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Australia’s top-ranked female golfer Minjee Lee is remaining patient in her quest to win a maiden major title but knows her time is coming.
Fresh from posting her best finish in a major championship at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon three weeks ago, Lee enters the second major of the year ranked No.5 in the world and with three top-four finishes in five starts since the post-COVID resumption.
Prior to her third-place finish at Troon Lee’s best result in a major was a tie for third at the ANA Inspiration three years ago, her final round pairing with Open champion Sophia Popov again raising questions about when her breakthrough major championship would eventuate.
Unphased by any outside expectations, the 24-year-old knows that until she can add to her five career LPGA Tour titles with one that cements your legacy in golf history, the questions will remain.
“To be honest, it wasn’t even in the back of my mind that people were looking at me,” Lee told the Inside The Ropes podcast of her flirtation with the Women’s Open crown.
“I only saw it as support on social media and stuff.
“It will be my time soon.
“The majors are always a big focus for me and they have been for a couple of years now.
“I definitely want to have good results in the majors and hopefully I can be in contention in a couple more of them finishing the year.”
Lee has been paired with last-start winner for the opening two rounds with Australia’s most recent major winner, Hannah Green, to play with 2019 Women’s Open champion Hinako Shibuno in the scorching heat expected at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.
Veteran Katherine Kirk and exciting young talents Su Oh and amateur Gabi Ruffels round out the Australian contingent with Kiwi Lydia Ko looking to add to her two major wins.
Elsewhere this week there are five Aussies hoping to start the 50-event 2020/2021 PGA TOUR season on a positive note at the Safeway Open, five more teeing it up at the European Tour’s Portugal Masters, recent winners Brett Drewitt and Curtis Luck headlining a group of six Aussies and two Kiwis at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Evans Scholars Invitational and three Aussie girls playing the Swiss Ladies Open.
Round 1 tee times (AEST)
LPGA Tour
ANA Inspiration
Rancho Mirage, California
1.18am* Lydia Ko, Lizette Salas
1.36am* Hannah Green, Hinako Shibuno
6.09am Minjee Lee, Austin Ernst
6.36am* Katherine Kirk, Elizabeth Szokol
6.45am* Su Oh, Chella Choi
6.54am Gabi Ruffels (a), Yealimi Noh
Defending champion: Jin Young Ko
Past Aussie champions: Karrie Webb (2000, 2006)
Top Aussie prediction: Minjee Lee
TV schedule: Live 2am-6am, 9am-11am Friday, Saturday; Live 4am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503
European Tour
Portugal Masters
Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal
8.45pm Jake McLeod, Wilco Nienaber, Alvaro Quiros
9.25pm Ryan Fox, Thomas Bjorn, Stephen Gallacher
9.55pm Maverick Antcliff, Richard Bland, Toby Tree
10.25pm Zach Murray, Jamie Donaldson, Marcel Schneider
11pm Wade Ormsby, Matthew Baldwin, Joakim Lagergren
11.50pm Jason Scrivener, Raphaël Jacquelin, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet
Defending champion: Steven Brown
Past Aussie champions: Richard Green (2010)
Top Aussie prediction: Jake McLeod
TV schedule: Live 8pm-10pm, 11pm-2am Thursday, Friday; 10.30pm-3am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503
PGA TOUR
Safeway Open
Silverado Resort and Spa (North Cse), Napa, California
12am* Cameron Davis, Bill Haas, Rafa Cabrera Bello
12.10am* Aaron Baddeley, Josh Teater, Maverick McNealy
1.10am* Tim Wilkinson, Jhonattan Vegas, Sam Ryder
1.40am* Rhein Gibson, Dominic Bozzelli, Akshay Bhatia
5am* Cameron Percy, Johnson Wagner, Kelly Kraft
6am* John Senden, Alex Cejka, Jonathan Byrd
Defending champion: Cameron Champ
Past Aussie champions: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron Davis
TV schedule: Live 6am-9am Friday, Saturday; Live 8am-11am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503
Korn Ferry Tour
Evans Scholars Invitational
Chicago Highlands Club, Westchester, Illinois
9.40pm* Steven Alker, David Kocher, Andres Gonzales
10.10pm* Brett Coletta, David Lingmerth, Alex Prugh
10.30pm Brett Drewitt, John Chin, Austin Smotherman
11.30pm* Nick Voke, Zach Wright, Eric Cole
2.50am* Jamie Arnold, Kevin Dougherty, Nicolas Echavarria
3.20am Curtis Luck, Zecheng Dou, Roberto Díaz
4am Ryan Ruffels, Brad Hopfinger, Sebastián Vázquez
4.30am* Harrison Endycott, Conrad Shindler, Rico Hoey
Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler
Past Aussie champions: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Harrison Endycott
Champions Tour
Sanford International
Minnehaha Country Club, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Aussies in the field: Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie, Rod Pampling
Defending champion: Rocco Mediate
Past Aussie champions: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Rod Pampling
TV schedule: 11am-12.30pm Saturday, Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503
Ladies European Tour
VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open
Golfpark Holzhausern, Rotkreuz, Switzerland
4.25pm Whitney Hillier, Elena Moosmann, Liz Young
8pm Stephanie Kyriacou, Tereza Kozeluhova, Leonie Harm
9.25pm Amy Walsh, Isabelle Boineau, Leticia Ras-Anderica
Defending champion: Carly Booth (2012)
Past Aussie champions: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Stephanie Kyriacou
TV schedule: Live 10pm-2am Thursday; Live 10pm-1am Friday; 9.30pm-1am Saturday on Fox Sports 505
Korean PGA Tour
Shinhan Donghae Open
Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club, Incheon, South Korea
Aussies in the field: Won Joon Lee, Junseok Lee, Doeun An
TV schedule: Live 12pm-5pm Thursday, Friday; Live 12.30pm-5pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503
* Starting from 10th tee
Australian Brett Drewitt celebrated his own Father’s Day with his first victory in his 116th career start on Sunday at the Lincoln Land Championship presented by LRS.
“I was talking to my parents last night and I was kind of thinking about how cool it would be to win on Father’s Day,” said Drewitt, a father to his 18-month-old Brady. “I didn’t say anything to my parents because lately my words have been coming back to bite me, but it’s a surreal feeling.”
At 19-under 265, Drewitt edged a trio of players by one stroke. In the end, he carded five birdies and two bogeys on Sunday for a closing 3-under 68, but perhaps more importantly, he parred his final two holes. The par-3 17th (215 yards) and the par-4 18th (451 yards) played as the two toughest holes on the course on Sunday.
Playing in the penultimate group, Drewitt had to wait to see if rookie Austen Truslow would make birdie to force a playoff. Nervously hitting shots on the driving range, Drewitt knew it was over when fellow Korn Ferry Tour pro Tag Ridings came running towards him to shower him in beer.
“I look over and saw Tag giving me the fist-pump from by the 18th green, and then they started running over towards me and Cam, my caddie, said, ‘Man you did it,’” laughed Drewitt. “At that point I was just bracing myself for the beer to get sprayed all over me.”
The win celebrates a high point in what had previously been a disappointing season for the 29-year-old. He is one of six players who have played in all 19 events thus far but entering the week he had made just six cuts. Including this tournament, he had competed in 13 consecutive weeks.
“It’s surreal right now; it’s been a hard road over the last couple of years,” said Drewitt, who entered the week 73rd in the points standings. “This year has been a rollercoaster. When I got to the PGA TOUR, I led in ball-striking out here [in 2016]. I just trusted that I still had it, even if it might not show in my stats. And then the putts started dropping and that’s just the way it goes.”
Drewitt’s win came at the expense of rookies Austen Truslow and Harry Hall, along with Ben Kohles, who finished one shot back. Truslow and Kohles each had long birdie attempts to tie at the final hole, while Hall needed to get up and down for par to remain at 19-under. Hall, an Englishman competing in his fifth event, missed a downhill three-footer for par to slip one stroke off the lead. Still, the runner-up finishes were the best in the young careers of Truslow and Hall.
With the win, Drewitt moves from 73rd to 18th in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings.
The Australian Golf Industry Council (AGIC) has released a first-of-its-kind three-hour-long slow TV production that promotes the mental health benefits of golf.
The feature film, titled Tee Your Mind, is a golf mindfulness experience that packages some of Australia’s most breathtaking courses into an 18-hole experience that accentuates the natural ambiences encountered on the fairway.
Tee Your Mind follows the rounds of men and women golfers at Collaroy’s Long Reef Golf Club and St Michael’s Golf Club in Little Bay and brings to life the calming and meditative sensations of the game, such as the trees bending by the coastal breeze and native birds singing.
“Golf is the perfect sport for creating the conditions for true happiness,” said Performance Psychologist Jonah Oliver.
“Happiness comes from finding the sweet spot between challenge and skill. Combine this with doing exercise in nature and you have the perfect recipe for lifelong mindfulness and psychological health.”
Golf has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence during the COVID-19 pandemic with many lapsed and disengaged golfers returning to the game.
To seize on this participation boom, the AGIC has created Tee Your Mind to mimic the true golf experience in a digital format to engage more people to the game by highlighting the sport’s mental and physical health capabilities.
“Golf has been an antidote to an incredibly stressful year brought on by the once-in-a-generation challenges of COVID-19,” said Gavin Kirkman, AGIC Chairman and PGA of Australia chief executive.
“Given golf can be played in a safe, socially distant environment, many new and returning participants have used the sport to reconnect with friends and nature. Our game is one of the best whole body and mind experiences and many have used golf as a valuable mental health outlet during this difficult period.”
Golf Australia Chairman Andrew Newbold said golf is a powerful respite to help people overcome their anxieties.
“The benefits of golf are diverse and extend beyond the physicalities of the sport,” Newbold said.
“During COVID-19 we have seen more Australians turn to golf and we think our sport, with its unique blend of open space and nature, can offer a solution for people exploring new ways to take a break from the day-to-day.”
The University of Southern Queensland is also exploring the role sport, including golf, plays in creating a strong sense of connectedness and belonging, by embarking on a research study investigating the relationship between sport participation and mental health issues.
“We know that our exposure to green spaces can have a positive impact on our overall well-being, we often feel happier, more relaxed and more positive. Alongside our research, this suggests our response to experiencing nature is emotional and essential to our mental health,” said Andrea Lamont-Mills, Professor of Psychology, University of Southern Queensland.
Over the course of the film, Tee Your Mind provides a peaceful escape for viewers to unwind and immerse in the calming elements of golf.
Tee Your Mind will be live on Friday 4 September 2020 on https://www.golf.org.au/teeyourmind/
New South Wales’ premier golf championship has received a timely boost with the NSW Government ensuring the tournament’s future for 2021 and beyond.
The Deputy Premier, John Barilaro MP, announced on Thursday that the NSW Open Golf Championship would be played at the renowned Concord Golf Club in Sydney’s inner west from March 25th to 28th, 2021.
“This investment is vital to ensure one of the most important fixtures remains on the Australian golf calendar.
“The players who qualify through the regional tournaments will be playing for the ultimate prize on one of the best courses in NSW,” Mr Barilaro said.
Stuart Fraser, CEO of Golf NSW, was thrilled with the announcement of the dates and venue for the tournament.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to ensure the tournament continues to be one of the most important fixtures on the Australian golf calendar,” Mr Fraser said.
The host venue, Concord, is no stranger to professional golf or the NSW Open, having hosted the tournament an impressive ten times in its 90-year history.
The list of players who have been crowned the NSW Open Champion at Concord is extensive and includes some of the greatest names in Australian golf. Vic Richardson, Eric Cremin and Norman Von Nida all tasted victory at the revered course, while four-time champion Greg Norman made the tournament his own during the 1980s, lifting the Kel Nagle Cup at Concord three times in five years.
“The golf community has been incredibly resilient during this challenging period, and we are pleased we can stage the NSW Open at a later date,” said Nick Dastey, the PGA of Australia’s Tournaments Director Australasia.
“The NSW Open Honour Roll highlights the event’s distinguished history. For it to return to Concord Golf Club where some of Aussie golf’s legendary figures have been victorious is a great coup for the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and our players.”
The $400,000 NSW Open will take place at Concord Golf Club from March 25th to 28th 2021. It forms part of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.
Tournament Facts:
Host Venue: Concord Golf Club, Majors Bay Road, Concord, NSW.
Dates: 25 – 28 March 2021
Website: www.nswopen.com
Prize Fund: AU$400,000 (TBC)
Image: Concord Golf Club
It was a glimpse into the struggles of everyday club golfers and Zach Murray didn’t much care for it.
Not only was the 87 he posted in the second round of the Celtic Classic the worst of his professional career by five shots – and only the third time he has shot worse than 80 in a pro tournament – but the type of score he can’t even remember having as a kid.
But a much-needed shot of confidence and the return to the sunny skies of Spain has put Murray in a more positive frame of mind ahead of this week’s Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters at Real Club Valderrama.
Initially unsure as to whether he would travel to Europe to play within the European Tour bubble, Murray put girlfriend Amy on the bag to ensure he had someone to talk to at all times, her psychology degree coming in handy as his return to tournament golf hit an unexpected bump in the road.
After opening with a 6-over 78 Murray played the front nine of the second round in 4-over before imploding on the back nine, a quadruple bogey, triple bogey and double bogey contributing to a nine-hole total of 47 strokes and very unfamiliar territory.
“I’m not going to lie, those first couple of weeks were pretty hard,” Murray revealed. “To shoot 87 at Celtic Manor and then go out and play the same golf course again the next week, I found that pretty tough.
“There are some holes where you remember what you did the week before but you have to put it in the back of your mind and still try and grind it out.
“Those first couple of weeks I really didn’t know what I was doing.
“It was weird because before lockdown I was playing so well and competing at the highest level. In the last four or five events before lockdown I was in contention at most events and the game was feeling pretty easy.
“It’s a tough game sometimes. I wasn’t really worried but you can’t help thinking, How does it change so much in five months?”
With the help of Amy and some good-natured ribbing from fellow Aussies Scott Hend, Jake McLeod, Min Woo Lee and Jason Scrivener, Murray was able to shake off his Celtic Manor calamity and take positive steps at last week’s ISPS HANDA UK Championship at The Belfry.
Despite missing the cut for the third straight week, an opening round of 71 and some productive time on the range has given Murray the injection of confidence he needs to get back in contention.
“Although I missed the cut I played quite well in tough conditions and just made a few errors from being down on confidence,” Murray said of his second round of 78 last week.
“That’s all I’m really lacking at the moment, a bit of game-time confidence.
“I was disappointed (to miss the cut) and it was the first time I’d been frustrated on the trip because I knew I was playing better than I was scoring.
“I walked off 18 on Friday afternoon knowing that I was missing the cut but knowing that I’d played well. I had three double bogeys from three shots that weren’t that bad. I did some practice on Saturday morning and thought to myself that I was hitting it really good which excited me.
“It’s nice to go to an event knowing that you’re playing well.
“The confidence is a lot higher than it has been which is all it will really take for me, just a bit of confidence. String a couple of good weeks together and off I’ll go again.”
As for the support of Amy during time away that he hopes will carry through until the DP World Tour Championship from December 10, Murray admits that he would unlikely be playing without her.
“The travel stuff is sometimes a little difficult for me and I just thought that if I wanted to get back over and play I needed to have Amy with me,” said Murray, the 2019 New Zealand Open champion.
“That’s made it a lot easier. She has been around the game and around tournaments long enough now to know what she’s doing. She’s really good so that’s been nice.
“Her personality is super understanding and caring so for what I sometimes go through getting to tournaments or off the course, to have her to witness when it’s the most I’ve struggled on the course since I was a little kid has been pretty good because she saw that it’s not all smooth sailing all the time.
“It’s nice to have someone like her here that I can talk to and bounce ideas off because if you internalise a round like that it can turn pretty sour and spiral into a pretty tough time.”
Round 1 tee times (AEST)
European Tour
Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters
Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
4.35pm Wade Ormsby, Steven Brown, Thomas Bjorn
5.45pm Zach Murray, Calum Hill, Dave Coupland
7.20pm Jake McLeod, Carlos Pigem, Garrick Porteous
9.40pm Maverick Antcliff, Andres Romero, Toby Tree
10.20pm Jason Scrivener, Matthieu Pavon, Joakim Lagergren
10.50pm Michael Campbell, Ricardo Santos, David Howell
Defending champion: Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Wade Ormsby
TV schedule: Live 8am-10pm, 11pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 9.30pm-2am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503.
PGA TOUR
Tour Championship
East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
2.20am Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy
Past Aussie winners: Adam Scott (2006)
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron Smith
TV schedule: Live 3am-8am Saturday, Sunday; 3am-9am Monday; 2am-8am Tuesday on Fox Sports 503.
Korn Ferry Tour
Lincoln Land Championship
Panther Creek Country Club, Springfield, Illinois
9.50pm* Steven Alker, Kyle Reifers, Nick Hardy
10.40pm Curtis Luck, David Lingmerth, Sam Saunders
11.10pm Brett Drewitt, Zach Wright, Chandler Phillips
3.40am* Jamie Arnold, Curtis Thompson, Jim Knous
4.30am* Nick Voke, Steve Lewton, Matt Gilchrest
Defending champion: Xinjun Zhang
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Jamie Arnold
Two more Australian men have been added to this month’s US Open field in New York.
Curtis Luck and Matt Jones were notified of their inclusion today, bringing to nine the total number of Aussies to tee it up at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck from 17-20 September.
They will join compatriots Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Jason Day, Lucas Herbert, Scott Hend and amateur Lukas Michel in the rescheduled second major championship of the disjointed 2020 calendar.
The final members of the 144-strong field will be determined after this week’s US PGA Tour Championship, but because of the global pandemic, it will not feature qualifiers as normal, only players “exempt” by specific categories.
Luck, 24, was added to the field courtesy of his win in the recent Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship that put him in the top five of the Korn Ferry Tour finals rankings completed on Monday.
It will be the West Australian’s first US Open after he forewent the 2017 edition to turn professional, thereby giving up the status he’d earnt with his victory at the previous year’s US Amateur.
The 2020 tournament will be Jones’ fifth tilt at a US Open crown and third in succession, but he’s yet to make a cut in the event regarded as the toughest annually.
Shooting 30-over for four rounds and finishing dead last in the second of the PGA TOUR FedExCup Playoffs events doesn’t jar like it could when you have been through what Marc Leishman has.
“It’s a whole lot better than sitting next to your wife in an intensive care unit waiting for her to die.”
The Victorian is just one of two Australians who have advanced to the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta this week – the other being Sony Open champion Cameron Smith – but would need a stunning form reversal to become the first Aussie to claim the FedEx Cup.
In seven events since the resumption post the COVID-19 suspension Leishman’s best finish is a tie for 40th at the Memorial Tournament and it was a struggle again at the BMW Championship where Olympia Fields Country Club kept all but seven players over par.
Starting with a 10-over 80 on day one, Leishman was a further 17-over for the following two rounds before salvaging a semblance of positivity with a final round of 3-over 73, hopeful that better ball-striking and improved relationship with his putter can carry into the Tour Championship.
And if it doesn’t, Leishman has more than enough perspective to know that bad golf is not the worst life can get.
The 36-year-old keeps a photo on his phone of wife Audrey taken when recovery appeared unlikely. On life support five years ago fighting off sepsis, she was given little chance of survival.
It’s a photo that Leishman couldn’t bring himself to take just a day earlier, such was the grim and heartbreaking image that faced him.
“I couldn’t take it because I thought, If she dies, I don’t want to remember her like this,” Leishman revealed.
“She looked worse the day before in the picture that I didn’t take than the next day.
“The next day she actually looked a little bit like herself when I took the photo but the day before she looked like a balloon.”
Which is why the affable Aussie can find positives in such challenging times as a professional.
“It’s a tough game. We all know that. Take the good with the bad,” Leishman told PGA TOUR media following his final round.
“This is why you celebrate your wins so hard because you’re going to have times like this. You hope you don’t, but it’s a hard game and you’ve got to take the good with the bad.
“I’m going through a rough patch at the minute but hoping to turn that around next week for sure.
“When you’re playing like this, it’s pretty easy to get down on yourself. I won’t say I haven’t got down on myself a few times, but at the end of the day it’s golf.
“If this is the worst thing that’s ever going to happen to me in my life, I’ll be all right.
“It’s a bad few weeks – few months, whatever it might be – but I’ve been through a lot worse than this off the course.
“I’m still in the TOUR Championship. If I have a good week next week, a lot can happen. That’s what I’m aiming for.”
On the course, Leishman hopes to use a layout more accommodating to his preferred shot-shape off the tee to deliver a career-best performance at East Lake.
The Warrnambool native has qualified for the 30-man field four times since 2009 with a best finish of 21st two years ago.
“Today was a little better but still not where I want to be. Baby steps. Just got to get back to where I was,” said Leishman, who will begin the Tour Championship nine shots adrift of FedEx Cup leader Dustin Johnson.
“Could be I found something with my putting today, which was good. I struck it a lot better. Next week I’ll be able to hit some more drivers, which will be good, and I like the greens there next week.
“(Olympia Fields) is a tough golf course. Didn’t set up great for me. A few too many trees on the left there off the holes you’ve got to hit drivers.
“There’s a lot of 2-irons for me on holes where I would like to hit driver but I couldn’t because I fade it.
“I haven’t played well on that course (East Lake) either, but I feel like I’m due there. Things are starting to turn around with how it went today.”
Cameron Smith guaranteed his spot at the Tour Championship with a final round of 69 to finish tied 20th at Olympia Fields while Adam Scott missed out, a final round of 5-over 75 resulting in a fall of 22 places on the final leaderboard.
Tiger Woods is Jason Day’s new swing coach. Kind of.
One of only three Australian players to ascend to No.1 in the world rankings, Day is eyeing off a return to those lofty heights without the assistance of his long-time coach and mentor Colin Swatton.
Top 10 in four of his past five starts, Day enters this week’s BMW Championship ranked 35th in the world and 50th in the FedExCup and in need of another strong finish to push his way into the top 30 who will contest the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Not since a troubled teen found solace in the resident golf coach at Hills International College has Day managed his golf swing without Swatton’s assistance but he has recently turned to the man who inspired his dream to play professional golf for some expert advice.
Like Day, Woods has ongoing back issues that need constant physical therapy and an accommodating golf swing that he is self-managing. As such, the 35-year-old Queenslander believes that right now the 15-time major champion has insights that can help.
“It’s just really difficult for me to at least go around and talk to any coaches or the potential of having a coach but I actually have been talking to Tiger about his swing and what he’s been through,” said Day.
“I think he has the best swing out there in regards to especially the iron swing. It’s amazing.
“He’s gone through some back issues and I think he’s doing a lot of good things to try and alleviate his pain, obviously what he’s going through right now in regards to his back.
“I just feel like I’ve asked questions and he’s willing to answer them and I’m trying to make changes right now in my swing.
“I’ve asked Tiger about certain things in his swing. Obviously I’m still playing against Tiger but he’s very open to me about the golf swing because of the specific questions that I’ve tried to ask him, like trying to get back into your right hip on the backswing which will tidy up certain things in the golf swing that I’m trying to work on, and then a few more questions in there.
“But I am trying to take a little bit more ownership in my golf swing.”
Five years ago a win at the BMW Championship was the culmination of an extraordinary run of form that saw Day win four of six events – including his lone major championship triumph at the 2015 US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits – and didn’t finish worse than 12th in nine straight tournaments.
Save for his missed cut a week ago at The Northern Trust in Boston, Day has shown a return to that type of consistency to rise 28 spots in the rankings in the space of five events but is determined to play his way into the Tour Championship after falling short a year ago.
“I’ve always kind of wanted to put myself in the top 30 and try and give myself at shot at winning the FedEx Cup,” said Day, one of four Australians who will contest the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago.
“The last two seasons have been a little bit disappointing but the good thing is that I’m playing a lot better now leading into this week.
“I feel like the game is in a good spot. The great thing about this week is there’s no cut so you don’t have to worry about that.
“Obviously if you’re playing good golf you never worry about it but it’s always great to get four rounds under your belt and know that even if you do get off to kind of a rough start you can get yourself back into the tournament.
“I’m looking forward to this week.”
Not even a career-low round by Victorian David McKenzie was enough to upstage Champions Tour debutant Phil Mickelson who rattled off five-straight birdies on his way to the opening round lead at the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National.
Runner-up at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational just a month ago and still ranked No.54 in the world, Mickelson wasted no time in turning his attention to the over-50s circuit after his PGA TOUR season came to a close with a missed cut at The Northern Trust.
Mickelson turned 50 on June 16 and made an immediate impression amongst the Champions Tour elite in a rare Monday start, starting his five-hole birdie run at the par-4 13th and taking sole possession of the lead at 10-under with a sublime tee shot at the short par-3 17th.
Earlier he had birdied four of his first five holes to burst out of the blocks as he set about surpassing the 9-under par round of 62 posted earlier by McKenzie.
On fire. ?
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 24, 2020
David McKenzie breezes through the first round with a bogey-free 62. pic.twitter.com/VVSRRMtt7t
It was a continuation of the form resurgence McKenzie displayed in shooting 65 in the final round of the Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops Big Cedar Lodge to finish tied for 11th and established a new career low.
“I don’t think I’ve shot 10 (under) in a tournament round. I’ve shot 10 in other rounds, but not in a tournament round,” McKenzie explained post-round.
“If I wanted to find another couple, I probably could, but that would be a little bit greedy.
“I’ll take 62, it’s a nice start and see where we go.
“It has a little bit of a feel like Australia. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed it so I just like the way that it sits and feels. It’s a really comfortable sort of golf course.”
If there was excitement amongst commentators and fans about Mickelson joining the seniors, his peers know that he will bring a new level of showmanship to the Champions Tour.
“It’s exciting for all the tour,” said McKenzie.
“Anytime you can have someone who’s still competitive on the main tour as Phil is, it’s always fun to see how he comes out and goes and see how you compete against him.”
As you would expect of such a low score the statistical analysis of McKenzie’s round makes for very pleasant reading.
He missed just one green in regulation all day and needed just 27 putts, his round transformed from good to great with a run of three straight birdies from the 14th hole.
McKenzie wasn’t the only high-flying Aussie on day one with Rod Pampling posting 7-under 64 to sit three shots behind Mickelson, the highlight of his round a run of three consecutive birdies from the third hole.
West Australian Stephen Leaney is the only other Aussie in the field this week and began his tournament with a 1-under 70.
With a clutch up-and-down on the 72nd hole, Curtis Luck outlasted the field to win the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, finishing the week at 11-under 273.
“Yeah, it’s actually a really deep breath of relief,” Luck said after the win.
“Golf’s really tough. It’s probably not gone 100 percent to plan with the way I wanted to when I turned pro, but yeah, I’ve just stuck with it and I’m still working hard.
“Obviously, to get a win out here is massive because not only does it give me status for the next couple years out here on the Korn Ferry Tour, it just shows that I’m able to compete, which is nice.”
Luck, who held the 36- and 54-hole leads at The Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course, emerged victorious from a crowded leaderboard that saw five players tied for the lead at one point on Sunday.
Entering the final round with a one-stroke advantage, Luck couldn’t seem to find his rhythm on the front nine.
After seven consecutive pars, he dropped a shot at the par-3 eighth to fall back to 10-under.
On No. 11, he dropped another shot with his second bogey of the day and fell off the top of a crowded leaderboard.
“Yeah, it was a tough day from start to finish,” he said. “Unfortunately, I made a couple of bogeys, but I just rolled with them and dug deep to finish.”
Following pars on Nos. 12-14, Luck made his charge back up the leaderboard with a birdie on No. 15. At the par-4 16th, he drained a lengthy birdie attempt to regain the solo-lead at 11-under.
The drama would unfold on No. 18 as Luck found himself one stroke ahead of playing partner Cameron Young on the tee box. Theo Humphrey and Taylor Montgomery had each posted the clubhouse lead at 10-under 274.
Luck’s drive on the 18th hit off a tree but still managed to find the fairway. Young, who began the day one stroke off the lead, took an aggressive line, leaving himself a short pitch shot into the 439-yard par-4.
Luck’s approach missed the green right and found the greenside bunker leaving him a difficult up-and-down. From just short of the green, Young stuck his second shot inside 7-feet leaving him a great look for birdie.
After a difficult bunker shot, Luck faced a 7-foot par putt to post 11-under for the week but was still outside Young’s birdie attempt. As he had done all week, the Australian drained the par attempt, leaving Young with a chance to force a playoff. Despite his best effort, Young’s putt slid past the hole and secured Luck the win.
“Yeah, it was an intense hole,” Luck said of No. 18. “I thought I hit a good tee shot down there and just clipped one of those trees and shot it out backwards into the fairway. And I just, I hit a poor iron shot. I wasn’t trying to do anything special, just middle of the green and hit a poor iron shot.
“Fortunately, yeah, I made a wicked up‑and‑down and put the pressure back on Cam, who as I said, I’m certain that if I missed, with how good a player Cam is, he would have rolled that thing straight in and shut us all out.”
With the victory, Luck moved to 18th on the points list. He also put himself in great position to secure one of the five spots in the 2020 U.S. Open awarded at the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship Series.
Next week, the Tour travels to Evansville, Indiana, for the final event of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship Series, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.
