Wi takes lead at Disney

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) ― Getting off to a quick start is nothing new for Charlie Wi. The hard part is figuring out how to finish.Wi took the 18-hole lead for the third time this year ― and the eighth time in his PGA Tour career ― by closing with back-to-back birdies Thursday for an 8-under 64 on the easier Palm Course at Disney. That gave him a one-shot lead over Camilo Villegas and Tommy Gainey in the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic.This is the 184th career start for Wi on

Nov. 9, 2012

Bae Sang-moon makes Asia team

Bae Sang-moon of Korea and the Asian team will clash with the European squad at the sixth edition of the Royal Trophy golf championship in Brunei from Dec. 14-16.Asian team captain Naomichi “Joe” Ozaki added the 26-year-old to his lineup Thursday, Entertainment Group (Asia) Limited, which promotes the Europe versus Asia golf event, said.Bae finished at the top of the Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit last year and played full time in the highly competitive PGA Tour this year. Recently, he finished

Nov. 2, 2012

McIlroy cuts ties with Titleist

Rory McIlroy is officially a free agent when it comes to golf equipment.McIlroy and Acushnet Co., which has supplied the 23-year-old star from Northern Ireland with Titleist and FootJoy gear since he turned pro five years ago, said Tuesday they will not extend their relationship after this year.The announcement allows McIlroy to pursue a lucrative endorsement contract, with strong indications that he will sign with Nike in a deal that one industry observer estimated at $20 million a year. That w

Oct. 31, 2012

On the fast track

South Korea’s Ryu So-yeon has clinched the LPGA Tour’s top annual rookie award with three tournaments left this season, the Tour announced Tuesday.On its website, the LPGA Tour said Ryu became the eighth Korean to claim the Rookie of the Year honors. In the race for the award, the 22-year-old garnered 1,306 points in 22 events, well ahead of American teenager Lexi Thompson, who has picked up 779 points in 21 tournaments.Rookies are awarded 150 points for first place in a tournament, 80 points fo

Oct. 30, 2012

Park leads by strokes in Taiwan

YANG MEI, Taiwan (AP) ― Park In-bee of South Korea shot a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over local favorite and top-ranked Yani Tseng after the first round of the Taiwan Championship on Thursday.Park, leading the race for LPGA Tour player of the year, had seven birdies at Sunrise Golf and Country Club.Defending champion Tseng finished the day with six birdies offset by a bogey on the 10th hole.The group of four tied for third on 68 included Nicole Castrale and Danielle Kang of the United

Oct. 26, 2012

Gainey wins Sea Island with course record

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Georgia (AP) ― Winning on the PGA Tour is what Tommy Gainey dreamed about when he held a job wrapping insulation around hot water tanks, when he was playing more mini-tours than he can remember, when he was taking part in a Golf Channel reality series where he was best known as the guy wearing two gloves.“Two Gloves” never imagined his first win would unfold the way it did Sunday at Sea Island.Seven shots behind going into the final round of the McGladrey Classic, Gainey came

Oct. 22, 2012

Kim Mi-hyun bids farewell to golf

INCHEON (Yonhap News) ― Eight-time LPGA Tour winner Kim Mi-hyun of South Korea bid a teary farewell to competitive golf on Sunday, after completing her final round at the LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship on her home soil.On the Ocean Course at the Sky72 Golf Club here, just west of Seoul, Kim ended the three-round tournament at 8-over par. Slowed by leg pains all week, she started the week with a four-over 76 on Friday and followed it up with a 70 on Saturday. In the final round, she made just one

Oct. 21, 2012

Tseng in slump, out of answers

Five months without a top 10. Sixteen consecutive rounds without breaking 70. An average final round of 74.3 since April. The numbers add to a player mired in a dreadful slump, and it’s even more shocking when they belong to the No. 1 player in the world.Yani Tseng doesn’t seem to have any answers.“I think this is just part of real life when you go out and you have to go down and maybe you go up again,” Tseng said in South Korea, where she is the defending champion in the LPGA HanaBank Champions

Oct. 17, 2012

Homegrown golf stars to vie for Korea Open title

Minus the defending champion from the U.S., homegrown stars will vie for South Korea’s national golf championship this week.The 55th Kolon Korea Open will tee off Thursday at Woojeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, about 90 kilometers south of Seoul. The winner’s paycheck will be 300 million won ($270,000), the largest offered at a golf tournament held in South Korea.Defending champion Rickie Fowler won’t play on the par-71, 7,225-yard layout this year because of back

Oct. 16, 2012

Funk edges Waldorf to win Greater Hickory Classic

CONOVER, North Carolina (AP) ― Fred Funk made a two-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to edge Duffy Waldorf by one stroke for the Greater Hickory Classic title on Sunday.The 56-year-old Funk shot a 3-under 69 in the final round at Rock Barn Golf and Spa’s Jones Course for a three-day total of 15-under 201.It was the second Champions Tour victory this season for Funk, who won at The Woodlands in Texas in May. Funk now has eight career wins on the 50-and-over tour.Waldorf, a four-time winner on the PGA T

Oct. 15, 2012

Blixt wins Frys.com Open

SAN MARTIN, California (AP) ― Jonas Blixt is a frustrated hockey player turned golfer. He’s also a winner in his first season on the PGA Tour.“I was more interested in hockey. I wanted to be a hockey player,” the Swede said Sunday after his breakthrough victory in the Frys.com Open. “I never really got big enough or good enough to play. Golf kind of suited me pretty well.”Blixt was a defenseman and played hockey well into his teens.“It’s the greatest sport ever,” he said. “The lockout just kills

Oct. 15, 2012