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Australia’s highest-ranked golfer, Hannah Green, expects Nelly Korda to break free of a dramatic form slump and be one of the players to beat at this week’s Amundi Evian Championship in France.
The year’s fourth women’s major has taken on an additional level of intrigue as the world No.1 and six-time winner on the LPGA Tour this season tees it up on the back of three missed cuts and the highest score of her professional career.
Green, who finished second to Korda at the Mizuho Americas Open, played alongside Korda for the first two rounds of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club.
She could only watch on as Korda wiped away tears after hitting her approach shot to the par-4 15th just beyond the out-of-bounds stakes, the American with “no words” after signing for an 81 having been one shot off the lead at the start of the day.
“Seeing Nelly unravel, I guess you could say, was tough to watch,” admitted world No.7 Green during a recent return home to Perth.
“She’s played so well this year and she’s always going to be under the spotlight because she’s Nelly Korda and she’s the one that brings the crowds in.
“It is a shame she’s obviously not had the success that she’s wanted the last few weeks and I think that will make her even more hungry, especially for the Olympics and the Evian Championship.
“I wouldn’t think that that will be the storyline for the rest of the year. I think she’ll be back up there and like her usual self.”
It’s a rare double-major week in world golf with Green among the seven Aussies at Evian and eight Australians in action at the Kaulig Companies Championship, formerly known as the Senior Players Championship.
This week also marks the build-up in earnest to The Open Championship next week, the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open drawing the best players from both the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour to The Renaissance Club in North Berwick.
Runner-up at the BMW International Open, David Micheluzzi returns to America to play the PGA TOUR’s ISCO Championship where West Australian Haydn Barron will make his debut in a PGA TOUR event on US soil.
The 2022 Open Champion, Cameron Smith, will finalise his preparations for Royal Troon by leading the Ripper GC team at LIV Golf Andalucia and Karl Vilips will make his Korn Ferry Tour debut at The Ascendant in Colorado.
Photo: Darren Carroll/PGA of America
Round 1 tee times AEST
DP World Tour/PGA TOUR
Genesis Scottish Open
The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland
5:06pm* Adam Scott
5:50pm Jason Scrivener
5:50pm* Min Woo Lee
9:37pm* Daniel Hillier (NZ)
9:48pm Cam Davis
10:32pm Ryan Fox (NZ)
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1973), Craig Parry (1991), Peter O’Malley (1992), Wayne Riley (1995), Min Woo Lee (2021)
Prize money: $US9 million
TV times: Live 5:30pm-4am Thursday, Friday; Live 11:30pm-5am Saturday; Live 7:30pm-5am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
The Amundi Evian Championship
Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France
3pm* Stephanie Kyriacou
3:12pm Hira Naveed
3:48pm* Lydia Ko (NZ)
4:12pm Grace Kim
4:36pm Sarah Kemp
8:36pm Minjee Lee
9pm Hannah Green
9:48pm Gabriela Ruffels
Defending champion: Celine Boutier
Past Aussie winners: Rachel Hetherington (2001), Wendy Doolan (2004), Karrie Webb (2006), Minjee Lee (2021)
Prize money: $US9 million
TV times: Live 8am-2pm Thursday, Friday; Live 9:15pm-12am Saturday; Live 6:30pm-12am Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR
ISCO Championship
Keene Trace Golf Club (Champions Cse), Nicholasville, Kentucky
8:45pm* Aaron Baddeley
10:24pm Haydn Barron, Sam Jones (NZ)
4:11am David Micheluzzi
4:22am Harrison Endycott
Defending champion: Vincent Norrman
Past Aussie winners: Aaron Baddeley (2016)
Prize money: $US4 million
TV times: Live 6:30am-9:30am Friday, Saturday; Live 6am-9am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR Champions
Kaulig Companies Championship
Firestone CC, Akron, Ohio
12:20am* Richard Green
12:31am* Steven Alker (NZ)
12:52am John Senden
12:52am* Mark Hensby
1:13am Steve Allan
1:13am* Greg Chalmers
1:44am* Rod Pampling
1:55am* Stuart Appleby
2:16am* Cameron Percy
Defending champion: Steve Stricker
Past Aussie winners: Stewart Ginn (2002)
Prize money: $US3.5 million
TV times: Live 4am-6:30am Friday, Saturday; 9am-11am Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 2am-6am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Andalucia
Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
Australasians in the field: Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Lucas Herbert, Danny Lee (NZ)
Defending champion: Talor Gooch
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US20 million
TV times: Live from 9:15pm Friday, Saturday, Sunday on 7 Plus.
Japan Golf Tour
Shigeo Nagashima Sega Sammy Cup
The North Country Golf Club, Hokkaido
8:55am* Michael Hendry (NZ)
9:15am* Anthony Quayle
1:50pm Brad Kennedy
Defending champion: Jbe Kruger
Past Aussie winners: Brad Kennedy (2018)
Prize money: ¥100 million
Korn Ferry Tour
The Ascendant presented by Blue
TPC Colorado, Berthoud, Colorado
10:30pm Curtis Luck
4:11am* Brett Drewitt
5:06am* Rhein Gibson
6:12am Karl Vilips
Defending champion: Nicholas Lindheim
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US1 million
Epson Tour
Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship
Great River Golf Club, Milford, Connecticut
Australasians in the field: Amelia Garvey (NZ), Cassie Porter, Fiona Xu (NZ), Su Oh, Maddison Hinson-Tolchard.
Defending champion: Jenny Bae
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US262,500
Korean PGA Tour
Gunsan CC Open
Gunsan CC, Korea
8:10am* Junseok Lee
9:10am Sungjin Yeo (NZ)
9:20am* Wonjoon Lee
9:30am* Kevin Chun (NZ)
2:20pm Changgi Lee (NZ)
Defending champion: Jang Yu-bin
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: KRW700 million
PGA TOUR Americas
Explore NB Open
Mactaquac Golf Course, Mactaquac, New Brunswick
8:40pm Grant Booth
10:20pm Harry Hillier (NZ)
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US225,000
A mindset of playing “aggressively smart” and a birdie from the fringe on his final hole has earned Queenslander Chris Wood a one-shot lead after day one of the Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am.
With $60,000 in prize money on offer a Tour-quality field took to the Rockhampton Golf Club layout on Wednesday, Wood edging one clear with a brilliant round of 7-under 65.
Victorian Kyle Michel (66) is Wood’s closest challenger, the pair both taking full advantage of ideal scoring conditions in the morning wave to set the early tone.
Wood began with a birdie on his opening hole – the par-4 10th – only to give it straight back with bogey at the tough par-3 11th.
It would be his only step backward all day, making five birdies in the space of seven holes around the turn before moving to the top of the leaderboard with a final birdie at the par-3 ninth.
“The birdie on nine was a bit of a bonus,” Wood conceded.
“I holed a putt from about 17 feet just off the right-hand side of the green there, putting up the hill.
“The goal was honestly just to two-putt and get out of there, but to see that drop was quite nice.”
A regular at Rockhampton, the 2020 Victorian PGA champion said he has adopted a different strategy to avoid making some of the same mistakes of the past.
“I’ll just go out there with the same mindset of playing aggressively smart,” he added.
“I’ve kept driver in the bag a little bit this week on a few holes just from previous history.
“I always find I hit it in the same trouble spots as previous years so just trying to eliminate some of the mistakes.
“I know there’s plenty of birdies out there, so just to try and stay patient and add them up at the end.”
There is just two shots separating the top 10 on the leaderboard after Round 1 with Matt Millar, Brett Rankin and James Marchesani among the eight players in a tie for third at 5-under par.
Round 2 begins at 6:50am Thursday morning.
The major season continues this week, with the seniors contesting the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club in Ohio.
While the tournament name changed last year, this remains known to most as the Senior Players Championship, which has a long history as one of the five majors on the senior circuit.
While Americans Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly have been fighting over the trophy the last four years, a couple of Australasians have triumphed here. Fijian Vijay Singh took home the trophy in 2018, and Australian Stewart Ginn was victorious back in 2002.
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Steve Stricker (USA)
PRIZEMONEY: US$3.5 million
LIVE SCORES: www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions
TV COVERAGE: The Kaulig Companies Championship is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
*All times AEST.
Round One: Friday 4am–6:30am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
Round Two: Saturday 4am–6:30am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
Round Three: Sunday 9am–11am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
Final Round: Monday 2am–6am (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
AUSTRALASIAN PLAYER PROFILES
STEVEN ALKER
Age: 52
The lowdown: With eight PGA TOUR Champions victories, including this year’s Mitsubishi Electric Championship, Alker will be a favourite coming into this week.
The New Zealander sits second on the season long Charles Schwab Cup thanks to five top-five finishes, with his worst results for 2024 astonishingly being a pair of T15 finishes.
Alker was a notable absentee at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, but was in contention at the US Senior Open, eventually finishing T12.
STEVE ALLAN
Age: 50
The lowdown: The 2002 Australian Open winner, Allan has made a positive start to his PGA TOUR Champions career after earning his card at qualifying school in December.
Allan has had two top-10 finishes in 12 start this season, his best finish a solo fifth at the Invited Celebrity Classic.
He did not play in the US Senior Open, and missed the cut at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, so will be looking to turn things around this time around.
STUART APPLEBY
Age: 56
The lowdown: A nine-time PGA TOUR winner, Appleby made his living with an incredibly high standard of ball striking and a putter that could catch fire at any moment.
Appelby has had a mixed season so far, but a T14 finish at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, and a T38 at the US Senior Open have shown that he is thereabouts.
GREG CHALMERS
Age: 50
The lowdown: In the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, Chalmers showed he can still produce the form that earned him a pair each of Australian Opens and Australian PGA Championships.
Sharing the lead at various points, Chalmers eventually finished in solo third after four rounds in the 60s.
After struggling to go low at the US Senior Open with rounds of 72-70-70-70, the rookie senior hoping the Firestone layout will fit his eye slightly better.
RICHARD GREEN
Age: 53
The lowdown: One of the players to truly thrive post turning 50, Green is a regular presence on the PGA TOUR Champions, although the Victorian is still chasing a first victory on the biggest stage for over-50 golfers.
Green finished runner-up at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, and third at the US Senior Open, Green has been agonisingly close in this year’s majors.
Despite a not having a win, Green sits fifth on the season-long Charles Schwab Cup.
MARK HENSBY
Age: 52
The lowdown: Providing one of the highlights of 2023 when he claimed the Invited Celebrity Classic after his rollercoaster career, Hensby has yet again been a consistent performer so far in 2024.
Hensby had a disappointing finish to the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship after a lacklustre weekend, but bounced back with two top-10s.
It was a rollercoaster week for Hensby at the US Senior Open, with scores of 75-63-74-68, the New South Welshman hoping for more consistency at Firestone.
ROD PAMPLING
Age: 54
The lowdown: A two-time winner on the PGA TOUR Champions, including last year’s SAS Championship, Pampling has long held a reputation as a high quality ball striker with a capability to go very low.
Pampling bounced back quickly from his missed cut at the KitchenAid Senior PGA with a top-five finish at the Principal Charity Classic, but also missed the cut at the US Senior Open.
The 2024 majors have been disappointing for Pampling, so he will be looking to turn that trend around this week.
CAMERON PERCY
Age: 50
The lowdown: Percy made his senior debut at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship after winning Q-school at 49 but having to wait until his 50th birthday to compete.
Having played four events now, including a third-place finish at the American Family Insurance Championship, Percy is quickly establishing himself on the over-50s tour.
A T12 finish at the US Senior Open was an encouraging sign that Percy has the game for major golf in his seniors career.
JOHN SENDEN
Age: 53
The lowdown: Another past Australian Open winner, Senden has had a somewhat disappointing year on the PGA TOUR Champions.
The sole highlight coming at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, where he finished T6.
Senden recently revealed he is battling Parkinson’s disease, but says while he is still able to get out and play, he is still enjoying it.
VIJAY SINGH
Age: 61
The lowdown: Despite being more than 10 years into his senior golf career, the World Golf Hall of Fame member continues to outwork the vast majority of professionals of any age.
A five-time winner on the PGA TOUR Champions, Singh has had two T6 finishes this year, however had an average finish after making the cut at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
The Fijian major winner shook off that result to finish in solo seventh at the US Senior Open, a closing 66 the highlight.
THE COURSE
Firestone Country Club took over as host in 2019, with the famed South Course providing a strong test for the seniors over the last five years.
Having hosted three PGA Championships, and multiple World Golf Championship events, Firestone is no stranger to world-class golf, with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus noth notching important wins at the venue.
Originally designed by Bert Way and opened in 1929, the South Course at Firestone underwent a redesign by Robert Trent Jones in 1960, and now plays as a 7400-yard par-70 course.
Playing long, the South Course advantages the bigger hitters, the ‘younger’ players on tour the ones to look out for this week.
Queenslander Simon Tooman has triumphed after going toe-to-toe with PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit leader Andre Stolz over two days at the Bargara Legends Pro-Am.
Co-leaders after posting matching rounds of 6-under 65 on day one at picturesque Bargara Golf Club near Bundaberg, Tooman had built a three-shot lead following a two-shot swing on the par-4 13th hole.
But the customary fightback soon came from Stolz, Tooman (70) closing out his round with four straight pars to clinch a one-stroke win at 7-under par from Stolz (71) as Nigel Lane (67) finished outright third at 5-under.
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
Paired together for the final round, little separated Tooman and Stolz as they fought through the tricky conditions.
Stolz bogeyed the par-4 second to hand Tooman a slight advantage, an advantage Tooman doubled with a birdie at the par-5 sixth.
A birdie at the par-4 12th got Stolz back within one but when he dropped a shot at 13 and Tooman made birdie, the lead moved out to three shots.
Stolz responded with birdies at 14 and 15 but a bogey on 16 for the second straight day would prove to be the difference at round’s end.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I was waiting for that. I knew he’d do that,” Tooman said of the Stolz charge.
“I knew he had birdie holes at the end, so it didn’t surprise me when he did that.
“I haven’t been playing much this year, so I am very happy that I got a win this early in the season.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Simon Tooman 65-70—135
2 Andre Stolz 65-71—136
3 Nigel Lane 70-67—137
T4 Peter Senior OAM 68-70—138
T4 Mark Boulton 74-64—138
T6 Adam Henwood 70-69—139
T6 Terry Price 70-69—139
NEXT UP
Bundaberg Golf Club hosts the Queensland PGA Senior Foursomes Championship on Wednesday before the two-day Urangan Smash Repairs Fraser Coast Classic starting Saturday at Hervey Bay Golf and Country Club.
PGA Professional Jamie Bashforth has had the joy of falling in love with golf at two very different junctures in his life.
First when he picked up a club as a 12-year-old, and then again almost three decades later when he played a round with a corporate client and was inspired to make golf his career – first through the PGA Institute and later the PGA Membership Pathway Program.
That willingness to shift and follow his passion after more than 20 years working in banking and health insurance has been a truly rewarding one for Bashforth, who is now dedicated to growing the game of golf in Queensland.
“I took a risk,” he reflects. “At more than 40 years old, I sold my property and went down to the Gold Coast to complete the PGA Institute program.”
Although Bashforth didn’t set out to become a PGA Professional initially, the quality of his game stood out while he was completing the Institute program – and enrolling in the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program became a reality.
“Again, I took a bit of a risk. I completed the PGA Institute course and then secured a traineeship at Riverside Oaks Golf Club in Sydney,” he adds.
A mature-age student, Bashforth remembers feeling a bit uneasy initially, but was buoyed by the diverse and engaging content he was learning.
Moreover, with a solid grounding in finance and corporate processes, he found the business side of the Program relatively straightforward.
“I knew where I wanted to head with it all so learning all of the golf-specific side of things was wonderful,” he says.
“From club repairs, to coaching, you feel like you learn everything there is to know about golf.”
Equipped with that raft of knowledge, and ready for a new career, Bashforth graduated as a PGA Professional in 2019.
On the move again, he headed back up north to accept a role as Assistant Professional at Gladstone Golf Club.
It was there that Bashforth first discovered a love for coaching and introducing newcomers to the game.
He took on the role of offering Get Into Golf – Golf Australia’s official beginner golf lesson program – there in 2020. After moving through COVID, he took the program to the next level.
“I was offering two two-hour sessions on Sundays, with the motivation being to try and get more women involved in the game up here,” he reflects.
What initially started as clinics on the range morphed into on-course action, as Bashforth helped participants to take the next step.
“We ended up running nine-hole shootouts for women. We would get the beginners and the members all together.
“Not many clubs could say that they would be getting 40 or 50 women out on the course all together. That was really cool.”
Bashforth’s passion for Get Into Golf has continued since a recent move to Bundaberg Golf Club.
There, he implements a similar model to the one he established at Gladstone, and the club and community are reaping the rewards.
“We are now seeing more and more women at the golf club,” he smiles. “Whether that is on the range, on the course, or even buying clubs in the shop, it is really good to see them following it through from the clinics.
“Some are even joining up as members of the club, which is fantastic, and certainly a driving force behind what we do.”
Proud to have seen the golf landscape change from what he describes as “not massively inclusive” when he first started out, Bashforth is glad to work in an industry that welcomes everyone.
“Now the audience we attract to the game is vastly different. People are showing up to driving ranges to give it a go and see if they like it,” he smiles.
“That’s a wonderful thing and so important for golf to grow.”
For more information on entry points into a career in golf, visit www.pga.org.au/education/
Call it a working holiday or the world’s longest honeymoon, but Darcy Boyd and Danni Vasquez have emerged as the new power couple of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series.
Married for eight months, Boyd and Vasquez have been prominent on the Pro-Am circuit leaderboards throughout the Queensland swing, Vasquez the first woman to win a Pro-Am Series event in five years at Biloela last Saturday.
A Bowen Pro-Am victory is among Boyd’s seven top-five finishes dating back to late May and makes him one of the leading contenders heading into the $60,000 Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am, starting Wednesday at Rockhampton Golf Club.
Plans are in place to purchase a caravan and continue their nomadic start to married life for the next 18 months, the New South Wales pair taking full advantage of the unique opportunity that they have been afforded as professional golfers.
“We’ve found that balance of golf being this thing that allows us to travel the country,” said Boyd, the 2020 PGA National Trainee of the Year.
“We love Australia and we want to see it all. Whereas other people would have to quit their jobs to go and do that, we can sort of do both hand in hand.
“You have to be switched on when you get to the golf course, but you also need to switch off and our passion is camping and exploring and going and seeing things.
“We try and do that on our days off or make time to do things away from golf.”
Adds Vasquez, who became a full PGA Member on January 1: “We don’t really treat golf as a job.
“We’re not really that hard on ourselves because we know it’s golf that allows us to do what we love, which is travel around Australia.
“If it wasn’t for golf, we wouldn’t be able to do that.”
Boyd and Vasquez both played the Pro-Am Series last year to limited success, the pair struggling to adapt somewhat to their new environment.
But they are in their element now and believe that having each other for support gives them something of a competitive advantage.
“I see it through good mates and others. It is a big struggle being away for such long periods,” said Boyd.
“Whilst it’s hard for them, it’s also hard for the people at home.
“Sometimes things like relationships are put under stress because of the profession, whereas I’m not in that position, so I’m pretty lucky.”
In addition to having her hubby on hand, Vasquez has played the role of recruiter to bring fellow WPGA members into the Pro-Am fold.
Emma Ash was third at Biloela and the likes of Rhianna Lewis, Sarah Yamaki-Branch, Jordan O’Brien and Kelsey Bennett have all made starts throughout the Queensland stretch.
Their presence has been well received by the tournament hosts and fellow competitors and expanded the support network available to Vasquez.
“The others who have come this year are loving it, which is really good actually,” she said.
“I didn’t know how it would sit but they’re all for it, so I am really happy about that.
“Even the other day at Biloela, (joint winner) Anthony (Choat) was looking at the leaderboard and said to himself that if Danni birdies one of the last three and beats me, he’d be so happy for me, which is nice.
“He said if it was anyone else, he would hate it, but because it was me, he was very, very happy. So that made me feel a bit good.”
And as much as they are there to support each other, there remains a layer of competitiveness between husband and wife.
“We got paired together for the first time ever a few weeks ago and Darcy kept making birdie after birdie, so there’s definitely a competitiveness there,” Vasquez added.
That competitiveness comes with an incentive, too.
“The rule was that whoever has the worst score has to do the cleaning up, but it’s changed now,” Vasquez said.
“Between us we’ve got one motorised buggy and one old push buggy, so whoever has the best score gets the motorised buggy for the next event.”
“I’ve got to start playing better,” added Boyd, “because I’ve now got to push my buggy around Rockhampton for the next three days.”
Boyd has been drawn to play with Rhianna Lewis off the first tee at 11am on Wednesday while Vasquez will tee off alongside Harrison Wills from the 10th tee, also at 11am.
First groups are out at 6:50am.
Scott Barr has set his sights on representing the PGA of Australia at the 2025 Four Nations Cup after topping West Australian qualifiers for this year’s PGA Professionals Championship National Final in October.
Host venue, The Western Australian Golf Club, was in immaculate condition and the greens firm and fast, presenting a complete challenge to the 22 PGA Professionals in the field.
A run of three straight bogeys early in his round had Barr on the back foot but he recovered with four birdies on his inward nine to shoot 2-under 68 and win by two shots.
Carramar Golf Course Professional Greg McClurkin shot even-par 70 with Perth Golf Centre’s John Boulton third at 1-over 71, the trio among the seven players to qualify for the PPC National Final at The Heritage Golf and Country Club in Melbourne from October 22-24.
Barr was fourth at the 2023 National Final and hopes to improve on that to play his way into the Australian team to travel to Canada next year.
“I played at Heritage last year and finished fourth,” said Barr.
“I know that you can actually get a chance to represent Australia for the PGA so if I can play well there again, you never know.”
Starting from the 10th tee, Barr picked up an early birdie at the downhill dogleg par-4 12th but dropped to 2-over with a three-hole stint on the bogey train immediately following.
Two-over through 10, Barr made a terrific birdie at the par-4 second and then pressed home his advantage with further birdies at four, five and eight for a two-stroke win.
“I was a bit rusty,” Barr conceded.
“We haven’t played for a few weeks since we were in Broome for the Pro-Am and I struggled.
“I got off to a great start, but then struggled with three consecutive bogeys.
“I felt like the world was against me a bit but managed to pull together on the back nine.
“Made a nice birdie putt on the my 17th hole to get to 2-under and at that point I knew that I was in the lead.
“Made a nice two-putt on the last hole, which is a challenging par-3 here at The WA Club, and I’m really pleased about qualifying and the chance to represent Western Australia.”
As the top-three finishers, Barr, McClurkin and Boulton are all exempt for the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder WA PGA Championship in October while Barr also earns a spot in the Nova Employment Australian PGA Seniors Championship in November.
Playing at her home club, Nicole Martino was the winner of the women’s qualifier with Travis Lord, Darren Garrett, Michael Draper and Mostyn Farmer also exempt for the National Final.
The PGA Membership Pathway Program (MPP) is Australian Golf’s primary workforce development program and is designed to provide flexibility to help you take the next step towards your dream job in the golf industry.
The PGA Membership Pathway Program (MPP) is ideal for any golfer who has a passion for golf and a desire to translate that passion into a career in the golf industry.
Designed for completion over a three (3) year period, the MPP will provide real skills in the workplace, in addition to undertaking a nationally accredited diploma level qualification in a preferred area of interest.
Studies in the program are delivered through on-the-job training, face to face and virtual training schools, and online learning delivered over the calendar year.
In addition to workplace and academic requirements, the MPP also requires regular participation in Professional Golf Tournaments to meet PGA Playing Requirements.
To find out more about the MPP and to apply, click HERE.
Danni Vasquez has joined a short list of women to win on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series with a share of victory at the Biloela Pro-Am at Biloela Golf Club west of Gladstone.
Playing in the afternoon groups, Vasquez and Anthony Choat both shot 8-under 64 to finish one stroke clear of Jay Mackenzie (65) and another women’s PGA Professional in Emma Ash (65).
There has been an influx of women PGA Professionals and WPGA Members playing the Queensland swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series this season, Vasquez the first woman to have a win since Grace Lennon’s joint victory at the Eastwood Pro-Am in Melbourne in 2019.
“Monkey off my back. Finally got a win,” said Vasquez, who was fourth at the Clermont Pro-Am two weeks ago.
“I knew it was coming. I’ve been playing well the last few months, but I just haven’t had everything click in one round. Today it happened.”
It was something of a drought-breaker, too, for Choat, the New South Welshman enjoying his first pro-am success since the Stuart Appleby Cohuna Pro-Am last September.
“I’ve been chopping and changing, trying to get better the last few years and things are starting to stabilise,” said Choat.
“To actually be out there in contention, to be really way under par and to be thinking about only making birdies and trying to shoot 10, 11, whatever under, it’s really, really good.
“I feel really good about my game and have for a while, but it’s nice to actually shoot a good one and get a result.”
HOW THE WINNING ROUNDS UNFOLDED
Playing in the group ahead of Vasquez, Choat went backwards before going forward, making bogey at his opening hole, the par-4 fifth.
He rebounded with birdies at seven and eight before unleashing on the Biloela back nine, peeling off six birdies and three pars for a back nine of 6-under 30.
His ninth and final birdie came at the par-3 second, coming up just short of a birdie on his final hole that would have secured an outright win.
Vasquez had to come up with an up-and-down of her own to match Choat’s score of 8-under.
Unlike Choat, Vasquez was fast out of the blocks with birdie at her first hole, the par-5 fourth.
She added a second at the short par-3 eighth and then eagled the par-5 ninth to head to the 10th tee 4-under par.
There were birdies at 12, 14, 17 and 18 before three closing pars to round out a bogey-free 64.
WHAT THE WINNERS SAID
Danni Vasquez: “I knew because it was my last par 5 of the day, I knew I had to do something but I didn’t put too much pressure on myself. I knew the chip that I had was tough, but I knew if I just landed it on the fringe, it would roll up to a hole-able length. Ended up holing my five-footer which I was very happy about.”
Anthony Choat: “It was an amazing day. I know I’ve been hitting the ball. I haven’t been scoring great, but I knew it couldn’t be too far away. When the putter started to get hot, I was just like, don’t watch a leaderboard. Let’s go make as many birdies as we can.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
T1 Anthony Choat 64
T1 Danni Vasquez 64
T3 Jay Mackenzie 65
T3 Emma Ash 65
T5 Bradley Kivimets 66
T5 Dean Jamieson 66
T5 Christopher Wood 66
T5 Harrison Wills 66
T5 William Bruyeres 66
NEXT UP
One of the marquee tournaments of the season starts on Wednesday with the $60,000 Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am at Rockhampton Golf Club followed by the inaugural Maryborough Pro-Am next Monday.
Victorian David Micheluzzi has taken a big step towards securing his future on the DP World Tour with a runner-up finish at the BMW International Open in Germany.
Just two weeks after leaving the KLM Open in despair at the state of his game, Micheluzzi led after Round 1 at Golfclub München Eichenried in Munich and stayed in the hunt until the very end.
Two strokes back at the start of Round 4, Micheluzzi (68) was unable to rein in Scotsman Ewan Ferguson (68), finishing tied with Englishman Jordan Smith (70) in second spot for his best result in his rookie season.
The 2022/2023 Order of Merit winner on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Micheluzzi has now moved up 63 spots to 57th in the Race to Dubai standings, the top 110 at season’s end to earn full status for 2025.
“It’s amazing how things can change so quickly in this game,” Micheluzzi said in an Instagram post.
“Two weeks ago, after the second round in Amsterdam, I had no idea where things were at and I came third last.
“I wanna say a huge thank you to (caddie) Ben Brewer for putting up with my s***; he is a big reason why things have changed so quickly!”
Birdie
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 7, 2024
Birdie
Eagle
Take a bow, David Micheluzzi! He's in the clubhouse at -16.#BMWInternationalOpen pic.twitter.com/TovGVmz1GC
Producing the type of finish that became commonplace in his three-win season on home soil, Micheluzzi signed off on his best finish on the DP World Tour with a birdie-birdie-eagle finish, his 3-wood to six feet on the last one of the shots of the week.
Travis Smyth led the way for the 19 Aussies in action at the International Series Morocco but it was a Kiwi in Ben Campbell who left with the second Asian Tour victory of his career.
American John Catlin looked to have the title secured when he led by three with three holes to play but Campbell produced a stunning eagle-birdie finish to tie Catlin at 15-under and send it to a playoff.
It would take just one extra hole to decide the outcome, Campbell converting his birdie chance from 10 feet as Catlin missed from a similar range to complete a stunning comeback.
“I didn’t have my best out there today and I just kept saying to Mike (his caddie), I’ve just got to find something and just stay patient,” said Campbell.
“I went flag hunting on 16 and leaked it right, and hit a great bunker shot there. I said to Mike, if I can find a birdie-eagle, you never know. So I did that, and then to hole a putt like that in the playoff, it’s always good.”
A 63 in Round 2 was the cornerstone of Brad Kennedy’s tie for 12th at the Japan Professional Golf Championship while a pair of 66s on the weekend earned Jason Day a tie for 23rd at the John Deere Classic.
Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Results
PGA TOUR
John Deere Classic
TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois
1 Davis Thompson 63-67-62-64—256 $US1.44m
T23 Jason Day 69-67-66-66—268 $83,600
MC Harrison Endycott 68-71—139
DP World Tour
BMW International Open
Golfclub München Eichenried, Munich, Germany
1 Ewen Ferguson 67-64-71-68—270 €392,710.62
2 David Micheluzzi 66-70-68-68—272 €199,820.41
T17 Ryan Fox (NZ) 69-71-70-69—279 €29,876.81
MC Sam Jones (NZ) 69-73—142
MC Andrew Martin 72-71—143
MC Tom Power Horan 68-75—143
MC Haydn Barron 70-75—145
MC Jason Scrivener 73-72—145
MC Daniel Hillier (NZ) 73-74—147
Asian Tour
International Series Morocco
Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (Red Course), Morocco
1 Ben Campbell (NZ) 68-70-68-71—277 $US360,000
Won in sudden-death playoff
T5 Travis Smyth 69-69-70-73—281 $74,300
T28 Kazuma Kobori (NZ) 66-77-71-74—288 $16,560
T37 Wade Ormsby 71-75-71-73—290 $12,820
T42 Lachlan Barker 72-74-72-73—291 $10,900
T49 Doug Klein 74-71-72-76—293 $8,433.33
T62 Justin Warren 74-72-79-70—295 $5,800
69 Harrison Crowe 76-70-73-82—301 $4,600
MC Scott Hend 71-76—147
MC Todd Sinnott 78-69—147
MC Jed Morgan 77-70—147
MC Andrew Dodt 73-75—148
MC Maverick Antcliff 74-74—148
MC Deyen Lawson 74-74—148
MC Kevin Yuan 76-73—149
MC Aaron Wilkin 71-79—150
MC Sam Brazel 76-76—152
MC Zach Murray 72-81—153
MC Jack Thompson 76-78—154
MC Marcus Fraser 80-75—155
WD Brendan Jones 80
Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series – London
Centurion Club, London
1 Leona Maguire 66-72-73—211 €69,435.75
T42 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 74-76-74—224 €2,368.53
T51 Kirsten Rudgeley 78-73-75—226 €1,706.14
MC Stephanie Kyriacou 71-83—154
MC Whitney Hillier 80-76—156
Japan Golf Tour
Japan Professional Golf Championship
Fuji Country Kani Club (Shino Cse), Gifu
1 Yuta Sugiura 65-66-65-72—268 ¥30m
T12 Brad Kennedy 70-63-70-70—273 ¥3.18m
MC Michael Hendry 68-76—144
LET Access Series
PGA Championship Gothenburg
Albatross GolfKlubb, Sweden
1 Natacha Host Husted 70-72-69—211 €6,400
T10 Kelsey Bennett 71-81-68—220 €1,020
T15 Wenyung Keh (NZ) 72-75-75—222 €840
MC Munchin Keh (NZ) 77-82—159
WD Hanee Song (NZ 80
