Ryan Fox returns to scene of significant victory


Ryan Fox holds his 2023 BMW PGA Championship trophy aloft

This week’s US$9 million BMW PGA Championship over the Burma Road (West Course layout) at the famed Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey, sees the return to European golf of the recently crowned Open Champion and a man who has had success previously in this flagship event of the DP World Tour.

Ryan Fox will join a field which includes Masters Champion, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, USPGA Champion Aaron Rai, world number four Matthew Fitzpatrick, last week’s runaway winner in Ireland, Shane Lowry, and current Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed.

Fox won this event in 2023 when defeating Aaron Rai and Tyrrell Hatton by one shot, his most significant victory of the four standalone DP World Tour events he has won, and there will be a lot of interest as to how the 39-year-old will perform now that he is a major champion following his win at the Open Championship nearly two months ago.

Fox’s form since his win at Royal Birkdale has been below his best, but there has been a lot to adjust to, and he did make it to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, which is an achievement in itself. Interestingly, in eight other attempts at this week’s event, he has a best of 20th, another factor worth considering when assessing his chances. Fox is, though, a significantly more experienced and credentialed player than was the case three years ago.

Fox will play with McIlroy and Rai in the opening two rounds, resulting in three of this year’s four major champions are paired over the first 36 holes.

Other Australians and New Zealanders in the field are Adam Scott, Daniel Hillier, Kazuma Kobori, Jason Scrivener, David Micheluzzi and Elvis Smylie, who returns from an injury break, having last played at the Italian Open in June.

TEE TIMES

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Kazuma Kobori’s improved driving helps in Ireland


Kazuma Kobori – file image Australian Golf Media 

New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori is in a share of 5th place at the halfway stage of the US$6 million Amgen Irish Open at the Trump International Links in Doonbeg, Ireland, the 24-year-old’s second round of 67, leaving him six shots behind the former winner, Shane Lowry, but just three shots out of second place.

Kobori, who is currently 76th in the Race to Dubai rankings, comes off an improved 9th-place finish at the recent British Masters and is pushing for a place in the top 50 in the Race to Dubai to earn a place in the DP World Tour Championship in November, the field for which he made in his rookie season in 2025.

Kobori began the day with a bogey but followed up immediately with three consecutive birdies and added one further birdie at the 10th and given his early tee time, was vying for the lead at that stage.

Lowry was out two hours after Kobori, and when he added an amazing round of 62, he was three ahead, and it would be he that the field will chase over the final 36 holes.

Daniel Hillier, who was forced to withdraw from last week’s Omega European Masters, added a second consecutive 69 to be in a share of 20th as he looks to consolidate his position inside the top 10 recipients of a PGA Tour card for 2027, the leading 10 in the Race to Dubai rankings and not otherwise exempt on the PGA Tour earn the right to play there next season.

Victorian David Micheluzzi was the only other Australasian to make the cut, finishing in a share of 47th heading into the weekend.

Kobori leads the driving accuracy statistics on the DP World Tour but has struggled a little form the tee of late although he feels he may have it worked out.

“Actually been battling a bit like maybe the last month or so, but I think we figured out what’s going wrong and, yeah, drove it well today,” said the man from Canterbury in New Zealand’s South Island.

“Just experimenting with the driver heads and stuff like that. I had a bit of a hard time adapting to the new model that Titleist brought out. But I’ve done a bit of experimenting, and I think we got to a good setup. With the driver, you want to get to a spot where you can just swing it and not really steer it all too much. So, yeah, I think we got to that point.

“ Yeah, hopefully keeping that going would be good.”

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The Solheim Cup shaping as another tight contest


The USA side – image Ladies European Tour

It may not involve players from our region, but there is little doubting the interest created here in the Australasian region by the Solheim Cup, which, like its male counterpart (The Ryder Cup), has developed into one of the more competitive and fascinating battles in world sport.

This week sees the 20th edition of the event between the USA and European female golfers, first played in 1990, and while eight of the first eleven encounters went to the seemingly more powerful Americans, the Europeans have balanced the ledger to a great extent by winning four and sharing the honours in five of the last eight stagings of the event.

This week, the Americans will again hold the advantage in terms of world ranking strength, but as the European Ryder Cup team has shown over the last 40 years at least, rankings on paper count for little in the fierce contest that has developed between the two teams.

Nine of the USA side are inside the top 50 in the Rolex World Ranking, while only five of the Europeans are in that category, although it is in the last few players of each team where the discrepancy becomes even more obvious in the favour of the Americans.

That the event is to be contested on what is essentially home soil for the Europeans, the partisan European crowd in Bernardus in the Netherlands will ensure some of that imbalance in rankings is reduced.

The event is played over three days, with Fourball and Foursome matches played on each of the first two days, and 12 Singles matches played on day three for a total of 28 points.

European Team

USA Team


The European side – image – Ladies European Tour 

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Steve Alker makes it three in a row


Alker’s amazing run continues with success in Northern Ireland – image Staysure Legends Tour  

New Zealander Steve Alker has made it three wins in succession with a two-shot victory over South African Hennie Otto at the NI Legends Galgorm in Northern Ireland, an event on the Staysure (European Senior) Legends Tour.

Alker, who in the previous two weeks had won in Canada and in Michigan on the PGA Tour Champions, led after his opening round of 67 and was tied for the lead through 36 holes of the 54-hole contest with Scotland’s David Drysdale.

Drysdale’s birdie at the first to Alker’s bogey saw a two-shot swing in Drysdale’s favour, but a birdie at the 3rd by Alker and consecutive bogeys at the 5th and 6th by Drysdale had Alker back in front. A powerful back nine of 32 was enough to see off a strong challenge from Otto whose bogey-free 64 ensured Alker needed to remain vigilant over the closing stages.

Birdies at the 16th and 18th saw Alker home to win his second standalone Staysure Legends Tour event nearly two years after his first, which came at his last start on that tour.

“It’s pretty special, three in a row doesn’t happen very often, so you’ve got to make the most of it,” Alker told the Staysure Legends Tour after his two-stroke victory.

“It was a tough day — it got pretty close. The front nine, nothing was really happening, so to finish strong on the back nine, just hitting some better shots and making a couple of putts. That was really nice. There were some good players up there, guys who’ve played on the European Tour for a long time, so I knew I had my work cut out.

“The birdie on 16 was huge for me. I hit a nice 3-wood and wedged it to four or five feet. That meant I didn’t have to birdie 18 — it’s always nice when you don’t need to birdie the last. Having that one-shot cushion meant the heart wasn’t going as fast. It was nice to have that feeling.

“I’ve had a blast on the Staysure Legends Tour this week — always do when we come over here. My wife and I stayed in the hotel, it’s been a special week for us, and one we’ll remember for a long time.”

Alker’s next appearance is likely to be at the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links in ten days where he has regularly finished inside the top 5.

Mark Brown 17th and Michael Campbell 21st were the next best of the New Zealanders in the field.

RESULTS

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Min Woo Lee impresses in 4th place Tour Championship finish


Min Woo Lee – file image courtesy of Australian Golf Media

Australian Min Woo Lee has completed the FedEx Cup year in style with weekend rounds of 66 and 68 to finish in a share of 4th place in the lucrative event, winning US$1.7 million in the process and finishing the season in 4th place in the FedEx Cup standings.

Lee, who led after round one but struggled a to a round of 73 on day two rebounded with rounds of 66 and 68 to share 4th place, missed a 10 foot eagle putt at the last which would have made a huge difference to his take but either way it was an impressive and rewarding week for Lee who finishes the season as the leading Australasian with a lot of financial and scheduling rewards for his efforts.

Adam Scott was very much in line to be the leading Australasian, but after reaching 13 under and within striking distance of the then leaders, Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland through eleven holes, he would drop three shots on the way home and eventually finish in a three-way share of 11th place and a cheque for US$660,000.

Ryan Fox began the tournament well, but a final round of 74 proved costly, although just making it to Atlanta provides all sorts of benefits in terms of scheduling rewards and others. Fox finished 26th of the original 30 starters and earned US$375,000.

The tournament and the FedEx Cup were deservedly won by Scottie Scheffler, who, after beginning the final round three shots adrift of Viktor Hovland, produced a final round of 66 to Hovland’s 72 to win by three with Ryan Gerard another shot back in third place.

It was Scheffler’s 22nd PGA Tour victory since his first in 2021, accumulating more than US130 million in the process.

“I felt like my thought process going into the postseason this year was I felt like maybe I’ve underperformed in some of the postseasons in the past,” said Scheffler.  “I think of years like ’22 and ’23 where I had a lead at this tournament and wasn’t able to win the FedExCup or a playoff event those years.

“To come in this year maybe not winning the tournaments that I could have won throughout the regular season, to come in and win 2 out of 3 playoff events is definitely a nice way to finish off the season.

“That was definitely my motto going into the playoffs. Maybe in years I’ve underperformed in the postseason, and maybe this is a year I’ll perform better in the postseason than I have in the regular season.

“I think just playing tournament golf, I think is a battle as a whole. I think that’s part of why I love it too. I get to play against the course, myself. You have to learn how to handle your emotions, handle pressure, not take days off. That’s something I’m very proud of.

“I feel like I hold myself to a high standard, which I think sometimes can be good and bad. I feel like at times I probably could be a bit of a pain to be around when things aren’t going the way they should. I don’t feel like I take days off. I’m highly competitive, and I’m very proud of being able to have the consistent results I’ve had over the years.

“I feel like it’s something that’s very difficult to do, and it’s something that I’m very proud of. I don’t take tournaments off. I don’t take days off during tournaments. I try to give it my all each and every day. I feel like it’s a gift to play out here on the PGA TOUR, and don’t want to take it for granted.

“I don’t want to look back at the end of my career and feel like I could have done more in order to play well. I want to be able to tell myself when I hang it up that I did everything I could. I feel like years like this kind of show that to myself, how important that is. Yeah, I don’t know how to elaborate beyond that.”

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Steve Alker is at it again in Michigan


Steve Alker – image courtesy of PGA Tour Champions

Steve Alker has today won his 13th PGA Tour Champions event with a three-shot victory at the Ally Championship at the Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan, his third win of season 2026, and his second victory in succession following his win in Canada last week.

In five starts in this event, Alker has now recorded a win and two top 3 finishes, highlighting his affinity with the Warwick Hills layout.

Alker began the final round two shots behind Californian Michael Block but quickly gathered him in with an outward nine of 34 to Block’s 37, and as he headed into his final nine holes the 55-year-old New Zealander was tied with Retief Goosen, who was playing over and hour ahead on the golf course and was 8 under for the day through 12 holes.

Goosen however, was unable to build on his stunning start to the day, and when Alker birdied four holes in succession in the middle of his back nine, it was a case of just how many he would win by.

The momentum would slow for Alker also, but he had done enough to win by three over Goosen, with Stewart Cink, Greg Chalmers and the aforementioned Block sharing 3rd place another shot back and tied for 3rd.

Alker remains in third position in the Charles Schwab Cup standings and takes his season earnings to US1,725 million and career earnings to US$14,640,000.

Alker talked after his win about the prospect of challenging for the Charles Schwab Cup once again which he has won twice and finished runner-up on two occasions; “Yeah, you know what? Yeah, I’m still here, but I’ve got a lot of work to do. I mean, if I can just hang around and sneak in there, those double points in the Playoffs, who knows? Just get something going. But Stewart (Cink) and Zach (Johnson) are having great years. I mean, they’re going to be super tough to beat.

Australian left-hander Chalmers recorded his equal best finish of the season to improve to 35th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, the 52-year-old in his third season on the PGA Tour Champions.

Michael Wright was the next best of the Australasians when he finished in a share of 14th.

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Hillier shares 2nd place at British Masters – Kobori 9th


Daniel Hillier – file image courtesy of PGA of America

New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier has finished in a share of second place at the Husqvarna British Masters at the Belfry, a timely return to form for the 28-year-old after a run of indifferent form over the last few months.

Hillier took a one-shot lead into the final round of the weather-disrupted event he won previously in 20023, but made a poor start after gaining the lead courtesy of a third-round 69, which had left him one ahead of Spain’s Angel Hidalgo with another five players one shot further back.

A three-putt bogey at the 4th hole was followed soon after by a double at the 6th after driving it into the right-hand penalty area, and he had fallen three shots off the lead, but a homeward nine of 2 under 34 saw him move into a four-way tie for 2nd place and, with it, a cheque for €199,414.

Hillier took a month off after the Open Championship back in New Zealand, and the refresher seems to have worked well given this was his first event back after a disappointing series of events following what had been a great start to the year, which included his New Zealand Open victory.

Hillier’s performance this week will move him 9 places to 11th in the Race to Dubai rankings, opening the possibility of gaining one of the ten PGA Tour cards for 2027 for those finishing in the top ten at the end of the season.

After narrowly missing out on one of those cards last year, Hillier now has several events with big points available, and now that he is back in form, he is eyeing the prospect.

“It’s definitely on my bucket list,” said Hillier, “I just have to play as well as I can and hopefully the results will take care of themselves.”

Hillier’s fellow New Zealander, Kazuma Kobori, also had a good week with a final round of 66 seeing him jump 16 places to finish in a share of 9th place. It was a good return to form for Kobori, who has also played below his best in recent months, and the finish will move him up 13 places to 71st in the Road to Dubai rankings and earn a cheque for €54,000.

The winner was England’s Joe Dean, whose final round of 63 (the best of the day by three shots) saw him win his first event on the DP World Tour.

Results

 

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Australasians stay in touch at Tour Championship


Adam Scott – close enough if good enough – file image Augusta National 

All three of the Australasians who made it to the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the Tour Championship kept their hopes alive of being part of a gripping finish on Sunday as the race for the FedEx Cup title closes in on the distribution of the largest purse in tournament golf.

Adam Scott added a second round of 77 to go with his opening 66 and at 7 under par he is just three shots from the halfway leaders, Ryan Gerard and Viktor Hovland, and in a share of 7th place.

Scott, who won this event twenty years ago and has regular good finishes in the event when he has made the field since, recorded a bogey-free round as he continues to compete and contend on a regular basis even into his 47th year.

Ryan Fox, who is debuting at the Tour Championship, is in a share of 11th place and four shots from the lead following his round of 68, again recovering from a slow start with three birdies before the turn and although he bogeyed twice in the early stages of his closing nine, a birdie at the last kept him in touch as the weekend looms.

Min Woo Lee led after his opening round of 62, but disaster struck when he tried to get too much out of a recovery at the 5th today and took a triple bogey 7 to fall well behind. He did well after dropping two shots around the turn to fight off a greater slump, adding a birdie at the 13th and, although he was unable to birdie the reachable par 5 last and took par, he heads into day three just five from the lead.

Scottie Scheffler looms as the man most likely when he recovered from bogeys at the 3rd and 4th holes with a series of birdies, and when he added his 6th birdie of the day at the last, he was round in 67 and at 8 under par he appeared very threatening to the whole field as he chases a second win in this event having won in 2024.

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Daniel Hillier finds form at familiar venue


Daniel Hillier finds form after recent struggles – file image Photosport / NZ Open  

New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier has been well below his best since his win at this year’s New Zealand Open, but a return to the scene of one of his most significant victories has rekindled his form.

Hillier finds himself in second place at the Husqvarna British Masters at The Belfry after further poor weather stopped play with half the field yet to even start their second round.

Hillier, who won this event in 2023, essentially launching his DP World Tour career, has missed four of his last six cuts and seven in his ten starts since his win at Millbrook in March, and is no doubt using some great memories of the Belfry layout to re-establish his significant game.

When play was called on day two, Hillier was two shots behind England’s Marc Penge, both players through 14 holes of round two, which will be completed on Saturday morning UK time. Hillier was two clear of a group in 3rd place.

Hillier had moved to 83rd in the world following the win in his national open but has since slipped to 120th, but he is a highly talented golfer whose recent form defies his normally impressive game.

Penge has, of course, returned from the PGA Tour where he failed to make the playoffs in his perhaps disappointing rookie season in the US, having earned his playing rights there via a superb season on the DP World Tour last year, during which he won three titles.

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Lee brilliant – Fox and Scott start well in Atlanta


Min Woo Lee – equals best PGA Tour round – file image PGA of America

Three Australasians, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Ryan Fox, had already confirmed their impressive seasons in 2026 just by being included in the lucrative Tour Championship field, and now all three have made superb starts at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Tour Championship debutante Lee equalled his best-ever PGA Tour score with an opening round of 8 under par 62 to take the lead in the US$40 million event, the 28-year-old ahead by two over Viktor Hovland, Chris Gotterup and Collin Morikawa while Scott and Fox both recorded rounds of 66 to be well placed heading into day two.

Lee was required to play much of his round alone on day one after his scheduled playing partner J.J. Spaun was forced to withdraw through shoulder injury at the 6th hole. For Spaun, the withdrawal means he will finish the event in 30th place and while he will secure a cheque for US$355,000, he misses out on the potential riches of the US$40 million event and the chances of him making the US Presidents Cup team now look in jeopardy.

“It was a little bit weird, said Lee, referring to playing most of the round on his own. “Yeah, I hope J.J.’s okay, first of all. It’s pretty sad to see. You get all the way here, and you can’t play, and that just sucks for the whole team and obviously yourself.

“It was a little strange at first, just like looking for a playing partner and you’re just there by yourself. It was more just maintaining speeds and not rushing because I would just catch the group in front and wait. So I had to just slow down a little bit. It worked out.

“Yeah, very average the last two weeks. It was probably the saddest I’ve been on the golf course, which is not good. We’re really lucky to be out here and play some good golf to get into the playoffs. It just felt so hard.

“It just got to a point where I was looking at what’s in the bags of everyone else and trying to find out what to do, and ended up changing shafts before the week, on the Tuesday. Even my team was very hesitant about it, but the results were really good when I did practice with it, and it was nice to hit shots that I saw out there, and it was really good.

“That was probably the biggest part of the good scoring. Didn’t miss it in wrong spots, missed them in the right spots, and holed some putts.”

Fox and Scott finished earlier than Lee and, with a back nine of 32, Fox has bounced back from an indifferent start to the playoffs to be right in the mix after day one. The highlight, however, would come at the third hole, when, after bogeys at the opening two holes, Fox holed out for eagle from 135 yards at the par 4 to get things moving in the right direction.

“I was just trying to give myself a birdie putt after those first couple of holes,” said Fox. “To see it go in just kind of settled everything down. Me and Tom were joking about being even through 3. Probably would have taken that in the conditions we started in. The rest of the day was actually pretty solid after that. It’s funny, golf just takes one shot sometimes to kind of find it, and that the one shot for me today.

“I had not looked like hitting a good shot for the first two holes. It was kind of funny — the reason I was laughing was because I’d finally hit a good shot, and the good shot was perfect. Yeah, golf’s a strange game like that sometimes.”

Fox was reminded of his all-but-confirmed place in the Presidents Cup team and enthused over the opportunity to play the event for the first time.

“That was probably the biggest goal of the year to make that team, and I think the extra bit would be to qualify automatically, which I think I should be pretty safe for after this week.

“Look, I felt like I gave myself a pretty good chance the last couple. It might have been a little hard done by four years ago, but yeah, I’m very excited to be a part of it this year. We’ve got a great group of guys involved, captains and players.

“I don’t know — obviously it’s not official yet, but all the extended group outings we’ve had and dinners and stuff like that, we all get along really, really well. I’m excited to be part of the team, and hopefully we can do something special this year.”

Scott is a former winner of the Tour Championship, although that came twenty years ago and before it became the culmination of the FedEx Cup; but any player making this field is a potential winner this week, and Scott was excited by the prospect.

“I’d love to get back and win a tournament. Any tournament would do. This one I’m playing in this week would be fantastic.

“To be a FedExCup champion is really one of those career milestones that I’d like to achieve still. I know time is really not on my side for that, but I’m off to a good start, and it could be three days away.”

Scott was also asked about the Presidents Cup at Medinah in Chicago in four week’s time and had this to say;

“Yeah, absolutely, for sure. To have six of us here this week, I think is a great showing. There’s one guy who’s not here who had four straight top 10s up till this week, Sungjae. He’s kind of back on form.

“I said to all the guys at the last dinner we had in Memphis, for me even coming in just seeing Ryan win, Tom Kim win, Min Woo finish second at the Scottish, Si Woo is playing fantastic every week, Sungjae is back, Hideki is top 10ing every week. The momentum looks really good for us. So fantastic.

“A few guys off to a good start today. The momentum is huge. I don’t know how we carry it three weeks on from now, but I think a lot of us are going to be playing before the Presidents Cup too. Anything we can do to kind of keep that rolling and keep the confidence high.

“I think, just from those gatherings, us seeing another player do well is some extra motivation for the other team members to kind of step up.”

But first things first, Lee, Scott and Fox have made fine starts to what is an event which offers all sorts of rewards for just being in Atlanta, along with huge financial rewards in the form of prizemoney, in which the winner earns US$10 million and even 15th place carries a reward of US$560,000 and last place (30th) US$355,000.

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