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Tired Woods decides to miss New York event

US TOUR : Tiger Woods has decided to miss next week's Barclays Classic outside New York, the first of four big-money play-off…

Sat Aug 18 2007 - 01:00

US TOUR: Tiger Woods has decided to miss next week's Barclays Classic outside New York, the first of four big-money play-off events that will crown the inaugural FedExCup champion.

The world number one says he is fatigued after winning back-to-back titles at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA Championship in sapping heat.

"My intention was to compete in all four PGA Tour play-off events, including the inaugural Barclays Classic," the 31-year-old American said on his Web site yesterday. "But the truth is I'm just not ready. Playing the last two weeks in the heat and humidity were mentally and physically draining. Although I managed to pull out victories in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship, my body is spent and I need a short break. Major championships are gruelling experiences and usually necessitate recovery time."

The absence of Woods from the first play-off event is a setback for the PGA Tour, who have trumpeted the inaugural FedExCup series as "a new era in golf".

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EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR: Englishman Carl Mason shot a 69 to lead the English Open at the St Mellion International Hotel, Golf and Country Club.

Northern Ireland's Jimmy Heggarty trails by one stroke, as does South Africa's John Bland, Australia's Stewart Ginn, Scotland's Bill Longmuir, Trinidad's Alan Mew, England's Nick Job, David J Russell and Martin Poxon. They all shot two under par rounds of 70 over the testing Nicklaus Course on day one of the European Seniors Tour event. Eamonn Darcy shot a 75.

GIRLS' AMATEUR: Despite winning the first hole, Ireland's 12-year-old Lisa Maguire (Slieve Russell) was beaten 5 and 4 by England's Kelly Tidy at the Girls' Under-18 British Amateur Championship at Southerndown, Wales.

Maguire's excellent start was abruptly addressed by an in-form Kelly who won the third and then three consecutive holes from the fifth to register a three-hole advantage at the turn. Maguire went further behind when Kelly rattled off two birdies on 10 and 11 and despite a birdie of her own on 12 to reduce the gap to four holes, Kelly holed from 20 feet to win the 14th and closed out the match with a half on 15.

Kelly goes on to play England's Henrietta Brockway who dispatched Denmark's Sara Monberg 4 and 2 in the other semi-final. Meanwhile, Maguire, the first Irish player to make the last four since Josephine Mark lifted the title in 1972, is next out in the Leinster Girls' Championship at Old Conna on Monday morning.

US TOUR: Jeff Overton birdied his final two holes to grab the clubhouse lead during the second round at the Wyndham Championship yesterday. Overton, in his second season on the PGA Tour, carded six birdies in a five-under-par 67 on the Forest Oaks course. He posted a 12 under halfway total of 132, one stroke better than Carl Pettersson (67), Tim Petrovic (65) and Greg Kraft (67) with half the field back in the clubhouse.

CHALLENGE TOUR: Colm Moriarty surged into contention for a second Challenge Tour title in the space of three weeks at the Rolex Trophy at the Golf Club de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday.

The Athlone professional added a second round 68 to his opening 69 to move into a tie for third place on seven under par 137 - just two strokes off the lead going into the final 36 holes. Belfast's Michael Hoey is also at the Rolex Trophy and is one under after scores of 71-72.

While Moriarty was on the up, Michael McGeady was on the way down the leaderboard at the Challenge Tour's second event of the week, the Lexus Open in Norway. McGeady stormed to an opening six under 66 to take the first round lead on Thursday but yesterday added 10 shots to his first round effort to fall back to two under 142. Scotsman George Murray and Austria's Martin Wiegele lead the way on six under at the Miklagard Golf Club.

LET TOUR: England's Rebecca Hudson fired a seven-under-par 65 to take the halfway lead at the Wales Women's Championship of Europe at the Machynys Peninsula Golf Club yesterday. The 28-year-old from Doncaster carded eight birdies and one bogey to finish on nine-under-par 135. Ireland's Rebecca Coakley had a second round of 70 and Martina Gillen a 73 but Claire Coughlan just missed the cut.