SmithScott Sterling8:15 amJohn RieggerChris KirkKyle Thompson8:25 amMartin PillerKevin KisnerMatthew Borchert8:35 amGeoffrey SiskWilliam McGirtTed Potter, Jr.8:45 amAaron WatkinsBrian VraneshRyan Hietala8:55 amKelly GrunewaldMatt DavidsonChris Nallen9:05 amBerry HensonJon PetersenBrandon Crick9:15 amA.J. ElgertMorgan HoffmannClint Jensen
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