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Victorian Andrew Martin has broken through for the biggest win of his professional career but it took a world record four eagles and his lowest score in 15 years on tour to do it.
Beginning the final round of The Players Series Sydney eight shots from the top of the leaderboard, Martin sent statisticians and leaderboard attendants into a frenzy with a front nine at Bonnie Doon Golf Club that featured four eagles, a birdie and a bogey to draw within striking distance of overnight leader Charlie Dann.
Three bogeys in succession by Dann after the turn saw Martin edge clear and when he completed his 10-under 61 with a birdie at the 18th hole set a clubhouse total of 18-under for the likes of Dann and Jordan Zunic to chase.
A birdie at the par-5 14th brought Dann back to within one but a birdie chance at 17 that came up inches shy of the cup and a final chance at 18 that never threatened the hole secured Martin a win that will live long in the history books.
His score of 61 is believed to be the lowest final round to win in the history of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and he joins the likes of Gordon Brand Jnr (1986), Willie Wood (1990), Scott McCarron (1995), Mikko Ilonen (2003) and Haotong Li (2019) to record four eagles in a single round on a major tour.
His three eagles in succession from the seventh hole also matches the effort of Finland’s Toni Hakula at the Abierto de Chile in 2019, the only player to achieve the feat in any PGA Tour-sanctioned tour event.
The 2004 Australian Amateur champion has been a prolific winner in pro-am events since turning professional in 2005 but at 36 years of age was struggling to put into words what such a victory represented.
“It’s still a bit of a whirlwind,” Martin explained. “To shoot 10-under, that’s still hard to get through my head, but mainly just the support of my family and my wife Rachel has given me to be able to keep doing this because it is tough in Australia to make a living here.
“I’ve never really fallen out of love with the game. I’ve always wanted to do it and if I was ever going to stop playing it would be a hard pill to swallow because I still feel there is a lot I want to achieve.
“This is one little box ticked but there a couple more I want to do. It’s just good to show that my game is still there.”
Runner-up at both the NZ PGA and Queensland PGA in 2012, Martin’s Sunday charge began when he holed a pitching wedge for eagle on the 386-metre par-4 third and backed it up with a birdie at the par-4 fourth. A bogey at the par-3 sixth was the only misstep on Sunday and was followed by a stretch of golf rarely seen anywhere in the world.
Two good shots into the par-5 seventh set up an eagle from pin-high, he chipped in from the front-edge at the 268m par-4 eighth and picked up his sixth shot in the space of three holes when he chipped in from the left of the green at the par-5 ninth.
It was at that point that the prospect of winning the tournament – and shooting the magical 59 – first entered Martin’s mind.
“After eight when I chipped in there I thought, I’ve got to be close,” said Martin after his best round in a tour event and second only to a 59 he shot in a Saturday comp at his home club Neangar Park.
“I just wanted to shoot a good score to be honest. Try and jump up the leaderboard and four eagles obviously helped that.
“After I holed the putt on 11 I thought I must have been right up there.
“Without having scorecards you don’t have it there to look at every time you open your yardage book and see your score.
“You can click the leaderboard on your phone but I decided to just keep doing what I was doing and then sign the screen when I got in.”
Philosophical about being run down by such an extraordinary round of golf, Dann remained positive about his performance over the four days at Bonnie Doon but admitted that he struggled to jump off once he boarded the dreaded ‘bogey train’ at the 10th hole.
“It’s definitely called the bogey train for a reason; that train was moving,” said Dann in what is his best result in a PGA Tour of Australasia event.
“Things spiralled for me at the eighth by hitting that chip into the grain and didn’t make the contact I wanted. I was also fighting for a par on the next, the par 5, which has been good to me this week.
“Things just went from there and in this game when you’re in a bit of a spiral times the pressure of the situation, it just kept happening and I was trying to work for a par.
“Very different experience for me for sure.”
It was a new experience too for Elvis Smylie who climbed into a share of third in his debut professional event with a final round of 6-under 65 for a four-round total of 15-under, level with Australian Amateur champion Louis Dobbelaar, Brett Rankin, Shae Wools-Cobb and Jordan Zunic.
A third successive round of 1-under 70 saw amateur Grace Kim finish as the best female in the field in a tie for 28th while Kogarah Golf Club’s Ali Rachid completed a wire-to-wire win of the TPS Junior Invitational, a second round of 2-over 73 giving him a three-shot buffer from Fletcher Murray, Jye Halls, Daley Loumanis and Blake Phillips.
Andrew Martin has won his maiden ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia title with a two-stroke victory over Charlie Dann at #ThePlayersSeries Sydney presented by Cisco Webex.
Starting the final round tied for 14th at 8-under the card, Martin took advantage of lighter winds than the previous three days to make eagle on the par-4 third hole before adding a birdie at the fourth.
A further three consecutive eagles on holes seven, eight and nine propelled the Bendigo local up the leaderboard to second place as he made the turn.
A birdie at 11 lowered his score further before adding a final birdie at 18 to go to a fourth round total of 10-under and the lead of The Players Series tournament at 18-under.
Overnight leader Dann carded a final round of even-par to take outright second place at Bonnie Doon Golf Club with a total of 16-under.
Pro debutant Elvis Smylie, amateur Louis Dobbelaar, Brett Rankin, Shae Wools-Cobb and Jordan Zunic tied for third place at 15-under.
Amateur Grace Kim was the highest placed female, finishing T28 at 7-under while Ali Rachid won the The Players Series Junior Invitational by two strokes with a final score of +5.
More to come.
Follow live scores from The Players Series Sydney presented by Cisco Webex
Dinner with his girlfriend and a customary M&M McFlurry will form the basis for Charlie Dann’s preparation to turn a three-shot lead into a maiden professional triumph at The Players Series Sydney at Bonnie Doon Golf Club on Sunday.
With the wind and firming putting surfaces tormenting many of the leading players in the third round on Saturday, Dann’s composed 5-under 66 and 16-under total created a three-shot buffer to 2020 Queensland Open champion Jordan Zunic with Dale Williamson and Shae Wools-Cobb two shots further back in a tie for third at 11-under.
The 2018 NSW Open champion, Jake McLeod moved within striking distance of the top of the leaderboard with a fine round of 5-under 66 on Saturday, picking up four birdies in a bogey-free back nine to earn a share of fifth at 10-under alongside Blake Windred (68), Australian Amateur champion Louis Dobbelaar (68) and Brett Rankin, whose 7-under 64 was the best of day three.
But Dann is the man they all have to catch after he recovered from an early bogey at the par-4 second with birdies at four, seven and eight and an eagle three at the par-5 ninth for the second day in a row.
The 28-year-old dropped shots at 10 and 17 but birdies at 12, 14 and 15 ensured a handy advantage ahead of his quest to record a breakthrough PGA Tour of Australasia triumph.
Admitting that he is both “scared and excited” about what is to come on Sunday, the Sunshine Coast product said that he is comfortable with feeling uncomfortable as the front-runner through 54 holes.
“I was nervous at the start. I was nervous all last night because I haven’t been in that position,” Dann said of leading at the halfway point of the tournament.
“If you’re putting yourself in uncomfortable positions on the golf course you know you’re doing something usually quite well.
“I was pretty excited to be nervous, which was cool. I felt it for the first three holes but then flicked a little switch and felt somewhat comfortable. It was really fun the rest of the day.
“I’m going to have a nice dinner with my girlfriend tonight and you know what, if we walk past McDonald’s, I’m not going to not go in.”
Coached by Grant Field the past six years, Dann said that the confidence in his putting stems from the sheer amount of golf he has played since heading to Victoria in mid-January, a tie for 11th at the Moonah Links PGA Classic his best result in the events that count towards the Order of Merit.
“I’ve done a lot of putting over the last six months but I got really technical through that whole period because I wasn’t playing any events but playing these events, I’ve kind of just willed them in,” added Dann.
“I feel like I’ve taken all the pressure off my stroke and I just try to have good tempo. If I’ve got a good mindset over most of them, I’m sure they’re going to go in.”
A regular travelling companion of Dann, Dale Williamson will start the final round five shots adrift but knows that if he can keep a relatively clean card will give himself chances to bridge the gap.
A quadruple-bogey on Thursday and a double-bogey at the par-3 sixth on Saturday has given the Killara Golf Club member ground to make up but he intends to take an attacking mindset in his chase of a first professional win.
“If I can eliminate a couple of those mistakes and get close to having a bogey-free round where I know I’m going to have a lot of birdies, I should be able to get thereabouts,” said Williamson.
“The birdies have come pretty easy this week, it’s just been keeping the other stuff off the card. I’ve had a lot of birdies and a few eagles but just trying to stay consistent and get rid of the other rubbish.”
And if Dann wins, Williamson intends to have a McFlurry waiting for him on the 18th green.
“I won’t be handing it to him (if he wins); I’ll be tipping it on his head.”
Like Dobbelaar, Grace Kim is fresh from an Australian Amateur championship victory and leads the ladies remaining in the field at 6-under par, LPGA Tour player Su Oh two shots further back at 4-under and Doey Choi and Breanna Gill both at 2-under.
The 36-hole TPS Junior Invitational also commenced on Saturday with Kogarah Golf Club’s Ali Rachid leading the way at 3-over, one stroke clear of Blake Phillips (Concord GC), Ella Scaysbrook (Port Macquarie GC) and Daley Loumanis (St Michael’s GC).
Rising Sydney star Stephanie Kyriacou has revelled in her first experience mixing it with the men at The Players Series Sydney, shooting an opening round of 8-under 63 to take a one stroke lead at Bonnie Doon Golf Club.
A member of both the nearby The Lakes Golf Club and St Michael’s Golf Club, Kyriacou pitted her skills against male pros in friendly matches prior to joining the Ladies European Tour last year, that preparation leading to five top-10 finishes and LET Rookie of the Year honours.
Playing alongside the highly-touted Elvis Smylie (68) in his professional debut, Kyriacou bounced back from a bogey at her opening hole to reel off eight birdies and an eagle at the par-5 ninth to end the day one clear of Victorians Matthew Griffin and Peter Wilson and Queensland’s Shae Wools-Cobb who all shot 64.
Taking two months off following her four-month stint on the LET late last year, Kyriacou wasn’t ready to return at The Players Series event at Rosebud Country Club in January but underlined her immense talent with a sparkling display on day one at Bonnie Doon.
“I hadn’t practiced until the week of the event so I just didn’t feel ready. Thinking about it now, it wouldn’t have been a bad thing if I did play,” said Kyriacou, who had a gallery of family and friends watching her play on Thursday.
“I heard that the girls’ tees were pretty far forward (at Rosebud) and this week they have definitely tried to make them a bit fairer. I think it’s good because when you beat the boys you can kind of give it to them. I think it’s great.
“On the par 3s it was pretty much the same but on most of the holes that I hit my driver to wherever they hit it, they’re hitting an 8-iron in and I’m hitting 6-iron.
“On the last hole Elvis hit driver, 7-iron to just short of pin high and I hit driver, 3-wood.”
Five-under through 13 holes, Kyriacou was jostling for top spot with a mix of veterans and rising stars until a birdie at the par-4 eighth and eagle at the last propelled her to the top of the leaderboard.
“I hit a really, really good drive straight down the middle and then I had just over 200 to the pin,” said the 20-year-old.
“It was a little bit into the wind off the left and I just felt really good over the ball and hit the best 3-wood of my life to about four foot and then holed it.”
Frustrated by inconsistent putting for the first three weeks of the Victorian swing earlier in the year, Griffin made a slight adjustment prior to the final round of the Moonah Links PGA Classic, his Sunday 66 bettered only by eventual champion Bryden Macpherson.
A 15-footer for birdie at the par-4 fifth was the only putt of significance on Thursday as he assembled a relatively stress-free 7-under 64.
“I just had to play so well tee to green to have a decent score over those weeks,” said Griffin.
“Even starting today, once I rolled in a couple early you relax a bit with the putter and holed a few through the middle stages.”
Perfect conditions greeted the morning field on Thursday with the wind strengthening later in the round. That gusty wind enhanced the challenge for those players in the afternoon wave but Victorian Matias Sanchez and New South Welshman Andrew Evans both posted 6-under 65s in their opening rounds.
For Sanchez, that score matched his opening round at The Players Series Victoria and he hopes to continue his professional progression by following it up with another good round on Friday.
“Shooting that round at Rosebud was great but unfortunately didn’t follow it up for the next couple of days,” said Sanchez, who holed a bunker shot at the par-3 11th on his way to a back-nine of 5-under 29 on Thursday.
“I feel like my game’s there and if everything lines up it’s a pretty stress-free round. The game’s going in the right direction, I’ve just got to do it for three more days.”
Winner of the Australian Amateur in 2017 where he defeated Min Woo Lee in the 36-hole final and tied for 15th at the 2017 Australian Open, Sanchez concedes that he has to remain patient as he looks to take the next step in his professional career.
“I do sometimes think I should be ahead of where I am but then again, we didn’t really play at all last year,” said Sanchez, who spent most of 2020 working in the pro shop at The Sandhurst Club.
“My coach Tim Wendell and I have talked a lot the last few weeks on the phone. At one event I was a bit shitty because I just didn’t perform to my ability and he said to me, ‘Why are you in such a rush? You’re out there learning.’
“We’re each on our own journey so take it as it comes. Even though it’s pretty hard to swallow some bad golf it’s just another learning curve.
“I’m happy where I’m going and if it takes me x amount of years compared to what everyone else is doing, that’s fine.”
Level with Sanchez and Evans in a tie for fifth at 6-under are Blake Collyer and Blake Windred with recently-turned professional Jack Thompson, Deyen Lawson, Dimi Papadatos, Brett Rankin, Michael Wright and Simon Hawkes all at 5-under in a tie for ninth.
Amateur Grace Kim is the next best female in the field behind Kyriacou at 4-under with South Coast amateur Kelsey Bennett at 3-under and LPGA Tour player Su Oh 2-under.
The second round of The Players Series Sydney presented by Cisco Webex commences at 7.30am AEDT on Friday with the final two rounds to be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo on Saturday and Sunday.
Australian golf’s three newest professionals intend to make a strong first impression as they chase a healthy first pay cheque at this week’s The Players Series Sydney presented by Cisco Webex at Bonnie Doon Golf Club.
Familiar names and recent ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia winners are littered throughout the field that also boasts 35 female amateurs and professionals yet for Elvis Smylie, Jack Thompson and Doey Choi it represents the first step in what they each hope will be long and illustrious careers.
Thompson and Choi both left the amateur ranks immediately following the Australian Amateur at Kooyonga Golf Club in Adelaide in mid-February while Smylie’s announcement just last week generated headlines around the country.
Runner-up to Brad Kennedy at the inaugural event of The Players Series at Rosebud Country Club in late January – a result that would have netted the 18-year-old around $15,000 – Smylie said that performance confirmed his belief that he was ready to turn pro.
“Going back to Keperra last year, to win that (Keperra Bowl) by 13 shots in a high-class amateur field and then to be able to do what I did at Rosebud cemented making the decision that I’ve made,” said Smylie, who shot 63-63 on the weekend at The Players Series Victoria to finish one shot back.
“I felt so confident the week after Rosebud and to this day I’m extremely confident of what I’ve achieved and what I’m capable of doing.
“There has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears that has gone into it. It’s what I’ve wanted since I was a young kid and I can’t wait to make my debut this week and get amongst it right away.”
Thompson, too, narrowly missed out on a professional victory prior to leaving the amateur ranks, losing in a playoff to Anthony Quayle at the 2020 Queensland Open.
But it was getting within five rows of Tiger Woods at the 2009 Australian Masters at Kingston Heath that lit the fire within the then 11-year-old to drive him towards a dream of playing professional golf.
“I remember watching that and thinking, How good is it. All the gallery and stuff like that was incredible,” the South Australian recalled.
“From that day I always wanted to be a golfer. That reassured me that that was what I wanted to do.
“My mum Cynthia was six or seven months pregnant with me and still playing golf and that carried through. I always had a golf club in my hand when I was 1 or 2 swinging it around the backyard.
“It’s pretty much all down to her.”
Choi considered turning professional prior to TPS Victoria but as she had been issued an invite as an amateur was required to retain her amateur status to take her place in the field.
The Concord Golf Club member finished tied for 30th and equal-third among the women who made the cut and has already noticed some subtle differences from the amateur game.
Breaking the course record at Corowa Golf Club in her first round as a professional at the Murray River Open two weeks ago, Choi has come to realise the importance of each shot when there is money to be won.
“My pro debut, I just completely forgot halfway through that I had turned pro,” Choi admitted.
“I missed this short putt and I was like, These count now.
“Obviously I’m trying not to change too much and I’m trying not to think about money and things like that.
“I had a quick chat to Dimi Papadatos about it because he’s quite a successful pro and we’re quite good friends. I made comment about it and he gave me some really good advice.
“He said that starting out I’m going to be thinking about that and I’m going to be thinking of those poor shots or missed putts because of the money but later when you play big tournaments one shot could cost you $10,000.
“Right now it’s nothing and he said not to think about it and just play my own game.”
Smylie’s first taste of the big-time came as a 17-year-old at the 2019 Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.
He shared the putting green with South African Louis Oosthuizen and after four rounds was in front of Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and defending champion Abraham Ancer, flirting with the top of the leaderboard through 36 holes.
“Actually being there, being on the putting green with Louis Oosthuizen, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, all these guys that I had grown up watching on TV, to be able to stand alongside them and play in the same tournament and compete, that was a very special week for me,” said Smylie, who played in the tournament by virtue of his Australian Boys Amateur win earlier that year.
“I knew that was what I wanted to do as a career.
“I’m still playing golf but it’s the next chapter of my life and the next step for me to become the best player in the world.
“I know that time’s now.”
The Players Series is a new and innovative tournament concept developed by Australian golf’s peak professional bodies, the PGA Tour of Australasia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia – will see the country’s leading male and female professionals compete in the same field for the same prize purse.
The tournament (Thursday, March 4 to Sunday, March 7) is the second of two events that will see up to 144 male and female professional golfers play in a 72-hole strokeplay event.
Using scaled tees, men and women golfers will compete on a level playing field, with the winner to claim the lion’s share of the $150,000 prize purse.
View the round 1 draw at pga.org.au.
He became one of the most decorated players of the past 20 years yet just three years before making his NRL debut Braith Anasta quit rugby league to chase his dreams of a professional golf career.
A one-time starter at the 2011 NSW PGA Championship in Wollongong, Anasta will this week serve as tournament host when the second event in The Players Series tees off at Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney.
Now actively involved in golf through his sports management company Searoo Sports, Anasta’s passion for the game is well known. Less well known is the twist of fate that saw him give up golf and return to rugby league mid-season in 1998 and start his meteoric rise towards stardom.
The nephew of South Sydney legend George Piggins, Anasta had decided at age 15 to channel all of his considerable sporting talent into golf, mixing it on a regular basis with future tour players in James Nitties, Ewan Porter and Aron Price.
In 1998 he lost a playoff to Price in a Jack Newton Junior Golf event at Bondi Golf Club only to answer an SOS from the coach of the Rabbitohs’ SG Ball team that would change his life forever.
“I was playing league, union, cricket, golf, you name it, but golf was my absolute favourite and I was really passionate about it,” says Anasta, who would go on to play 288 first grade games and represent both NSW and Australia.
“I gave up league when I was 15 and focused on golf and wanted to put all my energy into that and give it a good crack.
“A few months into the year the fullback of the South Sydney SG Ball team went down with an injury and the coach, Danny Loftus, rang me and said they needed me for the last six games of the year.
“We went on to win the grand final, I got a contract and that was it. I didn’t play golf for basically the next 10 years.
“It was pretty crazy.”
Given his passion for golf and his background in elite-level sport, Anasta founded Searoo Sports with Justin Caines in 2018 with a view to guiding young golf professionals through the formative stages of their careers.
Aron Price is now part of the Searoo team based in America as Anasta offers a sense of team within a sport that can be solitary and lonely at times.
“Golf’s a bit of a gamble,” says Anasta of the difference between the two sports. “You actually don’t know if you’re going to make it until you take that leap.
“There’s not much security there until you make the transition and you are successful at it.
“You’re playing for your pay cheque every week but you don’t have the support network that team sports have.
“Golfers have mates on tour but it can be a really lonely place and I understood that because I’d been around it.
“I try to put a team environment around the players so that they’ve got someone they can lean on. A lot of golfers don’t want that, but I provide it so if they do want it it’s available to them.
“If they need a trainer, if they need a mental coach, if they need some money I’ll try and get them some sponsorship and leverage my position with my contacts so they can have the money they need to get to where they want to get to without all the stress and pressure.
“That’s what I love the most about it, being a mentor and trying to help these guys win tournaments and achieve their hopes and dreams.”
Dimi Papadatos, Aaron Wilkin, Anthony Quayle, Matt Stieger, Ryan Chisnall, Ben Eccles and Kiwi Ben Campbell are all currently on the Searoo books and Anasta intends to use this week’s TPS event to scout female players looking to join his team.
“I’m not one of those guys like Jerry Maguire who goes out to try and snap all the talent up,” says Anasta. “It’s more a relationship thing and if we can help that’s amazing.
“I do love watching the women play and I’d love to represent some of Australia’s best female golfers. I’ll be trying to do that over the next couple of years for sure.
“I hadn’t had much to do with the WPGA or the female golfers but now I do with this event and also through meeting the likes of Steph Kyriacou, Becky Kay and Su Oh.
“I’ve always looked up to Hannah Green, she’s amazing, so definitely want to get a couple of the girls on board.”
As for his own golf, Anasta is gradually trying to make the transition from professional hopeful to happy hacker.
“I wish I’d never ever reached the level that I had because now I’m so far from it that I find it hard,” says Anasta, 15 seasons of first grade rugby league taking a heavy toll on his body and limiting his ability to practice.
“I would have tried to tee it up this week if I was playing like I used to but I don’t think I ever will.
“I’ve come to terms with it the past six months but when you’re playing off +2 or +3 as a young fella and then you’re struggling to shoot 80, it does your head in a lot.
“I’ve accepted that I’ll never be that player ever again and that to me is hoping that I can enjoy playing golf without getting frustrated.”
Sarah Kemp has recorded her best LPGA Tour finish on American soil and Cameron Percy has logged his second top-10 of the PGA TOUR season in a weekend of strong performances by Aussies on tour around the world.
Starting with Greg Chalmers’ hole-in-one in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Open – his second ace in the event – a host of Australians and Kiwis played their way into contention without being able to close it out.
Cameron Smith tied his career-best score to par through the first 36 holes of an event on TOUR at the WGC-Workday Championship but a Saturday 77 that was derailed by two balls in the water and a triple bogey at the par-4 fifth set him back ahead of the final round.
He tapped back into his recent good form with a 5-under 67 on Sunday to lead the Australian contingent at The Concession Golf Club in a tie for 11th.
Jason Day wore red on Sunday as he joined a group of players in paying tribute to Tiger Woods as he recovers from the serious car accident he was involved in on Monday while Min Woo Lee gave the US an insight into his immense talent to finish in a tie for 28th, returning the equal best score of the third round alongside Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland.
At the concurrent Puerto Rico Open Percy displayed again his proficiency in the island winds as he equalled his second-best result on the PGA TOUR with a tie for seventh at the Grand Reserve Country Club.
One stroke off the lead heading into the final round, Percy made the turn in 1-under but two bogeys in his final five holes saw him end the week at 14-under, five shots back of champion Branden Grace.
“I love playing in the wind because you’ve got to hit the ball properly, with the right fly and all that sort of stuff,” said the Victorian veteran.
“Not only just smash it as far as you can, find it and then smash it again, sort of thing. Like you really got to either draw it, fade it, hit a high, hit it low, hit on the right side of the fairway, to have the better angle, that sort of stuff.
“So that sort of suits me a bit.”
Chalmers’ tie for 22nd was his best PGA TOUR result since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship with Aaron Baddeley and John Senden the other Aussies to make the cut.
It was a week of great significance too for Kemp whose tie for fifth at the Gainbridge LPGA represents her best finish on American soil since joining the LPGA Tour in 2008.
As Nelly Korda finished three strokes clear at the top at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Florida, Kemp compiled four consistently excellent rounds to end the week at 10-under in her first start for the year.
Runner-up at the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open that was co-sanctioned with the LPGA Tour, Kemp’s previous best result in America was a tie for 10th at both the 2011 Safeway Classic and 2010 CVS/Pharmacy LPGA Challenge.
World Golf Championships
Workday Championship at The Concession
The Concession Golf Club, Bradenton, Florida
T11 Cameron Smith 68-66-77-67—278 $US189,666
T18 Jason Day 71-69-69-72—281 $125,500
T28 Min Woo Lee 74-71-66-72—283 $82,500
T39 Marc Leishman 72-70-74-71—287 $55,000
T41 Jason Scrivener 75-68-70-75—288 $52,500
T52 Wade Ormsby 68-74-78-72—292 $41,500
T54 Adam Scott 72-72-72-77—293 $38,300
T61 Brad Kennedy 81-73-69-73—296 $35,000
70 Lucas Herbert 77-77-74-74—302 $32,500
PGA TOUR
Puerto Rico Open
Grand Reserve Country Club, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
T7 Cameron Percy 67-69-67-71—274 $US91,125
T22 Greg Chalmers 66-68-76-68—278 $28,950
T27 Tim Wilkinson 69-68-74-68—279 $22,350
T30 Aaron Baddeley 70-70-71-69—280 $18,780
75 John Senden 70-72-76-73—291 $5,850
MC Mark Hensby 75-69—144
MC Rhein Gibson 72-74—146
MC Robert Allenby 81-77—158
LPGA Tour
Gainbridge LPGA
Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, Orlando, Florida
T2 Lydia Ko 65-69-72-69—275 $US158,959
T5 Sarah Kemp 70-69-70-69—278 $75,659
T36 Gabriela Ruffels 73-70-71-72—286 $11,197
MC Katherine Kirk 72-76—148
MC Sarah Jane Smith 75-76—151
Champions Tour
Cologuard Classic
Omni Tucson National, Tucson, Arizona
T58 Rod Pampling 73-75-76—224
As the golfing world mourns the loss of ‘Lynds’, Mike Clayton remembers his pal who was “everyone’s friend”.
There has been a long-time joke on the Australian tour about getting caught on the wrong side of the draw. You know, when half the field gets a perfect, windless morning only for the afternoon lot to have to play through a heavy seaside wind on greens drying out and getting slicker by the minute.
It’s been universally known in Australia as the ‘Lyndsay Stephen draw’ because you could guarantee ‘Lynds’ would be off in the brutal afternoon conditions. Or so it seemed.
Of course, these things are always 50/50 but the long hitting man from Perth perhaps noticed his misfortune more than some others.
“We would all joke about it when playing tournaments. You had no chance if you were on the same side as Lynds. We loved him for that,” said Ian Baker-Finch when his friends heard the, sadly, inevitable news he had died in Perth.
Lynds (no one ever called him Lyndsay) had been sick for a few years but he always seemed so optimistic he would somehow beat the cancer.
He was a beautiful looking player. Blessed with perfect rhythm and a big, handsome swing he was one of the few who could keep up with Greg Norman off the tee when both were at their flying best.
Not that it did either of them much good one day many years ago at Royal Melbourne. They were drawn with an aging Kel Nagle who, at his longest, earned the nickname the ‘Pymble Crusher’ but the older man’s length was all but gone by the time the trio teed up on the Composite Course in the mid-1980s. Playing into the 18th green Kel was going in from a long way back with a four wood and both Lynds and Greg had only nine irons left.
Kel bumped his wood onto 15-feet, well inside the two bombers decidedly average pitch shots. As they got to the green Kel turned to them both and said, “Not really too much you can say boys.” It was one of those stories no matter how many times you heard it, one more time was never one too many.
Lynds played in Europe in what really was a golden era for Australians on the European Tour. Greg was just heading off to America when our lot started but Rodger Davis, Finchy, Wayne Grady, Mike Harwood, Peter Fowler, Wayne Riley, Vaughan Somers, Peter Senior, Frank Nobilo, Greg Turner (we always counted the New Zealanders as ours) had about as much fun as you can imagine. It was competitive but if anyone needed help it was always there.
But there was one torment none of us could ever help Lynds with. He was desperate, as we all were, every year, to play in The Open. Finchy famously won it, Harwood, Grady and Davis played well enough to finish second at different times but Lynds never got to play the game’s oldest championship.
It really was a pity because he was easily a good enough player, but the cards just fell where they did.
1986 was a particularly torturous year. The top five non-exempt players in the previous week’s tournament at Moortown made it straight into Turnberry – the famous Greg Norman Open.
Lynds jumped out to an early, 65,67, lead on the famous Alister MacKenzie course but a 76 on Saturday did him no favours and a 70 on the final day tied him for ninth and a place in a four-man playoff for one spot.
He missed it, drove all the way to Scotland, teed up in the 36-hole qualifier and missed that by a shot. There’s not much you can say to a mate in that situation but you can bet it was a long drive back to London.
Later in the same year Norman was on his triumphant homecoming tour and in his best form. He won the Queensland, New South Wales, South Australian and West Australian Opens but Lynds was second at Concord, a shot ahead of Steve Elkington, tied with Mark O’Meara for fourth at Lake Karrinyup, 10th in Queensland and 14th at Kooyonga. Greg, of course eclipsed us all but it was an awfully nice run of form for the sweet swinger.
Three growing children brought him home from Europe and he parlayed his reputation into a career of corporate golf. He was a terrific imitator of swings, a great storyteller and had the necessary patience of a saint when it came to teaching amateurs, many of whom were there because they’d bought an expensive car and not because they were any great shakes as golfers. He would always make them laugh and sent them away better players than when they arrived.
Lynds truly did get the bad side of the draw when it came to the most important of things, but he handled it was well as anyone could have, and with nary a word of complaint.
Like golf, it wasn’t fair, but the many who met him all over the world will remember someone who, as Finchy said, “(Lynds) was everyone’s friend with not one enemy in the world.”
Anthony Quayle has climbed the Isuzu Queensland Open mountain; great mate Jake McLeod is eager to share the summit.
And, as ever for athletes with maroon coursing through the veins, the drive for both to excel on home soil at Pelican Waters next month adds an extra dimension.
Quayle and McLeod were among the first to confirm their entries for their state championship, each with lofty expectations before heading back to tour duties in Japan and Europe, respectively.
Defending champion Quayle, who held his nerve to outlast Jack Thompson in a playoff last year, said his breakthough win had been vital in his development.
“I’d been in position to contend probably a handful of times since turning pro and to be able to have it come together at home was something I’ll never forget,” Quayle said.
“One of the prizes I got was to become an honorary member at Pelican Waters and with the way things worked out in 2020, I’ve been very fortunate to be able to play and practise there a fair bit, so it even feels like more of a home game this time around.
“I feel like my game is not far away, so I’m really looking forward to getting back for my first title defence.”
McLeod has a host of top finishes at state Opens around the country – including a win in NSW in 2018 – as well as a third placing in the 2018 Australian Open.
Now, recovering from a lower arm injury, he’s eager to improve on his best, fourth place, in his home Open.
“This is a big event, but particularly for those of us who grew up here and always wanted to get our name among the stars on that trophy,” McLeod said.
“It would mean a lot. I can’t wait to get out there and have a crack at it.”
Golf Australia’s Queensland state manager Luke Bates said the home-grown talent would be well supported again by golf fans on the Sunshine Coast.
“Pelican Waters proved a great hit last year and we’ve got a great relationship with owners, the Palm Lake Group, who have great plans for the course, the clubhouse and developments in the precinct,” Bates said.
“So I’m sure there will be a host of supporters out to take in not only the brilliant golf on display, but also the world-class destination it’s becoming.”
The Isuzu Queensland Open is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.
The 2021 Isuzu Queensland Open will be held at Pelican Waters Golf Club from 11-14 March. It is a key part of the 2020-21 ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia calendar and the second last event on its Order of Merit this season.
Visit the website for more information.
