August 2014 China Daily coverage interview page sports 23

C H I N A D A I L Y W E D N E S D A Y, A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 sports 23

scoreboardBASEBALL

Results of MLB games on Monday (home team inCAPS):NY Mets 5 PHILADELPHIA 3BALTIMORE 11 NY Yankees 3PITTSBURGH 11 Detroit 6LA Dodgers 6 ATLANTA 2MIAMI 6 St. Louis 5Milwaukee 3 CHICAGO CUBS 1Tampa Bay 7 TEXAS 0Minnesota 4 HOUSTON 2KANSAS CITY 3 Oakland 2SAN DIEGO 4 Colorado 3SEATTLE 11 Toronto 1

AMERICAN LEAGUEEast Division

W L Pct GBBaltimore 68 50 .576 —Toronto 63 57 .525 6New York 61 57 .517 7Tampa Bay 58 60 .492 10Boston 52 65 .444 15½Central DivisionKansas City 64 53 .547 —Detroit 63 53 .543 ½Cleveland 59 59 .500 5½Chicago 56 63 .471 9Minnesota 53 64 .453 11West DivisionOakland 72 46 .610 —Los Angeles 68 49 .581 3½Seattle 63 55 .534 9Houston 49 70 .412 23½Texas 46 72 .390 26

NATIONAL LEAGUEEast DivisionWashington 63 53 .543 —Atlanta 60 58 .508 4Miami 58 60 .492 6New York 57 62 .479 7½Philadelphia 53 66 .445 11½Central DivisionMilwaukee 66 53 .555 —Pittsburgh 63 55 .534 2½St. Louis 62 55 .530 3Cincinnati 60 58 .508 5½Chicago 50 67 .427 15West DivisionLos Angeles 68 52 .567 —San Francisco 62 56 .525 5San Diego 55 62 .470 11½Arizona 51 67 .432 16Colorado 46 72 .390 21

GOLF

World rankingsAs of Monday:1. (1) Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland) 11.272. (2) Adam Scott (Australia) 9.283. (4) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 8.224. (3) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 7.755. (5) Justin Rose (Britain) 7.456. (8) Jim Furyk (USA) 6.877. (6) Matt Kuchar (USA) 6.668. (7) Bubba Watson (USA) 6.609. (13) Phil Mickelson (USA) 6.2810. (9) Jason Day (Australia) 6.2811. (10) Tiger Woods (USA) 5.75

12. (11) Jordan Spieth (USA) 5.5013. (18) Rickie Fowler (USA) 5.4214. (12) Martin Kaymer (Germany) 5.3115. (14) Zach Johnson (USA) 4.9716. (15) Graeme McDowell (N. Ireland) 4.8717. (17) Dustin Johnson (USA) 4.8518. (16) Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) 4.8019. (20) Jimmy Walker (USA) 4.3820. (19) Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 4.2421. (23) Steve Stricker (USA) 4.1722. (21) Keegan Bradley (USA) 4.0823. (22) Victor Dubuisson (France) 4.0724. (24) Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 3.7925. (26) Luke Donald (Britain) 3.7326. (25) Patrick Reed (USA) 3.6727. (27) Jason Dufner (USA) 3.6628. (28) Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 3.4329. (29) Ian Poulter (Britain) 3.4130. (32) Jamie Donaldson (Britain) 3.38

European Tour Race to Dubai money listAs of Monday:1. Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland) 5,120,709 euros2. Sergio Garcia (Spain) 2,273,9173. Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 1,696,2314. Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 1,691,2315. Martin Kaymer (Germany) 1,570,9376. Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 1,538,7857. Justin Rose (England) 1,503,7818. Victor Dubuisson (France) 1,458,1029. Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 1,284,63310. Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 1,226,249

2013­14 PGA Tour money listAs of Monday (US unless stated):1. Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland) $6,965,896

2. Jimmy Walker 5,337,3403. Bubba Watson 5,185,3614. Jim Furyk 4,635,5955. Sergio Garcia (Spain) 4,368,7006. Dustin Johnson 4,249,1807. Matt Kuchar 4,129,9698. Martin Kaymer (Germany) 4,007,5379. Rickie Fowler 3,942,31710. Jordan Spieth 3,854,682

CRICKET

South Africa vs Zimbabwe TestZimbabwe was 28 for one in their second inningsat the close of play on the third day of the one­offTest against South Africa at Harare Sports Clubon Monday.Zimbabwe 256 (B. Taylor 93; D. Steyn 5­46, D. Piedt4­90) & 28­1 in 13 overs vs South Africa 397 (F. DuPlessis 98, Q. De Kock 81, D. Elgar 61, JP Duminy 55;J. Nyumbu 5­157)

TENNIS

ATP Tour rankingsAs of Monday:1 (1) Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 131302 (2) Rafa Nadal (Spain) 126703 (3) Roger Federer (Switzerland) 60704 (4) Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 57705 (5) Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 44106 (6) Milos Raonic (Canada) 43757 (7) David Ferrer (Spain) 40858 (8) Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 32709 (9) Andy Murray (Britain) 306010 (10) Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 286011 (11) Kei Nishikori (Japan) 2780

12 (12) Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 268013 (13) Richard Gasquet (France) 246014 (14) John Isner (USA) 243515 (15) Jo­Wilfried Tsonga (France) 191016 (16) Roberto Bautista (Spain) 178517 (17) Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) 168018 (18) Marin Cilic (Croatia) 166519 (19) Fabio Fognini (Italy) 166520 (20) Tommy Robredo (Spain) 1645

WTA Tour singles standingsAs of Monday:1 (1) Serena Williams (USA) 91502 (3) Simona Halep (Romania) 67853 (2) Li Na (China) 65654 (4) Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 59305 (5) Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 56256 (6) Maria Sharapova (Russia) 49867 (7) Angelique Kerber (Germany) 45708 (8) Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) 44509 (9) Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 390010 (11) Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 368311 (10) Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 360512 (13) Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 313013 (12) Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 300214 (14) Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 297015 (15) Sara Errani (Italy) 291016 (16) Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 278517 (17) Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 275018 (19) Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 264019 (18) Andrea Petkovic (Germany) 244520 (26) Venus Williams (USA) 2355­­­­31 (30) Zhang Shuai (China) 139240 (40) Peng Shuai (China) 117557 (58) Zheng Jie (China) 933

Cincinnati ATP and WTAResults on Monday:Men’s 1st rdJoao Sousa (POR) bt Chase Buchanan (USA) 5­7,7­6 (3), 7­6 (5); Jerzy Janowicz (POL) bt TeimurazGabashvili (RUS) 6­4, 6­4; Gael Monfils (FRA) btFederico Del Bonis (ARG) 6­3, 3­6, 6­3; FernandoVerdasco (ESP) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 5­7,6­3, 7­6 (5); Marinko Matosevic (AUS) bt NicolasMahut (FRA) 6­4, 7­6 (4); Benjamin Becker (GER)bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 7­6 (5), 6­4; PhilippKohlschreiber (GER) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6­3,4­6, 6­4; Tommy Robredo (ESP x16) bt Jack Sock(USA) 7­6 (5), 6­3; Lu Yen­hsun (TPE) bt DenisIstomin (UZB) 6­3, 6­4; John Isner (USA x11) btKevin Anderson (RSA) 6­3, 6­4; Fabio Fognini (ITAx15) bt Edouard Roger­Vasselin (FRA) 6­4, 4­6, 7­6(5); Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Bernard Tomic (AUS)6­3, 6­2.

Women’s 1st rdPauline Parmentier (FRA) bt Casey Dellacqua(AUS) 7­6 (4), 6­2; Karin Knapp (ITA) bt BelindaBencic (SUI) 6­2, 7­6 (1); Madison Keys (USA) btAlize Cornet (FRA) 6­2, 6­4; Taylor Townsend(USA) bt Klara Koukalova (CZE) 6­3, 4­6, 7­5; Kir­sten Flipkens (BEL) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 6­3,6­2; Zhang Shuai (CHN) bt Heather Watson (GBR)6­3, 2­6, 7­5; Elina Svitolina (UKR) bt Lauren Davis(USA) 6­3, 6­2; Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x12) btMagdala Rybikov(SVK) 6­2, 6­3; Ana Ivanovic(SRB) bt Sorana Cirstea (ROM) 6­1, 7­5; AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova (RUS) bt Dominika Cibulkova(SVK x11) 6­3, 6­3; Flavia Pennetta (ITA x13) btChanelle Scheepers (RSA) 6­3, 6­7 (3), 6­2; Saman­tha Stosur (AUS) bt Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 6­2,7­5.

A new view of Chinese golfBy TYM GLASERtymglaser@chinadaily.com.cn

The golf world’s focus was setfirmly on Rory McIlroy’s heroics onthe back nine during the final roundof the PGA Championship at theValhalla Golf Club in Kentucky onSunday.

Among those enthusiasts of thestick­and­ball game, nodoubt, would have beenSimon Leach, the head of

the European Tour’s new Beijingoffice. However, his overall visionextends well beyond the greens ofLouisville and deep into China.

The ET (not the alien) has estab­lished itself in a country slowly grow­ing to appreciate the game throughits recently­acquired Olympic statusbut the European Professional GolfAssociation still wants to consolidateits foothold with two major eventsper year and four Challenge tourna­ments. The 42­year­old Leach is atthe forefront of the drive.

“A lot of people ask me why we arecoming into the market but theEuropean Tour has been here for along time — since 1995, actually,with the Volvo China Open,” Chesh­ire­born Leach said.

“The difference now is that wehave a presence here; we have aphysical office, we have people here,well, one person for now. We alsohave the BMW Masters in Shanghai… and ,of course, there are theHSBC Champions events.

“I want to maintain those twomajor events and hold others in thenorth of China and the south so wehave the complete coverage … I amlooking at Shenzhen and Tianjin. Ithink that Shenzhen will be the firstone to be announced, later this year,and Tianjin may take a little longerbut then that’s it because you have

limited dates and you can’t put toomany events in China.”

The Challenge events are the plat­form from which young Chinesegolfers can leap to the higher levelsof the game, and that particularlyexcites the Englishman who hasbeen in the country for 20 years.

“The Chinese Tour is the world’sbest platform for young players toget into thebig timeandtheChineseplayers need more playing opportu­nities. We already have two; the firstonewasstaged last year inFoshanofGuangdong, The second one, whichI will finalize soon, will be held inChongqing.

“For the Chinese players these arethe best platform for them … they

carry world ranking points whichdon’t seem like a lot but, in golf, ifyou win two world ranking pointsyou can shoot up the rankings.”

The other two CT/Challengevenues are yet to be decided butLeach wants them to be at diverselocations to spread the game as faras possible.

“A very important thing for us isthat we talk with the China GolfAssociation and then we find a long­term (sponsorship) partner which isnot close to any government body ororganization. Of course we workclosely with the CGA but we wouldalso like to have autonomy for eachevent.”

Meanwhile, in the happy sponsor­

ship ground known as China, wherethe world’s elite sporting league’slike to feast, the EPGA finds itself indirect competition with the premierUSPGA, but Leach says the organi­zations rarely clash over ground.

“It’s a large market and we bothhave our objectives; at the end of theday we are just trying to boost thegame here,” he said.

While all seems to be smooth sail­ing for the ET’s new Beijing branch,single­staffer Leach has some con­cerns about the game here despiteits growing popularity and the fact itis now an active Olympic sport.

“The Olympics have provided atremendous boost to the sport herebut the number of courses may bereduced here instead of increaseddue to government policies whichwould ultimately hinder the game,”he said.

PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILYSimon Leach is currently playing as a one­man band for the European Tour in Beijing.

Englishman Leach leading the European Tour’s charge in China

Mighty McIlroylooks set to startanother dynastyBy REUTERSin Louisville, Kentucky

Talk of the ‘Tiger era’ beingreplaced by a ‘Rory era’ escalatedafter Rory McIlroy thrust himselfinto golf’s pantheon of greats byclinching his fourth major title atthe 96th PGA Championship onSunday.

While Tiger Woods ended a dis­appointing week at Valhalla GolfClub by missing the cut at a majorfor only the fourth time as a pro­fessional, McIlroy won his thirdconsecutive tournament with adazzling display of shot makingdown the closing stretch.

The Northern Irishman over­came a scrappy start to triumph byone stroke after a final­round sho­otout on a rain­softened layoutended in near darkness, and thesuperlatives were once againbeing heaped upon the 25­year­oldfrom Holywood.

“It’s beginning to look a littleTiger­esque I suppose,” former USOpen champion Graeme McDow­ell said of his fellow NorthernIrishman, who has won twomajors in just three weeks.

“I said to the boys at the (Brit­ish) Open (where McIlroy wonlast month), I didn’t think wewere going to see the new Tigerera, as in someone creating theirown kind of Tiger­esque era justyet.

“I’m not eating my words butI’m certainly starting to chew onthem right now with the WGC(Bridgestone Invitational win) andanother major this weekend.When the kid is playing well he’spretty tough to live with. Prettyspecial stuff, yeah.”

McIlroy himself is wary of anyhype that golf could now be enter­ing a ‘Rory era’ of individual domi­nance.

“I try and put all this talk asideevery time it comesup,”he saidaft­er becoming the fourth youngestplayer to land four majors, withonly Tom Morris Jr., Jack Nicklausand Woods ahead of him.

“Tiger and Jack are two of themost successful players in oursport of all time. I’m on a nice trackat the minute. I’ve still got a longway to go, but to be in their compa­ny at this age is very special.”

Whatever McIlroy says, he clear­ly possesses abundant talent, astrong work ethic and that magi­cal ‘it’ factor which is reserved forvery few players.

His ability to blow away fields,as he did in winning the 2011 USOpen and the 2012 PGA Champi­onship by eight shots apiece, or toconjure something extra specialwhen needed, as he did on theback nine at Valhalla, marks himout as a great.

A spectacular eagle at the par­five 10th, followed by birdies atthe 13th and 17th, secured him histhird major crown in his past ninestarts and left his defeated rivalspurring in admiration.

“Better than everyone else rightnow. He’s good, really good,” saidPhil Mickelson, who had beenpart of a thrilling four­way shoot­out for the title in the final rounduntil McIlroy trumped him by astroke.

“He’sonarole,he is thebestplay­er in the world and just playingphenomenal golf,” said Swede Hen­rik Stenson, one of five players who

held a share of the lead on Sundaybefore he finished joint third.

“He’s got the confidence. He justkeeps coming back and playinggood golf. So it’s just to take ourhats off and give him the apprecia­tion he deserves.”

Dubbed the ‘Boy Wonder’because of the superstar creden­tials he has established at such ayoung age, McIlroy is a near­per­fect golfing package, both a man ofthe people and a player of rareskill.

Ever humble, he is a perpetual­ly smiling golfer who strides thefairways with a swagger and hisshoulders back, always complete­ly at home in his environment.

Having now won the fourthmajor title of his career, many arequestioning whether he can go onto reach the 14 piled up by Woodsor the record 18 accumulated byNicklaus. McIlroy embraces theweight of expectation.

“You have to welcome it and Idon’t think you can see it as a bur­den,” he said. “It’s a great place tobe in.

“To be the face of golf, or one ofthe faces of golf, it’s a big respon­sibility but, at the same time, Ifeel like I’m up to the task of han­dling it well. At 25 years of age, Ididn’t think I would be in thisposition.”

McIlroy is taking great pains,though, to adopt a mid­termcareer strategy instead casting hiseyes too far into the future.

“I’ve got to take it one small stepat a time,” he said. “I think the twonext realistic goals are the careergrand slam and trying to becomethe most successful Europeanplayer ever.

“Nick Faldo, the most successfulEuropean in the modern era, hassix majors. Seve (Ballesteros) hasfive.”

McIlroy would complete acareer slam of all four majors if hecan win the Masters at AugustaNational, where he led by fourshots going into the final round in2011 before he tumbled out of con­tention with an nightmare closing80.

“Hopefully, when I achievethose (goals), I can start to thinkabout other things,” he said. “Butright now, that’s what my focus ison.”

THOMAS J. RUSSO / USA TODAY

Rory McIlroy celebrates hisvictory at the PGA Championshipon Sunday.

Q+A|SIMONLEACH

What about your managementof former world No 1 snookerplayer Judd Trump?

Well, there were a few reasonsfor that … but the main one wasthat I had had my eye on Judd fora few years and I knew he wasgoing to be a fantastic talent. Ialso wanted to do somethingfresh on the management side.

Why did you split with Juddthis year?

In February, the European Tourasked me to go full­time and opena rep office and they set this onecondition that I had to dropsnooker. So I said ‘OK’. He hadalready reached world No 1 andthe only thing he hadn’t done waswin the world championship andI wasn’t sure how long that wasgoing to take.

TYM GLASER

What other sporting interestsdo you have?

I am interested in all sports,actually, anything that excites me.

My main passion growing upwas snooker. I wanted to be a play­er when I was, like, six or sevenyears old. I liked (Alex) ‘Hurricane’Higgins but it was immediatelydecided by my family that theydidn’t want me hanging aroundsnooker halls instead of going toschool…but IknewIwanted tobeinvolved in snooker somehow.

What brought you to China?When we were at university we

were offered the opportunity tocome to China so I worked for theShangri­La hotel in Shenzhen.From the hotel I moved intoworking on events. I worked witha (motor) racing team and weintroduced new racing formatsinto China.

GOLF

A lot of people ask mewhy we are coming into themarket but the EuropeanTour has been here for along time — since 1995,actually, with the VolvoChina Open. The differencenow is that we have apresence here; we havea physical office, we havepeople here.”SIMON LEACHHEAD OF THE EUROPEAN TOUR’SNEW BEIJING OFFICE