Victorian Open fields reflect event’s popularity

The 13th Beach golfing facility on the Bellarine Peninsula – photo PGA of Australia

The Vic Open has become one of the mainstays of the PGA Tour of Australasia in recent years, the event now considered one of the most popular on the Australasian professional golfing scene for both men and women.

That the event is attractive to both genders is a reflection on a decision made several years ago to stage both the women’s and men’s Victorian Open concurrently at the one venue and the concept has proven to be a winner.

The complications surrounding Covid 19 have impacted the event to the point that it is now no longer a European or LPGA Tour event as it had been in recent years but with Hannah Green, Su Oh, Stephanie Kyraciou and Karis Davidson in the women’s field the LPGA Tour is well represented.

The men might not boast any current DP World (European Tour) representatives as such, but with the likes of recent winners, Anthony Quayle, Jed Morgan, Todd Sinnott, the consistent Brad Kennedy and Louis Dobbelaar and in form Andrew Dodt in the field, there is plenty of interest in an event that carries $410,000 for either event.

Green will play her first event of 2022 and will start as the favourite in the women’s field although recent WPGA winner in Brisbane, Su Oh, who finished midfield in Florida last week and who must be congratulated for rushing back for her home state open is likely to give Green plenty to think about.

Kyriacou was unable to play the WPGA Championship in Brisbane due to Covid but her season on the Ladies European Tour last year where she finished 3rd on that order of Merit set her up to gain LPGA Tour status in 2022. 

Adding further to the appeal of the men’s event is that three Open Championship starts are up for grabs to the leading three players this week and not otherwise exempt for the 2022 Open Championship. With the cancellation of the New Zealand Open due to Covid restrictions, those exemptions were transferred to the Vic Open.

Can the field’s highest ranked male player Jed Morgan reproduce his stunning Aust PGA form – photo Bruce Young

Amongst the men, Morgan, Kennedy, Dobbelaar, Dodt and Travis Smyth have also made a rushed trip back to Victoria after playing in Saudi Arabia last week, Kennedy finishing 14th in that lucrative event, but Dobbelaar and Dodt also had good week’s, Dobbelaar continuing an impressive start to his professional career which began only a couple of months ago.

Quayle finished 6th at the Australian PGA Championship, then won the Queensland Open before finishing runner-up at the TPS Victoria last week so there is no doubting his current form and he might do well again.

The Creek and Ocean Courses at 13th Beach on the Bellarine Peninsula plays host to the event, the extra capacity of 36 holes allowing 142 men and 72 women to tee it up over the opening two days.

Recent WPGA winner Su Oh back from Florida to play her State Open – Bruce Young

 

 

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Dramatic win for Harold Varner, Cameron Smith shares 4th

Harold Varner reacts to his monstrous winning eagle putt at the 72nd hole photo Paul Lakatos

Cameron Smith has finished in a share of 4th place and four from the winner, Harold Varner 111 at the inaugural Asian Tour’s staging of the PIF Saudi International at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in the King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia.

Smith’s final round of 69 earned him US$217,000 in addition to what no doubt would have been a substantial appearance cheque, but it also continued a start to the year which included a win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, one of just three starts to date in 2022.

“It was really solid,” said Smith when asked to reflect on his play for the week. “I just struggled on the greens all week. I felt as though I was hitting good putts, and I just couldn’t get them to drop this week. A bit disappointing that I came pretty close, but it is what it is. It’s golf.

“I loved it (here). The course is great. It’s tough. When the wind gets up, it’s really tough. There’s a couple of greens out here that get a bit dicey with that wind. I loved the week. I loved the people here. It’s been great.”

Smith will take next week off before reappearing at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles.

“I guess just knowing my game’s in the right spot,” he added. “I’ll have a week off next week and recharge at home and get ready for L.A.”

Varner 111 won the event by holing a 90 feet putt at the 72nd hole after the man he defeated by a shot, Bubba Watson, had also eagled the last from 15 feet just 30 minutes earlier.

For Varner it was just his second win as a professional the only other coming on the Gold Coast of Australia when winning the 2016 Australian PGA Championship, at that stage an Australasian and European Tour event.

Varner was questioned why he had not been able to win as often as his win in Australia suggested he might.

“I can answer this so easily. I’ve never questioned my ability. The only people that question it are the people that sit right in here, and they’re like, man, he needs to be winning. But I don’t march to anyone’s beat in here. I do what I’m supposed to do, and things come.

“Life happened. My wife, my girlfriend at the time, her brother died a week after that and we were celebrating. Things that I wasn’t ready to be a man about. I can sit here and tell you like I just didn’t know how to handle it because, I don’t know, I think it’s a hard thing to deal with. Those things get in the way of just focusing on golf.

“When you’re a kid and there’s nothing else to do, it’s only golf. No, I wouldn’t change a thing. How cool is that? It hasn’t happened in a long time, and the way it happened right there, it’s frickin’ awesome. I could say something else, but I can’t say that here.”

Other Australians in the field included Brad Kennedy 14th ($US68,500), Wade Ormsby 18th (US$57,000), Lucas Herbert 21st (US$52,000) Marc Leishman 28th (US$38,000), Andrew Dodt 45th (US$24,600) and Andrew Dodt and New Zealander Daniel Hillier 55th (US$17,750 each).

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Todd Sinnott claims second professional title at Rosebud

Todd Sinnott – after a horror run of injury and illness the former impressive amateur wins again

29-year-old Victorian, Todd Sinnott, has won his second title as a professional with a one shot win over Anthony Quayle and Daniel Gale in the PGA Tour of Australasia’s TPS Victoria event at the Rosebud Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula.

Sinnott began the final round tied in the lead with veteran Richard Green but at one stage actually fell three shots behind the lead which was then held by recent Queensland PGA Champion Anthony Quayle.

Quayle moved to 6 under par through 10 holes of his final round and actually led by three but mistakes from the tee at the 15th and 17th holes along with a missed five foot birdie putt at the last would cost him a chance of back to back wins.

Three birdies in four holes while Quayle was dropping shots took Sinnott to the lead and an impressive two putt from 70 feet or so at the last secured Sinnott his first win since the 2017 Myanmar Open, a victory which also earned him the right to play the Japan Tour as that event was jointly sanctioned between the Asian and Japan Tours.

Injury (back) and issues surrounding Covid have curtailed the progress of the long hitting Sinnott over the last two years but at his best he was one of Australia’s better amateurs before turning professional, and now he appears to be playing injury free, his professional career is building momentum.

Quayle’s share of runner-up place with the man he edged out at the recent Queensland PGA Championship in Brisbane, Daniel Gale, moved him into third place behind Jed Morgan and Andrew Dodt on the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Order of Merit, the significance of that being that the leading three players at season’s end will secure playing rights to the DP World (European Tour in 2023.

Sinnott was clearly delighted to have survived the demands of the last two years and his return to the winner’s circle which many felt might have come earlier given the encouraging start he made to his professional career

“I’m not going to lie, it was really, really hard,” he said after the win referring to his difficult times over the last two years. “But I have a belief and I practise my butt off. My coach Denis (McDade), I don’t think I’d be here without his help. I honestly don’t believe I’d be here. I think we can go places together.”

Sinnott will improve his world ranking from just outside the top 800 to just outside the top 500.

Welsh golfer Lydia Hall led the women’s event while 17 year old Michael Song won the junior event played in conjunction with the main championship.

Lydia Hall of Wales – won the women’s title – photo PGA of Australia

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Jason Day within striking distance at Pebble Beach

Jason Day – file photo – a chance to win his first PGA Tour title in more then three years

Jason Day finds himself just four from the lead after the completion of the opening 54 holes at which point the cut has been made for the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Day added a third round of 70 at his venue at Spyglass Hills today and when he returns to Pebble Beach Links for tomorrow’s final round he will be tied for 8th position in an event he has produced seven top tens in his last nine starts including a runner-up finish in 2018.

Day will need to be at his best tomorrow if he is to haul in those ahead who include Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth although the leaders at present are Beau Hossler and Andrew Putnam.

If Day is able to win tomorrow, he will move close to the top 40 in the world and given that he was 129th two weeks ago it will have been a significant move by the 34-year-old.

It reflects the work he has done on his swing as a means of alleviating the ongoing back issues he has faced through much of his career although Day is not keen to view his improvement as a comeback.

“I’m not looking at it as like a comeback season, I’m just looking at it like every day what can I do to try to get better,” he said after his second round yesterday.

“I’m super, super obsessed with the golf swing right now, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know how to take that. But I’m always talking to my coach every day and I’m always constantly working on it.

“The good thing is I need to work on my swing because if I don’t then certain things can creep in and I can hurt my back again. So I got to always be cautious of that.”

If he was to win this week’s event it would go a long way to getting him into the Masters but Day is philosophical about the issue and is just happy that things have turned the corner.

“I know that if I can take care of this week then — like I was 123rd or 129 or something like that last week and I’m 83rd this week because of good play from last week. So I really just have to take care of the day-to-day stuff and then hopefully that turns into really good results and the confidence spurs one more good results.

“I just got to be really patient with that stuff, I know that it’s just around the corner. If do I end up taking it off because my ranking is not good enough, so be it, but I’m thinking about long-term trying to get myself climbing that ladder again. That’s the main process.

When asked why his record at this venue and in this event has been so good Day responded; “I think it’s just first and foremost it’s just having a really good attitude. Like you can get some gnarly weather here, it can be pretty hectic with 40, 45 degrees, blowing sideways, rain, and I remember a few years ago we had hail on the third tee.

“So there can be some pretty rough days, but then you have days like this where it’s, the last two days, even the next two days as well, I mean it’s just absolutely stunning. And then when you’re kind of walking out on Pebble everyone knows how beautiful it is.

“So I love Carmel by the Sea, it’s one of my favorite little towns to kind of go and visit. I just love this area. And I’ve always kind of just gravitated towards this area, especially playing. And I think I’ve taken maybe this event off a couple times or so but every single time that I don’t play I see guys playing Pebble and I’m like, I want to be out there.”

Day was the only Australian to make it to the final round with Matt Jones, Min Woo Lee, Cameron Percy, Aaron Baddeley, Brett Drewitt and John Senden, all failing to survive the 54 hole cutoff.

Day – earlier this week at Pebble Beach

 

 

 

 

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Cameron Smith nicely poised in Saudi Arabia

Harold Varner 111 – joint leader by two – photo Paul Lakatos 

Cameron Smith is tied for 3rd place and just two behind the lead held by Harold Varner 111 of the US and Adri Arnuas of Spain at the completion of 36 holes of the Asian Tour’s lucrative PIF Saudi International in King Abdullah Economic City, North of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Varner and Arnaus completed identical scores in the opening two rounds of 64 and 66 to lead the star studded field in the US$5 million event, the largest purse ever for a stand alone Asian Tour event.

The long hitting Arnuas, has yet to win a European Tour event but has on four occasions been runner-up and did win the Challenge Tour Grand Final in this region in 2018.

PGA Tour player, Varner, has yet to win on that stage, but was the 2016 Australian PGA Champion, the leading pair negotiating the blustery conditions best against a field which includes Dustin Johnson, Xander Scaufelle, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson to name just some of the elite field assembled for the first Asian Tour event of the 2022 season.

At the start of the day the event lost one of it’s heavyweight attractions when American Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from the event with a left hand and left hip injury.

Smith completed a second consecutive round of 66 to be tied for third with American Mathew Wolff and appeared to relish the windy conditions.

“I like it windy,” said the Australian, who played on the Asian Tour in 2014, before joining the PGA Tour the following year.

“I grew up in the wind. Being from Australia, it’s something you kind of have to get used to pretty quick. Yeah, you’ve just got to strike the ball well. You’ve just got to hit it out of the middle and judge your wind.”

Of the other Australasians in the field, Wade Ormsby has also made a good start to be tied for 9th and five from the lead, Brad Kennedy and Lucas Herbert are tied for 31st, Andrew Dodt 36th, promising rookie Louis Dobbelaar 45th, and Marc Leishman 60th along with New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier.

Scott Hend, Ryan Ruffels, Jed Morgan, Travis Smyth and Ben Eccles all missed out on advancing to the weekend.

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Money speaks all languages in Saudi this week

Two months after turning professional, recent Aust PGA Champion Jed Morgan plays a US$5 million event.

The first event of the 2022 Asian Tour schedule gets underway on Thursday with the staging of the inaugural PIF Saudi International played at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in Saudi Arabia.

The tournament represents the first collaboration between the Greg Norman inspired LIV Golf Investment’s foray into golf and the Asian Tour and with a prize fund of US$5 million and a field which includes the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson De Chambeau, Xander Schaufelle, Patrick Reed, and Phil Mickelson along with Australians, Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and recently crowned Australian PGA Champion Jed Morgan, amongst others, there will ensure plenty of interest from this country and globally.

While not part of the ten event International Series announced recently and supported by this group, this particular event is being funded by the the same source and provides a whole new dynamic for the Asian Tour.

No doubt many are being paid handsomely for their participation even before the first tee shot is hit on Thursday, money appearing to be no object in a region of the world where financial largesse is common.

“We are setting the Asian Tour up as a powerful new force on the world golf stage,” said Norman. “In my 40 years as a professional golfer, I’ve seen many parts of the world that have benefitted tremendously from golf and its growth and development. We now have the opportunity to do that in the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East with this incredible investment platform. Everyone benefits – professional players, amateurs, grassroots golf, fans, economies, communities, stakeholders. I’ve never been so optimistic about the future of the sport.”

In addition to Smith, Leishman, Herbert and Morgan several other Australians and New Zealanders get their chance to play for US$5 million as members of the Asian Tour but others also have a unique opportunity to play for the sort of riches they might only have dreamed of playing for a few weeks ago.

Wade Ormsby, Andrew Dodt, Travis Smyth and Scott Hend are in the field through their Asian Tour membership but Brad Kennedy, Louis Dobbelaar, Ben Eccles, Ryan Ruffels and New Zealander Daniel Hillier get their chance through various eligibility criteria and have a rare opportunity to play against the strongest field ever assembled for an Asian Tour event and for the sort of prizemoney on offer.

 

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