介绍:
78th Masters gets underway in Augusta
In golf,
The 78th edition of the iconic Masters tournament is just minutes away from getting underway in Augusta Georgia.
The first pair of golfers, veteran Stewart Cink and South Africa's Tim Clark, are set to tee off right about now actually, 7:45am eastern time which is 7:45pm Beijing time.
Defending champion Adam Scott is paired with Jason Dufner and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
They'll tee off at 10:41 tonight. Rory McIlroy, newcomer Jordan Spieth, and Patrick Reed tee off about ten minutes later.
And three-time champion Phil Mickelson, who's paired with Ernie Els and Justin Rose, will tee off at 1:48am.
No Tiger Woods this year, as the world number one is out to recover from back surgery, but there are plenty of familiar faces.
South Korea's KJ Choi is back for his 12th consecutive Masters appearance. Veterans Jim Furyk, Charl Schwartzel, Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar are all there. And world no. 6 Sergio Garcia is making his 16th consecutive Masters appearance.
"Yeah, excited about it. Good to be back here, and hopefully do something well. Obviously come off a good week. I felt so-so on the practice the last two days, but when the tournament starts tomorrow hopefully I'll be feeling good, and we'll get things going and see if we can get in contention."
The 97-man field also includes 24 rookies, who will contend for the green jacket alongside the world's top ranked players.
One of these is Joost Luiten from the Netherlands, who practiced alongside Rory McIlroy and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee earlier today.
"It's just one big learning curve, playing the majors, playing the Masters for the first time. It's different than any other tournament I've played in. And you learn a lot from that, that's what you take onto the course when you play next. It doesn't matter where, you just take it with you and those experiences are really important to go through as a player."
The last time a Masters was won by a first-timer was back in 1979 when a player named Fuzzy Zoeller triumphed.
Earlier today, the traditional pre-tournament par three contest was held. American Ryan Moore won that contest, completing the nine hole course with a six-under par 21. He'll try to shake off the "curse" of the par-three-championship.
Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid through to UEFA CL semifinals
Yesterday in the Champions League,
Bayern Munich is through to the semifinals after defeating Manchester United 3-1, with a 4-2 on aggregate victory.
Man U's David Moyes didn't get down on his players despite the disappointing loss.
"I thought that the players did a great job tonight. The only crime was conceding the goal after we had scored. Within 30 seconds. That was the biggest crime. But the players had done a great job. We had to play against the holders of the competition and for long periods we made it difficult for them but in the end, we just couldn't quite keep it."
Pep Guardiola's side marches on in their campaign to defend their Champions league title. He said he never underestimated Manchester United, but he believes his side proved to be superior.
Ok. It's Manchester United. Ok it's the best but calm down because it's Manchester United (and they are always a threat) so I knew it would be difficult but we are there so it's not easy to play against eight players in the box. That happened in Manchester too and we decided to try and create a little bit of passing in the middle but quickly go to Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery and cross. But they defended. Manchester defend. Chelsea defend well. Arsenal defend well The flankers, the crosses. But at the end, you know after one one (in the first leg) we played much better and we deserve to be in the semi-final."
Also yesterday,
Atletico Madrid knocked Barcelona out of the running, after a 1-0 win in the second leg of their quarterfinals clash. Atletico advances to the semifinals with on 2-1 aggregate.
This is the first time since 1974 that Atletico has reached the semi-finals, and it's also the first time that Barca has failed to make the last four since 2007.
Atletico joins Bayern, Chelsea, and Real Madrid in the semifinals, with the draw for that next stage taking place tomorrow.
Over in the UEFA Europa League,
Juventus will host Olympique Lyonnais in the second leg of their quarterfinal clash later today.
The Turin side need to protect their fragile 1-0 lead if they're to advance to the semis.
Columbus Blue Jackets into playoffs after win over Dallas Stars 3-1
In the NHL,
The Columbus Blue Jackets are into the playoffs for the second time in franchise history after a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars.
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Montreal Canadians 3-2 in overtime.
And the Detroit Red Wings gained a single point and secured a playoff spot after a 4-3 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Calgary defeated Los Angeles 4-3. And the Anaheim Ducks beat San Jose 5-2.
Wins for Oklahoma City, Indiana, and Cleveland in the NBA
In the NBA,
Russell Westbrook returned to the Oklahoma City lineup and scored 30 points as the Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 107 to 101. Kevin Durant added 27.
The Indiana Pacers moved back to the top of the Eastern Conference with a slim victory over the Milwaukee Bucks 104 to 102. Indiana's Chris Copeland was the man of the night after his game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds on the clock.
Cleveland destroyed Detroit 122 to 100, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Boston Celtics 105 to 97, and Portland just barely scraped by Sacramento 100 to 99.
Toronto had a 125-114 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Orlando defeated Brooklyn 115 to 111. And the Charlotte Bobcats took Washington into overtime before winning 94 to 88.
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