SYDNEY (AP) ― Adam Scott held a two-shot advantage over Rory McIlroy as the tournament’s star players moved to the top of the Australian Open leaderboard at Royal Sydney on Friday.Scott shot 2-under-par 70 for a two-round total of 12-under 132. McIlroy, playing in the morning and avoiding the rain and storms that later hit the course, had a 65.Scott and McIlroy will play together on Saturday in the third round.“It was always going to be a day where you just had to hang on,” Scott said of the tou

Nov. 29, 2013

SYDNEY (AP) ― Adam Scott birdied his first six holes en route to a course-record 10-under 62 at Royal Sydney on Thursday to take a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Australian Open.Scott is attempting to join Robert Allenby as the only golfers to win all three Australian majors in the same year. Allenby won the Australian PGA, Australian Masters and Australian Open in 2005.Scott broke the previous Royal Sydney mark of 65 set by five players at the 2008 Australian Open. After Scott’s

Nov. 28, 2013

The South Korean contingent on the LPGA Tour enjoyed another successful season in 2013, led by the world No. 1 Park In-bee. With Park reigning supreme on the tour, two of her compatriots, both in their mid-20s, earned their maiden LPGA victories this year.The 2013 season concluded with the CME Group Titleholders in Florida on Sunday. And a year after winning eight events, South Koreans combined for 10 victories in 2013, further cementing their status as the most dominant group of players from ou

Nov. 25, 2013

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ― Morten Orum Madsen of Denmark won his first European Tour title Sunday as Charl Schwartzel struggled in the final round of the season-opening South African Open.Madsen shot a 67 for a 19-under total of 269 and a two-shot victory, overtaking Schwartzel and Hennie Otto of South Africa.Schwartzel had a triple-bogey 6 on No. 6 and a double bogey on No. 10 to lose his overnight lead. Otto, the 2011 champion, lost the lead when he bogeyed the 15th hole and had a double bogey on the

Nov. 25, 2013

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) ― Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum took the first-round lead Thursday in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, birdieing seven of the first 13 holes at Guadalajara Country Club.The 23-year-old Phatlum, winless in five seasons on the LPGA Tour, dropped a stroke on the par-4 14th hole and finished with a 6-under 66.Amy Yang was a stroke back, and fellow South Korean players Park In-bee and Ryu So-yeon were two shots back at 68 along with Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist.The top-ranked Park sw

Nov. 15, 2013

Just more than three months ago, Park In-bee went to St. Andrews with a shot at becoming the first golfer to win four straight majors in one year. She was No. 1 in women’s golf by any measure ― world ranking, money list ― and it wasn’t even close.But as the LPGA Tour goes into the final two weeks of its season, there’s a chance Park won’t win any of the major awards. And she might even lose her No. 1 ranking.Suzann Pettersen, who had only one win after the Women’s British Open the first week in

Nov. 13, 2013

SHIMA, Japan (AP) ― Taiwan’s Teresa Lu won the Mizuno Classic on Sunday, birdieing the last two holes and six of the final eight for an 8-under 64 and a two-stroke victory.The 25-year-old Lu, a regular on the Japan LPGA Tour after giving up her LPGA Tour membership in 2010, finished at 14-under 202 at Kintetsu Kashikojima. She earned $180,000 for her first tour title.South Korea’s Chella Choi, tied with Lu with two holes to play, had a 66 to finish second.Japanese players took the next five spot

Nov. 10, 2013

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Georgia (AP) ― Heavy fog allowed Brian Gay a quick nap, and he no longer felt so sluggish after traveling halfway around the world from Shanghai to Sea Island for the McGladrey Classic on Thursday. Gay had enough energy to make eight birdies on his way to a 7-under 63, giving him a share of the lead with Briny Baird among early starters. The opening round could not be completed because of a fog delay lasting nearly two hours. Once the sun burned off the fog, the Seaside course

Nov. 8, 2013

SHIMA, Japan (AP) ― Stacy Lewis is rested and ready to defend her title at the Mizuno Classic, the LPGA’s last stop on a five-event Asian swing.Lewis, who overcame a seven-stroke deficit to win last year’s tournament, is coming off a three-week break from the tour and has big plans to add to her career titles.“I’m not playing all the Asia tournaments just because I want to be fresh when I am playing and I want to play good and have a chance to win,” said the No. 3-ranked Lewis, who leads the LPG

Nov. 7, 2013

SHANGHAI (AP) ― Against an all-world cast of contenders, Dustin Johnson pulled away with power and a clutch putt to win his first World Golf Championship on Sunday.Johnson played a pivotal five-hole stretch on the back nine in 5-under par, seizing control by pitching in for eagle from just short of the green on the par-4 16th. He followed with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 17th and closed with a 6-under 66 for a three-shot win over Ian Poulter in the HSBC Champions.“It was a lot of fun out there,

Nov. 3, 2013

SHANGHAI (AP) ― The PGA Tour will be partners in a new tour in China that starts next year with 12 tournaments.The China Tour-PGA Tour China Series will begin in March with 12 events that have purses of about $200,000. Still to be determined is qualifying procedures, and how many of the top finishers will have access to the Web.com Tour in the United States.“We know from looking at the history of golf that the growth of the game is driven first and foremost by the development of elite players,”

Nov. 3, 2013