m o n day : augus t 1 0 , 2 0 1 5
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Rose seizes share of WGC lead AKRON—England’s Justin Rose roared home with four birdies in his last six holes to fire a bogey-free 63 to grab a share of the lead after the third round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Rose is tied with second round leader Jim Furyk, of the US, through 54 holes at nine-under 201 at the Firestone Country Club course. Rose, the 2013 US Open champion whose only title in the World Golf Championships came in the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, capped his sevenunder 63 round Saturday with a 38-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
“I didn’t make any birdies yesterday, but I have played well all week and felt there was a low score out there,” said Rose. “I birdied the first two holes (Saturday) and it was nice to see a couple finally go in. Then I had that hot spell on the back nine. “I went out there today with the mindset of making some birdies right from the beginning and it got
me right back into the tournament.” Rose tied for fourth at the 2014 WGC-Bridgestone tournament. Furyk, who has finished second twice among nine top-10 finishes in Bridgestone without winning, sank an 11-foot par putt on the 18th hole to finish a 69 and keep a share of the lead. Shane Lowry of Ireland carded a 67 and was two shots back in solo third. Steven Bowditch of Australia matched Rose’s 63, taking his only bogey on the 13th hole, and was four strokes behind in a tie for fourth with Bubba Watson (69), England’s Ian Poulter (65) and Swede Henrik Stenson (68).
Brooks Koepka and Robert Streb, who both had 68s, were tied for eighth with Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell. Players champion Rickie Fowler shot a 70, good for a share of 15th. Reigning Masters and US Open champ Jordan Spieth was tied for 17th after a 72 and Zach Johnson, who claimed the Open Championship at St. Andrews, was tied for 26th after a 71. Phil Mickelson, who opened with a 76 in the no-cut event, carded a 71 and still has not broken 70 in three rounds, leaving him well back in 58th. AFP
Vengeful win. Kei Nishikori of Japan returns a shot to Marin Cilic of Croatia during the Citi Open at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, DC.
Nishikori avenged his loss to Marin Cilic in last year’s US Open final, defeating the Croatian 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 Saturday to reach the final. The 25-year-old Asian number one rallied to oust the reigning US Open champion and advanced to Sunday’s title match against US eighth seed John Isner, who fired 31 aces and saved three match points to edge American Steve Johnson 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (11/9). AFP
2 more PH boxers win opening tiffs TWO more female boxers from the four-women PLDT-ABAP team competing in the 2015 ASBC Asian Confederation Women’s Continental Championships in Wulanchabu, China have won their opening bouts to join opening-day winner Irish Magno, who defeated AIBA World Youth champion Lin Yu Ting of Chinese Taipei. AIBA said that the best women boxers across Asia are competing for gold-medal glory. Seasoned campaigners Josie Gabuco and Nesthy Petecio, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, showed their class beating their rugged Uzbekistan opponents handily. Gabuco, the 2012 AIBA world champion took three rounds to overcome Atakulova Gulasal, taking charge from the opening bell and although Gulasal tried to make a fight of it she paid dearly as Gabuco nailed her several times with solid left hooks. Ronnie Nathaneilz
Juvic routs field, bags title by 8 shots JUVIC Pagunsan stamped his class over Pijit Petchkasem and Angelo Que with an early burst of birdies, turning what was expected to be a wild finish into a runaway eight-shot romp in the Aboitiz Invitational at Southwoods’ Legends course here yesterday. Tied with the Thai ace and one up on the three-time Asian Tour winner after 54 holes, Pagunsan needed just four pars to seize control in the early going then flashed his vaunted shotmaking and iron game to fire four birdies in the next five holes which Petchkasem and Que failed to match to virtually settle the outcome. He wound up with a six-under 65, another bogey-free round that has marked his solid start in the $100,000 event sponsored by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, for a 72-hole aggregate of 20-under 264. “It’s a nice win. I was able to string up a good game this week,” said Pagunsan, who pocketed the top $17,500 purse for his maiden victory on the Asian Development Tour, a farm league of the Asian Tour, which he dominated in 2011 by winning the coveted Order of Merit title. It was also Pagunsan’s first victory on the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour, which he was forced to skip the last two-and-a-half years after being sacked by the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. for abandoning a tournament without prior notice. As a former Asian Tour OOM winner, Pagunsan gained a card in the lucrative Japan PGA Tour which he made as base during his suspension that saw him post
Juvic Pagunsan receives his trophy and replica of his cheque worth $17,500 from Aboitiz Corporate Marketing Communications manager Victoria Vicente after ruling the 2015 Aboitiz Invitational via an emphatic 8-shot romp at Southwoods’ Legends course.
seven top 10 finishes, including a runner-up finish in Mizuno Open last year. More importantly, the Japan stint further honed his talent and skills, which he put in full display in all four days this week, spiked by a bogey-less nine-under 62 in the second round that put him in the lead of a tightly-fought
Manila softbelles miss finals
DELAWARE—After three impressive wins and topping its Pool in group competition, Team Manila–Philippines buckled with errors and not only suffered its first loss in four games to USA Southwest Champion District 5–Louisiana, 8 – 3, but missed the finals in the 2015 World Series Girls Big League Softball Championship at the Layton Field of the Pyles Center in Lower Sussex County here. A total of eight errors were committed by the Manila softbelles in seven innings which started at the top of the first on back-to-back throwing and catching errors by third baseman Shaira Damasing and starting pitcher Mary Ann Antolihao for a run by center fielder Bobbi Smith of Louisiana to make it, 1 – 0. At the top of the second, three fine defensive stops were completed by short stop Edna Mae Severino, left fielder Chrystal Yamut and Damasing putting a halt to another surge by the Southwest batters. But it was at the top of the third inning alone that Louisiana scored a total of six runs, four of which were unearned off errors by the 2012 World Series Champion to the dismay of the coaching staff, coupled with Antolihao’s lackluster performance, yielding a total of seven runs and four hits in three innings, far from her skillful display in the Team’s first and second game wins.
Pacman still wants Floyd By Ronnie Nathanielsz EIGHT-DIVISION world champion Manny Pacquiao indicated he’d like to face undefeated pound-forpound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a rematch sometime next year. Pacquiao, who was in Tokyo as part of the Philippine delegation that made a bid to host the 2019 World Cup of basketball in Manila but lost to China, told Japan’s boxing Hall of Famer Joe Koizumi in a brief interview: “I’d like to concentrate my efforts on working as a politician this year, and want to fight Mayweather in a rematch. I’ll be ready for that mentally and physically next year. I’ll show a better performance against him than in the first encounter.” Asked for his thoughts about the May 2 Fight of the Century against Mayweather, Pacquiao remarked: “He was running away all the time. I was making the fight by stalking him and believe that I deserved a victory.”