Adam Scott improves chances of a place in Tour Championship field


Adam Scott – file image PGA of Australia

Despite two late bogeys, Adam Scott has improved his chances of advancing to the Tour Championship in two weeks following a second round of 70 and share of 14th place at the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis.

Scott needs to be inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of next week’s BMW Championship in St Louis, which is already assured, and inside the top 30 before being guaranteed a place at the season-ending US$40 million Tour Championship in Atlanta, and he has enhanced that possibility by being well placed heading into the weekend at the TPC Southwind.

On projected standings, Scott is now 26th place in the FedEx Cup standings, and although there is still a lot of golf to play, a good week this week will all but assure him of a place in the field for Atlanta, where he has won previously.

46-year-old Scott produced an outward nine of 33 in today’s second round to be on the heels of the leaders, but his two late bogeys and a fast finish by world number one Scottie Scheffler have him seven shots from Scheffler’s lead, but just four shots out of second place.

The FedEx St Jude Championship has been a happy hunting ground for Scott in the past, having finished runner-up on debut in 2008 and won in 2013, along with several other top ten finishes.

Scheffler was again brilliant with five consecutive birdies to start his round and only bogeys at his 8th and 12th holes preventing a possible sub-60 round. He settled for 61 and leads by three over Viktor Hovland and Sung Jae Im.

Min Woo Lee is two shots behind Scott in a share of 27th and has dropped one place in the projected standings, while Ryan Fox, perhaps suffering the remnants of an amazingly hectic schedule since Royal Birkdale, is 67th in the field of 69, but holds 24th place in the projected FedEx Cup standings.

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Bai and Swanwick bow out of US Amateur Championship


Josh Bai during his Round of 16 match – image USGA Ishika Samant 

The US Amateur Championship journey at the Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia has ended for New Zealanders Josh Bai and Zackary Swanwick following day two of Matchplay, with Swanwick defeated in the morning round of 32 and Bai advancing to the Round of 16 before being eliminated.

Both players have done well to make it as far as they did given that 312 of the world’s best amateur golfers teed it up on Monday in an attempt to make the leading 64 qualifiers for the Matchplay phase of the event, but will no doubt be disappointed not to have advanced to the latter stages.

Swanwick was up against American Jay Leng, who is in the middle of a very impressive summer of amateur golf in the US, having recently won the Western Amateur and finished runner-up at the North East Amateur. After sharing honours at the first hole, Swanwick fell behind with a bogey at the 2nd, and things got progressively worse from there, although a birdie at the 9th would mean just a three-hole deficit at the turn.

The hope was only brief, however, as the American birdied three of the next four holes to win 6&5.

Bai, on the other hand, won his morning match against Frenchman Rudy Sautron, recovering from being 1 down at the turn to win four of the next six holes and eventually win 2&1.

Bai then took on Florida’s Jack Turner in the Round of 16, and although he won the first, Bai was 3 down by the turn, and when he lost the 10th and 12th to slip 4 holes behind, his task looked all but impossible. It would end at the 15th hole with Turner taking the match 5&3.

Both Bai and Swanwick will now return to the University of Florida, where they have just completed their sophomore years.

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Zack Swanwick and Josh Bai through to Round of 32 at US Am


Zackary Swanwick in action during today’s Round of 64 match – image Ishika Samant, USGA

New Zealanders Zackary Swanwick and Josh Bai have advanced to the second round of matchplay at the US Amateur Championship at the Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia.

Swanwick, who qualified as the 18th-ranked player after 36 holes of strokeplay, defeated Queensland-born, West Australian-raised, but now American 21-year-old Josiah Gilbert in a low-scoring match where Swanwick played eight holes in the middle of his round in 8 under par to lead 3 up through 13, over Gilbert, who was doing all he could to keep up.

Gilbert birdied the 14th to reduce the deficit to 2 with three to play, but Swanwick birdied the 16th, the match finishing with a 3&2 margin to the man from Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand’s North Island.

Earlier in the day, Auckland’s Josh Bai advanced from a playoff between 16 players for the eleven remaining places in the matchplay field of 64 when he birdied the very first hole, surviving such a playoff for the second straight year, the first to accomplish such a feat since Matthew Swan in 2005-06.

Bai then took on England’s Walker Cup player, Eliot Baker, in his opening round, the match being very much in the balance until the New Zealander birdied the 10th and 12th holes to take a 2-up lead which he extended to three at the 15th and eventually won 3&1.

In tomorrow’s round of 32, Swanwick will take on the 15th qualifier Jay Leng Jr of California, who recently won the Western Amateur Championship, while Bai tackles the 23rd qualifier Rudy Sautron of France.

Should both Swanwick and Bai progress to the latter stages of the event, they are scheduled to clash in the quarter-finals as they look to become just the second New Zealander, following Danny Lee’s win in 2008, to claim men’s amateur golf’s most significant title.

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Swanwick advances as Bai awaits his fate at US Amateur Championship


Josh Bai  in action today – image USGA

The 36-hole qualifying phase of the US Amateur Championship has been all but completed at the Merion Golf Club and the Philadelphia Country Club in Pennsylvania. A handful of players are still to finish their second rounds after darkness halted play and will need to return on Wednesday morning (US time)

One New Zealander is safe, and another remains a possibility for inclusion in the 64 golfers to contend in the knockout matches.

Hawkes Bay golfer, Zackary Swanwick, an attendee at Forida State University, began his campaign with a mediocre opening round of 72  at the Philadelphia Country Club on Monday, but playing the historic Merion Golf Club’s course on day two, he produced five birdies in seven holes through the middle of his round to eventually record an impressive round of 67 and finish in a share of 16th place in the field of 312.

The effort was no doubt made even more enjoyable for Swanwick after missing out on the matchplay by one shot last year.

Auckland’s Josh Bai, who along with Swanwick attends Florida State University, also played the Merion Golf Club today. After an encouraging round of 69 at the Philadelphia Golf Club on day one, he struggled to a round of 73, and when he bogeyed his final hole it appeared he might have fallen short of the required mark.

Bai was forced to wait all day to see if he would advance into the matchplay stage, and as the day progressed his chances improved. He would eventually finish in a share of 54th place, and so with darkness halting play with a few left to complete their strokeplay rounds, Bai is forced to wait until Wednesday morning to hopefully survive a playoff with as many as 17 players vying for one of ten spots

Bai, the runner-up in the US Junior Championship in 2023, and the winner of the prestigious North and South Amateur last month, made the matchplay last year after surviving a playoff to get there but was eliminated in the Round of 64.

Australians Kayun Mudadana and Harry Takis have unfortunately been eliminated from the championship after failing to make the cut.

Sydney’s Mudadana appeared to be well enough placed after an opening round of 71 at the Merion Golf Club and through 10 holes at the Philadelphia Country Club today, but he bogeyed his 11th and 12th holes and was unable to pick up the extra birdie he needed to get into the playoff for one of the final 64 spots.

Queensland’s Takis, the leading world-ranked of the Australasians in the event and who is also attending college in the US, disappointed with his opening round of 74 at the Merion Golf Club on day one, and although he improved to a round of  71 at Merion on day two, he fell three short of the playoff.

The Round of 64 matches begin on Wednesday US time.

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Lee, Fox and Scott make it to FedEx Cup Playoffs


Min Woo Lee – finished best of the Australasians in the FedEx Cup rankings

Last week’s Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, brought to a close the PGA Tour’s regular season for 2026, and now the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin with the staging of this week’s FedEx St Jude Championship at the TPC Southwind in Texas.

Just three Australasians have made it to the first of the Playoffs, where the leading 70 players from this season’s FedEx Cup standings will play the US$20 million event.

Min Woo Lee in 17th position, Ryan Fox in 22nd place and Adam Scott 29th, look to be inside the top 50 by week’s end to advance to the second and penultimate Playoff event, the BMW Championship in St Louis, followed a week later by the leading 30 advancing to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, each of the playoff events worth US$20 million.

Lee, Fox and Scott are guaranteed full PGA Tour status for 2027 by finishing inside the top 70.

For Jason Day 82nd and Karl Vilips 129th, their season is not yet over; they will have the opportunity to retain full playing privileges by participating in the FedEx Cup Fall Series.

The players finishing 71st or worse in the regular season standings can earn their PGA Tour status for next season through the FedEx Cup Fall, which starts after the playoffs. The top 100 players in the standings at the end of the FedEx Cup Fall will retain their cards.

FIELD LIST FOR FEDEX ST JUDE

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Kelsey Bennett continues fine season on Ladies European Tour


Kelsey Bennett in action this week – image courtesy of Ladies European Tour 

Kelsey Bennet has continued her impressive Ladies European Tour season with a 5th place finish in the lucrative PIF London Championship at the Centurion Club, maintaining her third place in the 2026 L.E.T Order of Merit.

Bennett, from Mollymook on the south coast of NSW, won €61,000 for her 14 under par total behind the winner, Anna Huang of Canada, adding this performance to a win in Australia and two runner-up finishes earlier in the season.

Tournament sponsors PIF (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia) have proven a good source of prizemoney for Bennett in 2026 having finished 12th in the season opener in Saudi Arabia, where she earned €80,000.

It is perhaps ironic that there was so much song and dance about the PIF’s support of LIV Golf in the early days given the role of women in that country, that they have become such a supporter of women’s golf and yet we now hear no such reaction to their involvement.

Huang won by two over local Charley Hull, who four-putted the 17th green after taking a one-shot lead and eventually finished two behind Huang in second place.

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Two Australians and two New Zealanders play US Amateur Championship


Queensland’s Harry Takis leads the Australasians in world ranking – image APAC

Four Australasians will look to add to the victories of Nick Flanagan, Curtis Luck and Danny Lee as US Amateur Champions from our part of the world when they play the game’s most prestigious amateur championship in Philadelphia later today.

Queensland’s Harry Takis and Sydney’s Kayun Mudadana will be joined by Hawke’s Bay’s Zackary Swanwick and Auckland’s Josh Bai in the field of 312 looking, initially, to play their way into the leading 64 who qualify for the matchplay phase of the event.

Takis earned his right to play the event courtesy of his 15th-place standing in the world men’s amateur rankings; Swanwick, as a result of being 20th in the same ranking; Mudanda, in 99th place, played his way into the field via Final qualifying; and Bai recently won the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst.

Takis, Swanwick and Bai are all playing collegiate golf in the US, Takis for San Diego State, while Bai and Swanwick are teammates at the University of Florida.

With 312 of the game’s best amateurs competing over 36 holes at both Merion Golf Club and the Philadelphia Country Club to earn their way into the leading 64, it is a demanding task just to reach the match-play phase of the event.

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Australians eliminated at US Women’s Amateur Championship


Ella Scaysbrook during her Round of 16 match today – image USGA

Australia’s bid for a second US Women’s Amateur Championship title has ended at the Round of 16 stage at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee, the last two of six Australian entrants in the event, NSW’s golfers, Ella Scaysbrook and Rachel Lee, being defeated after an impressive run to reach the last 16.

Scaysbrook, who was no doubt keen to put to bed the memories of her semifinal loss twelve months ago, bounced back from a 2-down deficit in her Round of 32 match against Japan’s Yurina Hiroyoshi to win 1 up, but in her Round of 16 matchup against Seojin Park of South Korea, she lost her last three holes of the match to lose 3&1.

Sydney’s Rachel Lee, the 2025 Australian Amateur Champion, but still only 18 years of age, had an easy win in her Round of 32 match against American Macy Pate. In her Round of 16 match against the brilliant Asterisk Talley, however, despite recovering from a three-hole deficit through 8 holes and fighting back to tie the match through 13, she would lose 3&2.

Earlier in the Round of 32 matches, Victorian Raegan Denton fought her way back from a three-hole deficit through 13 holes of her match against Thailand’s Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang, playing her last five holes of regulation at 4 under, only to suffer an agonising loss at the 20th hole.

The US Men’s Amateur Championship gets underway this week at the Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club in Pennsylvania, where two Australians, Harry Takis and Kayun Mudadana, and two New Zealanders. Zackary Swanwick and Josh Bai are in the field of 312 vying to make the leading 64 to advance to matchplay.

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Three Australians remain alive at US Women’s Amateur


Sydney’s Rachel Lee – won in extra time against highly regarded Aphrodite Deng

Five Australians safely negotiated their way into the match play phase of the US Women’s Amateur Championship in Tennessee, but three now remain after the opening day of knockout matches.

Unfortunately for the leading qualifier amongst the Australians, Jazy Roberts, she fell victim to Thailand’s Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang in her opening encounter, made even more disappointing after being 3 up through five holes.  The Thai golfer played her last 13 holes in 5 under par to win 2&1.

Victorian Raegan Denton was 5 under par when her match against Floridian Grace Carter finished with Denton producing one final birdie  at the 14th to win 5&4.

Last year’s beaten semi-finalist, Ella Scaysbrook of Sydney, was never down in her match against Californian Jude Lee and eventually won with a rush late in her match to win 3&2. She keeps alive her chances of atoning for an agonising semi-final loss to the eventual winner Megha Ganne last year.

Sydney’s Rachel Lee survived an early onslaught from one of the female game’s leading young amateurs, Aphrodite Deng, coming from 3 down through 5 holes and 2 down through 9 to eventually take a 1-up lead playing the last. Deng birdied the 18th to take the match into extra time, but Lee birdied to win at the 19th.

Queensland’s Amy Hodgkins was never ahead in her match against Texan Farah O’Keefe but got the encounter back to all square through 11 holes before losing the next three and the match 3&2 at the 16th.

None of the three will clash in tomorrow morning’s Round of 32, so there is a good chance that Australia will have some representation through to the Round of 16 in the afternoon.

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Several Australians to advance to knockout phase of US Women’s Amateur


Jazy Roberts in action today – image Darren Carroll USGA

Victorian golfer Jazy Roberts has, by some margin, done best of the six-strong Australasian contingent during the 36-hole qualifying for the US Women’s Amateur Championship at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee.

While several players are still required to finish their second rounds tomorrow due to a weather delay and then darkness, Roberts will finish the qualifying in around 8th place and comfortably qualify for the knockout rounds, which will commence after resumed play on Thursday (US time)

Australia’s highest-ranked female amateur (32nd in the world), Roberts won the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this year and has since won events such as the Riversdale Cup, the English Women’s Strokeplay Championship, and the Porter Cup in the US.

Last year, Roberts made it through to the Round of 32 in this event after qualifying 7th in the strokeplay, but the Bendigo golfer is a considerably more credentialed golfer now and her experience and success in some significant events over the last few months should bode well for her chances this week.

In 2019, Victorian Gabi Ruffels became the first Australian to win the title and lost in the final the following year before turning professional.

Roberts began with a round of 72 on Tuesday, but she opened round two with an outward nine of 33, and although she dropped two shots late in her round, a last-hole birdie has given her a high ranking amongst the qualifiers.

Queensland’s Amy Hodgkins, a recent winner of the Colorado Women’s Amateur Championship, is now at college in the US, initially at Northern Arizona and now in Louisville, and, interestingly, her sister Kirsty also played college golf in the US.

Hodgkins has two holes to play when play resumes tomorrow, and at 2 over par she sits inside the current cutoff mark of 4 over.

Victorian Raegan Denton bounced back from an opening round of 77 with a round of 70 on day two and made it into the field for the match play beginning on Thursday (US time), while last year’s semi-finalist Ella Scaysbrook of NSW is also at 3 over and having completed her 36 holes, she is safely into the knockout phase and on track for another shot at the title.

18-year-old NSW golfer, Rachel Lee might yet have work to do if she is to advance. Lee is at 4 over and, with 65 players on that score or better and 64 advancing, she is on the cusp, although she is likely to have done well enough to avoid a playoff. The 2025 Australian Amateur Champion has been a prolific winner of titles already in her career, and it is hoped she can make it through to test herself against the match play field.

64-year-old Victorian Sue Wooster will unfortunately miss out on advancing after struggling through the 36-hole qualifying.

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