Advertisement

Ogilvy’s 65 gives him a six-shot margin

Share
Staff and Wire Reports

Geoff Ogilvy ran off three consecutive birdies on the back nine and shot an eight-under-par 65 on Saturday to make the rest of the winners-only field at the Mercedes-Benz Championship feel as though they were playing for second at Kapalua, Hawaii.

Leading by one shot to start the third round, Ogilvy played bogey-free for the second time in three rounds and wound up at 19-under 200 and with a six-shot lead over Justin Leonard and D.J. Trahan in the PGA Tour’s season-opening event.

Leonard made eight birdies over his final 14 holes on his way to a 65, the kind of round that he figured would give him a chance to win.

Advertisement

But he never had a good look at the leaderboard until he walked onto the 18th green and saw that Ogilvy was at 19 under.

“It was a little deflating, to say the least,” Leonard said.

Trahan began the day one shot behind Ogilvy, but he couldn’t keep up and shot a 70.

Annika Sorenstam and Mike McGee were married Saturday, four weeks after the Swedish golf star ended her Hall of Fame career.

--

WINTER SPORTS

Austria’s Raich wins giant slalom

Benjamin Raich of Austria won a World Cup giant slalom at Adelboden, Switzerland, for the third time in four years and moved to the top of the GS and overall points races.

Ted Ligety, the defending World Cup champion in GS, finished ninth on the famously steep Kuonisbaergli course while Bode Miller skied out on the first run, failing to complete a race for the eighth time in 16 events.

Lindsey Vonn posted the second-fastest time in the final run of a World Cup giant slalom at Maribor, Slovenia, but will have to wait for her first win in the discipline.

The defending overall champion climbed from 15th after the opening leg to finish seventh, 1.52 seconds behind Tina Maze of Slovenia, who won the race in front of 10,000 cheering home fans.

Advertisement

Shauna Rohbock of the U.S. won her first World Cup race of the season in the two-man bobsled at Koenigssee, Germany, to move into second place in the overall standings. . . . Norway’s Torstein Horgmo edged Olympic gold medalist Shaun White in the men’s snowboard slopestyle final in the second stop of the inaugural Winter Dew Tour at West Dover, Vt. . . . The United States won the world women’s under-18 hockey championship at Fussen, Germany, defeating Canada, 3-2, on Kendall Coyne’s goal in overtime.

--

TENNIS

Sharapova pulls out in Australia

Defending champion Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Australian Open because of her slower than expected recovery after a shoulder injury.

Sharapova advised tournament officials today that she would not be able to defend her title at Melbourne Park beginning Jan. 19.

Men’s and women’s singles champions will earn $1.42 million at the tournament, which is increasing overall prize money by 12%.

Britain’s Andy Murray successfully defended his title at the Qatar Open. The fourth-ranked Murray defeated No. 8 Andy Roddick, 6-4, 6-2, to win his ninth overall title. . . . Venus Williams dominated Vera Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-2, to give Team Americas the victory over Russia in the Hong Kong team tournament. . . . Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka won her first WTA Tour title, beating Marion Bartoli, 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the Brisbane International.

--

ETC.

Bruins get two football recruits

Marlon Pollard, a defensive back from San Bernardino Cajon, and Billy Sanders, a tight end from Coeur D’Alene (Idaho) Lake City High, have committed to UCLA, according to Pollard’s mother, Rachael.

Advertisement

Pollard, 6 feet and 170 pounds, is considered one of the top cornerbacks in California. He committed to UCLA two years ago but changed his mind and announced he would attend Notre Dame. He recommitted to UCLA on Saturday.

-- Chris Foster

Liverpool played to a 0-0 draw at struggling Stokey, leaving the Premier League leader in front of Chelsea by four points as it bids for its first English title since 1990. . . . David Beckham won’t start today for AC Milan in his Italian Serie A debut against AS Roma.

Karoly Balszay of Hungary won a unanimous decision over Russia’s Denis Inkin at Magdeburg, Germany, to capture the WBO super-middleweight championship. . . . Boston Bruins forward Marco Sturm could sit out the rest of the season because of a left knee injury. He is scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday.

--

PASSINGS

Wood, tennis Hall of Famer, 97

Sidney Wood, who in 1931 became the only uncontested winner of a Wimbledon final, died Saturday in Palm Beach, Fla.

Wood’s opponent in the final of the 1931 championship at the All-England Club was U.S. Davis Cup teammate Frank Shields, who was unable to play because of an ankle injury.

Advertisement