Established 1961 19 Thursday, June 11, 2020 Sports Beyond bizarre: Justin Thomas has ‘different feel’ as PGA Tour returns 2020 is beyond a bizarre year so far, especially in the world of sports LOS ANGELES: Justin Thomas says getting back am tee time and instead have a one-minute moment into the swing of things on the PGA Tour after a of silence to mark the death of George Floyd, who three-month break due to the coronavirus pan- has become a symbol of racial injustice in America. demic has a different feel to it. American Jordan Spieth said it is important for It means daily temperature checks, filling out the Tour to show its support for the US black com- health questionnaires, knowing where the hand- munity. sanitizing stations are and social distancing on the “I think it’s really cool. I think it’ll be something tee boxes. that hopefully we can kind of stick with however The Charles Schwab Challenge will be full of long we need to. But I think it’s certainly a really firsts as the PGA Tour’s restart begins today in nice thing to do with the way things have been,” Texas with the 148-field teeing off at the Colonial Spieth said. Country Club. One player who will be notably absent is Tiger “I would say 2020 is beyond a bizarre year so Woods who has won 15 major championships and far, and especially in the world of sports it’s just is chasing Jack Nicklaus (18) for the most in history. going to be different,” said the former world num- Woods looked sharp in a recent exhibition match ber one Thomas. with Mickelson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. “If we all want to get Fellow American back and play the game Thomas says it will be that we love we’re just interesting to see how the going to have to get over social distancing works, the fact that it’s going to One-minute especially on the tee box- be different and be a little es which can get pretty weird.” moment crowded with players, World number one of silence caddies and officials. Rory McIlroy and sec- “What’ll be weird is ond-ranked Jon Rahm of when you stand on the tee Spain lead a strong field boxes trying to separate that includes 15 of the yourself a bit from your Justin Thomas world’s top 20 players. competitors. World number three Brooks Koepka, defending “Normally when you’re on the tee box everyone champion Kevin Na, Dustin Johnson and Phil is crunched up in the same area. It’ll be a little bit because of the length of the layoff. its shutdown, and revised its remaining schedule. Mickelson are also teeing up at the course in Fort unusual just trying to actually focus on social dis- The first five events of the restart, including the Worth, Texas. tancing on the tee.” FEELING ‘RUSTY’ Charles Schwab, will be played without specta- Some of the sport’s top players from outside of Thomas said he got tested for the coronavirus “It’s not just going out and having a money tors. The first tournament to have fans will be The North America decided to skip the event because and it came up negative. game with your buddies,” he said. “Every shot Memorial, July 16-19 in Dublin, Ohio. travelling to the US would mean a two-week quar- “I think the (SARS-CoV-2 virus) swab test was counts. It’s cumulative score for four days, and After the Charles Schwab, the PGA Tour will antine, including 10th-ranked Englishman Tommy probably the most uncomfortable so far. There was that’s the thing that’s going to be the hardest feature the RBC Heritage (June 18-21) in Hilton Fleetwood. nothing comfortable about it,” he said. because I sometimes feel rusty after two, three Head, South Carolina; the Travelers Championship “But I’ve done the testing. I’ve gotten approved. weeks off, let alone four months. (June 25-28) in Cromwell, Connecticut; and the FLOYD RESPECT I have my pass that gets me in the locker room, that “The fact that that four-footer I have on the first Rocket Mortgage Classic (July 2-5) in Detroit, The biggest change, since the Tour was shut gets me in the clubhouse, dining.” hole matters. Yeah, if I hit this ball into a hazard Michigan. down in March at the Players Championship, is that Thomas has been staying in shape by working that’s a penalty stroke, or a penalty area or whatev- The PGA Championship will be played August organizers are not allowing any spectators this out in his backyard and practising socially-dis- er. It’s real.” 6-9 in San Francisco and the US Open is resched- week. The Tour is also going to leave open the 8:46 tanced golf with friends. But he expects some rust The PGA Tour cancelled 11 tournaments during uled for September 17-20 in New York. –AFP two top-flight and two second divi- Leverkusen beat sion clubs along the way, but had the odds stacked against them ahead of minnows to book Tuesday’s game. They had not played for 94 days Malaysia place in Cup final since the German regional league was suspended and then prematurely end- ed because of the novel coronavirus badminton ace VOLKLINGEN: Bayer Leverkusen health crisis. beat lowly Saarbruecken 3-0 away on This was in contrast to their high- eyes golden future Tuesday to reach next month’s flying Bundesliga opponents, who German Cup final and bring the fairy- resumed playing one month ago and KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia’s charge up the tale run of the fourth division side to a whose superior match fitness was evi- badminton rankings has sparked hopes that jolting end. dent almost from the opening whistle. Malaysia has found a successor to the legendary Two goals inside the opening 20 Diaby timed his run perfectly to Lee Chong Wei — and someone who can finally minutes swiftly ended home hopes as beat the offside trap and get onto the win the country a first Olympic gold. top-flight Leverkusen advanced to the end of a clever forward pass over the The 22-year-old jumped to world number 10 July 4 decider in Berlin where they defence, which he then hooked into after establishing himself in the sport’s elite with will meet the winner of Wednesday’s the goal from close range. some big-name scalps at the start of this year clash between holders Bayern Munich Alario added a second from a tight VOLKINGEN: Leverkusen’s Italian forward Lucas Alario (L) and before play was suspended because of the coro- and Eintracht Frankfurt. angle after a mix-up in the hosts’ Saarbruecken’s Manuel Zeitz vie for the ball during the German Cup (DFB navirus. French flyer Moussa Diaby put defence. Leverkusen, also still con- Pokal) semi-final football match 1 FC Saarbruecken v Bayer 04 Leverkusen He defeated China’s Olympic champion Chen Leverkusen ahead in the 11th minute tention for another trophy in this sea- in Volklingen, southern Germany on June 9, 2020. —AFP Long to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious and Lucas Alario added a second son’s Europa League, continued their All England Open in March, and beat China’s eight minutes later, before substitute dominance and added a third goal, ninth-ranked Shi Yuqi at the Malaysia Masters in Karim Bellarabi rounded off the scor- just before the hour, through Bellarabi larger margin. Leverkusen, who won the January. ing in the 58th. after a series of slick passes. Saarbruecken’s Markus Mendler German Cup for the only time in But he remains relaxed about being touted as Saarbruecken were the first team Yet they were also guilty of squan- miscued his effort in front of goal to 1993, lasted appeared in the final in the heir to fellow Malaysian Lee Chong Wei, a from the fourth tier to reach the last dering several good chances after that squander their best chance for a con- 2009 when they lost to Werder three-time Olympic silver medallist and one of four of the cup, taking the scalps of and could easily have won by a far solation on the stroke of fulltime. Bremen.— Reuters the greatest players of his generation until his retirement last year. “From the beginning, everybody said I am the PREMIERSHIP While the smoothly-operated leagues attract lit- next Lee Chong Wei, that I am going to replace Ten years on, mixed A rich, efficiently-run 16-club Absa Premiership tle negative publicity, the same cannot be said of him,” he told AFP. national championship under chairman and self- SAFA, with Jordaan often criticised for running it “It made me (feel) pressure but now, slowly, I made millionaire Irvin Khoza is a major success sto- like a “personal fiefdom”. have become more mature. results for WCup ry in South African sport. Former top official Dennis Mumble says Jordaan “I am starting to accept those pressures, and Formed in 1996 with Briton Trevor Phillips the first is obsessed by Khoza: “He will walk down the turn them into motivation.” hosts S Africa chief executive, the league left behind decades of street, stub his toe on a rock, and blame Irvin for the The major disappointment in former world maladministration with allegations that some clubs rock (being) in the road.” number one Lee Chong Wei’s glittering career JOHANNESBURG: Today marks the 10th anniver- were “run from boots of cars”.