Farah upstages Bolt at World Championships
The sun finally came out, and Jimmy Walker saw a glimpse of what he hopes are brighter days ahead. In a year marked by coping with Lyme disease and bouts of fatigue, Walker endured rain delays of nearly five hours Friday and posted a 5-under 65 for a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. The timing couldn’t be better for Walker, who goes to Quail Hollow next week to defend his title in the PGA Championship. “It hadn’t been a lot of fun this year,” Walker said. “But it’s nice to see some putts go in and make some solid swings and keep rounds going, make par putts, just the stuff I haven’t been doing.” He was at 7-under 133, two shots ahead of Thomas Pieters of Belgium, who had a 70. Walker also has a slew of players not far behind him in this World Golf Championship. Rory McIlroy put together a steady round of 69 and was three shots back, along with Zach Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama, who each shot 67. The large group at 3-under 137 included Jordan Spieth, going after his third straight victory.
I.K. Kim, the best player in women’s golf right now, emerged from the cold and wet with a 4-under 68 to build a two-shot lead in the Women’s British Open going into the weekend. A two-time winner on the LPGA Tour over the last two months, Kim dropped only one shot in some of the worst conditions at Kingsbarns Links in St. Andrews, Scotland, and reached the halfway point at 11-under 133. She was two shots clear of Lexi Thompson and Georgia Hall of England. First-round leader Michelle Wie did not fare so well. The 27-year old American made only one birdie in a 76 that leaves her seven shots off the pace and in a tie for 21st.
Two-time tournament winner Kenny Perry shot a 7-under 65 to hold a share of the lead after the first round of the PGA Tour Champions event just outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Perry, who won in Minnesota in 2014 and 2015, opened his round with six consecutive birdies. He finished with another one to join Mike Goodes atop the leaderboard at TPC Twin Cities. Scott Verplank, Marco Dawson, Gene Sauers and Jay Haas finished at 6-under. Steve Flesch, Colin Montgomerie and Brandt Jobe were among the golfers to card 67s. Ex-Norwich Free Academy star John Elliott, recent winner of the Connecticut Senior Open at Shennecosset Golf Course in Groton, qualified for the event and shot a 3-over 74.
London — It takes something to upstage Usain Bolt in an Olympic Stadium. Then again, there is only one long-distance runner quite like Mo Farah.
The British great came out onto the track Friday after Bolt had absorbed the adulation of the crowd just by showing up and coasting to victory in his opening 100-meter heat.
For Bolt it was easy. Farah still had one of the toughest races of his life coming up — an all-out assault by the best African runners to wear him down to sap his finishing speed. There was even a trip and stumble on the final lap that could have felled him. It didn't. "I am mentally strong," said the 34-year-old Farah, who was born in Somalia but moved to Britain as a child.
There was no doubt about that after a 300-meter final kick that still left him with time to cross the finish line with arms outstretched and the same amazement in his eyes he had when winning his first Olympic gold in the same stadium five years ago.
"It was about believing in my sprint finish and knowing that I have been in that position before," Farah said.
The last time he was not in that position was when his sprint left him just short for gold at the 2011 world championships. It was the last time he lost a big one, and his overpowering kick has always been his ticket to gold.
One year after that disappointing finish, Farah earned his first 5,000-10,000 double, and it was at his home Olympics in London. His 10,000 win was the finale of what became known in British lore as "Super Saturday," when home athletes won three gold medals within an hour.
The noise that day was breathtaking, and if Farah is now a sir, it originated at that very moment. On Friday, the noise levels were close to the same and Farah knew how to let it push him to an unprecedented 10th straight global long-distance title.
After Bolt's grins and shadow boxing, Farah came out with a focused routine of sipping and squirting a water bottle, a figure of Zen concentration. He knew the whole nation was counting on him.
"There's no place like London. There's no place like home," Farah said. "I love London. I love the people."
For a half decade now, competitors know a tactical race only leads to a winning Farah sprint. So this time the best of Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia set a punishing pace from the start to shake the pack — but not Farah's concentration.
"The guys gave it to me. It wasn't about Mo, it was about, 'How do we beat Mo?'" Farah said.
He held back at first and then methodically made his way through the pack. When he briefly took the lead with five of the 25 laps to go, his rivals were already anxiously glancing at him.
Sensing victory, the crowd of 60,000 went wild with two laps to go. One thought was with him: "I can't lose in my hometown. I can't. I can't. I can't."
Then, as if there wasn't enough drama already, he was clipped with 300 meters to go. His arms flailed and he even put one foot inside the inner railing to regain his balance.
There, too, his experience counted. After all, he fell at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and still won. And after years of being hounded by suspicions of doping — never proven and always denied — nothing phases him.
"Your instinct is to stand up," he said of the moment momentum was taking him down. "At the same time, it takes the rhythm out of you, takes that stride out of you. It's harder to be able to get back into your routine."
Yet, he did. In the finishing straight, like so often, there was no match, as much Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and Paul Tanui of Kenya tried.
"Mo is a great guy and legend, so running with him in the last championship for him is really great," Cheptegei said.