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She won’t officially join them until 2024 but Gabriela Ruffels has been welcomed into Australia’s LPGA family ahead of this week’s CPKC Women’s Open in Canada.
Ruffels’ third victory on the Epson Tour a fortnight ago solidified what we already knew; she will be a member of the LPGA Tour in 2024.
Official confirmation followed by a week off at home in Palm Springs has put Ruffels in a great frame of mind ahead of her fourth LPGA Tour start in 2023, her fellow Aussies ready to welcome her into the big time with open arms.
Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Stephanie Kyriacou, Grace Kim, Su Oh and Karis Davidson are also in the field this week and Ruffels admitted that she will need to lean on their collective experience over the next 12 months.
“Last night a couple of Australian girls got together with my trainer as well from Golf Australia and give me a little cake that said, welcome to the LPGA,” revealed Ruffels.
“That was nice of them. It was nice to see that home country support.
“I feel like I need to rely on them a bit more, ask them a few more questions, pick their brain, especially non-golf stuff with travel.
“I was having a few rental car issues this week. They gave me a few hints.
“Definitely need to pick their brain a bit more about life on the road.
“It’s great to have that support, and they’re some of the nicest girls out here.
“It’s awesome to have a group of girls you know you can go to.”
Playing in what she described as a major-like field will come as no shock to Ruffels.
In fact, the greater the standard, the better the 23-year-old tends to play.
She finished top-15 in a major twice when still an amateur and this year was tied for 24th at the KPM Women’s PGA Championship and tied for 33rd at the US Women’s Open.
With three wins this season already and confidence at an all-time high, Ruffels is ready again to see how that form ranks among the world’s best who she will play against each and every week in 2024.
“I know this is one of the bigger events on the LPGA schedule, so I was super excited when I found out that I was going to come here,” Ruffels said of her tournament invitation to play at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.
“It is a really, really strong field and it’s almost has kind of a major feel out here.
“I can see they have the best players out here this week. It’s already been a great tournament and it’s only Wednesday.
“I’m excited to see how my game stacks up against the best in the word.”
The 30 best men’s players in the world are this week fighting it out for the FedEx Cup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Jason Day is the sole Australian in the field at the PGA TOUR’s Tour Championship but will start the first round nine shots back of Scottie Scheffler and in a tie for 21st.
There are a plethora of Aussies – 19 in total – playing the Asian Tour’s St Andrews Bay Championship in Scotland and reigning SParms PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit winner Andre Stolz is one of five Australasian players in action at the Staysure PGA Senior Championship also in Scotland.
Round 1 tee times AEST
PGA TOUR
Tour Championship
East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
1.48am Jason Day, Sam Burns
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy
Past Aussie winners: Adam Scott (2006)
TV times: Live 2am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-9am Sunday; Live 2am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
CPKC Women’s Open
Shaughnessy G&CC, Vancouver, Canada
12.11am Karis Davidson, Amanda Doherty, Sung Hyun Park
12.33am* Maria Fassi, Jeongeun Lee6, Gabriela Ruffels
1.06am* Lydia Ko (NZ), Andrea Lee, Lexi Thompson
1.17am* Allisen Corpuz, Hannah Green, Yuka Saso
1.28am Vanessa Borovilos (a), Stephanie Kyriacou, Samantha Wagner
5.26am* Su Oh, Ellie Szeryk (a), Maddie Szeryk
6.10am Jin Young Ko, Jennifer Kupcho, Minjee Lee
6.10am* Megan Khang, Grace Kim, Ryann O’Toole
Defending champion: Paula Reto
Past Aussie winners: Katherine Kirk (2008)
TV times: Live 8.30am-11.30am Friday, Saturday; Live 9am-12pm Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
D+D Real Czech Masters
Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic
5.20pm* Blake Windred, Ricardo Santos, Kazuki Higa
10.10pm Borja Virto, Jason Scrivener, Jan Cafourek
Defending champion: Maximillian Kiefer
Past Aussie winners:
TV times: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 8.30pm-11pm Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 11pm-1am Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 8pm-1am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Japan Golf Tour
Sansan KBC Augusta Golf Tournament
Keya GC, Fukuoka
10.05am* Andrew Evans, Tetsuhiro Nitta, Masafumi Hidaka
1.15pm* Toshiya Takeyasu, Dylan Perry, Ryoma Iwai
1.30pm Shaun Norris, Justin De Los Santos, Brad Kennedy
1.55pm* Anthony Quayle, Tomoyasu Sugiyama, HW Liu
2.20pm Yuto Katsuta, Adam Bland, Ryuichi Sakamoto
Defending champion: Riki Kawamoto
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1976), Brian Jones (1977), Steve Conran (2004)
Asian Tour
St Andrews Bay Championship
Fairmont St Andrews (Torrance Cse), Fife, Scotland
4pm Ben Campbell (NZ), Sangpil Yoon, Nicolas Paez
4pm* Wade Ormsby, Taichi Kho, Bernd Wiesberger
4.10pm Alex Ching, Harrison Gilbert-Wong, Khalin Joshi
4.10pm* Dean Burmester, Jediah Morgan, Danny Lee (NZ)
4.20pm Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, Andrew Dodt, Karandeep Kochhar
4.30pm* Brendan Jones, Miguel Tabuena, David Puig
4.40pm Atiruj Winaicharoenchai, Marcus Fraser, Yikeun Chang
4.40pm* Suradit Yongcharoenchai, Scott Hend, Taehee Lee
4.50pm* Terry Pilkadaris, Nitithorn Thippong, Gaganjeet Bhullar
5pm* Kieran Vincent, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Zach Murray
5.50pm* Meenwhee Kim, Matt Killen, Douglas Klein
8.50pm* Josh Crumplin, Kevin Yuan, Monty Scowsill
9.10pm Mito Pereira, Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Matt Jones
9.10pm* Jack Thompson, Shahriffuddin Ariffin, Lee Chieh-po
9.20pm* Todd Sinnott, Berry Henson, Poom Saksansin
9.30pm Travis Smyth, Hideto Tanihara, Chase Koepka
10pm* Jack Murdoch, Lloyd Jefferson Go, Rattanon Wannasrichan
10.10pm Josh Younger, Pawin Ingkhapradit, Ben Robinson
10.10pm* Nick Voke (NZ), Leon D’souza, Chanat Sakulpolphaisan
10.20pm Jyoti Randhawa, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Tom Power Horan
10.40pm Jarin Todd, Ratchanon Chantananuwat (a), John Lyras
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 11pm-3am Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
Korn Ferry Tour
Albertsons Boise Open
Hillcrest CC, Boise, Idaho
11.45pm Curtis Luck, Shad Tuten, Sung Kang
4.15am Rhein Gibson, David Kocher, Rob Oppenheim
4.25am Scott Gutschewski, Brett Drewitt, AJ Crouch
4.45am* Ben Kohles, Dimi Papadatos, Vince Whaley
Defending champion: Will Gordon
Past Aussie winners: Greg Chalmers (2005)
TV times: Live 6am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.
US Women’s Senior Open Championship
Waverley Country Club, Portland, Oregon
6.42am Jenny Park-Choi, Sue Wooster (a), Lieschen Wienke
Defending champion: Jill McGill
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 7am-9am Sunday on Fox Sports 507; Live 8am-10am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.
Epson Tour
Circling Raven Championship
Circling Raven GC, Worley, Idaho
11.27pm* Siyun Liu, Hira Naveed, Kaleigh Telfer
11.38pm* Robyn Choi, Becca Huffer, Agathe Laisne
11.55pm Isabella Fierro, Mariel Galdiano, Amelia Garvey (NZ)
Defending champion: Jillian Hollis
Past Aussie winners: Nil
LET Access Series
Ahlsell Final At Elisefarm
Elisefarm GC, Sweden
4.22pm Wenyung Keh (NZ), Georgia Coughlin, Vidhatri Urs
4.33pm* Pasqualle Coffa, Stefanie Hall, Elice Fredriksson
9.12pm Kristalle Blum, Tina Mazarino, Josefine Nyqvist
9.12pm* My Leander, Kelsey Bennett, Cecilie Leth-Nissen
10.29pm Lucie Andre, Amy Walsh, Hanna Nilsson
Defending champion: Josephine Janson (2017)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
PGA TOUR Canada
CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open
Southwood G&CC, Winnipeg, Manitoba
12am* Chase Sienkiewicz, Jack Trent, Julián Etulain
4am John Pak, Jason Hong, Chris Francoeur
Defending champion: Parker Coody
Past Aussie winners: Neale Smith (1999), Ben Ferguson (2000)
PGA TOUR Champions
The Ally Challenge
Warwick Hills G&CC, Grand Blanc, Michigan
1.45am* Kirk Triplett, Stuart Appleby, Harrison Frazar
2.45am* Scott McCarron, Richard Green, Carlos Franco
2.50am Jim Furyk, Rod Pampling, Ken Tanigawa
2.55am* Mike Weir, Kenny Perry, Mark Hensby
3am Mark O’Meara, Steven Alker (NZ), Vijay Singh
3.45am* David McKenzie, Tim Ailes, Mike Stone
Defending champion: Steve Stricker
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: 11.30am-12.30pm Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 5am-7am Sunday on Fox Sports 507; Live 3.30am-6am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.
Legends Tour
Staysure PGA Seniors Championship
Trump International Golf Links, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
5.36pm* Michael Long (NZ), Andrew Raitt
5.58pm Emanuele Canonica, Jason Norris
9.41pm* Neil Turley, Peter Fowler
10.14pm* Michael Campbell (NZ), Philip Golding
10.47pm* Bradley Dredge, Andre Stolz
Defending champion: Adilson Da Silva
Past Aussie winners: Kel Nagle (1971, 1973, 1975), Peter Thomson (1988), Terry Gale (1996), Walter Hall (1997), Ross Metherell (1999), Ian Stanley (2001), Peter Fowler (2015)
Adam Scott’s hopes of extending his streak of FedEx Cup Playoff appearances have suffered a hit in the second round of the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.
For the first time since its inception in 2007, only the top 70 players will qualify for week one of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
At No.81 arriving at Sedgefield Country Club, Scott would have ordinarily been well inside the top 125 cut-off but is now in danger of leaving American Matt Kuchar as the only player to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs each and every year.
Buoyed by a first round of 5-under 65, Scott burst from the blocks with birdies at each of his opening two holes.
He dropped a shot at the par-3 third but won it back three holes later with an approach from 167 yards to seven feet, duly converting his birdie chance.
Scott scrambled to a bogey after finding the water with his tee shot at the par-4 eighth and then made six straight pars, bogeys at 15 and 17 sending him tumbling down the leaderboard to a tie for 31st with a round of 1-over 71.
Needing a tie for ninth or better to advance, Scott must turn it around quickly to be any hope of pushing into the top 70 by week’s end.
Cam Davis is currently on the other side of the FedEx Cup tightrope and enhanced his chances of staying there with a round of 3-under 67.
The Sydneysider made his charge late, making three birdies in his final seven holes on Friday to move up 14 spots and into a tie for 21st, a position projected to move him up two spots from No.69 to No.67 in the standings.
Davis is seven shots back of American Russell Henley (66) who has a one-stroke buffer to Billy Horschel (62) through 36 holes.
Elsewhere around the world Scott Hend (69) is four strokes off the lead and in a tie for fourth at the Mandiri Indonesia Open on the Asian Tour, Adam Bland (67) moved up into a tie for seventh at the Yokohama Minato Championship in Japan and Rod Pampling is in a share of eighth after two rounds of The JCB Championship on the Legends Tour in England.
Photo: Logan Whitton/Getty Images
Adam Scott defied an early bogey and driving rain to keep his FedEx Cup Playoffs push alive at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.
Back at Sedgefield Country Club where he lost in a playoff two years ago, Scott hit back after dropping a shot on his second hole – the par-4 11th – with back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 to get into red figures.
He picked up further birdies at 15, 17, three, five and eight, his second and final bogey coming at the final hole of his round of 5-under 65.
That impressive opening salvo puts Scott in a tie for fifth and three shots back of American Russell Henley and within sight of the tie for ninth needed to extend his unbeaten streak of FedEx Cup qualification.
“The greens are pretty demanding,” offered Scott, who in his current position is projected to move from No.81 in the FedEx Cup rankings up to No.68.
“There’s a lot of break on putts and when you’re seeing a few go in, you can really make up for any other errors in the game and I think that’s what I did today.
“Hopefully get off to a good start tomorrow and keep the momentum going. I think that’s going to be the important thing for me the next couple days, to keep it rolling and give myself a good look at it on Sunday.
“I’ve had a lot of years having a go at the FedEx Cup Playoffs and all these kind of things come to an end at some point.
“I want to win this tournament and if I do that, I can have a really good run right through to East Lake (for the Tour Championship), I believe.”
A round of 2-under 68 has Sydney’s Cam Davis walking the FedEx Cup tightrope, his tie for 35th at present putting him in 69th position and just inside the top-70 cut-off.
Another Aussie Scotty is also well placed after Round 1 of the Asian Tour’s Mandiri Indonesia Open.
Just 12 days out from his 50th birthday, Hend used a round of 7-under 65 at Pondok Indah Golf Course to sit in a tie for second just one stroke off the lead, showing some of the young ‘uns just how it’s done.
“It’s really no difference, is it? I’m still fit, I think I’m fitter than a lot of the young guys out here,” Hend said of his approaching milestone.
“I intend to play golf for a long time and hopefully they keep seeing me in the rearview mirror catching them.”
Veteran Sarah Kemp is the best of the Aussies at the FREED Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links, Kemp’s 3-under 69 putting her in a tie for sixth and five back of Japan’s Hinako Shibuno (64).
Stephanie Kyriacou (76), Karis Davidson (78) and Minjee Lee (80) need something special in Round 2 to make the cut.
Gabi Ruffels (70) is tied for 11th after the opening round of the Epson Tour French Lick Charity Classic and brother Ryan (70) leads the way for the Aussies at the British Challenge on the Challenge Tour, tied for 19th but just four strokes off the lead.
Photo: Logan Whitton/Getty Images
Minjee Lee is back at the pristine scene of one of her greatest days – her blistering finish to come from seven shots back and win her first major in France two years ago – but she sees the Amundi Evian Championship this week as a “different challenge”.
That’s because the wind has been up around the Evian Resort Golf Club near Evian-les-Bains on the shores of Lake Geneva, and recent rains have left the course soft and the rough gnarly.
“The greens are rolling really nice,” Lee told lpga.com today. “The rough is up, which will be a bit of a challenge for us.”
Asked for the keys to playing well at Evian, the Australian said: “Definitely keeping it on the fairway. Some of the tee shots are quite tight. Your drives and your woods off the tee will be important this week, and obviously if you putt well, it’s going to help.”
Lee is a two-time major winner after her 2022 US Women’s Open triumph and in truth, has had trouble coming back to her best form since what could yet amount to her best-ever victory in July last year.
She has not won since which amounts to a drought by her own incredibly high standards, and at least some of that can be attributed to issues on the putting green in 2023.
She ranks 30th in putts per green in regulation on tour, and 125th in putting average. While the second number is not a statistic that she will ever be prominent in – since it skews against great ball-strikers – her work with the short stick has been a considerable concern, especially in close.
“I’m always working on something,” she said. “I’ve been working on my putting a little bit, probably more than my ball-striking which has been pretty solid. Hopefully I can get my putter hot this week.”
World No.7 Lee finds herself in a marquee group for Round 1 with Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang, teeing off at 4.27pm Thursday AEST.
She hopes that the memories come flooding back for her.
“Obviously I was out on the golf course (today), and I was thinking about what I was doing here and there when I won, but it’s different conditions. It’s a little windier. I think it’s a different challenge than when I won, a different experience but I’m ready for a good week.”
The Perth superstar is one of six Australians chasing a major in France this week, with the season’s final major – the AIG Women’s Open in the UK – just a fortnight away as well.
Meanwhile a bunch of Australians will be over at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales trying their luck at the Senior Open Championship from Thursday.
Among that group David McKenzie will have a strong sense of déjà vu; he finished tied-ninth when the Open was held at Porthcawl in 2017.
On the PGA TOUR, Cam Davis has a big couple of weeks ensuing. The Sydneysider is playing the 3M Open in Minnesota with an eye on the Fedex Cup standings.
With just two tournaments left, he needs to play well to get himself into the season-ending playoffs which begin at FedEx St Jude Championship.
Currently ranked 77th, Davis needs to jump inside the top 70 to qualify for the big-money events at the end of the season.
Joining Davis at TPC Twin Cities is fellow Sydneysider Daniel Gale, who played his way into the field in extraordinary fashion at the Monday qualifier at Victory Links Golf Club.
Endeavouring to qualify for the second straight year, Gale slam-dunked a wedge for eagle on the final hole for a back nine of 8-under 28 and course record 11-under 60, five strokes clear of the next best score.
After qualifying for last year’s tournament Gale missed the cut with rounds of 74-74.
West Australian also played his way into a tournament this week, coming through Monday qualifying for the Irish Challenge at Headfort Golf Club on the Challenge Tour.
Round 1 tee times AEST
PGA TOUR
3M Open
TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota
10.07pm* Adam Hadwin, Patrick Rodgers, Ryan Fox (NZ)
10.51pm* Nico Echavarria, Cam Davis, Jim Herman
11.24pm* Aaron Baddeley, Chesson Hadley, Callum Tarren
3.21am* Cameron Percy, Eric Cole, Dylan Wu
3.32am Nate Lashley, CT Pan, Harrison Endycott
5.22am* Nicolai Hojgaard, Daniel Gale, Preston Summerhays
Defending champion: Tony Finau
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 10.30pm-9am Thursday, Friday; Live 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
Amundi Evian Championship
Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France
3.51pm Hannah Green, Cheyenne Knight, Amy Yang
4.27pm* Nelly Korda, Minjee Lee, Rose Zhang
4.51pm* Sarah Kemp, Valentina Rossi (a), Miyu Yamashita
8.15pm Manon De Roey, Stephanie Kyriacou, Ana Pelaez Trivino
9.03pm Eun-Hee Ji, Ariya Jutanugarn, Grace Kim
9.03pm* In Gee Chun, Nasa Hataoka, Lydia Ko (NZ)
10.15pm Karis Davidson, Caroline Inglis, Jeongeun Lee6
Defending champion: Brooke Henderson
Past Aussie winners: Rachel Hetherington (2001), Wendy Doolan (2004), Karrie Webb (2006), Minjee Lee (2021)
TV times: Live 7pm-10pm Thursday on Fox Sports 503, Live 11.30pm-2.30am Thursday on Fox Sports 506; Live 7pm-10pm Friday on Fox Sports 503, Live 11.30pm-2am Friday on Fox Sports 507; Live 10pm-1am Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 7.30pm-1am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Champions Tour
The Senior Open Championship
Royal Porthcawl Golf Club, Bridgend, Wales
5.30pm Tom Gillis, Euan McIntosh, Jason Norris
6pm Neil Thompson, Rob Labritz, Michael Long (NZ
6.10pm Fraser Mann, Peter O’Malley, Richard Tinworth
8pm Stuart Appleby, Ken Duke, Arjun Atwal
8.50pm Jose Manuel Carriles, Rusty Strawn, David McKenzie
10pm Brent Paterson (NZ), Peter Wilson, Carlos Franco
10.30pm Peter Fowler, Andrew Oldcorn, Thomas Levet
11.20pm Richard Green, Chris Di Marco, Michael Campbell (NZ)
11.50pm Bernhard Langer, Paul Lawrie, Steven Alker (NZ)
12.10am Phillip Price, Vijay Singh, Rod Pampling
12.50am Doug McGuigan, Philip Golding, John Senden
Defending champion: Darren Clarke
Past Aussie winners:
TV times: Live 9pm-11.30pm Thursday on Fox Sports 506; Live 1.30am-4am Friday on Fox Sports 507; Live 9pm-11.30pm Friday on Fox Sports 507; Live 11pm-4.30am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.
Japan Golf Tour
Japan Professional Golf Championship
Eniwa Country Club, Hokkaido
8.05am Taichi Nabetani, Anthony Quayle, Daisuke Yamada
8.45am Toshiya Takeyasu, Brad Kennedy, Kim Hyung Sung
12.45pm Katsumasa Miyamoto, Yuki Usami, Adam Bland
Defending champion: Miraimu Horikawa
Past Aussie winners: Adam Bland (2015)
Korn Ferry Tour
NV5 Invitational
The Glen Club, Glenview, Illinois
10.03pm Rhein Gibson, Brett Drewitt, Roger Sloan
2.50am* Curtis Luck, Jacob Bergeron, Jeff Overton
3.01am* Brandon Harkins, Jonas Blixt, Dimi Papadatos
Defending champion: Harry Hall
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Challenge Tour
Irish Challenge
Headfort Golf Club, Kells, Ireland
6pm* Steven Brown, Hayden Hopewell, Ruaidhri McGee
7.30pm* Ryan Ruffels, Mattia Comotti, Owen Benson
10.50pm* Romain Wattel, Sam Locke, Jordan Zunic
Defending champion: Todd Clements
Past Aussie winners: Nil
PGA TOUR Canada
Osprey Valley Open
TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley (Heathlands Cse), Caledon, Ontario
10.50pm* Jason Hong, Clay Feagler, Blain Turner
3.10am* Gunn Yang, Tommy Kuhl, Cory Crawford
4.30am Brian Carlson, Noah Steele, Jack Trent
Defending champion: Danny Walker
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Australian Min Woo Lee is ready to step into the role of crowd favourite as he and Jason Day surged into the top five at the halfway mark of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
On a day in which Cameron Smith eagled the 18th hole to make the cut and New South Welshman Travis Smyth made a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th, it was Lee and Day who ensured the Australian flag was prominent on the leaderboard at day’s end.
Kiwi Ryan Fox produced one of the rounds of the day, a 4-under 67, to make the cut on the number, Adam Scott also scraping through despite bogeys at 16 and 18 in Round 2.
Six of the 10 Aussies in the field failed to make it beyond the 36-hole mark but Lee and Day are very much in the hunt to keep the Claret Jug in Australian hands.
At 3-under par for the championship and tied for fourth, Lee and Day will start Round 3 seven shots back of American Brian Harman (65) who has a five-stroke lead from Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (71) with Austrian Sepp Straka (67) third at 4-under.
Top 10 at the majors and THE PLAYERS Championship through 36 holes four times this year – the most of any player – Lee is again finding the fun in golf’s greatest tests.
The 24-year-old has quickly become a fan favourite on either side of the Atlantic and hopes to harness that energy as he seeks a breakthrough major win.
“The last six months have been amazing. Definitely made me play a bit better. Everywhere there’s a crowd, I have been playing pretty good,” said Lee, who fought back from two early bogeys to shoot 3-under 68 on Friday.
“After every shot someone is cheering me on and trying to get me going after I make a bogey or so, so it definitely helps.
“It’s been amazing.”
A former world No.1 and the 2015 US PGA champion, Day is getting accustomed to once again playing in front of enormous galleries.
In a stellar season he secured his first win in five years at the AT&T Byron Nelson but is yet to transfer that form to the majors. It is something he is hoping to rectify at Hoylake.
“Even though I’ve played great for the most part of the year, I haven’t played well in the majors, and it’s been a little frustrating for me,” admitted Day, who had three birdies in his first five holes in his round of 67.
“If I can get one here this week, that will definitely change it.
“It is The Open Championship, so if we do get some pretty average weather, it’ll bring a lot of guys back in or at least give them a chance at shooting up the leaderboard pretty quick on tomorrow’s round and then obviously Sunday, as well.”
Smith will be one of those players with an eye to a Saturday surge after squeezing inside the cut-line at the last possible moment.
Four-over playing the par-5 18th, Smith found the fairway with his tee shot and followed it up with a sublime 6-iron from 215 metres to inside two feet. The tap-in eagle put him in a tie for 39th and 12 strokes off the lead.
“It was good to end like that for sure,” said the 2022 champion.
“It’s been a frustrating couple of days. I know the weather looks not so good, so hopefully the weekend I can grind it out and get back under par and just kind of see what happens.
“Being 12 back with two rounds to go is a big ask, but you never know.”
Travis Smyth won’t be playing the weekend but he left the Royal Liverpool crowds with one of the highlights of the week, and a moment to treasure forever.
At 10-over-par with two holes to play, making the cut was out of question when Smyth took 9-iron at the short 17th which is quickly earning a reputation as a hole where anything can happen.
In Round 1, Smyth was a victim of ‘Little Eye’, making a double-bogey five, one shot less than fellow Australian Lucas Herbert who had come to the 17th as joint Open leader.
But on Friday, Smyth’s “chippy” tee shot drew in with the wind towards the pin and took two bounces before disappearing for a hole-in-one – the first in Open history at Royal Liverpool’s newest addition and the third of his professional career.
“It was amazing, a little bittersweet actually,” Smyth said. “I had a shocker the day before, made double-bogey and I was just really happy I hit a good shot because I was just so disappointed from the day before.
“It was a huge surprise when it went in the hole. It was just the perfect distance, the wind and the club and it all came together. It was a moment I’ll never forget.
“About halfway through the flight I thought, This is going to be good. It looked amazing.”
Round 2 scores
1 Brian Harman 67-65—132
T4 Min Woo Lee 71-68—139
T4 Jason Day 72-67—139
T39 Cameron Smith 72-72—144
T61 Ryan Fox (NZ) 78-67—145
T61 Adam Scott 72-73—145
MC Lucas Herbert 71-76—147
MC Travis Smyth 78-72—150
MC Daniel Hillier (NZ) 78-73—151
MC Haydn Barron 74-77—151
MC David Micheluzzi 77-75—152
MC Connor McKinney 76-77—153
MC Harrison Crowe (a) 76-80—156
Round 3 tee times AEST
6.05pm Adam Scott, Scottie Scheffler
6.45pm Victor Perez, Ryan Fox (NZ)
7.30pm Cameron Smith, Matt Fitzpatrick
12.10am Jason Day, Shubhankar Sharma
12.20am Min Woo Lee, Sepp Straka
There are two driving forces in Michael Hendry’s fight to beat leukaemia; his family and the spot in this week’s Open Championship that was cruelly denied him.
A runner-up finish at the World City Championship in Hong Kong in late March secured Hendry qualification for the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool as part of the R&A’s Open Qualifying Series.
The 43-year-old was one of 13 Australasian players to earn a place in golf’s most feted major championship yet in a heartbreaking Instagram post on May 15, he announced publicly for the first time that he had withdrawn after being diagnosed with leukaemia.
For Hendry, the symbol of the player’s badge that he should be wearing this week was an apt way in which to share his life-threatening news.
“I thought what better way to announce that I’m sick than by saying that I won’t be able to play the British Open because of it,” Hendry says ahead of Thursday night’s opening round.
“I thought that was a good way of going about it. Kind of showed that you can be on top of the world one day and in the trash the next.”
At the time, Hendry’s golf was as good as it had been since 2017 when he won the New Zealand Open and qualified for The Open for the first time.
He won the Vic Open in February, was tied for sixth at the NZ Open, tied for fourth at the NZ PGA Championship, second in Hong Kong and then tied for 11th at the Token Homemate Cup in Japan.
It was at that tournament that symptoms of something worse than a cold started to emerge.
“From New South Wales Open on, I kind of felt like there was something going on like I might have had a cold coming on,” Hendry recalls.
“Then in Japan two weeks later, every tee is elevated and I was finding that when I got to the tee I’d be blowing like crazy.
“I said to my caddy, ‘Man, I’m getting so unfit. I’ve got to start doing some more cardio.’
“The day I got back home to Auckland I thought that the cold had finally hit or that I might have a decent bout of Covid. I just had no energy and was sick as a dog.
“I went to the doctor and he sent me to the hospital to get some tests and that’s when they found it.
“I didn’t go home that day.”
It would be six weeks before Hendry left the hospital at all.
‘It was difficult, it was scary’
As Hendry received the news that he had leukaemia, his wife Tara and their two daughters, Maddison, 8, and Harper, 5, were more than 1,000 kilometres away attending Tara’s cousin’s wedding in Christchurch.
Hendry waited until a few hours after the ceremony to tell Tara over the phone; he would wait until his daughters returned from a week of school holidays with their grandparents before sharing the news of what their family was suddenly facing.
“My concern wasn’t so much for me initially,” Hendry says.
“Obviously, you want to live as long as you can, but I’ve been pretty fortunate. I’ve lived a pretty cool life and achieved a lot of things that I never thought I would.
“But the thing for me was always thinking about my daughters being so young; it’s not fair on them.
“That was the hardest thing, just not knowing what the future held for them in terms of whether I was going to be around.
“Because I was so sick, my blood levels were off the chart. I came pretty close to not seeing another day.
“It was difficult, it was scary, so many things happening at once.”
Given the state of his bloodwork, Hendry was initially hit with a large dose of generic chemotherapy until doctors could diagnose exactly the type of leukaemia that was ravaging his body.
A week later, confirmation came through that it was Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, the same leukaemia that ultimately led to the passing of fellow golfer Jarrod Lyle.
Hendry played in the same group as Lyle and Michael Sim at the New Zealand Amateur Foursomes in 2004 and was devastated when the lovable larrikin passed in 2018.
“I still remember shedding a few tears,” Hendry adds.
“But it was not so much the fact that a friend of mine had died, it was thinking about his kids and his family. That was the emotional part of it.”
‘It was a very pleasant surprise’
In that initial six-week stint in hospital, Hendry lost 13 kilograms, the lack of taste as a result of the chemotherapy making even countless homemade meals provided by family and friends unpalatable.
The physical strength he possesses from his time as a cricketer and professional golfer has undoubtedly helped in how Hendry’s body has dealt with three rounds of chemotherapy to date, his fourth likely to come in early to mid-August.
Ever since his initial round of chemotherapy Hendry has made steady progress, including being told after that first cycle that he was technically in remission.
“To be honest with you, every piece of news I’ve received since my initial diagnosis about a week after being in hospital, every bit of news has been good,” says Hendry, who took to Instagram again on May 30 to share the news that he had been advised he was in “complete remission”.
“That was exciting news to receive obviously and that’s where you’re like, yes, we’re going to get on top of this. We’re going to beat this.”
After his third cycle of chemotherapy just last week, Hendry was hopeful that a further test would reveal the complete absence of any leukaemic cells.
“I was really hoping for the all clear but just have to wait a little longer and I suppose it means that there’s no guarantees,” he reasons.
“I won’t be clear on the next steps, either. There again is the dark cloud just sort of sitting there, the sunshine trying to poke through but not quite getting through.”
‘It’s a very realistic goal’
Like his young family, golf is now Hendry’s primary motivator.
Ultimately, he wants to earn back the opportunity to play the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon but knows it will start with far smaller steps.
He knocked it around for 5-over at Te Arai Links two Sundays ago – complete with PICC line still in his arm – and will likely use the Charles Tour in his homeland for his planned comeback to golf later this year.
His major goal is to play the ISPS HANDA Australian Open at The Australian in early December and intends for it to be anything but a ceremonial return to the game.
“It’s a very realistic goal to be honest. It’s a realistic goal because I know what my situation is at the moment,” a positive Hendry says of his Australian Open aspirations.
“I never once thought about not playing golf again. I never once thought about giving it up.
“I want to be the guy that beat it. I want to be the guy that had this hurdle come up in a period of his career, got over it and came back.
“My goal, to be perfectly honest, is to come back better than I was. That might be difficult to do, but that’s my goal.
“I figure there’s no point in coming back as good as I was, I want to be better than I was.
“That keeps me motivated and keeps me, to be honest, pretty upbeat about the whole situation.”
As for this week’s Open, Hendry will find a comfy spot on the couch and cheer on his countrymen, Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier, and his mates from the PGA Tour of Australasia.
“I’ll definitely watch it. I’ve got a couple of good mates playing in it, so always interesting to watch them and always interesting to watch the best guys in the world,” says Hendry.
“My emotions around the fact that I should be there… I would’ve loved to have played this year but my goal is to be there again.”
The Jack Nicklaus-designed St John Course will rejoin the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tournament rotation with the return of the Heritage Classic at The Heritage Golf and Country Club.
The 36-hole facility, the jewel of the Yarra Valley’s golf offering north-east of Melbourne, will kick off the second half of the 2023/2024 PGA Tour of Australasia season.
To be played January 11-14, the 2024 Heritage Classic is the first in a three-year commitment that will re-establish The Heritage Golf and Country Club as a first-class tournament venue and highlight the Yarra Valley as a golf destination with a wide array of off-course opportunities.
A then promising amateur, three-time DP World Tour winner Lucas Herbert lost to David Bransdon in a playoff when the Heritage Classic was last held in 2013.
The Heritage Golf and Country Club CEO, Brett Nelson, is excited to launch a new era for the Heritage and once again showcase the country’s best players.
“The Heritage Classic gives us the opportunity to highlight The Heritage Golf and Country Club to the broader golfing community,” said Nelson.
“We are especially excited of how this tournament can be used as a vehicle to engage and benefit many local businesses, including highlighting the Yarra Valley as a golfing destination.
“St John, the signature course, was designed to host tournament golf, so the opportunity to watch the best golfers in the country play the Nicklaus-designed course will be mouthwatering.
“We are thankful to the PGA of Australia for supporting the club’s vision for a promising future as we continue to restore our reputation as a premier golfing facility.”
The 2024 Heritage Classic will offer $200,000 in prizemoney and further bolsters a growing ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia season.
In addition to the Heritage Classic in 2013, The Heritage Golf and Country Club hosted the 2014 Victorian PGA Championship won by New Zealand’s Gareth Paddison.
PGA of Australia Tournaments Director Australasia, Nick Dastey, said that it was a major boost to the Tour and its players that The Heritage was making a return on a three-year commitment.
“There is no question that the facilities and golf courses make for an outstanding tournament venue and we’re thrilled to be once again working with the team at The Heritage Golf and Country Club,” Dastey said.
“The St John course not only represents a great test for our players but is visually stunning.
“We’re looking forward to showcasing it to golf fans both on site and through the live weekend broadcast on Fox Sports and Kayo.
“The Heritage Classic adds to what is shaping as another huge summer on the back of success of last season and, as the first event of the new year, will kick off the second half of the season and the countdown to the all-important Order of Merit.”
The 2023/2024 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia season will be highlighted by the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club (November 23-26), the ISPS HANDA Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club (November 30-December 3) and the NZ Open Presented by Sky Sports (Feb 29-March 3).
Fellow Stanford alumni Tiger Woods won’t be there but Aussie amateur Karl Vilips will join the elite of world golf after qualifying for the US Open to be played next week at LA Country Club.
The 21-year-old – who goes by the nickname of ‘Koala Karl’ – was the only Australian to earn one of the 45 spots on offer to the 645 players who teed it up in US Open Final Qualifying.
Dubbed ‘Golf’s Longest Day’, 13 Aussies contested 36-hole qualifiers across America but only Vilips was victorious in advancing, earning co-medalist honours with US amateur Isaac Simmons at Woodmont Country Club in Maryland.
A two-time Junior Presidents Cup representative, Vilips opened with a round of 3-under 68 on Monday morning and followed it up with a 1-under 70 to finish at 4-under and secure a maiden major appearance.
After a bogey at the par-4 17th, Vilips birdied his final hole to finish one shot clear of what would have been a five-for-three playoff scenario.
Vilips’ qualification takes the total number of Aussies who will contest the US Open to seven, joining Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Cam Davis, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Jason Day, Lee dropping a “See you there,” complete with koala emoji on Vilips’ Instagram post.
Of those who narrowly missed out, Marc Leishman came closest, also at Woodmont Country Club.
Two shots from first spot at the start of the second round, Leishman had a run of four bogeys on his front nine to turn in 2-over, ultimately signing for a 3-over 74 to be tied for eighth.
Bogeys at 14 and 17 in his second round effectively ended the hopes of Matt Jones at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles as Harrison Endycott and Justin Warren finished in a tie for 14th and 18th respectively at Canoe Brook Country Club in New Jersey.
Hailing from Perth, Vilips first came to notice within world golf when he won the US Kids World Championship at just seven years of age.
That early success brought Vilips to the attention of schools within the US and he attended high school at Saddlebrook Prep in Florida.
His success in the junior ranks – he rose to No.1 in the American Junior Golf Association junior rankings in 2018 – opened the doors to the best college golf programs within the US.
With an alumni that includes Woods and Tom Watson, Vilips elected to attend Stanford University where he has continued to forge an outstanding amateur career.
He won the gold medal representing Australia at the 2018 Youth Olympics, was named to the All-Pac-12 Newcomer Team as a freshman and was a member of the Stanford team that won the 2023 Pac-12 Championship, finishing tied for sixth in the individual standings.
US Open Final Qualifying
Woodmont Country Club
Rockville, Maryland
60 players for 4 spots
T1 Karl Vilips (a) 68-70—138
T8 Marc Leishman 68-74—142
T21 Travis Smyth 73-73—146
Hillcrest Country Club
Los Angeles, California
89 players for 5 spots
T13 Matt Jones 71-67—138
T17 Grant Booth 67-72—139
Old Chatham Club
Durham, North Carolina
76 players for 5 spots
54 Jimmy Zheng (a, NZ) 74-71—145
WD Rhein Gibson 71
Brookside G&CC and The Lakes G&CC
Columbus, Ohio
103 players for 11 spots
T24 Aaron Baddeley 69-71—140
T31 David Micheluzzi 72-70—142
T43 Daniel Gale 74-69—143
MC Nick Voke (NZ) 67-77—144
WD Geoff Ogilvy 78
Canoe Brook Country Club
Summit, New Jersey
67 players for 4 spots
T14 Harrison Endycott 72-70—142
T18 Justin Warren 72-72—144
Hawks Ridge Golf Club
Ball Ground, Georgia
43 players for 3 spots
31 Hamish Murray (a) 76-73—149
Lucas Herbert has added loft to his irons out of a respectful eye for Rory McIlroy on the cusp of his appearance at The Memorial Tournament in Ohio this weekend.
The 27-year-old Australian says he wants to bomb the ball high at the course designed by the great Jack Nicklaus and on to greens which he observed were unusually firm.
“I felt like I had to be launching the ball a lot higher than I have been in recent times,” said Herbert from Ohio. “I’ve played a bit with Rory recently, and he’s basically hitting it through his left nostril with most of his iron shots. I felt like I need to be giving myself more of a chance to be able to get it close to these tough pins you get out here on the PGA Tour.
“You get a ‘flier’ in the rough, the way my irons were set up it was like it was never coming down when I did a flier that I didn’t pick. This will give us a better chance to be more attacking and get closer to more pins out here on tricky courses. I think it’ll help here this week on firm greens.”
Herbert is one of five Australians in the field for The Memorial in Ohio with its $US20 million purse.
He has had an indifferent 2022-23 season on the PGA Tour interspersed with his brilliant win in the DP World Tour’s ISPS HANDA Invitational in Japan in April.He missed the cut in Texas last week meaning his Fedex Cup ranking has slid to 152nd.
“I thought I played better than I played at the PGA (Championship) where I was 40th”, “ he said. “I was two or three shots out from maybe getting to a top-20 there and that which would’ve look more indicative of the way I played that week, because it was tough and I scrapped it out well. I got a reasonable result and I would have thought it’d be better.
“That’s the story of my year on the PGA Tour at least, I just haven’t been able to polish off results the way I’d like. It’s not where I like to be at this time of the year. A lot of areas are just a bit off. I went home over the weekend and worked really hard on them and I’ve worked hard the last couple of days.
“I’ve made some equipment changes, worked hard on some technique stuff, Jamie (Glazier) my mental coach is here and we’ll work hard on the mental stuff the next couple of days and hopefully get some results in this week. I absolutely love being back at Muirfield Village for Jack’s event. It’s a great event, the golf course is unbelievable. I think it’s playing into my hands this week being firmer and faster than it normally is, so look, I’m doing everything I can to get a result this week and I feel like something’s coming at least.”
Herbert, who has won three times on the DP World Tour as well as on the PGA Tour in 2021 is trusting his workload to put him into a good position as the US Open and the Open Championship approach.
“I don’t think I play my best golf when I’m confident on a Tuesday,” he said. “I’ve got to try to build through the week, so I’m trying to look at it like that. If I look at the work I’ve been putting in and the habits I’ve been creating around myself, I think only good results are coming.”
Herbert also was announced this week as the first committed male player for the mixed-gender ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Sydney in late-November.
A critic of the format after a long day on the course at Victoria in 2022, he is grateful that Golf Australia has tweaked it with no third-round cut among a raft of changes.
“What I think’s really commendable from Golf Australia and the PGA is they went back and had a good, hard look at themselves and find out for themselves,” he said. “They spoke to me, they spoke to a bunch of players on what things didn’t go well, what things could be improved, what could be better for the 2023 Australian Open.
“To give them their credit they’ve done extremely well, they’ve made a lot of changes, it’s going to be a better event for everyone involved I think. It looks like all three – the men, the women and the All Abilities — are going to get their time in the spotlight to shine.”
World No. 5 Minjee Lee heads the bunch of Australians teeing it up this weekend on the LPGA Tour in New Jersey, while the DP World Tour heads to Hamburg in Germany.
PHOTO: Lucas Herbert wants his irons to fly high at Muirfield Village. Photo: Getty
Round One tee times AEST
PGA TOUR
The Memorial Tournament
Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio
9.48 pm Matt Wallace, Seamus Power, Cam Davis
10.05* Jason Day, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa
10.29* Adam Scott, Zach Johnson, Cameron Young
2.05am Will Gordon, Eric Cole, Ryan Fox (NZ)
3.12 Davis Riley, Lucas Herbert, Brandt Snedeker
3.48* Kazuki Higa, Thriston Lawrence, David Micheluzzi
Defending champion: Billy Horschel
Past Aussie winners: Greg Norman (1995), Greg Norman (1990), David Graham (1980)
TV Times: Friday-Saturday: 9.30pm-4am Featured Groups, 4am-8am. Sunday-Monday: 2.30am-8am Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports
LPGA Tour
Mizuho Americas Open
Liberty National GC, Jersey City, New Jersey
9.26pm* Peiyun Chien, Karis Davidson, Amanda Doherty
9.37* Lauren Hartlage, Bronte Law, Sarah Jane Smith
2.15am* Stephanie Kyriacou, Emily Kristine Pedersen, Mariah Stackhouse
2.26* Celine Borge, Julieta Granada, Sarah Kemp
3.10* Ayaka Furue, Grace Kim, Maja Stark
3.32* Lydia Ko (NZ), Minjee Lee, Lilia Vu
Defending champion: inaugural year
TV Times: Friday-Saturday: 2-4am. Sunday-Monday: 2.30am-8am Fox Sports 505 and Kayo Sports
Japan Tour
Japan Tour Championship
Shishido Hills Country Club, Ibaraki
7.20am Adam Bland, Tomofumi Ouchi, Taiki Sakurai
8.00 Masashi Hidaka, Andrew Evans, Nobuaka Oda
10.48 Anthony Quayle, Naoyuki Kataoka, Ryuko Tokimatsu
12.12pm Todd Baek, Brad Kennedy, Brendan Jones
2.16 Dylan Perry, Koichiro Ishika, Tadahiro Takayama
Defending champion: Kazuki Higa
Past Aussie winners: nil
DP World Tour
Porsche European Open
Green Eagle golf courses, Hamburg, Germany
3.40pm JC Ritchie, Niklas Norgaard, Jason Scrivener
4.40* Dale Whitnall, Daniel Hillier (NZ), Wilco Nienaber
12.30am* Emilio Cuartero Blanco, Anton Albers, Blake Windred
Defending champion: Kalle Samooja
Past Aussie winners: Michael Campbell (NZ) (2002), Mike Harwood (1991), Peter Senior (1990), Greg Norman (1986), Graham Marsh (1981)
TV Times: Thursday-Friday 9pm-2am. Saturday-Sunday 10.15pm-1.30am: Fox Sports 505 and Kayo Sports
Ladies European Tour
Helsingborg Open
Allerum GC, Helsingborg, Sweden
Aussies competing: Whitney Hillier, Momoka Kobori (NZ), Wenyung Keh (NZ), Hanee Song (NZ). Tee times TBA
Defending champion: Not played since 2015
Past Aussie winners: Rebecca Artis (2013)
Korn Ferry Tour
UNC Health Championship
Raleigh Country Club, North Carolina
8.55pm* Spencer Levin, Curtis Luck, Kevin Dougherty
9.06* Rhein Gibson, Chandler Phillips, Matt McCarty
9.37 Paul Barjon, Brett Drewitt, Jose de Jesus Rodriguez
2.21am* Bo Van Pelt, Sam Saunders, Dimi Papadatos
Defending champion: Davis Thompson
Past Aussie winners: Mark Hensby (2000)
Challenge Tour
D+D Real Czech Challenge
Panorama Golf Resort, Kacov, Czech Republic
5.10pm Ryan Ruffels, Pep Angles, Roope Kakko
9.23* Cormack Sharvin, Jack Singh Brar, Connor McKinney
10.29 Jordan Zunic, Christopher Feldborg, Albert Venter
10.29* Maverick Antcliff, Craig Ross, Luke Jerling
10.40 Rhys Nevin, Jarryd Felton, Victor Ryu
Defending champion: Nicolai Kristensen
Past Aussie winners: nil
PGA Champions
Principal Charity Classic
Wakonda Club, Des Moines, Iowa
Aussies playing: Richard Green, David McKenzie, Mark Hensby, Rod Pampling, Robert Allenby, John Senden. Tee times TBA
Defending champion: Jerry Kelly
Past Aussie winners: nil
Epson Tour
Champions Fore Change Invitational
Taberna Country Club, New Bern, North Carolina
Aussies competing: Gabriela Ruffels, Robyn Choi, Amelia Garvey (NZ), Hira Naveed, Su Oh, Cassie Porter, Emily Mahar. Tee times TBA.
Defending champion: inaugural tournament
Past Aussie winners: nil
PGA Tour Latinoamerica
Interrapidisimo Golf Championship
Club El Rincon de Cajica, Bogota, Colombia
9.20pm Jose Narro, Denzel Ieremia (NZ), Adam Navigato
10.00 Charlie Hillier (NZ), Myles Creighton, Miguel Sancholuz
3.20am* Harry Hillier (NZ), Briggs Duce, Roland Massimino
Defending champion: Cristobal Del Solar
Lucas Herbert and Mark Hensby have produced clutch playoff shots under pressure to secure wins on the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR Champions respectively.
Less than 24 hours after Herbert made birdie from a bare lie on the second playoff hole at the ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan, Hensby out-lasted Korean Charlie Wi to take the Invited Celebrity Classic in Texas at the fourth extra hole.
A winner on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, Hensby had to birdie the final hole at Las Colinas Country Club to match Wi’s 12-under total. He blasted a 3-wood to the fringe of the par-5 closer and holed a four-footer to birdie to finish tied at the top.
His hopes looked sunk when his second shot at the first playoff hole bounced back into the water fronting the green but the Tamworth native made a superb up-and-down for par to extend the playoff to a second hole.
Hensby and Wi both made par the second trip down 18 before the pair moved to the par-3 17th for the third extra hole.
Wi again had the upper hand with a tee shot to 12 feet right of the hole, his birdie putt refusing to fall in from the right side as Hensby could only watch on.
A fourth playoff hole was needed where Wi failed to clear the water with his second to give Hensby the edge.
Rather than go for the green the 51-year-old played safely out to the left, his third shot to six feet all but sealing the deal.
After Wi three-putted from long range to make double bogey, Hensby used two of the three putts available to him to become the first Australian winner on PGA TOUR Champions since Rod Pampling in 2021.
It is the 35th win by an Australian on PGA TOUR Champions, joining Bruce Crampton (20), Graham Marsh (six), David Graham (five), Rodger Davis, Bruce Devlin and Pampling.
Playing on conditional membership, ten months ago Hensby announced that 2022 would be his last on tour. He has now secured his future with a two-year exemption and a winner’s category.
“After last year almost not playing anymore, coming out and having a goof start this year, it’s nice to obviously win on this tour,” said Hensby.
“When you win anywhere these days it’s an accomplishment. I didn’t have my best today but overall, obviously excited.”
Herbert too had to fight his way back to force his way into a playoff with Canadian Aaron Cockerill at the ISPS HANDA Championship.
An ISPS HANDA ambassador, Herbert played Round 1 sight unseen after travel delays en route from America. He leant on long-time caddie Nick Pugh all week, the pair completing a third DP World Tour victory with a birdie at the second playoff hole.
One of Herbert’s few wayward tee shots all week, the Victorian had a stroke of good fortune when his ball came to rest on a cart path right of the fairway. His free drop left him with a sand wedge off a bare lie from 129 yards, making crisp contact to leave himself a 10-foot putt for the win.
The right-to-left putt went in dead centre with perfect weight to clinch a return inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Minjee Lee had six birdies in her final 12 holes to finish as the leading Australian at The Chevron Championship in Texas, Cameron Smith earned a share of third at LIV Golf Adelaide and Rhein Gibson solidified his place inside the top five on the Korn Ferry Tour points list with a tie for eighth at the LECOM Suncoast Classic.
Results
Champions Tour
Invited Celebrity Classic
Las Colinas Country Club, Irving, Texas
1 Mark Hensby 66-65-70—201 $US300,000
Won on the fourth hole of sudden death playoff
T4 Richard Green 70-68-65—203 $108,000
T11 Steven Alker (NZ) 69-69-70—208 $37,750
T11 Stuart Appleby 68-68-72—208 $37,750
T19 Rod Pampling 68-72-69—209 $23,657
T40 David McKenzie 68-73-71—212 $8,800
T65 John Senden 72-73-71—216 $2,140
DP World Tour
ISPS HANDA Championship
PGM Ishioka GC, Omitama, Japan
1 Lucas Herbert 67-63-68-67—265 €310,208.52
Won on the second hole of sudden death playoff
T23 Daniel Hillier 65-69-69-71—274 €18,156.32
T70 Brad Kennedy 65-72-71-78—286 €3,102.08
LPGA Tour
The Chevron Championship
The Club at Carlton Woods, The Woodlands, Texas
1 Lilia Vu 68-69-73-68—278 $US765,000
T41 Minjee Lee 70-75-77-69—291 $26,118
T49 Stephanie Kyriacou 68-76-76-73—293 $19,116
T56 Karis Davidson 70-72-75-79—296 $15,106
MC Sarah Kemp 76-71—147
MC Lydia Ko (NZ) 71-76—147
MC Grace Kim 75-73—148
MC Hannah Green 75-74—149
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Adelaide
The Grange Golf Club, Adelaide, South Australia
1 Talor Gooch 62-62-73—197 $US4m
T3 Cameron Smith 69-66-66—201 $1m
T21 Marc Leishman 71-69-65—205 $230,000
T24 Danny Lee (NZ) 67-71-68—206 $207,500
42 Matt Jones 72-73-69—214 $135,000
43 Jediah Morgan 76-71-68—215 $132,500
PGA TOUR
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana
1 Nick Hardy/Davis Riley 64-66-63-65—258 $1,242,700 each
MC Greg Chalmers/Cameron Percy 68-69—137
MC Geoff Ogilvy/Kevin Stadler 68-72—140
MC Aaaron Baddeley/Harrison Endycott 70-72—142
Korn Ferry Tour
LECOM Suncoast Classic
Lakewood National Golf Club (Commander Cse), Lakewood Ranch, Florida
1 Scott Gutschewski 67-66-62-68—263 $US180,000
Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff
T8 Rhein Gibson 69-67-64-66—266 $26,538
MC Brett Drewitt 72-68—140
MC Curtis Luck 72-72—144
