Jon Rahm – will likely start favourite in the event for 2019 winners.
The 2020 golfing year begins this week on the island of Maui in Hawaii with the traditional opening event of the PGA Tour year, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, which brings together the winners of events on the PGA Tour in 2019.
34 players are entered to take their place at the Plantation Course with Xander Schauffele the defending champions and one of the favourites.
Click below to listen to my form guide for the event
A very happy Hannah Green with her Greg Norman Medal – PGA of Australia
It has been another good year for Australasian professional golf, the undoubted highlight being the stunning performance of West Australian, Hannah Green, to win not only win her first LPGA Tour title but, in doing so, becoming just the third Australian female after Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson to win a major championship.
Green’s win at the KPMG PGA Championship in Chaska in Minnesota in June was achieved after a nail-biting final few holes, surviving a mid round crisis and getting up and down from a greenside bunker at the 72nd hole to hold off a fast finish from former world number one, Sung Hyun Park.
All this in just Green’s second season on the LPGA Tour but it was not something Green was expecting so early in her LPGA Tour career.
“I didn’t have any plans to win any tournaments,” she said recently. “So yes, you go out there trying to do your best, but on my goal list, none of them was to say win a major, win a tournament. It was pretty much just trying to stay as consistent throughout the season.
“Last year I missed 10 cuts and I just wanted to make sure that I was making the cuts, but also finishing better on the results side when I did make the cuts. So obviously besides the two wins I did achieve that, so I’m really happy.
“It wasn’t too up and down a year this year. There was some really poor results, I think I shot in the 80s the first major of the year, so there was some low points this year, but obviously some real high points, too.”
To cap off her remarkable season Green was named the winner of the Greg Norman Medal as Australia’s best performer in 2019 during a dinner at the Australian PGA Championship.
Minjee Lee has finished the year in 8th place on the LPGA Tour money list, earning more than US$1 million for the 4th consecutive year and ending 2019 in 9th place in the Rolex World Rankings. She finished well ahead of Hannah Green in 22nd place in that standing.
There were other highlights of course. Adam Scott might have taken all year and some 45 months to finally win an event when successful at the Australian PGA Championship, but even without the victory he improved from 41st in the world ranking at the beginning of 2019 to 18th before the Australian PGA win and eventually finished in 13th place.
The improved standing was a reflection on an extremely consistent year, perhaps one of his more so, recording nine top tens included in 14 top twenties in 22 starts.
Adam Scott – finally a trophy in hand
Scott knows, however, that at his level titles and trophies are of much more importance than regular cheques and consistency and said so in a pre- Australian PGA Championship press conference.
“Yeah, it was a very consistent year. Of course, there are a couple weeks here or there where I didn’t play my best, but generally I played at a very high standard. There were a couple of very close calls on the PGA TOUR where I got beat by a shot and most other years I’m sure I would have had a (inaudible) score to win, but the standard is tough out there.
“However, consistency is not yielding wins and I think even the guys at the top can attest to that. You kind of have to go out and play flat out and make sure it’s your week where it all falls into place. I think the game’s changed a little bit and consistency used to be rewarded, but less so these days.
He was able to fix that issue a few days later.
Scott began the year in 4th place amongst the Australasians behind Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith and is now comfortably the leading world ranked male Australasian ahead of Leishman who is currently number 28 in the world.
In Europe, South African born West Australian, Jason Scrivener, continued his impressive but steady rise in the game with his best year ever on the European Tour. The 30-year old is yet to win in Europe but continues to build on the platforms he is creating for himself, making it into the season ending DP World Tour event in Dubai for the first time and earning more than €$1 million for the season in the process.
Jason Scrivener – headed the Australasians in Europe.
New Zealander Ryan Fox’s season was not as good as that in 2018 but importantly for the 32-year old he recorded his most important victory in the game and his first European Tour title with victory at the ISPS Handa Perth Super 6 event at Lake Karrinyup.
There was not a lot to get excited about in Fox’s performances following the win, unable to record a top ten in any of his remaining 19 starts but the breakthrough victory would see him finish as the third best Australasian in Europe behind Scrivener and Scott Hend.
Fox’s year was further enhanced by winning the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, the win in Perth the catalyst and by being named the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Player of the Year.
Hend won the European Tour’s Maybank Championship in May but like Fox there was not much to get enthused about following. He finished just one place out of a start at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in which the leading 50 players in Europe played the lucrative event.
On the Ladies European Tour, yet another West Australian, Whitney Hillier, led the Australians when she finished in a very creditable 16th place on the LET Order of Merit, her best result in her career to date.
There were no wins for the 29-year old, but she finished the year very strongly.
In Japan, Canberra’s Brendan Jones was again Australasia’s best, finishing in 16th place on the money list and just ahead of Gold Coaster Brad Kennedy.
Jones won early in the season, as he has often done, capturing the first domestic event of the Japan Tour schedule and while Kennedy didn’t win he finished the year with three top tens in his last five starts including a runner-up finish at the season ending Golf Nippon Series event which involves the leading 30 money winners.
Brendan Jones – again the leading Australasian in Japan
Gold Coast based, Anthony Quayle, was another standout amongst the Australasians in Japan, making it all the way to the Golf Nippon Series event in just his second season while special mention must also go to Japan Tour rookie, Dylan Perry, who also impressed when finishing 36th on the money list in his first year in the professional ranks.
On the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, Sarah Kemp was named Player of the Year courtesy of her stunning start to the year which saw her finish runner-up at the Vic Open and 10th the Women’s Australian Open and regain her LPGA Tour status in the process.
Sarah Kemp – ALPGA
On the Asian Tour, Scott Hend was again the highest placed Australian when he finished runner-up to the brilliant Thai youngster Jazz Janewattanonond, the Queenslander continuing to be one of the, perhaps, unheralded achievers in Australian golf.
Also in Asia for much of the year was Victorian Zach Murray whose win at the New Zealand Open was not only an official win on the Australasian Tour but in Asia also.
The win in Queenstown saw Murray earn enough money to finish runner-up on the 2019 PGA Tour of Australasia money list and as the leading player on that list not otherwise exempt to the European Tour the 22-year old now has European Tour status in 2020.
So just 15 months after turning professional, Murray has status in Europe, Asia and Australasia, providing plenty of playing options in 2020.
He would also finish 8th on the Asian Tour money list although a very significant percentage of those monies were earned in Queenstown.
Zach Murray and New Zealand great Sir Bob Charles with his NZ Open trophy
On the Korn Ferry Tour in the US, Rhein Gibson and New Zealander, Tim Wilkinson, both played their way back to the PGA Tour while Ryan Ruffels and Brett Drewitt earned Korn Ferry Tour cards via the Tour School in December.
Perhaps the most unheralded performance by an Australasian in 2019, however, was that of Queenslander, Maverick Antcliff, who by winning the China Tour’s Order of Merit has earned the right to play the European Tour in 2020.
Maverick Antcliff – now has a European Tour card courtesy of his fine season in China. photo Asian Tour
And so as 2019 draws to a close, Australasian golf’s year has been highlighted by Hannah Green joining a very select club of Australian female golfers as a winner of a major title and Adam Scott moving back up the world ranking towards the elite of the game.
There were several other good performances, some career and even life changing in their own right, but Green and Scott were the standouts.
Can 2020 be even better?
photo: Adam Scott with his second PGA Championship trophy – PGA of Australia
Adam Scott has won his second Australian PGA Championship title at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast with an impressive and, at times, clinical final round display, edging clear of several rivals who dared to dream during the course of today’s finale.
Just as had been the case in Saturday’s third round, Scott gave his rivals plenty of hope through the front nine on the final day but a brilliant tee shot to 8 feet at the demanding par 3, 14th was followed soon after by yet another outstanding 5 iron approach to 10 feet at the 15th.
They had come on top of a crucial par save at the par five 12th when he found the trees from the tee and was forced to get up and down from 80 metres or so to save par.
The putts at 14 and 15 were converted, however, and the birdie, eagle stretch had swept him past the then leader Mike Hendry and into the lead by one. When Hendry bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes, the win would be by two over Hendry who finished alone in second place after Wade Ormsby and Nick Flanagan produced very costly bogeys at the last.
Ormsby and Flanagan shared 3rd place with Carl Yuan, Minwoo Lee and Cameron Davis, one shot behind Hendry.
Scott was obviously delighted to have won for the first time in 45 months.
“Pretty stoked, actually,” he said after his win. “I kind of grinded it out this week and I feel like I outsmarted the golf course a little bit, which feels good, and it was good enough to beat everyone.
“So it’s been a long time between drinks for me and maybe only once or twice did the thought cross my mind that I’ll never win again. It feels very good to win here, especially to finish the year off kind of winning at home.”
Scott still retains a home at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast but spends more time when in Australia at a relatively new home on the Sunshine Coast along with other residences in Switzerland and the Bahamas.
So, was he really serious when he questioned his ability to win again?
“Well, I mean, fleeting thoughts. You don’t know. I think it’s very difficult to win. I’m on the wrong side of this age thing now where these young guys are really good and I played some pretty good golf a couple weeks this year and fell short.
“You know, record‑setting scores. I think the courses are getting tougher, guys are playing good. Just being all right doesn’t really get you in, you’ve got to be pretty much sensational.”
It might not be the biggest win in his career but Scott is fully aware of the importance a win so late in the season can do for his chances of a big year in 2020
“Well, it’s big for the confidence. I mean, I’ve seen what it’s done for me in the past; a win, you feel like you’re just never going to lose again, so you want to run with that while the confidence is up. Somehow I’ll have to think that in seven weeks when I step back in L.A.
“You know, there’s a lot of confidence from a win and I’ll look forward to enjoying that.”
Adam Scott is a very private person and keeps his private life exactly that but today he made mention of his family and how the win might be received when he returns to his home this evening.
“Well, that will be fun for my daughter because she’s asked all year for a trophy, so I’ve not been able to deliver. So that will be fun for me tonight, see if that makes her happy.”
Scott paid credit to his playing partners but had special mention for Nick Flanagan who would eventually finish 3rd after sharing the lead at various stages throughout the final round.
Flanagan and Scott enjoying each other’s company today – Bruce Young
“We reminisced just a couple weeks ago about playing golf with Ernie when he shot 60 at Royal Melbourne. Nick was in the group with me, so that’s 15 years ago, so we’ve known each other a long time.
“We’ve been on surf trips together and I’m really happy to see Nick playing golf like that today. You know, not just up there, but he’s playing really good and I hope he takes a lot out of the last couple weeks and gets himself back to where he wants to be. He’s obviously very talented, but he looked good out there today, I liked it.”
Flanagan, a former US Amateur Champion and the first Australian to win that coveted title, has struggled in more recent times after getting to the PGA Tour earlier in his career.
He showed a lot of emotion in his post round conference and had mixed emotions about the day.
“I mean, if somebody told me I was going to finish third at the start of the day, I probably would have taken it, to be honest with you. To put myself in a good spot there with a few holes to come, you know, I’m pretty gutted.
“But, at the same time, it was one of those weeks where I haven’t done something like this in a while, probably since this event last year, really. So I’m pretty pumped, but at the same time definitely a little disappointed I couldn’t ‑‑ just that one shot really kind of cost me.
“It’s been a tough few months. I thought I was going to do well there in Europe, at European Q‑School. That was tough not to get through there. Yeah, it’s huge. I haven’t felt ‑‑ like I haven’t been able to play a stress‑free round of golf – kind of wanting to make money.
“And obviously with the baby on the way, this is huge for us. Over Christmas I’ll actually feel like I can sit down on the couch for a couple weeks and actually relax and not think about where the next check’s coming from, at least for the next two or three weeks. That’s kind of why I was getting a little emotional there for a second.”
Photo: Mike Hendry pitches to the 6th – Bruce Young
Michael Hendry is another who might have felt he let an opportunity get away but, despite getting to the lead, holding off Scott was always going to be a difficult task and so it would prove.
Hendry was also forced to contend with painful rib issues all day and was thankful not only to finish where he did but to get through the round.
“The warm‑up was terrible,” said the New Zealander. “I honestly thought I wasn’t going to get through the round. So quite honestly, my goal today was just get through 18 holes and finish the event regardless of what the score was. Lo and behold, I hit it really well.
“It was painful all day and I just kept trying to basically man up and hit the shot. Maybe that was the thing that I needed to take my attention away from what was happening on the golf course. It was more about trying to make good swings under a little bit of pain, and I made a lot of good swings.
“I’ve never been in the situation physically and been in contention at the same time as today, so like I said, it was an odd one for me today. I kind of ‑‑ like I say, anything above and beyond 72 holes to me was a bonus today, and to go out and shoot 69 in pretty tricky conditions, just get through was great.”
Hendry has not has a great season by his more recent standards but to have finished runner-up this week not long after narrowly retaining his Japan Tour card is a great way for a rather ordinary year to finish.
He earnt $158,000 for his efforts.
The tournament not only completed the golfing year it completed the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit. The winner of that was New Zealander Ryan Fox who earnt most of his A$307,000 when successful at the ISPS Handa Perth Super 6’s.
The leading player on the money list and not otherwise exempt on the European Tour and therefore earning the right to play the European Tour in 2020, goes to the New Zealand Open Champion Zach Murray who finished the year $9000 ahead of Brad Kennedy.
But the honours of the week got to Adam Scott, not only for his classy display on the course but for making a commitment to the event as long as eight months ago and therefore allowing the event to promote his presence in the field as a cornerstone for pre-event publicity.
“I hope they’re happy with the result,” Scott joked after the round. “But, you know, some of these things, for me it’s important to commit to early, but also I can really plan my whole year so that I’m here ready to play.
“You know, sometimes as the year drags out, you’re kind of fading, but with the Presidents Cup here, I knew I was going to be motivated to be in top form for these three weeks. I was a little rough there at the Aussie Open, but we turned it around and made the most of it, which I want to do every time I play.”
Adam Scott began the year 41st in the world ranking – he finishes it in 13th place.
Adam Scott in action today – PGA of Australia
Even if they were in the business of doing so, the PGA of Australia could not have scripted the final day of their 2019 championship at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast any better.
The number one world ranked player in the field and the man who committed to this tournament as early as April of this year allowing the PGA Tour of Australasia to promote his involvement, Adam Scott, has snatched the 54 hole lead in the event and takes a one shot buffer over his good friend, Wade Ormsby, into Sunday’s final round.
Scott staged a late rally after treading water for much of his round, a 20-foot birdie putt at the 16th was followed two holes later by a magnificent drive then a brilliant iron from 169 yards to 4 feet. He converted to take the lead after trailing virtually all day.
“It was not easy, the wind was blowing and, you know, out of the northeast is ‑‑ makes the course play fairly tricky,” said the leader after his round. “With the pins as well today, I thought it was a very defensive golf course, and at some point you were going to have to scramble and I scrambled well on 13, 14 and 15 to stay in it and then had a good finish. Some days it’s not that pretty, but it’s effective.”
So will there be much chat on the golf course tomorrow between the two who played junior golf together?
“He’s a class act,” said Ormsby. “So he knows what he’s doing out there, but at the same time, there’s always time to have a chat depending on how we’re both going. But no, we have a good chat out there. At different times, you kind of know when each other wants to talk.”
Minwoo Lee, Michael Hendry, Nick Flanagan and 36-hole leader Carl Yuan are just two from Scott’s lead.
Conditions for the third round suggested that good scoring would be the order of the day, especially for those who were out amongst the early tee times, and that was the way it would prove.
By the time the leaders had hit off at 11.30, San Antonio based, Novocastrian, Nick Flanagan, was putting the finishing touches to his curse record equalling round of 63 which took him from the cutline to second place and just one from the lead when he walked from the course. He would finish the day two behind.
“Yeah, it was kind of out of the blue,” said Flanagan. “The first two days I was really struggling, especially the first day. Found something a little bit on the back nine for my second nine yesterday and actually played really well, just had a couple of three‑putts that kind of kept me on the cut line.
“But yeah, I think just, yeah, till Saturday I missed the last two cuts in a row and just went out and didn’t play with any pressure on myself. Wasn’t trying to make a ton of birdies, was just trying to get it on the greens and kind of give myself putts today, and I tended to hit it closer than I had the last two days and I made all the putts.
Others were also making a move. Spain’s Alejandro Canizares raced to the turn in 30 and when he added two further birdies at the 10th and 13th he had also put himself right in the mix. Canizares dropped shots at the 14th and 15th holes but birdies at the 16th and 17th saw him finish with a round of 64 and at that point was just two from the lead.
As the easterly breeze began to strengthen it was clear that things would not be quite so easy for those out in the afternoon conditions.
The relatively soft, calm conditions had assisted Flanagan and Canizares to their impressive rounds but it was a much sterner test for those closer to the overnight lead.
By the time the final group made the 9th hole however four players were tied in the lead, namely New Zealander, Michael Hendry, South Australian, Wade Ormsby, Queensland based Anthony Quayle and 36 hole leader Carl Yuan.
They were one clear of Flanagan who by that point was enjoying a cool drink in the clubhouse wondering just where his morning heroics might leave him at the end of the day’s play.
Adam Scott had lost touch with the lead when he bogeyed the 5th but he would birdie the 9th and 10th holes to get within one and the chances of a second PGA Championship had improved considerably for the 39 year old.
Ahead on the golf course, South Australian Nick Cullen was himself edging his way to contention. The 2014 Australian Masters Champion recorded six birdies in his first 15 holes and joined the lead at 9 under but no sooner had he done that then he found the water at the par 3 16th and took double bogey to drop two behind. Cullen would finish two behind.
But Scott’s birdie would break the deadlock he was in with Lee, Ormsby and Hendry playing the last. Lee and Hendry would bogey the demanding 18th while Ormsby would be bogey free in his round of 70.
Scott’s second to the last was clearly the shot of the day, especially given its significance and sets up an organiser’s dream scenario for tomorrow’s final round.
Scott is no doubt keen to break the 45-month winning drought and said as much after his round.
“It would be great, it would be great. I mean, I’ve tried really hard to keep my intensity up after last week, and my focus on the course. I’ve had a couple moments where I’ve wavered, but I’ve managed to pull it back together.
“Yeah, it would be nice to cap off this year with a win here at home because I know what the confidence of that can do going into next year and just kind of make things a little more comfortable running into the Masters time.”
While he starts the final round as the hot favourite he knows that, despite his superior ranking, victory is no lay down misère.
“Well, I mean, look, it’s incredibly bunched, and if it’s windy tomorrow, it’s going to be hard for anyone to really separate themselves unless they just play an incredible round of golf, go out there and roll in a lot of putts.
“For me, my strategy’s going to be the same. Unless I hole a lot of long putts, I don’t see myself just running away with this thing. I’m in for a fight tomorrow.”
Seventeen players are within five shots of the lead, many with still an outside chance of snatching the title with a strong finishing round but most will favour Scott to win his first event anywhere since March of 2016.
If he does, he would have deserved it, not only because of the quality of his play but because of the commitment he made all those long months ago.
Adam Scott nicely poised ahead of weekend
China’s Carl Yuan has the lead at the halfway mark of the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, the 22 year old former University of Washington golfer but now based in Florida, leads by one over Queensland’s Anthony Quayle with another shot back to Adam Scott and Wade Ormsby who established the early 36 hole lead at the completion of their morning rounds.
Yuan has played on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 after turning professional in 2018 but failed to gain access to the PGA Tour in 2020 although he has quite an amateur career behind him and is expected to do well in the professional ranks as his career progresses.
It is his second time playing in this event but compared to his missed cut last year his effort to date highlights a golfer getting better each year.
“Second time playing here,” said Yuan. “Definitely, it was helpful playing here last year. I know the course a lot better and my strategy, the holes change a bit and it really paid off. I’m more used to the wind here now since I played here last year. It’s a little different sometimes because change directions. Just got to really be patient and hit shot by shot here.
“It was a great day, honestly. I played great, played smart, stick to the plan. I was fortunate enough that I got a couple of really long putts dropped through the round. Yeah, I made two little mistakes, but really pulled myself together and kept it going.”
Yuan’s round of 65 was the equal best of the day along with defending champion Cameron Smith.
Birdies at five of his last six holes has the 25-year old Quayle just one behind the lead and compared to his disconcerting start in professional golf at this event three years ago it is a case of chalk and cheese for former Northern Territorian.
Three years ago, Quayle sat for over seven hours as he waited in vain as an alternate for a start in this event, but, due to an oversight by officials, Quayle was not contacted when a withdrawal presented the opportunity for a start in what would have been his first event as a professional and it was an opportunity lost.
Fortunately for Quayle, his career has taken a significant upturn since with considerable success on the Japan Tour and from outside the top 1000 in the world he is now just outside the top 300 and could well advance further by Sunday.
That he has made his base on the Gold Coast provides the opportunity for Quayle to play this style of golf course on a regular basis and he was quick to point out the benefit after his round.
It was a round that might have gone either way for Quayle. “It was a little rough early, to be honest,” he said after his round. “I was 1 over through the first couple and then bounced back with a nice birdie on 12, which was my third. Then I actually hit it in the water off the tee on 13. I dropped it 100 meters off the tee and still made par. Then after that it kind of got the round going a little bit.”
It certainly did just that. Quayle birdied five of his last six holes for his round of 66 and at the completion of play finds himself just one off the lead on a golf course he plays on the odd occasion when home from the Japan Tour.
“We play out here (Royal Pines) a little bit whenever we can, and also we practice on greens that are similar and courses that are similar. Yeah, I think it does have an advantage. People coming from ‑‑ even, to be honest, coming from Japan to here, it’s a completely different style of golf, but it’s what I’ve grown up on so I feel pretty comfortable.”
Quayle finished 3rd at the recent Casio World Open in Japan and so brings a strong game to Royal Pines.
Scott was out early in perfect scoring conditions with just the gentlest of breezes kicking in around 9.30am am but by then he was close to the end of his round.
Once again, Scott eagled the 15th hole although this time it came early in his round after starting at the 10th. His 30 foot putt following a 4 iron there had him heading in the right direction.
It would take him until his 12th hole to record his next birdie, that coming at the par 5 3rd of the Royal Pines layout and although he would bogey the 4th he would birdie three of his last four holes for a round of 67 and what would eventually be a share of the lead with his good mate Wade Ormsby.
“It was pretty solid,” said Scott. “I pulled a 7‑iron somewhere that I didn’t like very much and made a bogey, but other than that I think I pretty much hit 16 greens today, so it was fairly stress free.
“I played fairly defensive into the greens because I thought the pins were actually a little more tucked today and to get it really close you must risk hitting it down some of the big runoffs off these greens. So I didn’t really want to do that too much and I played safe. I rolled a lot of nice putts. A lot went by the edge, but I made a couple as well.”
Despite the prospect of a much-needed Xmas break ahead, Scott is determined to stay focused and take advantage of the position he has created for himself over the opening two days. He is after his first win in more then three years and is keen to end that drought here.
“Yeah, it will be good for me to focus up for two more days. “I thought I was good out there today and I need more of the same the next two days. The focus has been good. I feel like, definitely, I’ve got two more days in me.”
Ormsby raced to the turn in 32 and at that point was two clear of the field but he would drop shots at his 12th and 15th holes before a birdie at the last saw him join Scott in the lead just ten minutes after Scott had finished his round.
He and Scott and their respective families have known each other for many years since both lived in Adelaide before the Scott family moved to Queensland.
“Probably our dads go back longer than what we do, but first started playing golf with him when we were probably 13,” said Ormsby.
“We played and traveled the world junior, so same age. You kind of play a lot of stuff together up until you’re probably 20 years of age, and then he went to Europe and he’s gone to different levels of the game. But no, we still try to catch up everywhere we go.”
The equal best round of the day (65) came from the defending champion and the man looking to join Dan Soutar as the only golfer to win this event on three consecutive occasions, Cameron Smith. After a round yesterday that threatened to blow him out of the tournament completely, Smith is now well in contention heading into the weekend.
“Yeah, I kind of knew what I had to do today to get back into it,” said Smith. “I saw Scotty and those guys up there posted a score early and just we want out there and didn’t really play aggressive or anything, just kind of did my stuff. Yeah, walked away with seven birdies.”
So tournament organisers could hardly be happier ahead of the weekend. Adam Scott, Cameron Smith and Cameron Champ are all within striking distance of the lead at the halfway mark and with a couple of impressive youngsters ahead of them.
Champ again impressed the galleries with his controlled but powerful hitting and although six shots from the lead there is reason to believe that the two times PGA Tour winner is warming to his task as he heads into the weekend.
New Zealand’s favourite golfing son Sir Bob Charles with 2019 champion Zach Murray
The New Zealand Open Golf Championship, Presented by Sky Sports, continues to defy the trend of professional golf events in this region, increasing its prizemoney by 12 percent for the 2020 championship, the total for the event itself $NZ1.4 million with an additional $NZ50,000 available for the pro-am aspect of the event.
When the event moved to Queenstown in 2014 and adopted the pro-am format as a means of rebuilding the championship to a level of sustainability, it carried prizemoney of $NZ850,000.
The increase since, therefore, speaks to the growth of the event and its popularity, not only in terms of the professional field but also the jam packed field of amateurs who have played such a key role in the New Zealand Open being the success it has become.
Now jointly sanctioned between the PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tour and sharing a special partnership with the Japan Tour, the New Zealand Open, one of the world’s oldest professional events, has also played a key role in the promotion of New Zealand and more specifically the Queenstown region as a golfing destination.
After a period of instability through the 2000’s with the controversial visit of Tiger Woods in 2002 and the joint sanctioning with Europe of the event in 2005, 2006 and 2007, followed by a period jointly sanctioned with the Nationwide Tour, the New Zealand Open needed reviving.
The introduction of a Alfred Dunhill Links style format, while controversial initially, has proven a tremendous success and the regular growth in prize-money is clear evidence of just that.
Tournament organisers have never been lulled into the payment of appearance money at any stage and have stuck rigidly to that. While the event has therefore been unable to attract the superstars of the game it has found its place as, arguably, the most popular on the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule and ensured the New Zealand Open has continued its remarkable legacy in Australasian golf.
Joint leader – Lucas Herbert – Photo: PGA of Australia
Victorian, Lucas Herbert, took full advantage of the perfect morning conditions on day one of the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, his 5 under par round of 67 handing him a share of the lead with Brisbane golfer, Brett Rankin, as the morning half of the field completed their rounds.
Herbert, who plays on the European Tour for much of the year, has struggled in 2019 compared to an impressive breakout season in Europe in 2018, battling a hand injury for much of the latter half of the season but it is no longer causing the problem it was earlier, his round today evidence of just that.
“It’s been a lot better,” said Herbert who was up early for a 6.20 tee time. “I can still just feel it a little bit at times. There was one shot into the eighth today that I felt it a bit and it was bit sore, but I think at the Open I was kind of flinching and trying to not hurt my hand whereas I’m not really doing that now.
“Whether it’s like a wedge that you’ve got to take a pretty steep divot with, I’m actually okay with doing that, whereas I wasn’t two weeks ago. Yeah, hand’s really good, can’t complain there. It’s good to be healthy again and able to play.”
His round this morning was highlighted by an eagle at his 3rd hole (the 12th of the course) which came after birdies at his first two holes . “It was a 6‑iron,” he said when asked what club he had hit for his 2nd at the par 5. “I was actually in between clubs. I kind of just wanted to get it middle of the green and I kind of pulled it and hit it a bit hard and it got all the way back there. Yeah, take the good breaks when you get them.”
He would bogey his next two holes and after being 4 under through 4 holes was just 1 under heading to his 10th tee but he would play the back nine in 4 under to complete an impressive start to the week.
“It’s actually been an interesting day. Usually I kind of set little targets for myself to get through numbers‑wise, but I really didn’t today, I kind of just let everything go and just enjoyed being out there. The course is in great shape, so I was just enjoying some nice weather, walking around a great golf course with one of my best mates on the bag.”
The mate on the bag was brought about by a new caddie he hired last week for next season being unavailable for this event. “I’ve just hired someone for next year Friday of last week, but he couldn’t make it this week so it’s kind of just a fill‑in for the week.
“But Marcus caddied for me when I finished 11th in the Aussie Masters in 2014, so got some good chemistry there, had some good results together before. And he’s just a mate carrying a bag, but he’s doing a great job, always standing in the right place and never sort of annoying me, which is great.”
Rankin has battled away on the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Queensland Sunshine Tour for much his nine-year professional career but in 2019 he would finally make his breakthrough when winning the Northern Territory PGA Championship. He has been a prolific winner of pro-ams but until this year was struggling to convert that success to a higher level.
Brett Rankin – file photo
“Winning NT PGA just sort of gives you that confidence you know you can do it, your best golf can win on this tour,” said Rankin after his round.
“It’s a tough tour, there’s so many good players out here. So you gain that confidence from winning multiple pro‑ams and you take that to the next level, you win a tour event, and the next you’re like, okay, I belong here. You gain confidence just from doing that.
“It’s also just a bit of a stress relief, to be honest. You question it, you think about it and you’re like, am I good enough to win, and you finally do it. You sort of tick that box and you’re like, all right, let’s go to bigger and better things.”
Herbert and Rankin led by one over South Australian, Nick Cullen, New Zealander, Ryan Chisnall, and New South Welshman, Travis Smyth, as the morning field vacated the course for the afternoon field to do their stuff.
With a gathering breeze and a golf course drying out in the afternoon warmth, the task was always going to be a little more difficult for those out in the second half of the day one draw and so it would prove.
Adam Scott was one of those to play late on day one and the 2013 champion appeared to be on track when he holed a 30-foot birdie putt at the 10th to move to 2 under and within three of the lead.
The 13th at Royal Pines, however, is one of the toughest driving holes on the course and when Scott found the water from the tee he would drop two shots and was back in the pack.
He would, though, hit a stunning drive at the 15th and holed a 16-foot eagle putt to return to 2 under and that is the way he would finish the day, just three shots from the lead.
“I played good today,” said Scott. “Unfortunately, I really mis‑hit that driver at 13 and it cost me two. Other than that, it was pretty stress free. I was very happy with it. It wasn’t that easy out there.
“I seemed to get a lot of in‑between numbers and you have to kind of ‑‑ when it’s windy here, you kind of have to be a little bit careful because you don’t want to be chipping short‑side around here, the grain is just too much to deal with.
“So I was pretty stress free. I wish I could have that swing on 13 over again, but all in all I feel good about my round. A round like I ended up at 2 under leaves me in a great spot with hopefully light winds tomorrow morning to come out.”
Playing with Scott were tournament invite and former Open Champion, Stewart Cink, and the immensely talented West Australian, Min Woo Lee. Lee has just completed his first season on the European Tour when playing events on invite and although he was unable to gain full status for 2020 he has done enough to be assured of as many as twenty events in Europe next year.
The brother of Australia’s leading female golfer, Minjee Lee, Minwoo is considered by many to be one of the future stars of Australian golf and gave further evidence of that when playing in the elite company of major champions, Scott and Cink.
Lee finished the better of the trio with an opening round of 4 under 68 and, along with South Australian, Wade Ormsby, led the afternoon field. Lee’s round was made all the better given he began with two bogeys early before birdies at six of his last 13 holes.
Ormsby has some history at RACV Royal Pines having been part of the three man playoff in the event won by Greg Chalmers in 2014.
Defending champion Cameron Smith finished with a round of 74 but two late birdies at least made the round reasonable. He finds himself in a share of 94th place and while very much back in the field he is still just seven shots from the lead and the chance of winning three Australian PGA Championships in a row is still a possibility although hardly a probability.
So, as the Australian PGA Championship heads into day two, Lucas Herbert and Brett Rankin are ahead by one.
Around 45 players broke par on day one and, with the likelihood of similar conditions tomorrow, the cut appears as if it will fall at the even par mark.
Scott following his 2013 Australian PGA win
Australia’s leading ranked male golfer, Adam Scott, will play the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines this week in pursuit of his first title anywhere in over three years.
Scott’s last victory came at the WGC Cadillac Championship in March of 2016 and while his world ranking has improved considerably in 2019, he would be prefer to be winning tournaments than improving his standing in the world ranking and this week’s Australian PGA Championship offers an opportunity to do just that.
“I mean, the rankings kind of only matter to get you in all the tournaments,” he said in his pre Australian PGA Championship media conference.
“You know, I’m not necessarily motivated to be the No. 1 player in the world as much as I’m motivated to win a major championship. I’ve been now ‑‑ all of it’s great, but a major championship can happen on a week and to get to No. 1 is a very long process.
“If you start getting up there, then maybe that motivation will come again, but to win some trophies and win some tournaments, certainly the majors, there are a few other specific tournaments around the world I would like to win that I haven’t won.
“But here this week, absolutely. I felt like whatever years were my best golf, a couple of these slipped away, one in a playoff here to win the PGA again. There was an Australian Open or two that I was close at. It would be nice while I’ve got a few decent years left in me to kind of wrap up a few more wins down here and leave as strong a legacy in the Australian game as well.”
“It’s frustrating because I feel there have been some weeks where I’ve had the chance and it hasn’t happened and it’s very hard to find where I put a foot wrong in those examples. Someone just played better and that’s annoying because it’s hard for me to control what they’re doing. It just means I’ve got to lift my game a little bit higher. It’s all right there.
“But I feel like I’ve been in a similar spot in my career to this before. If I remember, maybe 2012 I was playing at a very high level and I didn’t win all year. I ended up winning the Australian Masters at the end of the year, but I’m at that point where I just need to keep pushing myself along, keep the intensity at the right level because I’m doing the right things, it’s going the right way.
“A breakthrough win here this week can carry me a long way into next year with Augusta only a few months away now. So it’s important that I kind of get that win, and the confidence that those wins give you can take you a long way.”
Scott has been a regular visitor to RACV Royal Pines since the event moved to the Gold Coast layout in 2013, winning that year and finishing runner-up the following year when defeated by Greg Chalmers in a playoff. He has also missed the cut in the event, so he has mixed fortunes over the revamped Graham Marsh layout but today expressed his pleasure in the manner in which the golf course has matured since its redevelopment in 2015.
“Yeah, it’s looking good out there this morning, in very nice condition for us this week. I think now the greens have really settled in since the changes over the last five or six years. It was nice to see them receiving shots so well, but generally the course is in great shape.
“It’s a lot to play for this week. My goal is to kind of bring a similar kind of focus that I had going last week to the golf course and try and get my name on that trophy again.”
Scott and Cameron Smith arrived on the Gold Coast following a gut-wrenching for him defeat at the Presidents Cup last week at Royal Melbourne and he was still expressing disappointment today.
“I was sure waking up Sunday morning that was not going to be the result. I thought everything we had done all week was correct and there wasn’t anything unusual about what we had done for Sunday, so I’m surprised.
“I don’t know how every match went, but it just felt like we got off to a slow start in most matches. There wasn’t a lot of guys up early and that kind of cost us in the long run. The guys who were up seemed to tie.
“But, you know, it’s so disappointing because the guys had done an incredible job to get in that position we were in. I don’t think anyone would have given us a chance of getting a 10‑8 lead at the start of the week if you look at the teams on paper.
“But once that American train gets running, it’s strong. It’s got a lot of depth and if I’m rationalising it, maybe that’s where we came up a little bit short on Sunday. We just didn’t quite have the depth to match them. They just played to their potential on Sunday. I don’t know. I’m not sure exactly what we could have done different. When you lose, you can pick on anything, but I think we’re all a bit surprised that we couldn’t get it done.
“So on a positive note, you know, I think there was a lot of good come out of it for our team and how we should structure ourselves moving forward, so I’ll look forward to hopefully having another chance in a few years and try and get it over the line this time.”
While upset about the result last Sunday, Scott was fully appreciative of the support of the Australian crowds and how much of a thrill he got from the atmosphere the local crowds generated.
“As mentioned last night at the dinner that the PGA held, that last week the reception from the crowd in Melbourne for me personally ‑‑ our whole team felt it, but certainly personally for me was a week that I’ll never forget. It was fantastic.
“They played a big part in lifting our team and my performance last week. Holing a couple putts in front of them and having people go crazy was a lot of fun for me in my home country, so I’m so appreciative of that. I wished I could have done a little bit better on Sunday because it would have been really fun to win a match in front of everyone.”
If Scott was to win this week it would add to the Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship and two Australian Masters already to his name in terms of domestic titles.
A victory on Sunday would not only add to that legacy it might well provide the boost ahead of a 2020 season in which Scott converts consistency into titles.
Cameron Smith after one of his two Australian PGA Championships to date – photo Bruce Young
Cameron Smith takes to the fairways of RACV Royal Pines Resort on Thursday morning in pursuit of a place in Australian golf history.
While several golfers (Dan Soutar, Norman Von Nida, Kel Nagle, Billy Dunk and Robert Allenby) have won more than three Australian PGA Championship titles, only Dan Soutar in 1907 has completed three in succession and Smith feels good enough about his game for the quest to join Soutar to be a realistic one.
“I feel pretty confident in my game,” said Smith before his first look at the course in 2019. “It’s probably the best I’ve felt with my iron play all year, and to do it on such a challenging layout last week, you know, against some of the best players in the world was quite good. Yeah, I can’t wait for this week. I’m feeling good.”
Smith was of course referring to his debut at the Presidents Cup where he recorded an impressive victory over Justin Thomas on Sunday.
So why is it that Smith has been able to win this event in the past two years, the victories his only individual titles in six-year career to date?
“I like the golf course obviously. I play well around here. It’s just such a good week for me off the golf course, lots of family and friends and everything. One team of members come down, so the support is really good throughout the week. I don’t know, it’s just a good kind of cruisey week. I don’t do much off the golf course and just go and hang out. Yeah, just feel relaxed.
Smith hails from Brisbane, an hour north and played his amateur golf at both the Wantima and Royal Queensland Golf Clubs in that city.
“I think you have to be pretty pinpoint with your irons into the greens. It’s not difficult off the tee, the fairways are quite generous. You can be the big guy and hit the drivers and stuff if you want, if you’re feeling good.
“But I think you have to really control your irons and into the wind around here, as you know, it’s always windy around here. So, I think that’s been the big thing the last couple years is I’ve just been able to hit those three‑quarter shots and those low shots and stuff and control them.”
So, is iron play Smith’s strength?
“I think it was at some points through the year. It kind of went out the window a little bit, but I’m starting to feel really confident with that again. Typically, when my irons are on, I play really good golf, so it kind of takes the stress off, you know, the putter and the driver knowing that you’re going to get chances. Yeah, it’s just easy golf, I guess. It’s not stressful at all.”
Smith was asked what goals he has in store for 2020 and mentioned that he would like to achieve what he had set out to do in 2019.
“Probably the same as last year. I didn’t quite get to the top‑20 in the world. I wanted to do that all year and didn’t quite make it. I think I got down to maybe 25 or 26 or something like that at the start of the year. But I definitely want to get in there. I feel like that’s the next kind of big step. But it’s a lot of hard work and it’s a lot of good results, but I’m willing to do that.”
Speaking of goals, is the opportunity to become the first player in 112 years and only the second in history to win this event on three consecutive occasions a goal this week?
“I mean, especially being in my backyard essentially. It will be really nice. I haven’t really ‑‑ I don’t really like thinking about, you know, “what if.” I’m just kind of going to try to do my job to the best of my ability and if it happens on Sunday, great. But if not, you know, I’ve given it my all and it kind of is what it is.”
Stewart Cink – photo PGA of Australia
Stewart Cink is playing in this week’s Australian PGA Championship and despite the fact he is an Open Champion, a six time PGA Tour winner on the PGA Tour and an earner of over US$38 million he will likely escape much of the attention this week unless of course he gets into contention.
The 46 year old Cink is here after a three-day break in Queenstown in New Zealand to recharge the batteries and is excited to be back in Australia to play for the first time since 2003 when he played at the Australian PGA Championship at Hyatt Regency Coolum.
“I like playing around the world everywhere,” said Cink in his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday. “You can look at my calendar, I’ve played in France on the European Tour this year not that long ago. So I like to go around and we just wanted to include the PGA Tour Australia on our calendar.”
“My wife has never been anywhere ‘Down Under’ before so we’ve been trying to put this on the calendar for a little while now. We almost made it last year, but we had to back out at the last second. So this year we added New Zealand, a little holiday before we came here.”
Despite not winning anywhere in nearly ten years, Cink is not here just to make up the numbers and feels his game is in the sort of shape it needs to be in to play well at RACV Royal Pines.
“I feel like I’m playing as well as I’ve played in my whole career. And as I get older now, I’m 46, my perspective and my expectations probably are changing a little bit, but I feel like if you break down the way ‑‑ if you break down golf into the categories, you know, the short game and all that, I think that I’m playing better golf now than I’ve played anytime in my career.
“I had some really good long runs where I’ve had really good finishes and a lot of wins on the U.S. Tour. The game of golf is a lot deeper now than it used to be, but I think I have what it takes to compete. And I’ve had some brushes with really good success over the last couple years at times.
“I’ve had some down moments, but I think as you age you can still reach the highest ‑‑ you can reach the highest level of form, but you might not be able to stay there as often. So you have to be able to expect a few little troughs along with the peaks.”
His wife Lisa has battled cancer in recent years and while not yet completely free of the disease she is doing well enough to make the trip down to Australasia. Cink says her battle with illness has provided a much better perspective for him in how he faces life.
“Actually, my wife going through ‑‑ well, she’s still going through it, she’s not out of the woods, but she’s doing great. She’s really had a tremendous response and she’s really doing fantastic.
“But watching her dig in and fighting with everything she had through the time of her diagnosis and her chemotherapy in 2016, it really caused me to sort of turn the mirror around and look at myself and say, well, if she’s fighting like this, what am I not doing? I’m not fighting for my life necessarily, but I’ve got something pretty important to me and our family to fight for.
“And it did, it opened my eyes a little bit and I dug around in some corners that maybe I hadn’t dug around in for a few years and it gave me a new sense of intensity and intention when I was out there practicing every day and going through all the off‑the‑course things I need to do.
“You know, the result was it showed up in better scores and it gave me sort of this new confidence that I think I can compete and I can carry this all the way past my 50th birthday and who knows what happens after that.”
Cink’s attitude to travel and seeing new places became even more apparent when discussing the possibility of playing the European Tour should, by chance, he win this week. Being a European Tour event, a win here would provide him European Tour status and it is something he likes the thought of.
“It’s absolutely an option. I haven’t filled out the paperwork yet, but I do plan to initiate the affiliate thing. I’m just learning about all that.
“But yeah, I like playing around the world and I’ve enjoyed playing in the European Tour events, the odd one here and there where I’ll turn up and I’ll get a few slanted looks from players, like what are you doing here? That’s fine, I like that.
“But my wife and I love traveling and we’re at a stage where our kids are all in university or beyond, out of the house and it’s just the two of us. She comes everywhere I go and it’s fun for us to see other places besides the regular stops on the U.S. Tour that I’ve seen now for 23 years.
Ten years ago Cink recorded his greatest moment in golf when winning the Open Championship. It should have been heralded as a great victory, which it was, but that he defeated 59 year old people’s favourite, Tom Watson, in a playoff to do so resembled shooting Bambi in some people’s eyes.
Cink though fondly remembers the graciousness of Watson during the playoff and in the aftermath.
“Throughout the whole thing he was just perfectly gracious, just like you would expect any, you know, highly regarded champion to be. He couldn’t have been any nicer, and he was just as respectful of me as the winner as I would have been of him as the winner.
“You know, I felt like when Tom finished the regulation, making bogey on that hole, that I just had an opportunity because I felt like his energy just took a little step down, and it’s so important to have the energy in that situation.
“I felt like I had it because I finished strong with a birdie on the 72nd, so I felt super confident. I felt like there was no way I was going to lose that.
“I played really well in the playoff. I probably played better in the playoff than I played at any point during the entire week. I played great, didn’t really miss a shot.
“But the memories, it’s been 10 years, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I still have plenty of little spots here and there, like tapping in or the first shot in the playoff, watching Tom hit his driver and being like whoa, he is not going away. So the memories, even though they’re 10 years old, they’re still very fresh.”
Stewart Cink is one of those golfers who, despite his significant success, escapes a lot of attention but for those assembled for his press conference yesterday he left all with a warm fuzzy feeling about his love of the game, his family and life.