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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
Dating a major champion would provide its own motivation but it is Hannah Green’s growing influence on the game of golf in Australia that has inspired Jarryd Felton to also start giving back.
On Friday Green and Felton will face off against each other in the WA Golf Guns Charity Shootout Challenge at Gosnells Golf Club in Perth, Green partnering with 2019 IMG Academy Junior World Championship runner-up Maddison Hinson-Tolchard against Felton and WA Boys’ State team member Josiah Gilbert.
It’s the first of two charity events that Green and Felton have put their names to in addition to the time they are spending with juniors at their respective home clubs of Mount Lawley and Gosnells.
Friday’s nine-hole match that will be broadcast on Instagram Live from 4pm AEST will raise money for Challenge and the Wright family and on 5 July Green and Felton will be joined by Braden Becker, Hayden Hopewell, Haydn Barron and Kathryn Norris in a ‘Birdies for Breast Cancer’ initiative at The Cut Golf Club.
Felton acknowledges that he is playing second fiddle to the reigning Women’s PGA champion and Greg Norman Medal winner but has been inspired to do what he can to support worthy causes and promote golf in a positive manner.
“Hannah’s doing a lot of stuff for Mount Lawley playing with the juniors which has been great and I thought I could do something similar,” said the 2017 NZ PGA champion.
“I was never really too big on it but what she has been doing made me want to get involved as well.
“I’m obviously not in as good a position as Hannah is in, I’m really just following on behalf of her.
“She’s in a position where she can really grow the game and perhaps one day take over from what Karrie Webb has done.
“She knows herself that she’s got some shoes to fill in that department. Once Karrie finishes up I think she and Minjee (Lee) will be the ones to grow the game at a junior level in particular.
“It’s been a tough road the past three or four months sitting around and doing nothing so if we can do our best to help out these families and raise some money – and stay competitive – then that’s something positive.”
Both the causes that Green and Felton are supporting in the next few weeks are close to their heart.
In addition to raising funds for Challenge, Friday’s match will benefit the Wright family who lost their son Luan in tragic circumstances less than four years ago.
“I knew Luan on a personal level. He was a junior member at the golf club for quite some years before he passed away so I knew him quite well,” Felton revealed.
“It was pretty crazy because it all happened so fast. He was fine one day – he was doing his Year 12 exams – and then all of a sudden he had a brain tumour and no one knew what was going on.
“It was only three or four months later that he passed away so it was quite sudden.
“It just happened way too fast and just shows you how short life is that’s for sure.”
Captain of the WA Womens State team, Kathryn Norris’s mother Lynda is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer and is the inspiration for the 5 July fundraiser where the six golfers will attempt to play 18 holes in 27-under par playing a twoball ambrose format and try to raise $20,000.
“We grew up with Kathryn in the state team,” Felton adds.
“Hannah and I are both a little bit older than Kathryn but she grew up playing golf around the same time as us so we know the family quite well.
“She asked if Hannah and I could come on board to help out and we jumped at it.”
While both days are first and foremost in aid of charity, Felton concedes that it is an opportunity to get the competitive juices flowing again before both he and Green return to the European and LPGA tours in the near future.
“We play nine holes every now and again and it’s pretty competitive sometimes,” said Felton.
“We don’t play as much golf together as what people would think. Coming into tournament time we play a fair bit together but at the moment Hannah’s going to Mount Lawley and I come to Gosnells so we go in two separate directions.
“Hopefully it’s not over too quickly on Friday and Josiah and I don’t get fleeced too much.”
The WA Golf Guns Charity Shootout Challenge will be broadcast live on Friday at 4pm AEST through the Gosnells Golf Club Instagram page (@gosnellsgolfclub).
If you would like to support the ‘Birdies for Breast Cancer Challenge’ on July 5 visit the GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/f/birdies-for-breast-cancer-challenge.
A rust-free Cameron Smith shapes as the best chance of ending a 14-year Aussie drought at Hilton Head as the PGA TOUR continues with the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links.
Four Aussies and Kiwi Danny Lee are entered at Harbour Town that has a history of Australian winners dating back to Graham Marsh in 1977 and where growing up playing in windy conditions is a decided advantage.
Smith made his first appearance at Hilton Head in 2015 and showed an instant affinity with the golf course, a pair of 67s across the weekend taking him to a tie for 15th and a four-round total of 9-undr par.
Up until last year’s missed cut Smith had played all four rounds in each of his previous three visits to Harbour Town, coming into this week with a scoring average of 69.93 from 14 previous rounds.
The Sony Open champion in January, Smith missed the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial last week, in large part to a second shot finding the water at the par-4 ninth in the second – his last of the day – that led to a double bogey and finishing two shots shy of the cut line.
Finding the fairways at Colonial was something of an issue, a problem that continues to plague Smith as he currently sits 166th on the PGA TOUR with a driving accuracy percentage of 57.35 per cent for the season.
The last Australian to win at Harbour Town was Aaron Baddeley in 2006, the first of his four PGA TOUR titles to date.
Fresh from a humble dad-brag to son Jeremiah after making an ace at Whisper Rock Golf Club a week ago and having welcomed a sixth child into the family in February, Baddeley returns for his first tournament since the cancellation of The Players Championship on March 12.
He does so at a venue with many happy memories, not only the site of his breakthrough tour win but a venue where he also finished runner-up in 2008 and been top-15 on three further occasions.
The only Australian to make the cut in the Tour’s return last week, Matt Jones has not played Harbour Town since 2016 while Jason Day also heads back to Hilton Head after a four-year hiatus, finishing top 30 in four of his previous five appearances.
The Korn Ferry Tour stays in Florida and starts a day earlier than normal this week, six Australians taking part in The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village at a course co-designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Jamie Arnold comes in full of confidence after posting the low round of the week in last week’s Korn Ferry Tour Challenge and where he was the only Aussie to play in all four rounds.
Round 1 Tee Times
PGA TOUR
RBC Heritage
Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, South Carolina
8.45pm* Aaron Baddeley, Doc Redman
9.18pm Cameron Smith, Kevin Tway, Sergio Garcia
9.51pm* Jason Day, Nate Lashley, Bubba Watson
2.21am Danny Lee, Sepp Straka, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
4am Matt Jones, Jhonattan Vegas, Kevin Streelman
Past Australian champions: Graham Marsh (1977), Greg Norman (1988), Peter Lonard (2005), Aaron Baddeley (2006)
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron Smith
TV schedule: 6am-9am Friday and Saturday; 3am-8am Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503
Korn Ferry Tour
The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village
The King & Bear Course at WGV, St Augustine, Florida
9pm* Brett Coletta, Tyson Alexander, John VanDerLaan
10.03pm Curtis Luck, Justin Lower, Jimmy Stanger
10.03pm* Ryan Ruffels, Dawie van der Walt, Wade Binfield
10.13pm* Tim Wilkinson, Joey Garber, James Hahn
10.34pm Jamie Arnold, Sebastian Cappelen, Dan McCarthy
2.25am Brett Drewitt, Robert Allenby, Zecheng Dou
Past Australian champions: Inaugural event
Top Aussie prediction: Brett Drewitt
* Starting from 10th tee
First came the voluntary saliva test at his home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Then, when Jamie Arnold arrived in Florida for the Korn Ferry Tour’s first tournament back since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the suspension of the season, he had to pass through four drive-thru check-points before the invasive nasal swab “up the back of your brain” to test again for coronavirus.
“It took 10 or 15 seconds but it felt like an hour.”
As he awaited yet another negative result that would grant him a lanyard indicating his all-clear status, Arnold was permitted to practise at Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass, but only after subjecting himself to another thermal temperature check.
There were hand sanitising stations on the driving range, on the tee box of almost every hole and food consisted wholly of pre-packaged fare.
It’s a far cry from the Sydney native’s debut season on the secondary US Tour in 2017 but he knows such measures are necessary if the roadshow is to continue into The King and Bear Classic at World Golf Village starting Wednesday and beyond.
“It’s definitely very different but at least we’re out there playing,” said Arnold, who posted the low round of the week – a 7-under 63 in the second round – in the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass last week.
“We know that we’re only one outbreak away from the season being done or events not being on.
“We know that. The Tour has stressed so much the No.1 thing is practising social distancing not only on the golf course but at home or wherever you’re staying.
“We know that if we’re not careful and we start high-fiving and going to eat out and doing things that we used to do, one person getting it and spreading it can shut us down as quick as we opened back up.
“We’re just trying to do our best and be safe, all the little things we can do so hopefully we can play the rest of the season.”
Tied for 10th at the Australian Open in December, Arnold missed graduating to the PGA TOUR last year in heartbreaking fashion and had made a positive start to his 2020 campaign, making the cut in the first four events and posting a tie for 12th at the Country Club de Bogota Championship.
A dozen balls on the range following his opening round last Thursday gave Arnold the confidence to shoot 63 the following day – “I could have shot in the 50s” – and the belief that an extended wrap-around season that will conclude with the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour finals will work in his favour.
“The longer season creates more opportunities for me to win and to play well more consistently,” said the 36-year-old Cronulla Golf Club product.
“It’s possible that by the end of the season we could end up with 49 events so I’m looking at it as a plus.
“If the season is longer consistent players who play 40-odd events and play well should be able to finish inside the top 25.
“The downside is that we’re not going to graduate up onto the PGA TOUR this year but I thought this was a better option than having only 12 events.
“It makes it more of a marathon than a sprint.”
Thankful to be back out playing and planning on teeing it up in five of the first six events of the season resumption, Arnold revelled in an extended stay at home.
Creative matches at his home club of Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta and visits to TPC Sugarloaf to play in mini tournaments organised by former Open champion Stewart Cink were mixed in with practice, walks with the dogs and home-schooling his young son Luke.
“It made me realise that having the life that we live, you do miss a lot of stuff at home,” said Arnold, Luke learning to ride a bike a highlight of his COVID-19 isolation.
“There are a lot of people who see the glamour of travel and the money that people can make but there’s something really nice about waking up in your own bed, being with your family and being able to spend all those moments together.
“I slept the best I’ve ever slept during this break. There’s always so much pressure in golf. You’re always thinking about what you can do better. I feel like your brain’s always on and when I was home and knew we weren’t going to be playing for a while I slept so good.
“I woke up every day feeling so refreshed. I feel like I’ve never really had that before, where I’ve had nothing to worry about.
“Hanging out together as a family was really cool. I enjoyed it.”
Stress-free living, protein shakes and spaghetti bolognaise.
That’s the secret formula to a bulkier physique that West Australian Jarryd Felton hopes will make his body more durable when tournament play resumes.
As Bryson DeChambeau threatens to reshape what a golfer looks like with his new polo-stretching build and the 350-plus yard drives that it was able to unleash, Felton revealed that he too has spent a good part of the COVID-19 constructing a bigger, stronger body.
Whippet-thin at just 69 kilograms when the PGA Tour of Australasia was forced to suspend its season following the New Zealand Open, the 2017 NZ PGA champion has added seven kilograms of muscle that while not designed to launch bombs should provide a boost back out on tour.
“I’ve not necessarily done a Bryson but I’ve tried to put on some weight and go to the gym as much as I can, build some strength,” revealed Felton, who was top-15 at both the Queensland Open and NZ Open in his two most recent starts prior to the coronavirus shutdown.
“Playing tournament golf, it’s impossible to maintain your strength and I’m always coming back lighter with lost weight and a bit of stress in that as well. My body has been the No.1 focus, trying to get that to a level where I can maintain it for the rest of the year.
“I’ve had a couple of hip surgeries when I was younger that I’ve had to maintain throughout my playing career.
“It’s not necessarily added any more distance but just for my body’s sake, it’s maintaining how good I’m feeling each day.
“I’m not waking up sore or in pain and able to lift heavy weights which has been really good.”
With status on the European Challenge Tour, Felton received a welcome e-mail on Tuesday morning detailing the two events in Austria from July 9 that would mark the resumption of the Challenge Tour.
Such is his status that Felton is unsure how many events he would be eligible to play on the six-week European Tour swing in the UYKL that would follow two weeks in Austria, making a return to Europe still a difficult question to answer.
“I saw that e-mail this morning. I haven’t really read through it too well but that’s got to be a positive sign,” said Felton.
“We can go over there and we’re playing for money which is great but in this time you don’t really know what the best thing to do is.
“It’s hard to commit. The money’s great but if you’re going from country to country it’s going to be pretty difficult.”
In the meantime, Felton will stoke his competitive fire with regular nine-hole matches with his girlfriend and Women’s PGA champion Hannah Green.
The pair have committed to two charity exhibition matches in the next month, the first of which is Friday’s WA Golf Guns Charity Shootout Challenge at Gosnells Golf Club that will be broadcast on Instagram Live.
“The new pro here Scott McLean came up with an idea of having a nine-hole Instagram Live type match so we thought we should try and do something for charity at the same time,” Felton added.
“It’s been a tough road the past three or four months sitting around and doing nothing so if we can do our best to help out these families and raise some money – and stay competitive – then that’s something positive.”
