SEVILLE, Spain, 20 November 2004 — A fine show of foursomes play took England’s Paul Casey and Luke Donald into a commanding five-stroke lead in yesterday’s second round of the WGC World Cup.
Despite further fall-out over Casey’s attack on American golf culture earlier in the week, which has left the 27-year-old regretting his words, the England duo racked up nine birdies to surge to a 19-under-par total of 125.
Casey was responsible for all nine-birdie putts. That took them past of Austrian dark horses Markus Brier and Martin Wiegele and six shots ahead of six other teams, including overnight co-leaders Ireland, home favorites Spain and the US, whose Scott Verplank expressed resentment over Casey’s comments on Wednesday.
Casey and Donald faltered twice toward the end, bogeying the last after saving par on the long 16th where Casey had found water with his only par-five tee-shot of the day.
But they were well on course to emulate Nick Faldo and David Carter, England’s only previous World Cup winners who won in 1998 at Auckland, New Zealand, where Verplank won the individual title.
To hoist England’s colors again Casey, who was quoted in a newspaper as saying he had felt “hate” toward the Americans during the Ryder Cup, will have to keep sharp focus after the furor which has left him worrying over the response when he plays on next year’s US Tour. The backlash spread to the course on Friday. South African Rory Sabbatini’s American wife Amy sported a T-shirt with the words ‘Stoopid Amerikan’ on the front and ‘PC is not PC’ on the back.
Donald said the Englishmen’s success in scoring nine birdies in 12 holes had been based on a alternate-shot strategy of him teeing off on odd-numbered holes, meaning he played all the par-threes and drove on three of the par-fives. Austria, who led with Ireland after the first round, also bogeyed the last but Brier, ranked 211th in the world, and Wiegele, ranked 533rd, refused to go away, sandwiching four birdies around the turn between bogeys at the third and last.
Ireland looked set to be England’s nearest challengers until Padraig Harrington, the highest world ranked player in the field at eight, hit into the lake on 16, giving him and partner Paul McGinley, the 1997 World Cup champions, a double-bogey. Mexico, whose Alejandro Quiroz was penalized one stroke for slow play after the first round, continue to prop up the 24-team field, 21 shots back.
Tiger Maintains Lead in Dunlop Phoenix Golf
In Miyazaki, Japan, American superstar Tiger Woods maintained a three-stroke lead by shooting a convincing three-under-par 67 in the second round of the Dunlop Phoenix golf tournament yesterday. Seeking his first win on the Japan tour, the five-time US former world No. 1 carded four birdies against one bogey for a two-round total of eight-under-par 132, ahead of Japan’s Kaname Yokoo.
After carding his first birdie on the fourth hole, Woods sank a five-meter putt for a second on the eighth and another on the 13th before having his first bogey in two days on the 16th. He birdied the 18th to finish the day. Yokoo, the winner in 2002 when Woods finished eighth in his previous appearance here, also hit a 67 with five birdies against two bogeys on the 6,901-yard, par 70 Phoenix Country Club course in western Japan.
American Christian Pena hit the day’s best of 63 to move up to third place on 136, followed by Japan’s Ryoken Kawagishi and Choi Kyoung-ju of South Korea two strokes further back. Defending champion Thomas Bjorn of Denmark hit a 69 to be tied at 32nd place with four Japanese on 144, while British Open champion Todd Hamilton of the United States had a disastrous 76 for a 60th-place tie on 149, narrowly clearing the cut line. A total of 65 golfers who marked nine-over-par 149 or less advanced to the third round of the 200 million yen ($1.9 million) event.
Sorenstam Seizes Early Lead at Season-Ending Event
In West Palm Beach, Florida, Swedish star Annika Sorenstam shot a six-under-par 66 in Thursday’s first round at the season-ending one million dollar ADT Championship.
Sorenstam, who has already won her seventh Player of the Year Award, has a one-shot lead over American Cristie Kerr, who posted a 67. Sorenstam sizzled late with four birdies over the final five holes en route to a 32 on the back nine. She carded eight birdies and two bogeys on the day.
The trio of Candie Kung, Jeong Jang and Karrie Webb are two shots back following 68s. Sorenstam, who won career-high 11 tournaments in 2002, is trying to match her win total from 2001, when she won eight times in 18 events. It has been a dominating year for Sorenstam, who has earnings of $2.33 million to go along with 15 top-10 finishes.
Sorenstam Seeking her fourth win in 2004, Kerr is enjoying the best run of her eight-year career with earnings of $1.07 million. She entered this year with just one title, with that coming at the Longs Drugs Challenge in 2002. Kerr outlined the keys to her best season to date. The elite event is limited to the top 30 money-earners on the LPGA Tour.
The Trump International Golf Club is a par-72 measuring 6,506 yards. First prize is $215,000.
