A positive week with the putter is all that stands between Jason Day and a drought-breaking PGA TOUR title after the Queenslander finished tied for eighth at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

Day began the final round inside the top five and determined to secure his first win in more than 12 months but couldn’t convert stellar iron play into birdies often enough as American Chez Reavie broke a drought of his own, claiming his first win in 11 years at TPC River Highlands by four strokes and seven clear of Day.

Day, whose next event will be the 3M Open a fortnight before the Open Championship at Royal Portrush, hit 94 per cent of greens in his final round of 1-under 69 yet lost ground with his putter, the club that has been such a strength throughout his professional career.

A double-bogey on the par-3 eighth after he came up short in the water with his tee shot was the only green Day missed in his final round, three birdies on the back-9 pushing him up inside the top-10 for the sixth time in 16 starts this season.

But putting is where tournaments are won and lost and Day said following his round that there was only one remedy to get back in the winner’s circle.

“Just get back and practice,” was Day’s simple assertion.

“I need to improve the putting. Even though I hit a lot of good, quality putts, just not quite happy with it.

“I hit 88 per cent of greens this week which is very strong. Shot 1-under today and hit 17 greens. The only mistake I made was on the par-3 and I miss hit it and pulled up short in the water.

“There are a lot of positives coming from this week and I feel really good about my game.

“Very, very motivated to go back and practice this coming week and get ready for the 3M.”

Quick out of the blocks with an opening round of 4-under 66 Victorian Marc Leishman closed with a 2-under par 68 to finish tied for 21st, his lone bogey of the day coming at the par-4 17th as he moved 13 spots up the leaderboard.

On the Korn Ferry Tour (previously known as the Web.com Tour), Rhein Gibson further entrenched his name within the top-10 of the moneylist with a tie for 14th at the Wichita Open to be the pick of the Australians at Crestview Country Club in Kansas.

The winner of the Wichita Open won’t be determined for another day after a five-man playoff had to be suspended with only three players eliminated, Henrik Norlander and Bryan Bigley the two players remaining when play was called off for the day.

Maintaining the form that saw him capture the BMW Charity Pro-Am a few weeks ago, Gibson completed four rounds in the 60s with a 3-under round of 67 in his final round to finish inside the top-15 and projected to stay at seventh on the Order of Merit.

Kiwi Tim Wilkinson’s 4-under 66 on Sunday moved him up to a tie for 22nd with Sydney’s Jamie Arnold and New Zealander Steven Alker also qualifying for the weekend rounds.

PGA TOUR
Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
T8           Jason Day          70-63-68-69—270            $US194,400
T21        Marc Leishman   66-70-70-68—274            $65,760
T43        Cameron Davis   70-68-69-70—277            $21,924
MDF       Matt Jones          69-69-72—210   $13,824
MC         Curtis Luck          70-69—139
MC         Rod Pampling     72-68—140
MC         Danny Lee           73-69—142
MC         Aaron Baddeley  70-72—142
MC         Cameron Smith   71-72—143

Korn Ferry Tour
Wichita Open
Crestview Country Club, Wichita, Kansas
T14        Rhein Gibson      67-69-66-67—269
T22        Tim Wilkinson      71-66-67-66—270
T51        Jamie Arnold       67-67-70-71—275
T63        Steven Alker        66-72-73-67—278
MC         Brett Drewitt        70-70—140
MC         Brett Coletta        70-71—141
MC         Nick Voke            71-73—144

Players hit the “pearl” in the northwest, Broome for another fantastic edition of the Broome Furnishings Carpet Paint and Tile Open and the final event on the WA May/June swing of the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

A favourite stop for all, players enjoyed beautiful weather for the $30,000 two-day event.

Day one provided a good test with strong easterlies making the course considerably tough.

Daniel Hoeve and Brody Martin fired superb rounds of 5-under 67 to hold the overnight lead by one shot over two other WA locals Daniel Fox and Brady Watt.

On day two the wind was up early but dropped off for the players to really take advantage of the Broome Golf Club layout.

Rory Bourke posted a pair of 70’s to be 4-under and outright 6^th. Brody Martin added a 1-under 71 round to his 67 to be 6-under for the tournament and outright 5^th with Braden Becker firing a 67 and Peter Lonard a 66 to share third place on 7-under.

It was then left to the two hottest players on course Fiji’s Sam Lee and WA’s Daniel Fox.

Lee posted five straight birdies from the 2^nd through 6^th hole to join Fox at the top of leader board, eventually signing for a 7-under 65.

Fox also went low on day two, turning in 4-under before having three consecutive birdies from the 15^th to the 17^th to record a bogey-free 65 and close the door on Lee and finish on an 11-under total.

This gave Fox his second multiple round win after securing the Mitchell & Brown Spalding Park Open earlier in the swing and now shooting back to the top of the WA Order of Merit.

“The game felt great today, always nice to have a bogey-free round especially a 7-under 65 to notch my first win in Broome,” said Fox.

“I love coming to Broome it’s one of our favourite stops on tour, I wish we could have a couple more events a year up here.”

Players will now head back east to continue the quest on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series, WA will host two more events later in the year to decide the WA OOM title.

Matthew Millar leads the way following the third round of the Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am, his round of 6- under 66 taking him to a two-shot lead over the field heading into the final round.

Rockhampton turned on a cold morning for round three of the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series event with temperatures in the low single figure digits. By mid-morning players enjoyed perfect clear blue skies as the leading groups took to the Rockhampton Golf Club layout.

Millar’s round included two bogeys and four birdies on the front-9, making the turn 2-under par. Gaining further momentum on the back-9 Millar carded four birdies for 4-under 32 and a three-round total of 200.

“I only missed a couple of shots out there but they resulted in bogeys,” said Millar.

“I felt like I putted well today, probably the best I have all year. I’m starting to get that positive feeling back over my putts, which is nice.

“I really like the course and it’s in fantastic condition considering the region is currently in drought.

“I’m happy with where my game is and looking forward to the final round.”

Victoria’s Andrew Martin has played his way into contention courtesy of a solid round of 5-under 67, putting him in second place with one round still to play.

“I got off to a slow start on the front-9 but finished really strong on the final nine holes,” said Martin.

“I haven’t been playing very much over the last few months, I took some time off but now I’m back looking to play through to the end of the year.”

The next best placed professional is Andrew Campbell who shot the low score of the day to be in outright third position, Jacob Boyce is sitting 11-under in fourth and Tim Hart and Jack Wilson round out the top-5 on 10-under.

The final round of the Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am begins at 6.40am with the lead group including Millar and Martin are on course at 12.10pm.

Six players sit tied at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway mark of the Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am as the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series competition heats up in Queensland.

Ben Clementson, Julian Sinardi, Matt Millar, Darren Beck, Jack Munro, and reigning champion Jacob Boyce are locked on 10-under par totals with two rounds still to play.

Ben Clementson shot the equal low score of the day a 6-under 66 to move into contention, his round consisting of a 33 front-9 and a 33-back-9.

Three-time runner-up in this event, Matthew Millar, fired a solid round of 4-under 68 however missed a chance for the outright lead after finishing his round on the par-3 9^th hole, with a bogey.

“I got off to a slow start,” said Millar. “Then I got things going mid way through the round courtesy of some good putting.

“I was disappointed with my finish on the 9^th hole, I hit a poor shot off the tee missing the green and then didn’t make the up and down to save par.”

“I feel that my game is really close but I’m just making some basic errors out there.”

Jacob Boyce shot a round of 2-under par 70 to stay among the leaders.

“I didn’t hit the ball well today,” said Boyce. “I only hit two fairways for the day but putted really well which saved me.”

The next best placed professionals are Luke Paroz and Andrew Martin sitting on 9-under 135 two-round total.

The third round of the Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am tees off tomorrow morning at 6.40am with the leading players on course from 11.30am.

West Australian Brett Rumford has turned to virtual reality to sharpen his game ahead of this week’s BMW International Open in Munich.

In his fourth tournament since his return from wrist surgery, Rumford is one of seven Australians in the European Tour event, receiving an invitation from tournament organisers which he gladly accepted.

The 41-year-old has missed the cut in each of the three tournaments since his comeback but has a long history at the BMW International, playing the event 14 times since 2001 with a best finish of second in 2005.

As part of his preparation for this week Rumford dropped into the Perth Golf Centre to use the Trackman simulator, dialling in his world-famous wedge play on the incredibly realistic course rendering in the indoor studio.

Dimi Papadatos will play in the first group of the day at 3.30pm AEST on Thursday to be followed two groups later by Aussie pair Deyen Lawson and Sam Brazel with Jason Scrivener, Lucas Herbert and Adam Bland all eager to improve their position in the Race to Dubai standings.

Maybank Championship winner Scott Hend is the best-placed Aussie in the Race to Dubai in 17th position with Scrivener the next best in 40th spot courtesy of the four top-10 finishes he recorded in his opening five events of the season.

Only one Australian has ever won the BMW International Open, Peter Fowler claiming the 1993 title, finishing three shots clear of Ian Woosnam.

The European Challenge Tour is in Spain this week for the Andalucia – Costa del Sol Match Play 9 tournament in Malaga where Aussies Jordan Zunic and Ben Eccles are joined by Kiwi Josh Geary in the innovative format that sees the top 64 players from 36 holes of stroke play advance to nine-hole match play knockout matches.

A pair of Australasian legends in Peter O’Malley and Greg Turner are also in action this week on the Staysure Tour, teeing it up at the inaugural Farmfoods European Legends Links Championship hosted by Ian Woosnam at Trevose Golf and Country Club.

An invitation to The Open Championship at Royal Portrush is the extra incentive dangling in front of Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Scott Hend heading into the Kolon Korea Open at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.

Leading the Order of Merit by just over $55,000 from Thai sensation Jazz Janewattananond, Hend returns to the Korean Open not only hoping to extend that advantage but secure one of the two places on offer to The Open.

The top two finishers in the top eight not otherwise exempt will earn a start at Royal Portrush with Hend headlining eight Australians and Kiwi Ben Campbell in the field.

His win at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia earlier this year propelled Hend to the top of the moneylist and provided the impetus to set his sights on a second Order of Merit crown in the space of three years.

“After winning the 2016 Order of Merit, I thought it would be great if, at some stage, I can get the chance to contend for the title again,” Hend told Asian Tour Media, paired with recent US PGA Tour winner Kevin Na and defending champion Minchel Choi in the opening two rounds.

“It will be a nice finish to the year with Jazz playing well and my drive to try and win the title again.

“I am sure it will be a close battle. A very busy end of year for me as I am trying to fit events from two Tours into a condensed few months.”

Despite battling injury throughout 2018 Hend played 31 tournaments across the globe last year and said that his 10th Asian Tour title validated the hard work he put in to begin his 2019 campaign physically prepared.

“2019 has been a year of recovery for me. I was injured last year and have been working hard to get back some form,” Hend said.

“It was nice to win in Malaysia and prove to myself that hard work is worth the troubles and sacrifices.”

Although he hasn’t played the Kolon Korea Open since 2007, Hend had no problem recalling the challenge that Woo Jeong Hills presents.

“It’s been a while since I last played the Korea Open, but I am looking forward to the challenge again,” said Hend, who has finished in the top five on the Order of Merit seven times since 2007.

“My main recollection of the course is that the greens have lots of gradient and can be fast and tricky with tough pin placements.

“I love visiting Korea and I look forward to every opportunity that I can get to come back and play or just relax and see my friends.”

Travis Smyth is the first of the Aussies to tee off from the first tee at 6.41am followed by Campbell at 6.52am and Terry Pilkadaris at 7.03am local time.

The other Aussies teeing it up are Jake Higginbottom, Junseok Lee, Jason Norris, Cameron John and Zach Murray.

It can seep into your subconscious.

A poor iron shot here, 18 holes with a driver that won’t behave, a run of missed putts that leave you questioning your confidence with the flatstick.

Negative thoughts cloud the judgement of almost every amateur golfer on the planet and even the very best professionals.

As he sets out on a mission to ascend back to the very top of world golf and add to his 2015 US PGA Championship, Jason Day has enlisted the help of caddy Steve Williams yet knows it first has to come from within.

Backing up from his tie for 21st at last week’s US Open at Pebble Beach, Day headlines a list of seven Aussies at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands; 2012 champion Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Aaron Baddeley, Curtis Luck, Cameron Davis and Rod Pampling all teeing it up along with Kiwi Danny Lee.

Currently ranked No.18 in the world, Day has not posted a top-20 finish since he was tied for fifth at The Masters in April and has recognised that positive results will be the byproduct of a more positive mindset.

“Not just golfers but everyone in life needs to improve their positive self-talk because you don’t realise how much a negative thought or even a saying can actually hurt you deep down,” Day said prior to the first round at Pebble Beach.

“You may not feel it or anything, but sooner or later, over time, if you look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you’re ugly, sooner or later you’re going to look in the mirror and say, ‘I’m ugly’.

“You have to keep reinforcing positive things. And that’s what I need to do most, just slowly keep reinforcing that.

“Hopefully over time that self-reinforcement of positivity will sooner or later go into my golf game and give me confidence.

“I’m definitely guilty of that. I’m on the golf course sometimes and I’m thinking negative things. That’s human nature.”

A five-time winner on the PGA TOUR in 2015, Day has now gone more than 12 months without a win.

He was tied for 12th at TPC River Highlands 12 months ago with four sub-70 rounds and knows that reconnecting with that winning mentality is another important step if he is to reclaim a place among the top 10 golfers on the planet.

“It’s just getting back to pushing through, grinding and grinding it out, pushing through and not stopping,” Day explained.

“That’s really one mental hurdle that you’ve got to overcome. When you’re trying to win a tournament, you’ve got to keep pushing and see how far you can extend that barrier.

“And you know for the next time that you can push it even further after that.”

Following his major championship debut at Pebble Beach Brett Drewitt returns to the Web.com Tour this week where he joins Rhein Gibson, Brett Coletta, Jamie Arnold and Kiwis Steven Alker, Tim Wilkinson and Nick Voke at the Wichita Open, a tournament that boasts two former Aussie winners in Bradley Hughes (2004) and Mathew Goggin (2011).

Marc and Audrey Leishman giving back through proceeds from beer

Not everyone can go to a restaurant and order a beer that bears your name – not to mention, one that you helped create.

Marc Leishman can, though.

Three years ago, the Aussie partnered with Back Bay Brewery to create Leishman Lager to serve at a gala for the Begin Again Foundation that he and his wife Audrey started after she recovered from a life-threatening bout with toxic shock and acute respiratory syndromes.

What originally was slated for a one-month limited release has proven extremely successful and remains a year-round feature at the brewery in Virginia Beach, where Audrey grew up and the couple lives with their three young children. It can be bought in grocery stores and ordered in about 100 local restaurants, bars and 19th holes in the area, with a portion of the proceeds going to the foundation.

“We went to them and then just sort of for the lack of a better word, it just blew up,” Leishman says. “It was a lot more popular than what they thought it was going to be. And now it’s one of their best-selling beers. So, it’s good. I’m enjoying it. It’s nice being able to get it.”

While Leishman says he’ll occasionally order wine with a thick, juicy steak, beer is his adult beverage of choice. And he’s not just a consumer of Leishman Lager – “I really do like it,” he says with a smile – the four-time PGA TOUR winner was intimately involved in developing it.

Leishman wanted it to be a light beer, not unlike one from Australia called Furphy. The hops the brewers used even come from Down Under, a mixture of Pride of Ringwood (used in Foster’s and Victoria Bitters) and Helga, which brings in floral and citrus-like notes.

“I’m not smart enough to know what I want to put in beers and all that to make it taste a certain way,” Leishman says. “So, I left that to the brewers, but I did put the hops in the first batch.

“Apart from that, I’ll sort leave it up to them. We’ve tweaked it a little bit here and there. For the most part, it’s pretty similar to how it was the first batch.”

Travis Powell, who is the head brewer at Back Bay, says he and Leishman talked extensively about the kinds of commercially-available beers he likes to drink before putting the brew together.

“And I worked from there, and I develop the process to get to those final flavors,” Powell says. “And it’s a trial and error, we adjusted the recipe every time we brewed it, to try to make it more for what we want — mostly for what Marc wants, really.

“So, he wanted a little bit of floral components and a little bit of citrus in there. He definitely didn’t want anything really heavy on the malt or really strong in the hops.”

One of the hardest things, Powell says, is to get Leishman to offer constructive criticism because he’s such a nice person. The beer, which takes 4-5 weeks from brewing to consumption, is always subject to tweaking, much like the Aussie works on his golf game.

“I’d rather somebody tell me the negatives about the beer, than all the positives,” Powell says. “I want them to help me make it better. So, it’s kind of hard pulling it out of him. I’ll usually say things because he won’t tell me. …

“I’ll say like, ‘Oh, you know, I think it might have a little too much front-end hops. What do you think about dialing it back like 10 percent?’ And then he’ll be like, ‘No, I actually like it,’ or he’ll say like, ‘Oh that’s a great idea, mate.’”

Powell worked as a formulation chemist for four years out of college before he got “tired of real life” and decided to follow his passion. He and Leishman, who live near each other but didn’t know each other before this project, bonded over their shared love of beer. He even delivered the first keg to Leishman’s house.

“We always joke and say, ‘It’s a beer for the fairway,’” says Powell, who attended the 2013 Masters where Leishman finished fourth and watched the Aussie play never knowing the two would work together. “Something that’s just easy, light. Something you can have for 18 holes.”

Leishman is the first professional athlete that Back Bay has partnered with, although it has done specialty brews before. The brewery, which offers 16 beers at one facility and 12 at its other bar, is putting out a beer called VB Strong with the proceeds benefitting the families of the tragic shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building last month.

“We like partnering with organizations,” Powell says. “We like charitable organizations as well. The owners who started Back Bay did it originally for something that’s fun and something for the community.”

When the Begin Again Foundation came calling, it was important to both parties that the beer stand on its own. Having Leishman’s name on it was a plus, but everyone wanted a beer that was drinkable and commercially viable.

The label, designed by Back Bay’s in-house artists, actually pays tribute to Leishman’s homeland rather than golf. Inside the brewery’s signature swan, there’s a shield with elements of the Australian flag flanked by kangaroo and an emu.

“It’s funny,” Powell says. “There’s a lot of people who think the name is familiar, but on our logo there’s not a whole lot showing that it’s a golfer. So, people who aren’t into golf might not know it.”

The beer has been available on draft for several years now. Recently, though, it was canned for the first time and the first 7,200 sold out in less than a month. Plans are being made to make the beer available outside of Virginia, once the tax and trade approvals are complete and distributors are found.

Who knows, maybe one day, Leishman’s friends back home in Warrnambool will get to drink their favourite son’s beer.

“We were actually joking about that,” says Powell, who has relatives in Sydney. “I’m like, ‘You know, I think we really need to do a remote tasting room for the Leishman Lager in Australia.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh I would love to do that.’”