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In a true ‘Open for the ages’ there can only be one winner, and he’s an understated gent from Brunswick in Melbourne.
On Sunday night Fox Sports will broadcast ‘The Open For The Ages’, a joint initiative between the R&A and Sky Sports UK that has collated more than 300 pieces of archive footage from past Championships at St Andrews dating back to 1970 to determine golf’s ultimate Open champion at the game’s spiritual home.
Only two Australians have ever won The Open across the Old Course of St Andrews but it is Peter Thomson’s record both in the championship and at the course that would provide the blueprint to his own design philosophy that makes his case compelling.
Given that the R&A have only gone back as far as 50 years to the 1970 Open Championship – where at 40 years of age Thomson finished tied for ninth as Jack Nicklaus claimed his second consecutive Open at St Andrews – Thomson may not feature heavily in the broadcast but his record is unlikely to ever be equalled.
From the time he finished runner-up to South African great Bobby Locke in the 1952 championship at Royal Lytham, Thomson didn’t finish worse than second in seven consecutive Opens.
He won three in succession from 1954 – including the 1955 championship at St Andrews – was second again in 1957 at St Andrews and won his fourth Open in the space of five years at Lytham in 1958.
When great friend Kel Nagle triumphed over Arnold Palmer at the Old Course in 1960 Thomson was eight strokes back in a tie for ninth before claiming his fifth Open title at Royal Birkdale in 1965, second only to Harry Vardon for the most wins in golf’s oldest and most revered championship.
In 1978 at 48 years of age Thomson again showed his affinity for St Andrews when he finished tied for 24th and his final appearance at the championship came fittingly at the Old Course in 1984.
“I never got the chance to meet Peter Thomson but obviously I know his record,” said Marcus Fraser, an Open participant on six occasions and a contender in the final round at St Andrews in 2015.
“When you think about it it’s pretty amazing.
“To win five of them and be runner-up in three others is just crazy.
“I don’t care what era it is, that was the best players anywhere in the world at that time.
“It’s just amazing. It’s perhaps the most impressive record of anyone.”
Such was the reverence that Thomson was held by anyone who played The Open, Aussies would clamour for the chance to play a practice round with the five-time champion and pick his brain for any morsel of knowledge he cared to share.
The likes of Bruce Devlin, David Graham and Rodger Davis all benefited from spending some of their preparation in Thomson’s presence, his grace and confident ease conveying god-like status on the British links.
In the 50-year span that ‘The Open For the Ages’ covers we witnessed three Australian victories – Greg Norman’s triumphs at Muirfield in 1986 and Royal St George’s in 1993 along with Ian Baker-Finch’s brilliant weekend to win at Birkdale in 1991.
Norman and Baker-Finch both finished top-10 in the 1984 and 1990 Opens at St Andrews but the closest an Aussie has come to winning at the Old Course since Nagle did so in 1960 was Marc Leishman in 2015, the Victorian finishing tied at the top with Zach Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen before falling short in the four-hole aggregate playoff.
In order to create a sense of authenticity to the broadcast hundreds of digital corrections have been made to clips including the removal of caddies and playing partners from original footage and the introduction and removal of golf balls on greens to ensure that the viewer feels what they are watching is actually happening.
The winner of The Open For The Ages has been determined by a fan vote, which registered more than 10,000 responses, and a data model developed in partnership with NTT DATA that utilises this fan vote along with player career statistics and historical data from The Open to calculate the Champion.
‘The Open For The Ages’ will be shown from 8pm on Sunday night on Fox Sports 503.
Jason Scrivener makes his PGA TOUR debut at this week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in what he hopes will become a permanent move across the Atlantic.
A practice round with Jason Day and Bubba Watson.
A money match with England’s Matt Wallace to fire the competitive juices that have sat dormant for four months.
Sharing the stage with Tiger Woods in his return to tournament golf.
A meeting with the greatest major champion of all time and tournament host, Jack Nicklaus. Hopefully.
It’s all part of Jason Scrivener’s preparation ahead of his PGA TOUR debut at this week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in what he hopes will become a permanent move across the Atlantic.
The West Australian finished the 2019 European Tour season 32nd on the moneylist and ranked 152nd in the world, his continuing progression and his management company Wasserman’s close ties with tournament director Dan Sullivan paving the way for an invitation to one of the PGA TOUR’s most revered events.
It is known unofficially as Nicklaus’s tournament and for Scrivener provides the ideal introduction to what life on the PGA TOUR looks like, even in its current COVID-19 impacted state.
The 31-year-old played both the US Open and WGC-HSBC Champions events in 2018 and is excited to once again see how his game stacks up against the best players on the planet.
“I’m excited for sure. Any time you can get to play on the big stage is great for your game,” Scrivener said.
“It’s been four months without a tournament for me so it’s jumping straight back into the deep end.
“I’ve loved playing in Europe and I really enjoy that but any time you can play in these big events it’s great for your game.
“I feel like the last few years I’ve progressed and gone to the next level.
“I’ve kind of hovered around that 130-150 in the world mark and to take my game to the next level I’ve just got to play as many of these big events as possible really.”
Born in South Africa, Scrivener moved to Perth with his family at age 10 and soon set his sights on golf’s richest tour.
The 2007 Australian Boys Junior champion turned professional in September 2010 and wasted no time in making his intentions known, signing up to play in the First Stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School in Dallas, Texas.
Almost a decade later he returns to the US to play his first PGA TOUR-sanctioned event but with the confidence gained from five full seasons building his game on the European Tour.
“That’s what everyone aspires to, to be able to play on the PGA TOUR,” admits Scrivener, who has been drawn to play with Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and China’s Haotong Li in the opening two rounds.
“I love Europe but the PGA TOUR is obviously the biggest stage in golf.
“I did go to PGA TOUR Q-School early in my career and that didn’t work out.
“I kind of decided that Europe was the route because I just wasn’t ready.
“It’s given me amazing opportunities. I’ve been able to play with the best players in the world, played some big events and worked my way slowly up the ranks.
“I don’t feel uncomfortable this week. I feel like it’s any other tournament really because I’ve rubbed shoulders with all these guys before.
“It’s nothing too different. Obviously it’s on a bigger stage and I haven’t played a PGA-sanctioned event before so there are a few little differences but apart from that I’ve played with all these guys before.
“Europe has been great from that point of view.”
And while his intention is to fly to the UK and join the European Tour ‘bubble’ from Monday ahead of the six-week stretch of UK-based tournaments starting with next week’s British Masters, Scrivener is already eyeing off a permanent move to the PGA TOUR.
“I’m planning on playing the British Masters next week but obviously things change,” said Scrivener, the 2017 NSW Open champion.
“If I can play well here and the opportunity pops up to play another PGA TOUR event then I’ll grab that.
“I’m in no rush to go home to Australia because of the two-week hotel quarantine. I’ll take it week to week and probably just be a gypsy for the rest of the year.”
As for that meeting with Mr Nicklaus, Scrivener says he has much to thank the ‘Golden Bear’ for.
“He was out there today but I didn’t get to meet him,” he said.
“Hopefully we’ll cross paths at some stage and I can thank him for the invite.”
The Queensland Golf Industry is excited to bring you their very first ‘virtual’ Golf Industry Awards to be broadcast on Tuesday 14 July.
The PGA of Australia, Golf Australia, Golf Course Superintendents Association of QLD and Golf Management Australia will come together to celebrate the achievements of the QLD Golf Industry in 2019, highlighting the contributions of the sport’s finest athletes, volunteers, administrators, staff, courses and facilities across the state.
Joining the broadcast will also be defending Australian PGA Champion and world number 10 Adam Scott who will give us an insight into being back in the Sunshine State during restrictions, and where we might expect to see him for the remainder of 2020.
We hope you will join us as we go live on YouTube and on PGA TV from 7pm AEST. Join the conversation and upload your celebratory snaps on your social channels using the hashtag #QGIawards.
Date: Tuesday 14 July, 2020
Time: Tune in live at 7pm (AEST) via the video link below
Where: Your home, golf club or with a group of friends anywhere via the pga.org.au on your phone, tablet or PC
Dress: Formal up top, casual down the bottom
A full list of all of the finalists can be found by clicking here with the below additional awards also being presented during the broadcast:
Sick of playing the blame game, Jason Day has credited a positive mindset and an improved putting performance for logging just his second top-10 finish in more than 12 months at the Workday Charity Open in Ohio.
After dropping a shot at the second hole of his final round Day rattled off three straight birdies to right the ship, adding three more birdies in a 5-under 67 that lifted him into a tie for seventh, eight shots back of playoff combatants Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas.
Morikawa claimed his second PGA TOUR title at the second playoff hole after the pair drained monster putts on their first trip down Muirfield Village’s 18th hole but Day showed that his upward trajectory is well timed ahead of golf’s biggest events of a shortened 2020 season.
The TOUR stays at Muirfield Village this week for the Memorial Tournament and then two weeks later the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational precedes the US PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
Despite a top-five finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, Day went into the Workday Charity Open ranked No.63 in the world but believes a change in mindset will deliver stronger results in the near future.
“It’s funny, when you’re going through a bit of a rough patch, you start to blame other things other than yourself,” Day said after climbing 12 spots on the leaderboard on Sunday.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to have a hard look at yourself and understand the attitude isn’t helping the game out at all. So you may as well just try and fix that, and that’s obviously the first thing that you try and do. The attitude was a lot better.
“I felt like I was just trying to play the victim role a little bit too much especially because I haven’t played that great coming back after the break and then a bunch of missed cuts, and my body is sore.
“I just don’t want to play that role. I want to take it for what it is and just get on with it.”
Regarded as one of the best putters on the planet when he rose to No.1 in the Official World Golf Ranking Day’s flatstick fragilities have contributed to his fall out of the top 50.
Ranked 111th in Strokes Gained: Putting at the start of the week, Day delivered his best putting performance of the season and was finally rewarded for months of hard work.
“I’m the most excited I have been in a long time with my putting,” said Day.
“Usually I’ve been in the top 10 putting every year, and this year I’ve been 171st. When there’s that big of a margin between where you usually are, there’s a lot of opportunities that are missed.
“Today was a nice indication of where my putting is actually starting to progress into.
“I’ve been working very, very hard. I’ve been trying to bust my butt over the last two months to try and get ready for this.”
Matt Jones climbed 15 spots in the FedEx Cup with a tie for 14th with Kiwi Tim Wilkinson the only other Australasian player to qualify for all four rounds, finishing tied for 31st.
A last-minute Government reprieve has paved the way for Deyen Lawson to rejoin the European Tour and take his place as the sole Australian in the field for this week’s Austrian Open near Vienna.
The Austrian Open at Diamond Country Club outside Vienna is being staged as a joint European Tour/Challenge Tour event with Lawson’s Challenge Tour status gained at Qualifying School last year providing a place for him in the field.
Since returning to Australia after playing three Challenge Tour events in Africa and the world going into lockdown in early March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lawson has been biding his time practising and giving lessons at The Glades Golf Club on the Gold Coast.
He had almost resigned himself to not leaving the country again in 2020 but the competitive itch that grew with the return of tournament golf in the US ultimately convinced Lawson to book his flights for two events in Austria in successive weeks.
“I was tossing up whether to go until last Tuesday and then I just went ahead and booked my flights,” Lawson revealed.
“I was going and then I wasn’t going and then I was going and eventually it just came down to the fact that I wanted to play and wanted to compete again.”
Lawson required approval to enter from the Austrian Government before he was able to confirm his travel but was very nearly turned away at the boarding gate prior to leaving Brisbane last Saturday.
“I went to book in at the airport and they said I needed permission from the Australian Government to leave, and I didn’t have that at the time,” Lawson said.
“I’d read through every bit of detail, had the test to show that I was negative and spoke to the quarantine people about what would happen when I came back and no one had mentioned I needed approval to leave.
“I was told by Border Security that approval from Canberra normally takes seven days but there are a couple of exemptions and because I have spent more time overseas than in Australia the past two years I fell into one of those exemptions.
“They even looked up my Wikipedia page – that I didn’t even know that I had – so that was pretty funny.
“If I’d spent more time in Australia the past two years I wouldn’t have been able to come.”
In addition to the Austrian Open this week Lawson is guaranteed a start in next week’s Euram Bank Open also in Austria but will need to produce something spectacular to play his way into contention for the six-week European Tour swing through the UK starting July 22.
“With my category status I’d probably have to win,” Lawson said.
“If I play all right in both I might get an invite into the first event but I probably wouldn’t go to the UK just for one event.
“I wasn’t coming here unless I was definitely in for both and it will be the same in the UK. Unless I get two or three in a row then I’ll just come home and get ready for the Aussie summer.
“There’s only so much practice you can do before you need to measure where your game’s at.
“I saw this as a good opportunity to come over and see where I’m at and then if nothing else get ready to have a crack at the Aussie events at the end of the year.”
The PGA TOUR is spending the next two weeks at Muirfield Golf Club in Ohio starting with the new Workday Charity Open this week while the Korn Ferry Tour moves to Texas for the TPC San Antonio Challenge.
Marc Leishman rejoins the Aussie contingent on the PGA TOUR while Steven Bowditch is in the field in San Antonio in his home state.
Former Australian Open champion Steve Allan also very nearly played his way into the latest Korn Ferry event but his 64 in Monday qualifying fell just short, the second week in succession he has posted that number in qualifying without earning a start.
Round 1 tee times AEST
European Tour
Austrian Open
Diamond Country Club, Atzenbrugg, Austria
11.10pm Deyen Lawson, Robbie Van West, Benjamin Rusch
Defending champion: Mikko Korhonen (2018)
Past Australian champions: Richard Green (2007)
PGA TOUR
Workday Charity Open
Muirfield Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio
8.50pm Aaron Baddeley, Jhonattan Vegas, Robby Shelton
9.12pm Matt Jones, Brian Stuard, Bronson Burgoon
9.45pm* Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka
10.51pm Tim Wilkinson, Mackenzie Hughes, Scott Harrington
10.51pm* Danny Lee, Jason Kokrak, JJ Spaun
2.26am Cameron Davis, Charley Hoffman, Carlos Ortiz
2.48am Marc Leishman, Collin Morikawa, Brandt Snedeker
4.16am Cameron Percy, Byeong Hun An, Matt Wallace
Defending champion: New event
Top Aussie prediction: Marc Leishman
TV schedule: Live 5am-8am Friday and Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503
Korn Ferry Tour
TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons
TPC San Antonio (Canyons Cse), San Antonio, Texas
11.00pm* Steven Bowditch, Nelson Ledesma, Paul Barjon
11.20pm* Robert Allenby, Augusto Núñez, Max McGreevy
11.30pm* Curtis Luck, JJ Henry, John VanDerLaan
4.20am Brett Coletta, Tag Ridings, Greg Yates
5am* Harrison Endycott, Dawson Armstrong, Yuwa Kosaihira
5.10am* Ryan Ruffels, Brad Hopfinger, Brent Grant
5.20am Brett Drewitt, Kevin Lucas, KK Limbhasut
Defending champion: New event
Top Aussie prediction: Harrison Endycott
Victorian Brett Coletta has climbed 24 spots on the Korn Ferry Tour Order of Merit after registering his second top-20 finish in succession at the TPC Colorado Championship in Colorado.
As the PGA TOUR pressed on with its post-COVID-19 resumption Coletta was the best performed Australian across the two US events as the European Tour prepares to resume this week with the Austrian Open.
Runner-up in Colorado 12 months ago, Coletta returned to TPC Colorado on the back of a tie for 14th at The King and Bear Classic last start and immediately reignited his love affair with the spectacular layout, opening with a 4-under 68 to sit one shot off the lead.
The 23-year-old backed that up with a 3-under 69 to enter the final two rounds at the upper end of the leaderboard before a stumble in the third round, consecutive three-putts at the 14th and 15th holes contributing to three dropped shots and a 2-over 74.
Beginning the final round in a tie for 20th, Coletta made birdies at the second and fifth holes to turn in 2-under, signing for a 3-under 69 to finish tied for 17th, seven shots back of winner Will Zalatoris.
After a difficult start to the season, Coletta’s second top-20 result moved him up 24 spots to 96th on the moneylist in the race to a PGA TOUR card that will extend into 2021.
Like Coletta, Sydney’s Harrison Endycott began strongly with a 4-under 68 and ultimately finished tied for 44th with Kiwi Steven Alker and Curtis Luck also completing all four rounds.
The Aussies struggled to keep pace with the low scoring on offer at the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic with Rhein Gibson the only player to make the cut.
In his first start since the season resumption last month, Gibson showed no signs of rust from the time off, jumping out of the blocks with a 5-under 67 that placed him just two shots off the lead.
A sensational shot from 246 yards to four feet set up eagle at the par-5 17th in a third round 68 that saw Gibson enter Sunday in a tie for 40th, falling five spots on the final day to end the week in a tie for 45th.
This week the PGA TOUR moves on to Dublin, Ohio for the first of two consecutive events at Muirfield Golf Club while the Korn Ferry Tour heads to Texas for the TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons.
Korn Ferry Tour
TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes
TPC Colorado, Berthoud, Colorado
Winner Will Zalatoris 67-67-70-69—273 $US108,000
T17 Brett Coletta 68-69-74-69—280 $7,160
T44 Harrison Endycott 68-74-70-72—284 $2,730
T50 Steven Alker 72-69-70-74—285 $2,564
T70 Curtis Luck 72-70-78-72—292 $2,328
MC Ryan Ruffels 77-68—145
MC Mark Hensby 79-67—146
MC Jamie Arnold 72-76—148
MC Brett Drewitt 75-74—149
PGA TOUR
Rocket Mortgage Classic
Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan
Winner Bryson DeChambeau 66-67-67-65—265 $US1.35m
T45 Rhein Gibson 67-72-68-71—278 $21,019
MC Cameron Davis 71-69—140
MC Jason Day 70-70—140
MC Greg Chalmers 72-68—140
MC Matt Jones 73-68—141
MC Cameron Percy 71-71—142
MC Aaron Baddeley 71-72—143
MC Tim Wilkinson 73-71—144
MC John Senden 72-73—145
Victorian Cameron Percy is going into attack mode at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit as he sets his sights on finishing inside the top 125 on the PGA TOUR for the first time in his career.
Having made his first post-COVID 19 start at last week’s Travelers Championship on short notice, Percy enters this week’s tournament as one of eight Aussies teeing it up at Detroit Golf Club and with a much better preparation under his belt.
Sitting as high as 14th in the FedEx Cup early in the wrap-around season, Percy fell from 109th to 128th after missing the cut at TPC River Highlands last Friday and knows he will have to go low this week if he is to break back into the magical top 125.
Given the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Percy’s status that he earned through the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 will be maintained through the 2021 season but finishing in the top 125 will bring far greater certainty to the schedule he can play next year.
“It’s so much easier when you’re exempt,” says Percy, who made a mad dash from his home in North Carolina to Connecticut when close to a dozen players withdrew from the Travelers Championship.
“You can pick which tournaments you want to play, you don’t have to worry about re-ranks and you can plan stuff rather than constantly worrying about which tournaments you may or may not get in to.
“The category I’m in, I’ve been in it my whole career. I’ve never actually finished in the top 125. I’ve always gone back to a Q school or the finals and got my card back that way.
“If you’re top 125 you just work out what you want to play and you play.
“I’ve dropped out of the top 125 now so I need to have a good week somewhere to get back in there and then get ready for next season.”
Now 46 years of age, Percy was convinced he was going to play the first event back at Colonial Country Club in Texas, missing out when a flood of entries were submitted late and bumped him down the pecking order.
Percy estimates that he has four events after this week to play his way into enhanced status for next year and has no intention of holding back.
“Last week I played OK the first day and then played terrible the second day – I never drove it on the golf course so I couldn’t attack,” said Percy, who described the Detroit Golf Club as akin to a wider version of Lang Lang Golf Club in the South Gippsland region south-east of Melbourne.
“This week you’re going to have seven or eight holes where you’ve only got a wedge in your hand so you’re going to have to make some birdies.
“There are three or four holes where you will have 7 or 8-iron in and then the par 5s are all reachable for me except for perhaps one of them.
“The course is very short and the scoring is going to be crazy low so you’re going to have to just go for it this week.
“I’ve probably only got four left after this so it’s not much and it all goes pretty quickly.”
While the shortened season puts pressure on Percy to make every start count, the COVID-19-enforced suspension was a blessing in disguise.
In between running fitness camps for the kids in the neighbourhood and administering home schooling for his own three children, Percy was able to rehabilitate the wrist he fractured in April last year and which has been causing him pain ever since.
“I was contemplating taking a medical,” Percy revealed.
“I had no strength and was losing a lot of distance. I was coming out of shots a lot and I was playing in pain every day.
“I was sick of it so I was considering taking a medical when the COVID hit and that gave me a chance to rest and get some strength back in my body.
“My body is feeling way better now, I’ve got a bit more speed back and a bit more distance.
“At the start I was only able to hit 20 balls a day, then 30, then 40.
“It was just a really, really slow build-up to get my wrists used to the thud of hitting the ground again.
“It was great timing for me to have some time off.”
Round 1 tee times
PGA TOUR
Rocket Mortgage Classic
Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan
8.45pm Cameron Davis, James Hahn, David Hearn
9.15pm* Greg Chalmers, Tyler Duncan, Pat Perez
10.15pm* Aaron Baddeley, Beau Hossler, Roger Sloan
2.10am Tim Wilkinson, Seung-Yul Noh, Ricky Barnes
2.10am* John Senden, Sam Ryder, Matt Wallace
2.20am* Cameron Percy, Seamus Power, Erik van Rooyen
2.50am Jason Day, Brendon Todd, Bubba Watson
3.20am Matt Jones, Michael Thompson, Arjun Atwal
4am* Rhein Gibson, Sebastian Cappelen, Donnie Trosper
Defending champion: Nate Lashley
Top Aussie prediction: Jason Day
TV schedule: Live 5am-8am Friday and Saturday; 3am-8am Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503
Korn Ferry Tour
TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes
TPC Colorado, Berthoud, Colorado
11.34pm* Mark Hensby, Curtis Thompson, Robert Garrigus
11.56pm* Brett Coletta, Nicholas Lindheim, Jim Knous
12.18am* Harrison Endycott, Jack Maguire, Taylor Pendrith
4.53am Curtis Luck, Kyle Jones, Scott Gutschewski
5.04am* Jamie Arnold, Sangmoon Bae, Ollie Schniederjans
5.15am* Steven Alker, Ben Kohles, Wade Binfield
5.48am Brett Drewitt, Chandler Blanchet, Chase Johnson
6.21am* Ryan Ruffels, David Skinns, Brian Richey
Defending champion: Nelson Ledesma
Top Aussie prediction: Brett Coletta
It’s been 130 days since an Australian last won on the PGA TOUR but there are eight in action at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut this week hoping to add their names to the list of Aussie winners in 2020.
Headlined by 2012 champion and Farmers Insurance Open victor Marc Leishman, there is a deeper Australian presence at TPC River Highlands thanks to the inclusion of veterans Greg Chalmers and Cameron Percy, both making their first appearances since the PGA TOUR’s resumption two weeks ago.
Two-time Australian Open champion Matt Jones is the only Australian to have made the cut in both of the tournaments played since the coronavirus shutdown in March and likes his prospects of registering a second PGA TOUR win at the Travelers.
“I’ve played well here over the years,” Jones said from Cromwell on Wednesday morning.
“Maybe not for 72 holes, but I know I’ve been up there a few times.
“It’s a golf course I really enjoy and I really like, and it’s going to play firm and fast here, which is going to be great for the Aussies.
“We’re going to get some rain tomorrow, but I think come the weekend, the greens are going to get purple. They’re going to let them go a little.
“It’s going to be a really good test. If I can hit it like I did today for the whole week, I’ll be good and I’ll have a chance.”
In nine previous starts at TPC River Highlands Jones has a best finish of tied for 13th in 2010 and was top 20 again two years ago when he opened with rounds of 65-66 to sit near the top of the leaderboard at the halfway mark.
Possessing a similar parkland look to his home club of The Australian Golf Club where he claimed the Stonehaven Cup for a second time last December, Jones has posted sub-70 in 15 of his 27 rounds at the venue.
There is also a strong Aussie influence at the Utah Championship, the third of the Korn Ferry Tour’s resumed season.
Last week’s top finisher Brett Coletta has not made the trip west to the tournament where Jeff Woodland won in 1992 and Kiwi Steven Alker triumphed in 2013, Alker returning for another shot at the title.
The Aussies in the field are Ryan Ruffels, Brett Drewitt, Mark Hensby, Jamie Arnold and Harrison Endycott.
Round 1 tee times AEST
PGA TOUR
Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
8.45pm* Matt Jones, Brian Gay, Byeong Hun An
8.55pm Cameron Davis, Talor Gooch, Harry Higgs
10.05pm* Marc Leishman, Max Homa, Adam Long
10.25pm Cameron Percy, Emiliano Grillo, Patrick Rodgers
2am Danny Lee, Bronson Burgoon, Scott Harrington
2.40am Jason Day, Kevin Kisner, Kevin Chappell
3.10am Cameron Smith, Corey Conners, Brendan Steele
3.20am* Greg Chalmers, Luke Donald, Stewart Cink
3.30am Aaron Baddeley, Jason Kokrak, Jamie Lovemark
Defending champion: Chez Reavie
Past Australian winners: Greg Norman (1995), Marc Leishman (2012)
Top Aussie prediction: Marc Leishman
TV schedule: Live 5am-8am Friday and Saturday; 3am-8am Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503
Korn Ferry Tour
Utah Championship
Oakridge Country Club, Farmington, Utah
11.55pm* Ryan Ruffels, Michael Miller, John VanDerLaan
12.25am* Steven Alker, Patrick Fishburn, Cyril Bouniol
1.05am* Brett Drewitt, Mark Baldwin, Will Cannon
4.30am* Mark Hensby, José de Jesús Rodríguez, Alex Cejka
4.40am Jamie Arnold, Luke Guthrie, Marcelo Rozo
6.10am* Harrison Endycott, Lorens Chan, Steve Lewton
Defending champion: Kristoffer Ventura
Past Australasian winners: Jeff Woodland (1992), Steven Alker (2013)
Top Aussie prediction: Harrison Endycott
TV schedule: Live 8am-10am Friday, Saturday, Sunday; 8am-11am Monday on Fox Sports 503
In his fourth season and in his 96th start Marc Leishman cracked the code.
The 2009 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year had finished second twice and top-10 seven times but as he neared a century of tournament starts in the US Leishman was beginning to wonder when the breakthrough win would come.
One of six Aussies confirmed in the field for this week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, Leishman returns to Connecticut as a five-time PGA TOUR winner eight years after coming from the clouds to pick up his first.
Rounds of 68-66 safely carried Leishman through to the weekend in the 2012 tournament but an even-par 70 in round three meant that he began the final day six strokes adrift of the leaders.
Winning was the furthest thing from his mind. He went out with the intention of trying to push into the top-10 but a bogey-free 8-under 62 and late mistakes by Charley Hoffman delivered a maiden win in unexpected circumstances.
“The difference between that tournament and perhaps tournaments that I didn’t win was going to bed the night before or teeing off that morning not thinking about winning,” Leishman recalls.
“Going to sleep the Saturday night I certainly wasn’t thinking of winning the tournament. I was hoping I could play well and maybe get a top-10 but obviously as things progressed through the day those expectations changed.
“All of a sudden when you’re not thinking of the result the results come.
“That was a pretty big learning curve for me, to realise that just because you think about winning doesn’t mean you’re going to win.
“You’ve got to think about what you can do to get better and how you can play well. That’s what’s going to lead to winning.
“That’s a really good lesson not only for me but anyone who would read this that just thinking about good results is not necessarily going to lead to good results. To be honest, it’s probably not going to lead to good results.
“It was something that will be a highlight of my career forever.”
A missed cut first up at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club was not a completely unexpected result for Leishman who spent the coronavirus shutdown maintaining his physical fitness, spending time with his family and tending to his beloved back lawn.
Despite the layoff the Victorian intends to stick to his regular schedule of not playing more than three weeks in succession as he targets the FedEx Cup and the rescheduled major championships.
“It’s been on the courses where there’s a lot of trouble out there and you’ve got to play to not hit into the trouble where I’ve maybe played my best golf,” Leishman said of his fondness for TPC River Highlands where he has three further top-20 finishes.
“The days where I know I’ve got to play good to shoot a good score and even give myself half a chance to win the tournament.
“I just don’t want to get to the Tour Championship and be worn out. There is so much to play for that week.
“The Tour Championship, the majors, that’s what I’m going for.
“Obviously I want to play well every week that I play but I’m keeping in mind the fact that I’m not getting any younger and the opportunities to win majors are not going to be around forever.
“I want to be fresh at those events where I want to play the best.”
A course record that was equalled inside hours and a 20-under total that wasn’t good enough to finish inside the top 10; Brett Coletta knows that Korn Ferry Tour victories don’t come easy.
When the Victorian opened with a 9-under 63 in the first group out in Wednesday’s opening round it seemed a mark no one would match yet just hours later Vince India matched the new course record at The King and Bear layout at World Golf Village, the pair sharing the round one lead of The King and Bear Classic in Florida.
Setting a hot pace, both Coletta and India followed up their day one fireworks with 6-under par rounds of 66 in round two to co-own the 36-hole lead, Coletta finishing in a flurry of five birdies in seven holes to lead at the halfway mark for the first time on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“It always feels good to be in contention,” said Coletta, who came into the week having not played the weekend in his first four events of the year.
“That’s what you play for and what you come here to do. I’m stoked to be back in contention for sure.”
A 2-under 70 in the third round saw Coletta lose ground to the frontrunners to be tied for eighth and a final round of 3-under 69 – where he birdied the final three holes of the tournament – saw him finish in a tie for 14th, six shots back of tournament winner Chris Kirk at 26-under.
As Coletta bolted out of the blocks on Wednesday West Australian Curtis Luck built his way into the tournament superbly, going on to finish one shot back of Coletta in a tie for 16th.
Opening with a 4-under 68, Luck made par at the first six holes of his second round before he too joined in the sub-par plunge, making birdie at seven of the next 10 holes to shoot a bogey-free 65 and establish a strong position at the halfway mark.
A lone bogey was the only blot on a third round of 5-under 67 and Luck was headed for top Aussie honours on the final day until a wayward tee shot at the par-3 14th resulted in a penalty and a subsequent double bogey as he closed out his week with a 3-under 69.
Kiwi Tim Wilkinson was the next best of the Australasian contingent in a tie for 54th while Ryan Ruffels gave an indication that better results are not far off after beginning the week with rounds of 66-68 before falling to a tie for 58th over the final two rounds.
This week the Korn Ferry Tour moves on to Utah for the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank at Oakridge Country Club where five Aussies are due to tee it up.
There was very little Australasian representation over the final two rounds of the PGA TOUR’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links with Matt Jones the only Aussie to make the cut for the second straight week and Kiwi Danny Lee finishing tied for 70th as Webb Simpson earned his seventh PGA TOUR title by a stroke from Abraham Ancer.
Korn Ferry Tour
The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village
King & Bear at World Golf Village, St Augustine, Florida
T14 Brett Coletta 63-66-70-69—268 $US11,100
T16 Curtis Luck 68-65-67-69—269 $9,000
T54 Tim Wilkinson 67-70-69-69—275 $2,514
T58 Ryan Ruffels 66-68-73-69—276 $2,466
MC Brett Drewitt 67-72—139
MC Jamie Arnold 72-70—142
MC Robert Allenby 73-70—143
PGA TOUR
RBC Heritage
Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, Georgia
T52 Matt Jones 69-69-66-71—275 $US16,827
T71 Danny Lee 68-67-76-70—281 $14,342
MC Aaron Baddeley 71-68—139
MC Jason Day 71-69—140
MC Cameron Smith 69-72—141
