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Daniel Fox believes that history can repeat as he carries the momentum of a strong finish at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship into this week’s $60,000 Nexus Risk WA Open at Royal Fremantle Golf Club south of Perth.
Five years ago Fox claimed the WA Open title at Royal Fremantle the week after finishing runner-up to Brett Rumford at Kalgoorlie. While both Rumford and Fox were relegated a spot down the leaderboard by Jarryd Felton’s win last week, the 43-year-old said that his Sunday flurry was a timely boost given he has been without tournament golf since the Malaysia Open in March.
Two birdies and an eagle around the turn thrust Fox into third on the final WA PGA leaderboard and provided a platform to push for a second WA Open crown over 54 holes starting Friday.
“Let’s hope the serendipity looks down on me,” said Fox.
“The only difference is that ‘Rummy’ won at Kalgoorlie five years ago and I finished second to him and now Jarryd’s got up and Rummy’s finished second. I hope that doesn’t mean he wins this week. I’d rather it be me.
“My game has been consistently better so I felt like I was a good chance to do well in Kalgoorlie and then obviously I’ve had a bit of success at Royal ‘Freo’.
“There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to use this as a platform to replicate what happened five years ago. That’d be nice.”
Fox’s win at Royal Fremantle in 2015 was significant for a number of reasons.
Not only did it represent his first win on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia but gave him the confidence to contend in a number of other tour events towards the end of the season.
A week later he was top-five at the NSW Open and then backed that up with a tie for 12th at the Australian Masters where five closing birdies in an opening round 65 had him trailing Adam Scott by a single shot.
“Pressure’s pressure no matter where you are so for me, I really enjoyed the fact that I had a win,” Fox recalled of his WA Open breakthrough.
“It was the first time I’d won on tour, home-town win as well, your state open. Just the realisation that instead of winning pro-ams against the same players, winning an Order of Merit event definitely carries more weight. I felt that way.
“It is different. Even though it’s not a national event in terms of TV and stuff, there are still leaderboards, there are spectators walking around and you have to get the ball in the hole.
“Starting with Kalgoorlie and then onto the WA Open, we had about seven evets to finish the year off and I just got on a really good run.
“I made all the cuts and finished quite well and ended up finishing 11th on the Order of Merit that year.
“These two events all that time ago were definite springboards for me to finish the year off.”
The reality of a tournament year that has been decimated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is that this could be Fox’s final event of significance until 2021.
He’s content with that, understanding that it is out of his control, and has used his time playing member comps at Melville Glades Golf Club to expand his shot-making repertoire in preparation for a busy start to next year.
“There’s nothing I can do about it. Everybody wishes that things were different but we just can’t do anything,” Fox reasoned.
“I’ll just ride the year out. Look forward to playing this week because when you’ve got nothing but members comps it’s nice to feel like you’re being put in that competitive environment to see where your game’s at.
“My form’s good. Where I play at in Perth at Melville Glades is different to where I’ve been playing previously.
“I hit at least 12 clubs in my bag in almost every round I play. It’s not a course where you hit driver, a bunch of wedges and the occasional mid-iron. I hit almost every club in my bag when I play it so it feels to me that my ball-striking has just got that little bit better.
“I’ve been scoring OK out there in elements of my game where I normally haven’t. Chipping and pitching have been better and I’ve been making a few more putts. So instead of waiting for the odd wedge shot to be close or birdieing a par 5 I’ve been scoring with mid-irons by hitting them close.
“I’m just waiting – like everyone else – for this year to end and then hope we can magically be in a position where our country is sorted out and we can do a bit of travel. Even if that involves eight, nine, 10 weeks in a row and then come back and home quarantine. Or hopefully not have to quarantine at all.”
Joining Fox in the field at Royal Fremantle this week are six-time European Tour winner Brett Rumford, last week’s WA PGA champion Jarryd Felton, 2012 champion Oliver Goss, three-time WA Open winner Kim Felton, Michael Long, Wayne Smith and Scott Strange.
Jarryd Felton has used a run of five straight birdies and survived a late scare from veteran Brett Rumford to claim the 2020 TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship at Kalgoorlie Golf Course and bury the demons of 12 months ago.
Starting the day one shot back of Rumford and Braden Becker, Felton fired an equal course record of 8-under 64 in calmer conditions in the WA desert to claim the 54-hole ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia championship by one shot from Rumford with Daniel Fox third a further five shots adrift.
Birdies at the first and third holes gave Rumford the ideal start to the final round but a double-bogey due to an errant tee shot that went out of bounds at the par-4 ninth – combined with Felton’s hot streak – turned the tournament on its head.
A birdie at 10 gave Felton a two-shot cushion and when he added four more on top of it over the next four holes he had raced away to a five-shot lead and a seemingly insurmountable advantage.
But you don’t win six times on the European Tour without plenty of tenacity and Rumford refused to yield, a chip-in eagle at the last momentarily giving Felton heart palpitations but ultimately one shot shy of forcing a playoff.
Runner-up 12 months ago, Felton saw the 2019 championship slip from his grasp when he dropped shots at 12 and 13 in the final round and recognised the significance of making birdie at both holes to charge further ahead.
“I holed a nice putt on 12 and for anyone who can remember that’s where the disaster started last year,” Felton said.
“I bogeyed 12 and 13 and Darren (Beck) went birdie-birdie. I went birdie-birdie this year to open up my round and really push for the win.
“I holed those two putts and I walked to the next tee thinking that maybe someone was looking after me this year.
“The brain does funny things. It made me remember real quickly about what happened there 12 months ago that’s for sure.”
After a two-putt birdie from 18 feet at the par-5 11th, Felton made putts from 25 and 20 feet respectively at 12 and 13, the flatstick finally catching up to a week of exemplary ball-striking.
“I’ve been playing great all week but I putted horrifically the first two days,” said Felton, who has never finished worse than 10th in seven starts at Kalgoorlie.
“I was 5-under but I honestly think I missed two greens for 36 holes so I struck it unbelievably good.
“I gave myself chances on pretty much every hole and just couldn’t get anything to go.
“It was all to play for today.
“I’ve led here for a lot of the time so it was good to come from behind and put the pressure on the leaders.”
Winner at Kalgoorlie in 2015, Rumford expected his early birdies might be enough to see off the chasing pack and refused to surrender even under the weight of Felton’s charge.
The 44-year-old made up two shots with birdies at 11 and 12 but indecision on the tee of the par-3 13th proved costly.
“I didn’t do too much wrong, Jarryd just outplayed me straight up,” said Rumford, who left his 7-iron into 13 short and right of the green and was unable to get up-and-down for par, coming home in 31 for a final round of 6-under 66.
“I decided to watch the scoreboards today, I was just curious to see how everyone was going.
“I was 9-under, had a one-shot lead after eight and then nine I hit it out of the bounds and made double.
“By the time I got halfway down 10 I was three shots behind so it was very, very quick.
“From that point I just kept pushing. I refused for it to be over. I kept pushing but I was in between clubs on the par-3. That was the only bad swing and it cost me the golf tournament.
“With 10 holes to play you can make a mistake but when there’s six holes to play you can’t.
“At that point I’m miles behind but just refused to give in.”
It was a quick change of fortune too for Fox who picked up four shots in three holes around the turn to push up into outright third position.
“It’s one of those courses that you just don’t want to be under the pump early,” said Fox after bogeys at one and three put him on the back foot.
“It’s a tough golf course to get on the right side of but I made a nice long putt from 30 feet on nine and that just gave me a kick-along.
“I hit it close at the next and then made another long putt for eagle at 11. All of a sudden you’re four shots better off in three holes.
“I don’t feel like I did a whole lot differently, just got on the right side of a couple of putts.”
Much of the field now moves on to Royal Fremantle Golf Club next week for the Nexus Risk WA Open which will also be conducted over 54 holes from Friday October 16 to Sunday October 18.
Final scores
203: Jarryd Felton
204: Brett Rumford
209: Daniel Fox
210: Braden Becker
211: Daniel Hoeve
212: Connor Fewkes (a), Scott Strange, Hayden Hopewell (a)
View the final TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship leaderboard here.
Eighteen-year-old amateur Hayden Hopewell is plotting a final-round magic act after a late Brett Rumford stumble tightened up the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round of the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship at Kalgoorlie Golf Course.
Desert tornados strong enough to send players to the ground made scoring difficult in round two with Hopewell’s 4-under 68 the equal best of the day alongside fellow amateur Adam Brady, no other player in the field able to break 70.
“There were some strong winds here and there and even a dust tornado on the seventh tee box,” Hopewell said.
“I was halfway down the sixth so I had a front-row seat to it. It was enough to drop you to the deck. You could hear it from halfway down six. It was massive actually.”
Female amateur Maddison Tolchard looked set to join Hopewell and Brady in posting 68 on Friday but three late bogeys saw her sign for an even par 71 ahead of Saturday’s final round in the 54-hole event.
As was the case after round one Rumford and Braden Becker sit atop the leaderboard at 6-under after both posted 1-over 73 with 2019 runner-up Jarryd Felton to play alongside Hopewell in the second-to-last group one shot back of the leaders.
Birdies at 15, 18, 1 and 2 saw Hopewell surge up the leaderboard and again make his presence felt in a professional event and he will begin the final round two shots off the lead.
Winner of the inaugural Junior 6’s Invitational last year, Hopewell followed that up with a tie for 10th at the Gippsland Super 6 and was top-30 at the Australian Open after shooting 7-under in Monday qualifying to play his way into the field.
Now the Royal Fremantle teen nicknamed ‘Houdini’ is ready to press for a maiden win in professional company.
“That was a nickname from when I played footy from the age of eight to 12,” Hopewell explained.
“That came about because I always seemed to be the one who broke free from the pack so that’s where I got my nickname ‘Houdini’.
“It snuck through to golf because when I’m in the bush I always seem to get a gap and find my way out.
“I’ll just try to play some steady golf, hit some strong shots off the tee and hopefully set myself up with some good birdie chances and roll a few in.”
Rumford, the winner at Kalgoorlie in 2015, looked to have a stranglehold on the tournament when he got to 8-under midway through his round before a disastrous five-putt on the par-3 17th brought the veteran back to the field.
A birdie at the final hole ensured he kept a share of the lead through 36 holes but the six-time European Tour winner was left ruing his late mishap.
“It was all pretty steady, steady all day, just hit two really good golf shots into two par-3s, made a double and a triple including my first five-putt since turning professional,” said Rumford, whose double bogey at the par-3 fourth also proved costly.
“It was a suspect pin (on 17), let’s put it that way. I hit a great golf shot and got punished for hitting it straight at the flagstick.
“Don’t get me wrong, the winds were tricky today but the two par-3s I got really unlucky with a lie down in the gully on four and made an easy double and then 17 hit one of the best 5-irons I hit all day and walked off with six from the fringe.
“With that I’ve probably made the golf tournament more interesting than I would have liked.”
Drawing inspiration from fellow Perth local and major winner Hannah Green and with her sister on the bag this week, Tolchard’s impressive round highlights the bright future ahead of her.
Prevented from beginning her college career at Oklahoma State University this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tolchard is simply grateful for the opportunity to play a competitive tournament and test herself against the leading male amateurs and professionals in WA.
“Playing these sorts of events is good just to see where you’re at and it’s a big challenge especially being off the back tees,” said Tolchard, who was runner-up at the 2019 IMG Academy Junior World Championship.
“Obviously you’re hitting a lot longer clubs into greens and being up against the men it’s an extra challenge.
“I’ve played Kalgoorlie once before but that was eight years ago when I was like 10 years old so I don’t really remember the course at all.
“I was coming in quite blind but my sister is on my bag this week and she’s played here four or five times so she knows it a lot better than I do and she’s been a big help.
“The course has been great, I love it.”
Leading scores after Round 2
138: Brett Rumford, Braden Becker
139: Jarryd Felton
140: Hayden Hopewell (a)
141: Daniel Fox, Adam Brady (a)
142: Scott Strange, Daniel Hoeve, Joseph Owen (a)
Veteran Brett Rumford and prolific pro-am winner Braden Becker have defied seven months of tournament rust to share a three-stroke lead after posting scores of 7-under 65 in the opening round of the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship at Kalgoorlie Golf Course.
A 54-hole tournament for the West Australian contingent only, the 2020 championship commenced on the back of the announcement that Kalgoorlie would remain the home of the WA PGA for at least the next three years.
It is a venue where Rumford tasted success five years ago and where Becker contended in 2018 and the pair have given themselves a handy buffer from 2019 runner-up Jarryd Felton (68) with a further two strokes to Daniel Fox, Ben Ferguson and Cooper Geddes.
Fluctuating winds made club selection challenging across the desert layout and both Rumford and Becker picked up shots late in their round with clever shots from Kalgoorlie’s distinctive red dirt.
Rumford played an exquisite pitch shot from 93 metres to tap-in range at the par-4 ninth while Becker’s sixth birdie of the day came in similar fashion at his final hole, the par-5 second.
“I hit a nice 54-degree wedge out of the desert from 93 metres to the last. How it didn’t go in I don’t know,” Rumford said post-round.
“That finished off the day nicely. The only thing that will taste nicer is the burger I’ve ordered for dinner.”
“It’s something different. We don’t do it anywhere else,” added Becker, whose pitch shot from behind the second green also finished within tap-in range.
“You’ve got to read the lie as to whether it’s firm underneath or if it’s a bit dusty. If it’s dusty the club tends to stall but on the hard stuff it bounces.
“You’ve really got to read your lie which if you can do it, you can get away with it and be reliable on it.”
Making just his second appearance since his two-stroke win at Kalgoorlie in 2015, Rumford said that contending with the desert winds was just as difficult as the unusual terrain found off the fairways.
“The wind made it really tricky today,” he said.
“The strength was one aspect but the winds were turning constantly at least 90 degrees.
“That’s how it was playing from the seventh hole onwards. It was just really, really variable.
“Which is bizarre because we’re in the middle of the desert. What’s the wind buffeting off?
“It definitely adds to the trickery of the golf course.
“It had me literally guessing all day. I was just lucky that I hit the right shots at the right time.”
Becker’s lone bogey of the round came from just 50 metres out at the par-4 10th but he credited the “brain fade” for instigating a run of four birdies and an eagle in his final nine holes.
“I had a bit of a mishap in the middle but it was a good wake-up call to put my head down and make sure I wasn’t losing concentration,” said Becker, who was tied for 15th in this event two years ago.
“I hit a good tee shot and had a 50-metre pitch to the front flag and came out of it. I just hit a bad shot, rushed up, tried to hit it close while my playing partner Hayden Hopewell was getting a ruling so it was just a really soft bogey from 50 out.”
With five birdies and a single bogey at the par-3 13th hole it was a promising start also for Felton who has never finished worse than 10th in six previous appearances at Kalgoorlie.
“I’ve got really good vibes from this golf course and it’s just nice to be out of the pro shop and playing golf again,” said Felton, who has been spending the tournament hiatus working in the pro shop at Gosnells Golf Club.
“Very happy with 4-under because the wind picked up and from the complete opposite way so it threw all the preparation out the window.
“I just played pretty solid all day. I think I missed one green and holed a couple of nice putts so it was just steady for me.”
As a six-time winner on the European Tour Rumford is far and away the most accomplished player in the field but couldn’t help trying to snare the underdog tag heading into Round 2, citing his transition from tour life into that of an accredited PGA Professional at Wembley Golf Complex.
“This is my first event as a PGA Trainee,” said Rumford, who has been teaching at Wembley on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“I’m representing the Vocational Professionals and Trainees of Australia to stick it to these touring pros this week.
“That’s my No.1 goal. That’s my motivation.”
Round two of the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship begins at 10am AWST.
Round 1 leading scores
65: Brett Rumford, Braden Becker
68: Jarryd Felton
70: Daniel Fox, Ben Ferguson, Cooper Geddes
71: Scott Strange, Darren Garrett, Michael Hanrahan-Smith (a), Jose De Sousa (a), Daniel Hoeve
He received $100 for topping the Section Qualifier three weeks ago and now Australian PGA Professional Craig Hocknull will compete for a share of the $US7 million on offer at the PGA TOUR’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Drawn in the last group of the opening round alongside Michael Gligic and Matt Wilson, it’s a rare chance for the 45-year-old to continue to test his game amongst the very best in world golf.
A two-time participant in the US PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019, Hocknull’s only previous appearance at a regular PGA TOUR event was the 2017 Waste Management Phoenix Open, rounds of 75-72 not enough to qualify for the weekend.
“The confidence that I gained from Phoenix was huge because I got to hit balls next to Phil Mickelson, play practice rounds with Webb Simpson,” Hocknull said prior to the 2018 PGA Championship.
“There wasn’t anything that I saw in their games that was so far above and beyond my own that it would have intimidated me.”
The Director of Instruction at Glenwild Golf Club and Spa in Park City, Utah, Hocknull is a former trick-shot exponent who spent time in Darwin and Adelaide before completing his schooling at the Kooralbyn International School west of the Gold Coast.
An invitation to play golf at Jackson University in Mississippi took Hocknull to the United States where in 2015-2016 he was named by Golf Digest as the Best in State Teacher for Arizona.
Other Aussies who Hocknull will run shoulders this week are Jason Day, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones, Cameron Davis and Greg Chalmers as well as Kiwi Danny Lee.
After a strong showing at last week’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open the Aussies in Europe move down to London for one of the European Tour’s most storied titles, the BMW PGA Championship.
It’s been 30 years since Mike Harwood joined Rodger Davis as the only Aussies to win at Wentworth but the likes of Lucas Herbert, Wade Ormsby and Min Woo Lee will enter the week full of confidence on the back of strong recent performances.
Hannah Green will endeavour to defend her KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club and veteran John Senden joins the Korn Ferry Tour contingent at the Orange County National Championship in Florida.
Round 1 tee times (AEDT)
LPGA Tour
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
Aronimink Golf Club, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
11.49pm Su Oh, Alison Curdt, Sei Young Kim
2.50am* Sarah Kemp, Kendall Dye, Sarah Schmelzel
4.01am Lydia Ko, Charley Hull, Nelly Korda
4.07am* Hannah Green, Brooke M. Henderson, Danielle Kang
4.18am* Katherine Kirk, Cydney Clanton, Bianca Pagdanganan
4.23am Minjee Lee, Sarah Jane Smith, Eun-Hee Ji
* Starting from 10th tee
Defending champion: Hannah GreenPast Aussie winners: Jan Stephenson (1982), Karrie Webb (2001), Hannah Green (2019)
Top Aussie prediction: Katherine Kirk
TV schedule: Live 4am-8am Friday and Saturday; Live 2.30am-6am Sunday; Live 2.30am-5am Monday on Fox Sports 503
PGA TOUR
Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada
1.25am Cameron Smith, Lanto Griffin, DA Points
1.55am* Greg Chalmers, Troy Merritt, Brendan Steele
2.35am Cameron Davis, Vaughn Taylor, Scott Stallings
6.15am Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Hideki Matsuyama
6.55am Danny Lee, Doc Redman, Harry Higgs
7.15am* Matt Jones, Maverick McNealy, Kristoffer Ventura
7.25am* Craig Hocknull, Michael Gligic, Matt Wilson
* Starting from 10th tee
Defending champion: Kevin Na
Past Aussie winners: Greg Norman (1986), Stuart Appleby (2003), Andre Stolz (2004), Rod Pampling (2017)
Top Aussie prediction: Jason Day
TV schedule: Live 8am-11am Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503
European Tour
BMW PGA Championship
Wentworth Golf Club, Surrey, England
6.15pm Min Woo Lee, Haotong Li, Kristoffer Broberg
6.45pm* Scott Hend, Joachim B. Hansen, David Horsey
7.05pm Lucas Herbert, Joël Stalter, Jorge Campillo
10.05pm* Jason Scrivener, Sami Valimaki, Andrea Pavan
10.25pm* Wade Ormsby, Ryan Fox, Lucas Bjerregaard
* Starting from ninth tee
Defending champion: Danny Willett
Past Aussie winners: Rodger Davis (1986), Mike Harwood (1990)
Top Aussie prediction: Lucas Herbert
TV schedule: Live 9.30pm-3.30am Thursday and Friday; Live 9pm-2.30am Saturday; Live 10.30pm-2.30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503
Korn Ferry Tour
Orange County National Championship
Panther Lake Course, Winter Garden, Florida
10.30pm Brett Coletta, Scott Langley, John Chin
10.30pm* Curtis Luck, Rick Lamb, Grant Hirschman
11.10pm Brett Drewitt, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Taylor Pendrith
12.10am* Harrison Endycott, Zach Wright, Mickey DeMorat
4am* John Senden, Trey Mullinax, Alex Cejka
4.20am* Jamie Arnold, Brian Campbell, Taylor Moore
4.50am Nick Voke, Conrad Shindler, Chip McDaniel
5am* Ryan Ruffels, Callum Tarren, Braden Thornberry
* Starting from 10th tee
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Brett Coletta
Champions Tour
SAS Championship
Prestonwood Country Club, Cary, North Carolina
Aussies in the field: Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie, Rod Pampling
Defending champion: Jerry Kelly
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Rod Pampling
TV schedule: 11am-12.30pm Saturday; Live 6am-8am Sunday; Live 5.30am-8am on Fox Sports 503
Australians finished in the top ten on all five major tours this weekend in a brilliant effort around the globe.
There was excitement all over the globe this weekend, with Australians cracking the top 10 on all five tours.
An outrageous Saturday 63 thrust Sydney’s Cam Davis into the final group on Sunday at a PGA TOUR event for the first time and while the 2017 Australian Open champion couldn’t reel in Sergio Garcia, Davis notched his third top 10 on the PGA TOUR for 2020.
Katherine Kirk matched that feat on the LPGA Tour, the consistent Queenslander recording her third top 10 in consecutive weeks.
Tied-seventh finishes in Arkansas and at the year’s second major, the ANA Inspiration, were followed with a T10 result in New Jersey as Kirk hits this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in top form.
Young gun Brett Coletta stormed out of the blocks with a pair of opening 66s to eventually crack the podium on the Korn Ferry Tour, the Victorian ending a run of five straight missed cuts in outstanding fashion.
Only Robyn Choi started faster than Coletta, the fellow rising star opening with a 9-under 63 on the women’s secondary circuit in the US to rocket to the first-round lead.
The 22-year-old ground out a T5 finish to compliment a four-event stretch coming in to this week where she’s finished T11, T9, runner-up and T25.
There’s hardly been a tighter race for #AussieOfTheWeek but we could look no further than the brilliant effort of Lucas Herbert in brutal conditions on the European Tour.
The 2020 Dubai Desert Classic champion bounced back from a 79 on Saturday in some of the toughest weather of the year to rattle off a Sunday 65 – with six birdies in his first 10 holes – to hit the front on Sunday before settling for a share of fourth.
So for backing up last week’s T7 and notching his fourth top 10 of the year, congratulations to Lucas Herbert!
EUROPEAN TOUR
Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open
Renaissance Club, North Berwick Scotland
Won by Aaron Rai (ENG) at -11 in a playoff over Tommy Fleetwood
T4 – Lucas Herbert, -9, 66-65-79-65
T19 – Wade Ormsby, -5, 66-70-70-73
T30 – Min Woo Lee, -3, 66-74-72-69
T36 – Maverick Antcliff, -2, 69-70-75-68
T59 – Scott Hend, +3, 71-70-77-69
MC – Jason Scrivener, +8, 75-75
KORN FERRY TOUR
Savannah Golf Championship
Deer Creek GC, Georgia
Won by Evan Harmerling (USA) at -21 in a playoff over Kevin Dougherty
T3 – Brett Coletta, -19, 66-66-69-68
T22 – Brett Drewitt, -14, 71-67-68-68
T28 – Curtis Luck, -13, 67-65-73-70
T66 – Ryan Ruffels, -6, 65-69-72-76
MC – Harrison Endycott, -4, 70-70
MC – Jamie Arnold, -3, 70-71
SYMETRA TOUR
Symetra Classic
LPGA International, Dayton Beach, Florida
Won by Peiyun Chien (TPE) at -14, by one shot
T5 – Robyn Choi, -9, 63-69-75
T17 – Hira Naveed, -6, 73-68-69
MC – Steph Na, +1, 72-73
MC – Julienne Soo, +6, 73-77
PGA TOUR
Sanderson Farms Championship
Corales Golf Club, Dominican Republic
Won by Sergio Garcia (ESP) at -19 by one shot
T6 – Cameron Davis, -14, 66-73-63-72
T59 – Cam Percy, -1, 69-70-74-74
MC – Aaron Baddeley, -2, 71-71
MC – Matt Jones, -1, 73-70
MC – Greg Chalmers, +4, 72-76
LPGA TOUR
Shoprite LPGA Classic
Seaview, Bay Course, New Jersey
Won by Mel Reid (ENG) at -19 by two shots
T10 – Katherine Kirk, -10, 66-69-70-69
T18 – Minjee Lee, -8, 70-69-70-67
T66 – Hannah Green, +3, 73-69-70-75
MC – Sarah Kemp, +1, 70-73
MC – Sarah Jane Smith, +1, 67-76
MC – Su Oh, +2, 72-72
Lucas Herbert threw everything he had at the Scottish Open in the final round, but came up just short.
However, the young Australian, just 24, continues to push toward the top of the European Tour points list as his breakout season gathers pace.
Herbert shot a remarkable, closing 65 at the Renaissance Club on Sunday to finish tied-fourth, and held the lead throughout a stretch of his final round.
In fact, after he made five birdies in his first eight holes, including a chip-in at the par-four eighth, he was threatening to unseat those in front of him. He had come from six shots back.
At the par-five 10th he hit his second shot on the green and two-putted for a birdie that put him in the outright lead, but the swoopers came later. At the par-three 12th he missed the green right and made bogey, before a long birdie putt that dropped at the 15th brought a Herbert fist pump.
Once again, he had a share of the lead, and that continued when he two-putted for another birdie at the par-five 16th. Herbert always knew that the leading players had time to reel him in, and at the par-three 17th he slipped up, pulling his tee shot left and giving back a shot. At 18, he needed birdie to have any chance, and his long putt stopped a couple of rolls short of the cup.
He signed for seven-under 65 with nine birdies, posted nine-under, and soon realised that it would not be enough. The 264,000 Euro was a nice consolation prize.
With hindsight, he almost certainly would have won the tournament had he not struggled in the dreadful Saturday conditions, when he shot 79.
Ultimately, he was only two shots back from the winner, England’s Aaron Rai, who beat Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff after they both posted 11-under.
But Herbert was ranked 78th in the world going into this week and he will push closer to the top 50 after this result, a number that would give him walk-up starts in the majors including a potential berth at the Masters in December.
There is a lot to play for. Not only that, he is ranked seventh on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai with its huge carrot of the tour championship and its lucrative bonus pool.
South Australian Wade Ormsby had a disappointing final day in Scotland, playing in the final group but sliding to finish tied-19th after a closing 73.
Aussie veteran Greg Chalmers has decided to go all Han Solo as he seeks to use two remaining starts on a major medical extension to keep his spot on the PGA TOUR in 2021, starting at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.
‘Never tell me the odds.’
Chalmers will be the first of the five Aussies in the field to tee off later tonight and needs at least 242 FedEx Cup points in his next two starts to maintain status and delay the prospect of retirement for a further year.
Given he has made just one cut in five starts since the resumption in June, Chalmers knows that rather than forecast where he needs to finish in order to pad out his schedule he is better served trying to get past the first two rounds at the Country Club of Jackson.
“I would need something like a second or third place or something like that to get great status for next year in these next two events,” Chalmers explained.
“I haven’t looked at it because I haven’t even come close. That would be something that I would like to know if I was running high up the leaderboard with a day to go. That could affect decisions down the stretch. If you needed to win then you’d be trying to win; if you needed to finish third and you were running second maybe you play it safe on the last hole.
“I haven’t even come close to a performance like that. I’m more concerned about getting through to weekend golf.
“It’s so bunched up over here at the moment that if you can get to the weekend and then have a good weekend, who knows what can happen.
“It’s a crazy situation with how talented everyone is but the effect of that is that generally you’re not far from the lead if you make the cut.”
Confined to practise and social rounds in his hometown of Dallas the past month, Chalmers played in countryman Marc Leishman’s charity day at Virginia Beach on Monday, spent Tuesday in Jackson before flying back to Dallas Tuesday afternoon for a Wednesday morning meeting and then back to Jackson.
It would seem like less than ideal preparation and Chalmers said a lack of playing opportunities these past two years has impacted the sharpness of his game.
“Any professional tour I’ve played I’ve always played a lot of events and the last couple of years haven’t been like that,” said the 46-year-old two-time Australian Open champion.
“It’s been hard to fold in and out of competitive play and social play. There’s a vast difference between the two.
“I haven’t got very good at that just yet but I’ve been working on my game and I’m keen to get going again.
“I’m going to play the next two weeks and then I’ll probably a third at Bermuda in the next month. I’ve got a bit of golf coming up and the chance to put some runs on the board.”
The disruption caused by COVID-19 to golf tours around the world means Chalmers’ path back to the PGA TOUR may have to come through the Korn Ferry Tour Playoffs next August but he concedes that it might soon be time to explore other options.
“I will have some status and get in events such as Puerto Rico and the events that go down a long way – there might be seven or eight of those,” Chalmers said of his 2021 playing prospects.
“Around Christmas time I’ll start to look at what I want to do.
“Do I want to try and work a little bit at home? Teach some short game stuff to people and get involved in that and play as well or would I like to try and Monday qualify for events and get in those?
“There’s a few unanswered questions and it all depends on how I play.”
Round 1 tee times (AEST)
PGA TOUR
Sanderson Farms Championship
Country Club of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi
10.49pm Greg Chalmers, Pat Perez, Charley Hoffman
11.22pm* Cameron Percy, David Hearn, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
11.44pm* Matt Jones, Camilo Villegas, Tyler McCumber
3.22am Tim Wilkinson, Robert Streb, Zac Blair
3.22am* Aaron Baddeley, Bill Haas, Adam Schenk
4.39am Cameron Davis, Matt Every, Beau Hossler
Defending champion: Sebastian Munoz
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron Percy
TV schedule: Live 6am-9am Friday, Saturday; Live 7am-10am Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503
LPGA Tour
ShopRite LPGA Classic
Seaview (Bay Course), Galloway, New Jersey
9.30pm Sarah Kemp, Su Oh, Louise Ridderstrom
10.25pm Minjee Lee, Brittany Lincicome, Inbee Park
10.36pm Hannah Green, Brooke Henderson, Nelly Korda
2.11am* Sarah Jane Smith, Brittany Lang, Giulia Molinaro
2.55am Katherine Kirk, Cydney Clanton, Mi Hyang Lee
Defending champion: Lexi Thompson
Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2013)
Top Aussie prediction: Hannah Green
TV schedule: Live 3am-6am Friday, Saturday; Live 4am-7am Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503
Korn Ferry Tour
Savannah Golf Championship
Landings Club – Deer Creek Golf Club, Savannah, Georgia
9.55pm Curtis Luck, Andrew Novak, Ollie Schniederjans
10.35pm Ryan Ruffels, Sebastián Vázquez, Mark Blakefield
10.55pm* Nick Voke, Max Greyserman, Mark Baldwin
2.35am* Jamie Arnold, Adam Svensson, Chad Ramey
3.15am* Brett Coletta, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Paul Barjon
3.25am Brett Drewitt, Mito Pereira, Taylor Montgomery
3.25am* Harrison Endycott, Dawson Armstrong, Eric Cole
Defending champion: Dan McCarthy
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Harrison Endycott
* Starting from 10th tee
He’s the OG of bulky bombers on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia but Kiwi Ryan Fox insists he won’t be caught up in trying to match the extraordinary gains made by newly crowned US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
After finishing tied for fourth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last October, DeChambeau went behind closed doors to undergo a radical transformation, his bulkier physique impossible to ignore when it strode through the gates of Royal Melbourne for the Presidents Cup.
The theory of one of golf’s most complex thinkers was simple; get bigger, get faster and hit it further.
A run of seven consecutive top-10 finishes culminated with victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July and his six-shot win at the rescheduled US Open at Winged Foot has again brought his methodology to the forefront.
No stranger to a deadlift or a deep squat, Fox returned from the COVID-19 suspension of the European Tour in good shape physically but has no interest in an ultimate makeover that might yield a few extra yards.
“I don’t feel like I need to hit it any further than I do,” says Fox, who missed the cut at Winged Foot and has been averaging a touch over 325 yards (297 metres) off the tee in 2020, DeChambeau averaging 325.6 yards in his US Open assault.
“I’ve obviously got a little bit of speed there when I want it and I do enjoy the gym stuff but I’m certainly not going to try and bulk up and put on 50 pounds and swing it at a 140mph like he is.
“I don’t think I’d keep it on the golf course and I’m pretty sure my body wouldn’t handle it.”
It’s the physical toll that DeChambeau’s new power game may take that is of most interest to Fox and many others.
“The jury is out on that for Bryson,” said Fox, the reigning ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner.
“Obviously it’s impressive at the moment and he’s been playing some great golf but there’s a few questions around whether it’s sustainable. Only time will tell in that regard.
“It’s certainly been impressive looking at it from the outside. It’s pretty hard to pick up speed and he’s certainly picked up a lot of it in the last 6-12 months.
“Picking up speed is something you do more as a kid, it’s always been pretty hard to do once you reach that adulthood threshold.
“To pick up however many miles an hour he has got with driver in the last six months to a year is pretty impressive but I’m not going to get caught up in that.”
With one top-10 and three further top-20 finishes since the resumption of the European Tour Fox has climbed to 31st in the Race to Dubai rankings and is listed to play this week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open
Galgorm Spa and Golf Resort in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
The 33-year-old failed to qualify for last year’s season finale in Dubai and said restoring some lost speed was certainly a facet of his workout regime during lockdown.
“I felt maybe the back-end of last year I was losing a little bit of speed and I feel like I’ve got that back and it showed in my golf swing as well,” said Fox.
“I was struggling with a couple of things technically, stability-wise and stuff like that and without swinging a golf club for six weeks in lockdown I came back out swinging it better than before we went in.
“It did show up on Trackman. It only showed a little bit of an increase in speed but there was probably a little more in the tank than what I had.
“I noticed it straight away and it was probably a little easier speed than what it had been the back-end of last year and the start of this year.”
The highest-placed Aussie at Winged Foot, Lucas Herbert, is also entered for the Irish Open alongside countrymen Wade Ormsby, Scott Hend, Min Woo Lee, Jason Scrivener, Maverick Antcliff, Jake McLeod, Zach Murray and 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell.
The numbers aren’t glamorous, but the Aussies were gallant today as the US Open finished as the torture test many had predicted.
Lucas Herbert continued to ride his steep major championship learning curve to end as the leading Australian at 12 over in a share of 31st.
And while his closing two-over-par 72 isn’t something you’d right home about on face value, it lifted him past a swag of players who couldn’t deal with the demands of Winged Foot with a breeze and a chill in the air.
Herbert played arguably the shot of the final day when he rifled a 5-wood into the wind to within 1m on the 230m par-3 third.
That birdie set him on train to remain under par all the way until the 15th hole, when three consecutive bogeys dropped him a few pegs.
But, along with compatriots Cam Smith and Jason Day, it was the round’s equal eighth best score.
The final round of the 120th #USOpen kicked off with some impressive moments from the competition.
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) September 20, 2020
Highlights presented by @Lexus include Aussies Jason Day and Cameron Smith, among others. pic.twitter.com/qRezbWKZAJ
“Under par is unbelievable golf there,” said Herbert, whose feat is even more impressive given he’s been consigned to practice in the United States in preparation without PGA TOUR status.
For the record, only champion Bryson DeChambeau finished better than par in round four, his remarkable 67 paving the way for a six-shot romp at six under in total, the only man in red figures.
In his fifth major championship, Herbert’s result was comfortably his best, topping his 51st at the 2018 Open at Carnoustie.
“It’s a step forward for sure,” he said.
“It’s more learning playing major championships – both how to manage my own preparations and game as well as how to navigate tough, penalising golf courses.”
Smith was also exceptional for the majority of his round.
He made a rare birdie on the first, one of just four eagles on the ninth, and turned a remarkable three under par for his round.
With another birdie on the 11th, he still was one-under when he strode to the 16th tee until a pulled drive set in train a calamity around the green that ended in a triple-bogey seven.
Still, his 72 was enough for a 14-over finish and a share of 38th with Day, who ended with in the same manner.
Day was also fantastic in being square for the day until the 16th, but two late bogeys highlighted the course’s relentless challenge.
Asked what the toughest stretch of the course was, Day could only make a joke: “Walking to the first tee. You have to play the 18 holes.
“It’s really firm, and the greens are quick, and they’ve got some bounce to them, too, which is nice. The wind is kind of switching around a little bit out there today, … so it’s really difficult to judge what the ball is going to do in the air. You’ve got to stay committed.”
Adam Scott finished a frustrating week with a 74 to fall to back to his fellow Queenslanders at 14 over.
Scott maintained all week that he’d hit the ball well, but had struggled to get his rounds going early.
A quick look at his cards will confirm that fact; Scott played the first five holes a combined 11 over for the week.
