ASIAN TOUR: Ireland's Padraig Harrington said he played "boring golf" en route to a three under par 69 as Amandeep Johl smashed the course record at the Macau Open with a stunning nine-under-par 62 yesterday to raise hopes of a second successive Indian winner on the Asian Tour.
Harrington, ranked eighth in the world, parred his opening nine holes before shooting three birdies against a lone bogey on his inward journey. "I'm not pleased, but it is by no means a disaster start. I just played too steady. I hit it to 15 to 20 feet on every hole on the front nine and didn't make anything. I was just steady, boring really."
A week after watching young compatriot Rahil Gangjee clinch a superb win in Beijing, Johl, searching for his elusive first Asian Tour title, produced a bogey free card at Macau Golf and Country Club and bettered the previous mark of 63 held by Adam Fraser of Australia
Two-time former champion Zhang Lian-wei of China couldn't drive for show or putt for dough as he scrambled to a 70.
Johl's stunning round included seven birdies and an eagle and was one stroke better than playing partner Nico Van Rensburg of South Africa. Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant returned a 64 while Taiwanese veteran Wang Ter-chang, Lin Wen-tang and American Jason Knutzon ended the day three back in joint fourth position.
US TOUR: Vijay Singh, who has banked an incredible $4,267,866 already on the US Tour this season, put himself in a good position to achieve a remarkable hat-trick of victories with a four-under-par 68 at the Wachovia Championship at Quaili Hollow, North Carolina.
The 40-year-old Fijian was three behind Kirk Triplett (one to play). Two shots further back was Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson (66) and Australia's Stuart Appleby followed by a group of players headed by Notah Begay III (67) and Mike Weir. Tiger Woods finished on three under, one shot ahead of Masters champion Phil Mickleson (70).
WORLD MATCHPLAY: The World Match Play championship at Wentworth, which offers golf's biggest first prize of £1 million, could be expanded from 12 to 16 players this October - and could count towards the European Order of Merit.
Ernie Els had to play only three matches to earn his record-equalling fifth title last year, but if the new system is adopted the top four seeds would be involved in the first round instead of receiving byes into the quarter-finals.
The extra players may come from designated European events, which improves the chances of a greater representation of home players than last year.
A statement is expected next week, but on the possible inclusion of the event in the money list it could be that, with such a limited field and with such huge sums involved, only a percentage of cash earned will count for Order of Merit purposes.
CHALLENGE TOUR: Dubliner Stephen Browne had an eventful beginning to the Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata in Italy after his opening round of four-under-par 68 left him three shots off the lead.
The event is played over two courses, Riva dei Tessali and the recently established Metaponto Club. Each player plays one round over each course for the first two days before the final two rounds are completed at Tessali.
Browne played his first round at Metaponto in windy conditions yesterday and had a roller coaster round that consisted of eight birdies and four bogeys. The 30-year-old finished strongly - picking up four birdies in his closing seven holes to get to four under.
"It was an eventful day, you could say that alright!" said Browne after signing for 68. "The wind was really blowing at points out there today - I hit a drive 380 yards at one point so that gives you an indication of how windy it got.
Belfast's Michael Hoey is just one shot behind Browne after his 69 at Metaponto, with Colm Moriarty from Athlone going round the same course in level par 72.
LEADING SCORES (Irish in bold, British unless stated) - At Riva dei Tessali (6,503 yds, par 71): 65 - F Guermani (Ita); 66 - B Akstrup (Den); 67 - A Tadini (Ita); A Bossert (Swi); M Soffieti (Ita); 68 - P Lima (Fra); S Little; 69 - J Axgren (Swe); N Cheetham; R Pellicioli (Fra).
At Metaponto Club (6,872 yds, par 72): 68 - S Browne; L Westerberg (Swe); 69 - M Ruiz (Par); O Wilson; D Patrick; G Davies; M Hoey; O Whitely; C D Corral (Sp); 70 - J B Gonnet (Fra); C Balmaseda; A Canete (Arg). Other score: 72 - C Moriarty.
