Nadal beats Brit Norrie but says
Rafael Nadal gave a positive update on his fitness after defeating Britain’s Cameron Norrie to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The second seed came into the tournament carrying a back problem that affected his service motion but revealed yesterday that it was finally starting to feel better.
That is certainly timely news given his draw looks set to get much harder from here, with flamboyant Italian Fabio Fognini next up tomorrow.
Fognini has beaten Nadal in four of their 16 meetings, including from two sets down at the US Open in 2015.
He was 6-4 6-3 6-4 winner over final Australian hope Alex De Minaur.
After beating Norrie 7-5 6-2 7-5, Nadal said: “Today it is better. It’s the first day I feel an improvement.
“I need to come back to my normal serving. Today is the first day that I started to serve again my normal serve. It has been an important victory for me. The biggest victory is the back is better.”
The main injury concern now surrounds Novak Djokovic, who suspected he tore a stomach muscle during his five-set victory over Taylor Fritz on Friday.
As expected, the world No. 1 did not practise yesterday and it is now a waiting game to see
A leading European Tour caddie has questioned the idea that distancemeasuring devices will speed up play at this year’s US PGA Championship.
The tournament organisers, the PGA of America, announced last week that range finders – and even compasses – would be permitted for the event at Kiawah Island in May, as long as they conform to the Rules of Golf.
These devices are normally used by pros and caddies in practice rounds, but not from Thursdays onwards.
Yet the PGA of America stated their hope is that permitted use in the season’s second Major will “improve the flow of play”
Scottish bagman Gus Hay is far from convinced, and he is more concerned that it will have the opposite effect.
“I don’t understand that argument,” says Hay, who has caddied for Swede, Joakim Lagergren, for the last four-and-ahalf years.
“It’s not just that you get a yardage and pick a seven-iron.
“You make your decision with about five or six pieces of information.
“If you have a laser, you will do that three times to check your readings. Then you go back to your yardage book to check for the pin location.
“You go through all that, and it only adds a bit more doubt to the decision.
“You also can’t use one for a blind shot. In that instance, you would go back to your book.
“I don’t think this will affect the need for caddies. Ten out of 10 players would say they need one, and it’s not just because we give good numbers.
“It’s about saying the right things at the right time, our experience of the golf courses and a general feeling where you know your man.
“You know when to push them, or get them to back off.”
The pace of play continues to be one of the bugbears of modern golf, with the authorities trying to find ways to clamp down on it. For Gus, who originally hails from Cupar, there is only one workable solution – penalty strokes.
“Some guys are just slow golfers,” he says. “They are the problem – not caddies with books. “Fines don’t bother them. They need to be punished with a shot-penalty during the round. “It’s frustrating because as soon as the referee starts watching them – and they are put on the clock – they speed up.
“The referee disappears – and they slow down again! They are working the rules.
“If your man is a fast player and your group is put on the clock, it can put him off his stride.
“It can cause bad vibes during a round, too.
“I remember once Joakim lying down on the ground next to his bag to make a point about his partner being slow.
“Slow players are selfish, and they don’t think about their partners. And everyone knows who the worst culprits are.”
Hay, who has been out on Tour for eight years, was on the bag when Lagergren won the Sicilian Open in 2018.
But it’s been a quiet start to 2021 in the Middle East, with the Swede struggling with a back injury, as he pulled out of Abu Dhabi, missed the cut in Dubai and did not play in Saudi Arabia.
The pair hope to be back on Tour for the next regular event in Qatar next month.
Tour life has altered quite dramatically for everyone over the last 12 months – not least
caddies – but Gus takes a phlegmatic approach to life in a tournament bubble. “There is less money and it’s not as much fun as it was,” he admits from his current base in Stockholm.
“But we’ve all got on with it, as it shows how much caddies and players love the game.
“The social aspect important. “Normally in the evening, caddies would have dinner, a few beers and play a bit of darts or pool, and catch up as there are a lot of talking points from a day’s golf.
“You want to let off steam, like in any line of work.
“That has been taken away for now, but hopefully we’ll be back to normal at some point soon. “And compared to many businesses and jobs at the moment, we’re very privileged in what we get to do.”
is really