Louis Dobbelaar taking US Amateur summer by storm

Dobbelaar putting together a brilliant US summer of events. – file photo Golf Australia

Earlier this year, Queenslander, Louis Dobbelaar, won the Australian Amateur Championship and set in motion a year that would lead him to success in some of leading amateur events in the US.

The 19-year-old was also the New Zealand Amateur Champion in 2016 at the age of just 15 and the 2020 Queensland Amateur Champion so he had already well and truly established himself prior to his trip to the US this season.

A win at the recent prestigious Dogwood International in Atlanta, where he would become just the second Australian to win that event after Andrew Buckle, set him up for his outstanding win this weekend at the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst in North Carolina.

Dobbelaar, from Brisbane, defeated local golfer, Jackson Von Paris, in the final of the event with a playoff victory at the first extra hole.

“We’ve been mates for a little while, so it was good to soak that in together,” Dobbelaar, 19, said of his morning stroll with Van Paris. “We both just looked around and said how special it was. Those situations are generally pretty tense, but playing against someone like him, we were both able to see the broader side and appreciate the opportunity to be doing this.

“This place is extremely special to me and to my family,” Dobbelaar said. “It hasn’t really sunk it in yet, but there’s nothing better than winning at a place like Pinehurst…There’s history everywhere you look.”

Dobbelaar will now play this coming week’s Monroe Invitational in New York State, continuing his trans America odyssey having now played in Pennsylvania, Georgia and now North Carolina.

Dobbelaar is currently Australia’s highest world ranked male amateur in 46th place on those rankings and this week’s win will move him considerably higher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cameron Davis completes amazing weekend for Australian golf

 

Cameron Davis today – the smile tells the story – photo Getty Images

Former Australian Open, Australian Amateur and World Amateur Champion, Cameron Davis has taken the next step in what is already a successful golfing career with a breakthrough win on the PGA Tour.

The victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit completes a week which also has seen victories by Stephanie Kyriacou on the Ladies European Tour, Lucas Herbert on the European Tour, a runner-up finish by Dimi Papdatos on the Challenge Tour and a victory by Queenslander, Louis Dobbelaar, at the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst.

Davis survived a five-hole playoff against Troy Merritt to win after a final round of 67 earned the 26-year-old a spot in the playoff against Merrit and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann.

Niemann was eliminated at the first extra hole, but it would take another four holes before Davis parred the 5th extra hole to edge out Merritt who was unable to get up and down after missing the green at the par 3 15th.

Davis appeared to have lost his chance of wining the title when three putting the 16th green in regulation after a run of three consecutive birdies from the 12th had him right in the firing line.

Then came his amazing finish in which he holed a bunker shot for eagle at the 17th and then hit a 9 iron to 6 feet at the 72nd hole which he converted to join Merritt and Niemann in the lead.

Niemann and Merritt, playing behind Davis, were unable to birdie the last and so the playoff would begin. Davis appeared as if he might win it at the first extra hole but missed a great opportunity from 6 feet. He would miss other longer opportunities at the next three holes, but it would be a mistake by Merritt that would see Davis win his third professional title but one that will shape his future.

The victory is worth US$1.35 million (A$1.8 million), will see Davis will jump from his current 134th place in the world ranking to around 65th, his first time inside the top 100, and he has also played his way into the field for the 2022 Masters.

Davis acknowledged in his post round interview that his consistent ball striking paid off in the end.

“It’s still so surreal for me. I’ve been in some good positions before, but to play the golf that I played coming down the stretch was just awesome,” said Davis

“So I’m sure I’ll be able to look back, I’m sure some of it’s on camera so I’m sure I’ll be able to relive some moments as well and really enjoy it again. But this has been awesome. I’m really, really happy with where I sit right now.

“I mean, the emotions were pretty similar to coming down the stretch in regulation, to be honest. I just kept on hitting the shots that I was hitting in regulation, the same approach. I was just under the impression that I just needed to hit a really good shot and make a putt for birdie if I wanted to win or just keep giving myself chances.

“I stayed really calm. I hit some good putts, I hit some not-so-great putts, but I had a lot of opportunities and I guess that was eventually what got it over the line for me, good solid quality shots in important situations. So I’m really proud of that and that’s a testament to some of the hard work we’ve put in.

“I mean, I did some good work with my sports psych, Neale (Smith), back in Seattle after a bit of time off and we just really did a lot of work on just routine, and that sort of stuff is really what you fall back on.

“I don’t really have any experiences in the past that kind of prepared me for it. Australian Open back years ago now was I guess similar in that I didn’t really know where I stood when I was coming down the last couple of holes and I was able to hit some good ones and get across the line.

“I guess I wasn’t thinking about that, though, today. I was just thinking about all the things that I had done all this week leading up to that point and just tried to keep it going. It was just putting all that stuff on repeat.”

Davis is now a resident of the USA (Seattle) and is married to an American and after playing both the Mackenzie (Canada) and Korn Ferry Tours, he is well established in the US.

Jason Day added a final encouraging round of 66 to finish 14th with Cameron Percy, Aaron Baddeley and Matt Jones also making the cut but finishing further back.

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Cameron Davis and caddy and former professional golfer, Andrew Tschudin – file photo

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Lucas Herbert claims Irish Open and an Open Championship start

Lucas Herbert with his Irish Open trophy – Photo Getty Images 

Australian Lucas Herbert has not only won his second European Tour title and his second as a professional, but his victory today at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate in County Kilkenny has earned the 25-year-old Victorian a start at the Open Championship at Royal St Georges in two weeks’ time.

Herbert extended his 54-hole margin of one to an eventual three shot win with a final round of 68 but having led the event from his opening round of 64, Sunday provided plenty of drama as he fought off a number of early challengers and his own demons during the final round.

Herbert birdied his second and third holes to open up a three-shot lead but a bogey at the 5th and strong challenges from American Johannes Veerman, Scotland’s Grant Forrest and eventual runner-up Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg, kept the result in doubt until late in the day.

Herbert was unable to build on the early momentum and made the turn in 35 but as the challenges began to fade he would birdied the 10th, 15th and 17th to put the result beyond doubt.

He did well to maintain his lead through the middle of his round where he lost control of his tee shots, in fact he was lucky to find his ball on a couple of occasions, but he dug deep to steady the ship over the closing holes to win for the first time since his win in Dubai in February of 2020 and just his second win in his nearly five year professional career.

Until this week, Herbert’s 91st place world ranking was unable to earn a place in the Open Championship field but the leading four players this week not otherwise exempt to Royal St Georges now have a ticket to the big show on July 15th. It will be Herbert’s second Open Championship and his 7th major appearance.

Herbert earns €484,000 ($A765,000) and will move just outside the top 50 in the world ranking – his highest ever.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Herbert. “It’s just so – it’s a bit fulfilling, really. I felt like I was at one of my low points in my life when I played here two years ago at Lahinch in the Irish Open, and now to feel like I’ve done full swing and come back around and won the event that I was at a pretty low point at, it’s pretty satisfying. I’m very happy standing here right now.

“Obviously chip-out on seven and then make that really nice putt for par. And then just scrambled all the way down eight and made that; that could have been the turning point of the day, if those two putts don’t go in, you make two bogeys. To keep that card really clean out there and not come back to the field and give them a chance, I’m happy about that.

“And later the bunker shots on 15 and 16, I felt like I scrambled so nicely all day. I didn’t feel like I holed a lot of putts yesterday, so to feel I holed the putts today, so good, so good.

“A lot of soul searching out there. Trying to go back through anything that me and the coach have worked on before, and I lost one right there on five. So I played around with a couple of feels and they didn’t work. I hit one down 12, and I said to myself, that’s the one – stick with that feel the rest of the round, and I did. And it felt like we were back to where we were at yesterday.”

The next best of the Australians was Jason Scrivener who continued his very good season when he tied for 9th, while Min Woo Lee finished 17th.

The European Tour now heads to Scotland for the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick.

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Stephanie Kyriacou seals the deal in the Netherlands

Stephanie Kyriacou with her trophy – photo Ladies European Tour

Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou has won her first event as a professional but her second Ladies European Tour title with a two shot win over Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen at the Big Green Egg Open in the Netherlands.

Kyriacou, who either led or shared the lead after each of the four rounds of the €200,000 event, birdied the 16th and 17th holes to regain the lead she lost to Nuutinen after her joint 54 hole leader had birdied three in a row to grab the outright lead at the 15th.

20 year old, Kyriacou, won the Ladies European Tour’s Bonville Classic in Coffs Harbour in New South Wales by eight shots as an amateur 16 months ago and turned professional soon after but this would be her first win in the paid ranks.

2021 is just her second season on the Ladies European Tour but in 2020 she was the Rookie of the Year, further highlighting the significant promise she possesses.

She earned €30,000 for the victory and moves to second place on the Race to Costa Del Sol points table behind the woman she defeated today, Nuutinen.

“I’m buzzing! I forgot what it was like to win, it has been a little bit of time,” said Kyriacou. “There was some great golf out there, Sanna [Nuutinen] played really well, and she holed some really long putts. It was pretty tight, and I was a bit nervous.”

Kyriacou’s victory was made even more special given her father Nick was on the bag to watch his daughter achieve another milestone in her promising career.

“It is something pretty special. He has been there since day one. He spent all his time and energy when I was little so to have him on the bag for a win is pretty special. All my friends stayed up to watch my score! I’m very grateful for the support team I have.”

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Cameron Davis well placed at Rocket Mortgage Classic

Cameron Davis  – file photo Bruce Young

Sydney’s Cameron Davis is just two from the halfway lead at the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit in Michigan, consecutive rounds of 68 having the 26-year-old former Australian Open and Australian Amateur champion in a share of 6th place.

Davis has struggled in recent months to produce the sort of form which saw him record his best PGA Tour finish to date when 3rd in the American Express tournament early in the year but he appears to have things heading in the right direction again having recorded 12 birdies in his opening 36 holes.

Davis is in his third season on the PGA Tour having graduated there from the Korn Ferry Tour in 2018. He gives regular signs that the precocious talent he displayed when winning the Australian Open in late 2017 is about to yield big results and that his powerful game is geared for this tour.

Davis trails England’s Tom Lewis and Chile’s Joacquin Niemann who share the lead at 10 under.

Davis’ fellow Australians, Aaron Baddeley and Matt Jones, are 34th while Jason Day, who opened with a solid 67 on day one, could only add a round of 73 today to be 46th, with Cameron Percy 46th.

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Herbert and Kyriacou retain European leads

Lucas Herbert during today’s second round – photo Getty Images

Australians Lucas Herbert and Stephanie Kyriacou have retained the lead in their respective events on the European and Ladies European Tours.

Herbert added a second round of 67 at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown in Co Kilkenny and at the halfway stage leads by two over Scotland’s Grant Forrest and Englishman Andy Sullivan in the €3 million ($A4.75 million) event.

Herbert’s round consisted of eight birdies but a double bogey at his third hole had him on the back foot early and he did well to fashion his 5 under par round.

“It was a little frustrating but also felt like I did pretty well to scrap 67 out of that,” said the 25 year old Victorian, who, by finishing inside the top three this week and not already exempt to the Open Championship in two weeks’ time, will earn a start at Royal St Georges.

“ Yeah, I holed some really nice putts and missed some that I thought were good chances to make; obviously the double on three.

“For a round that hopefully is not the better one of the week, I felt like I did really well to get a lot out of it and put myself into a very good position going into the weekend.

“I think it’s definitely something that comes with a win where you know you’ve proved to yourself that you can win, you can hit shots under pressure and actually win. So I’ll be taking a lot of experience from that into the weekend and try and draw on that confidence, as well.”

The win Herbert was referring to is his win at the Dubai Desert Classic in early 2019, his only win to date in a professional career littered by top three finishes.

Herbert’s fellow Australians, Perth’s Min Woo Lee and Jason Scrivener are also nicely place in a share of 9th place at 8 under and five behind Herbert’s lead.

Queensland’s Maverick Antcliff also made the cut but is well back in 58th place.

In the Czech Republic, Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou added a third round of 65 at the Big Green Egg Open to retain a share of the lead with her co 36 hole leader Finland’s Sana Nuutien, the pair drawing four shots clear of the third placed Atthaya Thitikul; of Thailand.

Kyriacou had a two-shot lead with two to play but a two-shot swing when the Australian bogeyed the par 5 17th saw the two draw level.

Kyriacou, the 2020 Rookie of the Year on the Ladies European Tour, is chasing her first professional win although her second on the LET Tour having won the Bonville Classic in Australia as an amateur before turning professional.

“I was having fun out there; I was holing some long putts which is always enjoyable,” said the 20 year old.

“I am pretty excited, we both played really well so it was anyone’s game the whole day. It will be interesting tomorrow. I haven’t thought about what it would mean but it would be great to get my first professional win.”

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Stephanie Kyriacou – photo Ladies European Tour (Tristan Jones)

 

 

 

 

 

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Stephanie Kyriacou contending again in Europe

Stephanie Kyriacou during her second round today. – photo LET

While Lucas Herbert and Blake Kindred are this week making headlines in their respective European men’s events, yet another Australian is achieving similar results on the Ladies European Tour.

New South Welshwoman, Stephanie Kyriacou, a member of the St Michael’s Golf Club on Sydney’s Eastern beaches, shares the lead through 36 holes of the interestingly named Big Green Egg Open in the Netherlands.

A second round of 72 lost Kyriacou the outright lead she held by two after an opening round of 66 but she is now tied in the lead with Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen.

The leading pair are two shots clear of the brilliant Thai youngster Atthaya Thitikul, a winner last week in the Czech Republic.

“I feel okay, I feel like I could have played a lot better but I’m sure everyone can say that,” said Kyriacou at the completion of her round. “I did miss a couple of small putts, but then I holed a couple of long ones to make up for it. It was really steady golf.

“It was raining a little bit more this morning than it was last night. The greens were a little bit slow, and I think I struggled there. If it is going to be good weather, then I should be okay. There are still two more rounds and especially on this course, with it being so tight anything can happen in 36 holes of golf.”

Kyriacou, is in her fifth event of the 2021 season in Europe after playing there for the first time in 2020 and in her four starts to date she has finished no worse than 15th and recorded two top tens.

The 20-year-old has already won a Ladies European Tour event, that coming when successful at the Ladies Classic in Bonville in Coffs Harbour in early 2000 before joining the LET.

Today Kyriacou birdied her opening hole and appeared to be in full control of proceedings when reaching the turn in 35 but a homeward nine of 37 has her sharing honours with Nuutinen who is in stunning form herself in 2021, recording five consecutive top tens in her last five appearances.

Whitney Hillier was the only other Australian to make the cut although she is back in 35th place as the event enters its final 36 holes.

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Herbert and Windred lead respective European events

 

Lucas Herbert in full flight today – image Getty Images

Victorian Lucas Herbert and New South Welshman Blake Windred lead their respective European events after opening rounds overnight.

Herbert, fresh from a campaign on the PGA Tour where he has been able to earn starts via invite, Monday qualifying and other means while still a non-member of that tour began this week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet with a round of 64 to lead by one over  Johannes Veerman of the USA.

Herbert, has recorded encouraging top twenty finishes at each of his last two starts in the US, including a 19th place at last week’s Travelers Championship after having to Monday qualify to gain a start in the field for that event.

Herbert, currently ranked 91st in the world, is not only eying the title this week, but currently he does not have an exemption into this month’s Open Championship and the top three players not otherwise exempt at the end of this week’ championship will click their ticket to Royal St Georges on June 15th.

“It was a bit of a slow start,” said the 25 year old. “Even sort of the first eight holes, I birdied 15, made a nice putt and then 17, hit it in there pretty tight for eagle and missed it. Even the first eight holes felt a little bit slow out there, only hitting the two-ball with Laurie, and we just both felt like we are hitting it quite nice and couldn’t make any putts.

“I made a really long one on 18 for birdie and that kind of sparked things and got things going. Was able to play really nice that last nine holes. Felt like I was trying to get to 5- or 6-under and I didn’t really want to try and just attack really, really hard.”

The change from the style of courses he has been playing in the US appeared to play into Herbert’s hand.

“You can see in the fairways, even walking up the 9th there, starting to get some fairways that look like some pretty typical Irish Open stuff. It’s always fun when you come out and play some firm, fast golf courses. Coming from America, the rough is not as thick as probably been used to but it definitely up enough to make you interested out there.”

Perth’s Jason Scrivener, another of Australia’s brightest stars in Europe over the past couple of years, has also made a strong start with an opening round of 67, while Min Woo Lee had 68 and Maverick Antcliff 69.

Antcliff, playing on the secondary European Challenge Tour, continues to impress in the early stages of his professional career. An opening round of Kaskáda Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic.

The Australian birdied the final hole of his round to join German duo Marcel Schneider and Freddy Schott at the top of the leaderboard, the latter of whom will need to finish his opening round on Friday after only being able to complete 12 holes due to thunder and lightning at Kaskáda Golf Resort.

Newcastle’s Windred, who is playing in his maiden European Challenge Tour season, secured a career-best tie for second place at the Challenge de España last month and continued riding that wave of momentum into today’s round.

“I am very happy,” said the 23 year old who turned professional 18 months ago. “I feel like my game has been trending the last couple of weeks, that’s for sure, and having no bogeys out there definitely helps. I rolled a few putts in but in saying that, I gave myself a lot of opportunities and I was able to make six of them, so I’m pretty pleased with that.

“It’s a difficult course. If you miss a few tee shots, it can cost you a few shots. The play is to just stay aggressive. There are a few tee shots where you just have to smoke driver down the middle.

“It was a couple of hours’ delay and I just got some Netflix in, a bite to eat and then wheeled back out there. I didn’t think it was too bad.”

Windred also recorded top fives at two events earlier in the year in Australia including a runner-up finish at the Queensland Open and has improved his world ranking from outside the top 1000 at the start of the year to now inside the top 500.

He is now 27th in the Race to Mallorca rankings, the top twenty at season’s end earning European Tour cards for next season.

Blake Windred in action during round one – image courtesy of Getty Images

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Deyen Lawson and Daniel Hillier added to Open field

Deyen Lawson – file photo PGA of Australia

The already sizeable group of Australasians eligible to play this year’s Open Championship at Royal St Georges in Kent was added to overnight when Gold Coast based Victorian, Deyen Lawson, and New Zealand’s, Daniel Hillier, graduated through Final Qualifying at venues across England.

Both Lawson and Hillier led the qualifiers at their respective venues where a total of twelve players earned their way into the Open Championship, all but one of them to make their debuts in the event beginning on July 15th.

For Lawson it was a great bounce back after missing the cut in Germany last week, the two extra days he had for preparation perhaps a blessing in disguise.

Hillier finished 23rd at last week’s European Challenge Tour event and is generally considered one of the most exciting young talents to come out of New Zealand for several years.

“I’ve got goosebumps hearing that [I’ve qualified], which pretty much sums it up,” said Hillier. “It’s been a pretty crazy day. I got pretty hot on the back nine in the morning and held on through the front nine in the afternoon, then picked up a few birdies coming home which was really nice.

“My dad [in New Zealand] was up to see the end of my first round, which was pretty cool. He sent me a message saying keep going, keep your head down and I’m sure the majority of my friends and family are just waking up now – I’m looking forward to talking to them about it. It’s a shame they can’t come over for The Open but I’m sure they’ll be following closely.

“It’s a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to play in Major Championships and this will be my second one, so I’m really excited to get into it.”

That pair will join Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Jason Day, Matt Jones, Brad Kennedy, Aaron Pike and Hillier’s fellow New Zealanders, Ryan Fox and Danny Lee as players qualified to tee it up.

Smith, Scott and Leishman are in the field as a result of their recent performances and their current world ranking, Day gets a start due to his 2015 PGA Championship win, Jones and Pike due to their top three finishes at the 2019 Australian Open (carried over from last year) and Kennedy and Fox because of their top two finishes on the Australasian Order of Merit in 2019.

Opportunities still exists for late inclusion at this week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, next week’s Scottish Open, the 2021 Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge and the John Deere Classic in the US.

Royal St Georges was last used for the Open Championship in 2011 when Darren Clarke was successful and earlier in 2003 when Ben Curtis was a surprise winner. In 1894 the venue became the first outside of Scotland to host the event. This will be the 15th time the Open Championship has been played at the course on the English Channel.

For Hillier, this will be his second major championship after playing the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach while for Lawson, who has struggled with limited category on the European Tour in 2021, this will be his first.

 

 

 

 

 

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Marc Leishman’s narrow miss at Travelers Championship

Marc Leishman – so close to a second Travelers title – photo Getty Images 

Marc Leishman has fallen one short of a potential second Travelers Championship victory after a brilliant final round of 64 at the TPC River Highlands in Connecticut left him alone in third place and just one behind a playoff between eventual winner, Harris English, and runner-up Kramer Hickok, that pair requiring eight extra holes before a winner was decided.

Leishman began the final round four shots behind the lead held by three-time winner of the event Bubba Watson and a man yet to win on the PGA Tour, Hickok.

Just as he had nine years ago when winning this event to claim his first title on the PGA Tour, Leishman put together a final round that would sweep him into the lead and although English and Hickok would birdie their final hole to move ahead, it was another great week for the 37-year old Victorian.

Leishman knew he might well be one short when he failed to birdie the 17th and 18th to get to 13 under and so it would transpire with English holing from 30 feet at the last and Hickok from eight feet to edge clear of Leishman and head into a playoff.

Leishman produced a final round of 62 in 2012 to come from six shots back and talked after his round today of the benefit coming from behind provides on a course like the TPC River Highlands.

“Yeah, I think you can have the lead after 54 holes, but generally by the time you tee off you’re not leading,“ said Leishman. “So that’s kind of an interesting thing about this course. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 are all birdie holes, so if you get out two, three hours before the leaders you can get ahead of them early and put a little bit pressure on them, make them have to push.

“I mean, I’ve been close to the lead here and have done exactly what nearly everyone else has and struggled, and every time I’ve seemed to have played well here I’ve come from behind. I guess you play a lot freer when you’re behind. It’s just, yeah, it’s nice to be able to do that and have a little less pressure.”

Leishman knew he likely needed a birdie at the last to force the issue and although he found the front bunker he was not unhappy about his strategy in attacking a flag tucked just over the bunker.

“Yeah, I’m not the kind of guy that’s going to hit a sand wedge to the middle of the green and try and two-putt. Trying to make a 30-footer. I wanted to hit that close, possibly make it. Needed three more yards.

“I can live with myself a lot easier if I go for it than if I maybe play a shot — a more conservative shot and not make birdie that way. I would rather do what I did. I would rather make birdie obviously.”

Jason Day was the next best of the Australians after a second consecutive round of 70 left him in a share of 10th place.

Day again struggled with the back issue that has plagued him for so much of his career and although he seemed a little freer today than was the case yesterday it is clearly still restricting him, both mentally and physically.

Adam Scott only just made the cut on Friday after holing a birdie putt at his 36th hole to secure a place in the weekend field. He made the most of that by producing rounds of 67 and 67 over the weekend to climb to 13th, his equal best finish in his last nine starts on the PGA Tour.

Lucas Herbert continues to play events on the PGA Tour despite not being a member. He was forced to Monday qualify for this event and did so by claiming one of the five available places in the field then took advantage by finishing in a share of 19th.

Cameron Smith struggled from his opening bogey today and eventually finished with a round of 74 on a golf course where low scores were the norm. He finished 30th after beginning the day tied for 3rd and just one behind the lead.

Matt Jones was 36th and Cameron Percy 56th.

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