a strong start at the world junior curlin
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:43 am
BOCA RATON, Fla. . -- Michael Allen said it wasnt until his 15th hole that he started thinking about shooting golfs magic number of 59. And he promptly missed the birdie putt on the par-5 sixth hole. But with birdies on two of his last three holes, Allen matched the Champions Tour record with a 12-under 60 on Friday in the Allianz Championship, finishing the first round with an eagle and 10 birdies. The 55-year-old Allen became the ninth player in the 35-year history of the 50-and-over tour to shoot 60 and the first to accomplish the feat on a par-72 course. "The story of my career -- almost," said Allen, winless in 369 starts on the PGA Tour. "After I missed that birdie putt on No. 6, I kind of figured it wasnt happening." Allen took advantage of the calm conditions on the Old Course at Broken Sound to grab a three-shot lead over Scott Dunlap. Allen played his last 15 holes in 11 under, highlighted by a 20-foot eagle putt on the 18th -- his ninth hole of the day. "It seemed really easy," said Allen, who won the 2009 Senior PGA Championship for the first of his five Champions Tour victories. "I think its harder to shoot a 72 when youre struggling than to shoot a 60 when youre playing well." Allen was fortunate on the par-4 fourth hole when he chunked his approach to the green, then skulled a chip that took two bounces and fell into the hole for an unlikely birdie. "Thats when you kind of think things are going your way," Allen said. "Its great to shoot this round, but if Im able to win, then it will become even more magical." Tom Lehman, Chien Soon Lu and Wes Short Jr. shot 65. Short is attempting to become the 17th player to win in his Champions Tour debut. Defending champion Rocco Mediate shot a 69. He won last year in his first Champions Tour start. .com) - Tyreke Evans hit a sweeping layup with 1. . On Sunday afternoon, they sparked the Capitals to a much-needed victory. On a day when Alex Ovechkin was held to one shot on goal, the Capitals third line scored twice in a three-goal first period and the Capitals held on for 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. . PETERSBURG, Fla.FLIMS, Switzerland -- The Canadian women are off to a strong start at the world junior curling championships, but the men are struggling early on. Albertas Kelsey Rocque won both her games Wednesday on the first day of the round robin. Rocque and her Edmonton team of Keely Brown, Taylor McDonald and Claire Tully stole four ends, including a single in an extra end, to score a 7-6 victory over Czech Republic in the first draw. Later Wednesday they fell behind Italys Veronica Zappone 5-3 after the Italians stole a point in the seventh, but rallied for three points in the eighth and went on to win 8-6. "It was rough, I struggled a bit," said Rocque about the first five ends against Italy. "We just werent curling like we could." She felt the three points in the seventh gave the Canadians some momentum. "We started making some shots. You could see a change in our attitudes," Rocque said. . "We started curling a little better and we had some confidence back." On the mens side, the Winnipeg team of Braden Calvert, Kyle Kurz, Lucas Van Den Bosch and Brendan Wilson lost two close games on the first day of competition. The Canadians lost their first game 8-6 to the 2013 silver medallists from Russia. Canada was leading 6-5 after nine ends, but Russias Sergey Glukhov was able to score three for the 8-6 victory. Calvert followed with a 6-5 loss to Sweden. Calvert stole one in the ninth end to lead 5-4, but Swedens Fredrik Nyman took a deuce in the 10th. "We were just on the wrong side of the inch all day, and we werent as sharp as we needed to be today," said Calvert after the match. "Were just going to sharpen up and have a good practice on the sheet well play tomorrow and well be good." ' ' '