Second-placed Iwata a mystery to leader McDowell

By Andrew Both

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The name Hiroshi Iwata looked conspicuously out of place surrounded by major champions on the leaderboard after the third round at the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament on Saturday.

Iwata was only one stroke behind leader Graeme McDowell at the prestigious event, and the Northern Irishman readily admitted he had never even heard of his closest pursuer.

"Nothing," McDowell told reporters when asked what he knew of Iwata.

"No disrespect, but genuinely never heard of him. I saw him make one swing today and it looked like a beautiful swing (so) I'm looking forward to seeing what it's all about tomorrow."

Iwata, 33, is a late bloomer, who this July notched his first victory on the Japan Tour at the Fujisankei Classic. He is third on that tour's money list.

This is his first WGC event but he has looked far from out of his depth with three impressive rounds, and a birdie from off the green at the par-five 18th on Saturday lifted him into second place after a four-under 68 at Sheshan.

His 10-under total is good enough to see him wedged between leader McDowell and third-placed pair Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson.

Iwata said he felt calm, but that might change on Sunday if the world number 127 had a chance at what would be a life-changing victory.

"I'm relatively short-tempered," he said. "I'm pretty famous for that in Japan, so I always try to focus on not getting too angry at myself.

"I'm doing that pretty well at the moment, so I just want to keep that going."

(Editing by John O'Brien)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two Naked Pics Of Holly Sonders. The Big News To Emerge From The 2013 PGA Show

Image
The media centre at the 2013 PGA Show was buzzing yesterday.  Not because of anything that happened at the show.  God forbid! When I rocked in, several men (and one woman) were gathered around an iphone ogling and sharing  two pics of who they claimed were Holly Sonders naked. Now I have to hold my hands up and say, I had to google her to find out she’s from The Golf Channel. I don’t watch the Golf Channel because I don’t have an erectile dysfunction problem or need to rent a car from National.  I’m told adverts for both are all that’s on that channel. How they knew for certain it was her, I dont know.  Unless the cheeks of her ass were on her passport photo and they recognized them from there, but I doubt it. The First Pic The first pic is taken from behind. No pun intended.  The media guys say it was taken by her fiancee (?) and shows Holly in a white thong which has disappeared a dangerously long ways into the bummage.  I’m talking t...
Read more

Sarah Stirk Nipple Gate: Navy Top Leaves Viewers Disappointed

Image
London: Sky Sports management this morning issued a statement  apologizing to subscribers after Sarah Stirk wore a navy dress live on air.  It is believed up to 60,000 horny golfers were left limp after they tuned in to final round coverage of the Valero Texas Open in the hope of getting a glimpse of the legendary Stirk starter buttons. “I pay my subscription, I’m bloody well entitled to see Sarah’s Wimbledon strawberries” said factory worker Paul Manning 52 from Hereford. “I even missed the ten minute freeview, coz my mate Derek tweeted that Stirk was going into the shot centre for ten minutes at 11pm”. The Sky statement read: We apologize unreservedly for the navy dress Sarah wore during last nights broadcast, through which no nipples were visible. This was due to a wardrobe malfunction. However we do intend to rectify this during our US Masters coverage and assure viewers that plenty of bridge rivets will be on show, both from Sarah and special guest Colin M...
Read more

Holly Sonders Quits Golf Channel After Contract Talks Fail. Moves To Fox.

Image
Tissues at the ready guys as this will come as a shock to you all that Holly Sonders , the female face of the Golf Channel, has quit and reportedly taken a job with Fox Sports. According to  reports Sonders, who appeared regularly on “Morning Drive” since 2011, could not come to an agreement on a new contract deal with the Golf Channel and was quickly snapped up by Fox Sports where she is expected to work on golf and NFL. Related: Holly Sonders Does The Ice Bucket Challenge We've had some fun with Holly over the last few years ( was that really her in those nudie pics? ) but now it looks like we'll be crying into those tissues. Join the GolfCentralDaily community on Twitter for loads more comment on and off the course. Follow @golfcentraldoc
Read more