Tabal, Cojuangco lead PH charge
Mickelson gets rid of driver
Marathoner Mary Joy Tabal and archer Amaya Amparo Cojuangco hope to win the country’s first gold medals ahead of the formal opening ceremonies of the 29th Southeast Asian Games on Aug. 19 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tabal and Cojuangco settled for the silver medal in their respective events two years ago in Singapore.
Buoyed up by a stint in the Rio Olympics and months of overseas training, Tabal is expected to contend for the gold medal just hours before the formal opening.
Cojuangco, on the other hand, sees action in the women’s individual compound event on Aug. 16.
A total of 18 gold medals will be contested ahead of the SEAG opening.
Joining Tabal in marathon is Jeson Oyco Agravante, the country’s lone entry in the men’s event.
Five gold medals will be at stake in archery from Aug. 16 to Aug, 18 at the Merdeka Square.
Aside from Cojuangco, the other archers seeing action are Joseph Benjamin Vicencio, Niron Brylle Concepcion, Paul Marton dela Cruz, Earl Benjamin Yap, Jennifer Chan, Kim Concepcion and Abbigail Tindugan.
The Filipinos won a silver and three bronze medals in the compound event in Singapore.
Aside from athletics and archery, the other disciplines staking medals before the SEAG opening are open water swimming (2 golds), synchronized swimming (3 golds), water polo (1 gold) and sepak takraw (5 golds).
Mico Anota , Roy Caneta Teodoro, Melissa Gray Courtney and Erica Kristy Lukang plunge into action on Aug. 17 at the Putrajaya water sports complex.
Synchronized swimming gets going on Aug. 17 at the National Aquatic Centre with Ruth Desiree Abiera, Aaliyah Isabel Pacheco, Allyssa Marey Salvador and Jemimah Nissi Tiambeng seeing action.
Gold medals will be disputed in the solo free routine and solo technical routine on Aug. 17 and the duo technical routine the following day.
The 14-day sepak takraw event kicks off on Aug. 16 with five golds at stake in the chinlone events. Competing in chinlone are Alvin Pangan, Emmanuel Escote, Joebart Jumawan, John Carlo Lee, John Jeffrey Morcillos, John John Bobier, Regie Reznan Pabriga, Rhenwil Catana and Ronsited Gabayeron.
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) – Royal Birkdale and Torrey Pines would seem to have nothing in common except that Phil Mickelson is playing major championships on both without a driver in his bag.
Mickelson carried only the 3-wood with him during his practice round Tuesday at the British Open, and he plans to keep it that way.
“We won't be playing in this wind,'' Mickelson said as he finished up his round with a light blowing toward the Irish Sea. “And when we get the normal wind, there really isn't a driver for me until we get to 15. And then that brings the bunkers into play.''
Mickelson, who once had two drivers in his bag at the Masters, didn't hit a driver in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He wasn't much of a factor that week and finished five shots out of the playoff that Tiger Woods won over Rocco Mediate.
Mickelson instead has four wedges, including a 64-degree sand wedge that he can use for flop shots off tight lies on a links course. He also has two 3-irons, one of them with the loft tweaked to make a strong, driving club.
The 3-wood is the same club he had when he won the British Open at Muirfield in 2013, his last victory.
“It's a much easier club for me to hit low,'' Mickelson said on Golf Channel. “So even into the wind, I hit it every bit as far as I hit a driver.''
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods is out of golf for the rest of the season as he recovers from a fourth back surgery, and that means he finally is out of the top 1,000 players listed in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Woods is at No. 1,005 in the world this week, one spot ahead of Henric Sturehed of Sweden.
That's no surprise. In the two-year counting period, Woods has only seven tournaments on his record and he earned ranking points at just three of them _ a tie for 18th in the Greenbrier in 2015, a tie for 10th in the Wyndham Classic.