Dazzling run sets up Lee for weekend
Birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie stretch for Scot
CRAIG LEE moved into contention at the BMW International Open in Cologne. His second round 65 was enough to surge 29 places up the leaderboard, into a tie for fifth.
Most of his good work came around the turn when he pulled off a blistering stretch of birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie to trail Danny Willett of Yorkshire, the Argentine Emiliano Grillo and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Pablo Larrazabal by two shots.
“I hit it to about a foot at the first or my 10th then holed a 20-footer at the next and rolled-in an eight footer for eagle at my 12th hole and then four feet at the next, so that was a great start to my back nine,” he said.
“I was on a real roll until the stoppage, so after the delay it was good to come back out and make two solid pars. So after being three over par after three holes on Thursday and thinking about what I was going to do with myself over the weekend, so I’m now thrilled to be now just two shots from the lead and very much in contention.”
Paul Lawrie missed out by a shot in bizarre incident ahead of an 87-minute late afternoon thunderstorm delay. Lawrie was standing over a birdie putt on the final green when the siren for an impending electrical storm sounded on his backswing, and after missing the putt he had to immediately mark his ball and leave the course.
While four players elected not to return and were subsequently disqualified under new Tour rules, Lawrie changed into track shoes and returned to hole a two-foot par putt in
Russell Knox hit back with a second-round 67 to finish just outside the top 10 in the Quicken Loans National at Congressional CC in Bethesda.
The Scot had started the day on two over par, but his four-under round was enough to put him firmly in contention going into the weekend. He scored six birdies – including three in the closing six holes – and only two bogeys to sit four shots behind Oliver Gross and Ricky Barnes, who were leading the field on six under.
Martin Laird, the only other Scot in the tournament, missed the cut with his 72. That was not enough to make up for an opening 75 and Laird will be on his way home this morning. a round of 69 for a three-under-par tally but one shot shy of playing all four rounds.
“The siren sounded on the middle of my back stroke which was nice but these things happen,” he said, philosophically. “But then the officials only have to look around to see if you are over a shot though it didn’t matter as I missed the cut, so we’re heading home.”
Of the other Scots, David Drysdale shot 68 to add to his first-round 72 to make the cut with not a shot to spare, but Jack Doherty (70) had one shot too many and Marc Warren, Richie Ramsay, Chris Doak, Jamie McLeary, Scott Jamieson, Alastair Forsyth and Peter Whiteford all missed out by a distance.
It was a homecoming to forget for the new US Open champion, Martin Kaymer, who left the crowd deflated by missing the halfway cut by four strokes with scores of 71 and 73. RICKY BURNS was floored seconds into his comeback fight as his hopes of returning to world title level were shattered following a defeat by Dejan Zlaticanin, writes Gavin McCafferty.
Promoter Eddie Hearn had challenged the Scottish fighter to send out a statement against the unbeaten Montenegrin. The message which came across was far from positive, though, as Zlaticanin secured a split-decision points win despite looking like the clear winner.
Hearn had secured a World Boxing Council eliminator in Burns’ first fight since losing his World Boxing Organization belt to Terence Crawford but it was the visitor who moved closer to fighting champion Omar Figueroa. Burns has instead been left facing an uncertain future.
He was on the floor within 30 seconds when southpaw Zlaticanin – who had knocked out 13 of his previous 18 opponents – caught him with a counter left hook. The two-weight world champion looked shaken as he got up after the eight count and his diminutive opponent kept up his momentum.
Burns appeared in danger of being stuck on the ropes during the early rounds, with Zlaticanin’s left hook causing the Scot problems throughout the fight for the vacant WBC International title.
The Coatbridge fighter managed to put together some combinations but none which troubled his opponent, who often responded with an intense flurry of punches.
Another left hook had Burns in trouble in the fifth round and, just when the 31-year-old excited the Braehead Arena crowd with a decent right hook in the next round, Zlaticanin soon forced him back again. The Montenegrin, fighting outside of the Balkans for the first time in his career, continued to throw the more dangerous punches.
Zlaticanin was awarded the win by 115-113 on two scorecards with one judge, John King, giving Burns the victory by the same score. However, there was no sense of injustice among the home crowd.
The Scottish support had something to celebrate earlier in the night at least. Willie Limond achieved his British title dream at the third attempt with a stylish performance against Curtis Woodhouse. The 35-year-old Scot twice floored his opponent with upper cuts on his way to a points victory to take the British light-welterweight belt.
Limond, who retained his Commonwealth title in the process, was eight points ahead on the referee’s scorecard and five ahead with one of the judges, with the other scoring a draw unexpectedly.
Woodhouse – who retired briefly after taking the title from Darren Hamilton in February – felt that a period of relative inactivity in recent years would count against Limond. Instead the Scot showcased impressive timing and skill on his way to victory.
Stephen Simmons also retained his WBC International Silver Cruiserweight belt earlier in the night, stopping Wadi Camacho in the 10th round of their bout. The pair had to be separated at pre-fight press conferences – Simmons accused his opponent of posting photos of his fiancee’s face on to obscene images on social media – but appeared to have settled their differences following a decisive left hook from the Scot.