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McDowell: Molinari ‘flogging dead horse’ in regard to slow play
Published in
Golf
Saturday, 27 April 2019 13:41
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AVONDALE, La. – Graeme McDowell understands where Edoardo Molinari is coming from.
Molinari took to Twitter to vent about slow play after playing a five-and-a-half-hour round Saturday at the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II, saying, “It’s time that professional golf does something serious for slow play.” He then tweeted out a list of every player who has been timed, penalized and fined this season because of slow play in European Tour, WGC and major tournaments.
“I saw his tweet this morning when he came off the course, ‘We need to play faster, blah, blah, blah.’ I get it,” McDowell said Saturday at the Zurich Classic. “I hear where Edoardo is coming from, but he is, what shall we say, flogging a dead horse?
“It’s not a dead horse, but it’s pretty dead. What do you want to do? We can’t get around there much quicker. Is 20 minutes going to change his life? Listen, I like Edoardo, nice kid, but I think he’s just frustrated.”
McDowell pointed out that he feels like the pace-of-play policy on the European Tour is more stringent than the PGA Tour’s policy, though he said even that is “getting tougher and tougher.”
“Listen, golf courses are long, golf courses are hard, we’re playing for a lot of money, it’s a big business, it is what it is,” McDowell said. “There’s just no way to speed the game up really. You can try these small percentiles, but at the end of the day it’s very hard to get around a 7,600-yard golf course with tucked pins with a three-ball in less than 4:45, 5 hours. You can’t do it.”
As for Molinari sharing an in-house document with the world and in turn calling out his fellow players, McDowell doesn’t have a major issue with Molinari’s actions. McDowell is not on the list, which includes Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed along with three players – Louis Oosthuizen, Erik Van Rooyen and Adrian Otaegui – who each received $3,000 fines.
But the Northern Irishman did disclose that he’s received some bad times on the PGA Tour this season.
“It should be public, you know, name and shame,” McDowell said. “I’m willing to admit I’ve been timed five times so far this year, been put on the clock five times, which is halfway to my 10, which is halfway to a $25,000 fine. I’m aware, but you get in the wrong group on the wrong week and you’re gonna get timed. Henrik Stenson is on six times [according to the list]. Is Henrik a slow player? No, it’s just one of those things.
“I hear Edoardo. We all hear him. We all wish we could play a little faster to attract more people to the sport. We’re trying.”
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Co-leaders Rahm, Palmer taste the rainbow at Zurich Classic
Published in
Golf
Saturday, 27 April 2019 13:58
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AVONDALE, La. – Jon Rahm and his partner, Ryan Palmer, teamed up to card nine birdies in Saturday’s third round of the Zurich Classic.
For the pair, that not only meant an 8-under 64 that earned them a share of the 54-hole lead with Trey Mullinax and Scott Stallings at 23 under, but also nine “treats.”
A day earlier, Rahm’s caddie, Adam Hayes, brought a bag of Skittles with him onto the golf course and started giving them to Rahm and Palmer after every birdie. They made seven of them in a sweet 7-under 65 foursomes round.
“We figured we needed to get something going, so we had Skittles for birdies,” Palmer said, “so every birdie we made, [Hayes] pulled out [the bag] and fed each one of us one Skittle.”
I’m ready pal. Let’s go get it. What a blast. @Skittles for birdies. Let’s do it. https://t.co/ZFU20wy0iP
— Ryan Palmer (@RyanPalmerPGA) April 28, 2019
That tradition continued Saturday in four-balls, where Rahm played the role of candy man by accounting for all but one of the birdies. The final one came from 15 feet at the par-5 18th hole, with Palmer looking at a 3-footer for birdie.
“Completely stealing Ryan's momentum,” Rahm quipped.
Added Palmer: “I get one chance to make birdie…”
Palmer, though, made arguably the most crucial putt of the round a hole earlier. Both players hit their tee balls in the water on the par-3 17th, but Palmer was able to hit his third shot to 9 feet and make the bogey putt to avoid further damage.
“That putt Ryan made was probably the most important shot we made so far in the tournament,” Rahm said. “Felt like a birdie, and then to keep tied for the lead, very important.”
Instead of playing ahead of Sunday’s final pairing, Rahm and Palmer will go off last alongside Mullinax and Stallings. Tee time is at 12:42 p.m. local time. Bring the Skittles.
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LOS ANGELES - Minjee Lee overcame a triple bogey Saturday to take the lead into the final round of the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open.
Lee shot a 4-under 67 to reach 11-under 202 at Wilshire Country Club. The 22-year-old Australian birdied the first two holes before dropping the three strokes on the par-4 third. She rallied with birdies on Nos. 5, 6, 10, 14 and 17 - all par 4s - for a one-stroke lead over Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen.
''Sort of fought my way back to my score today,'' Lee said. ''After that (triple) I wasn't super nervous or anything. I just sort of tried to believe in myself and just go out there and make as many birdies as I can, try and hit as many good shots as I can.''
Ranked fourth in the world, Lee won the last of her four LPGA Tour titles in May in Michigan in the LPGA Volvik Championship. She tied for third last week in Hawaii for her third top-three finish of the season.
''Both of us, Nanna and I, we made a lot of birdies today,'' Lee said. ''I think we sort of fed off each other, which was really nice. Yeah, nice confidence for tomorrow.''
The 24-year-old Koerstz Madsen also shot 67.
''I'm glad to be done,'' Koerstz Madsen said. ''I got the putter going on the last couple holes, but it was a little bit shaky all day kind of.''
She's trying to become the first LPGA winner from Denmark
''Do the same thing as the last two days, three days,'' Koerstz Madsen said. ''Really just focus on my own game. If it's enough, that's good and I'm happy with whatever. I mean, I'm already happy with how I've been emotionally this week. Just going to enjoy tomorrow I think.''
Inbee Park was 7 under after a 68. The South Korean star has 19 LPGA victories - seven in majors - but is winless in more than year.
''It's extremely hard to stay patient on these greens,'' Park said. ''I really feel like I should be 15-under par easily by now. These greens are just so complicated, and you can't be aggressive or it's either you leave it a foot short or you're 5 feet by.''
Top-ranked Jin Young Ko and Morgan Pressel were 6 under. Ko had a 67. She's the only player with multiple victories this year, taking the Founders Cup in Phoenix and the major ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage.
Pressel shot 70. She won the last her two LPGA titles in 2008.
''It's just tough to be aggressive on a lot of these putts out here, even when you're uphill,'' Pressel said. ''You don't want to be left with a downhiller coming back, especially late in the day. Poa can get a little bit bumpy.''
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Quotes of the Week: Woods, Peterson approaching post-Masters differently
Published in
Golf
Saturday, 27 April 2019 14:44
Two weeks after Tiger Woods' fifth Masters victory, we're learning more about the ripple effects from the greatest comeback in golf history. Woods himself hasn't done much since, but one former PGA Tour player has used what he saw as motivation to quit his job and return to competitive golf.
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British Police said on Sunday they were investigating how a picture reported to be of the body of Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala had been taken and posted online.
Sala, 28, had been flying from his previous club Nantes in western France to Wales on Jan. 21 to join up with Cardiff City when the single-engined Piper Malibu aircraft disappeared over the English Channel.
- Borden: In search of Emiliano Sala
Wreckage was found on Feb. 3 following a privately-funded underwater search and a body was recovered three days later. Later that month Sala's body was flown back to Argentina for his funeral.
"We are aware that a picture reported to be of Mr. Sala's body has been shared on social media channels and are disgusted that somebody did this," a spokeswoman for Dorset Police said in a statement. "It is clearly a very difficult time for Mr Sala's family and they should not have to endure additional pain that this shameful act will undoubtedly cause.
"We are investigating this incident and are working together with a number of agencies to establish how the picture was taken and who is responsible."
It has been a very difficult period for the Sala family with Emiliano's father Horacio passing away following a sudden heart attack on Friday.
Cardiff and Nantes are in a dispute over Sala's transfer after the Premier League side refused to make the first scheduled payment for the Argentine.
The Bluebirds argue the agreement struck with Nantes regarding Sala's purchase was not legal as the French club failed to fulfill conditions they set.
FIFA has granted Cardiff City and Nantes extra time to submit full details of the transfer of Sala as the clubs look to schedule face-to-face talks.
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Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar criticised some of his younger teammates after they lost the Coupe de France final to Rennes 6-5 on penalties after a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes.
The Brazil international doubled PSG's lead after Dani Alves' opener, but the Bretons fought back through a Presnel Kimpembe own goal and a Mexer strike before winning on penalties after Christopher Nkunku missed his kick.
Speaking in the mixed zone after the final whistle at Stade de France, Neymar urged his younger teammates to listen more to the older and more experienced members of the squad.
"We need to be more like men in the dressing room, we must be more united," he said. "I see a lot of young players who are, not lost exactly, but they lack more ear than mouth.
"They must listen more than they talk. Sometimes a more experienced guy speaks, and they answer back. The coach himself speaks, and they retort. This is not how a team goes far.
"We are more experienced, so they must respect us a bit more, listen a bit more. I had to do the same when I was starting out."
Meanwhile, Hatem Ben Arfa, who was frozen out by PSG and is currently suing the capital club for damages, was part of the winning Rennes side and wasted no time in sticking the boot in on his former employers.
"This is my greatest title," said Ben Arfa in the mixed zone. "We pulled off a Remontada, but PSG are used to that.
"It was complicated [his time with PSG]. Everything comes back to you one day, which is what I told the president [chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi] -- the human side must be respected. When you do not do that, at some point, you pay for it.
"One day, Adrien Rabiot [currently frozen out by PSG] will come back with a different team against PSG, and they will be hurt then as well -- that is life. When you do wrong, wrong comes back on you.
"I have nothing against PSG. I love the club, since I was small -- the problem is the institution, the people in charge. Once again, the human must be respected.
"This victory brings me extraordinary joy. Regarding Nasser, this is especially important. Never underestimate your opponent -- one day, they will come back stronger."
Elsewhere, PSG coach Thomas Tuchel admitted that he needed a few days to think about evaluating his debut season, and that the situation is "complicated."
The German also admitted his surprise at Kylian Mbappe's red card in extra time but pointed out that the France international was injured pre-match.
"Kylian underwent exams at hospital after a muscle issue on Friday," said Tuchel. "That plays on your mind before a final. His red card was completely unlike him."
PSG's failure to win the Coupe de France or the Coupe de la Ligue makes this season, numerically, the least successful campaign since the Qatari takeover back in 2011 as the club have only the Ligue 1 title in hand.
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Leeds United's action-packed 1-1 draw against Aston Villa saw Sheffield United clinch the final automatic promotion to the Premier League after Norwich had clinched their place in the top flight on Saturday.
Despite knowing anything but a victory would end their hopes of automatic promotion, after opening the scoring on 72 minutes when Aston Villa's Jonathan Kodjia was injured, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa allowed the visitors to equalise.
Leeds' Mateusz Klich had scored despite Villa players calling for the ball to be put out of play, and a mass brawl ensued on the pitch which involved both sets of players, which saw Anwar El Ghazi sent off for the away side.
Meanwhile, a separate row broke out on the benches, with Bielsa going head-to-head with Villa assistant boss John Terry.
When play eventually restarted, Villa were allowed to run unchallenged as Albert Adomah ran the length of the half to equalise, although Leeds' Pontus Jansson did try unsuccessfully to put in a tackle.
Leeds pressed for a winner, which would have taken the race for the final automatic spot to the final deep into the eight minutes of stoppage time but had to settle for a point.
Villa boss Dean Smith said Klich apologised for his goal and also gave credit to Bielsa for allowing Villa to score unimpeded.
"Klich has apologised," Smith told Sky Sports. "Every credit to Leeds and Marcelo Bielsa for putting that right.
"I asked him and he agreed. He said 'yes'. He apologised for what happened. Fair play to them. It was a good game of football until that moment."
Bielsa said he had allowed Villa to score in the spirit of sportsmanship.
"We gave the goal back," Bielsa said. "English football is known for its sportsmanship, so I don't need to comment on this kind of thing, which is common in English football."
Villa defender Tyrone Mings also praised Leeds for allowing them to score the equaliser after failing to put the ball out of play so Kodjia could get treatment.
"We kicked it out for them," Mings said after the game. "But listen each to their own. Fair play to their manager for saying we can go and score a goal, full credit to them for saying we could go and score."
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder told Sky Sports at the team celebration: "First and foremost, Marcelo Bielsa full respect, Patrick Bamford not. He [Bielsa] did the right thing, Bamford didn't.
"At the moment we're the second best team in the division and we're going to try and be the best next Sunday."
The result means Leeds can no longer catch the top two in the Championship and are guaranteed a playoff spot alongside Aston Villa and West Brom.
The final place will be between Derby, in sixth place, and Middlesbrough in seventh, as the two sides are level on points with only one match remaining in the season.
Information from Reuters was used in this report
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Arsenal suffered a third successive defeat in the Premier League as they lost 3-0 at Leicester after seeing Ainsley Maitland-Niles red carded on 36 minutes.
Goals from Youri Tielemans and a late Jaime Vardy double gave the home side the win after a dominant performance against Unai Emery's side.
The contest was fairly even until Maitland-Niles' early sending-off for two yellow cards, and then Leicester took control -- with Jamie Vardy coming closest to opening the scoring.
But the breakthrough did eventually come on 59 minutes when James Maddison's cross found Tielemans, who headed past Bernd Leno.
And the German goalkeeper was on hand to make several top-class saves in order to keep his team in it as Leicester dominated. Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell both saw efforts parried, while Maddison curled a delightful effort just wide.
With five minutes remaining, Vardy ran onto a long ball from Kasper Schmeichel over the top of the Arsenal defence and, having seen his effort initially come off the bar, was on hand to head in the rebound.
And, with the last kick of the match, he tapped in from close range after being teed up by Ricardo Pereira.
Leicester, who have beaten Manchester City and Chelsea and earned a draw at Liverpool, registered their first victory over a top six side since Brendan Rodgers took over as manager in February and remain on course for seventh.
Arsenal, meanwhile, stay fifth and will finish the weekend outside the top four.
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BURNLEY, England -- Manchester City moved back top of the Premier League with a nail-biting 1-0 victory at Burnley on Sunday. After a goalless first half, City finally found the breakthrough when Sergio Aguero's mishit shot crossed the line by 29.51 millimetres and was awarded by goal-line technology.
Positives
City were under real pressure to keep their title destiny in their own hands after a dismal opening 45 minutes, but they dug deep to secure the three points they needed. With eight days' rest until their next match against Leicester City, this was the biggest test for them remaining physically and they managed to find an extra ounce of energy when it was required most to grind out a victory.
Negatives
A draining doubleheader against Tottenham and Manchester United immediately following their Champions League exit looked like it had caught up to City. They were languid and short of ideas in a disappointing first-half display. It left the game on a knife edge with the Clarets still pushing for an equaliser until the very last kick of the game.
Manager rating out of 10
8 -- Whatever Pep Guardiola said at half-time, he transformed his side after a very poor first half. He had recalled Leroy Sane after his impressive second-half display in the Manchester derby victory, but the German winger failed to take the opportunity he's been craving with a poor display, and the Catalan hooked him early in the second half. The City boss's main surprise was to switch Raheem Sterling to a No. 10 role, with Bernardo Silva outside him, but the move lessened his impact.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Ederson, 7 -- Dealt with high balls, quick off his line to long balls and his usual cool passing.
DF Kyle Walker, 8 -- Guardiola name checked winger Dwight McNeill as a threat going into the game but was kept quiet with Walker the bigger threat going forward.
DF Vincent Kompany, 7 -- Couldn't win every high ball but was largely untroubled by Chris Wood.
DF Aymeric Laporte, 7 -- Gave as good as he got in his typically robust tussle with Ashley Barnes but stopped him being a goal threat.
DF Oleksandr Zinchenko, 6 -- Neat and tidy but his link-up play with Sane was poor as City offered little threat down the left side.
MF Ilkay Gundogan, 6 -- The Clarets did their best to stop him dictating the play, and he wasn't quite the usual influence he has been in recent months.
FW Bernardo Silva, 7 -- A threat moving forward and was unlucky with one rasping drive.
MF David Silva, 6 -- Passing wasn't quite at the mark City expect from the playmaker in a game with such tight spaces.
FW Raheem Sterling, 6 -- Found it difficult to create space as Burnley closed him down at every opportunity.
FW Sergio Aguero, 8 -- Ran hard leading the line and when the moment came he somehow scrambled in the opener.
FW Leroy Sane, 5 -- Struggled to make any impact on the game.
Substitutes
FW Gabriel Jesus, 7 -- Gave City some much needed energy and a greater goal threat, unlucky to have one effort clears off the line.
MF John Stones, N/R -- Gave more protection in front of the back four.
DF Nicolas Otamendi, N/R -- Came on to bolster defence in injury time.
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Namibia claim Division 2 title with maiden ODI victory
Published in
Cricket
Saturday, 27 April 2019 13:19
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Namibia 226 for 7 (Birkenstock 61, Fayyaz 2-28) beat Oman 81 (Suraj 27, Frylinck 5-13, Smit 3-21) by 145 runs
In a tournament where home-field advantage has often played a huge role in gaining promotion, Namibia was one of the few nations with a relatively modest record playing at home in the World Cricket League. But they corrected that in their final opportunity, walking away with the WCL Division Two title on Saturday afternoon with a thumping win over Oman at Wanderers Sports Club.
In the process, Namibia also created history by winning an ODI for the first time, having gone 0 for 6 at the 2003 World Cup. Another historic achievement on the day was made by Australian Claire Polosak, who became the first female umpire to stand in a men's ODI for the tournament final.
Karl Birkenstock, who had batted as low as No. 9 earlier in the tournament, was sent in to open the batting and proved his worth by top-scoring with 61 off 108 balls. Oman took wickets at regular intervals though, as Birkenstock struggled to find a partner before he fell to Zeeshan Maqsood at the end of the 35th over.
After adding an unbroken 103-run stand on Friday against Hong Kong, the duo of JJ Smit and Zane Green produced Namibia's biggest partnership of the day, adding 57 for the sixth wicket at a time when the match was evenly balanced to help boost Namibia toward 200.
Jan Frylinck decimated Oman with his left-arm medium pace early in the chase, claiming three wickets in the Powerplay as Oman sunk to 26 for 4 by the end of the eighth over. Christi Viljoen then struck twice in the space of three balls in the 16th over to break into the Oman tail, sending them on their way to a double-digit total for the second match in a row, after having dominated the first four days of action.
Frylinck returned to claim Suraj Kumar for a top score of 27 before Fayyaz Butt was caught behind to complete his maiden List A five-wicket haul. After having claimed opening batsman Jatinder Singh for a second-ball duck with the new ball, JJ Smit wiped out the rest of the tail to finish with three wickets. It helped Smit cement Man of the Tournament honours as he finished the week tied for fourth overall with 13 wickets at 14.53, while also ending up third overall with 221 runs at 55.25.
Papua New Guinea 165 for 5 (Siaka 62, Timil 2-34) beat USA 164 (Timil 50, Vanua 4-37, Pokana 3-28) by five wickets
After being steamrolled by USA in a 10-wicket mauling during the round-robin stage, Papua New Guinea showed they truly earned back their ODI status with a thrilling last day win over Oman by exacting revenge on the Americans in a resounding five-wicket victory at Affies Park in the third place match.
Sending USA in at the toss, PNG's medium pace attack exploited variable bounce throughout the morning. Nosaina Pokana and Norman Vanua wrecked USA's top order with four wickets inside the first eight overs. Man of the Match Vanua was on a hat-trick after claiming Aaron Jones caught behind for 2 followed by Jaskaran Malhotra dragging onto his stumps for a golden duck on ODI debut.
Hayden Walsh Jr worked hard to revive the innings for USA, making 27 in a 43-run stand with Monank Patel, but USA's innings began to flounder once more after Walsh chipped a catch to midwicket off Assad Vala to make it 78 for 5. Monank had grafted hard for his 39 after opening the batting, but walked too far across his stumps to legspinner Charles Amini and was given lbw. Karima Gore was then suckered into an attempt to clear mid-on hitting against the spin, resulting in a top-edge taken by Chad Soper to leave USA struggling at 105 for 7.
Timil Patel fought valiantly to prop up USA's tail, eventually ending up with USA's maiden ODI fifty. But Vanua returned to help wipe out the tail with Pokana as USA were bowled out for 164 in just 43.4 overs.
USA looked to be in with a chance of rallying to their first ODI win after Saurabh Netravalkar had Tony Ura caught behind in the sixth over, before Ali Khan bowled Vala shouldering arms to an inswinger in the following over to make it 25 for 2. Amini was caught behind edging a back of a length ball off Jessy Singh as PNG continued to teeter before Lega Siaka steadied the chase with his first 50-plus score in ODIs since making a century in his second ODI all the way back in November 2014 against Hong Kong.
Siaka was especially strong on the sweep, punishing Timil's legspin for a series of boundaries. Vanua than completed his Man of the Match performance by slugging three sixes straight down the ground off Karima Gore in the 33rd over as part of a 23-run frame that ended the match with 17 overs to spare.
Canada 114 for 5 (Hiral 50, Ravinderpal 41*, Ehsan 2-16) beat Hong Kong 113 (Babar 32, Saad 4-30) by five wickets
Canada bounced back from the heartbreak of narrowly missing out on ODI status by four runs on net run rate, to end with their third win of the tournament, dispatching Hong Kong with ease at United Cricket Club.
Cecil Pervez claimed the big scalps of Anshy Rath and Kinchit Shah in the Powerplay before the Canadian ploy to open with spin at the other end paid off in the 11th over as Hiral Patel nabbed Jamie Atkinson and Ahsan Abbasi on consecutive balls. Babar Hayat added 53 with Scott McKechnie for the fifth wicket, but left-arm spinner Saad bin Zafar had Babar stumped for 32 to spark a rapid slide as Hong Kong lost their last six wickets for 30 runs, with four of them going to Saad.
Hiral wrapped up Man of the Match honours by following his two wickets with a half-century at the start of Canada's chase. Ravinderpal Singh took over the bulk of the scoring after Hiral fell in the 13th, smashing three sixes in a 23-ball 41 that took Canada over the line in just 16.5 overs.
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