Tiger Woods surged into the lead with six-under-par 66 bringing the Australian Masters to a standstill on Thursday.

There were traffic jams, road closures and long queues marking a memorable first Australian tournament appearance in 11 years for the 14-time major winner who fired seven birdies and just one bogey at Kingston Heath.

Woods moved into a three-way share of the lead with young South African Branden Grace and Australian James Nitties.

Spectators climbed into trees to get a glimpse of Woods as thousands clamoured to watch him play in his first Australian tournament since the 1998 Presidents Cup.

Car parks were full soon after sunrise and all spectator vantage spots were snapped up as the world No 1 teed off early in his opening round.

Access roads were closed and accessible only by car pass holders, taxis and local traffic in an attempt to cope with the public crush to see Woods play.

Even Woods said he was caught up in the traffic jam from Melbourne to the outlying course, but he was highly complimentary of the reception he received.

“The crowd was great today,” Woods said. “The people were obviously excited about the pairing and they were extremely respectful and they were actually policing themselves, which is great as we don’t get that too often.”

All 100,000 tickets for the four days of the tournament were snapped up last month.

Meanwhile, the battle for European supremacy remained all square after the first day of the UBS Hong Kong Open as unheralded Thai Udorn Duangdecha stole the show.

As Race to Dubai leader Lee Westwood and nearest challenger Rory McIlroy opened with four-under-par first rounds, Udorn just missed out on equalling the course record with an eight-under 62 to sit a shot clear of Robert-Jan Derksen.
Sourced via telegraph.co.uk

Popularity: 2% [?]

Anthony Mundine and Daniel Geale comfortably removed South American roadblocks to their boxing rematch with convincing wins at the Silverdome in Launceston on Wednesday.

Geale (22-1, 13 KOs) won every round on each judge’s card to record a complete 120-108 shutout over Brazil’s Samir Dos Santos Barbosa (22-6-3, 17 KOs) and win the vacant IBF Pan Pacific middleweight title.

Mundine (37-3, 23 KOS) was almost as dominant in recording a unanimous 10-round win over Argentina’s Alejandro Falliga (17-6-3, 6 KOs) in a non-title fight.

The IBO middleweight world champion earned the judges’ favour by two scores of 100-90 and one of 99-91.

Mundine spent most of the fight stalking his opponent, but the Argentinian spent most all of the bout backing away from the Australian and rarely engaged in exchanges.

The Australian was first to the punch with his jab and landed the occasional right-hand power shot, but was rarely able to sustain pressure on an opponent whose only objective appeared to be survival.

“He came here to survive, it didn’t make it real entertaining for the fans, but I had to deal with what was in front of me,” Mundine said in his post-fight ring interview.

“I was feeling good, I was feeling strong, I caught him a few times but he kept on his bike and I couldn’t pin him where I wanted to pin him.”

He said he was looking forward to a rematch with Geale, and fighting the winner of the Australian Contender reality TV boxing show.

Mundine also threw out a challenge to the winner of the December 5 middleweight world title fight between Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams.

Geale, fighting for the first time as a professional in the city of his birth, enjoyed a triumphant homecoming.

He controlled the bout with his superior speed, peppering his opponent with jabs and combinations.

Although the Brazilian boasted a decent KO percentage he rarely connected with anything of substance.

The win should improve Geale’s IBF world ranking of ninth and move him closer to a world title fight and a rematch with Mundine, who inflicted his only defeat.

“I would have been in there tonight with him, if they let me I would have been in there tonight and we would have given it to him,” Geale said of Mundine in his post-fight ring interview.

“He knows that, that’s why he wants to prolong it as much as he can.”
Sourced via smh.com.au

Popularity: 4% [?]

Twenty minutes into this test match one would not be wrong to wonder whether the All Blacks, in celebration of George Smiths 100 test match were throwing a tea party for their neighbours. Berrick Barnes had sidestepped his way to a fourth minute converted try and a Matt Giteau penalty had given the Australians an early 10 point buffer .The Australians were rampant. Having not won at Eden Park since 1986 they were clearly intent on breaking the hoodoo.

Australian coach Robbie Deans must have been chuckling inside. The All Blacks were asleep. No early All Black fluency, skill or cohesion. The set plays looked a shambles. The numbers shouted out by inexperienced All Black lock, Isaac Ross resembled more a South African Lotto Quick pick than a code for where Andrew Hore needed to throw the ball. The New Zealanders were missing tackles and the Aussies were ghosting through holes in the defence. This game may have turned out differently if after 18 minutes, George Smith had hung onto a Berrick Barnes pass with the All Black line beckoning and support players on his outside. The two teams traded penalties and at 13-3 the Australians looked dominant.

Then the tea party ended. Talismanic captain Richie McCaw crashed over for a much needed try after good work from Rodney So’oialo and Conrad Smith. The All Black machine stuttered into life. Trailing at the break the All Blacks took the lead early in the second half after two Stephen Donald penalties.This was soon nullified by Matt Giteau. A change of personnel saw the All Blacks bringing on Kevin Mealumu and Piri Weepu – which had a settling effect. At 16-16 the test match did not develop into a spectacle that one would have expected, rather a dog fight for a win, which Donald ensured with two late penalties.

All Blacks victorious 22-16.

The Australians should have won this match. I think their self belief was lacking. A chance has gone a begging. The disappointment on the face of Stirling Mortlock was evident as he alluded to the side being a young one that was still learning – clearly he was not referring to George Smith, Nathan Sharpe, Matt Giteau and himself. The Tri Nations may indeed now turn into a long one for Australia. A good start was what they needed, especially taking into consideration that they have not got the foggiest idea how to win a rugby match in South Africa.

The All Black win was not convincing. They are now off to South Africa for their away leg with matches in Bloemfontein and Durban. Two tough encounters will surely follow. South Africa, after their Lions series win and on home soil must be favourites. The New Zealanders are going to be in for a serious physical test against an experienced and tough world champion team. In fact the test may be won up front where the All Blacks will have to gain ascendancy against a formidable Bok 8. If they don’t, their exciting backs will be rendered useless and the crowd will be subjected to Stephen Donald ( whom I still think is a Super 14 fly half at best ) kicking Gary Owens to himself all afternoon long.

Never the less, come Saturday it’s the Boks versus the All Blacks. One never knows when these two rugby giants clash what the result will be. As usual it’s going to a mouth watering wait until Saturday.

Ricky’s Read: Boks to win by less than 7.

By Ricky Collins

Popularity: 4% [?]