Sport
GETTY IMAGESBritain face tough Slovakia trip in Fed Cup Coxsey targets Olympic gold
By Simon Briggs
Great Britain’s women face another
difficult away trip in the Fed Cup, as
they play for the right to compete in
the inaugural finals week in Buda-
pest next April.
The draw has pitted Anne Ke-
othavong’s team against Slovakia,
who have three top-100 players:
Viktoria Kuzmova (ranked 54),
Dominika Cibulkova (68) and Anna
Karolina Schmiedlova (96).
The tie will be staged on the
weekend of Feb 7-8, immediately
after the Australian Open, and it
seems likely that the Slovakians
will choose an indoor clay court. In
theory, Great Britain should have
access to world No 16 Johanna
Konta, and will also be hopeful of
fielding Katie Boulter (now down at
No 220 after four months of inactiv-
ity), assuming that her long-term
back injury heals in time.
This is the latest in a string of
challenging away ties dating back
to 2012. Under the old format, for-
mer captain Judy Murray and Ke-
othavong, who took over in 2017,
each earned two World Group play-offs. Unfortunately, they were
drawn away from home each time,
and did not manage to convert.
The sequence seemed to have
been broken this year. Great Britain
finally drew a home tie, against Ka-
zakhstan in April, which they won
in dramatic style, with Boulter ex-
acerbating her back condition as
she claimed the decisive point. But
the format then changed, and the
result was rendered irrelevant.
Kazakhstan are also involved in
the eight play-offs, which involve
the teams ranked between No 5 and
No 19 in the world, along with the
United States.
“Now we know that we will
face Slovakia we can look towards
preparing with excellence,” said
Keothavong.By James Corrigan
GOLF CORRESPONDENT
Rory McIlroy should not anticipate
being named “Employee of the
Month” at PGA Tour HQ after pos-
ing a few damning questions about
the controversial overhaul of the
Tour Championship.
First, the world No 3 asked if the
new handicapped scoring system is
appropriate for an event which
likes to think of itself on the top
rungs of the sport. And then McIl-
roy inquired aloud whether the
much-publicised $15 million
(£12.3 million) winning cheque is
“relatable to the fans”. To many, the
answers to these two queries will
be a resounding “no and no”.
If the obscene jackpot on offer –
and the shameless marketing of the
$5 million hike from last year – is a
turn-off, then the unprecedented
new format could even manage to
cause more shaking of heads.
The player at the top of FedEx
Cup standings, Justin Thomas, will
start today’s first round in Atlanta
on 10 under. With the 30-strong
field handicapped based on their
positions in that points list, the
player in second, Patrick Cantlay,
will tee off on eight under, and then
a sliding scale down to the players
in 26th to 30th on level par.
McIlroy starts on five under and
could, therefore, beat Thomas by
four shots over four rounds and still
finish behind him. That sort of sce-
nario makes the 30-year-old
uneasy. “We had breakfast with
some of the sponsors and what I
By Jim White
After finishing third in the com-
bined section of the Climbing
World Championships in Tokyo on
Tuesday, Shauna Coxsey believes
she is perfectly placed to win her
sport’s first Olympic gold medal at
next summer’s games in Japan.
“I think it’s entirely possible I can
win it,” Coxsey said after her bronze
medal climbs. “I’ve proven I can be
in top spot in qualification, then in
the final I got a personal best in the
speed discipline and broke my own
British record. I know if I train re-
ally well and I stay injury free then
that gold medal is within my reach.”Fans will struggle with
the overhaul of Fedex
scoring, says McIlroy
It was, she added, the first time
she had stated her belief that she
could do it. Until now, her focus
had been entirely on qualification;
she had not allowed herself the lux-
ury of thinking about what might
happen in Tokyo.
But now, following her perfor-
mances at the World Champion-
ships – which also included winning
bronze in the bouldering event –
that have guaranteed Coxsey will be
one of the 20 athletes competing in
the inaugural Olympic climbing
event, she was allowing herself to
envisage topping the podium.
“Because I qualified for the final
in top position, to know I can be in
first place makes a huge difference
psychologically. I’m certain I can
get faster, fitter, stronger.”World No 3 queries new
handicapped system
Focusing on $15m prize
money is wrong, he adds
Olesen on ‘assault’ trial
Danish golfer
Thorbjorn
Olesen is to
face trial after
being charged
with sexual
assault and
being drunk
on an aircraft.
The 29-year-
old indicated
he would
plead not
guilty when
he appeared
at a
magistrate’s
court in
Uxbridgeyesterday. The
2018 Ryder
Cup player,
who is based
in London,
was arrested
on July 29 on
his return to
the city from a
tournament in
Tennessee. He
was granted
unconditional
bail and is
expected to
appear at
Isleworth
Crown Court
on Sept 18.said to them was if the PGA Tour is
trying to do this ‘season of champi-
onships’, which starts with the Play-
ers in March, then goes through the
four majors and culminates with
the FedEx Cup at the end, if the
FedEx Cup really wants to have
this legacy in the game like some
of these other championships, is
people starting the tournament on
different numbers the best way to
do it?” McIlroy said.
“I get it from a fan experience
point of view, I get it from giving
guys that have played better
throughout the year an advantage,
but I don’t know – come back to me
on Monday and I’ll tell you if it has
worked. You can shoot the best
score of the week and not win the
tournament. If that happens to
someone it’s going to be hard for
them to wrap their head around.”
Ironically, the Tour instigated
the changes to the season-finale to
make it easier for the viewers to
understand. Previously there have
been two prize-givings on the Sun-
day with the winners of both theTour Championship and the FedEx
Cup being crowned. Sometimes,
the same player lifted both titles,
but on other occasions, such as last
year with Tiger Woods and Justin
Rose, there was the awkward situa-
tion of a pair of champions.
The FedEx Cup standings were
ridiculously complicated, with
players and fans, alike, unsure of
the state of play as the action
unfolded and Jay Monahan, the
PGA Tour chief executive, decided
to be bold as the tournament moved
forwards to September. The $15 mil-
lion bounty proceeded to play large
in the publicity drive. Again, McIl-
roy feels uncomfortable.
“Who knows what the winner
wins at the Masters? I don’t know
because that’s not what it’s about,”
he said. “So again, if the FedEx Cup
wants to create a legacy that lasts
longer, it doesn’t need to be about
the money, it should be about the
prestige of winning an event that
you’ll be remembered for.
“I don’t think the money needs to
be front and centre because I don’t
think that’s what the fans care
about. It’s definitely a thought that
came into my head, ‘How can we
make ourselves more relatable to
the fans?’ – and having $15 million
front and centre isn’t probably the
best way to do it.”
If Thomas, who won last week at
a canter in Chicago, begins well at
East Lake then this could easily
develop into a damp squib. “With
this format it has the potential
where myself and a couple of guys
get hot at the top of the leaderboard
and it could be a one-man show,”
Thomas conceded. “But if some of
us at the top don’t play well, you
legitimately have the chance of 25-
28 guys that have a chance to win
$15 million on Sunday.”TENNIS Key player: CLIMBING
Johanna Konta
should be available
for selection for
Great BritainTrailing: Rory McIlroy will start five
shots behind leader Justin Thomas16 *** Thursday 22 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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