Harrison Endycott regains full PGA Tour status


Harrison Endycott – Getty Images

Sydney’s Harrison Endycott is back on the PGA Tour next season following the completion of 72 holes of PGA Tour Qualifying in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida this morning.

Endycott was forced to wait 24 hours longer than originally scheduled after inclement weather saw play postponed on Sunday, but he added a final round of 67 today to extend his winning margin to four and claim one of the precious PGA Tour cards given to the leading five players and ties.

“Yeah, obviously a win is a win. It’s great to go do the job over four days,” said Endycott.

“It was a tough grinding year, rookie year on TOUR, and you learn a lot out there. Sometimes it’s good to take a step back, and we went through all our stats after RSM and managed to really point out and pick out why we were in that category, whether it’s wedge dispersion, some course management decisions and some putting.

“It’s great that the PGA TOUR give us — can provide that information for us. We just picked up what we needed to get better, did some really good work over the last few weeks, and it’s nice to come out and get a win.”

Endycott becomes the 4th Australian to earn medallist honours at PGA Tour School following in the footsteps of Brett Ogle, Neale Smith and Stephen Allan.

Endycott had come off a  stretch where he missed eight of his last nine cuts on the PGA Tour so to turn things around in such a crucial week has been particularly impressive, especially with the pressure of leading or sharing the lead throughout.

Endycott completed his rookie PGA Tour season in 139th place on the FedEx Cup table and while he would have gained several starts from that category he would have had to do so without the certainty of knowing when those starts might come.

The former Eisenhower Trophy winner and a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022, now gets the opportunity to capitalize on what he has learned from his first year on the PGA Tour as he heads into 2024.

Endycott will also earn US$50,000 for his work but more importantly, he has his full playing rights back.

John Lyras was the next best of the Australasians in 54th place after recovering from a horror round of 78 on the opening day on Thursday.

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Travis Smyth completes best Asian Tour season in Saudi


Travis Smyth – file photo by Paul Lakatos 

The final event of the 2023 Asian Tour was completed over the weekend when the Saudi Open was decided at the Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia.

For Shell Harbour’s Travis Smyth, the event continued a fine season, the 28-year-old completing his fourth top three of the season when 3rd and finishing the year in a very impressive 4th place on the 2023 Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Smyth produced a final round of 67 over the Riyadh Golf Club layout to finish one shot behind the second-placed Henrik Stenson and four from the winner, Denwit Boriboonsub, earning another US$63,000 to take his earnings in Asia in 2023 to US$558,000 and finish off his season in style.

Boriboonsub won his third tournament in succession after winning initially on the Asian Development Tour, and then the Thailand Tour.

Smyth began the weekend in a share of 22nd place so his weekend rounds of 64 and 67 were not only impressive but lucrative.

Victorian Todd Sinnott, who shared the lead through 36 holes, finished in a share of 10th place while Doug Klein was the next best of the Australians in a share of 23rd place.

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ASIAN TOUR ORDER OF MERIT 

ASIAN TOUR MONEY LIST

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Harrison Endycott starts well in bid for PGA Tour return

Harrison Endycott – file photo

Amongst the original field of 163 hopefuls playing the Final Stage of the PGA Tour School, only five will earn their PGA Tour playing rights in 2024 and Australian Harrison Endycott has begun well in his quest to return to the PGA Tour by sharing the lead at the halfway stage of the event in Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida.

Endycott, a member of the Australian Eisenhower Trophy winning team in Mexico in 2016, has just completed his first season on the PGA Tour but was unable to retain his full playing rights and, to do so, needs to finish inside the top five and ties after 72 holes on Sunday.

Endycott finished 139th on the FedEx Cup points table and while that will earn a few starts next season the importance of a full card ensures certainly of scheduling and more events to play.

Endycott, from Sydney, added a 68 to his 65 in yesterday’s opening round and shares the lead with Americans Kyle Westmoreland and Blaine Hale Jr.

Other Australasians have not fared so well with Rhein Gibson next best in 78th place.

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Todd Sinnott shares lead in Saudi Arabia

Todd Sinnott – file photo Japan Golf Tour 

Victorian Todd Sinnott needed a solid finish at the final event of the 2023 Asian Tour this week in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to ensure his full playing rights next season in Asia and, at the halfway mark of the Saudi Open, the 31 year old finds himself in a share of the lead with Thailand golfers  Denwit Boriboonsub and Phachara Khongwatmai.

Currently 58th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit and needing to be inside the top 65 by week’s end, Sinnott added a second consecutive round of 67 to take a share of the lead into the weekend at the Riyadh Golf Club.

A hole-out for eagle at his final hole of the day certainly aided his cause, but he has found some good late season form with a 7th place finish at the Australian PGA Championship three weeks ago and an 11th-place finish at the recent Taifong Open.

Sinnott used a sand wedge to hole out on the par-four ninth – his final hole as he began on 10.

“I had 103 meters and kind of a hair off the right wind, so I just hit a little hold-up sand wedge,” said Sinnott.

“That was perfect, I thought it would be close but yeah, a nice little cherry on top when it goes in.

“The tournament is moving on nicely. I probably hit a fair bit better than what I scored today I feel. I kind of just felt like every hole I was just going over the edge of the hole, feeling like I was hitting good putts. So yeah, I just hung patiently and got a couple back on the last hole which was nice, kind of evened it out.”

With only one win on the Asian Tour since first joining in 2017, Sinnott faces a big task to claim his second title but it would seem he has found something with his game in recent weeks.

Doug Klein in 13th place and Travis Smyth 22nd are the next-best of the Australians.

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Australasians face last chance for PGA Tour cards


David Micheluzzi – looking to add a PGA Tour card to his DP World Tour status – image Australian Golf Media

Six Australians and one New Zealander are included in a field of 166 golfers chasing one of five PGA Tour cards via the PGA Tour’s Q School beginning at the TPC Sawgrass and the Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida on Thursday.

The PGA Tour might be under pressure at present and suffering from recent defections but it is an amazingly talented bunch chasing the right to play there in 2024, one or two of whom have gone through multiple stages just to reach the final.

Seventy-nine players advanced to Final Stage via Second Stage, while the remainder of the field earned direct access to Final Stage through various exemption categories. Of the 521 players who started at Pre-Qualifying (there were eight sites), only two made it to Final Stage.

Australians Brett Drewitt, Harrison Endycott and Rhein Gibson are chasing a return to the PGA Tour, while David Micheluzzi, Thomas Power Horan, and John Lyras, and New Zealand’s Charlie Hillier are looking to secure their place as a rookie.

Micheluzzi, Power Horan, and Lyras earned their right to play the final via the new pathway formed to allow the leading three on last season’s PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit direct access to the Final Stage.

Micheluzzi has been a prolific winner in Australia over the past eighteen months and has earned DP World Tour status as has Power Horan via the Australasian Tour Oder of Merit but a PGA Tour card would be one hell of a bonus.

Endycott has conditional status on the PGA Tour courtesy of finishing between 126th and 150 in last season’s FedEx Cup standings but he can regain full playing rights by securing one of the cards this week.

Drewitt and Gibson are in the field as a result of finishing outside the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour but having done well enough to make this field.

New Zealand’s Hillier is in after a good season on the Latino Americas Tour where he finished 5th on their Order of Merit including a win in Brasil

The top five finishers and ties after 72 holes will receive PGA Tour cards for the upcoming season.

The next 40 finishers (and ties) will earn exempt status through multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season in 2024.

All remaining finishers at Final Stage will have conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership and conditional PGA TOUR Americas membership for the 2024 season.

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ANZAC Combination takes Grant Thornton Invitational

 

Jason Day and Lydia Ko – image Getty Images

Jason Day and Lydia Ko formed a formidable ANZAC combination to win the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational in Naples, Florida, the pair winning by one over the Canadians Brooke Henderson and Corey Connors.

Played over 54 holes with the Scramble, Foursomes and Modified Four-Ball being used consecutively over the three days, Day and Ko held off a fast finish by the Canadians to win the US$1 million first prize and end 20-23 on a winning note.

“I mean, it was a fantastic week, said Day. “I think trying to learn Lydia’s game, it was hard. There wasn’t much to learn because she flushes it so straight and she hits a lot of greens and she has a good short game and she putts well.

“I think the second day we really needed to kind of nail the format down because obviously alternate shot is the hardest format, I believe. But walking away from this week, I think it’s been a huge success. I think a lot of the guys have had a lot of fun playing with the women this week, and I think it’s been a great partnership between the LPGA and the PGA TOUR.”

Ko also enthused about the experience of playing in such an event and the opportunity to play with a PGA Tour player in the heat of the battle as teammates.

“There’s normally an Australian and New Zealand rivalry, but that was not there this week. Playing the practice round on Tuesday I think was really helpful for me.

“In ways I think I’m a little introverted, so when I meet someone new and that person happens to be Jason, it’s not like the most comfortable situation to be in. But he kept asking me questions and was so nice that I think it made me feel like five, six days ago wasn’t the first time I had met him and his caddie Luke.

“This week I think every player that’s here, whether it’s the PGA TOUR player or LPGA player, I think we’re here for more than just the prize money and winning. It’s about the growth of the game.”

SCORES

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Australians miss out on LIV Golf opportunity


L-R Jinichiro Kozuma, Kalle Samooja and Kieran Vincent – now LIV Golf participants

Australians Jed Morgan and Kevin Yuan have missed out on a return to the LIV Golf Series following the completion of the LIV Golf Promotions event in Abu Dhabi this morning.

Having made it to the final 20 players to play over 36 holes for three LIV Golf spots in 2024,  Yuan finished in 11th place and Morgan 19th, neither able to secure places inside the top ten who would secure places in the Asian Tour’s International Series events.

Yuan has missed seven of his last eight cuts in Asian Tour events this season, although his performances in International Series events this past year will see him with sufficient status to play there next season but for Morgan his future playing opportunities are uncertain.

Morgan’s win at the 2022 (January) Australian PGA Championship earned him DP World Tour status for the 2023 season, but by joining LIV Golf in mid-2022 he forfeited that opportunity and would appear to have status on only the PGA Tour of Australasia at present.

The three players earning the license to print money by finishing inside the top three and earning their playing rights on LIV in 2024 are Kalle Samooja of Finland who played the DP World Tour in 2023, Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma who played the Japan and Asian Tour’s this year and Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent who won an International Series event this year and played mainly the Asian Tour in 2023 where he finished 10th on their Order of Merit.

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Morgan and Yuan remain alive for LIV Golf return

Jed Morgan – file photo LIV Golf

Queensland’s Jed Morgan produced one of his best rounds of the year to advance to the final 36 holes in the LUV Golf Promotions event in Abu Dhabi, but he will need to repeat the dose tomorrow if he is to gain one of the three 2024 LIV Golf spots on offer.

24-year-old Morgan, the 2022 (January) Australian PGA Champion and Sydney’s Kevin Yuan were the only Australasians to finish inside the top twenty in today’s second round and therefore remain alive to regain his (Morgan’s) place in LIV Golf for 2024 after having played since its inception 18 months ago.

Yuan also played Liv Golf through its early stages in 2022.

Having been relegated from the LIV Golf roster after a season of disappointing results in 2023, Morgan missed the cut at the Australian PGA Championship and then finished 65th at the Australian Open so his return to form is both surprising and timely.

Other Australasians in the field who were attempting to gain access to the final 20 for tomorrow’s 36-hole shootout but were unable to do so were Ben Campbell who missed out after a playoff between five players for four spots after the group tied at 3 under, Zach Murray, Wade Ormsby and Kerry Mountcastle.

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Australian golfers excel in PGA Tour Champions qualifying

L-R Wright, Allan, Percy and Bransdon – image Cameron Percy   

In an amazing result for, and effort by, Australian golfers, four will receive one of the five cards available for next season’s PGA Tour Champions following the completion of 72 holes of the PGA Tour Champions Q School in Phoenix today.

Victorian Cameron Percy was either in, or within one of, the lead throughout the 72 holes, eventually winning by five over Queensland’s Michael Wright whose final 36 holes of 63 and 66 were the best in the field allowing him to improve from 32nd at the halfway stage to finish in 2nd place.

Victorian Stephen Allan finished alone in 3rd place despite a near-disastrous double bogey at his final hole and Allan’s fellow Victorian David Bransdon birdied his final two holes, the finish securing him a place in a playoff with, Raphael Jacquelin and Wes Short Jr which Bransdon won with a birdie at the first extra hole.

All four had also successfully negotiated the first stage of qualifying in order to compete this week.

Percy wins US$30,000 for his efforts but that pales in comparison to what he might earn on the PGA Tour Champions next year after turning 50 in May.

At the urging of other players with whom he holds in high regard, Percy experienced a change of heart before this week got underway.

“I wasn’t going to come (here), I was exhausted,” Percy said. “I was actually going to get ready for the PGA TOUR’s Q-School next week. I was told to go to Q-School here and get my card. It’s so much better than having to Monday qualify. So, I did…and, it has all paid off.”

Two-time Australian Open and PGA Champion Greg Chalmers will rue a final hole bogey, after finishing in 8th place and one shot from the playoff, while David McKenzie finished 12th.

Australasia (including New Zealand’s Steve Alker) will have its strongest representation ever numerically on the PGA Tour Champions in 2024.

Alker, Richard Green, Rod Pampling, Mark Hensby, Stuart Appleby, and now, Percy, Wright, Allan, and Bransdon make a formidable group as they tackle the riches of the tour for the over-fifties.

RESULTS 

 

 

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Choi and Naveed earn LPGA Tour status

Robyn Choi – file photo Golf Australia

Queensland’s Robyn Choi and Perth’s Hira Naveed have survived the gruelling 108 holes of LPGA Tour’s Q Series and emerged as LPGA Tour players in 2024.

Choi topped the 106 participants chasing one of 45 cards available for next season, winning by three shots while Narveed produced a last round of 65 to finish 15th.

For Choi, from the Gold Coast but who attended college in Colorado, it marks a return to the LPGA Tour having played there with partial status in 2019.

Choi has completed another solid season on the secondary Epson Tour but finished 12th for the season in the Race for a Card when she needed to be inside the top ten. She finished 17th in 2022 so she has been rewarded for consistent golf in recent times.

Harveed, born in New Zealand but raised in Western Australia until heading to a collegiate career at Pepperdine University in the US, will play the LPGA Tour for the first occasion, her 15th place finish giving her full status.

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