Messi scrape has Argentina worried for a few minutes

Published Sat, May 22 10 04:27 AM

Such is the focus on Lionel Messi in the countdown to the World Cup that even the slightest problem in training gets full blown local media coverage as with a scrape on Friday.

The world's top player, practising with Diego Maradona's Argentina for the finals in South Africa that kick off on June 11, fell and suffered a minor scrape on his right leg at the team's training base outside Buenos Aires.

"It's nothing, it's a scrape on his right leg," Argentine Football Association spokesman Andres Ventura said.

Messi, Argentina's big hope after a brilliant season at Barcelona including top scoring in Spain's La Liga with 34 goals, got up and walked from the training pitch right after.

Argentina, who face Nigeria, South Korea and Greece in Group B, began their countdown on Thursday and are preparing for a warm-up on Monday against Canada.

The team's farewell match from their fans at the River Plate stadium will double as part of the country's Bicentennial independence celebrations.

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Leader Donald proves a cool-hand Luke at Wentworth

Published>Sat, May 22 10 02:27 AM

Luke Donald's bright pink trousers were not the only thing wowing the Wentworth crowd as he fired a second straight 68 to grab the lead after the PGA Championship second round on Friday.

On a day when the revamped West Course was again a hot topic of debate among the players, Donald was consistency personified as he finished on six-under 136 on another baking hot day on the outskirts of London.

That left the 32-year-old one stroke ahead of fellow Britons Ross Fisher (70) and Danny Willett (72) and South African James Kingston (69). Holder Paul Casey and triple major winner Padraig Harrington were among those a further shot adrift on 138.

"You have to plan around this course a little bit more, plot your way round," Donald told reporters, referring to the layout remodelled by South African Ernie Els.

Plot was the key word as he mixed precise drives and irons with deft touches around the green, most noticeably on 15 where the Englishman saved par with a superb bunker escape and on 16 where he produced a fine up-and-down for par.

Donald then holed a 20-footer for a birdie at the monstrous 600-yard 17th.

"Before you could just step up at the 17th and 18th, give it a whack and usually make a couple of birdie fours," he said.

"Now it's very hard to hit it on the green at 17, it's a narrow entrance, and on 18 it's a very difficult second shot if you choose to go for it.

TOUGH CHALLENGE

"I've enjoyed some of the changes to the course. I think the greens are more consistent and it's still a tough challenge," said the former Ryder Cup player.

Donald, without a victory since the U.S. PGA Tour's 2006 Honda Classic, has shown encouraging signs of a return to form this year especially on the other side of the Atlantic.

Fellow Britons Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey believe his game is perfectly suited to the devilishly difficult West Course.

"He is the most patient player in the world," said McIlroy after finishing on 143.

"It's no surprise to see somebody like Luke in the lead," said Casey, who employs Donald's brother Christian as his caddie.

"Christian calls him 'Plod' so that's all you need to know. He has plodded his way round very well."

While several players have criticised the new-look 18th, the changes have curried favour with Harrington.

Told that owner Richard Caring was planning a few tweaks for next year, the genial Irishman replied: "I thought it was great -- it just goes to show what I know.

"It's a good, tough hole. Maybe there are too many people who think the easy option to layup in three shots is probably an issue."

World number three Lee Westwood just made the cut after carding a 74 for 144, two over, and for the second day running he had issues with the course.

"You're not sure how much sand is in the bunkers. The caddies have a real job raking them, I feel sorry for them," said the Briton.

Fanny Sunesson, former caddie to Nick Faldo and now carrying Swede Henrik Stenson's bag, told Reuters much the same after she spent several minutes in a sand trap.

"It's a fact. They are hard to rake," she said wearily.

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Els hurt and disappointed by criticism from players

Published>Sat, May 22 10 02:07 AM

Ernie Els said he was hurt and disappointed by the weight of criticism over his re-design of Wentworth's West Course.

World number three Lee Westwood has led the player backlash at the PGA Championship, complaining about the devilishly difficult 18th hole and the bunkers all round the tree-lined, par-71 layout.

"Today I felt very disappointed by everything that's been said and kind of hurt a little bit," Els told reporters after a second-round 70 gave him a three-under total of 139 at the European Tour's flagship event.

"But you've got to be man enough to take it on the chin. I am in the firing line, I knew the 18th was going to be a problem, number eight was going to be a problem and also some of the greens.

"It's a tough decision sometimes. You've got to keep the owner (Richard Caring) happy, the players happy and as a designer you have a philosophy that you want to follow. With all of these factors it can be a little tricky at times."

South African Els, who has a house on the Wentworth estate, said he would have accepted it more if the players had confronted him with their complaints.

"I would love for people to come to me personally rather than go to the newspapers and tell their side of the story," said the world number seven.

"Nobody knows exactly what's gone on here (at the club) and I'd like to explain to players before they go to the media... and even the media doesn't have an idea what's happened here."

BORDERLINE GREENS

"On the whole the changes have been good. We know a couple of the greens are borderline, I agree with that. There are some things I'm not even happy with," added Els.

"But when you have an owner who invests a lot of money into making changes and really wants the golf course better, as a tougher challenge... and you take a lot of other factors into consideration, you've probably got an impossible task."

Els came unstuck at the 18th on Thursday when his approach found the new moat protecting the front of the green.

He made amends 24 hours later by hitting the putting surface in two and making a birdie four after shaving the hole with his 12-foot eagle attempt.

"Today it was a totally different yardage and a little downwind," he said. "I hit a seven-iron 194 yards to the front of the green -- that was probably my shot of the day."

According to media reports, around 6.5 million pounds ($9.34 million) was spent on redeveloping the iconic West Course to the extent that few of the 18 holes stayed untouched.

"This golf course doesn't have to shy away from any golf course in the world, and I'm talking about the toughest golf courses in the world," said Els.

"Most of it is going according to plan and we will take the necessary steps to rectify the other ones.

"Hopefully things haven't got too out of control. We'll address it and we'll have a great championship golf course going into the future," said the triple major winner.

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Poulter, Quiros, Kaymer miss cut after Wentworth nightmare

Published>Sat, May 22 10 01:47 AM

When the organisers put Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer and Alvaro Quiros in the same threeball at the PGA Championship they probably expected the trio to be at Wentworth for the weekend.

Briton Poulter leads the European money-list after winning the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona in February, German Kaymer won in Abu Dhabi in January and world number 31 Quiros triumphed at the Spanish Open earlier this month.

All three were victims of a remodelled West Course however as world number six Poulter finished five-over after two rounds, 11th-ranked Kaymer four-over and Spaniard Quiros was seven-over after carding a 10 at the mammoth par-five 17th.

With the cut falling on three-over 145, Quiros especially will be kicking himself. But he was not the only pro embarrassed by the testing parkland layout.

Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima took an 11 at the much-changed par-four eighth and Spaniard Pablo Martin racked up a 10 at the equally troublesome 18th.

Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez, the 2008 winner, also missed the cut but it was not all doom and gloom as 2006 champion David Howell of Britain birdied the two closing par-fives to finish three-over.

On another baking hot day at the European Tour's flagship event, there were four withdrawals.

British quartet Stephen Dodd (knee), Bradley Dredge (neck), Graeme Storm (food poisoning) and Michael Hoey (unwell) all pulled out.

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Loose manhole cover blamed for Barrichello crash

Published Sat, May 22 10 01:07 AM

A loose manhole cover caused Rubens Barrichello's Monaco Grand Prix crash last weekend, his Williams Formula One team said on Friday.

Williams, who had both cars crash out of the season's showcase race, said in a statement that an investigation had showed the drain cover at turn two was to blame for the Brazilian's accident.

"As Rubens' car drove over the manhole cover, it was spun up and hit the rear left wheel, causing failure," the team said.

"This incident has been reported to the FIA (International Automobile Federation)."

Barrichello's crash on the approach to Casino square brought out the safety car for the second time in the race and it was deployed again 12 laps later when a loose drain cover was reported.

The Brazilian's car was spun around after it hit the guardrails, facing fast approaching traffic head on. Barrichello tossed his costly steering wheel on to the track where it was then run over by the HRT of Indian Karun Chandhok.

Barrichello's German team mate Nico Hulkenberg crashed on lap one in the tunnel and Williams said that accident was caused by a front wing mounting failure after an impact with another car.

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Wentworth owner takes blame for 18th-hole backlash

Published>Sat, May 22 10 12:11 AM

Wentworth owner Richard Caring said he would carry the can over the much-criticised changes to the 18th hole and has pledged to right the wrongs in time for the 2011 PGA Championship.

The revamped West Course has been the hot topic among the players, with world number three Lee Westwood leading the complaints about the new moat and elevated putting surface at the par-five last that have made it tough to go for the green in two shots.

"The 18th was a dream I had," Caring told reporters at the European Tour's flagship event on Friday. "I wanted to give the spectators a bit of excitement, a bit of theatre.

"We might have gone slightly too far because it's proven to be quite difficult. I think the green could be slightly lower, which is what (designer) Ernie Els wanted to do but I was a bit more theatrical than he was.

"I liked it a little higher. I thought we should tempt the pros to hit the second shot into the green rather than laying up (but) I must say Ernie was right and I was wrong."

Caring said he planned to speak to a select band of players to ensure the alterations that needed to be made to the closing hole would meet with their approval.

"We will talk to the pros who we really want to listen to ... five or six of them," said the millionaire entrepreneur.

"I just had a chat with Lee, who is the third-ranked golfer in the world, and he gave me a few ideas.

ERNIE'S CALL

"It's Ernie's call at the end of the day but I believe the 18th will have changed and there might be one or two other tweaks."

According to media reports, around 6.5 million pounds ($9.34 million) was spent on redeveloping the iconic West Course to the extent that few of the 18 holes stayed untouched.

"We have put a lot of time, effort and passion into it and we won't stop until we get it perfect," said Caring.

"When you take one of the finest and most historic parkland courses and try and bring it into today's age, you need a little bit of a brave heart.

"Overall the work that has gone into it, considering how terrible the winter was, the worst in 49 years in the UK, our staff here have been unbelievable," added Caring.

"I think it's beautiful, the quality is fantastic and I'm not unhappy with it."

Caring said he and Els had plenty of disagreements over the original changes.

"We had a few punch-ups," he joked. "But the 18th you have to put down to me because I wanted the fans to 'ooh and aah' around the last hole.

"Ernie is a terrific guy and he's done fantastic things for us here and we are very proud of it."

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WADA loses bid to hike suspension of U.S. swimmer Hardy

Published>Sat, May 22 10 12:05 AM

World record holder Jessica Hardy has been cleared to continue swimming after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) lost an appeal to increase the American's ban from one to two years.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said Friday they had dismissed WADA's appeal to double the suspension but left open the possibility she could be ruled out of the 2012 Olympics in London.

CAS agreed with an earlier ruling from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) to impose a reduced 12-month ban after finding she had not been significantly negligent but did not wade into the issue of whether she can compete in London.

"It should be noted that the decision leaves open the question of the IOC eligibility rule, which refuses entry to Olympic Games by athletes who have been suspended from sport for more than 6 months for doping," WADA said in a statement.

"The panel did not accept jurisdiction in relation to this matter, nor did it consider it could be part of any further reduction of the penalty."

Hardy, a world record holder in breaststroke, has already served a one-year suspension after testing positive for the banned steroid clenbuterol at the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials, which normally carries a two-year ban.

The AAA reduced it to one year when Hardy explained she took nutritional supplements after having obtained assurances from the manufacturer and a CAS panel of arbitrators said the shortened penalty should stand.

"They agreed that Jessica Hardy had shown good faith efforts before ingesting the food supplements at stake," the court said in a statement explaining their decision.

"The athlete had personal conversations with the manufacturer about the supplements' purity prior to taking them, she obtained the supplements directly from the manufacturer, not from an unknown source; supplements she took were not labelled in a manner which might have raised suspicions."

WADA said they would accept the court's ruling that a 12-month ban was appropriate under the circumstances.

"Under the World Anti-Doping Code, when a panel determines that an athlete has committed no significant fault or negligence, as the CAS panel did in this case, the period of ineligibility may be reduced to a maximum of half the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility," WADA said.

"CAS accepted a sanction of 12 months was appropriate. WADA is satisfied that CAS fully scrutinized this case and abides by the CAS ruling."

Hardy voluntarily withdrew from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and returned to swimming last year after completing her ban, reclaiming her world record in the 100 metres.

But the 23-year-old is still unsure whether she can compete at the London Games.

In her submission, Hardy asked CAS to add the IOC to this arbitration hearing but her request was rejected. CAS also declined her request to make a recommendation on the 2012 Games.

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