Stephen Allan – made it three wins for the season in Snoqualmie Ridge

US-based Victorian, Stephen Allan, had not won an event anywhere in twenty-two years when he started his second season on the PGA Tour Champions in February, but, in the six months since, he has won three more titles and advanced to 7^th place in the PGA Tour Champions Schwab Cup standings.

Today. Allan held off Stewart Cink, Ernie Els and Darren Clarke to win the Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie Ridge in Washington State to earn another US$345,000 and take his 2025 season earnings to US$1,412,000.

Allan gained access to the PGA Tour Champions in late 2023 and is now in his second season after only just retaining his playing privileges in late 2024.

The now 51-year-old battled throughout much of his career after reaching the PGA Tour for several seasons in the early 2000’s, finishing runner-up on two occasions but eventually losing status in 2009.

“I think I know myself a little bit better when it comes to my swing and my game,” said Allan.

“I think, I don’t know, it means a lot to me, too. Financially, it’s good to make some money. I’ve been off the main Tour since 2009, so things get a little bit tight there when you’re not making any money. I think with that, I think, yeah, matured a bit, not getting ahead of myself, not stressing about things, and just playing and seeing what happens.

When asked if he is surprised at his success this year, Allan responded, “I think I would have probably laughed if you told me I would have won three times. I definitely thought that I had a win in me, but I wouldn’t have said three.”

Leaderboard

The 8th hole at the Olympic Club near San Francisco – image USGA

If you think the field for next week’s US Amateur Championship at the Olympic Club near San Francisco is large in numbers (and it is at 312), then consider all of those who attempted to gain access to the event from the original number of more than 5200 with handicaps of  2.4 or better.

Nearly half of the field gained access via the automatic entry criteria, but the remainder had to survive the grind that is local and sectional qualifying.

Amongst the final line-up who will play 36 holes of qualifying ahead of the match play phase are four Australians and two New Zealanders as they look to join Nick Flanagan, Danny Lee and Curtis Luck as Australasians to win amateur golf’s most prestigious male title.

Decland O’Donovan, Billy Dowling, Aarow Aarav Shah and Coby Carruthers will join New Zealanders Zachary Swanick and Josh Bai when the 36 holes of strokeplay begins on Monday, 11^th August, California time.

Donovan, from the Avondale Golf Club in Sydney, is the current and former NSW Amateur Champion and, a week ag,o won the Canadian Amateur Championship in Ottawa.

Queensland’s Billy Dowling continues to impress in both amateur and professional events, the 20-year-old, who is coached by Nancy Harvey at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, plays his golf at the Brisbane Golf Club.

20-year-old Dowling has played a series of amateur events in both the UK and the US in recent weeks, making the quarter finals at the British Amateur Championship. He won the South Australian Amateur Championship late in 2024 and has recorded several top tens in PGA Tour of Australasia events.

18-year-old Aarow Aarav Shah of Indian origin, but more recently based in Melbourne, is in high school in the US, and has signed to join the University of Southern California in the new semester, but earlier this year won the Dustin Johnson Junior Championship at Myrtle Beach.

20-year-old Coby Carruthers from the Concord Golf Club in Sydney has played a number of events in Britain and the US in recent weeks and finished 5^th at the prestigious Porter Cup.

New Zealand’s Zachary Swanwick, now playing his golf at the University of Florida, recently finished 3^rd at the Western Amateur. The Hawkes Bay native is a former Australian and New Zealand junior champion. Swanwick and O’Donovan are the only two of the six Australasians to have gained automatic entry into the event.

Josh Bai from Auckland has struggled in recent events in the US, but is a former runner-up at the US Junior Championship. He is now a freshman at the University of Florida where he joins his fellow countryman Swanwick.

Tee Times    

Ella Scaysbrook in action in today’s quarter final match against Canadian Taylor Kehoe

19-year-old Newcastle golfer, Ella Scaysbrook, continues to impress at the US Women’s Amateur Championship, defeating Canadian Taylor Kehoe in the quarter finals of the world’s most significant women’s amateur event, in what was yet another one sided match.

In blustery oceanside conditions, Scaysbrook opened with a 40-foot birdie putt at the opening hole to go 1 up and won the third with a par, but it would be through the middle of the round that Scaysbrook put a seal on the match when she won the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th holes to establish a 4-hole break.

The 10^th hole was perhaps the highlight when she holed from close to 50 feet for eagle and although Kehoe would birdie the same hole, the margin was 4. When Scaysbrook won the 12^th to go 5 up it was then just a matter of time.

Both players bogeyed the 13th but the end would come at the 14th when both players were conceded bogeys for Scaysbrook to win 5&4.

When asked if she had allowed herself to think ahead to a place in Sunday’s final, Scaysbrook said, “A little bit, but try to stay in the present. Just go out tomorrow and see what happens. I’m proud I made it this far anyway.”

Scaysbrook, after surviving a tense playoff on Wednesday morning for a place in the match play field, has won her four matches to date by no less than a 4&3 margin and tomorrow gets the chance to become just the fourth Australian to make the championship final of the event, following in the footsteps of Lindy Goggin, Anne Marie Knight and Gabi Ruffels (twice)

Scaysbrook’s semi-final opponent is American Megha Ganne who finished 11th in the 36 hole qualifying earlier in the week compared to Scaybrook’s 63^rd seeding but the Novacastrian has swept all before her to date and the manner of her wins thus far suggests she could well make the final.

Scoring

Ella Scaysbrook interviewed after her defeat of co-medallist Asterisk Talley – image Darren Carroll USGA

Newcastle’s Ella Scaysbrook and Victorian Jazy Roberts have moved through the opening round of match play at the US Women’s Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes in Oregon. They will tackle the round of 32 tomorrow.

Scaysbrook, who has spent the last two months competing in events in the US, was forced to survive a playoff on Wednesday morning between 15 golfers for seven spots to earn a place in the top 64 and then proceeded to defeat one of the two leading qualifiers in the 36-hole strokeplay, Asterisk Talley, in her opening round match-up.

Talley, a member of the U.S. National Junior Team who was coming off a win last week in the Girls Junior PGA Championship and jumped to No. 13 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®, never won a hole against Scaysbrook. She was 2 down after three and then lost four consecutive holes from No. 11.

Roberts, the 7^th qualifier, was 2 up with two to play in her opening round match against Michigan’s Macie Elzinger but lost her closing two holes to birdies before a birdie at the first hole of extra time sealed her win.

The only other Australian to make the match play phase, Momo Sugiyama, was defeated in her opening round match by Thailand’s  Pinky Chaisil Prungruang.

Scoring