Ko fights back after bad start
Lydia Ko is on the charge at the US Open.
The world No 1 has soared up to fourth place at the halfway stage after carding an impressive sixunder 66 in the second round at the CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California, yesterday.
She’s now five-under for the tournament after shooting the lowest round of her US Open career.
South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park sits at the top of the leaderboard, three strokes ahead of the New Zealand sensation at eight-under par.
Ko was solid without being spectacular on the first day, tied for 52nd after carding a 1-over 73. However, she stepped up her game in the second round, dropping seven birdies, five of those on the front nine.
A birdie on the par-five final hole lifted the 19-year-old into the top four.
Ko’s sole bogey, which she described as ‘‘the worst miss to have,’’ came on the par-four opening hole but she quickly got over that mishap and found some much-needed rhythm to rocket up the leaderboard.
‘‘I didn’t have the greatest of starts, bogeying that first hole, but it almost made me fight from there and made me say ‘hey, we can switch things around’,’’ Ko said.
‘‘I think making the birdie on three and four definitely got my round going and seeing me in the red figures for the first time in this championship I think that got me wanting to do even better from there.
‘‘I was striking the ball pretty well. I gave myself a lot of good looks and to finish on the last hole with a birdie is always a good feeling.’’
After battling through the wind in round one, Ko flourished in the still conditions on the second day.
‘‘The wind is picking up now but you always have to expect it to be a bit windier in the afternoon.
‘‘Because of the wind and the dry conditions the course itself is playing a lot firmer than it was earlier in the week and I know it’s going to get firmer from here.
‘‘I have to play smart and it’s key to be on the fairways to have those options to sometimes go for it or go for the middle of the green.’’
World No 2 Brooke Henderson, who won last month’s PGA Championship, is tied for 48th on threeover par after a one-under 71 in the second round.
Meanwhile, US Open champion and world No 2 Dustin Johnson is withdrawing from the Rio Olympics because he is concerned about the Zika virus.
Johnson becomes the 13th player to pull out of the field for the Rio Games, where golf makes its return after a 112-year absence.
Patrick Reed is expected to replace him in the US team. If you think the first week of this year’s Tour de France has seemed a little lacklustre, I would have to agree with you.
Typically, the Tour is known for drama, excitement, danger and heroics.
While the racing has been good and we’ve seen the world’s best sprinters go head to head, there seems to have been something missing so far from this year’s jaunt around France.
Britain’s Mark Cavendish, despite having not been a big favourite coming into the Tour, has shown that he is still one of the world’s best against a field of sprinters that has more depth than any of the last 15 years.
There was dialogue pre-Tour around his focus on preparation for the track at the Rio Olympics and the possibility he wasn’t going to be at an adequate level for the Tour de France sprints.
However, it seems his preparation for Rio has done nothing but enhance his performance on the road.
His three stage wins have taken him to a career 29 – the second most in history and five behind Belgian great, Eddy Merckx; a target that increasingly seems achievable for the 31-year-old.
While Cavendish has won three of the sprints, he hasn’t been a dominant force and the extreme high level and depth of the field has made the performances across the board seem a bit ordinary, which is clearly not the case.
Pulling off a result in a Tour de France stage is never an ordinary feat.
For me, the stand-out victory so far was World Champion Peter Sagan’s domination in his stagetwo win.
It was down to the wire with the breakaway rider just being caught at the finish by Sagan, showing his prowess on the last steep pinch up to the line and taking the leader’s yellow jersey – a breathtaking victory.
The reality is that without any major dramas such as crashes or attention-grabbing incidents or behaviour, the Tour has failed thus far to generate a lot of media or talk.
Simple, competitive, fair racing may be said to fall short of expectations of what people want to see.
We are, however, primed for some good racing as we hit the mountain finishes in the Pyrenees and head across to the French and Swiss Alps this week.
The first stage in the mountains on Friday didn’t see any of the big favourites draw swords.
However, we can be sure that those who are serious contenders will begin to test each other before they leave the Pyrenees.