Latest news with #LiHaotong
Free Malaysia Today
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Free Malaysia Today
Dominant Scheffler stretches four shots clear at British Open
Scottie Scheffler lines up his putt on the 18th green during the third round of the British Open golf championship. (AP pic) PORTRUSH : Scottie Scheffler closed in on a maiden British Open title on Saturday, opening up a four-shot lead ahead of the final round at Royal Portrush with another imperious display. The world number one was unflappable despite some Rory McIlroy fireworks in front of him, easing to a bogey-free, four-under-par third round of 67 to reach 14 under for the tournament. Scheffler, who is targeting a fourth major title and the third leg of a possible career Grand Slam, strengthened his grip on the Claret Jug by stretching his one-stroke overnight advantage. The American has continued his brilliant recent form in Northern Ireland after arriving this week on a run of 10 successive top-10 finishes, including three wins. He is now on the brink of becoming the first world number one to win the British Open since Tiger Woods clinched his third title in 2006. 'I'm just trying to execute, not overthinking things,' said Scheffler, who has won his last nine tournaments when holding the 54-hole lead. 'I feel like I've been doing the right thing so far, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of tomorrow.' China's Li Haotong battled hard to stay in touch, finishing the day alone in second place on 10 under overall after a 69. Matthew Fitzpatrick sits third, five shots behind Scheffler, as his challenge faltered during an up-and-down 71. Home favourite McIlroy delighted the crowd with a five-under 66 to reach minus eight but will need some unlikely help from Scheffler on Sunday to win a second British Open after his triumph in 2014. Fitzpatrick drew level with Scheffler early in the round by chipping in for an eagle on the par-five second, as the leader three-putted for par. But Scheffler, the PGA champion, cruised back in front with an eagle on the seventh hole, backed up by a birdie on the eighth. He stayed bogey-free courtesy of a gusty par save after finding thick rough to the left of the 11th green before getting up and down again on 14. The 29-year-old dealt another blow to the chasing pack with a birdie on the difficult 16th, dubbed 'calamity corner', before closing out his round with two solid pars. Li, hoping to become the first Chinese man to win a major title, hung in to reach the turn at nine under overall, four shots adrift. He emerged as Scheffler's closest challenger while others slipped back, making three birdies on the second nine before a closing bogey. Fitzpatrick was only two behind Scheffler at the halfway point of the third round as he tried to boost his bid to become the first English winner since Nick Faldo in 1992. But three bogeys on the way in left him with a mountain to climb. McIlroy keeps slim hopes alive Home favourite McIlroy, starting the day seven strokes off the pace, quickly made his move with three birdies in his first four holes. A huge roar greeted a curling, 36-foot birdie putt on the first green before the Northern Irishman tapped in for another birdie on the second. A towering iron shot into the fourth continued the momentum, dragging the Masters champion to within four shots of Scheffler before the leader had even teed off. His putter went cold for the rest of the front nine, before a bogey on the 11th, when an old ball jumped out of the ground as he hit his approach shot, threatened to derail his round. But the 36-year-old responded in style by tickling home a downhill, 56-foot eagle putt on the 12th, bringing deafening cheers from the thousands of fans around the green. One more birdie at the 15th, after a wonderful shot from the rough, gave the crowd extra belief before Scheffler's strong finish. 'Scottie Scheffler is inevitable, even when he doesn't have his best stuff, he's the complete player,' McIlroy told Sky Sports. 'But if I can get out tomorrow, get off to a similar start to today, get the crowd going, hopefully he feels that a couple of groups behind me.' McIlroy is level on eight under with England's Tyrrell Hatton, American Harris English and last weekend's Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup. Other movers on Saturday included reigning champion Xander Schauffele, who made two eagles in a 66 to reach seven under for the tournament. Lee Westwood tied the British Open record for the lowest back nine with a 29, recovering from being four over on the outward half.
CNA
20-07-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Supreme Scheffler a class apart as he romps to first Open title
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland : A relentless Scottie Scheffler sealed his first British Open triumph by four shots as he turned the final day of the tournament into a procession at Royal Portrush on Sunday. The 29-year-old American world number one started out with a four-stroke lead and apart from one blip, never looked like relinquishing his grip as the chasing pack were reduced to scrapping for the minor places. Scheffler barely put a foot wrong all week on the glorious Causeway Coast, rekindling memories of 15-times major winner Tiger Woods in his pomp, and he rubber-stamped his fourth major title with a clinical final-round 68. Take the dominant Scheffler out of the equation and the 153rd Open would have been a thriller with the leaderboard underneath him chopping and changing all weekend. In the end, Harris English was the best of the rest on 13 under after a final-round 66 with fellow American Chris Gotterup a further shot back. Huge galleries thronged the course and thousands arrived hoping see a Rory McIlroy miracle on the final day. But Northern Ireland's favourite sporting son, who began six shots behind Scheffler, was unable to mount a charge and ended up in a tie for seventh on 10 under. LI TIED FOURTH Li Haotong, the first Chinese man to go out in the final group of a major, finished tied fourth on 11 under with England's Matt Fitzpatrick and American Wyndham Clark. Scheffler has now completed three legs of his career Grand Slam and needs a U.S. Open crown to complete the set. He also became the first current world number one to lift the Claret Jug since Tiger Woods in 2006. Those hoping to witness a battle royal for golf's oldest major should probably have known better. On the last nine occasions Scheffler had gone into the final round of a PGA Tour event leading, he emerged victorious, while his three previous major wins also arrived after a 54-hole lead. When he birdied the first, fourth and fifth holes to move eight strokes clear the only question seemed to be whether he could set an Open record for a winning margin. Even when errors did creep in, he simply rolled in long par-saving putts on the sixth and seventh holes to crush the spirit of those hoping for an unlikely collapse. Only when he double-bogeyed the eighth after failing to get out of a bunker did Scheffler look like a mere mortal, his lead suddenly sliced to four strokes. But it proved false hope for those pursuing a giant of golf, and a birdie at the ninth and another at the 12th hole steadied the ship and all that needed deciding then was who would come second.
News.com.au
20-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Scheffler cruises towards British Open title despite slip-up
Scottie Scheffler saw an early eight-shot lead cut to five strokes during the final round of the British Open at Royal Portrush on Sunday, but remained on the brink of a first Claret Jug. The world number one played the outward half in two-under despite a double bogey on the eighth hole, reaching 16-under for the tournament after 11 holes. Scheffler will take some catching on the back nine, having converted his last nine 54-hole leads into victories. He arrived in Northern Ireland on a run of 10 successive top-10 finishes, featuring three wins including the PGA Championship, his third major title. The American could become only the second world number one to win the British Open after Tiger Woods, which would complete the third leg of a possible career Grand Slam. Scheffler's playing partner Li Haotong was at 11-under in second place, tied with Chris Gotterup and Harris English. Home favourite Rory McIlroy reached minus 10 for the tournament through the front nine, but his challenge stalled with a sloppy double bogey on the par-four 10th. Scheffler made three birdies in his first five holes to serenely reach 17-under par for the tournament, with his closest challengers at that point nine-under. Last week's Scottish Open champion Gotterup climbed into second on minus 11, with a group of four players, including McIlroy, one shot further back. Scheffler holed long par putts on the sixth and seventh holes to stay in total control, but slipped up with a double bogey on the eighth after it took him four shots to reach the green. It was first time he had dropped shots since the 11th hole of his second-round 64 on Friday. But when leading at the 54-hole stage, Scheffler has won his last nine tournaments and he showed why on the ninth with a trademark precise iron shot setting up another birdie. Li also birdied to keep his tilt at becoming the first Chinese man to win a major alive. - McIlroy comes undone - McIlroy hung on the fringes of contention with three birdies on the way out, against a lone bogey on the par-four fourth. But he fired his approach shot from the rough on 10 through the back of the green and eventually made a six which effectively ended any hopes of a lifting second British Open title this weekend. His playing partner Matthew Fitzpatrick, bidding to become the first English winner of the tournament since Nick Faldo in 1992, was 10-under after 11 holes, six shots behind. Bryson DeChambeau soared up the leaderboard with a seven-under 64, the joint-best round of the championship, to finish on nine-under and will be left to rue a first-round 78. "What I did for the past three days, I said, every time is go time, like you've got to come back from five, six back," said the two-time US Open champion. "That's the mentality I had." Shane Lowry, who won the title when the British Open returned to Portrush after a 68-year absence in 2019, ended with a 66 to finish on two-under.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Scheffler cruises towards British Open title despite slip-up
Scottie Scheffler saw an early eight-shot lead cut to five strokes during the final round of the British Open at Royal Portrush on Sunday, but remained on the brink of a first Claret Jug. The world number one played the outward half in two-under despite a double bogey on the eighth hole, reaching 16-under for the tournament after 11 holes. Scheffler will take some catching on the back nine, having converted his last nine 54-hole leads into victories. He arrived in Northern Ireland on a run of 10 successive top-10 finishes, featuring three wins including the PGA Championship, his third major title. The American could become only the second world number one to win the British Open after Tiger Woods, which would complete the third leg of a possible career Grand Slam. Scheffler's playing partner Li Haotong was at 11-under in second place, tied with Chris Gotterup and Harris English. Home favourite Rory McIlroy reached minus 10 for the tournament through the front nine, but his challenge stalled with a sloppy double bogey on the par-four 10th. Scheffler made three birdies in his first five holes to serenely reach 17-under par for the tournament, with his closest challengers at that point nine-under. Last week's Scottish Open champion Gotterup climbed into second on minus 11, with a group of four players, including McIlroy, one shot further back. Scheffler holed long par putts on the sixth and seventh holes to stay in total control, but slipped up with a double bogey on the eighth after it took him four shots to reach the green. It was first time he had dropped shots since the 11th hole of his second-round 64 on Friday. But when leading at the 54-hole stage, Scheffler has won his last nine tournaments and he showed why on the ninth with a trademark precise iron shot setting up another birdie. Li also birdied to keep his tilt at becoming the first Chinese man to win a major alive. - McIlroy comes undone - McIlroy hung on the fringes of contention with three birdies on the way out, against a lone bogey on the par-four fourth. But he fired his approach shot from the rough on 10 through the back of the green and eventually made a six which effectively ended any hopes of a lifting second British Open title this weekend. His playing partner Matthew Fitzpatrick, bidding to become the first English winner of the tournament since Nick Faldo in 1992, was 10-under after 11 holes, six shots behind. Bryson DeChambeau soared up the leaderboard with a seven-under 64, the joint-best round of the championship, to finish on nine-under and will be left to rue a first-round 78. "What I did for the past three days, I said, every time is go time, like you've got to come back from five, six back," said the two-time US Open champion. "That's the mentality I had." Shane Lowry, who won the title when the British Open returned to Portrush after a 68-year absence in 2019, ended with a 66 to finish on two-under. jc/mw
France 24
20-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Scheffler cruises towards British Open title despite slip-up
The world number one played the outward half in two-under despite a double bogey on the eighth hole, reaching 16-under for the tournament after 11 holes. Scheffler will take some catching on the back nine, having converted his last nine 54-hole leads into victories. He arrived in Northern Ireland on a run of 10 successive top-10 finishes, featuring three wins including the PGA Championship, his third major title. The American could become only the second world number one to win the British Open after Tiger Woods, which would complete the third leg of a possible career Grand Slam. Scheffler's playing partner Li Haotong was at 11-under in second place, tied with Chris Gotterup and Harris English. Home favourite Rory McIlroy reached minus 10 for the tournament through the front nine, but his challenge stalled with a sloppy double bogey on the par-four 10th. Scheffler made three birdies in his first five holes to serenely reach 17-under par for the tournament, with his closest challengers at that point nine-under. Last week's Scottish Open champion Gotterup climbed into second on minus 11, with a group of four players, including McIlroy, one shot further back. Scheffler holed long par putts on the sixth and seventh holes to stay in total control, but slipped up with a double bogey on the eighth after it took him four shots to reach the green. It was first time he had dropped shots since the 11th hole of his second-round 64 on Friday. But when leading at the 54-hole stage, Scheffler has won his last nine tournaments and he showed why on the ninth with a trademark precise iron shot setting up another birdie. Li also birdied to keep his tilt at becoming the first Chinese man to win a major alive. McIlroy comes undone McIlroy hung on the fringes of contention with three birdies on the way out, against a lone bogey on the par-four fourth. But he fired his approach shot from the rough on 10 through the back of the green and eventually made a six which effectively ended any hopes of a lifting second British Open title this weekend. His playing partner Matthew Fitzpatrick, bidding to become the first English winner of the tournament since Nick Faldo in 1992, was 10-under after 11 holes, six shots behind. Bryson DeChambeau soared up the leaderboard with a seven-under 64, the joint-best round of the championship, to finish on nine-under and will be left to rue a first-round 78. "What I did for the past three days, I said, every time is go time, like you've got to come back from five, six back," said the two-time US Open champion. "That's the mentality I had." Shane Lowry, who won the title when the British Open returned to Portrush after a 68-year absence in 2019, ended with a 66 to finish on two-under.
