Min Woo Lee – shared 3rd place this week – image PGA of Australia

Min Woo Lee and Jason Day have completed their final competitive preparations for this year’s Masters with top ten finishes at the Texas Children’s Houston Open this morning.

Lee, who was defending the title he won 12 months ago, finished tied for 3^rd place, six shots behind the winner, Gary Woodland, while Day finished another two shots back in a share of 6^th place.

Neither player has entered this coming week’s Valero Texas Open and so they will head to Augusta National with their respective games in good shape for the opening major of the year.

Lee began today’s final round six shots behind the 54-hole leader, Woodland, but was unable to make any progress on the leader at least, Woodland eventually winning by five over Nicolai Hojgaard.

Day recorded a final round of 68 to finish eight shots from Woodland and recorded his second-best finish in six starts this season, his best coming when runner-up at the American Express event.

Both Lee and Day have done well in appearances at the Masters, Day with five top tens, including a runner-up finish on debut in 2011 and a 3^rd placing two years later.

Lee finished an impressive 14^th on debut in 2022 and has made two further cuts in a total of four starts.

Other Australians Karl Vilips and Adam Scott finished 19^th and 21^st respectively this week, Scott holing in one during his final round of 71.

Scott is, of course, in the Masters field, although Vilips, despite winning on the PGA Tour in 2025, has not yet qualified and has only this week’s Valero Texas Open to force his way into the field.

The winner this week was truly a fairytale, Woodland a former US Open Champion, having returned to tournament golf following brain surgery to remove a tumour in 2023. He eventually returned to the tour and was just recently involved in a very emotional and candid interview regarding the impact the treatment had on him, including massive anxiety attacks.

Woodland, who shared second place in this event last year, held on throughout the final round to win by five in what was one of the more emotional victories on the PGA Tour.

“I’ll tell you what, we play an individual sport out here, but I wasn’t alone today,” said the winner. “I got a lot of people behind me, my team, my family and this golf world.

“Anybody that’s struggling with something, I hope they see me and don’t give up, just keep fighting.

“Today was a good day. But I’m going to keep fighting. I’ve got a big fight ahead of me, and I’m going to keep going, but I’m proud of myself right now.”

Leaderboard 

Lydia Ko – file image courtesy of USGA

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko has produced the lowest round of her LPGA Tour career with  12 under par 60 at the Ford Championship Presented by Wildhorse at the Whirlwind Golf Club in Phoenix.

Interestingly, however, the brilliant start to the week has her just one ahead of last week’s winner in California and the defending chmapion this week, Hyo Joo Kim,

“I think the number 59 did cross my mind by the time I holed my birdie putt on 6, but it wasn’t like the pressure was — like it wasn’t like I had a lot of pressure to like break 60,” said Ko. “It was just more like oh, it’s really cool to be in this position. I think that’s my career low score.

“I think the lowest score that I had before that is maybe at the Australian Women’s Open maybe, somewhere along those lines. Yeah, definitely a fun round to have.

“I don’t think I’ve ever actually started a round with four birdies, so it was nice to take advantage of the good start and continue that on my back nine as well.”

Ko began the season well with two top 5 finishes, but her last two weeks have been below her best, although a change of putter might have been the catalyst for the form reversal.

“I think, like as every golfer does, when things go well you also think about the things that could go terribly wrong as well. I feel like I stayed patient and was rolling it really well. Yeah, I actually put in a new putter this week. Like I’ve had my old putter for a really long time, like the same model, so it was kind of different just to have something else.

“And maybe it’s a honeymoon phase, who knows. But you take a more easy day like this on any occasion.

“It’s a new Scotty Cameron 12. As most people know I have a thing — I have my love towards Scotty Cameron putters, so it’s very unusual for me to change out of my putter.

“It’s been a while since I have tried a different model than the prototype that I have.

“It just rolled good. Went in the bag on Tuesday and I think even Paul at Scotty Cameron and Tom were kind of surprised that I was going to change.

“But I felt like you never know until you play out there and obviously I — this has only been one round but it’s a good start. You know, really couldn’t have been any better.

“I felt very calm. Honestly, like when I was younger I hated birdieing the first hole for some stupid reason. I think a lot of people have that kind of superstition. I’m like what happens when you hit it to a foot, right? It’s not like you’re going to miss that putt because you’re worried about what the rest of your day is going to be like.

“I got into a really good momentum and I think that is what helped me kind of stay in my zone. I really wasn’t out of position that many times so it’s a lot easier to be in that kind of rhythm and tempo.

“But I think when you’re in the zone, you’re just focused and there are not as many external thoughts going in and out of your head. You’re just focused on what shot you have in front of you, and then — and not get too carried away about the outcome of it.

“Staying in the zone is almost like being able to switch on and off between shots and having full commitment when you’re about to hit it. Outside of that, just being as relaxed as possible.”

Ko is currently the world number 8, having slipped from number 3 twelve months ago.

Leaderboard

 

 

The National Golf Club’s Gunnamatta Layout – image PGA of Australia

Seven months after the 2005/2006 PGA Tour of Australasia began in Papua New Guinea last August, it reaches its climax this week with the staging of the National Tournament at the National Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

Played over the Tom Doak designed Gunnamatta layout, one of three courses at the complex at Cape Schank, the event brings to a conclusion the race for Order of Merit honours and, despite its relative minor standing in terms of prizemoney, plays a key role in determining the future of several golfers looking to either retain status on the PGA Tour of Australasia or take advantage of the benefits certain standings on the completed list offers.

The winner of the Order of Merit has already been determined. New South Wales golfer, Travis Smyth’s impressive run through the three recent events in New Zealand, allowing him to ascend to the top of the standings.

Smyth earned DP World Tour, Japan Tour and Open Championship playing rights courtesy of his efforts, in addition to his already established Asian and Australasian Tour status. Still, there are other benefits up for grabs this week.

Two cards for the 2027 Hotel Planner Tour (DP World Tour’s feeder tour) are on the line, as well as access to various qualifying for other tours later in the year.

As many as eight golfers have a mathematical chance of securing playing rights on the Hotel Planner Tour, although currently it is Victorians Cameron John and James Marchesani who are in 2^nd and 3^rd place behind Smyth.

At the other end of the scale are those vying to retain their playing privileges on the PGA Tour of Australasia, the leading 50 players able to play events in the 2026/2027 season.

Those not making it inside the top 50, and not otherwise exempt, will get another chance via the PGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School beginning almost immediately at the Heritage and Moonah Links Golf Clubs, with the final to be played at the Sandhurst Golf Club a few days later.

The defending champion this week is Harrison Crowe, who has struggled for much of this season with a best of 10^th in 12 starts and has slipped to 72^nd on the Order of Merit, although his win last year assures him of status in Australasia for another twelve months.

It will be interesting to see if a return to a venue which provided him his first and only victory to date helps him regain some of the form which saw him finish 8^th on the Order of Merit last year.

The tournament offers A$200,000 in prize money and 190 Order of Merit points to the winner.

 

Tee Times 

Current Order of Merit

 

 

 

 

The Women’s Australian PGA Champion with Australia’s greatest ever female golfer, Karrie Webb

29-year-old Perth golfer Hannah Green has been rewarded for not only her outstanding golf but also her commitment to the support of Australian women’s golf with her third consecutive victory in four starts in 2026.

Green’s four-shot victory over Germany’s Alexandra Fosterling and South Africa’s Casandra Alexander brought to a close a month where she has contended in nearly every one of her 20 rounds in 2026.

While the financial reward for her victory today (A$90,000) pales in comparison to the US$450,000 she won in Singapore in late February, it is likely that she adding yet another Australian title to the Women’s Australian Open she won last week in Adelaide provides a great deal of satisfaction.

Green would no doubt have had the option to play the LPGA Tour event in California this week, where the first prize was again US$450,000, but she has always shown a tendency to support the game here, and so the event benefited greatly from her presence as the world number 7.

The win this week is unlikely to impact her current ranking but she will head back to the US tomorrow to begin her 2026 campaign in that country full of the confidence that the three wins will no doubt bring, and there is every reason to believe her current ranking will rise even higher over the next few months.

Green began the final round two ahead of Swiss golfer Vanessa Knecht and Alexander, and three birdies in her opening four holes threatened to blow the tournament apart. Then came two consecutive bogeys at the 5^th and 6^th holes, but although it gave her chasers a glimpse of hope, Green birdied the 9^th to be out in 2 under 35 and hardly put a foot wrong as she cruised to her four-shot win.

“I knew that my game was all going to be good for the season early on, but I didn’t really imagine having three wins this early in the season,” said Green.

“I think I actually said to Jaryd (husband and interim caddie) before Singapore that I hope I have a win this year, and obviously now I’ve won three times. Obviously, I’m on such a high right now, and I know golf can go the other way.

“So it’s going to be really hard when I don’t have a winning tournament. So I think I just have to stay patient. I think that will be the next thing. I’m glad that I have a week off to kind of recoup and get ready for when I go back to the States and just get myself back down to level and not on such a high so that I can continue to perform like I am.

“I really think the win in Singapore and Adelaide has helped with my nerves, which obviously really helps when I am going to be in contention hopefully this year. So I think I’ve played well on some tough courses and I’ve also been able to play well on courses where you have to make a lot of early. So that’s nice to have the variety of both of those.

“But the major championships are definitely the events that I’m going to be trying to peak for. And so hopefully with how I’ve kind of laid out my schedule, I haven’t given myself too many tournaments before that to hopefully not tire myself out. So just little things like that in preparation, hopefully, are what can give me my best performance this year. But I think obviously I’m in a really good headspace now. So I think that’s definitely going to help.”

The round of the day on Sunday came from yet another Perth golfer, Maddison Hinson Tolchard, whose 5 under 66 saw her jump 20 places to a share of 9^th.

The next best of the Australasians after Green was New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey, who shared 5^th place.

RESULTS

 

 

Will Florimo wins his first Australasian Tour title – image PGA of Australia

With just one event remaining on the 2025/2026 PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, Order of Merit honours are close to being finalised following the completion of the penultimate event at the Heritage Golf and Country Club in Victoria.

The win by Queensland’s Will Florimo today sees the 26-year-old Queenslander move to 5th on the Order of Merit and into a position where he will gain access to tour schools later in the year.

Florimo, who has been a runner-up twice in events on the PGA Tour of Australasia, claimed his first title with a two-shot win over West Australian Haydn Barron, with another shot back to a group of five players, Quinnton Croker, Ben Eccles, Declan O’Donovan, Mathias Sanchez and Josh Armstrong.

Florimo began the final round two behind American Chris Malec, but with an outward nine of 34, including an eagle at his 4th hole, he had taken the lead.

A burst of birdies through the middle of his closing nine, established a seemingly winning break and even two bogeys to finish could not stop him taking the title.

The winner of the Order of the Merit has been determined, Travis Smyth’s excellent run in New Zealand, where he finished twice 5th, in addition to his win in Auckland, ensured that his closest pursuers for Order of Merit honours would need to have won this week to have any chance of grabbing the top spot. That was not the case, so Smyth has secured the DP World Tour card available to the leader of the Order of Merit.

Smyth now has status on the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Japan Golf Tour (for his win in Auckland), the Asian Tour and in 2027 the DP World Tour. he will also earn a start at the Open Championship so the last month has been one of significant change for Smyth

Cameron John and James Marchesani are currently second and third on the Order of Merit, but their chances of securing one of the two Hotel Planner Tour cards are still uncertain and will be determined after the National Tournament in two weeks.

 

Travis Smyth – a career-changing month – image Photo sport NZ 

 

Heritage Classic Results 

Order of Merit