SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2015 SPORTS Farrell inspires Saracens to second Premiership title LONDON: Owen Farrell came out on top in his personal battle for No10 supremacy with England rival George Ford to engineer Saracens second English Premiership title suc- cess yesterday. Farrell amassed 18 points including a fine opening try as Mark McCall’s men overcame a Bath side which fought back strongly in the second half but came up short at Twickenham Stadium. Victory for Sarries, in their fourth English Final in six years, helped them exorcise the mental demons of last year’s double Final defeat by Northampton and Toulon. But it was TEXAS: Jon Curran hits from the bunker on the eighth hole during the Byron Nelson a tough defeat for a Bath side playing in their golf tournament. —AP first English Premiership Final for 11 years. Jamie George and Chris Wyles also crossed for Sarries, who finished fourth in the table, Curran in tie for lead with Bath’s only try coming from England cen- tre Jonathan Joseph. TEXAS: PGA Tour rookie Jon Curran capi- storms are expected overnight on Friday. talised on a fast start and some pinpoint American Ryan Palmer (66) and Bath began nervously and Sarries dominat- iron shots to surge into a three-way tie for Australian Cameron Percy (64) were at ed the opening half to grab a commanding 25- the lead in the weather-disrupted second eight under with local favourite and world 3 lead by the break. It would also have been a round of the AT&T Byron Nelson in Irving, number two Spieth a further two shots tense afternoon for England head coach Stuart Texas on Friday. back after carding a 64. Lancaster with 19 of his World Cup training While Masters champion Jordan Spieth “I had a lot of short birdie putts today,” squad involved in the contest. also charged into contention after strug- said Spieth after piling up seven birdies, Farrell was, however, fortunate to escape at gling on the greens in his opening round, three of them on his last three holes, and least a yellow card for a clear high-tackle on Curran set the early pace by firing a six- two bogeys. “I zeroed in on the targets Bath full-back Anthony Watson. Referee Wayne under-par 63 at the rain-saturated TPC Four nicely. “The finish was certainly nice. For the Barnes chose to merely give a penalty as Seasons Resort Las Colinas. middle of that round, I was only hanging England’s second choice full-back dangerously “I got off to a pretty good start, hit some around one or two under and to be able to dragged his international team-mate to the really close iron shots and I made some close at five under on the day puts me in turf. good 10 or 15-foot putts for birdie,” Curran contention.” told reporters. Grounds crews worked hard in the IDEAL START That left the 28-year-old at nine-under morning to prepare the course for play, Farrell then showed the good side of his 130, where he was joined later in the day though the par-four 14th had to be short- nature as his sublime dummy pass fooled the by fellow American Jimmy Walker (66) and ened to a par-three measuring just 104 Bath defence and opened up a large hole for overnight leader Steven Bowditch of yards because of an unplayable fairway. the No10 to dart through and over the line for Australia (68). Officials said they would continue to the first try. He composed himself to kick the Walker and Bowditch did well to finish in evaluate the situation and determine fading light after the start to the second whether to play the 14th hole as a par- extra points for the ideal start by the 2011 round had been delayed by three hours three for the final two rounds. champions. While Farrell and his team-mates because of water-logged conditions “They made a great decision in going celebrated, Watson, still dazed from his rival’s caused by 4.5 inches of rainfall overnight. out and playing that as a par-three,” said high tackle, trundled off for the field for a con- “Didn’t want to have to get up early (on Curran, who earned his 2014-15 PGA Tour cussion assessment. Saturday)... it will be nice to sleep in little card by finishing 12th on the Web.com Sarries almost capitalised again when Bath bit,” said Walker. Thirty-three players will Tour’s money list last season. “We have had wing Matt Banahan lost Farrell’s high punt have to complete the second round on such bizarre weather out here ... it was towards the right hand corner due to the glare Saturday morning, though further thunder- either that or not play the round.”—Reuters of the sun. David Strettle jumped with Banahan but just failed to catch it. If the wing had man- aged to do so he was over the line for a second try. Yet, it did not take long for the men in McIlroy makes getaway white to race over the Bath line again with hooker Ross Batty failing to hold onto centre after missing Irish cut Kyle Eastmond’s shot pass. It bounced down invitingly for Sarries No2 George, who showed NEWCASTLE: World number one Rory Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that. “I commendable pace to cross the line with McIlroy wasted little time after missing the really left myself too much to do from yes- posse of Bath backs in vain pursuit. cut for a third straight year at the Irish terday and I felt like I played a solid round It was the perfect way for George to cele- Open as he headed straight for his parents’ of golf today but it wasn’t good enough.” brate his unexpected call up to the England Belfast home on Friday. If there were any positives it was the training squad, in place of the suspended The four-times major winner gained backing McIlroy enjoyed since his arrival Dylan Hartley 24 hours earlier. some comfort by shooting a second round back in Northern Ireland, with sell-out News that Watson, such a dangerous and Owen Farrell of Saracens kicks the ball in this file photo. level-par 71 but the damage was done a crowds assured over the four days of the influential player for Bath, would not be return- day earlier when he ballooned to an 80 on tournament his foundation hosts. ing to the back line due to his head injury the windswept and rain-lashed Royal “The support out there is phenomenal,” increased the concerns of their already fretful County Down course. he said. “But this is the third year in a row supporters. Such a big blow and loss to the It left McIlroy four shots outside the cut- they don’t get to see me play over the Bath attacking game. Highlanders secure off mark of five-over-par in the 2.5 million weekend. It’s disappointing to say the least. Farrell increased the lead with his first penal- euros ($2.75 million) event. Spain’s Rafa But more disappointing for them.” ty before Bath finally found some momentum Cabrera-Bello (68), Dane Soren Kjeldsen Triple major winner Padraig Harrington Super playoff berth (70), Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (67) and (73) was one stroke off the lead alongside and pressure, and Semesa Rokoduguni almost British trio Chris Wood (69), Tyrrell Hatton former world number one Luke Donald set up a try. The right wing broke down the (66) and Richie Ramsay (67) shared the lead (70). Irishman Harrington can book a ticket flank, chipped ahead but was cynically taken WELLINGTON: The Otago Highlanders year. The Highlanders led 11-3 at half- on three-under 139. McIlroy also missed to next month’s USOpen with a top-three out by full-back Alex Goode. thrashed the Waikato Chiefs 36-9 yester- time after Patrick Osborne scored the the cut in last week’s BMW PGA finish here. Only nine players, the other George Ford kicked the penalty to put Bath day to book their place in the Super only try of the opening 40 minutes and Championship at Wentworth, having won being Briton Matt Ford, are under-par for on the scoreboard. Sarries were controlling the Rugby playoffs for the second year in a then ran away with it in the second half. the preceding Wells Fargo Championship in the event while American Rickie Fowler game and a third try was soon on the cards row. Waisake Naholo added a second try North Carolina. carded a 71 for 142. with a sublime piece of skill from Strettle, man- The Highlanders recorded a surpris- shortly after the re-start as the “I was trying out there as hard as I could McIlroy is expected to be back at the aging to keep the move going as he chipped ingly easy win against the highly-rated Highlanders started to tighten their grip but just couldn’t quite get a good run of course today to present the trophy. Four of and caught the ball at full pace, led to George Chiefs, scoring four unanswered tries to on the game before finishing with a late holes going and get any momentum,” the his Ryder Cup team mates also missed the unselfishly passing it on to Wyles to stroll over secure a vital bonus point at a foggy flourish. 26-year-old Northern Irishman told cut, Martin Kaymer (148), Stephen the Bath line.