Australia reel in England, South Korea at World Cup of Golf

favourite Cameron Smith rolled in a birdie putt on the last hole to give Australia a share of the lead with England and South Korea after the first round of the $7 million World Cup of Golf in Melbourne on Thursday.

On a blustery day at Metropolitan Golf Club, the baby-faced 25-year-old combined with Marc Leishman for a 10-under-par 62 in the opening round of fourballs, boosting the home nation’s hopes of a sixth title in the 28-nation team event.

Playing in the last group with the United States, the local duo reeled in England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter, and Koreans Kim Si-woo and An Byeong-hun, while thrilling a large gallery.

MELBOURNE:Home

ATWAL A SHOT BEHIND

India’s Arjun Atwal stayed one shot behind first round leaders Yusaku Miyazato of Japan, Australia’s Jason Scrivener and England’s Aaron Rai after he signed for an opening four-under-par 66 at the HONMA Hong Kong Open Thursday.

Atwal took the clubhouse lead in the morning but was dislodged from the top of the leaderboard when the trio made their moves at the Hong Kong Golf Club under more favourable weather conditions in the afternoon.

Among other Indians, Khalin Joshi (68) was tied 9th, Shubahnkar Sharma (69) at tied 23rd, Ajeetesh Sandhu and SSP Chawrasia (70) at tied 41.

HONG KONG:

CARLSEN, CARUANA DRAW GAME 9

Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen missed a chance to force victory with white pieces as American challenger Fabiano Caruana held him to a 58-move draw in the ninth game of the World Chess Championship Match in London on Wednesday. The ninth successive draw in the 12-match series, to be followed by rapid and blitz games if tied, set a dubious record as the 1995 clash between Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov saw eight drawn games on the trot.

NEW DELHI: