Brett Coletta – file photo Bruce Young

It might not have been the weekend he was hoping for but Australian Brett Coletta has made a solid start to the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour season with an 11^th place finish at the opening event of the season, the LECOM Suncoast Classic in Florida.

Coletta who began the event with a round of 63 and was in 2^nd place through 36 holes, cost himself any chance of contending for the title when dropping three shots in his final two holes on Saturday but recovered with a round of 70 today to improve 2 places and finish four shots from the winner.

The eventual champion was Hayden Buckley who won a playoff over Dawson Armstrong and Taylor Montgomery.

Coletta tied with New Zealand veteran Steve Alker (49) and gets his quest for a PGA Tour card in 2022 off to a reasonable start.

Seasons 2021 and 2022 are being combined to establish the leading 25 players at the end of the regular season in August and although Coletta will improve only a few positions (7) from his current 82^nd place he is headed in the right direction.

Of the other Australasians, Mark Hensby, Brett Drewitt and New Zealander Nick Voke tied for 47^th while Curtis Luck was 55^th.

Steve Alker – file photo Bruce Young

Brett Coletta – file photo Bruce Young

Victorian Brett Coletta has made a near perfect start to his 2021 golfing year with opening rounds of 63 and 69 to be one behind the lead at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic in Lakewood Ranch in Florida, about an hour south of Tampa.

The event is the first Korn Ferry Tour event since last October and will be the first of twenty in the regular season in 2021 followed by three Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

Coletta, who agonisingly missed his PGA Tour card at the completion of the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour season by finishing 27^th in the season’s standings (25 players earned their card), struggled for much of 2020 but in this carry-over season he has rekindled his hopes of playing the PGA Tour in 2022.

The doubling up of the seasons became necessary as a result of the impacts of COVID

The 24-year-old, who won the 2016 Queensland Open just two weeks after finishing runner-up to Curtis Luck at the Asia Pacific Amateur that year, has been unable to fully realise his considerable talent to date but perhaps his start this week is a sign of better things to come.

In order to gain access to the PGA Tour in 2022, he will need to be inside the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list by mid-August when the combined regular seasons of 2020 and 2021 come to a finish in Omaha although there is further opportunity via the three event finals immediately following.

Currently Coletta is in 82^nd position in the carry-over season but a good finish this week will obviously aid his cause.

Coletta’s fellow Australian, Mark Hensby, who will turn 50 in June, is in 28^th place at 5 under and six from the lead, a position he shares with New Zealand’s, Steve Alker, while New Zealander Nick Voke is at 4 under with Curtis Luck and Brett Drewitt just making the cut on the number.

Daniel Berger – Photo Getty Images Harry How

Jason Day has continued his outstanding record at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with yet another top ten finish in the event which finished today.

For Day it was his 8^th top ten in eleven starts in the iconic event on a layout as ‘American as Apple Pie’ and, although he was unable to stage a genuine challenge for the title in his final round, his improvement from missing the first two cuts of the year was marked.

Day tied for 7^th and five shots behind the winner, Daniel Berger, who secured his fourth PGA Tour title with a 30 foot eagle putt at the last to defeat Maverick McNealey by two with another shot back to Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay who tied for 3^rd.

Berger returned to 13^th in the world ranking, equaling his previous highest standing in the game and improving from 15^th after his missed cut in Phoenix last week.

Day was unable to build on the momentum he had created when making the turn in 2 under, a bogey at the 12th,  after finding the greenside bunker, effectively eliminating any chance on improving on his previous best of runner-up in the event in 2018.

He would go onto birdie the 14^th and 18^th to finish at 12 under.

Cameron Davis continued his encouraging start to the 2020/2021 season with a 14^th place finish after his final round of 68, Cameron Percy was 21^st despite two late bogeys today, New Zealander Tim Wilkinson was 30^th, Matt Jones 34^th and John Senden 38^th.

For Berger it was his 3rd top ten in his last four starts and and continues his rise in world golf from 123rd after this event 12 months ago until his current 13th place. It also continues Berger’s liking for the event, having finished 10th and 5th in his two previous outings.

Berger was still enthusing over the 3-wood to the last which set up the eagle and the two shot win.

“The 3-wood was, like I was saying earlier, one of the best 3-woods in my life. I’ve always struggled with finding a good 3-wood. It’s either good off the tee or good off the deck, but this one I’ve really been comfortable with for a long time.

“I just try to be aggressive. I wanted to win the golf tournament. I didn’t want to lose it on the last. I just wanted to go out there and try to hit the best shot that I could and I wasn’t going to be conservative on the 3-wood coming in.”

“Every time I’ve ever played the event I wonder why I don’t come back more often, and this year was, I knew I was going to play it. I set it on my schedule early. I didn’t commit until kind of late, but I knew I was going to be here.

“It’s just a special place. Every time you step up to the tee, you just, you tend to take in the sights and sounds and don’t really focus on the golf as much and I think that’s kind of helpful for me.

“When I hit that drive down the 18th hole I looked to the right and there was a leaderboard and I saw that Maverick McNealy had birdied the 18th hole and I know Nate Lashley was tied with me for awhile and I didn’t see his name.

“So I knew I was going to have to birdie it, but the putt was much trickier than I thought it was going to be, it was extremely fast, a little right-to-left and then a little right at the end. But I mean I would be lying if I said I wasn’t trying to 2-putt that. To see it go in was just an extra bonus.”

The PGA Tour now moves to Los Angeles for the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club where Adam Scott will defend his title.

Jordan Spieth- photo Ezra Shaw Getty Images

Jordan Spieth has picked up where he left off at last week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, continuing a resurgence in a game which had seen him slip to 92^nd in the world before finishing 4th in Phoenix.

Spieth added a second round of 67 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and finds himself one shot ahead of Daniel Berger and two ahead of Sweden’s Henrik Norlander.

Four birdies in his last six holes at Spyglass Hill, one of the two courses being used in the opening two days of the event, saw Spieth sweep to the lead.

Earlier in the week Spieth described his love affair with the Monterey Peninsula where one of his 11 PGA Tour titles came in 2017. His best finish over the last twelve months until last week was when 9^th in this event last year.

“Yeah, it’s Pebble Beach. What’s not to love as a golfer here? So I’ve loved this tournament, obviously finding success at this tournament has been really, really cool, just as a golf lover and someone who enjoys the history and the architecture of golf courses. So I’m happy that it’s been good to me over the years.”

Spieth who had missed five cuts in eight starts prior to the event in Scottsdale last week, has found some of the magic that led him to be the number one player in the game.

The two-time Australian Open champion was clearly delighted that the sharp improvement shown last week had continued.

“I’m in great position after the midway point. So feel a little bit improved off of last week, which was the goal this week, to just try and feel like I’m getting better each day.

Looking back to last week Spieth referenced the considerable progress he had made from Monday to Sunday at the TPC Scottsdale.

“I think I look back at Monday through Sunday. I mean, there’s some weeks where I look back at either one specific really solid round or I look back at one that, a lot of times when you look back when you’re leading on Sunday and it doesn’t work out, that’s what lingers.

“But for me it was, where was I at when we started on Monday and then where was I at when we finished on Sunday? And the progress that was made from the end of the Farmers until last Sunday wasn’t just out of nowhere.

“I mean, it was legitimate work and progress in the right direction. It wasn’t, Boy, I kind of got lucky here or there or I changed feels and it worked out like I would have said in the previous couple years.

“It was more, Man, I really felt like we were on — we’re on the same page. I’m getting into where I’m able to actually play golf instead of think about swings, and that’s just really exciting.”

Cameron Percy completed the opening 36 holes as the leading Australasian, the US based Victorian in 8^th place at 7 under and five from Spieth’s lead.

Playing on limited status as a carry over from the disrupted 2020 / 2021 season, Percy led the Safeway Open through 54 holes in October before finishing 23^rd and followed that up with an 8^th place in the Dominican Republic but, those efforts aside, there has not been a lot to get excited about of late.

Percy is playing this event for the 8^th occasion and in 2017 finished a very respectable 10th so it appears a venue on which he enjoys a genuine comfort zone.

Jason Day’s outstanding run at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am looks set to continue following a second round of 69 at Spyglass Hill do go with a similar score at Pebble Beach on Thursday.

Day has an amazing seven top 6 finishes in the event in 11 starts and, although six shots from the lead and tied for 14^th at present, he appears to be in a really good frame of mind with his health and fitness.

“I feel like I’ve kind of set myself a goal where I want to play to 50 now because I feel good with my body, whereas before I was saying I just want to get to 40 and call it quits. So I feel really positive about my body and I know that I’m 33 now and I’ve got a lot of years left as long as I want it in my head.

“It is difficult to try and to want it perfect straight away, but you just got to just chip away at it because if you go full bore things get really tough. You get stuck in between patterns and you start thinking about more technical issues out there on the golf course and that’s not what you want, especially when you’re playing competitive golf.

“I feel very positive and I feel like things are moving in the right direction for the first time in a long time. So the attitude is much better and I’m just happy to be out here playing golf.”

Matt Jones, who finished 5th in this event last year, and John Senden, are at 5 under and tied for 16^th and for Senden it is a significant moment.

Senden has missed ten of his last eleven cuts as he tries to get his game back to previous levels following the illness to a family member.

Cameron Davis and New Zealander Tim Wilkinson also made the cut but are some way further back.

The extremely talented West Australian played his first PGA Tour event this week but missed the cut by some way after rounds of 76 and 73.

Photo courtesy of PGA of Australia

30-year-old Victorian, Bryden Macpherson, has claimed his first PGA Tour of Australasia title by producing a stunning final round of 64 including four birdies and an eagle over his closing six holes at the Moonah Links PGA Classic at the Moonah Links Open Course on the Mornington Peninsula.

Macpherson came from three shots off the third-round pace to defeat the 54-hole leader Justin Warren from Picton on the outskirts of Sydney.

Macpherson, a former British Amateur champion, a collegiate golfer and winner of events on the China Golf Tour, has competed in two majors (the Open and the Masters) as a result of his win at the 2011 British Amateur and also played the 2014 Open Championship but his win today signals a continuation of some very good form of late.

He finished 4^th at the recent Gippsland 6’s and the TPS Victoria and put together a brilliant final round on the demanding Peter Thomson designed layout. It was by two shots the best round of the day and swept him to victory by two shots.

Macpherson earned $22,500 for his win and the talent that saw him as one of Australia’s best amateur golfers in the late 2000’s appears now on the way to being realised.

“As I’ve grown up and spent time around lots and lots of people in lots and lots of places I’ve learned that, as cliche and terrible as it sounds, you’ve just got to stay with what you’re doing,” said Macpherson.

“It’s my fourth professional win and it’s starting to look a little bit more like a career.

“Winning at home is awesome, and on the Peninsula even better, but there are much bigger events on this tour.

“I look forward to trying to compete in them over the next few years.”

Macpherson paid credit to rapidly emerging Australian former player and now coach Bradley Hughes who won the Australian Masters on two occasions.

Hughes has been responsible for the turnaround in several PGA Tour players most notably, Brendan Todd, and Macpherson spoke glowingly of what his involvement with Hughes has done to his game.

“When I was 15 I was this little arrogant shit who would hit it hard, hit it kind of far and putt OK sometimes and I’d win stuff. And it feels like I’m back to that,” said Macpherson.

“‘Hugo’ has given me that, he really has. He is the reason why I have it and I’m so thankful for it.

“It’s very simple what we work on. It’s all about post-impact and ground connection, that’s all it is. The control that gives you is incredible.

“I can focus on the same thing for 72 holes – which I’ve never been able to do before – and be on the golf course hitting shots instead of making swings. That’s huge.

“My game right now is the best it’s ever been. If I can work over the next little while at tidying things up – because it still is a little untidy – then I would think there will be some more solid results in the pipeline.”

Interestingly, both Macpherson and Warren were successful in their collegiate careers in the US although Warren is five years the junior of the man who defeated him today.

New Zealand’s Michael Hendry a winner of the New Zealand Open in 2017 finished alone in third place, one behind Warren while Dimi Papadatos, another New Zealand Open Champion, was 4^th.

The event was played over 72 holes but contained within three days, 36 holes played today, in order to avoid any issues with border closures as a result of COVID 19.

The events is the 4th in a series of Tier 2 events being staged by the PGA Tour of Australasia in Victoria in January and February, three further events to be played in NSW and Queensland in March.