Tag Archives: purring

Scottish Open Phil Mickelson hits form but Francesco Molinari leads at Castle Stuart

Posted on by

Open tune-up has Mickelson purring but Molinari leads the pack at Castle Stuart

|

UPDATED:

16:52 GMT, 14 July 2012

Asking for a late invitation to the Scottish Open could turn out to be one of the best decisions of Phil Mickelson's career – even if he cannot catch Francesco Molinari in the final round.

Outside the top 120 after an opening 73 the American star, with one eye on the coming Open Championship, has charged all the way to joint fifth after adding a 65 to his 64 on Friday.

Among the players he moved past was world number one and defending champion Luke Donald, but he still trails Molinari by three.

On the charge: Phil Mickelson is hitting form at just the right time

On the charge: Phil Mickelson is hitting form at just the right time

Scottish Open leaderboard

Click here to see the latest scores

The Italian's 67 to reach 17 under par, one better than Dane Anders Hansen, keeps him on course to emulate the victory two years ago by his brother Edoardo.

It would be only the second time in European Tour history brothers have lifted the same title. Spaniards Antonio and German Garrido won the Madrid Open in in 1977 and 1973 respectively.

Scot Marc Warren and Dane Soren Kjeldsen are now joint third only two back. Playing together, they both shot 64 and now lead the battle for the one Open spot up for grabs at the tournament.

Last July Mickelson went from finishing only 58th at Castle Stuart to joint runner-up behind Darren Clarke at Sandwich, so no wonder he is so looking forward to what next weekend may now bring.

Leading the way: Francesco Molinari heads Anders Hansen by a shot

Leading the way: Francesco Molinari heads Anders Hansen by a shot

He has been trying to win The Open since 1991 – just as Clarke had been when he finally made it.

Eight days ago the 42-year-old was not even going to be in Inverness, but after a run of seven successive rounds over par and a missed cut at the Greenbrier Classic he decided to change plans.

'I should have had it planned out originally, but there was a chance to take the kids to Italy,' he said.

'I'm very pleased and excited. Given my three previous events it would have been asking a lot to get ready for Thursday (the start of The Open) if I hadn't played here.

'This course is so good at getting you ready for playing links golf. It does not beat you up so much.'

That is demonstrated by the scoring this week – with no significant wind yet the halfway cut fell at four under, only two off the Tour record.

Picturesque: Jeev Milkha Singh of India putts on the 6th green

Picturesque: Jeev Milkha Singh of India putts on the 6th green

'I'll be trying to make a run at the lead, but more than that I feel like my game is starting to improve every day.

'Hopefully I'll have a good round and that will give me some momentum heading into next week as well.

'I'm excited about the (last two) scores because I haven't been playing at that level, even though I knew it wasn't that far off.'

He was slow off the blocks with a front nine 35, but then had six birdies coming home in 30.

Molinari was joint leader with Alex Noren at halfway and the matched each other hole-for-hole going to the turn in 32.

But then Molinari added a fifth birdie on the 10th and Noren hit his drive down the long 12th into the gorse on the right and ran up a triple bogey eight.

Harry Redknapp"s seeking Tottenham run-in revival

Posted on by

Redknapp's seeking run-in revival as Spurs look to bounce back from slump

|

UPDATED:

21:53 GMT, 10 April 2012

At a glance, it's obvious really. Harry Redknapp 'got' the England job, Tottenham collapsed and title hopes were transformed into the dread of another unwanted encounter with the wretched Europa League.

But is it that simple

Nine Premier League games since the England issue erupted have produced two wins. But there were only four in the previous nine.

On target: Bennett scored Norwich's winning goal against Spurs on Monday

On target: Bennett scored Norwich's winning goal against Spurs on Monday

Since the golden autumn run (P11, W10, D1) ended with a controversial defeat at Stoke, Tottenham's record reads P20, W7, D7, L6.

Results cooled around the turn of the year and the recent accelerated downturn has coincided with trickier fixtures, including successive away games at Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea (all purring) and at home to Manchester United, when Spurs played well but lost.

Monday's 2-1 defeat at home to Norwich sticks out – they are the only team other than United and City to take three points from White Hart Lane.

Bad run: Redknapp's Tottenham have won just twice sine Capello resigned

Bad run: Redknapp's Tottenham have won just twice sine Capello resigned

Yet, no team playing Saturday and Monday over Easter won twice, and Tottenham faced Paul Lambert's vibrant side after a long trip to Sunderland and with an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea coming up on Sunday.

Redknapp has stuck with roughly the same first team (eight players have started 27 Premier League games or more) and there are signs of weariness, even though he protected older players from the Europa League.

Out of sorts: Bale hasn't scored in the League since January

Out of sorts: Bale hasn't scored in the League since January

Michael Dawson and William Gallas have missed much of the season and there are signs that never training may finally be catching up with Ledley King.

The manager might have rotated more but Tottenham's squad has less experience and quality in depth since Robbie Keane, Jermaine Jenas, David Bentley, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Alan Hutton and Vedran Corluka were sold or loaned out.

In particular, the decision to release Steven Pienaar on loan in January has backfired. Pienaar has excelled at Everton while Spurs have lacked pace and width during Aaron Lennon' s on-off hamstring problems.

The team have lost central craft when Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric have been forced wide and Gareth Bale's series of positional experiments have not been successful. He is still at his most destructive when tearing down the left.

Spurs are a different team when Bale is at full power and opponents invest great effort in stopping him. His form is good but the goals have dried up and he has not scored in the Premier League since January.

Celebrate good times: The away fans go wild after Bennett's strike

Celebrate good times: The away fans go wild after Bennett's strike

Then there was the 5-2 defeat at Arsenal in February. Arsene Wenger called it a turning point for his team while it may have been one in the opposite direct ion for their neighbours.

Spurs, two up after 30 minutes and looking to stretch their advantage over Arsenal to 13 points, took a beating in the second half and the lead was cut to seven.

Arsenal can go five clear of Spurs if they win at Wolves tonight and the predictions of a permanent power shift seem wide of the mark.

The nature of that derby defeat stole much of Tottenham's north London swagger. It has been anything but a routine campaign, of course, for Redknapp, with brief absences for heart surgery and to clear his name of tax-evasion charges in court. Then Capello walked out and the glare of England speculation focused on Spurs.

Redknapp may have changed nothing but uncertainty was thrust upon a club which seemed settled and well-balanced.

Players chat and mull over where it leaves them, but it could have been worse. When Sven Goran Eriksson announced he would leave Lazio for England at the end of 2000-01, the form of the Italian champions slumped so badly he resigned early.

However, the final fixtures offer hope – at home to Blackburn and Fulham, away at QPR, Bolton and Aston Villa.

Strange things happen at this time of year when teams are fighting for survival but Redknapp must remain confident of completing a return to the Champions League.