Cink hits the birdie trail to grab the halfway lead

GOLF: Stewart Cink carded a six under par 65 to grab the halfway lead after the second round of The Heritage Classic at Hilton Head Island yesterday.

Cink, the 2000 champion, had six birdies on the front nine and finished with two more to reach 10 under 132, a stroke better than Hal Sutton and two lower than Chad Campbell.

Sutton used a tip from Nick Price to shoot a 66 and is in contention for his first title in nearly two years.

Campbell was alone in third, a shot ahead of Mark Calcavecchia. Several players were on the course when Cink reached the clubhouse, including four-time champion Davis Love III, who was three strokes back through six holes.

Darren Clarke finished on three under par after a second round of 69 and a halfway total of 139.

ROWING: While yesterday's stage of the National Trials at Inniscarra Lake in Cork, was blessed with blazing sunshine it was also cursed with a headwind which ruled out much of the scheduled action, reports Liam Gorman.

In a single sculls race between the top men, heavyweight Sean Jacob was first man home, followed by four lightweights: Gearoid Towey, Niall O'Toole, Tim Harnedy and Eugene Coakley. Another heavyweight Sean Casey, was sixth.

MEN'S HOCKEY: Instonians were overwhelmed 6-0 by Amsterdam in their opening game of the European Cup Winners' Cup in Terrassa, near Barcelona, yesterday. Four of Amsterdam's goals came from penalty corners.

EQUESTRIAN SPORT: Ireland's lone representative, Trevor Coyle, was lying 20th of the 39 starters after Thursday night's opening, speed leg of the Budweiser World Cup showjumping finals in Las Vegas.

Riding the 12-year-old Holstein mare Fleur, Coyle posted 82.93 seconds, more than 10 seconds behind the leaders and competition favourites, McLain Ward and Viktor (USA). The event finishes tomorrow with a top-20 decider.