12 | Thursday, February 11, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY HOLIDAYSPORTS

GOLF

By CHUAH CHOO CHIANG which would be enough to secure a PGA Tour card. ll the talk on golf’s Class of But he is aiming just a little bit 2019 has so far centered higher. “Every spot you move up, around Collin Morikawa, Brandon who? Wu on you get better status. Just strive to Viktor Hovland and Matt­ be the best and winning the money hewA Wolff, whose prodigious talents list would be a nice goal,” he said. and youthful exuberance have seen Now based in Dallas, Texas, he is them take the PGA Tour by storm. close friends with Morikawa, whose Brandon Wu, a Chinese­Ameri­ early success includes winning last can who graduated from the same brink of breakthrough year’s PGA Championship. Hovland class, is determined to join the con­ has won twice on the PGA Tour versation via a different route. Had while Wolff has one victory. it not been for COVID­19, fans Chinese­American eyeing PGA Tour card after challenging 2020 “It’s cool they have set this path would have already seen Wu com­ and showed everyone that it can be peting on golf’s biggest stage. done and can be done very quickly,” Fate dealt Wu a different hand in Wu said of the trio. “It kind of moti­ 2020, one that forced him to endure vates me to join them out there.” a rockier road. Instead of teeing up Through qualifying and sponsor in million­dollar tournaments, Wu, exemptions, Wu has enjoyed a taste who turns 24 on Feb 17, found him­ of PGA Tour life, racking up eight self Monday­qualifying for events starts to date, including three majors. on the Korn Ferry Tour for much of A tied­17th at the 2019 Houston last year after failing to secure full­ Open is his best result to date, but exempt status at the qualifying Wu believes his time will come. school. “Playing in majors, that was so Wu’s considerable achievements cool. The US Open (in 2019) was in his amateur career suggest great­ kind of a blur, it was so special for ness could follow in the pro ranks. me to be at Pebble Beach and so He reached a high of eighth in the close to Stanford,” said Wu. amateur world rankings, became “I ended up missing my gradua­ the first amateur since 1967 to quali­ tion which fell on the final day. After fy for the British and US Opens, rep­ playing with DJ (Dustin Johnson), resented the US in the Walker Cup, the USGA (United States Golf Asso­ and led Stanford University to its ciation) gave me my diploma after first NCAA championship in 12 the round which was pretty special years. and memorable.” In his first start on the Korn Ferry After savoring those highs, Wu’s Tour, at the Price Cutter Charity 2020 felt a little different. Championship last July, Wu led by “Last year was an interesting year three shots heading into the final as I experienced the tough parts of round before finishing tied for professional golf, stuff like Monday ninth. Instead of fretting over that qualifying, trying to get into events setback, Wu took it on the chin, and and losing in a playoff. But I also got a month later went on to claim his to experience some highs, playing first professional victory at the Korn really well and winning my first pro Ferry Tour Championship in New­ tournament. It was kind of a relief to burgh, Indiana. have finally won. It’s almost like I Two more runner­up finishes and Brandon Wu tracks a tee shot during a practice round for the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York last Sep­ learned a different kind of patience another top­10 saw him enjoy a suc­ tember. The Chinese­American is chasing a PGA Tour card after notching his first professional win last August. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY in 2020. I think I am a patient per­ cessful 2020 in fourth place on the son but you have to really believe tour’s regular­season points list. and be confident in yourself.” In any other year, these achieve­ in my life,” said Wu. “Like all kids, I played lots of dif­ Stanford or being a professional “We watched Tiger (Woods) when Wu knows a golfer’s life is a never­ ments would have secured Wu a “It’s cool to come from this back­ ferent sports, did swimming, base­ golfer. They set the course for me.” he played. On one occasion, I was on ending journey of discovery and PGA Tour card, but following the dis­ ground, with the family heritage ball, tennis … did them all. I played a Although he is an American citi­ the 10th tee box right up against the learning. ruptions caused by the pandemic, and history. Being immersed in the lot of golf at a young age though just zen, Wu is very much Chinese at barriers and Tiger walked up, kind “There’s definitely room for the development circuit combined culture helps my perspective in the because it was fun to have my dad heart. He speaks fluent Mandarin, of looked right at me and said hi, improvement. I do think I can com­ its 2020 and 2021 seasons, which other things that I do.” take me out to the course, driving thanks to his parents’ insistence on and I said hello, and it ended up pete with the best on the PGA Tour means Wu must now wait until later As a child, Wu enjoyed building around on the cart and hitting balls. talking to their kids in their native with him giving me his golf ball. but I also know I can get better. I this year for his chance to line up things, making his decision to major It was good father­son bonding for tongue, and also six years of living in “Another year, I got into the pro­ need more work to get to where I alongside Morikawa, Hovland, Wolff in engineering at Stanford some­ sure,” reflected Wu. Beijing from 2005. am and interacted with Trevor like to be. My goal is to be one of the and the rest of golf’s elite. thing of a natural progression. He recalls shooting a 56 in his first It was during his sojourn in the Immelman, Retief Goosen, KJ Choi best in the world. I think I have a The manner in which Wu, whose His father, Wu Yichun, and moth­ nine­hole tournament when he was Chinese capital that Wu’s passion for and Sergio Garcia. It was a cool good plan and idea on what I need Chinese name is Bi Yuan, has perse­ er, Zhang Xiaobing, moved from just 8. golf intensified after his father took experience. To see the progression to do to get there. Winning multiple vered throughout his trials and trib­ Beijing to California in 1996. A year “I thought I did OK, but dad him to see the World Golf Champi­ from playing in China to competing tournaments and majors are big ulations is ultimately a reflection of later, Wu was born as the first of thought I could have done better onships­HSBC Champions in Shang­ with these guys who I looked up to, goals to strive for.” his upbringing. three sons. and he was right. I started trying to hai. He also participated in the pro­ it is super cool to have that.” “At home, we’ve built a strong With their home being close to a shoot better scores after that. I’m am one year after winning a junior When the Korn Ferry Tour The writer is senior director of sense of the value of working hard, golf course in Danville, California, glad my parents pushed me to play event that was part of the HSBC Jun­ restarts this month, Wu is expected international marketing and com­ being respectful and doing things he was introduced to the sport at the golf. They saw the big picture on ior Golf Program in China. to safely stay within the top 25 on munications for the PGA Tour’s right. I think it’s almost natural my age of 6, when his dad got bitten by what golf can help bring, whether “I played a lot in the HSBC junior the points list by the time the regu­ Asia Pacific division and is based parents have instilled those values the golf bug. that was the opportunity to go to circuit … It was really fun,” said Wu. lar season concludes in August, in Kuala Lumpur.

Digest

Serena sweeps through TENNIS AMERICAN FOOTBALL Super Bowl parties, they’re viewers, Cards re­sign veteran Murray wins away from Super Bowl ratings but they’re really along for the ride,” Molina in $9m deal said Billings. Melbourne spotlight lowest since 2006 The St. Louis Cardinals signed Five­time Australian Open finalist The pandemic­era Super Bowl BASEBALL catcher Yadier Molina to a one­year, Andy Murray began his season on between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers $9 million contract Tuesday, keep­ Tuesday with a 6­7 (3), 6­2, 6­3 victo­ and Kansas City Chiefs reached the MLB players to wear ing the nine­time Gold Glove winner ry over Germany’s Maximilian Mar­ big game’s smallest television audi­ electronic tracers with the only organization for which terer in the second­tier Challenger ence since 2006. Major League Baseball players, he’s played for an 18th season. event at Biella in northern Italy. An estimated 92 million people on­field staff and non­playing per­ The 38­year­old Molina hit .262 Instead of competing with his tuned in across the United States to sonnel who require access to them with four home runs in 42 games peers 16,000 kilometers away in watch the Bucs’ 31­9 victory, the at ballparks must wear electronic during the pandemic­shortened Melbourne, Murray received a wild Nielsen company said Tuesday. Add­ tracing wristbands from the start of 2020 season, his last under a $60 card into the indoor tournament aft­ ing online streams, CBS said the spring training and will be subject to million, three­year deal. er a positive COVID­19 test left him total audience was 96.4 million. disciplinary measures for violations. Molina ended up making a pro­ unable to travel to Australia for the That’s down from 101.3 million for Players will be encouraged to get rated $7,407,407 of his $20 million year’s first Grand Slam. the 2020 game between Kansas City COVID­19 vaccines but are not salary last year, and some thought The event in the foothills of the and San Francisco. The New required to get them. that he might finally step away from Italian Alps carries a modest overall England­Seattle game in 2015 was That was part of upgraded health the game after. purse of just under $54,000 com­ the most­watched Super Bowl with protocols agreed to on Monday by Instead, he agreed to return pared to the $2.1 million on offer to 114.4 million viewers. MLB and the players’ association to alongside his longtime teammate, the winner at Melbourne Park. Given that the coronavirus cut deal with the pandemic. 39­year­old Adam Wainwright, who Three­time major winner Murray, down the number of Super Bowl As part of the 108­page operations agreed to an $8 million deal for the now ranked 124 after battling a pel­ watch parties, it could have been manual, the sides extended last upcoming season as they make vic injury which had compromised worse for CBS, said Andy Billings, year’s experimental use of seven­in­ another push for what would be Serena Williams returns to Nina Stojanovic during the 23­time his attempts to rebuild his career director of the sports communica­ ning doubleheaders and runners on Molina’s third World Series title. Grand Slam champion’s 6­3, 6­0 Australian Open second­round after hip surgery, only played seven tion program at the University of second base at the start of extra victory in Melbourne on Wednesday. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY official matches in 2020. Alabama. “A lot of people who go to innings. XINHUA — AGENCIES

Scoreboard

BASKETBALL Central Division ICE HOCKEY Rotherham 1 Cardiff 2 GP W D L GF GA Pts ovic (SRB) 6­3, 6­0; Sorana Cirstea (ROU) bt Petra W L Pct GB Sheffield Wednesday 2 Wycombe 0 Granada 22 8 6 8 26 36 30 Kvitova (CZE x9) 6­4, 1­6, 6­1; Zarina Diyas (KAZ) NBA Milwaukee 16 8 .667 — NHL Levante 21 6 9 6 31 31 27 bt Bernarda Pera (USA) 6­4, 3­6, 6­3; Garbine Indiana 12 12 .500 4 Muguruza (ESP x14) bt Liudmila Samsonova Results of the National Basketball Association Results of the National Hockey League games on French Cup Celta Vigo 22 6 8 8 26 33 26 games on Tuesday (home team in CAPS): Cleveland 10 15 .400 6½ (RUS) 6­3, 6­1; Ons Jabeur (TUN x27) bt Anna­Ka­ Tuesday (home team in CAPS): Last 64 results on Tuesday: Athletic Bilbao 21 7 4 10 28 26 25 DETROIT 122 Brooklyn 111 Chicago 9 14 .391 6½ rolina Schmiedlova (SVK) 6­3, 6­2; Fiona Ferro Philadelphia at WASHINGTON, ppd Lorient 2 Paris FC 1 Valencia 22 5 9 8 28 30 24 NEW ORLEANS 130 Houston 101 Detroit 6 18 .250 10 FLORIDA 2 Detroit 1 Getafe 22 6 6 9 17 28 24 (FRA) bt Elena Rybakina (KAZ x17) 6­4, 6­4; Sara Reims 3 Valenciennes 4 Errani (ITA) bt Venus Williams (USA) 6­1, 6­0; Ver­ MIAMI 98 New York 96 WESTERN CONFERENCE Edmonton 3 OTTAWA 2 Cadiz 22 6 6 10 20 35 24 Lyon 5 Ajaccio 1 onika Kudermetova (RUS x32) bt Varvara Grach­ Golden State 114 SAN ANTONIO 110 Southwest Division St. Louis at MINNESOTA, ppd Osasuna 22 5 7 10 21 31 22 W L Pct GB eva (RUS) 5­7, 6­2, 6­2; Iga Swiatek (POL x15) bt UTAH 122 Boston 108 Chicago 2 DALLAS 1 (OT) Alaves 22 5 7 10 19 29 22 San Antonio 14 11 .560 — Italian Cup Camila Giorgi (ITA) 6­2, 6­4. PORTLAND 106 Orlando 97 Tampa Bay 6 NASHVILLE 1 Eibar 22 4 8 10 18 25 20 New Orleans 11 12 .478 2 Result on Tuesday: Philadelphia 119 SACRAMENTO 111 Arizona at COLORADO, ppd Valladolid 22 4 8 10 21 33 20 Memphis 9 10 .474 2 Semifinal, second­leg Men’s singles second round VEGAS 5 Anaheim 4 Elche 20 3 9 8 18 28 18 Houston 11 13 .458 2½ Juventus 0 Inter Milan 0 Aslan Karatsev (RUS) bt Egor Gerasimov (BLR) EASTERN CONFERENCE San Jose 4 LOS ANGELES 3 (SO) Huesca 22 2 10 10 18 32 16 Dallas 11 14 .440 3 Juventus wins 2­1 on aggregate 6­0, 6­1, 6­0; Diego Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt Atlantic Division CALGARY 3 Winnipeg 2 W L Pct GB Northwest Division Alexandre Muller (FRA) 6­2, 6­0, 6­3; Felix Auger­ Philadelphia 18 7 .720 — W L Pct GB TENNIS Aliassime (CAN x20) bt James Duckworth (AUS) Utah 20 5 .800 — SOCCER Spanish La Liga Brooklyn 14 12 .538 4½ Results on Tuesday: Australian Open 6­4, 6­1, 6­2; Pedro Martinez (ESP) bt Emil Ruusu­ Portland 13 10 .565 6 vuori (FIN) 1­6, 6­3, 6­2, 7­6 (5); Marton Fucsovics Boston 12 11 .522 5 English FA Cup Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 60, Mendy 66) Getafe 0 Early results on Wednesday (x­denotes seed­ Toronto 11 13 .458 6½ Denver 12 11 .522 7 (HUN) bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI x17) 7­5, 6­1, 4­6, Oklahoma City 10 13 .435 9 Results on Tuesday: ing): New York 11 15 .423 7½ GP W D L GF GA Pts 2­6, 7­6 (9); Milos Raonic (CAN x14) bt Corentin Minnesota 6 18 .250 13½ Fifth round Women’s singles second round Southeast Division Burnley 0 Bournemouth 2 (Surridge 21, Stanislas Atletico Madrid 20 16 3 1 42 12 51 Anastasia Potapova (RUS) bt Timea Babos (HUN) Moutet (FRA) 6­7 (1), 6­1, 6­1, 6­4; Dominic Thiem W L Pct GB Pacific Division Real Madrid 22 14 4 4 39 19 46 (AUT x3) bt Dominik Koepfer (GER) 6­4, 6­0, 6­2; W L Pct GB 88­pen) 6­2, 6­4; Marketa Vondrousova (CZE x19) bt Barcelona 21 13 4 4 44 20 43 Denis Shapovalov (CAN x11) bt Bernard Tomic Charlotte 12 13 .480 — LA Lakers 19 6 .760 — Manchester United 1 (McTominay 97) West Ham Rebecca Marino (CAN) 6­1, 7­5; Hsieh Su­wei Atlanta 11 12 .478 — LA Clippers 17 8 .680 2 0 aet Sevilla 21 13 3 5 31 16 42 (TPE) bt Bianca Andreescu (CAN x8) 6­3, 6­2; Ary­ (AUS) 6­1, 6­3, 6­2; Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Miami 10 14 .417 1½ Phoenix 14 9 .609 4 Villarreal 22 8 12 2 31 22 36 na Sabalenka (BLR x7) bt Daria Kasatkina (RUS) Frances Tiafoe (USA) 6­3, 6­7 (3), 7­6 (2), 6­3; Dus­ Orlando 9 16 .360 3 Golden State 13 12 .520 6 English Championship Real Sociedad 22 9 8 5 36 20 35 7­6 (5), 6­3; Ann Li (USA) bt Alize Cornet (FRA) 6­2, an Lajovic (SRB x23) bt Alexander Bublik (KAZ) Washington 6 15 .286 4 Sacramento 12 12 .500 6½ Results on Tuesday: Real Betis 22 9 3 10 29 37 30 7­6 (6); Serena Williams (USA x10) bt Nina Stojan­ 6­4, 7­6 (4), 4­6, 6­3.