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kaisy
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Mar 20 2013, 09:08 AM
Post #1
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Chris Wood knows what its like to blow the lead in the final round of a tournament, and he had no intention of doing it again in the Qatar Masters. Beats by Dre uk . Needing a birdie on 18 to force a playoff with Sergio Garcia and George Coetzee on Saturday, the 25-year-old Englishman went one better. He landed his 200-yard approach shot 12 feet from the hole and sank the eagle putt for the victory. He finished with a 3-under 69 and 18-under 270 for the tournament. "It feels amazing. Its a dream come true," said the 142nd-ranked Wood, who moves into the top 60 with his first European Tour victory in Doha. "I didnt know the situation when I was on the 18th fairway, but luckily Id hit a great drive and I had the perfect yardage for a six iron," he said. "I knew I had to just let my swing go and trust it. Its up there as one of the best shots Ive ever played, because it was to win a tournament." Wood said he was thinking of Tiger Woods-- someone who has hit a few tournament-winning shots in his day -- just before he hit the shot on 18. "I remember watching Tiger hit a shot at a tournament a few years ago on 18, an eight iron to six feet and that was for his first win in a couple of years after he struggled. I watched quite a bit of that, and although he didnt play his best, his attitude was, Im going to win this tournament whatever happens," Wood said. "I had that in the back of my mind, to just let my swing go and no matter how it feels, trust the swing, commit to it and I hit a really good shot there." Wood came into the final day with a comfortable three-shot lead over former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell, Simon Khan and Alexander Noren. He had been here before and it had ended badly -- in 2011 at the Iberdrola Open in Majorca, he came into the final day with a four-shot lead but scored a 76 to lose by three to Darren Clarke. Early on, Wood appeared to be faltering once again. He missed a four-foot birdie putt on No. 2 and then double-bogeyed the par-3 third. He hit his tee shot into a sandy, waste area and then a chip failed to clear a wall. He rebounded with a birdie on No. 5 but then bogeyed the next hole to open the door for Coetzee and later Garcia. "On the third, I tried to get it up and over the wall but it ricocheted back and it turned out to be a good five," Wood said. "That actually settled me down a bit surprisingly." The 48th-ranked Coetzee, also looking for his first European Tour win, had three birdies on the final four holes on the front nine and then eagled the 10th to take a two-shot lead. His approach shot on the 10th bounced on the fringe and rolled to a few feet, setting up the easy eagle putt. "Its always good if you can hold the lead on the final day because its very difficult," Coetzee said. "I thought to myself, all I have to do is get past 15 and make him shoot a number, and luckily for him he did." Garcia got into the hunt with his much improved short game, carding six birdies on his final 11 holes. His tee shot on the par-3 17th rolled to 3-feet and his birdie putt left him one shot behind. On the 18th, the Spaniard hit a long wedge shot for another birdie chance which he converted to tie Coetzee for the lead. "I gave it my best effort," said Garcia, who could have moved into the top 10 with a win. "The last 10 or 11 holes were good. The first six holes, I didnt feel great with my swing and you could see it." Wood recovered with some clutch putting, sinking long birdie putts on Nos. 8, 9 and 14. He saved par on the 15th after his approach shot went into the rough and then just missed a 20-footer for birdie on the 16th. He missed another good birdie chance on No. 17, leaving him a shot behind with one hole to play. The win was Woods second overall -- after a victory on the Asian Tour in Thailand last year -- and gives him a sense that he finally has turned the corner after 116 European Tour events. "I got to about 65th or something a couple of years ago, but since then Ive had all the problems with my back and Ive struggled a little bit," Wood said. "But I always knew that I would be getting back just in my own time and Im absolutely desperate for it. It definitely opens the door to a few more things and now I can set a couple of different targets for the next few months." Steve Webster (68) and Noren (71) finished four shots back in a tie for fourth, with Webster ending his chances with a double-bogey on 15. Three others including Branden Grace (71) finished a further shot back in a tie for sixth. Grace, a rising South African star who won four tournaments last year, gave himself a chance with an eagle on the 10th but had two bogeys to fall back before he birdied the 18th. Beats by Dre Sale . The veteran mixed martial arts fighter made the announcement on the "UFC Tonight" TV show. Beats by Dre Oulet . - Having acclimated to the Florida humidity, top seed John Isner captured a 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow American Ryan Sweeting on Wednesday to move into the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. http://www.officialbeatsbydreshop.co.uk/ . Within the last year, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions have each found themselves near the bottom of the standings looking up at the long road towards capturing the 99th Grey Cup. Beats by Dre . Johnny Cueto felt uncomfortable on the muddy mound. Cheap Beats by Dre . "Broken collarbone confirm. Small break, not displaced but Mark and Adam won medals so Im smiling. Off to the park," Whitfield tweeted Wednesday. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Ryan Dempster had some extra rest and a slider that was working. This was more like the kind of performance from Dempster the AL West-leading Rangers were looking for when they traded for the right-hander three weeks ago. After giving up eight runs twice in his first three Texas starts, Dempster limited the surprising Baltimore Orioles to a first-inning run and allowed only four hits over eight innings in a 5-1 victory Monday night. "I was able to settle down after the first inning and just make pitches. I had a good slider," Dempster said. "I hadnt had that the couple times Ive been here." Dempster (2-1 in Texas, 7-6 overall) was pitching on extra rest after missing the weekend series in his native Canada for personal reasons. While he wasnt with the Rangers for the three games in Toronto and missed his scheduled start Saturday, he threw a bullpen session over the weekend. In his 16 starts for the Cubs before the July 31 trade, Dempster had a 2.25 ERA and pitched eight innings twice. The last time was June 10 at Minnesota. He had an 8.31 ERA his first three starts for the Rangers. "Hes got a track record of a good pitcher. Those are the types of things guys like him are capable of doing," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Obviously, hes a great addition for them. We did what we could do. Didnt hit many balls hard off of him. He kept the ball off the centre of the plate. We ran into a pretty good pitcher." Dempster retired the last 11 batters he faced before closer Joe Nathan, in a non-save situation, struck out the side in the ninth. David Murphy had two RBI singles for the Rangers, who opened a 10-game homestand. All nine Texas starters had a hit. Miguel Gonzalez (5-3), who had won his previous three decisions, gave up four runs in five innings. Dempster needed only three pitches to get the first two Baltimore batters out before Nate McLouth doubled and scored on Adam Jones soft single. That was the only run the Orioles got. Only two runners reached second base against Dempster after that, and the last Baltimore batter to reach was Nick Markakis with a one-out single in the fifth. Dempster struck out six and walked two while throwing 111 pitches. "He kept the ball downn, had a good slider going, good changeup, good sinker, got ahead.dddddddddddd Thats what hes capable of doing," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Hes not an overpowering guy. He has to execute his pitches, and tonight he executed. As long as he executes them, hes going to be fine." The Orioles, who are in the hunt for one of the ALs two wildcard spots, lost for only the fifth time their last 16 games. The Rangers took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth. Gonzalez, who had won three consecutive decisions, gave up hits to the first two batters he faced. But the right-hander couldnt get out of a similar jam in the fourth. Adrian Beltre had a leadoff single before Nelson Cruz walked. Murphy blooped a one-out single to left to tie the game at 1. Geovany Soto, who also came to Texas from the Cubs last month, followed with an RBI single before Mitch Moreland reached on an infield single. Ian Kinsler hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. "I thought Miguel was good. I thought he deserved a better fate. The games not always fair," Showalter said. "Dempster was just a little better. Theres not a whole lot there to talk about. Their guy pitched well." Kinsler walked twice and was 1 for 2, but still had only six hits in 48 at-bats over his last 13 games. Josh Hamilton led off the fifth with a single and scored on a double by Cruz. Murphy added another run-scoring single in the eighth. "Its fun to play games like this," Murphy said. "We got a great performance out of Ryan Dempster. Thats exactly the type of guy he is. He pounded the strike zone, but once we got him a little bit more of a lead, you could tell that he did it even more so." Notes: Orioles 1B/DH Jim Thome, out since July 27 with a herniated disk in his neck, will start swinging off a tee and in the cages this week. Showalter says Thome will start his rehab Wednesday in Sarasota, Fla. ... Rangers SS Elvis Andrus had a standout defensive play in the fifth when he made a backhanded stop deep in the hole and threw out Manny Manchado at first base. ... Jones had two singles but is homerless in 88 at-bats. ... Markakis was 1 for 3 with a walk and is hitting .333 in 37 games as Baltimores leadoff hitter. ' ' '
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