Just two months out from his appearances in Australia’s summer of golf, Cameron Smith notched up a win in the United States but Hannah Green fell short in her quest to end a three-year winless streak at the LPGA Tour’s Amazing Cre Portland Classic.
It was a prolific week for Australians on overseas tours with top-10 finishes logged by Aussies on the LPGA Tour (Green), DP World Tour (Lucas Herbert) and Japan Golf Tour (Adam Bland).
Smith secured his win at the LIV Golf Invitational Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms, with the confirmed starter at both the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and ISPS HANDA Australian Open in November-December closing with a round of three-under 69 in the third and final round to win by three shots.
“I’m proud of how I hung in there today,” Smith said.
“I didn’t really have my best stuff the first eight or nine holes, but stuck it tough and made a few putts coming in.”
Recalling on her memories from winning at Columbia Edgewater Country Club three years ago, Green began the final round of the Portland Classic just one stroke from the lead.
Two birdies and a bogey saw Green fall back in the pack before she launched a late charge up the leaderboard on the back nine.
Three birdies on the trot from the 10th hole gave the 2019 champion a share of the lead but she was unable to find the killer blow, finishing two shots back of Andrea Lee in a share of third.
Also a confirmed starter at the Australian Open at Victoria and Kingston Heath golf clubs from December 1-4, Green’s finish is her best result since the LA Open in April and elevates her to 16th in the Race to CME Globe standings.
“I’m proud of myself to shoot a low one on the back nine. I guess even the par on the last to keep myself in it,” said Green.
“Not going to lie, I saw the leaderboard and I really didn’t want to finish tied seventh so I guess that gave me some extra motivation.
“I guess it really shows when you’re enjoying yourself and the golf course, what it can do.”
Ahead of his appearances at the Australian PGA Championship and Australian Open Herbert recorded his best result in almost a year with a tie for fifth at the DP World Tour’s DS Automobiles Italian Open.
Two shots back at the start of the final round, Herbert had eight pars and a birdie on his outward nine, falling to even par on his round with a dropped shot at the par-4 10th.
He responded with birdies at 12, 13 and 15 but finished three shots shy of the playoff won by Scotsman Robert MacIntyre (66) over US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
South Australian Adam Bland’s tie for eighth at the ANA Open is his best result on the Japan Golf Tour in almost five years, Harrison Endycott shot an even-par 72 in the final round to finish tied for 12th in his PGA TOUR debut at the Fortinet Championship and Grace Kim dropped to a share of 13th in the final round of the Epson Tour’s Guardian Championship in Alabama.
Bland finished with a flourish in Hokkaido, reeling off three straight birdies in the last three holes for a six-under 66 in a welcome return to form.
“It was a good round today,” said Bland. “I didn’t change anything and just stuck to my game plan.
“I was able to hit it a little closer and holed a couple of putts.
“Hopefully I can play even better next week.”
Results
PGA TOUR
Fortinet Championship
Silverado Resort and Spa (North Cse), Napa, California
Winner Max Homa 65-67-72-68—272 $1.44m
T12 Harrison Endycott 72-70-65-72—279 $140,667
T25 Cameron Percy 74-68-72-67—281 $55,273
T36 Aaron Baddeley 73-69-69-71—282 $36,457
MC Cam Davis 74-70—144
MC Jason Day 74-73—147
MC Danny Lee (NZ) 72-80—152
DP World Tour
DS Automobiles Italian Open
Marco Simone GC, Rome, Italy
Winner Robert MacIntyre 70-69-67-64—270 €510,000
Won in sudden death playoff
T5 Lucas Herbert 70-67-68-68—273 €116,100
T55 Maverick Antcliff 72-69-72-73—286 €9,450
T55 Jason Scrivener 70-70-74-72—286 €9,450
MC Scott Hend 70-74—144
MC Min Woo Lee 73-72—145
MC Zach Murray 76-75—151
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Invitational Chicago
Rich Harvest Farms, Chicago, Illinois
Winner Cameron Smith 66-68-69—203 $US4m
T16 Matt Jones 68-72-72—212 $236,000
T37 Wade Ormsby 72-76-72—220 $137,000
T37 Jediah Morgan 76-73-71—220 $137,000
T44 Marc Leishman 71-73-78—222 $124,000
Challenge Tour
Open de Portugal
Royal Óbidos Spa & Golf Resort, Vau Óbidos, Portugal
Winner Pierre Pineau 74-66-66-67—273 €40,000
T63 Daniel Hillier 69-71-75-76—291 €687.50
MC Blake Windred 76-70—146
Japan Golf Tour
ANA Open
Sapporo Golf Club (Wattsu Cse), Hokkaido
Winner Tomoharu Ohtsuki 68-67-68-66—269 ¥20m
Won in sudden death playoff
T8 Adam Bland 70-68-70-66—274 ¥2,727,500
T17 Matthew Griffin 71-68-68-69—276 ¥1,426,666
T28 Anthony Quayle 69-72-71-67—279 ¥760,000
T46 Andrew Evans 73-68-69-74—284 ¥298,666
MC Brendan Jones 72-70—142
MC Michael Hendry 69-73—142
LPGA Tour
AmazingCre Portland Classic
Columbia Edgewater Country Club, Portland, Oregon
Winner Andrea Lee 72-64-67-66—269 $US225,000
T3 Hannah Green 66-70-68-67—271 $67,303
T36 Sarah Kemp 69-72-72-70—283 $8,137
T47 Karis Davidson 73-68-73-71—285 $5,579
MC Sarah Jane Smith 75-72—147
MC Stephanie Kyriacou 72-75—147
MC Su Oh 78-73—151
MC Makensie Toole (a) 77-76—153
Champions Tour
Sanford International
Minnehaha Country Club, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Winner Steve Stricker 68-64-64—196 $US300,000
Won in sudden death playoff
T16 Stuart Appleby 71-66-65—202 $30,120
T47 David McKenzie 70-70-68—208 $6,600
T58 Steven Alker (NZ) 68-66-76—210 $3,800
T61 John Senden 70-70-71—211 $3,100
T67 Rod Pampling 71-71-71—213 $1,960
Legends Tour
Legends Open de France
Golf de Saint-Cloud, Paris, France
Winner Gary Marks 68-66-70—204
T7 Michael Long (NZ) 67-72-71—210
T20 Peter Fowler 72-72-70—214
Epson Tour
Guardian Championship
Capitol Hill Golf Club, Prattville, Alabama
Winner Maria Torres 68-66-68—202 $US30,000
T13 Grace Kim 70-66-72—208 $3,274
T17 Gabriela Ruffels 70-68-71—209 $2,441
T51 Robyn Choi 74-70-71—215 $854
T55 Emily Mahar 71-73-72—216 $772
63 Soo Jin Lee 70-72-76—218 $669
MC Amelia Garvey (NZ) 69-77—146
MC Hira Naveed 73-74—147
MC Julienne Soo 72-77—149
MC Stephanie Na 78-74—152
Ladies European Tour
Lacoste Ladies Open de France
Golf Barrière, Deauville, France
Winner Ines Laklalech 65-66-68—199 48,750
MC Whitney Hillier 75-72—147