Sports

Watney leads World Challenge; Woods 3 back

Sure enough, putting was all the rage yesterday in the World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

One day after golf’s governing bodies proposed a new rule that will ban the anchored stroke used for long putters, Keegan Bradley talked about someone on Twitter telling the PGA champion to send in his resume to Burger King in 2016, when the rule goes into effect. Bradley got so fed up with the teasing over his belly putter this week that he grabbed Tiger Woods’ putter and made three out of four from 10 feet.

“I took his putter, which is about the opposite of what I putt with — it’s upright, it’s light, it’s a blade — and I made three out of four putts from 10 feet,” Bradley said.

The rule doesn’t affect Nick Watney, and he made five birdies on his last 10 holes — including his first birdie ever on the 14th hole at Sherwood — for a 5-under 67 that gave him a two-shot lead.

Woods’ highlights included a 12-foot par putt on the 15th and an 8-footer to avoid bogey on the par-5 16th. It added up to a 70, which left him very much in the hunt at an 18-man event where he is more than just a tournament host. Without a title sponsor, Woods is underwriting most of the cost. Bradley was two shots out of the lead at 69.

Nedbank Golf Challenge

In Sun City, South Africa, Bill Haas (2-under 70) bogeyed two of the last three holes in the Nedbank Golf Challenge to slip back into a share of the first-round lead with Nicolas Colsaerts.

PGA Tour qualifying tourney

In La Quinta, Calif., Meen Whee Kim shot a 9-under 63 on PGA West’s Stadium Course to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament.

LPGA Tour qualifying tourney

In Daytona Beach, Fla., Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn shot a 6-under 66 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament.