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Athletes in Golf Australia’s High Performance Program have been given a new opportunity to study at the PGA Institute to secure their future in the golf industry, whether that is on the course or not.
The High Performance Program is designed to guide the country’s brightest junior golfers on their long-term development as players, and this new collaboration will ensure that development continues even if athletes decide not to pursue becoming a professional golfer.
General Manager – High Performance Brad James is excited for this new educational pathway for athletes in the program.
“Aligning with the PGA Institute will provide our athletes with the knowledge and skills to remain actively involved in the sport, whether they wish to compete at the highest level or not,” he said.
“It’s another significant step forward that we will be able to continue to support our athletes in their future careers.
“We will be encouraging the High Performance members to consider studying at the PGA Institute in addition to working on their game and development as athletes.”
The courses on offer to high performance athletes include both the Diploma of Golf Management and Diploma of Sport, as well as a suite of Micro credentials comprising Golf Athlete Essentials, Brand and Stakeholder Management, and Golf Management.
By taking the opportunity to study at the PGA Institute, the High Performance Program members will open up a myriad of internal and external pathways.
The internal pathways within the PGA of Australia are unlocked through accumulating credits towards the academic component of the Membership Pathway Program.
Externally, athletes can open pathways to higher education partners of the PGA Institute including scholarships to Torrens University, as well as credits for courses at Holmesglen TAFE, Deakin, Griffith and Victoria universities.
As well as the educational and future-proofing benefits, PGA General Manager for Membership and Education Geoff Stewart said there are further advantages to study.
“Research indicates that the combination of sport and study is both helpful and important in the overall development of the athlete in a range of sports, and it’s pleasing that golf can now make this available in Australia,” he said.
“In addition to future off-course job outcomes following the conclusion of a playing career, study can also assist with enhancing transferable competencies such as leadership, commitment, goal setting, prioritisation and planning – skills that will improve practice and on-course performance.
“This new collaboration means that high performance golfers don’t need to neglect their education – they can combine performance development and success with a range of study options.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Golf Australia to provide Australia’s next generation of high-performance golfers a program that complements the on-course development and achievements of the players with off-course success”.
If High Performance members choose to take this opportunity at the PGA Institute, Golf Australia will financially invest a considerable percentage of the study costs.
Click HERE to find out more information about the PGA Institute.
Australian Richard Green has been studying the dominant forces on the PGA TOUR Champions so that he can elevate his game and ultimately join them.
Green will lead a bolstered Australian presence on the Champions Tour in 2024, Q School graduates Steve Allan and David Bransdon joining former winners Rod Pampling and Mark Hensby and Stuart Appleby and John Senden at this week’s Chubb Classic in Florida.
Michael Wright and Cameron Percy will also play the Champions Tour for the first time this year and would do worse than to match Green’s rookie season in 2023.
In 26 starts last season, Green had six top-10s and won $US1,221,196 to finish 15th on the moneylist.
To catch the likes of Steve Alker and Steve Stricker – the top two money-earners in 2023 – Green and coach Darrell Brown have looked into what separates them from the field… and the margins are slim.
“I’ve been going over last year with my coach and comparing my game to Steve Alker – who has been doing really well over there – and Steve Stricker.
“Working out where I’m not quite up to it and it’s one or two shots here and there. It might be half a shot in putting, a shot in scrambling.”
A three-time winner on both the DP World Tour and the European Legends Tour, Green had four top-five finishes in his rookie season in the US, his best finish a playoff defeat to Harrison Frazar at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.
It was a further endorsement that, at 52 years of age, his game can match it with Hall of Famers and major champions.
“It was a bit of a learning curve but pleasantly surprised once I got over there how well I played and how competitive I was amongst those guys,” said Green, whose last hit-out before leaving Australia was a tie for sixth at the Vic Open.
“Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, Padraig Harrington, all those guys that have been playing good enough golf to hover around the top 10 in the world, I was playing good enough golf to be hovering around with them most of the time and contending.
“I probably out-performed myself really. I thought if I finished top-36 I’d be having a great year and I finished 15th.
“With the experience that I gathered last year, if I go over there and play just as well, if not better, and learn from the experience of the things that didn’t go quite right, there’s probably no reason why I couldn’t go over and win more.“
Green begins his campaign alongside Tom Lehman and Rocco Mediate at 12:43am Saturday AEDT with Allan and Bransdon paired together in their Champions Tour debuts.
Photo: Grant Halverson/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEDT
Champions Tour
Chubb Classic
Tiburon Golf Club, Naples, Florida
12:43am Tom Lehman, Richard Green, Rocco Mediate
1:38am Ernie Els, David Toms, Steven Alker (NZ)
2:22am Ken Duke, Lee Janzen, Mark Hensby
2:33am Steve Flesch, Rod Pampling, Paul Broadhurst
3:39am Stuart Appleby, Notah Begay III, Scott Verplank
4:12am Rob Labritz, John Senden, Jason Bohn
4:45am Steve Allan, Michael Muehr, David Bransdon
Prize money: $US1.8 million
Defending champion: Bernhard Langer
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 4am-7am Saturday; Live 7am-9:30am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
After some late rain Wednesday at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort, there were low scores to be had on day one of the Webex Players Series Hunter Valley. Phoenix Campbell and Tunrada Piddon doing just that with a pair of nine-under 61s to lead by two from Denzel Ieremia.
Out early, Piddon, who goes by ‘Pat’, wasn’t certain a low score was in the offering, and had plenty of shocked players follow her into score return to discover the Thai’s score that breaks the previous women’s course record of Cassie Porter by three.
“My putting was really good today, obviously. I mean didn’t expect it was going to be this low, but I stick some pretty close shots early on, so it built my confidence to keep going,” Piddon said.
“Hopefully it stays for another few days.”
Planning an afternoon exploring the Hunter Valley region with her sister and fellow WPGA Tour of Australasia player Peerada, the 23-year-old was likely confident she would be alone at the top of a congested leaderboard come Friday morning, before Campbell joined the party.
The Victorian, who set his first ever course record at his home club of Yarra Yarra in last year’s Sandbelt Invitational, taking the chances on offer to equal defending champion Brett Coletta’s low mark from last year.
“That’s pretty cool, I just played really solid,” Campbell said of the record mark.
“I didn’t let myself get too ahead of things, just a solid round of golf today. Hit a lot of greens, made a few putts, missed a few. Just all in and all a pretty solid day.”
Remaining an amateur after his QLD PGA victory late last year, Campbell continues to learn the ropes of top level golf, with a future in the play-for-pay ranks a matter of when not if. Something he hopes won’t change how he plays. An easily understood mindset following a bogey-free, nine-birdie round.
“I think there is a low one anywhere you go if you play the course like it’s meant to be played. If you play solid, you can absolutely go low anywhere,” the 22-year-old said.
“I like to think I won’t play any different when I am playing for money, it’s just another learning opportunity for me to try and get better and hone my craft. I’m not really thinking about winning or anything. Just taking one day at time. I’ll come out tomorrow, similar game plan.”
Currently undergoing a recent move into the pro ranks just like Campbell will eventually take, Piddon joined the professional ranks following WPGA Tour of Australasia qualifying school back in January.
The former University of Central Florida standout also going bogey-free while adding seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 6th. Her recent shift from student athlete to professional allowing for an exclusive focus on golf.
“For me, it’s not too hard to adjust, from college golf you learn a lot. You travel almost every week, keep playing, keep studying at the time,” she said. “But this for me is easier, because you don’t have to focus on study, your grades, you just have to keep practising, keep getting better, and keep going. I love it.”
Having himself made the jump from college golf to professional golf back in 2019, Ieremia spoke of an increasing depth of talent at events like the Webex Players Series after his round that was highlighted by an eagle at the short par-4 7th.
The New Zealander’s improved putting performance on Thursday coming after doing his best to put into action what has become a common phrase on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia of “got to putt like Kazuma” as James Marchesani, who sits on six-under with Kade McBride and Jeffrey Guan, put it.
“Earlier this week I asked Kazuma about his putting. Asked if he could teach me Aimpoint, and I used it today, so it worked. I don’t know if I am good at it, but it was close enough,” Ieremia said.
“He’s a good teacher, he’s a hard competitor, he beat me twice, as you’d expect. He’s probably the best putter on the planet right now statistically, so good person to learn off.”
Also speaking of the Kiwi comradery and Kobori’s inspiring play was Kit Bittle, who opened with a five-under 65 to lie in a share of seventh with local amateur Ella Scaysbrook and Victorian Mattias Sanchez.
Kobori is part of a nine strong group one shot further back on four-under and five shots behind the lead pair, with PGA of Australia Associate Joe Kim alongside last week’s winner having scorched the front nine in seven-under 28 before dropping back on his inward half.
It took more than a text to tournament host Tiger Woods but Adam Scott will continue his preparation for a second green jacket at this week’s Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
A two-time winner at the venue and the site of his most recent PGA TOUR title in 2020, Scott required a sponsor’s exemption to be able to tee it up in the third Signature event of the season.
With one eye on The Masters in two months’ time, Scott had no qualms in reaching out through the proper channels for the chance to continue his love affair with Riviera.
“I did it how I thought was right,” said Scott, who struggled to recall the last time he had to request a sponsor’s invite to play a tournament.
“I wrote a letter to the tournament directors and made sure that I was legitimately getting an invite.
“If writing to Tiger works, let me know.”
With top-10s in Dubai and Phoenix in three starts to begin 2024, Scott arrives at Riviera not only with fond memories but with positivity in how he is playing.
Eleven years on from his historic victory at Augusta National, the 43-year-old sees his date in LA as another crucial step towards arriving at The Masters with both his game and confidence levels in good shape.
“I’ve had that in the forefront of my mind since January 1 and, so far, it’s been going well,” Scott said when asked when his attention turns to Augusta.
“As soon as you get to the new year you start thinking about it.
“How much work you need to do to think you’re going to be ready to win The Masters. Where your game’s really at and trying to work a schedule of practice and play and travel.
“The Florida swing, it’s important to play well through there because that’s the last solid hit-out before The Masters.
“Having that confidence and the ability in the weeks leading up to have some calm in the mind and confidence sitting there is very helpful.
“I’m hopeful that I’m ticking the boxes along the way and be in really great shape come Augusta.”
An unofficial winner in 2005 when the tournament was reduced to 36 holes due to rain, Scott pointed to the familiar feelings of home for his success at Riviera.
“I don’t think too many people would argue that it’s a great designed golf course, but there are other things to me,” said Scott, who has career prize money of $US5,077,503 from 15 starts in this event alone.
“Obviously I’ve played nicely here, so I have good feelings about that. I have feelings like I’m in Australia when I play the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th holes.
“The eucalyptus trees kind of smell like it does in Australia, the grass is similar, the weather can be similar as well, nice weather here in L.A. I just have this certain level of comfort.
“There’s more than just purely a great golf course for me.”
Scott is one of just three Aussies who will tee it up in the Genesis Invitational but there are 19 in the field for the first Asian Tour event of the year, the IRS Prima Malaysian Open.
With three exemptions on offer to The Open Championship at Royal Troon in July, the likes of Brendan Jones, Jed Morgan and Jordan Zunic will be eager to carry their recent form on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia into Malaysia.
Former NSW amateur teammates Grace Kim and Steph Kyriacou are joined by Gabi Ruffels and Kirsten Rudgeley at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International on the Ladies European Tour and David Bransdon and Steve Allan make their PGA TOUR Champions debuts at the Chubb Classic in Florida.
Photo: Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR
The Genesis Invitational
The Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, California
3:44am Cam Davis, Adam Hadwin, Cameron Young
5:25am Jason Day, Tony Finau, Brendon Todd
7:06am Adam Scott, Alex Smalley, Taylor Montgomery
Prize money: $US20 million
Defending champion: Jon Rahm
Past Aussie winners: Robert Allenby (2001), Adam Scott (2005, 2020), Aaron Baddeley (2011)
TV times: Live 3am-12pm Friday, Saturday; Live 5am-11am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Asian Tour
IRS Prima Malaysian Open
The Mines Resort & Golf Club, Malaysia
10:50am* Daeng Rahman, Sam Brazel, Siddikur Rahman
11:10am Michael Maguire, Atiruj Winaicharoenchai, Andrew Dodt
11:20am Bjorn Hellgren, Veer Ahlawat, Scott Hend
11:30am* Brendan Jones, David Puig, Phachara Khongwatmai
11:40am* Jazz Janewattananond, Ben Campbell (NZ), Wade Ormsby
11:50am* Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Jed Morgan, Gavin Green
12pm Chang Wei-lun, Mingyu Cho, Marcus Fraser
12:30pm Jose Toledo, Anson Yeo Boon Xiang (a), Maverick Antcliff
12:40pm Varun Chopra, Sukree Othman, Jordan Zunic
12:40pm* Lachlan Barker, Nateeshvar Anatha Ganesh (a), Ye Wocheng
3:40pm Deyen Lawson, Danny Chia, Charng-Tai Sudsom
3:50pm Douglas Klein, Matt Killen, Justin Quiban
4:10pm* Zach Murray, Shahriffuddin Ariffin, Chapchai Nirat
4:20pm Trevor Simsby, Miguel Tabuena, Travis Smyth
4:20pm* Kevin Yuan, Suradit Yongcharoenchai, Kyongjun Moon
4:40pm* Rattanon Wannasrichan, Todd Sinnott, Sanghyun Park
5pm Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Nicholas Fung, Jack Thompson
5pm* Prom Meesawat, Carlos Pigem, Aaron Wilkin
5:10pm* Justin Warren, Edven Ying, William Harrold
Prize money: $US1 million
Defending champion: Trevor Simsby (2020)
Past Aussie winners: Frank Phillips (1962), Bill Dunk (1963), Graham Marsh (1974, 1975), Stewart Ginn (1977, 1986), Brian Jones (1978), Terry Gale (1983, 1985, 1987)
TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.
Ladies European Tour
Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF
Riyadh Golf Club, Saudi Arabia
3:55pm* Grace Kim, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Yu Liu
8:15pm Stephanie Kyriacou, Klara Davidson Spilkova, Alessandra Fanali
8:15pm* Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, Gabriela Ruffels, Bailey Tardy
8:35pm* Kelsey Macdonald, Chloe Williams, Kirsten Rudgeley
Prize money: $US5 million
Defending champion: Lydia Ko
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 9pm-1am Thursday, Friday; Live 9:30pm-1:30am Saturday; Live 8:30pm-12:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Champions Tour
Chubb Classic
Tiburon Golf Club, Naples, Florida
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker, Steve Allan, Stuart Appleby, David Bransdon, Richard Green, Mark Hensby, Rod Pampling, John Senden
Prize money: $US1.8 million
Defending champion: Bernhard Langer
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 4am-7am Saturday; Live 7am-9:30am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
Challenge Tour
Dimension Data Pro-Am
Fancourt Golf Estate, George, South Africa
Aussies in the field: Hayden Hopewell, Connor McKinney
Prize money: R7 million
Defending champion: Oliver Bekker
Past Aussie winners: Nil
After a disappointing 2023 on the secondary Challenge Tour, Derek Ackerman took a month off from the game before returning to Australia to play the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia rather than sitting through the winter in San Francisco.
Still with a two year winner’s exemption category following his victory at The National PGA Classic in 2022, Ackerman packed his bags and headed for warmer weather. The added benefits of a reunion with friends and competitive golf, including this week’s Webex Players Series Hunter Valley, a major draw card.
“It’s cool to be able to come back and enjoy the outdoors, not have to be cooped up inside when it is raining 10 inches a day,” he said at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort.
“Honestly, I love playing out here and I was looking to find some form going into the middle part of 2024, because playing at your home course each day not competing, doesn’t really do much for you.”
Realising the competitive benefits of playing throughout the southern summer, Ackerman also knows of potential pathways to other Tours from playing well in Australia and New Zealand, while he is part of a growing regular presence of international players playing week in, week out.
One of three Americans in the mixed field this week in the Hunter Valley, alongside Kayla Thompson and Kyle Fraser, Ackerman and the U.S. contingent are part of 16 nations at the final Webex Players Series event for the 2023/24 season.
The San Francisco native who plays out of the famed Lake Merced Golf Club, doing his bit to perhaps drive more international flavour in future seasons at these events.
“I’ve tried to convince some guys to come out here and play as well. I think a lot of people are scared of the distance of playing in the States and here,” he joked.
“I know a lot of guys tend to play mini Tours back home, rather than come out here. But I think getting used to a full playing schedule on a worldwide recognised Tour is probably more important than to go and do pay to plays back home.
“I would love there to be more Americans out here, but I am totally fine with it just being myself.”
Part of Ackerman’s comfort this week has come with the annual embrace of his favourite sport outside golf.
A die hard San Francisco 49ers fan, Ackerman came up to the Hunter Valley region early Monday morning to watch his team in the NFL’s Superbowl, only to end the day disappointed after his side went down to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime.
“Was pulling for my Niners that whole day, that tough stretch coming down, I just think Mahomes is too good … But I have faith in my Niners, they’ll win next year,” he said.
While his team might get their chance in 2025, Ackerman’s sporting focus now well and truly falls on his own performance and perhaps a continuation of the overseas dominance of the Webex Players Series events in 2024 after New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori’s hat-trick completed last week at Castle Hill Country Club.
The mix of holes requiring aggression and strategic golf at this week’s venue part of the overall appeal of golf on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for the tall right hander.
“I think coming out here, experiencing some different conditions, different types of courses, it’s honestly really important in kind of seeing where my game is at.
“Really enjoy the people out here as well, so it has kind of become like a second home. It’s nice to come back here and play a season.”
Kazuma Kobori continued his remarkable run of form by claiming a third Webex Players Series title in 2024, this time in Sydney as he took back second place on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Losing second spot following the Vic Open to that week’s winner, and defending champion at this week’s Webex Players Series Hunter Valley Brett Coletta, Kobori is now in prime position to claim one of three DP World Tour cards offered via the season long points race.
Sitting behind Min Woo Lee on the back of the West Australian’s Australian PGA Championship victory and strong finish at the Australian Open, Kobori would nominally finish as No.1 if the season were to conclude now. Lee unlikely to play the minimum four events, so too Adam Scott and Marc Leishman who currently sit inside the top-10.
The New Zealander and Coletta have an eye on the New Zealand Open with its increased Order of Merit points, yet both are at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort this week to further bolster their spot in the chase for pathways overseas.
Kobori’s plans echoing those of David Micheluzzi last season, with the pair managed by the same agency, SPORTFIVE, and the 22-year-old similarly opting for tournaments on his local circuit in lieu of Tour schools elsewhere.
“I made a pretty bold call this year not playing Asian Tour Q School, instead committing to other Tours and stuff, so pretty happy with how it’s going and then get my world ranking up and it would be pretty cool,” Kobori said.
“I won the first one and I think I was sitting like seventh or so. Then won the week after that and it bumped me up to second and the more you win, the more cushion you have.”
That cushion is currently 170.39 points over Coletta in third, with last season’s Order of Merit champion Micheluzzi in fourth, with the New Zealand Open and The National Tournament presented by BMW potentially on the horizon for the Victorian in a bid to guarantee his card on the DP World Tour again for next season.
Kobori admitting he is not one to ignore the points list with results taking care of delivering his desired result.
“I definitely have a look at it for sure, it’s one of those things where you’ve got New Zealand Open coming up so you know you can’t really set anything in stone,” he said.
“All you have to do is keep playing good golf and the better you play put here, the more learnings you can have out here, the better chance you can have at New Zealand Open.”
ORDER OF MERIT TOP-10
1 Min Woo Lee, 1,044.00 (points), 2 (events played)
2 Kazuma Kobori, 726.93, 9
3 Brett Coletta, 556.54, 12
4 David Micheluzzi, 359.40, 5
5 Ben Eccles, 358.35, 14
6 Jak Carter, 329.41, 14
7 Adam Scott, 326.67, 2
8 Kerry Mountcastle, 316.79, 15
9 Marc Leishman, 314.93, 2
10 Lachlan Barker, 303.74, 14
Last Sunday, Bill Webb conducted a junior clinic for 26 kids in the town of Theodore, four hours west of Bundaberg.
If that doesn’t sound like a large number, consider that in the most recent Census, Theodore had a reported population of 438.
The Theodore Golf Club currently boasts just 24 adult members.
With lollies hidden beneath cones spread across the practice putting green, Webb conducted chipping and putting games, giving kids a taste of a sport they had previously very little exposure to.
Now in his 40th year as a PGA of Australia Member and honoured with the Sport and Recreation Award at the Gladstone Region Australia Day Awards last month, Webb’s philosophy towards golf is simple: Opportunity.
“That’s the key to it. Just make it available,” said Webb, who is based primarily at Calliope and Boyne Island Tannum Sands golf clubs in Central Queensland.
“If I can get the kids playing, it just teaches them a little bit of discipline. It teaches them a little bit of empathy for themselves and others, when you have bad scores and when you have good scores.
“And you have friends for life in golf.”
Introducing kids to golf has been a passion of Webb’s ever since he completed the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program under the legendary Bren Alman at Mackay Golf Club in 1983.
In the final year of his training, Webb sought to grow the junior numbers at Mackay, first by targeting teenagers attending the local TAFE College.
A big believer that even if kids take time away from the game that they will return and become golf club members later in life, Webb has seen first-hand the societal impact golf can have on young people.
During a stint coaching at Hamilton 20 minutes south of Glasgow in Scotland, Webb’s junior program at the local driving range brought plaudits not only from the Scottish PGA, but from leaders within the community who were struggling to come to grips with youth crime.
“Where I lived, at nighttime, you’d have to catch a cab to go up the corner shop. Pretty rough,” Webb said.
“I provided free golf lessons for kids at the driving range and we had 50 kids turn up.
“They were mainly teenagers I was chasing and just hitting golf balls got rid of all their worries and anxiety and stuff.
“Those kids kept turning up.”
Heavily entrenched in a host of sports in the Gladstone region, Webb is the driver of the Free Sports for Kids campaign and sourced a base for Special Olympics in the area.
He has introduced golf to Kin Kora State School and Calliope High School and would like to see more Government support for the provision of sport in schools.
“We’ve got to start with the schools first,” Webb believes.
“We’ve got to provide more money in schools so they can have inter-school sport in all the local little schools in all sorts of sports, including golf.
“That competition against other schools is a good start for kids because more kids will then start talking about it.
“When I first started off, I went to 17 different schools off my own bat and I did it for free.
“The good thing about golf is that if a child has a little bit of anxiety playing sport with other kids, the child can actually go out to golf and be in their own space.”
And those 26 kids in Theodore?
They’ll be back again in three weeks’ time for a free clinic, sausage sizzle and with plenty of lollies to be won.
Looking for a junior clinic near you? Head to Find-a-Pro, to find a Pro near you.
The Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia seasons roll on, this week heading north of Sydney to the famed wine and food region of the Hunter Valley.
Now in its third year, the Webex Players Series Hunter Valley is hosted by a pair of Australian golfing legends in Jan Stephenson and Peter O’Malley, with Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort once again welcoming a tremendous field.
Finally getting the chance to show off its best side after the two previous tournaments were hampered by heavy rain, the course is becoming familiar for the Tour’s regulars, even more so for those who competed in Jack Newton Junior Golf events here as youngsters.
“I know it really, really well. I’ve played here at least a good 20, 30 times. It’s a great place, I love coming back here, it’s always so nice,” Harrison Crowe said.
Crowe arrives off the back of a share of sixth at the Webex Players Series Sydney, where the rookie professional played in the last group alongside LPGA Tour winner Jenny Shin, but was unable to halt the hat-trick run of Kazuma Kobori.
“Obviously, it wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go. I feel like I played alright, and honestly a couple of unlucky breaks, I don’t really like saying that,” Crowe said.
Spending time with coach John Serhan on the putting green last Friday evening after a frustrating day with the flatstick, Crowe noted the pressure putts failing to drop placed on the rest of his game last week. Something he was looking to address upon arrival in the Hunter region, where he spent significant time on the putting green.
“I know there is a lot of good stuff in there, just be patient for the putts to start dropping. I need Kazuma to give me some of his juice,” he said looking over at Kobori, who like Crowe spent most of Tuesday afternoon on the putting green in an ominous sign for the rest of the field.
Although working hard on his game, Crowe is also on something of a working holiday this week, with girlfriend Anna arriving from America on Sunday and taking the trip north with former NSW Open winner to fulfil a slightly unfamiliar role this week.
“I know it’s still golf and I will put in the work I need to put in, but it will be nice having a break from everything. I will have her on the bag this week, so it will be a fun little change … got to make sure I behave myself.”
Crowe mentioning a Valentine’s Day dinner plan and exploring the Hunter as part of the attraction to playing this week, which was also a strategic choice playing at home rather than utilising his new Asian Tour card at the Malaysian Open.
“Just trying to finish well in the Order of Merit here for starters. I know I will have a big year ahead in Asia and obviously want to kind of have a nice line up and heading into New Zealand Open that will probably be my first event,” he said.
Also with an eye towards the New Zealand Open, Kobori will again be one to watch this week as he attempts to win a fourth Webex Players Series title in 2024 and go one better than sister Momoka, who lost in a play-off to Aaron Pike here in 2022.
“I played Jack Newton actually back in I want to say 2018, and I narrowly lost to Hayden Hopewell by two. Got good vibes around this place,” Kobori said of Cypress Lakes.
Among the WPGA Tour of Australasia contingent, there is similarly plenty of course experience from junior golf and the previous two years, while Vic Open winner Ashley Lau will conclude her Australian trip at the venue where her fellow champion from 13th Beach, Brett Coletta, will defend his title.
A strong local presence also in the field, including Corey Lamb who works in the Pro Shop at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort, and amateurs Jake Riley, Jye Pickin and Ella Scaysbrook, who was the junior winner at this event in 2021.
HOW TO FOLLOW
For live scoring and the latest news visit www.pga.org.au Exclusive content and tournament updates will also be posted regularly on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia social media channels.
Instagram: @pgatouraus, @WPGATour
Twitter: @PGAofAustralia, @WPGATour
Facebook: @PGATourAus, @WPGATour
Official hashtag: #WebexPlayersSeries
HOW TO WATCH
Round 3: Saturday 4pm-7pm AEDT
Round 4: Sunday 2pm-7pm AEDT
FORMER CHAMPIONS
2022: Aaron Pike
2023: Brett Coletta
COURSE RECORD
61, Brett Coletta (Round 4, 2023)
COURSE DESIGNER
Steve Smyers (1992).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kazuma Kobori, Three-time 2024 Webex Players Series winner
Ashley Lau, 2024 Vic Open winner
Brett Coletta, 2024 Vic Open winner and defending champion
Kelsey Bennett, 14th on 2023 LET Access Series Order of Merit
Harrison Crowe, 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur and 2022 NSW Open winner
Justice Bosio, World No.65 ranked amateur and T13 at Webex Players Series Sydney
Jake McLeod, 2018 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner
Ella Scaysbrook, 2022 Webex Players Series Hunter Valley Junior winner
Adam Scott intends to make full use of a sponsor exemption into an event he has enjoyed great success in the past after a top-10 finish at the WM Open in Phoenix.
Canadian Nick Taylor matched Charley Hoffman’s 72-hole total of 21-under par with a birdie from five feet on the final hole at TPC Scottsdale to send the tournament into a playoff.
Taylor would go on to edge Hoffman with a birdie at the second playoff hole as Scott climbed into a tie for eighth courtesy of weekend rounds of 65-66.
Tied for seventh in Dubai and top 20 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the former world No.1 conceded that he was slow out of the blocks in Phoenix.
But a week out from the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club – a tournament he has won twice but which he needed a sponsor’s exemption to play this year – Scott left TPC Scottsdale with a spring in his step.
“Played really nicely for the last three days,” said Scott.
“I’m most pleased with my ball-striking really kind of coming back to where I want it. I feel like it’s been a while since I could say that.
“That’s a good feeling, obviously, going into next week at Riviera, a tournament I love, a big event on our schedule, and a course where you really need to hit the ball well to have a chance.
“I feel my game is in good shape, so I have a lot of positive energy going there.
“I’d love to do a little better and get in contention and try and win there for a third time.”
Scott’s top-10 finish was one of two for Aussies over the weekend.
Qualifying School graduate Haydn Barron logged his best finish as a member of the DP World Tour, earning a share of ninth at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
Opening rounds of 68 and 67 give @haydnbarron a three shot lead in Qatar 🙌#CBQMasters
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 9, 2024
The 36-hole leader by two strokes after rounds of 68-67, Barron dropped back with a third round of 2-over 74 but shot 71 in the final round to secure a maiden top 10 since becoming a full member.
Kirsten Rudgeley began her Ladies European Tour season with a tie for 28th at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open won by Singapore’s Shannon Tan, who finished runner-up to Kazuma Kobori at the Webex Players Series Murray River just a few weeks ago.
Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Results
PGA TOUR
WM Phoenix Open
TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Cse), Scottsdale, Arizona
1 Nick Taylor 60-70-68-65—263 $US1.584m
Won on the second hole of sudden death playoff
T8 Adam Scott 72-68-65-66—271 $248,600
T28 Aaron Baddeley 69-71-68-68—276 $53,000
T41 Ryan Fox (NZ) 66-68-75-69—278 $30,404
T71 Min Woo Lee 71-69-71-73—284 $17,776
DP World Tour
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Doha GC, Doha, Qatar
1 Rikuya Hoshino 69-68-69-68—274 €394,468
T9 Haydn Barron 68-67-74-71—280 €45,247.80
T42 Harrison Endycott 69-68-76-73—286 €12,298.12
T42 Daniel Hillier (NZ) 69-70-71-76—286 €12,298.12
T61 Jason Scrivener 74-70-71-74—289 €6,149.06
MC David Micheluzzi 75-80—155
MC Sam Jones (NZ) 73-72—145
Ladies European Tour
Magical Kenya Ladies Open
Vipingo Ridge, Kenya
1 Shannon Tan 73-70-67-70—280 €45,000
T28 Kirsten Rudgeley 73-74-77-70—294 €3,022.50
T40 Momoka Kobori 72-78-72-75—297 €1,710
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Las Vegas
Las Vegas Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada
1 Dustin Johnson 67-62-69—198 $US4m
T15 Cameron Smith 67-66-72—205 $267,500
T21 Marc Leishman 69-67-70—206 $207,500
T35 Matt Jones 73-67-69—209 $142,800
T40 Danny Lee (NZ) 68-72-70—210 $130,800
T45 Lucas Herbert 68-67-76—211 $123,250
Korn Ferry Tour
Astara Golf Championship
Country Club de Bogota (Lagos Cse), Bogota, Colombia
1 Kevin Velo 64-67-64-66—261 $US180,000
Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff
T41 Brett Drewitt 71-63-69-69—272 $4,900
T51 Curtis Luck 63-71-73-67—274 $4,213
T59 Rhein Gibson 65-69-69-72—275 $4,100
WD Dimi Papadatos 75
Challenge Tour
Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open
Royal Cape Golf Club, Cape Town, South Africa
1 Mikael Lindberg 70-70-65-67—272 €51,489.68
MC Hayden Hopewell 71-73—144
For the third time this year, Kazuma Kobori ended a Sunday holding a Webex Players Series Trophy aloft, this time at Castle Hill Country Club after he emerged from a four-way tie for the lead after 54-holes.
Having had less than his best Saturday, Kobori was almost surprised to still hold a share of the Webex Players Series Sydney lead heading into the final round and steeled himself for a shoot-out that ended with a fairly comfortable trip into the clubhouse and a similarity with a legend of the game for the rising star.
Out in the second to last group alongside compatriot Kerry Mountcastle, Kobori birdied the par-3 2nd as his playing partner made bogey, with Harrison Crowe and Jenny Shin, the other two leaders, failing to convert birdie putts at the opening two holes.
At the uphill par-4 next, it was Mountcastle who threw the opening salvo when he holed out for an eagle two from 129 metres and caused Kobori some slight distress.
“It was really good until he just made it on 3. So that got me a bit rattled to say the least, and then it was good early on, because we were kind of trading birdies, he kind of withered away a bit at the end,” Kobori said of his playing partner.
The 22-year-old nearly had his own moment of magic at the par-3 4th when his bunker shot hit the flag, leaving a tap-in par. The Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia rookie making four birdies in the next five holes to pull in front as the charge of Mountcastle subsided. Crowe’s own push failing to eventuate, while Shin and veteran Brendan Jones emerged as the most likely to spoil Kobori’s hat-trick aspirations.
Turning at 23-under, Kobori would make just one more birdie at the par-4 13th, but was all but assured of the title when he tapped in for par at the 18th for a final round 66 and score of 24-under, with Shin the only player a chance to catch him after birdie at 17, her birdie at the last giving her second alone one back.
“Sounds very good to me,” Kobori said of the three-time Webex Players Series winner moniker. “It was one of those days where early on it just didn’t really click, but I knew if I just stayed patient, things were going to go my way and they did so I am very grateful.”
Also grateful was Jones, who although disappointed not to grab the trophy, believes his game and mind are in a good place for his 2024 season on the Asian Tour.
Finally working out his old home club’s front nine, including five straight birdies before the turn, Jones’ charge was halted by two back nine bogeys and missed birdie chances in just his second tournament after a six week break without touching a club.
“Did what I had to do on the front nine, then made a sloppy bogey on 10,” Jones said during a summation of his final round.
“Overall, two weeks back, 22-under, going to come second or third, that’s a good start.”
Noting her lack of sharpness, Shin was in good spirits as she hastily signed golf balls for some fans before departing for Thailand and the start of her LPGA Tour season. Her double bogey at the par-3 11th a key moment in her eventual second place.
“It’s not too awful, I obviously didn’t know it was a mixed event with men, so I am pretty happy,” Shin said.
Standing on the putting green watching Shin’s attempt to draw level, Kobori’s celebrations were fairly subdued, perhaps understandably for someone for whom winning has become a habit of late.
The former amateur star excited to learn his third win in his 10th start as a professional means he has the same win record as Tiger Woods at the same stage of his early life as a pro.
“Sounds good,” he said of hearing the statistic. “Probably need to get a few more wins under my belt, to be in the same conversation as that man, but it feels like I am on the right track.”
The other professional track Kobori is following is that of fellow SPORTFIVE managed player David Micheluzzi, who like Kobori skipped chances as Tour schools in favour of chasing a DP World Tour card on his home Tour. A card Kobori is almost guaranteed of locking up from the Order of Merit, where he is currently in second with three cards on offer.
“I made a pretty bold call this year not playing Asian Tour Q School, instead committing to other Tours and stuff, so pretty happy with how it’s going and then get my world ranking up and it would be pretty cool,” said Kobori, who for the second time this year will receive bonus points on the Official World Golf Rankings for multiple wins in one year.
More bonus points on offer if he were to become a four-time Webex Players Series winner next week in the Hunter Valley at a tournament his sister, Momoka, lost in a play-off two years ago.
“Four in a row would be good, I will be taking Monday-Tuesday off for sure. I’ll be taking it pretty light, but I don’t think I need to change too much.”
Also winning multiple Webex Players Series titles this year was Cameron Pollard who claimed a second All Abilities title for 2024, the New South Welshman finishing eight-over with an eight shot advantage over Lochie Smith.
“I have a lot of fun. Turning up playing golf, what more could you ask for. Winning especially is even better,” he said.
Playing alongside Crowe and Shin in the final group, Royal Canberra’s Harry Whitelock produced a mercurial performance to reach nine-under for two days and an 11 shot win over Rachel Lee in the Junior competition. The 16-year-old smiling ear-to-ear with father and caddie Steve after driving the par-4 16th green in front of a large crowd and going one better than last year at Bonnie Doon.
“It was so much fun today, and yesterday. The pros I played with were awesome, they were so accommodating of me and they really looked after me. It was heaps of fun.”
