golf roundup | Friday’s results

OLYMPICS

RIO DE JANEIRO

Inbee Park was in the 16th fairway, only 50 yards from the hole, and couldn’t imagine a worse spot to be. She already had lost a three-shot lead in gusts up to 30 mph Friday at Olympic Golf Course. And now she faced a shot that would punish anything just a little long or a little left. The safe play was the middle of the green and get out of there with a par. The South Korean player had other ideas. She took two months off from golf because of a thumb injury to get ready for the Olympics, and it was time to trust her instincts. Starting with that pitch to tap-in range, she birdied two straight holes and shot a 1-under 70 to take a two-shot lead at 11 under into the final round. Now comes the real test. Just as difficult as the wind was seeing the name of Lydia Ko — the No. 1 player in women’s golf — right behind her. Ko made the first hole-in-one of her career as she raced into contention with a 65, closing the gap to two shots. The 19-year-old from New Zealand started the day seven shots behind.

WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP

GREENSBORO, N.C.

Si Woo Kim and Lucas Glover had putts for 59 on another low-scoring day in the Wyndham Championship. Kim’s 50-foot birdie try on his final hole — the par-4 ninth — slid by the right edge Friday, leaving the 21-year-old South Korean player with a tournament-record 10-under 60 and a two-stroke lead. Glover shot 61, missing a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th and three-putting the par-4 18th for bogey in the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale. They missed chances to become the second player this month to break 60 on the PGA Tour. Jim Furyk, tied for second with Glover and two others, shot the first 58 in PGA Tour history Aug. 7 in the final round of the Travelers Championship. Six players, including Furyk, have shot 59. Kim drove into the left rough on the par-4 18th, costing himself a clean shot at the front pin position.

U.S. AMATEUR

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH.

Michigan sophomore Nick Carlson advanced to the U.S. Amateur semifinals in an unlikely hometown run at Oakland Hills. Carlson, from Hamilton, Michigan, beat Illinois junior Dylan Meyer of Evansville, Indiana, 3 and 1, taking the lead with a birdie chip on the par-4 14th that he celebrated with a running, double fight pump. Wearing a Wolverines outfit, the 19-year-old Carlson won the par-4 15th with a birdie and ended the match with a par victory on the par-3 17th on the Donald Ross-designed South Course that Ben Hogan dubbed the “The Monster” in his 1951 U.S. Open victory. Carlson will face 20-year-old Australian Curtis Luck, a 2-up winner over Pepperdine sophomore Sahith Theegala of Chino Hills, California.

Associated Press