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It was time to dust off the rust and get the competitive juices flowing again and it was two-time Australian Open champion Matt Jones who did it best among the Aussies returning to tournament golf in the US.
There were 13 Aussies in action at the PGA TOUR’s Charles Schwab Challenge and the Korn Ferry Tour’s Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass but only one Australian played in all four rounds at each event, Sutherland Shire boys Jones and Jamie Arnold.
Normally clean-shaven and sharply dressed, Jones looked as though he’d lost his razor in isolation, sporting a bushy beard and a shaggy hairdo that made him almost unrecognizable from the man who triumphed at The Australian Golf Club in December.
It didn’t impact his golf game in any negative fashion, marking the PGA TOUR’s return after 91 days with a bogey-free 4-under 66 in the opening round to be tied for 16th.
Rounds of 69-70 saw Jones start the final round in a tie for 33rd and he looked like making a Sunday impression when he completed the front nine in 2-under 33 to get to 7-under.
A failure to get up-and-down from the greenside at the par-4 10th halted his forward momentum and two more in the following two holes and a birdie at 13 saw him sign for an even par 70 and a tie for 38th, American Daniel Berger claiming the crown with a playoff victory over Collin Morikawa.
While they didn’t qualify for the weekend rounds first start back there were some positive indicators for the other five Aussies who teed it up in Texas.
Veteran John Senden played the first two rounds in 1-under while Cameron Davis, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith each had one round in the 60s as they gear up for a busy schedule ahead.
As Kareela Golf Club junior Matt Jones led the way at Fort Worth it was a Cronulla Golf Club product who was the best of the Aussie contingent on the Korn Ferry Tour courtesy of the low round of the week at TPC Sawgrass.
Opening with a 2-over par round of 72, Jamie Arnold generated momentum at the start of his second round with a birdie at the par-3 11th – his second hole of the day – and kept the hammer down, his eight birdies and lone bogey thrusting him inside the top 10 at the halfway mark.
Birdies at the first and fifth holes further entrenched Arnold near the top of the leaderboard early in the third round but he played the next 27 holes in 10-over par, birdies at 16 and 18 a positive way to end his tournament return and a tie for 46th.
Kiwi Tim Wilkinson was two shots further back of Arnold in a tie for 56th as American Luke List claimed victory by a stroke from Shad Tuten and Joseph Bramlett.
Although he failed to make the cut, West Australian Curtis Luck left TPC Sawgrass with a memory to savour, registering the first hole-in-one of his professional career in round one at the 229-yard par-3 11th.
PGA TOUR
Charles Schwab Challenge
Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas
T38 Matt Jones 66-70-69-70—275 $US32,625
MC John Senden 69-70—139
MC Danny Lee 70-70—140
MC Cameron Davis 73-68—141
MC Marc Leishman 69-72—141
MC Cameron Smith 69-73—142
MC Jason Day 70-72—142
Korn Ferry Tour
Korn Ferry Challenge
TPC Sawgrass (Dye’s Valley Course), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
T46 Jamie Arnold 72-63-72-74—281 $US2,655
T56 Tim Wilkinson 66-71-75-71—283 $2,496
MC Brett Drewitt 72-69—141
MC Harrison Endycott 70-72—142
MC Brett Coletta 73-69—142
MC Curtis Luck 67-77–144
MC Steven Alker 71-73—144
MC Ryan Ruffels 71-74–145
MC Robert Allenby 73-72—145
Australian golf will find a new home in the heart of Melbourne’s Sandbelt with a new state-of-the-art facility to be built.
The Australian Golf Centre will be the new headquarters for Golf Australia, PGA of Australia, Golf Victoria and Sandringham Golf Links Management.
The $18.8 million project, majority funded by the Victorian Government’s $15.3 million investment, will create one of the country’s premier golf facilities on the site of Sandringham Golf Links, opposite the world-renowned Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
The facility will feature a new public 30-bay driving range with target greens, the redevelopment of the existing 18-hole golf course, a public café and the National High Performance Centre, which will help shape the next generation of golf heroes.
The industry-leading centre will also feature:
The contract for the building construction work, to be undertaken by local firm 2Construct and expected to generate 24 jobs, was signed this week. The projected completion date for these works is April 2021.
Redevelopment of nine holes has been completed, with the remaining nine holes to be finished by December 2020. The course redesign and construction is being undertaken by Australian golf architects Ogilvy Cocking and Mead, with help from the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
PGA of Australia chairman Rodger Davis said the project was another sign of the increasing unity in Australian golf.
“The Australian Golf Centre will help unify golf’s peak bodies and create efficiencies that will introduce more participants to our great game,” Davis said.
Golf Australia chairman Andrew Newbold said the centre would generate many benefits.
“Not only for our emerging talent but for Australian professionals as well, which gives the entire industry a base and a place to inspire the next generation into the sport,” Newbold said.
Stephen Spargo, president of Golf Victoria which is the project principal, was excited about the centre’s potential to be a nationally unifying force for the golf community.
“It’s fantastic to see those in the sport rally behind such a great project and we’re delighted that it can take place in the heartland of Melbourne golf,” Spargo said.
Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula said the new centre would enhance the state’s reputation as “the home of golf in Australia” and continue to help the community’s re-emergence from the impacts of COVID-19.
“Golf is a great employer at the local and elite levels and investments like this are important in setting up the industry to thrive on the other side of the pandemic,” Pakula said.
Victorian Marc Leishman will have the honour of being the first Australian to tee off in the PGA TOUR’s resumption when he begins his first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge at 10.34pm on Thursday night.
After 91 days of COVID-19-induced suspension the richest tour in world golf begins again with no crowds, new innovations and players itching to compete once again.
Each of the top five players in the world are all playing at famed Colonial Country Club along with Aussies Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Jason Day, Matt Jones, John Senden and Cameron Davis along with Kiwi Danny Lee.
Starting from the 10th tee, Leishman is the first of the Australians to kick-start their season alongside major champions Graeme McDowell and Patrick Reed while Day will play with Keegan Bradley and Si Woo Kim in the opening two rounds.
In stringent medical testing that makes the Tour’s resumption possible all players in the field have tested negative to coronavirus but PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan recognises that starting again is only one part of the process.
“If there’s one thing you learn as you look back over the last 90 days and you go forward, there’s steps that you take,” Monahan said.
“We’ve passed some important hurdles. These are important steps. But now we get inside the field of play.
“Now you think about all the things that we’re asking our players and caddies and everybody that’s here in this small bubble to do, we need to execute on that.”
Four Australians have won at Colonial dating back to Bruce Crampton in 1965 but for those in action this week it is a venue they have to reacquaint themselves with.
Leishman hasn’t played in the event since he was tied for 34th in 2017 while Day’s absence stretches back to 2011, his best finish coming two years earlier when he was tied for fourth.
It’s a debut appearance for Cameron Davis but he will be able to lean on one of his playing partners in the opening two rounds for insight having been drawn to play with 1997 champion David Frost.
In addition to the PGA TOUR season restarting the Korn Ferry Tour is also back this week with seven Australians to play in the inaugural Korn Ferry Challenge on the Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.
The promotion of the top 25 on the moneylist to the PGA TOUR the following year has been scrapped for 2020 yet there will be performance benefits made available to those inside the top 10 at the end of the year.
Born in Florida, Ryan Ruffels logged two top-15 finishes in his first three events on the Korn Ferry Tour to start the year and is excited by where his game is heading.
“I feel like everything is building,” Ruffels told PGATOUR.com’s Adam Stanley.
“I’m not going to make a huge jump from where I am now to being the No.1 player in the world in six months but I feel like everything is gradually building and moving in the right direction and that’s what’s pretty exciting for me.
“I can keep working on what I’m working on now and that will keep moving me forward.”
PGA Tour
Charles Schwab Challenge
Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas
Tee Times
10.34pm* Marc Leishman, Patrick Reed, Graeme McDowell
11.51pm Danny Lee, Mackenzie Hughes, Brian Gay
3.33am Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Adam Long
4.17am* Jason Day, Keegan Bradley, Si Woo Kim
4.28am* Matt Jones, Scott McCarron, Byeong Hun An
4.50am* John Senden, Nick Watney, Erik van Rooyen
5.12am Cameron Davis, David Frost, Franklin Corpening
TV times: 6am Friday; 6am Saturday; 3am Sunday; 3am Monday on Fox Sports 503
Past Australian champions: Bruce Crampton (1965), Bruce Devlin (1966), Ian Baker-Finch (1989), Adam Scott (2014)
Top Aussie prediction: Matt Jones
Korn Ferry Tour
Korn Ferry Challenge
TPC Sawgrass (Valley Course), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
9pm* Tim Wilkinson, Adam Svensson, Kyle Reifers
9.44pm* Curtis Luck, David Kocher, Braden Thornberry
10.17pm Robert Allenby, Anders Albertson, Tyson Alexander
11.12pm Harrison Endycott, Sebastián Vázquez, Brent Grant
2.41am Ryan Ruffels, Mark Anderson, Greyson Sigg
2.52am Brett Drewitt, Jamie Lovemark, Drew Weaver
3.25am Jamie Arnold, Tommy Gainey, Rob Oppenheim
3.36am Steven Alker, Dan McCarthy, Austin Smotherman
3.58am Brett Coletta, Robert Streb, Grant Hirschman
Australian champions: Inaugural event
Top Aussie prediction: Ryan Ruffels
Ninety-one days since the cancellation of the second round of The Players Championship 13 Australians will join the recommencement of tournament golf in the United States starting Thursday.
World No.15 Marc Leishman leads a contingent of six Aussies confirmed to play the PGA TOUR’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Texas from Thursday evening AEST while seven Australians return where golf shut down as the Korn Ferry Tour resumes with the Korn Ferry Tour Challenge at TPC Sawgrass.
Joining Leishman at Colonial are Cameron Smith, Jason Day, Cameron Davis, Matt Jones and John Senden with Cameron Percy currently the second alternate and hoping that a spot will open up prior to Thursday’s opening round. New Zealand’s Danny Lee is also in the field.
Winner of the Farmers Insurance Open in January, Leishman is making his first appearance at Colonial since he was tied for 34th at the then-named Dean and Deluca Invitational in 2017, his best finish at the venue coming a year earlier when he was tied for 13th.
Another of the Aussies to notch a win prior to the 12-week shutdown was Cameron Smith. The Sony Open winner is currently ranked No.35 in the world but has not fared well in his two appearances at Colonial, missing the cut in both 2018 and 2017.
When he finished fourth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February many thought Jason Day had emerged from an injury-riddled period in a position to win tournaments again. After missing the cut at the Genesis Invitational where Adam Scott triumphed, Day withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational four holes into his second round with stiffness in his back, the pandemic-enforced layoff allowing him to rehab his injury and increase his workload in recent weeks ahead of the Tour’s return.
Now ranked 51st in the world, Day is returning to Colonial for the first time since he was tied for 31st way back in 2011, his best result at the venue a fourth-place finish in 2009.
Veteran Robert Allenby will feature on the Korn Ferry Tour for just the third time in almost three years along with a host of talented youngsters such as Ryan Ruffels, Brett Coletta, Harrison Endycott and Curtis Luck. Brett Drewitt, Jamie Arnold and Kiwi pair Steven Alker and Tim Wilkinson will also tee it up at Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Sitting in 26th position on the moneylist, Drewitt is currently the highest-ranked Australian on the Korn Ferry Tour Order of Merit but with the secondary tour implementing a wrap-around season as a result of the coronavirus disruption, only the top 10 finishers will be granted performance benefits at the end of the year. ‘Battlefield’ promotion to the PGA TOUR for three wins in a single season remains.
The Korn Ferry Tour has sat idle since El Bosque Mexico Championship concluded on March 1, Harrison Endycott securing his place in the field this week courtesy of his top-25 finish at El Bosque Country Club.
Sanctuary Cove PGA Professional Michael Jones never once considered cancelling his second annual ‘Morning Tee’ in aid of the Cancer Council in this age of COVID-19, he just had to find a different way to deliver it.
Jones and Oregon State University representative and Sanctuary Cove member Isabelle Taylor last week hosted three clinics for lady members at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast, the restrictions on public gatherings keeping each clinic to a maximum of eight participants.
It’s a far cry from the 75 ladies who attended the inaugural ‘Morning Tee’ conducted by Jones last year but represents an opportunity to do some good as so many people are doing it tough.
“I had testicular cancer when I was 30 and went through the whole gamut of chemotherapy, the whole lot,” explains Jones, who in addition to his role as Golf Instructor at Sanctuary Cove has worked with tour players such as Brad Kennedy and Matthew Millar.
“The treatments have come a long way since then and that’s in large part because people have been able to help research by raising money.
“As a golf pro I thought about what I could do and so last year we had the first of our ‘Morning Tee’ clinics where we raised around $3,500.
“Even though we are in the middle of this coronavirus pandemic it shows that people are still trying to do things to benefit people going through cancer treatment, diagnosis and recovery.
“So many things are having to be cancelled due to the coronavirus and the restrictions but I just thought that if there was a way and a means of doing it, why not.”
Despite the country being in lockdown for much of the past three months, the ladies at Sanctuary Cove responded just as Jones expected they would when he announced that he and Isabelle would be conducting the clinics again.
“We sold out the clinics in about 45 minutes. It was like they were tickets to a U2 concert or something,” says Jones, laughing.
“We put on two clinics and they sold out really quickly, put on a third and that also sold out. We could probably have put on two more if we’d wanted to.
“There are a few ladies here going through breast cancer and ovarian cancer so the cause is quite close to them and they got behind it straight away.
“It’s another good example that while we’re in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment, if we can still help out some people who are doing it a bit tougher than us then why not.”
Given the number of members who are residents at Sanctuary Cove, demand for tee times and lessons has been high as Aussies have been forced to stay close to home.
And not only have existing members increased the frequency of their play, Jones is seeing some former golfers return to the sport in strong numbers.
“I’ve got a number of lessons this week with people who are getting back into golf. With all the restrictions people are genuinely looking at activities they can participate in,” says Jones.
“They might have played when they were a kid and because they can get out and play have dusted off the clubs and got back out there.
“The overwhelming feeling during this time here has been gratitude. The members at Sanctuary Cove have all been terrific in accepting the way they have had to play their golf the past couple of months and they all adhered to it really quickly. Like most courses, they recognised that something was better than nothing.
“Teaching-wise it’s been probably one of my busiest periods because whatever people are allowed to do, they seem to be doing a lot of it.
“We have a lot of elderly members here who might live on their own these days so if they don’t come to golf they don’t get the opportunity to talk to too many people.
“I’ve spent quite a few half-hour lessons just talking to people more so than worrying about hitting golf balls.
“In this current climate people are searching for something positive and to at least have the satisfaction that they did something with their day and golf has been able to provide that for them.”
If you would like to donate to the Cancer Council click here.
Dubai Desert Classic champion Lucas Herbert will give it a miss while Zach Murray has expressed his intention to go as the European Tour confirmed the resumption of its 2020 season with a six-week stretch in the United Kingdom starting July 22.
With the PGA TOUR set to resume with the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 11, the complicated travel implications of the European Tour made its return to the calendar difficult to predict.
But in a release overnight detailing just how the Tour plans to move forward and the dates for four Rolex Series events towards the end of the year, Chief Executive Keith Pelley conceded that the diversity that the European Tour celebrates each week has been problematic in plotting a return to tournament play.
“Without question we have had to think differently about the remainder of our 2020 season which is reflected in today’s announcement,” Pelley said in the release.
“As golf’s global Tour, diversity is ordinarily one of our biggest strengths, but in this instance it has become one of our biggest challenges.
“Initially, therefore, based on the expert guidance we received, playing in clusters, in one territory, is the best option in terms of testing, travel and accommodation.
“I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank Betfred, Close House, Marriott, The Forest of Arden, Hanbury Manor, The Celtic Manor Resort and The Belfry for sharing our vision for this ‘UK Swing’ and we look forward to returning to tournament play in July with this innovative stretch of six events.”
The Tour will play its first event since the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters concluded on March 8 at the Betfred British Masters at Close House Golf Club starting July 22, the first of six straight events that will feature back-to-back events at the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales, site of the 2010 Ryder Cup.
The European Tour recently guaranteed that all players with 2020 status would retain their existing category through until the end of the 2021 season, taking the pressure off those with limited playing opportunities who may be unsure about travelling internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Welcoming the run of events that will be played without spectators present and “subject to stringent safety and testing protocols set out in the Tour’s comprehensive Health Strategy which will continue to evolve, aligned with international Government guidance and health guidelines”, the likes of Zach Murray and Jake McLeod intend to seek Australian Government approval for exemption from the international travel ban to travel to the UK.
West Australian Jason Scrivener remains undecided while Lucas Herbert’s place in the fields for both the World Golf Championships-FedEx St Jude Invitational from July 30 and the US PGA Championship starting at TPC Harding Park on August 6 means that his return to Europe won’t happen until the beginning of the Rolex Series events in October.
“It’s great to see the Tour back up and running again and it’s going to be great for those communities where the tournaments are going to be played,” said Herbert, who earned a two-year European Tour exemption with victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in January.
“Because I’ve qualified for WGC event in Memphis and the PGA the following week, with quarantine I’d only get to play one event out of the six so I’ll take more time to prepare for the Rolex Series at year’s end.
“Hopefully everything goes according to plan, the tournaments all go ahead safely and I can head over later in the year.”
Other Aussies currently with status in Europe include Vic Open winner Min Woo Lee, Hong Kong Open champion Wade Ormsby, Scott Hend, Maverick Antcliff, Dimi Papadatos, Deyen Lawson and Jarryd Felton along with reigning PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Ryan Fox from New Zealand.
European Tour revised schedule
July 22-25
Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, Close House Golf Club, England
July 30- August 2
English Open, Marriott Forest of Arden, England
August 6-9
English Championship, Marriott Hanbury Manor, England
August 13-16
Celtic Classic, The Celtic Manor Resort, Wales
August 20-23
Wales Open, The Celtic Manor Resort, Wales
August 27-30
UK Championship, The Belfry, England
Rolex Series
October 8-11
Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, The Renaissance Club, Scotland
October 15-18
BMW PGA Championship, Wentworth Club, England
December 3-6
Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player, Gary Player CC, South Africa
December 10-13
DP World Tour Championship, Dubai
Deyen Lawson will use the framework of some of the best players in world golf as he makes a temporary return to the teaching ranks under Todd Sleep at The Glades driving range on the Gold Coast.
With the resumption of the European Tour schedule continuing to be a fluid proposition, Lawson has decided to put the traineeship he completed at Curlewis Golf Club in Victoria to good use, assisting Sleep in the shop and making himself available to give lessons.
With his first lessons booked in this week with Glades members and juniors eager to learn from a European Tour player, Lawson will highlight what the finest swingers of the golf club have in common and how golfers at every level can incorporate those elements into their own games.
“Being around a lot of really, really good players, none of them swing it the same but there are a couple of things in either set-up or impact position that 99.9 per cent of really good players do,” said Lawson, who earned a European Tour card at Qualifying School in 2018 and was tied for 10th at the 2019 Australian Open.
“If someone isn’t doing that I’ll try to see why they’re not doing that and keep it simple to try and get them in that position, whether it be through grip, set-up or something else and then take it from there.
“I’ve always been pretty good at communicating. I think I’m reasonable at reading people too and the way they like to learn when it comes to the golf swing.
“Some people are visual, some people are mental, some people like seeing their swing, some people don’t. I’ve had five years of being around coaches and some of the best players in the world and everybody is different.
“There are so many different ways to be taught and with the golf swing there is no one right way.”
Determined to return to life on tour as soon as it is safe to do so, Lawson will continue to work on his own game in between commitments at the TS Golf Academy.
Manning the shop on Sundays and available to give lessons during the week, Lawson said even with his practice schedule it is a workload that he is used to.
Having begun his traineeship under Drew Robertson at Curlewis, Lawson’s responsibilities grew prior to David and Lyndsay Sharpe buying the club and, despite the hours, now values what it taught him about the inner workings of a golf club.
“Ever since I was 15 I worked two part-time jobs or was doing my traineeship or played full-time so I felt like I needed to do something,” Lawson said of his decision to get back in the shop.
“Last year I was in Europe for 33 weeks and played six or eight events here and in between you’re practising. For me to go back to work one day and do a bit of coaching, it doesn’t really feel like that much.
“At the start of my traineeship I was doing Saturdays and Sundays from 6am-6pm.
“When Lyndsay and David Sharpe bought the club I went from doing Saturdays by myself from 6am-6pm with 200 in the comp to be able to do what a trainee should do.
“There was around two months where we didn’t have a manager or a Head Professional so I was kind of running everything and doing silly amounts of hours. It was good in the sense that I could see how everything at a golf club works.
“Then when Lyndsay and David took over, who have a lot of successful businesses, it was good to be able to see the way they operate and why they have so many successful businesses.”
As for taking on a position as a Head Professional himself in future, Lawson didn’t rule it out completely but has his sights set on a return to the tour, whenever that might be.
“I can’t imagine it,” Lawson said when asked whether he will return to Europe this year. “Maybe this time next year.
“Until players from every country can travel it’s hard to see how you could have an event.
“If you’re from Italy and you’ve got status but you’re not allowed to travel then you can’t really have a tournament. That’s not fair on them.
“I wouldn’t say no (to a Head Professional position) but at the moment I love playing and I love competing.
“I know where my game stands and there’s still a lot I would like to fulfil in playing.”
Born in Queensland in the 1950s. Junior members at Virginia Golf Club. Coached by PGA Immortal Charlie Earp. Breakthrough victories at the West Lakes Classic. Major champions.
The shared history of Greg Norman and Wayne Grady is extensive yet their personalities could hardly be more different and now they face off one more time in our ongoing quest to identify Australia’s Greatest Golfer.
As Norman ascended to the very top of world golf with a single-mindedness that drove his success during both his playing career and then into the Great White Shark business empire, Grady wasn’t afraid to sample the good life in his 30-year playing career.
While Norman mingled with presidents and kings of business, Grady always maintained a connection to the common man, best evidenced by the proclamation he made following his 1990 US PGA Championship victory at Shoal Creek: “You bloody beauty.”
Only one player in history has spent more time at No.1 than Norman’s 331-week reign yet he finished his career with only one more major championship than Grady.
“Maybe he wanted it too much. Maybe it was the pressure he placed on himself,” Grady reflected in a 2013 interview with the Courier-Mail.
While the numbers lean heavily in Norman’s favour, Grady’s personality meant that he was never intimidated by Norman on the golf course.
A two-time winner of the Australian PGA Championship, Grady and Norman were locked together at the top at the end of 72 holes of the 1988 Australian PGA at Riverside Oaks, Grady prevailing at the fourth playoff hole.
Eight months later they were pitted against each other and Mark Calcavecchia in a playoff to decide the winner of the 1989 Open Championship, the Queensland pair vanquished by the American in the four-hole decider.
Grady would have his major moment the following year while Norman’s extraordinary career was highlighted by his twin British Open victories in 1986 and 1993.
A force of nature who inspired countless Aussies to take up the game throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, Norman’s influence on Australian golf may never be truly measured to its fullest extent, his 89 career wins at the very highest level a tally few can comprehend.
Greg Norman
Career wins: 89
Major wins: 2 (British Open 1986, 1993)
PGA TOUR wins: 20
Australasian Tour wins: 32
Australian Open: Won (1980, 1985, 1987, 1995, 1996)
Australian PGA: Won (1984, 1985)
Wayne Grady
Career wins: 10
Major wins: 1 (US PGA Championship 1990)
PGA TOUR wins: 2
Australasian Tour wins: 3
Australian Open: 2nd (1996)
Australian PGA: Won (1988, 1991)
Two quiet-achieving Queenslanders, Karrie Webb and Peter Senior made their presence known by simply stacking up trophy after trophy both here and abroad.
A shy girl from Ayr in central Queensland, Webb burst into the consciousness of world golf when at just 20 years of age she claimed the Weetabix Women’s British Open. Five years later she had fulfilled the criteria to be elevated into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Senior too wasted little time asserting himself on the professional ranks – he won the 1979 South Australian Open a year after turning pro – yet for the majority of his career carried himself as the underdog who ground down the best players on the planet on a regular basis.
Aussie golf fans must now choose between two of our most revered figures to decide who will advance to the quarter-finals in our search for Australia’s Greatest Golfer.
Webb moved into the second round by winning the vote against PGA pioneer Eric Cremin while Senior advanced at the expense of Mike Clayton, two of Queensland’s finest products now pitted against each other for a place in the final 16.
When Webb turned 25 on December 21, 1999 she had already accumulated 16 wins on the LPGA Tour including her first major at the du Maurier Classic earlier that year yet over the following two years she would embark on a run of success that rivalled peak Tiger Woods.
As Woods completed the ‘Tiger Slam’ with victory at the 2001 US Masters, Webb herself was in the midst of a period in which she would claim four majors among 10 LPGA Tour victories, a run that prompted fellow Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez to declare that Webb had established herself “as the Tiger Woods of women’s golf”.
Except for the fanfare.
On home soil she was next to unbeatable, winning the Australian Ladies Masters four years in a row from 1998-2001 and winning the 2000 and 2002 Women’s Australian Open, virtually every round an exhibition of flawless execution.
Like Webb, Senior’s summers were spent out of the limelight right up until the point that he emerged from Greg Norman’s shadow to slip on yet another yellow jacket at Huntingdale or raise the Joe Kirkwood Cup into the air.
With the broomstick putter now protruding from the top of his golf bag, Senior went on a run in 1989 that stands as one of the most dominant performances ever seen in Australian golf.
A courageous approach at the 71st hole at Riverside Oaks saw Senior claim the Australian PGA by a stroke from American Jim Benepe. Three weeks later he destroyed a stellar Australian Open field by seven strokes at Kingston Heath and then seven days on finished five strokes clear of Norman to win the Johnnie Walker Classic at Royal Melbourne and complete the ‘Triple Crown’.
While that brilliant burst lives long in the memory Senior’s greatest accomplishment is to have won in every decade for the past 50 years and completing the post-50 ‘Triple Crown’ when he won the 2015 Australian Masters at 56 years of age.
Karrie Webb
Career wins: 57
Major wins: 7 (1999 du Maurier Classic, 2000 Nabisco Championship, US Women’s Open, 2001 McDonald’s LPGA Championship, US Women’s Open, 2002 Weetabix Women’s British Open, 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship)
LPGA Tour wins: 41
Women’s Australian Open: Won (2000, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2014)
Australian Ladies Masters: Won (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013)
Peter Senior
Career wins: 34
European Tour wins: 4
Australasian Tour wins: 21
Australian Open: Won (1989, 2012)
Australian PGA: Won (1989, 2003, 2010)
Joining Melbourne’s sporting festival in the early months of the year is just one idea Aussie icon Ian Baker-Finch has put forward as the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia begins to plot a revamped summer schedule.
Speaking on RSN’s Breakfast Club on Thursday morning, Baker-Finch fully endorsed the return to a wrap-around schedule starting this year, a move that was announced by the PGA of Australia last Sunday.
That announcement also locked in the Australian PGA Championship to be played at Royal Queensland Golf Club from December 3-6 and Baker-Finch, a PGA of Australia board member, is excited by the opportunities on offer in the post-Christmas half of the season.
Given Melbourne’s history of hosting some of Australia’s biggest tournaments during the halcyon days on the 1980s and 1990s and the and the influx of tourists attending the Australian Open tennis and F1 Grand Prix each year, Baker-Finch believes the rebirth of two old favourites would reinvigorate the Aussie summer.
“I like the fact that maybe we can have a couple of tournaments in Melbourne around the Australian Open tennis,” said Baker-Finch, who won the 1985 Victorian Open at Yarra Yarra Golf Club and the 1988 Australian Masters at Huntingdale and is a PGA of Australia board member.
“Really utilise our great weather in Australia – and especially Melbourne – in that January-February time.
“I would really love to see a return of the Australian Masters. We’re also looking at a potential Australian Players Championship, another event that we used to have.
“The Vic Open is a sensational new tournament where we have the best women players in the world alongside the best men down there at Thirteenth Beach.
“I definitely think there’s room for more events and more events including the women. There are lots of opportunities for sure.
“There’s a terminology that they use called the wrap-around season which means it doesn’t necessarily run across a calendar year.
“That’s what they do in the US and we used to do that in Australia. We used to finish our tournaments in late February, early March before everyone ventured off to the northern hemisphere to play through their summer and we’re going to do that again.
“We’re going to set up the Australian tour to finish in March which I think is a great idea. We’ve got plenty of time to run tournaments in January-February-March in our great weather.
“This (the coronavirus pandemic) really was the impetus in doing that because we’re not sure whether we’ll be able to play any golf as we know it until later in the year and maybe not even until 2021.”
With the Australian PGA locked in for the first weekend of December and the US Masters to conclude on November 15, Baker-Finch expects the Australian Open to follow the week after PGA if not early in the new year.
“We’re hoping the final quarter of the year will return to normal – not just for golf, but for all of us,” Baker-Finch said on RSN.
“We’re going to play the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane in the first week of December. I would imagine that the Australian Open would go the week following that if we are able to play golf with a crowd.
“If we can’t, the Australian Open may even go later and go into February next year.”
