English Wins Playoff – Scott Heads Australians in Hawaii

Harris English his first trophy in seven years – photo Getty Images / Gregory Shamus

Adam Scott has finished as the best of the Australians at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Kapalua Resort in Hawaii, the 40-year-old Queenslander finishing the event in a share of 22nd place at 15 under and ten shots from the eventual winner, Harris English.

Scott’s final round of 70 was the result of a fine fightback from an opening nine of 38, his closing nine of five under 32 considerably improving his final position and seeing him finish just one ahead of fellow Australians, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith.

Leishman also recovered from a slow start with a final nine of 4 under par 33 for a round of 69 to finish tied for 25th.

Smith was another to benefit from a strong finish, birdies at his final two holes having him tied with Leishman.

All three of the Australians will play this coming week’s Sony Open in Honolulu where they will be joined by fellow Australians Aaron Baddeley, Cameron Davis, Rhein Gibson and Matt Jones, Smith defending his 2020 title.

The winner this week, Harris English, birdied the first extra hole of a play against Joaquin Niemann to win his third PGA Tour title but his first since 2014.

English had led at the end of each round although through 72 holes he was of course tied with Niemann.

English was justifiably emotional about his victory but his form in recent months suggested that another win was close at hand. He has recorded top ten finishes in three of hos four previous starts on the PGA Tour.

“It’s incredible – a lot of hard work over the years and there are times when you think you are never get there again,” said English.

“I have built a great team around me back in Sea Island. Nobody has ever given up on me or lost faith in me. There’s definitely been highs and lows but that is the way golf goes.”

Niemann produced the equal best round of the week (64) to take the sole lead at one stage of the round but was unable to birdie the last which might have made the difference and waited nearly an hour while those behind on the golf course finished their rounds.

“I played awesome the whole week, especially today,” said Niemann. “One of my best rounds. Yeah, I just look back to 15 and 18 from today, I couldn’t make birdie and I think it was right there. But, yeah, just happy and it was close.

“I mean, if you asked me at the beginning of the round I’m going to be in a playoff, I would probably take it, but, yeah, the way I was playing the whole week and the way I played today, and then I just look back and I see those two par-5s I made par. But, yeah, I mean it is what it is.”

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Cameron Smith Records 66 But Still Eight From Lead.

Ryan Palmer – round of the week 64 to share the lead – photo courtesy of Getty Images / Gregory Shamus

Cameron Smith produced one of the better rounds of the day (66) during round three of the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Kapalua Resort in Hawaii, but, although he improved his position by some 16 places on the leader-board, he finds himself the same number of shots (8) from the lead as was the case beginning his round.

Second round leader, Harris English, continued his remarkable play to lead into tomorrow’s final round but he has been joined by Texan, Ryan Palmer, at 21 under par, that pair one shot ahead of current PGA Champion, Collin Morikawa.

Harris English – photo Getty Images

Morikawa added a second consecutive 65 to move into contention after a relatively slow start on Thursday.

English holed an eight-foot par saving par putt at the last to retain his share of the lead with Palmer having recorded the round of the week to date (64) but he (Palmer) was forced to await a rules ruling before confirming his score.

Palmer’s actions at the par 4 9th hole, when he brushed aside a couple of divots as his chunked chip shot rolled back down the hill short of the green, could have been seen as a means of improving the lie for his next shot but he was found to have no intent in his actions and his round of 64 stood.

After his round Palmer explained his actions. “Well, when I walked in there, I saw Munch (PGA Tour official) with a book out, John Munch, and I was like, What’s this about? And I started going through my mind on the day. And then when he said, We have a situation on 9, and I immediately was, like, let’s see, I hit a good 3-wood, fluffed a chip, told James I hit the wrong club, and then went to where I was ended up chipping again, I still had no idea.

“But then he showed me the video and I looked at it and I go, What am I looking at? And it took me watching it twice to understand what he was talking about and then, and discussed I kicked a divot, but the ball was five feet away from me where it ended up stopping, and I was, like, I don’t know what, still, what you’re asking me. Because there was no intention of me trying to help my ball because there was no way my ball was even close to where I was at.”

Palmer birdied six of his last seven holes to zoom into contention for the title and add another win in Hawaii to his list of victories having previously won the Sony Open in Honolulu.

Smith’s round was made even more meritorious taking into account a three putt bogey at the 12th but one week out from the defence of his Sony Open title he finds himself in very good form to do so and something special tomorrow might yet yield a very high finish here.

Smith is in 16th place after starting the day in 32nd position and finds himself one shot ahead of his fellow Queenslander, Adam Scott, who added a round of 5 under par 68 on the par 73 layout to be tied for 21st.

Marc Leishman is two behind Scott after his round of 71 on a day of extremely low scoring.

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Australians Lose Touch In Hawaii

Harris English has opened up a two shot lead – photo Getty Images Gregory Shamus

Australian chances of success at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii took a hit today despite Marc Leishman making progress with a second consecutive round of 69 to be at 8 under through 36 holes.

Scoring was again low on the par 73 layout with only one of the 42 player field over par at the halfway mark.

Leishman finds himself in a share of 22nd place in the 42-player field but some six shots from the leader, Harris English who leads by two over a four-way tie for second place including, Collin Morikawa, Daniel Berger, Ryan Palmer and defending champion, Justin Thomas.

While there is some margin between himself and the lead, Leishman will be encouraged by an improved showing in his first start of the year, especially given his very average second half of 2020.

Leishman’s only mistake came at the driveable par 4 14th on which he missed the green right from the tee and was forced to hit it sideways before reaching the green in three and took bogey. He would two-putt for birdie the last after setting up a good eagle chance.

Adam Scott was unable to capitalise on his opening round of 68 and his 2 under 71 saw him slip 18 places to now be in a share of 27th while Cameron Smith added a second consecutive 70 to be in 32nd place.

The leader, English, is playing the event for just the second occasion having finished 14th on debut in 2014. English is in the expanded field courtesy of making it to the Tour Championship but has not won on the PGA Tour since 2013.

His most recent form has been encouraging with three top tens in his last four starts on the PGA Tour.

“Yeah, it was a cool perk of making it to the TOUR Championship and getting in this week,” said English. “That was awesome. I have wanted to get back here since 2014 and watched this tournament every year when I’m back home and glad to be able to come back to Kapalua and play.

“I guess the thing is to get in the Sentry Tournament of Champions every year this is a good place to win every year to get yourself back in the tournament. So I like where I stand, I’m pumped about the weekend and ready for the challenge.”

 

 

 

 

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Adam Scott Begins 2021 In Impressive Fashion

Scott enjoying his opening round today – photo Getty Images Cliff Hawkins

Adam Scott has made an impressive start to his 2021 golfing year with an opening round of 5 under par 68 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua on Maui in Hawaii.

Scott finds himself in a share of 9th place and three shots behind joint first round leaders, Harris English and defending champion Justin Thomas who opened with rounds of 65.

Scott’s bogey free round of 68 over the par 73 layout at the Plantation Course and was delighted with the manner in which he hit the ball.

“I think probably the best I’ve hit it in about four years for one round of golf,” said Scott. “So that’s good. I’ve been obviously always working on it, but kind of started feeling it there at Houston and the Masters and managed to keep in the practice something going in the right direction, so it was nice to see that on the course today.

“I kind of need to get it going. I had a pretty light campaign generally last year, like really light and really average too after COVID. We returned from the break and the Australian tournaments were cancelled, so that gave me the break at the end of the year that I don’t normally get and I was very excited to be coming back here.

“I love coming and playing over here, it’s been a while, and a good way for me to kind of kick start my FedExCup run. And I’ll play next week and Farmers as well and hopefully keep striking it like this and get a few putts to drop and I’ll be in good shape.”

Like Scott, Marc Leishman was bogey free and finished the day at 4 under 69. It was an encouraging start to the year for Leishman who failed to record one top ten in any of his last 14 starts on the PGA Tour.

Cameron Smith was off to a good start to back up some stunning end of 2020 form but a double bogey late in his round when making a mess of the par five 15th proved costly. He was able to recover with a birdie from 15 feet at the last and at 3 under 70 it was a solid, if perhaps disappointing, start.

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Three Australians Start 2021 at Tournament of Champions

Adam Scott plays Kapalua for the 7th occasion.

Three Australians won on the PGA Tour in 2020 and all three will take their place in the field for an event which offers winners the chance to test their games and readiness so early in the New Year.

In 2021 eligibility has been extended as a result of Covid 19 issues and the field expanded as a result, with not every player in the field a winner, additional players being added from world ranking and FedEx Cup tables.

The Sentry Tournament of Champions brings together 42 of the 45 players eligible, only Rory McIlroy, Jim Herman and Tyrell Hatton not playing, despite being eligible.

Adam Scott, Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman have earned the right to tee it up at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort, Scott making his 7th appearance although he has been eligible on several other occasions, choosing instead to extend his end of season break instead in those instances.

Scott has slipped outside the top 20 in the world ranking for the first occasion in 18 months but he played only nine events in 2020, making the cut in eight and winning one when successful at the Genesis Invitational in his first start in 2020.

Scott enjoys a good record at this venue recording four top tens in six previous starts including a runner-up finish in 2007.

“It’s nice to be back,” said Scott when asked about being back at the event. “It has been an event I’ve loved coming to for so many years. But then for awhile it was a tricky one to get back to and every time I missed it, I regretted it, but it was off the back of playing in Australia and it being the first week of the year made it a very short holiday season for me.

“So once I won in Genesis last year, though, it was definitely a priority for me to put this event on the schedule. It’s a great way to start the year. Even under these circumstances it’s nice to be here. And for me, at this moment, I need to kind of start putting some good results on the board and get my FedExCup campaign going a bit.”

Cameron Smith gets to play the event for the second time having finished 17th here on debut in 2018. This time he gets to play the event courtesy of his stand alone win at the Sony last year and in his most recent starts he has been particularly impressive having finished runner-up at the Masters and 4th at the Zozo Championship. If he could find a way to replicate either of those two efforts, then his chances of victory appear reasonable.

Cameron Smith – can he continue his current form? – file photo Bruce Young

Marc Leishman had a horror run for much of 2020 after winning the Torrey Pines event early in the year and finishing runner-up at the Arnold Palmer Championship just a few weeks later.

Leishman finished 4th in this event in his last start at Kapalua and will play the event for the 3rd occasion. He was also 7th in 2018 but his most recent form is a long way from that we know the Victorian capable of.

March Leishman – on a previous visit to the event – Getty Images

Tournament favourite is the two time winner, Dustin Johnson, who not only brings the world number one title to the event but outstanding form including his last start victory at the Masters.

Johnson has been only once outside the top 3 in his last seven starts so the combination of his record at the venue and his stunning form at present leaves him the warmest of favourites to win his third Tournament of Champions title.

 

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