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Tuesday, March 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL
Sport Woods needs to ‘clean up’ after Honda disappointment Fails to break par in all four rounds of tournament
Tiger Woods ended the Honda Classic four-over par - a massive 13 shots behind winner Michael Thompson
By Simon Evans TIGER Woods struggled to a four-over par 74 in the final round of the Honda Classic on Sunday, ending the week without breaking par once and left saying he needed to ‘clean up’ his play. “I just made too many penalties this week. Today is a perfect example, I didn’t play that poorly. I had two water balls and a lost ball,” he told reporters. “Take those away, and I missed two short birdie putts, and it was actually a decent score. So just got to clean up my rounds,” he added after ending the tournament four-over following even-par rounds of 70 in each of the first three rounds. In windy conditions, Woods took 33 putts in his round and hit just eight fairways and 12 greens. His round included two double bogeys, four bogeys, two birdies and, on the 18th, an eagle. On the sixth hole Woods hit his tee shot way right and the ball was lost, forcing him back to the tee, while his other double came on the
11th where he found water. “I feel good with what I did, though,” he said. “It’s just penalty shots. Just got to clean up the rounds. Obviously make a couple more putts and next thing you know, I’m three-under par.” Last year Woods ended the tournament with a sparkling round of 62, which while not enough to catch eventual winner Rory McIlroy, delight-
ed the crowd and indicated a return to form. Having reached the turn at one-over though, it was clear there was to be no charge from Woods this time. “Not even close. I think I passed 62 somewhere around 12,” joked Woods. “It’s a tough day. It’s more of a day of patience. It’s really hard to shoot a low number out here, even a good one.
You can certainly shoot one, two or three-under par for sure. “But anything lower than that is going to be really, really tough. And if the wind is blowing the ball up on the grain a little bit, it’s affecting even chip shots, bunker shots, you pull up in the air, it’s moving it. So it’s tough out there,” he said. American Michael Thomp-
son kept his head to win the tournament by two shots from Australian Geoff Ogilvy. In testing conditions, the 27-year-old Thompson, the joint overnight leader, held firm for his first win on the PGA Tour, ending with a birdie on the 18th for a oneunder par 69 which left him nine-under for the tournament.
Unrelenting Miami Heat notch another win in pay-back tour By Larry Fine
The Heat were led by the spectacular LeBron James
THE unrelenting Miami Heat notched another win on their pay-back tour in a Sunday matinee, dashing the hopes of the New York Knicks while raising the question of whether any team can deny Miami another NBA title. The Heat, led as usual by the spectacular LeBron James, erased a 15-point deficit at intermission by imposing their will down the stretch for a 99-93 victory in Madison Square Garden that extended their winning streak to a franchise record-tying 14 in a row. Reigning champions Miami ended New York’s modest three-game win streak and avenged a pair of 20-point losses to the Atlantic Division leaders early this season. Dwyane Wade said revenge was not only sweet, but important as the Heat sent a message to the Knicks after getting even with another quality team, the Memphis Grizzlies, on Friday. “When you’re on a winning streak you’ve got to find many different ways to win ball games,” said Wade, who scored 20 points,
handed out eight assists and pulled down eight rebounds. “We’ve had comebacks in the last second, we’ve had double overtime games, but this is probably the most thrilling one, the most challenging against a team that beat us twice handily. “For us to come back and find a way, it was great.” Wade said the Heat figured the Knicks must have felt they had Miami’s number after storming to a 59-45 lead at the half. “In the first half, in their mindset they’ve got the answer key to the Miami Heat, and we have to fight and understand this team is trying to kick our butt and show the world that they can kick our butt. So we had to fight back. “It’s a good win for our psyche.” The Heat have another game circled on their calendar, a date next week against the Indiana Pacers, who also have gone 2-0 against Miami this season. James has been doing a lot of winning lately, adding a second Olympic gold in London to his first NBA crown, but this was the first 14-game winning streak of his career.
IN BRIEF Champion wrestler on hunger strike DOUBLE Olympic wrestling champion Armen Nazaryan has decided to go on a hunger strike to protest against the sport’s possible exclusion from the Games. “I’m protesting against the recommendation to drop wrestling from the Olympics,” Nazaryan, 38, said. “Wrestling has always been part of the Olympic programme and it’s not right to exclude it from the Games. I’m starting my hunger strike and from now on I will drink only syrup,” said Armenia-born Nazaryan, who won gold in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1996 Atlanta Games, competing for his native country. He then switched his allegiance to Bulgaria, winning his second Olympic title four years later in Sydney. Nazaryan also won three world titles for Bulgaria from 2002 to 2005. Last month, the IOC made a surprise recommendation to drop the ancient sport from the 2020 Summer Games. The decision has outraged the wrestling community throughout the world, prompting two former champions, Bulgaria’s Valentin Yordanov and Russia’s Sagid Murtazaliev, to return their Olympic gold medals back to the IOC in protest. Part of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and all further editions, except the 1900 Paris Games, wrestling now joins seven other candidates battling for one spot in a revamped programme.
Female NFL trialist injured THE first woman ever to take part in trials for the National Football League has not ruled out another attempt after injury restricted her performance. Lauren Silberman, 28, took part in one of 10 regional ‘combines’ in New Jersey but failed to overcome a thigh problem. “I absolutely had to take the chance,” said the kicker from New York City. “I would certainly be very, very excited and happy if I had the opportunity to try again, but it’s not up to me. It’s up to the scouts.” Competing alongside 36 other kickers - all male Silberman only managed two kicks before aggravating a right quadriceps injury which she sustained while preparing for Sunday’s event, one of 10 regional trials.