A round-up of other sports news in brief
Norman lets it get away in Seniors PGA championship
GOLF: Greg Norman spent almost four hours playing flawless golf yesterday to move into contention in the second round of the 70th Senior PGA Championship.
He was two under through 15 holes at Canterbury Golf Club in Ohio, moving from a 54th-place tie to inside the top-20.
But it all came apart during a 10-minute stretch on the long 16th, when a skulled chip led to a triple-bogey eight. Norman bogeyed the 17th hole and signed for a two-over 72 that left him on the cut line at five-over-par 145.
Gil Morgan and Tom Kite were among four players finished on one under and leading in the clubhouse, but overnight leader Tom Purtzer had reached five under par halfway throough his second round.
Norman got off to a good start at the 616-yard 16th hole when he hit the fairway. His troubles began when his second shot landed in the deep rough short and right of the green. He skulled his third shot over the green and watched in disgust as the ball sailed out of bounds.
Norman had to drop a ball into the deep rough, hacked it out onto the green and three-putted.
"I played very well for the first 15 holes," Norman said. "Two-under was the worst score I was ever going to shoot for the whole day. But what can I do? At the end of the day, you go home."
Mark McNuty shot a second-round 69 to be one over, but Denis O'Sullivan,. who opened with an 81, was faring no better in the second round.
Stealth attack as Galway nears
SAILING: With under 40 miles between first and last places, plus a north-south tactical split, the stakes in leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race escalated last night when last-placed Ericsson 3 opted to play their 12-hour stealth card to "disappear" from reports, writes David Branigan.
Only race officers based at Whiteley can see the actual positions, for safety purposes.
Skipper Magnus Olsen's move is a gamble to try to gain on Ireland's Green Dragon, officially in sixth place but actually in the northern sector and close to overall leader Torben Grael, who has consistently been the fastest boat over the last three days.
Two other boats, Ericsson 4 and Puma Ocean Racing, also opted for Stealth play last evening.
The first finish in Galway is expected to take place tomorrow morning, subject to wind conditions and a match race between all seven boats is almost certain.
Martin still second overall
CYCLING: With two stages remaining, Irish professional Daniel Martin remains an excellent second overall in the Tour of Catalunya, writes Shane Stokes.
The 22-year-old Garmin Slipstream rider finished in the main bunch on yesterday’s 201.3 kilometre stage from La Seu d’Urgell to Torredembarra.
Nikolay Trusov (Team Katusha) won the mass gallop to the line, beating Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) into second. Martin’s cousin and compatriot Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) was a good 14th, while Martin rolled in 34th.
Heading into today’s lumpy, 150.5km penultimate stage from Torredembarra to Barcelona, Martin is 15 seconds behind leader Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne). He has said that he will try what he can to win the race, but his chances are hampered by the fact that the final two stages are not particularly mountainous.
Roche is 17th in the overall classification.
Tricky draw for Murray in Paris
TENNIS: Andy Murray admits clay-court specialist Juan Ignacio Chela will be a tough early test when he launches his campaign at the French Open.
While Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic all received benign draws for the first round at Roland Garros, the Scot was handed a tricky opener.
Chela reached the quarter-finals in 2004 and will give Murray an immediate examination of his credentials on his least favourite surface.
Murphy targets second Laser win
SAILING: UCD Science student Annalise Murphy (19), will be attempting to repeat last weekend’s Hoorn regatta win at next week’s Delta Lloyd Olympic regatta also in Holland, writes David O’Brien.
The National YC sailor topped a 76-boat fleet on the Isselemer in mixed conditions to win by three points and underline her potential for London in 2012 in the Laser dinghy.
The Dun Laoghaire helmswoman is the first Irish sailor to win a Europa Cup Laser event in 13 years.
The Europa Cup circuit comprises 13 separate events. The last time an Irish sailor won such a fixture was Murphy’s club-mate, Mark Lyttle, prior to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Murphy outwitted a number of Olympians over the three-day event that included black flag starts and the abandonment of some races due to large wind shifts.
Cavendish wins and then retires
CYCLING: Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Giro d’Italia. The British sprinter won yesterday’s 13th stage – his fourth of the tour – but will not continue when the race heads into the Apennine mountains today.
Team Colombia manager Rolf Aldag said: “He has had a very successful couple of weeks at the Giro but he is still young and he has a long career ahead of him.
“He has already raced 55 days this year and it is our view that the best thing for Mark is to take some recovery now before the Tour (de France).”
Cavendish recovered from an early mishap to sprint away, while Russia’s Denis Menchov retained the overall lead.
The Team Columbia rider made his move with about 300 metres to go, burning off LPR’s Alessandro Petacchi to take a 3-2 lead in stage victories over his Italian sprint rival in the race.
