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Tiger Woods’ former caddie, Steve Williams, headlines the next wave of speakers announced for this year’s Golf Summit in Melbourne.
Many Australians will remember Williams being on the bag for Adam Scott when he broke through at the 2013 Masters, forever etching Scott and Williams into Australian sporting history.
Williams, whose journey in golf began in 1976 with Australian icon Peter Thomson, will share his vast knowledge and experiences on the Tour. He will be joined by an impressive roster of industry heavyweights such as Dr Paul Wood and Will Robbins, sporting success stories in Elle Steele and Bachar Houli, along with the CEOs of the PGA of Australia, Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia. Together, they will equip attendees with innovative strategies and insights to lead, grow, and transform the golf industry.
Scheduled for October 16-17, the Golf Summit is an event by Australian Golf’s peak bodies – the PGA of Australia and Golf Australia – to bring the industry together to engage and influence key decision makers to lead, grow and innovate Australian golf.
Attendees will have the chance to network, share ideas, strategies and best practices to take back to their business to help drive growth and success.
A highlight of the Summit will be the diverse range of panel sessions addressing critical business outcomes within the industry. There will be a panel tackling championing change for women and girls in golf, along with the impact of technology on golf coaching.
The two-day conference will also feature sessions on promoting diversity and inclusion, talent retention and management, biodiversity and sustainability in golf, and leveraging social media for commercial success.
Confirmed speakers for the 2024 Golf Summit:
READ MORE ABOUT THE SESSIONS
The Asia-Pacific region’s premier event welcoming the entire golf industry, tickets for the 2024 Golf Summit are on sale now.
Find tickets HERE.
The Golf Summit is proudly supported by the Melbourne Convention Bureau and the State Government’s National Business Event Program.
The Mining Town series continued this week, with the JET Group Clermont Pro-Am providing three first-time winners on an incredibly wet day in outback Queensland.
Victorians Ben Henkel and Connor McDade were joined by Queenslander Bailey Arnott atop the leaderboard after all carded 6-under 65 on the par-71 regional layout.
Henkel was part of the group of players who gained a Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia card at qualifying school earlier this year, and believes this win will give him a lot of confidence moving forward in his young professional career.
“It’s great to get it done, and prove that I can do it,” he said.
“Just knowing that I can knock it around with these pretty talented golfers out here.”
Thanks to a 3-under 68, Queenslander Blaike Perkins managed to leapfrog Tim Hart on the overall Mining Town Series leaderboard. Perkins is at 33-under, with Hart two strokes back at 31-under and a chasing pack five and six shots further adrift.
HOW THE WINNING SCORES UNFOLDED
McDade got off to a rough start, with a double-bogey on the first, but quickly shook that off and preceded to have eight birdies in ten holes. From there it was just about holding on, which McDade managed well.
Beginning on a similar note, Arnott also started his day with a double-bogey, but bounced back incredibly too, the early blunder seeming to spark something in both players.
Arnott managed to add a flurry of birdies together quickly, but his round was highlighted by an eagle mid-round which sparked a strong birdie-birdie finish.
Unlike his competitors, Henkel got off to a positive start, and in his words “stayed very level-headed” the entire round.
An uncharacteristic raking draw when he needed it which led to a birdie and Henkel’s shot-of-the-day, and gave him huge confidence knowing he could pull the shot off under pressure.
WHAT THE WINNERS SAID
Ben Henkel:
“It was one of the days where you just stay really level-headed because it was pretty ordinary weather.”
“Few birdies early to get me in a groove, and then just didn’t really chase it, I knew a score would be out there I just stayed very level-headed and didn’t let the weather affect me.”
Bailey Arnott:
“It was an interesting one. Started with a double, obviously there was some rain in the morning so we expected a bit of a battle in the arfternoon.”
“It’s definitely a monkey off the back. I think everyone feels if you knock on the door for long enough, this is probably four years out here playing Pro-Ams, so to get the monkey off the back and play some good golf is nice.”
Connor McDade:
“I’m over the moon, I’m super stoked. A lot of hard work has gone into this but it’s nice to get one away this early into my professional career.”
“I hit one to two inches on my second hole of the day, so that was a good bounce back after the double. I nearly had a hole-in-one and I’ve haven’t had a hole-in-one before so I’ve been robbed there a little bit.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Ben Henkel 65
1 Bailey Arnott 65
1 Connor McDade 65
4 Danni Vasquez 66
T5 *Seven players tied
NEXT UP
The final tilt of The Mining Towns Swing is up next, with the two-day Blackwater Pro-Am kicking off this Saturday 29 June.
He has played his way onto the Australian Olympic Team yet Min Woo Lee remains motivated to play his way into the lucrative Signature Events in the final weeks of the PGA TOUR season.
Just days after qualifying to represent Australia at the Paris 2024 Games in August, Lee is on debut in Detroit for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Currently ranked No.64 in the FedEx Cup points list, Lee needs to play his way inside the top 50 by the time of the Tour Championship to be guaranteed a spot in the $US20 million Signature Events in season 2025.
He played his way into the Arnold Palmer Invitational this year by virtue of a runner-up finish at the Cognizant Classic but has missed out on all seven of the other Signature Events played this season.
It’s a situation he intends to change in the coming weeks.
“I’m not the one to moan about it, but I guess I played every major, which is awesome and amazing. I played into them,” said Lee, who is in his first year as a full member of the PGA TOUR.
“To not like play most of the Signature Events, it was kind of hard to take a little bit.
“I know I’ve got to play better and make the cut-off line at the end of the year and get to play next year.
“Obviously it’s a new thing and all of us are trying to get into those events.”
Adding to Lee’s motivation with just six events left in the before the FedEx Cup Playoffs is a maiden Presidents Cup appearance in Canada in September.
The 25-year-old is currently one spot out of the top six automatic qualifiers for the International Team and is desperate to be part of a team he narrowly missed out on in 2022.
“I felt like I missed out last time by a small margin,” said Lee.
“I’ve been playing a lot better since not making that team two years ago.
“I know the American team is very strong and we’ve got to play very well to beat them but I’m really excited, especially the team aspect.
“I really love playing match play; being with a partner is cool.”
Another Aussie making a debut of sorts this week is Mathew Goggin.
Mat Goggin will put green building and grass coverage at @7milegolf aside this week as he makes his senior golf debut at the @USGA Senior Open.
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) June 26, 2024
Hear his thoughts on his game, and potential opening date in Tassie, via @JimmyEmanuel4 below.https://t.co/TftL91vfRH
The Tasmanian recently celebrated his 50th birthday by qualifying for the US Senior Open, joining a burgeoning group of Aussies in the senior ranks.
Goggin is among eight Aussies at Newport Country Club this week along with the Kiwi trio of Steven Alker, Michael Long and Richard Lee.
Top-10 a year ago, Sarah Kemp teams up again with Canadian Alena Sharp at the LPGA Tour’s Dow Championship, one of six Aussies in the field with teammates from a wide array of other countries.
Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEST
PGA TOUR
Rocket Mortgage Classic
Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan
8:56pm Aaron Baddeley
9:51pm Tim Wilkinson (NZ)
2:32am Ryan Fox (NZ)
2:43am Min Woo Lee
3:05am Cam Davis
4:22am Harrison Endycott
Defending champion: Rickie Fowler
Past Aussie winners: Cam Davis (2021)
Prize money: $US9.2 million
TV times: Live 10pm-8am Thursday; Live 2am-8am Saturday, Sunday; Live 1:30am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR Champions
US Senior Open
Newport Country Club, Newport, Rhode Island
9:31pm* Michael Long (NZ)
9:52pm* Mark Hensby
10:03pm* Stuart Appleby
10:34pm Richard Green
10:55pm Richard Lee (NZ)
2:51am* Greg Chalmers, Michael Wright
3:22am Rod Pampling
3:33am* Vijay Singh (FI)
3:43am* Cameron Percy
4:04am* Steven Alker (NZ)
4:15am* Mathew Goggin
Defending champion: Bernhard Langer
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1997)
Prize money: $US4 million
TV times: Live 2am-7am Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 505; Live 2:30am-7:30am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
Dow Championship
Midland Country Club, Midland, Michigan
9:15pm Robyn Choi/Minji Kang
10:10pm Gabriela Ruffels/Esther Henseleit
10:32pm Lydia Ko (NZ)/Danielle Kang
1:52am Stephanie Kyriacou/Olivia Cowan
2:14am Hira Naveed/Sofia Garcia
2:14am* Grace Kim/Auston Kim
2:25am Sarah Kemp/Alena Sharp
Defending champion: Elizabeth Szokol/Cheyenne Knight
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US3 million
TV times: 12:30pm-2pm Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 7am-9am Sunday; Live 2am-5am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
Italian Open
Adriatic Golf Club Cervia, Milano Marittima, Italy
5pm Daniel Hillier (NZ)
8:50pm* Jason Scrivener
9:50pm* Haydn Barron
10:10pm David Micheluzzi
10:30pm* Sam Jones (NZ)
Defending champion: Adrian Meronk
Past Aussie winners: Greg Norman (1988), Craig Parry (1991)
Prize money: $US3.25 million
TV times: Live 9pm-2am Thursday on Fox Sports 505; Live 9pm-2am Friday; Live 10:30pm-2am Saturday; Live 8:30pm-1:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Ladies European Tour
VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open
Golfpark Holzhausern, Switzerland
Australasians in the field: Whitney Hillier, Kirsten Rudgeley, Momoka Kobori (NZ), Kelsey Bennett, Amy Walsh
Defending champion: Alexandra Forsterling
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €300,000
TV times: 10am-12pm Saturday; 9am-11am Sunday on Fox Sports 505; 8am-10am Monday on Fox Sports 503.
Korn Ferry Tour
Memorial Health Championship
Panther Creek Country Club, Springfield, Illinois
3:22am Rhein Gibson
3:44am Brett Drewitt
Defending champion: Paul Barjon
Past Aussie winners: Brett Drewitt (2020)
Prize money: $US1 million
Korean PGA Tour
Biz Play-Wonder Club Open
Club 72 Country Club (Sky Cse), Korea
1pm* Kevin Chun (NZ)
1:30pm Sungjin Yeo (NZ)
2pm Junseok Lee
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: KRW700 million
Challenge Tour
Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge
Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil, Le Vaudreuil, France
4pm Jeff Guan
9pm* Andrew Martin
9:10pm Tom Power Horan
10:30pm Hayden Hopewell
10:40pm* Connor McKinney
Defending champion: Darren Fichardt
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €270,000
Epson Tour
Dream First Bank Charity Classic
Buffalo Dunes Golf Course, Garden City, Kansas
Australasians in the field: Amelia Garvey (NZ), Cassie Porter, Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Amy Chu, Soo Jin Lee
Defending champion: Gabriela Ruffels
Past Aussie winners: Gabriela Ruffels (2023)
Prize money: $US237,500
PGA TOUR Americas
ATB Classic
Northern Bear Golf Club, Strathcona County, Alberta
12:50am Karl Vilips
1:30am* Charlie Hillier (NZ)
5:10am* Grant Booth
5:50am* Harry Hillier (NZ)
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US225,000
LET Access Series
MoreGolf Mastercard Open
Varbergs Golf Klubb, Sweden
5:17pm Belinda Ji (a)
9:41pm Hanee Song (NZ)
11:09pm Munchin Keh (NZ)
11:31pm Wenyung Keh (NZ)
Defending champion: Emily Price
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €40,000
When Mat Goggin’s name is mentioned in golf circles these days, it often relates to the Seven Mile Beach golf course the former PGA TOUR regular is building near Hobart.
However, this week the Tasmanian local will be back to his “real job”, with Goggin turning 50 on June 13 and successfully pre-qualifying for the US Senior Open at historic Newport Country Club.
One of eight Australians in the field, Goggin’s chances are buoyed by his recent play at home on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, including a third behind Order of Merit champion Kazuma Kobori at the Webex Players Series Victoria.
His place as one of the “young guys” on the over-50s PGA TOUR Champions circuit also makes him one of the longer players in Rhode Island this week.
“Most of the guys are still hanging in there pretty well but I’ve always been relatively long so I’m still up there. I wouldn’t say I’m one of the shorter guys that’s for sure,” Goggin told Australian media on Wednesday.
Believing his multiple injuries that curtailed regular appearances in the latter part of his regular Tour career has him refreshed and ready to go, Goggin is thriving in the familiarity of the names and faces playing the senior game.
Experiencing the question of “What are you doing here?” from the likes of Ernie Els this week that are common place for each over-50s debutant, Goggin is joined in the field by Stuart Appleby, Greg Chalmers, Richard Green, Mark Hensby, Rod Pampling, Cameron Percy and Michael Wright.
It is a cohort of Australians he is far more familiar with than those at home when making his occasional competitive appearances to sharpen his game for the second career of senior golf.
“It’s kind of funny. I’ve been playing a few events down in Australia, I literally don’t know anyone. Everyone’s like 21, 22, 23, there’s no old guys,” he said.
“It’s kind of funny to come out here… it feels like a time capsule.
“I played a practice round with ‘Apples’ (Stuart Appleby) today, I think I’m going to play with ‘Wrighty’ (Michael Wright) tomorrow and then I’ve seen (Greg) Chalmers and Richard Green. I saw a whole bunch of the guys, so it’s good to see them again.”
Reflecting on playing with the “kids” of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Goggin noted his third at Rosebud as “what we love and what we hate” as a professional golfer.
The one-time world No.48 instantly admits that near misses never fade completely from memory, including playing in the final group at The Open alongside Tom Watson in 2009 where he finished fifth.
“The British Open, I think about that all the time still because it would’ve had such a huge impact on my career,” he said.
“It’s the great opportunities that you lose that keep you up at night and do forever.”
Excited at the prospect of competing once again at a level where he might have the advantage of relative youth, Goggin knows like that week, that a win at Newport would greatly change his future plans.
However, even when preparing for a senior major, the future of his other work is never far from mind.
Goggin revealed the hope to open a loop of holes at Seven Mile Beach in November this year, while is also in the final stages of a council application to build a second golf course on the site.
“When I go to Hobart, it’s basically just flat-out meetings after meetings for Seven Mile Beach and then I’m always waking up to a few emails,” Goggin said of his time spent at his US base in North Carolina.
“Actually, the most stressful part of my day is about 5am when I first check the phone, just waiting to see all the flood of emails from Hobart. Then there’s a quick panic about stuff I’ve got to do, but then realising there’s not much I can do about it now because it’s 10 o’clock at night in Hobart.”
Switching off that course builder part of his brain and focusing only on competing will be a unique challenge for Goggin amongst a stacked field of Hall of Famers this week.
Yet his intimidate knowledge of course design could help around one of the original five USGA member clubs where Goggin’s links golf career highlight and power could be significant assets.
“It’s very much like UK golf. It’s not really a links golf course, but it has the same feeling across the land,” he said of Newport. “It’s not dissimilar to the Mornington Peninsula in a lot of respects in the way that the hills sort of flow.
“There’s a lot of 430, 420-metre par-4s. We played a couple yesterday into the westerly breeze and it was four straight 4-irons – and I’m one of the longer players – into four holes.
“There were guys hitting woods into a lot of holes, which is pretty crazy.
“I’m sure they might adjust that coming into the tournament, but if it gets windy it’s going to be tricky.”
The US Senior Open is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
Aussie pair Hannah Green and Minjee Lee have set their sights on Paris after both finished inside the top 25 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Washington.
The champion in 2019, Green closed with a round of 1-under 71 on Sunday at Sahalee Country Club, finishing level with Lee (74) at 4-over for the championship and tied for 24th.
Former Gold Coast high schooler Amy Yang (72) claimed her first major championship by three strokes at the event that marked the end to the two-year Paris 2024 qualification period.
Although the Australian team will not be officially announced until later this week, Green and Lee can now both look forward to another Olympic campaign given they are both inside the top 15 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
A two-time winner this season, Green will first return home to Perth before heading to France for The Amundi Evian Championship starting July 11.
“Getting the opportunity in Tokyo was an amazing experience,” said Green.
“I’m super excited for Paris to be alongside Minjee as well. Both from Perth and both played junior golf together so it’s really cool for us to both be there. Even her brother (Min Woo Lee) is in the team.
“I think we have really good vibes for the Olympics, and I’m excited to get to Le Golf National.”
Paris will represent Lee’s third straight Olympic appearance, the 28-year-old also excited to share the Olympic experience with her brother for the first time.
“Both of us will be there and it’s kind of nice. I might be watching him maybe on the weekend if I go in a little bit earlier,” said Lee.
“It’ll be pretty exciting to represent our country out at the Olympics and it’s always such a great honour to be able to do that.
“Really looking forward to it.”
Although an Aussie assault never materialised at the Women’s PGA, there were a host of top-10 finishes around the globe.
Mark Hensby (66) produced one of the rounds of the day to climb into a share of third at the Dick’s Open on the PGA TOUR Champions, one clear of fellow Australian Steve Allan (70) who was tied for sixth.
Deyen Lawson finished one shot shy of winner Rahil Gangjee at the Asian Development Tour event in Malaysia and Cameron Smith was the best of the Aussies at LIV Golf Nashville, finishing tied for ninth and nine shots back of winner Tyrrell Hatton.
Photo: Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Results
LPGA Tour
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
Sahalee Country Club, Sammamish, Washington
1 Amy Yang 70-68-71-72—281 $US1.56m
T24 Hannah Green 71-77-73-71—292 $91,079
T24 Minjee Lee 74-72-72-74—292 $91,079
T46 Lydia Ko (NZ) 75-73-76-73—297 $37,675
T46 Gabriela Ruffels 74-74-76-73—297 $37,675
T52 Stephanie Kyriacou 74-69-78-77—298 $29,771
T60 Grace Kim 73-75-77-74—299 $23,969
MC Sarah Kemp 75-76—151
MC Robyn Choi 75-76—151
MC Hira Naveed 82-83—165
PGA TOUR
Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
1 Scottie Scheffler 65-64-64-65—258 $US3m
Won on the first hole of sudden-death playoff
T39 Adam Scott 74-67-67-64—272 $85,000
T44 Jason Day 71-70-64-69—274 $63,000
T48 Cam Davis 65-71-69-70—275 $49,286
DP World Tour
KLM Open
The International, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1 Guido Migliozzi 68-69-66-70—273 €396,532.65
T51 Andrew Martin 71-71-70-73—285 €8,363.84
T51 Tom Power Horan 73-66-76-70—285 €8,363.84
MC Haydn Barron 75-69—144
MC David Micheluzzi 81-76—157
MC Sam Jones (NZ) 83-77—160
Asian Tour
Kolon Korea Open
Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, Korea
1 Minkyu Kim 70-66-71-66—273 $US379,650.72
T28 Travis Smyth 72-73-75-68—288 $5,854.22
T51 Brendan Jones 72-71-79-71—293 $3,576.31
63 Jack Thompson 71-73-78-79—301 $2,854.97
MC Kevin Chun (NZ) 71-75—146
MC Junseok Lee 70-77—147
MC Todd Sinnott 69-78—147
MC Wonjoon Lee 70-78—148
MC Kevin Yuan 75-76—151
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Nashville
The Grove, College Grove, Tennessee
1 Tyrrell Hatton 65-64-65—194 $US4m
T9 Cameron Smith 69-65-69—203 $396,875
T18 Marc Leishman 69-69-69—207 $230,000
T40 Matt Jones 71-72-68—211 $134,000
T48 Lucas Herbert 71-73-70—214 $120,000
54 Danny Lee (NZ) 75-73-70—218 $50,000
PGA TOUR Champions
DICK’S Open
En-Joie GC, Endicott, New York
1 Padraig Harrington 68-65-68—201 $US315,000
T3 Mark Hensby 70-67-66—203 $126,000
T6 Steve Allan 65-69-70—204 $71,400
T13 David Bransdon 68-67-71—206 $39,900
20 Cameron Percy 69-69-70—208 $27,720
T21 Rod Pampling 71-70-68—209 $23,888
T29 Michael Wright 68-69-74—211 $15,210
T44 Richard Green 70-68-76—214 $7,980
T65 John Senden 74-73-72—219 $2,327
T70 Greg Chalmers 76-73-72—221 $1,785
Ladies European Tour
Tipsport Czech Ladies Open
Royal Beroun Golf Club, Czech Republic
1 Marta Martin 69-67-63—199 €45,000
T13 Kelsey Bennett 71-70-67—208 €5,490
T33 Kirsten Rudgeley 70-71-70—211 €2,370
T54 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 69-73-72—214 €1,062
T63 Amy Walsh 74-69-73—216 €795
MC Whitney Hillier 73-78—151
Korn Ferry Tour
Compliance Solutions Championship
Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, Norman, Oklahoma
1 John Pak 64-66-65-70—265 $US180,000
70 Tim Wilkinson (NZ) 69-67-78-78—292 $3,920
MC Aiden Didone 71-74—145
MC Dimi Papadatos 70-75—145
MC Rhein Gibson 73-74—147
MC Brett Drewitt 73-77—150
WD Steven Bowditch 76
Asian Development Tour
PKNS Selangor Masters
Kelab Golf Seri Selangor, Malaysia
1 Rahil Gangjee 66-66-67-73—272 $US30,625
2 Deyen Lawson 69-71-64-69—273 $20,125
T19 Jared Edwards 69-71-74-71—285 $1,869.58
T38 Marcus Fraser 73-71-75-71—290 $1,242.50
MC Lachlan Barker 76-71—147
MC Doug Klein 70-79—149
MC Josiah Edwards (a) 74-82—156
Challenge Tour
Blot Open de Bretagne
Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André, Pléneuf, France
1 John Parry 64-67-63-68—262 €43,200
T40 Connor McKinney 69-69-69-72—279 €1,620
MC Blake Windred 74-67—141
MC Hayden Hopewell 71-74—145
DQ Jeff Guan 70
Epson Tour
Island Resort Championship
Sweetgrass Golf Club, Harris, Michigan
Event reduced to 36 holes due to rain
1 Soo Bin Joo 67-69—136 $US39,375
T33 Fiona Xu (NZ) 74-67—141 $1,875
T41 Cassie Porter 71-71—142 $1,359
T52 Maddison Hinson-Tolchard 71-72—143 $964
T52 Amelia Garvey (NZ) 70-73—143 $964
PGA TOUR Americas
The Beachlands Victoria Open
Uplands Golf Club, Victoria, British Columbia
1 Frederik Kjettrup 63-64-64-68—259
T22 Harry Hillier (NZ) 64-70-65-69—268
T48 Grant Booth 67-67-72-67—273
MC Karl Vilips 70-71—141
MC Charlie Hillier (NZ) 74-69—143
Legends Tour
OFX Irish Legends
Seapoint Golf Links, Co Louth, Ireland
1 Adilson Da Silva 70-72-67—209
Won on the third hole of sudden-death playoff
T16 Michael Long (NZ) 69-73-73—215
T22 Peter Fowler 73-72-72—217
T28 Scott Hend 78-74-66—218
T36 Michael Campbell (NZ) 72-75-73—220
T43 Peter O’Malley 73-77-72—222
LET Access Series
Santander Golf Tour – AVILA
Naturavila Golf, Spain
1 Helen Briem (a) 70-62-70—202
T14 Hanee Song (NZ) 73-70-68—211
T14 Stephanie Bunque 70-67-74—211
MC Munchin Keh (NZ) 73-73—146
MC Belinda Ji (a) 73-74—147
MC Laura Hoskin (NZ) 75-75—150
MC Wenyung Keh (NZ) 73-77—150
Peter Cooke’s decision to take a week off work and chase the sun in Broome yielded an unexpected victory at the Broome Furnishings – Carpet Paint and Tile Pro-Am at Broome Golf Club.
A veteran of 17 years on Tour, Cooke has recently transitioned into a coaching role at Kooyonga Golf Club in Adelaide.
This trip to Broome was as much a winter break to catch up with long-time friends and supporters yet twin eagles in a course record 9-under 63 in Round 2 was enough to come away with a two-stroke victory in the final event of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series WA swing.
Three back after an opening round of 2-under 70, Cooke’s 63 for a two-round total of 11-under saw him finish two clear of West Australian rookie Jordan Doull (67) with PGA Legends Tour regular Scott Barr (68) outright third at 8-under.
“Days like today, shooting numbers like this, it does make you think, Should I keep going? Should I have a little crack?” Cooke mused post-round.
“Hopefully I can put my coaching rates up after this week.”
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
When it comes to course records, time is of the essence.
After two opening pars starting from the 13th tee, Cooke went to work.
He made birdie at the 162-metre par 3 15th, eagled the par-5 16th and then birdied the par-5 17th to be 4-under through just five holes.
Five pars and a birdie at the short par-4 second followed over the next six holes before an eagle at the par-4 sixth elevated Cooke into contention.
A regulation birdie at the par-5 eighth got Cooke into double digits under par and he closed it out with a final birdie at the par-4 11th to establish a new scoring benchmark at Broome.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I’m probably not the longest guy out here, but it is not a course that you can overpower,” said Cooke.
“You’ve got to be pretty straight. You can’t make a lot of mistakes and I think it’s just a tough test.
“You’ve got to have a lot of patience and I think this course has over time, taught me patience.
Nine-under today wasn’t a score that I sort of saw out there but, at the same time, if you keep hitting fairways, you get a lot of wedges into greens, there are low numbers out there.
“Today, things just came together really nicely.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Peter Cooke 70-63—133
2 Jordan Doull 68-67—135
3 Scott Barr 68-68—136
T4 Braden Becker 70-69—139
T4 Josh Greer 69-70—139
6 Scott Strange 67-74—141
7 Rick Kulacz 72-70—142
NEXT UP
The two-day Lunar Mining Emerald Pro-Am reaches its conclusion on Sunday with the Onsite Rental Group Mining Towns Series to continue on Wednesday with the JET Group Clermont Pro-Am.
Tim Hart’s hopes of a sixth straight Onsite Rental Group Mining Towns Series win have been bolstered by a one-stroke victory at the JET Group Tieri Pro-Am at Tieri Country Club.
One of the most popular stops on the Mining Towns swing, Tieri once again was witness to some spectacular golf, Darcy Boyd and Hart both producing rounds of 9-under 64 across the two days.
The in-form Boyd led by three after his 10-birdie round on day one but it was Hart who finished the stronger, matching Boyd’s 64 in Round 2 for a 14-under total and one-stroke win.
Tied for third at Tieri, James Mee continues to lead at the halfway mark of the Mining Towns Series at 25-under par, one clear of Boyd followed by Blaike Perkins (23-under) with Hart now three back at 22-under.
“You can take one side of the course out of play, just keep it on the planet and then just make a score from there,” said Hart.
“That’s generally what I’ve done for the best part of a decade out here and it’s worked well.”
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
Trailing Boyd by four, Hart was forced to play catch-up in Round 2 and wasted little time in making his move.
After opening with two pars Hart reeled off three straight birdies from the fourth hole and then added a fourth at the par-5 ninth.
Birdies at 11, 14, 15 and 18 saw Hart play the back nine in 4-under, his closing birdie at the par-5 first rounding out a bogey-free tournament and victory by one.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I’ve found some form with my long game, which is good out here and managed to just take advantage of this course,” said Hart.
“I love it out at Tieri and it was just good to play 36 without making a bogey and just play solid golf.
“I managed to put the foot down early and made a few putts, which I think’s big out here. If you can see it going in really early, you can sort of feed off that.
“I didn’t really hole much yesterday and then a few went in early today, so it just kept going and a couple more just kept going in.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Tim Hart 68-64—132
2 Darcy Boyd 64-69—133
T3 Blaike Perkins 67-67—134
T3 James Mee 67-67—134
T5 Paul Donahoo 67-69—136
T5 Jay Mackenzie 68-68—136
NEXT UP
The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series continues its cross-country stretch with the 36-hole Broome Furnishings – Carpet Paint and Tile Pro-Am starting Friday with the Mining Towns Series to resume on Saturday with the two-day Lunar Mining Emerald Pro-Am.
Jason Day and Min Woo Lee are poised to make their Olympic debuts after finishing as the leading two Australians at the end of the men’s golf competition qualification period.
The Australian Golf team to represent their country at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be formally announced on June 29, the women’s qualification period closing at the completion of this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
An absorbing US Open won by Bryson DeChambeau signalled the end to the three-year qualification period for this Olympic cycle for the men’s game. Day and Lee both qualified for the Australian team by virtue of being among the top 59 players eligible for selection on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Day, who was eligible for the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro but declined for family reasons, is ranked No.24 in the world despite missing the cut at Pinehurst.
It would have required something extraordinary for Lee to be unseated, a tie for 21st solidifying his spot at No.36 in the rankings and a likely Olympic debut.
Day had not publicly declared his Olympic intentions until after The Masters Tournament in April, declaring that if he qualified he would tee it up at Le Golf National.
“I’m looking forward to it. I think I made a bit of a mistake not going down to Rio, even though part of it was family related,” Day said.
“I kind of missed out on that, and I probably should have gone. But if I get the opportunity, I’m looking forward to going.”
Lee has never shied away from his Olympic ambition.
His older sister, Minjee, is on the verge of selection in her third straight Olympics, Min Woo’s qualification paving the way for the pair to join a rich history of siblings to have represented Australia at the Olympic Games.
“I would love to represent Australia. It’s one of the goals I’ve had from the last year or so when the talk started happening,” said Lee, who has confirmed his defence of his Australian PGA Championship defence at Royal Queensland in November.
Marcus Fraser and Scott Hend were Australia’s men’s representatives when golf made its Olympic return in 2016 while Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman competed at Tokyo 2020.
Fraser’s tie for fifth in 2016 is Australia’s best result in the men’s golf competition, Hannah Green’s narrowly missing out on a medal at Tokyo, her tie for fifth Australia’s best result in the women’s competition.
The men’s Olympic golf competition will be staged August 1-4 with the women’s competition to take place from August 7-10.
A first time on sand greens proved the charm for Joseph Owen who shot 62 in the second round to win the 29th Roy Hill Golf Classic Pro-Am by three at Port Hedland Golf Club.
Thanking good mate Brady Watt for enticing him to make the 1,600-kilometre trip north of Perth, Owen came from two strokes back of Round 1 leader Scott Strange with a birdie barrage in the second round.
He had 10 birdies and no bogeys for a two-round total of 16-under par, three clear of Braden Becker (64), Ryan Peake (65) and Jordan Doull (60), who smashed the course record with 11 birdies, an eagle and a single bogey.
New Zealand-born but now a Perth resident who won the 2022 Victorian Amateur, the Lake Karrinyup Country Club member adapted quickly to the vagaries of sand greens for his first adidas PGA Pro-Am Series win.
“This is my first time on sand greens, so I have not had any success,” Owen said.
“It was a new experience and I think I did pretty well.”
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
Paired with Josh Greer and starting from the third tee, Owen generated early momentum with birdies at three of his first five holes.
He made pars at both eight and nine to enter the back nine 3-under on his round and would be 10-under by the time he walked off the 18th green.
Owen made back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 and again at 13 and 14 before reeling off three straight from the 16th hole to take control of the tournament.
Becker and Doull both made charges and Peake went 36 holes bogey-free yet it wasn’t enough to rein Owen in.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“Yesterday I actually didn’t feel like I hit it that well,” said Owen.
“I putted well on the sand greens from close range so today I thought if I could hit it a little bit better and give myself a few more opportunities, I thought I was a good chance to have a good round. I think I did that.
“I made really good birdies on 16 and 17. I thought those were two pretty tricky holes and to birdie those gave me a good little cushion going into my last three holes.
“That was key.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Joseph Owen 66-62—128
T2 Braden Becker 67-64—131
T2 Jordan Doull 71-60—131
T2 Ryan Peake 66-65—131
5 Scott Strange 64-68—132
6 Peter Cooke 66-68—134
7 Joshua Greer 66-69—135
8 Brady Watt 69-67—136
NEXT UP
Broome Golf Club hosts the WS6 Invitational on Tuesday in the lead-up to the two-day Broome Furnishings – Carpet Paint and Tile Pro-Am starting Friday while in Queensland the Mining Towns Series continues at Tieri on Wednesday with the JET Group Tieri Pro-Am.
Sydney’s Grace Kim has suffered a heartbreaking playoff defeat to be denied a second LPGA Tour win at the Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan.
Kim began the final round at Blythefield Country Club with a five-stroke lead, an advantage that had been erased completely by the time she stepped onto the fifth tee.
As American Ally Ewing strung four straight birdies together from the third hole, Kim stumbled out of the blocks with back-to-back bogeys.
She matched Ewing’s birdie on six to retain a share of the lead yet her greatest challengers would emerge from back-nine charges by Lilia Vu and Lexi Thompson.
Vu’s bogey-free 7-under 65 would be the best of the day and allowed her to set the clubhouse mark at 16-under par.
Thompson (68) played the back nine in 4-under to also reach 16-under par as 23-year-old Kim showed impressive composure to stay in contention.
She dropped to 15-under with a bogey on nine but made birdie at the par-5 14th and numerous par saves to arrive at the 72nd hole tied for the lead.
A tee shot into the fairway bunker at the par-5 closer forced Kim to lay up and she had a lengthy putt from the back fringe to win in regulation.
Par for @gracekimeyy on 18 means we've got a playoff coming up!!!
— LPGA (@LPGA) June 16, 2024
Grace, @Lexi and @TheLiliaVu will be teeing it up in a sudden-death playoff shortly 🚨 pic.twitter.com/q1xJq6uBJm
That attempt just missed on the low side to close out a round of 1-oover 73, Thompson’s closing birdie sending all three players back to the 18th tee.
Again, Kim had a putt to win at the first playoff hole with an eagle try from just off the front edge of the green but had to hole a three-footer for birdie to match by both Thompson and Vu.
Power behind @gracekimeyy's second shot of the playoff 💪 pic.twitter.com/r2qacywYCZ
— LPGA (@LPGA) June 16, 2024
At the second playoff hole, Kim needed to hole a six-footer to stay in the playoff but an awkward lie right of the fairway and subsequent lay-up at the third playoff hole – the par-5 fourth – opened the door for Vu to clinch victory by getting up-and-down for birdie from the greenside bunker.
Despite the disappointment of falling just short, Kim acknowledged that it is another step forward in her young career.
“Going the three playoff holes with the Player of the Year last year, two major champions and obviously Lexi just being an icon for women’s golf says a lot about my game I guess,” said Kim, who now moves on to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club.
“Obviously didn’t get it done. Yeah, it sucks, but I think I can see myself I guess in the future as well. Just how much I’ve grown.
“It’s only my second year out, and to be in this position it’s, as you can tell, overwhelming.
“All the credit goes to my team to push me this far.
“To get to these opportunities is, you know, unbelievable. To be able to play against these players in certain conditions and playoff for three holes, I think we all know we played some good damn golf.”
Kim wasn’t the only WPGA Tour of Australasia member with a top-10 finish this past week.
West Australian Kirsten Rudgeley continues to build towards a breakthrough win on the Ladies European Tour, finishing tied for sixth at the Ladies Italian Open as Whitney Hillier made an impressive return in her first LET start since last July.
An Aussie charge never materialised at the US Open where Min Woo Lee’s tie for 23rd was the best result, Bryson DeChambeau producing an extraordinary sand save on the 72nd hole to edge Rory McIlroy by a shot and claim his second US Open.
Photo: Raj Mehta/Getty Images
Results
US Open
Pinehurst Resort (No.2 Cse), Raleigh, North Carolina
1 Bryson DeChambeau 67-69-67-71—274 $US4.3 million
T21 Min Woo Lee 73-69-72-71—285 $203,607
T32 Cameron Smith 71-72-72-72—287 $105,775
T32 Adam Scott 70-72-76-69—287 $105,775
T56 Ryan Fox (NZ) 73-72-76-71—292 $43,676
MC Jason Scrivener 74-72—146
MC Jason Day 71-77—148
MC Cam Davis 77-72—149
LPGA Tour
Meijer LPGA Classic
Blythefield Country Club, Belmont, Michigan
1 Lilia Vu 69-70-68-65—272 $US450,000
Won on third hole of sudden-death playoff
T2 Grace Kim 68-65-66-73—272 $234,649
T17 Hira Naveed 69-70-71-68—278 $33,803
T17 Gabriela Ruffels 68-73-68-69—278 $33,803
MC Robyn Choi 73-70—143
MC Minjee Lee 72-78—150
Korean PGA Tour/Japan Golf Tour
Hana Bank Invitational
Namchuncheon CC, Chuncheon, South Korea
1 Takashi Ogiso 67-69-66-68—270 ¥28.02m
MC Anthony Quayle 73-70—143
MC Junseok Lee 71-74—145
MC Matthew Griffin 70-75—145
Ladies European Tour
Ladies Italian Open
Golf Nazionale, Italy
1 Amy Taylor 70-67-69—206 €45,000
T6 Kirsten Rudgeley 66-74-70—210 €8,640
T32 Whitney Hillier 70-71-76—217 €2,499
T45 Amy Walsh 74-69-76—219 €1,504.29
T45 Kelsey Bennett 73-74-72—219 €1,504.29
T62 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 74-72-78—224 €855
Korn Ferry Tour
Wichita Open
Crestview Country Club, Wichita, Kansas
1 Taylor Dickson 64-64-68-65—261
MC Tim Wilkinson (NZ) 71-68—139
MC Rhein Gibson 73-68—141
MC Brett Drewitt 74-68—142
MC Dimi Papadatos 70-72—142
MC Daniel Gale 74-70—144
MC Steven Bowditch 79-75—154
Challenge Tour
Kaskáda Golf Challenge
Golf Resort Kaskáda, Brno, Czech Republic
1 Hamish Brown 64-69-70-63—266 €43,200
T23 Blake Windred 68-70-71-68—277 €2,403
MC Connor McKinney 69-72—141
MC Jeff Guan 69-73—142
MC Tom Power Horan 76-70—146
MC Hayden Hopewell 72-76—148
Epson Tour
Otter Creek Championship
Otter Creek Golf Course, Columbus, Indiana
1 Savannah Vilaubi 67-68-71—206 $US45,000
Won on the second hole of sudden-death playoff
T47 Cassie Porter 73-71-72—216 $1,335
MC Amelia Garvey (NZ) 73-75—148
MC Fiona Xu (NZ) 75-75—150
MC Amy Chu 73-77—150
MC Maddison Hinson-Tolchard 71-79—150
WD Su Oh 78
LET Access Series
Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge
Panorama Golf Resort, Czech Republic
1 Helen Briem (a) 72-68-73—213 ——
T9 Hanee Song (NZ) 69-76-74—219 €1,317.50
T13 Stephanie Bunque 72-72-77—221 €1,147.50
T18 Munchin Keh (NZ) 76-74-72—222 €850
T25 Wenyung Keh (NZ) 78-73-73—224 €684.25
MC Belinda Ji (a) 77-80—157
Legends Tour
Paul Lawrie Match Play
Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Hertfordshire
Final
Angel Cabrera def James Kingston 3&1
Quarter-finals
Angel Cabrera def Michael Long 2&1
Bradley Dredge def Scott Hend 2 up
Round 3
Michael Long def Marc Farry 2&1
Scott Hend def Peter Fowler 3&2
Round 2
Michael Long def Michael Jonzon 3&2
Scott Hend def Adilson da Silva 2&1
Peter Fowler def David Gilford at 19th hole
Round 1
Michael Long def Andrew Raitt 1 up
Peter Fowler def Clark Dennis 4&3
Robert Coles def Peter O’Malley 2&1
Scott Hend def Jean Francois Remesy 3&2
