Making his fifth start of the season in Europe, McKinney (pictured) was inside the top five at the Kaskada Golf Challenge after starting the tournament with a round of 6-under 65 at the Kaskada Golf Resort in the Czech Republic.

He fell back slightly with rounds of 71-73 before climbing into a tie for fifth with a final round of 3-under 68, making birdies at 11, 14 and 17 to match his best finish as a professional, a tie for fifth at the 2021 WA PGA Championship in Kalgoorlie.

Hong went one better in what was his first start since turning professional.

Hailing from Concord Golf Club in Sydney’s west, Hong has been a college standout at both Purdue and Lipscomb University and earned his PGA TOUR Canada card by winning qualifying in Arizona in April.

He captained the New South Wales team to a share of victory at the 2016 Interstate Teams Matches and had a chance to win on his professional debut late in the final round of the Royal Beach Victoria Open.

Birdies at seven, eight, 11 and 12 brought the 24-year-old to within two of the lead but dropped shots at 13, 14 and 17 saw him finish six strokes back in a tie for fourth.

Hong had a share of the lead through three rounds at Uplands Golf Club but was 1-over through six holes of a final round of even-par 70 to drop off the pace set by eventual champion Etienne Papineau (64).

Minjee Lee warmed up for the second women’s major of the year next week with a tie for 13th at the Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan as Anthony Quayle continued his strong form in Japan with a tie for 12th at the Hana Bank Invitational.

Results

LPGA Tour
Meijer LPGA Classic
Blythefield Country Club, Belmont, Michigan
1             Leona Maguire   69-65-69-64—267            $US375,000
T13        Minjee Lee          68-67-72-68—275            $37,829
T20        Grace Kim            71-71-70-65—277            $25,108
T50        Hannah Green    71-69-74-68—282            $8,448
T66        Stephanie Kyriacou          69-73-71-74—287            $5,359
MC         Lydia Ko (NZ)      72-72—144
MC         Su Oh    75-73—148

Ladies European Tour
Amundi German Masters
Golf & Country Club Seddiner See, Berlin
1             Kristyna Napoleaova       68-66-69-71—274            €45,000
T22        Momoka Kobori (NZ)       76-72-69-68—285            €4,140
T22        Kirsten Rudgeley               73-71-70-71—285            €4,140
MC         Whitney Hillier   75-76—151
MC         Hanee Song (NZ)        76-77—153
MC         Wenyung Keh (NZ)     78-78—156

Japan Golf Tour
Hana Bank Invitational
Chiba Isumi Golf Club, Chiba
1             Ji Ho Yang            66-70-69-67—272            ¥18,327,272
T12        Anthony Quayle 70-69-71-69—279            ¥1,308,566
T26        Won Joon Lee    69-72-71-69—281            ¥733,090
MC         Jun Seok Lee      71-76—147
MC         Brendan Jones   73-75—148

Challenge Tour
Kaskada Challenge
Kaskade Resort, Brno, Czech Republic
1             Lorenzo Scalise  64-68-70-70—272            €42,400
T5           Connor McKinney             65-71-73-68—277            €10,776.67
T36        Ryan Ruffels        73-70-71-71—285            €1,643

Korn Ferry Tour
Wichita Open
Crestview Country Club, Wichita
1             Ricky Castillo      67-62-66-66—261            $US180,000
T61        Dimi Papadatos  69-64-70-68—271            $4,040
T72        Grant Booth        67-66-71-70—274            $3,830
T76        Louis Dobbelaar 67-68-71-69—275            $3,770
MC         Brett Drewitt      68-69—137
MC         Rhein Gibson      70-71—141

PGA Tour Canada
Royal Beach Victoria Open
Uplands GC, Victoria, British Columbia
1             Étienne Papineau             64-65-69-64—262
T4           Jason Hong          67-64-67-70—268
MC         Jack Trent            73-68—141
MC         Cory Crawford    70-72—142