Lucas Herbert – file photo

Victorian Lucas Herbert, in his first full season on the PGA Tour, produced a remarkable round of 68 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando and improved from an overnight share of 33^rd to finish in a share of 7^th.

Playing more than three hours ahead of the final group and with fellow countryman Adam Scott, Herbert birdied three of his first four holes, in some of the more demanding conditions he has faced on the PGA Tour thus far, to make progress on the field.

Although he would drop shots through the middle of his round a birdie from 6 feet or so at the 15^th was followed by a monster putt from 50 feet at the 16^th for eagle and at 2 under and with the field behind him on the golf course struggling there was an outside chance of him contending for the title.

It would not be the case as he would finish three shots behind the winner Scottie Scheffler, who won the tournament with a 72 hole total of 5 under par, but to have finished 7th and the manner in which he did so was one of the performances of the day.

His round was, in fact, the best of the day by one ahead of England’s Tyrrell Hatton and given how he coped with the conditions he was enthusiastic about his effort.

“I’m pretty proud of myself for today’s round,” said the 26 year old after his round. “It was very, very hot out there. Obviously, you can look on TV, and everyone’s going to see it. There’s no room to hit bad shots out there. You get pretty heavily punished if you get it offline or get your yardage into the green or whatnot.

“Very, very proud of the way I played out there. Really proud to hopefully finish in the top ten first time here at Bay Hill. Yeah, it’s been a bit of a slow start to the year, so it’s good to sort of get a nice result in, hopefully build on some confidence going forward.”

Herbert was asked what had been the difference given he had missed the last two cuts and had not been anywhere near the form that saw him win on the PGA Tour late last year.

“I think it’s a bit of a combination of everything. Dom (Azzopadi), my coach, came over and just helped me with a bunch of technique stuff the last couple of weeks. Where it was like everything was kind of close at Phoenix and Honda, and I felt like I played better than two missed cuts. I didn’t feel like I did a lot wrong. Unfortunately wasn’t playing the weekend there.

“So it didn’t feel like it needed to be a big change from the way I was playing, but it doesn’t surprise me to finish the way I did given — even though the results weren’t there leading up to it, the form felt like it was.

“I think these conditions, Scotty (Adam Scott) and I were talking about the fact that these conditions suit Australians. We’re used to just playing firm, fast, windy conditions, and I think that plays into our hand a lot.

“It was just one of those days, you obviously watch Adam who doesn’t miss a lot of shots. That obviously watch Adam who doesn’t miss a lot of shots. That obviously inspires you a little bit as well. Just a day where I played really nice as well. Everything kind of came together for me.”

Herbert made reference to the time he spent back in Australia last year playing golf at his now base on the Sunshine Coast and how rather than be disrupted by the issues Covid created he actually enjoyed it.

After THE PLAYERS, we (he and Scott) shot down there for COVID. He flew back to Australia. So when we had that three or four months there where we didn’t have any events going, we were both back in Australia.

On the Sunshine Coast we kind of ended up — a lot of the Senior Tour guys who were normally playing Seniors Pro-Ams, had nothing to do too. We almost kind of started our own tour. Not quite at the Saudi level, but we were playing 100 bucks each. 100 bucks in each Friday to all the courses around in the local area. It was pretty good.

“We were playing with like amateurs that were up there at the time, veteran Tour pros, Tour pros that are sort of trying to make it on Tour, and guys like Scotty. We had a really nice mix. It was so casual and so laid back. I thought it was great. I actually really enjoyed that COVID lockdown.”

Herbert now looks ahead to his first appearance at the Players Championship next week.

Adam Scott could not match the brilliance of Herbert on day four and finished tied for 26th after a final round of 74, Matt Jones was 52nd, New Zealand’s Danny Lee 61st and Marc Leishman 68th.

Former winner Jason Day was forced to withdraw on the eve of the tournament following the passing of his mother Denning.

SCORES

 

Jarryd felton – photo Kirsty Wrice PGA Australia

West Australian Jarryd Felton today won his fourth PGA Tour of Australasia title but his first since the WAPGA Championship nearly eighteen months ago with a playoff victory over Canberra’s successful Japan Tour player Brendan Jones.

The final round of the TPS Sydney at the Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney’s east was called off through three holes of the final round with Felton having established a two-shot lead early before a deluge caused play the be postponed then abandoned.

Scores reverted to those relevant through 54 holes and with both Jones and Felton tied at the top at 15 under par at the completion of round three, a break in the weather allowed a playoff to be held.

Felton birdied the first extra hole with a birdie putt from 18 feet or so and the title and the $36,000 was his.

While all this was going on Felton’s partner and his fellow West Australian, Hannah Green, was powering home to finish 6th in an LPGA Tour event in Singapore.

Felton was a high class amateur but despite his four PGA Tour of Australasia titles there have been times when he was questioning just what his future in the game held.

A recent decision to work with noted Queensland based mind guru Sean Lynch appears to have him back on track mentally and he voiced such following his win.

“I sat in hotel quarantine in Perth,” Felton said when referring to some of the issues he has had to face as a West Australian during these Covid times. “Two weeks in there will make you think about a lot of things.”

“I touched base with a good friend of mine, Jamie Glazier, and he helped me out for a little bit there.

“Coming out of hotel quarantine I was really motivated and driven to get better, there was just nothing to play.

“Now that we’ve got tournaments to play I’m more motivated to get better. “I’ve got a lot of good things going, I’ve just got to stick the path and just keep trying to get better each day.

“That’s what myself and Sean are working at and it happened to happen really quick this week.”

For 47 year old Jones it was also a resurgence given he has played only one tour sanctioned event event in the past two years after being the Japan Tour’s most successful foreign player in the last twenty years.

Some of his wins there have been against strong fields including events such as the Visa Taiheyo Masters and a win in Chicago on the Nationwide Tour along with a runner-up finish to Peter Senior at the 2012 Australian Open bearing testament to this talented player’s ability.

The leading woman in the combined gender event was Grace Kim who tied for 6th with Cassie Porter sharing 8th place.

SCORES 

 

Lucas Higgins – photo PGA Australia

Northern NSW’s golfer Lucas Higgins has the lead at the halfway mark of the TPS Sydney at the Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.

22 year old Higgins was required to finish off his opening round on Friday morning having played only 16 holes before darkness forced a closure of play on day one.

Higgins returned on Friday morning to birdie one of his last two holes and complete an opening round of 66. He then built on that impressive start to the event with a mid-round burst that included four birdies and a hole in one in a stretch of eight holes to finish with a round of 65 and at 11 under he leads by two over West Australian Jarryd Felton who was round in 64 on day two.

There is another shot back to 15-time Japan Tour event winner Brendan Jones who has reinvented himself after essentially two years away from tournament golf by adding a second round of 66 to his opening round of 68 top be just three from the lead.

Higgins, who plays out of the Murwillumbah Golf Club just south of the Queensland border and who was at one stage the Gold Coast Burleigh Golf Club Champion on the Gold Coast, is relatively new to professional golf, playing only half a dozen or so events on the PGA Tour of Australasia and has missed the cut in the last two he has played.

Higgins hometown of Murwillumbah has been devastated by the recent floods and he is grateful at the opportunity just to be playing the event.

“I’ve been working hard to try and get a start in these four-round events so to actually get a start and have the lead is great,” said Higgins.

“I’m just going to embrace it and try my best to do what I can.

“Seeing all the floods was pretty surreal to be honest. I’m very lucky to be down here and playing.

“My family is OK which is the main thing. Everyone is going to have to rebuild again. We only had a flood four years ago so it’s pretty hard to see.

“Hopefully I can do everyone proud back home and give them something to smile about.”

Felton is a former leading amateur who has won events such as the New Zealand, NSW and NT PGA Championships but until recently he had been struggling with his game. A 9^th place at the QLD PGA and another solid week at Cobram Barooga and now this week’s effort suggests his game might well be on the improve.

Jones is one of the leading foreign golfers in the history of the Japan Golf Tour and has amassed earnings of over $A12 million there. Since Covid hit that tour in 2020 he has played very few competitive golf tournaments and has in fact been working for a friend in a landscaping business in his hometown of Canberra.

Locals Grace Kim and amateur Kelsey Bennett lead the women in the combined gender event at 5 under and are tied for 6th.

SCORES

 

 

Kade McBride and his Geoff King Motors North Coast Open trophy- photo David Tease Golf NSW

The North Coast of NSW and the Tweed Coast beyond, have suffered from a deluge of rain this past week but, despite it all, two $50,000 36 hole events have been decided, Gold Coast professional Kade McBride winning one and Queensland amateur, Will Florimo, heading a field of professionals at the rain shortened Tweed Coast Open to win the other.

On Wednesday McBride, from the Sanctuary Cove Golf Club, came from well off the first-round pace to win the Geoff King North Coast Open at the Coffs Harbour Golf Club after rain had interrupted play on two occasions on day one, forcing the first round into day two.

McBride, who has played the China and Australasian Tours in the early stages of his professional career, has been restricted from playing opportunities other than, essentially,  pro-ams in recent times, but he has shown a little bit of form in recent weeks in events such as the Queensland PGA Championship and the TPS Series events in Victoria.

McBride began the final round at Coffs Harbour two shots behind the joint first round leaders Corey Lamb and Coffs Harbour member and University of Iowa graduate, Amelia Mehmet-Grohn, in the 36-hole event but by the time he reached the 10^th tee he led by two.

In increasing rain and on a rain drenched golf course and with the threat of play being called off, McBride would birdie two further holes on his closing nine but a double bogey opened the door for the 20 year old amateur (soon to be professional) Corey Lamb from Branxton in the Hunter Valley.

Lamb, who won the Concord Cup a few weeks ago and played his way into the upcoming NSW Open in the process, recovered from a shaky start to fight his way back and when McBride stumbled at the 17^th he was just one back.

Lamb then birdied the par five 17^th but, in the group ahead, McBride hit a delightful shot from the right rough to five feet at the last and made the putt for birdie.

It was enough for McBride to win by one and take the historic title and the $9,000 cheque.

Lamb finished second while Mehmet-Grohn was another three shots back in 3^rd place and claiming a cheque for $5400, having turned professional just two months ago.

The players then headed north to Tweed Heads for the Tweed Heads Open at the Coolangatta Tweed Heads Golf Club with the prospect of the event even being played under a cloud, literally.

Tweed Heads appeared to be in a rain shadow of sorts between the deluges being experienced further south and further north and play was completed on day one with Queensland amateur William Florimo producing an amazing round of 10 under par 62 to lead at the completion of the opening 19 holes.

22 year old Florimo’s brilliance established a two-shot lead over Lismore’s former Hong Kong Open winner, Sam Brazel.

Organisers were again forced to play the final round as a shotgun start as rain storms loomed and as Florimo began to feel the effects of leading several quality players chasing him down including Brazel and former PGA Tour player, Michael Sim, he fell off the pace and by the turn he trailed Brazel by four.

Douglas Klein and local Damien Jordan moved into a share of second and three from the lead when storms forced players from the course and play to be abandoned with the final group on the 11^th hole.

Scores reverted back to the day one results and Will Florimo was declared the winner over Sam Brazel, Brazel claiming the first prize of $9000 with Florimo’s amateur status precluding him from taking any share of the purse.

While the events were small in nature compared to PGA Tour of Australasia events most have played in recent times, they provided a great opportunity for both male and female professional amateurs to play competitive golf for a solid purse for 36 hole events but for

The events also offered the chance the chance for those not otherwise qualified to play their way into the NSW Open in a few week’s time should they finish inside the top three not otherwise qualified for the event at the Concord Golf Club in mid March.

In Coffs Harbour it would be Kade McBride, Neven Basic and Jordan Mullaney who earned those honours while at Tweed Heads although it was Florimo, Brazel and Jay McKenzie.

Florimo was delighted to have earned the chance to test his game against the strong field likely at Concord Golf Club ahead of a decision to turn professional later in the year.

“Honestly I can’t wait,” Florimo beamed. “It’s going to be great to play one last event at this level as an amateur, and hopefully I will finish my career off with a good stretch of golf.”

It was a week where tournament organisers from both Golf NSW and the PGA of Australia were stretched to the limit by the issues created by a rain depression hovering over the east coast for much of the week but for those who played, just having a chance to compete was welcomed.

Live stream of North Coast Open

 

Will Florimo – photo golf NSW

Yours truly looking a little more respectable than five hours later