U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and Brandt Snedeker shot a 10-under 62 on Friday in modified alternate-shot play to take the first-round lead in the Franklin Templeton Shootout. Love and Snedeker made 10 birdies for the lowest score in the modified alternate-shot format in the 24-year-old tournament’s 12 years in Naples. They tied the third-lowest score overall. Kenny Perry and Sean O’Hair were two strokes back on the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort’s Tiburon Golf Club.
The teams of Bud Cauley and Rickie Fowler, Jason Dufner and Vijay Singh, and Charles Howell III and Rory Sabbatini were third at 6 under. Defending champions Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele and 2010 winners Dustin Johnson and Ian Poulter, and Stewart Cink and Carl Pettersson followed at 5 under. The 12 teams will play best ball Saturday, then closed the Greg Norman-hosted event with a scramble Sunday.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
SYDNEY: Australia’s Marcus Fraser took a one-stroke lead in the Australia Open, shooting his second straight 3-under 69 at The Lakes.
Fraser had a 6-under 138 total. Fellow Australians Brendan Jones and John Senden were tied for second. Jones had a 71, and Senden, the first-round leader, shot a 73.
Englishman Justin Rose was in a group tied for fifth at 3 under after a 73, and Australian star Adam Scott was five stroke back after a 71. Tom Watson, playing the event for the first time since winning in 1984, followed his opening 78 with a 68 to make the cut with a stroke to spare.
THAILAND GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
CHON BURI: Africa’s Charl Schwartzel shot his second straight 7-under 65 to increase his lead to four strokes in the Asian Tour’s Thailand Golf Championship.
Sweden’s Daniel Chopra was second after a 67, and Japan’s Masanori Kobayashi was another stroke back, also after a 67 at Amata Spring. Masters champion Bubba Watson was 6 under after a 70, and defending champion Lee Westwood was 5 under after a 69.
DUBAI LADIES MASTERS
DUBAI: China’s Shanshan Feng shot a 5-under 67 to take a five-stroke lead into the final round of the Ladies European Tour’s Dubai Ladies Masters.
Feng, the LPGA Championship winner in June, birdied the final three holes at Emirates Golf Club for a tournament-record 18-under 198 total. The Netherlands’ Dewi Claire Schreefel was second after a course-record 63.
Lexi Thompson, the American who won the tournament last year at age 16, was 7 under after a 72. Michelle Wie was 3 under after a 70.
NELSON MANDELA CHAMPIONSHIP
The start of the European Tour’s season-opening Nelson Mandela Championship was washed out for the second straight day after heavy rain left most of the course under water.
