Queenslander Chris Wood’s Ranking Rise With Vic PGA Win

photo – PGA of Australia

30-year-old Queenslander, Christopher Wood, today won his first PGA Tour of Australasia title with a one-shot victory at the Victorian PGA Championship at Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula.

Wood defeated Gold Coast based West Australian Michael Sim and New Zealander James Anstiss by one shot to claim the $A20,600 first prize and rise to his highest ever position in the world ranking.

Despite the lack of world ranking strength in the field, Wood will climb inside the top 600 in the world after starting the week just inside the top 1400.

Wood’s previous highest ranking was in 2016 when 919th after finishing 3rd at the QLD PGA Championship.

Wood’s previous best finishes on the PGA Tour of Australasia were when finishing in 3rd place in the South Pacific Open and the Queensland PGA Championship several years ago but today he sealed his breakthrough with a final round of 67 over the demanding ‘Open’ layout at Moonah Links.

In more recent years Woods has competed on the PGA Tour China but, like so many others, has been forced to wait out 2020, working on his game with Gold Coast coach, Richard Woodhouse.

Anstiss had led through 54 holes after his brilliant third round of 63 but was unable to hold off the powerful finish of Wood who had started three off the pace.

Sim, a former world number one amateur and multiple winner on the then Nationwide Tour in 2009 before joining the PGA Tour, continued his return to tournament golf with another impressive display.

Now with PGA teaching credentials to his name, Sim recorded a final round of 69 to finish just one back. Both he and Anstiss earn A$ 11,300 for their efforts.

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Steve Stricker Chasing Significant Milestone in Phoenix

Stricker and his wife Nicki today – photo Abbie Parr Getty Images

The outcome might yet be 36 holes away, but 53-year-old Steve Stricker has opened up the possibility of becoming the oldest player to win a PGA Tour event.

Stricker is just one shot behind Xander Schaufelle at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at the halfway mark after rounds of 65 and 66 at the TPC Scottsdale outside of Phoenix and if he can find a way to win the event he will surpass Sam Snead as the oldest golfer to win on the PGA Tour.

Snead was 52 years and 10 months when he won the last of his eight Greater Greensboro Opens in 1965 but Stricker, who won the last of his 12 PGA Tour titles to date in 2012, has at least created an opportunity to create a milestone.

Surprisingly, Stricker has played this event on 18 previous occasions and recorded only one top ten in that time so the performance to date this week of the now PGA Tour Champions eligible golfer is a turnaround on previous efforts at the TPC Scottsdale.

“It would mean a lot,” said Stricker when asked what winning would mean. “I mean, I know it’s a long shot. I’ve got to play my very best, just like anybody else does out here. But you know, I’ve been there.

“I’ve won a few times out on this TOUR and I know what it takes, although it’s been a while. It would be fun to see how I handle it if I do get that opportunity.

“I’ve got to clean up a couple little shots that I messed up coming in, but I feel pretty good about my game and where it’s going. The putter has felt great. Hit a lot of putts on my line today, and it was really kind of a stressless round until the last couple holes.”

Stricker bogeyed his final hole which would ultimately cost him a share of the lead but he is clearly well placed heading into the weekend.

Schauffele has been in tremendous form of late with five top 5 finishes in his last 7 starts.

I’m just trying to kind of stay calm, I guess,” said the leader. “Like I said, I want to win really bad. I think everyone wants to win really bad. People talk to me about it now more than before.

“We kind of just realized where I was getting to I think in terms of me just becoming impatient. I feel like I had a sense of urgency when I really didn’t need to. I would look back at the week and I was like, Man, why did I kind of jump the gun there? All I had to do was play decent and I would’ve been right there.

“I think it’s just a result of pushing and pushing and pushing and having decent results, but not what we really want. I’ve played well in a calm sort of state of mind, and that’s when I’ve done my best.

“So it’s okay to be aware of these things. It’s okay to be scared of bad shots and the unknown, but I think just sort of an overall calmness. I feel like whenever I’m in a content place off the course and Austin (caddie) and are jamming well on the course together, it’s sort of an easy place for me to play well.”

Stricker shares second with Keegan Bradley just one behind Schauffele, the leader playing his final seven holes in six under for a round 64 to snatch the lead late in the day.

Matt Jones was one of only two Australians in the field and has kept himself within touch of the lead with rounds of 68 and 69 to be seven shots from the leader.

Jason Day missed the cut by two shots.

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Ryan Fox Leads Weather Delayed Saudi International

Ryan Fox – photo credit Getty Images

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox has a share of the lead at the Saudi International at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia but he will have to wait until Saturday morning (Saudi time) to determine if he retains that position.

Several players have yet to finish their second rounds after weather delayed the completion of play on day two, one of those players Fox’s co-leader, Stephen Gallacher, who has six holes to play when he returns to the golf course.

Also looming as a major threat to his lead is world number one, Dustin Johnson, who is just two off the lead with four holes to play.

34 year old Fox, who has missed four of his last six cuts in an understandably limited schedule of late, was delighted with his form especially given the quality of the field this week.

“I’m very happy,” said Fox. “It’s been a really solid couple days of ball-striking, and saw a few putts go in both days, which was nice. And, I mean, to be sitting near the top of this leaderboard is always a good thing. It’s a pretty strong field this week.

“I don’t know how many of the top 50 in the world are here this week, but it’s a lot. And there’s a reason they’re there. They’re world-class players.”

Fox is currently ranked 208th in the world ranking but has been as low as 66 after his win in Perth in February 2019.

“And I certainly hope to be there one day,” he added. And if I can play well this week, then it’s a step forward in that direction. If not, it’s just good experience and a nice finish to my desert swing because I don’t really know when I’m going to come back out here again.”

Fox was referring to the ongoing travel issues caused by COVID and even this week he is concerned about making his flight back to New Zealand on Sunday night.

“As long as I can make my flight on Sunday to make sure I get back into New Zealand. But, yeah, like this is what you play golf for, to be in contention. And it’s been a while since I’ve been in this position. And I’ll just go out and enjoy it on the weekend and see if I can keep playing how I’m playing. I know if I do, I’ve got a good chance on Sunday.”

Fox’s only win on the European Tour came in Perth two years ago but there have also been two runner-up finishes so he has proven himself capable of handling the heat of the battle and this weekend against so many of the game’s best players will provide an interesting test for him.

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Different Look WM Phoenix Open But Plenty Of Interest

Jon Rahm – Photo Donald Miralle – Getty Images

This week the PGA Tour heads east to Scottsdale in the outer suburbs of Phoenix for the highly popular Waste Management Phoenix Open at the TPC Scottsdale and after several Australians have been part of recent events on the 2021 PGA Tour only two will tee it up this week.

Jason Day and Matt Jones will take on a field including leading players John Rahm, Rory McIlory, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas and so they face a big task if they are to become the first Australian to win the event since Aaron Baddeley in 2007 and just the second overall.

The event is typically the most attended on the PGA Tour in normal times and while the 100,000 daily figures are the norm but no longer possible given COVID restrictions, a concession has been made for the public this week with 5000 per day able to enter the golf course.

Day will play the event for just the 4th occasion and with a best of 20th previously it is a venue that has not seen him near his best. In his only start this year, Day missed the cut at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open so in terms of his record in the event and his current form there is not a lot to get excited about for Day.

Jones will tee it up for the 10th occasion and with a best of 12th in 2014 and no other top 30 finishes in the remainder it appears his chances of faring a lot better are slim.

Jones is, though, playing solidly if unspectacularly of late, an 11th place finish at the Sony Open an indication of his game being in at least reasonable shape.

Jon Rahm will likely start as the favourite as his nearest opponent in the world rankings and playing this week, Rory McIlroy will play the event for the first occasion. Rahm has been 1st or 2nd in the world ranking for nearly 12 months now and has finished a very respectable 7th in each of his last three starts on the PGA Tour including at the Masters.

Three top tens in five starts in this event in his hometown aid his cause and expect to see him very much in the thick of things on Sunday.

“It’s a home event,” said Rahm when asked why he likes the tournament so much. “Get to sleep in my own bed, so it’s nice. The traveling is not too much, especially coming from San Diego. A lot of good memories.

“Obviously my first cut made on the PGA TOUR was here. Had a great finish as an amateur, and the whole Sun Devil vibe and just the familiarity with everything, I love the event, love the fans.

“The game is good. One of those sevenths was with different clubs, so put a little asterisk there. And there’s a big difference between the one at Kapalua and the one at Torrey Pines. I had a legit chance of winning at Torrey Pines. Started good on Sunday and just the putter got cold. Didn’t make much on the back nine.

“But the game is there. I feel like I’m getting used to the clubs, getting used to the ball. Still testing a lot of things to make sure they’re set perfectly. You know, when you change clubs, manufacturers, like that, you’ve got to get used to the tendencies of each one to find the perfect one.”

Despite not having played the event previously McIlroy is ticking over nicely this year and given his class he is sure to adapt quickly to the layout and the lack of crowds this year rather than the raucous lot that normally frequent the event might help him in that regard.

“It’s good to be in Phoenix finally,” said McIlroy. “First time here, and there is always — whether it’s been I’ve been playing in the desert in the Middle East and haven’t been able to make it over here, schedule just hasn’t quite fit. I was over here anyway; played Torrey Pines.

“You know, I’ve always been told that this course in Scottsdale would be a good fit for my game, so thought I would try it out this year. Yeah, excited to be here. From what I’ve seen of the golf course, I like it. I like the fit of it.

“Looking forward to getting out there, and, yeah, playing it this week. Going to be good fun.”

Hideki Matsuyama has an enviable record at the Waste Management Phoenix Open having won twice, finished runner-up once and 4th once in seven starts.

Matsuyama is not far off his best once again after just an average year in 2020 and might bounce back on a golf course he would not doubt like to take home with him.

I keep mentioning Korea’s Sungjae Kim and so I will once again. He has played here twice with seven of his eight rounds in the 60’s and a best of 7th on debut in 2019. Im keeps knocking on the door and at some stage soon he will add to his one PGA Tour victory to date.

It will be a different look for the Waste Management Phoenix Open this year but it offers a lot of interest all the same.

 

 

 

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Patrick Reed Deflects Controversy To Win 9th PGA Tour Title

Reed with his trophy – photo Katelyn Mulcahy Getty Images

Patrick Reed has come under the greatest of golf course scrutiny this weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines but in an amazing display of deflecting the criticism he copped as a result of a ruling incident during Saturday’s third round, he has won his 9th PGA Tour title.

Whatever the golfing world thinks of Patrick Reed, and there are many who are questioning his integrity, the one thing that can’t be questioned is his amazing capacity to ignore the many who have attacked him and focus on the job at hand.

Reed’s seemingly dubious action from what he perceived as an embedded lie at the 10th hole during yesterday’s play was brought under severe question on social media and elsewhere but his actions were defended by the PGA Tour’s rules officials and armed with that knowledge he put the controversy aside and set out today with a share of the lead.

Just as he had in Melbourne during the 2019 Presidents Cup when local golf fans and others paid out on his ‘bunkergate’ incident a few weeks earlier, Reed used the criticism then as motivation and played a key role in the comeback of Tiger Woods’ team to win the event on Sunday.

Today, displaying similar resilience, he began the day tied in the lead with Carlos Ortiz but when he holed a 45-foot eagle putt at the 6th and then added another lengthy putt for birdie at the 7th he established a lead that grew over the closing nine despite playing those holes in just one under.

It was an impressive display of golfing skill and dogged determination in so many respects, under the greatest of scrutiny and on one of the PGA Tour’s toughest tests to not only hold on to the lead but to extend it and win by five.

As many of his nearest chasers fell victim to the demands of Torrey Pines closing stretches, Reed played the homeward nine in 1 under and sealed the victory with a ten-foot birdie putt at the last.

He won by five over Tony Finau, Henrik Norlander, Ryan Palmer, Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovalnd

His media conference was always going to be another test for him and like his display on the golf course he was ready for it.

“Actually, when I’m in tournament weeks I don’t ever look at anything,” Reed told the media conference after his round. “I can get in my own kind of world and that’s stuff that my coaches and team work on, I can kind of go out there and just kind of improve each and every day and work on what we’re supposed to do.

“I think that was the biggest thing is I was allowed to kind of put it behind me when the head rules official comes up and says you did everything you were supposed to do. When you do everything you’re supposed to do, at the end of the day that’s all you can control.

“Going into today, I felt good, I felt confident and really went to the golf course, plugged in my headphones and just kind of got in my world with my coach and got to that first tee.”

Reed has been working on his game and swing with David leadbetter and was asked how today shaped up given the work he has been doing.

“I think that was the biggest thing is today was — I had more nerves today than I did during the final round at Augusta because I was in a different spot; still working on the swing, still not fully where we want it to be.

“But the hard work that my team is going through and working with me on trying to dial it in, get it where it is right now is amazing.

“The good thing is, Led’s always told me, he’s like, hey, you’re working towards something, there’s no reason why you can’t go ahead and win. Because of that I had that kind of attitude going into today that, hey, even though the swing’s not 100 percent, you know how to get it around this golf course, you can go out and shoot a number and put up a fight.”

Adam Scott was unable to take advantage of his 3rd place position through 54 holes and eventually finished tied for 10th after a final round 73. Two late birdies saw a late recovery from an overall disappointing day for Scott.

Defending champion, Marc Leishman, was the next best of the Australians, his final round of 70 improving him to a share of 18th.

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