Adam Scott Loses Ground at BMW Championship

Scott loses ground but not out of it – file phot0

Adam Scott was unable to build on his fine start to the BMW Championship in Chicago and although he still recorded a 1 under par second round of 71, he lost 13 places and as the event heads into the weekend he finds himself in a share of 21st place.

It was a frustrating day for Scott, two birdies on the way to the turn had him set up for a strong finish but the homeward nine saw him unable to move forward.

In fact, he would drop a shot at the 16th hole to finish at 6 under for his opening 36 holes and six shots from the halfway leader, Hideki Matsuyama.

Jason Day was once again unable to build any momentum in his round of 71 to be at 3 under and in a share of 40th place while the only other Australian to make it into the field of 69, Marc Leishman, was round in 71 to finish at 1 under and in 58th place.

Day has slipped to 50th in the FedEx Cup standings and as such will need an exceptional weekend is he is to force his way into the leading thirty players who will be off the the Tour Championship next week.

Both Adam Scott and Marc Leishman appear safe to play the Tour Championship.

The leader, Matsuyama, has not won in two years on the PGA Tour and, in fact, has missed two of his last four cuts but his 9 under par round of 63 today swept him into a one-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau.

Joint first-round leader, Justin Thomas, is another shot back and alone in 4th place.

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Birthday Boy Vilips Eliminated at US AM

Karl Vilips during today’s match – Photo courtesy of USGA / Chris Keane

An 18th birthday is supposed to be a big day for a teenager but the now 18-year old Australian, Karl Vilips, won’t necessarily be seeing it that way having been beaten in the quarter-final of the US Amateur Championship at Pinehurst No 2 today.

Vilips, who turned 18 today, looked so impressive through his opening three match-play encounters and had never been behind at any stage, but in today’s match against American, William Holcomb, he was 2 down through 4 holes and never really got into the match from that point.

He continued to hit a lot of fine shots but was unable to convert any of the chances he created and was unable to record a birdie in the 15 holes he played in today’s weather affected round.

Play was delayed for around an hour early in his afternoon match but even the delay could not reverse the momentum Holcomb was enjoying, the Texan 4 up at the turn. Although Vilips clawed one back at the 11th the match would eventually finish at the par 3 15th.

Vilips, who is scheduled to attend Stanford University in 2020 was impressive throughout the week however a second round of 65 in the opening 36 holes of stroke-play followed by some strong play throughout his opening three knockout encounters.

Vilips will play for the International side in the Junior Presidents Cup later this year.

The Australian challenge is therefore over, Sydney’s Blake Windred eliminated in round one and Brisbane’s Jack Trent beaten in the Round of 32.

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Karl Vilips Through to Quarter Finals at US Am

Vilips in action today – photo USGA Chris Reaves

17-year-old Karl Vilips has kept Australian hopes of a 3rd US Amateur Championship title alive by winning both his Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches on a hot day in Pinehurst, North Carolina today.

Vilips defeated American Steven Fisk in the morning round and in his afternoon encounter with the 2016 runner-up to Australian Curtis Luck in this event, Brad Dalke, he continued his impressive run with a 3&1 victory.

Vilips has never been behind in his three matches to date and tomorrow he takes on Texan William Holcomb who is playing his second US Amateur Championship.

“It was definitely my hardest match this week,” said Vilips. “You know, I was 5-under with no bogeys, and he just grinded it out, made a few birdies or I made pars, and I just did the same thing I’ve done the previous two matches: Get up early in the match and never lose the lead.

“It was definitely my most stressful match out there. Yeah, we just played really good golf.”

Playing the amount of amateur golf events he has, some of them at the elite level, has allowed Vilips to learn his trade and compete with the best players in amateur golf.

“Kind of shows me that I can play against anyone. That definitely helped me a lot today, playing Steven and Brad. Just being able to place top 10 in those elite fields like the Western Am, Pac Coast, Northeast, it really just gave me confidence that my game is good enough to compete with these guys.”

Vilips would become the third Australian to win amateur golf’s most significant men’s title, following in the footsteps of Nick Flanagan and Curtis Luck, should he make it all the way through this week.

Indonesian born but Perth raised before heading to the US to play junior golf and attend junior school from the age of 11, Vilips is schedule to attend Stanford University in 2020 but he is already being touted as a rising star of world golf having won events such as the Southern Amateur Championship in 2018 and numerous junior championships in the US.

Brisbane’s, Jack Trent, was the other Australian to make it into the Round of 32 but was agonisingly defeated in his morning match by the brother of standout English professional, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Alex Fitzpatrick taking the match at the 21st after Trent had taken a 1 up lead to the 18th hole before a playoff was required.

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Timely return to form for Cameron Percy

Cameron Percy – file photo – click to expand

Australian golfer, Cameron Percy, has a share of the lead at the opening event of the Korn Ferry Tour finals, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus in Ohio, Percy looking to regain full PGA Tour status after finishing 58th in the Korn Ferry Tour (ex Web.Com Tour) standings in 2019.

Percy, who missed the cut in this event twelve months ago, opened with a round of 7 under the highlight coming when holing from the fairway at the demanding 11th hole to move to 6 under par.

The 45 year old shares the lead with one of the game’s hottest young stars, Viktor Hovland, who, despite several good finishes on the PGA Tour since turning professional recently is required to go through the Korn Ferry Tour finals in an attempt to gain PGA Tour status for 2020.

Percy has played only ten events in 2019, all of those on the Korn Ferry Tour events, recording a best of 5th in Panama early in the season.

The leading twenty-five players, not otherwise exempt for 2020 at the completion of the three events, gain PGA Tour status for next season in addition to another 25 who graduated from the season long Korn Ferry Tour in 2019.

Typically, one good finish in the series, perhaps a top five, is enough to get the job done and so Percy has made a great start as he chases a return to the PGA Tour which he has played on an irregular basis since first becoming a member in 2010.

Lismore’s Rhein Gibson, who already has his 2020 PGA Tour card via the season long Korn Ferry Tour, opened with a round of 68 to be tied for 8th place, while Curtis Luck recovered from a double bogey at the 10th to birdie three of his last four holes for a round of 70 to be tied for 31st.

Luck had a disappointing rookie season on the PGA Tour this year but as he did last year he is now chasing that one good finish in the finals to again earn the right to play in the big league next year.

Jamie Arnold was round in 71 and Brett Coletta and Cameron Davis 73.

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Karl Vilips and Jack Trent remain alive at US Am

The US Amateur Championship trophy – USGA – click to expand

17-year old US based Perth golfer, Karl Vilips, and Brisbane’s, Jack Trent,  are the only Australian survivors following the completion of the opening round of match-play at the US Amateur Championship in Pinehurst in North Carolina.

They, along with Sydney’s Blake Windred, were the only Australians to make it into the 64 players to graduate from the 36 hole stroke-play stage of the event after Sydney’s, Jordan Garner, missed out in a 27 man playoff for just three spots in the final field, earlier in the day.

Windred, who finished 12th in the qualifying, was defeated by American John Pak, squandering an early 3 up lead to eventually lose 3&1.

Trent, who is currently attending the University of Nevada, recovered from an early setback when losing the 2nd hole but squared the match at the next and was never behind from that point on and eventually won 4&3.


Jack Trent in action today – courtesy of USGA Chris Reaves

The remarkably talented and credentialed Vilips was out in the last match of the day and was 2 up through two holes before his American opponent, Jansen Smith, staged a comeback to square the match at the 10th and from that point  there was never more than one hole in it until Vilips parred the 16th to go 2 up.

When both parred the 17th the match was over, 2&1 in Vilips’ favour.

In tomorrow’s Round of 32 Trent will face Alex Fitzpatrick of England, brother of European Tour star Matthew and a sophomore at Wake Forest University, while Vilips takes on Steven Fisk of Georgia, a player good enough to have finished runner-up behind Matthew Wolff at the NCAA Championship earlier this year.

New Zealander Daniel Hillier was another to lose out in the playoff for a place in the final 64, eliminated when he could only par the third hole of extra time.

Australia’s highest-ranked golfer David Micheluzzi was forced to return to the course this morning to complete his round but missed out on the playoff by two shots.

The biggest surprise of the opening round of knockout matches was the elimination of the man who led the qualifying, Brandon Wu, who was beaten by the 64th qualifier, Austin Squires, who only just crept into the field following success in the morning playoff for final places.

Squires birdied the last hole to win 2 up after never being behind throughout the match.

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Betting on PGA, European and Korn Ferry Tours Aug 15th

The first of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, the second of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the return of the European Tour in Prague feature this week as we look at betting options on events worldwide.

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Three Australians Guaranteed to Advance at US Amateur

Blake Windred today – courtesy of USGA Michael Reaves

Three Australians have advanced to the leading 64 players to qualify for the match-play phase of the US Amateur Championship at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst North Carolina, NSW’s Blake Windred the best of them when he finished in a share of 12th place at 1 over par.

Fifty of the 312 players in the field are yet to finish their rounds after darkness forced abandonment of play, an hour-long weather delay earlier forcing the stroke-play into overtime on Wednesday morning US time.

Their performance could potentially add to the Australasian contingent through to next phase of amateur golf’s finest male amateur championship but New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier and Australians Jordan Garner and David Micheluzzi will need a near miracle to advance.

Playing on the more demanding Pinehurst # 2 layout on day two, Windred recorded a round of 74 to go with his opening 67 at Pinehurst # 4 yesterday.

US-based Perth golfer, Karl Vilips, rebounded from his opening 77 at Pinehurst # 2 yesterday with a round of 65 today, the equal best of the week thus far, catapulting the 17-year old up the leaderboard and into a share of 18th place.

Karl Vilips today – courtesy of USGA Chris Keane

Also through is Brisbane golfer, Jack Trent, now studying at the University of Nevada who, despite a second round of 76 today, is currently in 46th place and assured a place in the final field.    

“Yeah, it feels good,” said Windred. “It’s a little bit of a relief. It’s just a tough course, isn’t it, so you don’t know — you can never be comfortable out there, I feel.

“I hit a lot of good shots today, so that was a good sign. But yeah, the course really held up pretty tough. But no, I am very happy to go through.”

New Zealander Daniel Hillier is currently in 67th place as is Sydney’s Jordan Garner and their fate will be determined by how the balance of the field finish their rounds on Wednesday.

Even if they were to squeeze into the top 64 their chances of making the field for the match play is likely to be determined by a playoff, that appearing their only hope now.

David Micheluzzi, Australia’s leading ranked player and the third-ranked amateur in the world, is currently in 92nd place with just one hole to play after being stranded by darkness and he will need a birdie at the last and help from others if he is to have any chance.

Josh Armstrong was the other Australian in the field but he finished well back.

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Can Australia Make it a US Amateur Double at Pinehurst

David Micheluzzi – the leading ranked Australasian

Six Australians and one New Zealander will tee it up in the 36-hole qualifying phase of the US Amateur Championship beginning at Pinehurst No 2 in Pinehurst, North Carolina this evening Australian time.

Following on from the outstanding performance of Gabi Ruffels to win the US Women’s Amateur Championship in Mississippi last week, Australasian hopes have been raised as they search for their 4th win in the event with Nick Flanagan, Danny Lee and Curtis Luck previous winners from this part of the world.

Victoria’s David Micheluzzi leads the Australasians in terms of world standing, currently in 3rd place in the world amateur ranking followed by Blake Windred at # 11 and New Zealander Daniel Hillier at # 26.

That trio will be joined by Karl Vilips, Jordan Garner, Josh Armstrong and Jack Trent.

Micheluzzi was 3rd at the recent Amateur Championship at Portmarnock and is considered a special talent having finished 5th at last year’s Australian Open behind Abraham Ancer.

Windred was recently runner-up at the Pacific Coast Amateur in New Mexico and finished 3rd at the PGA Tour of Australasia’s 2018 NSW Open.

Hillier is a two-time NZ Amateur Champion and in June of this year played his way into the field for the US Open at Pebble Beach where, despite missing the cut, performed with distinction.

Pinehurst # 2 has proven a happy hunting ground for New Zealanders with both Danny Lee and Michael Campbell winning their respective US Amateur and US Open titles.

The stroke-play phase of the contest involves 312 players teeing it up over both the Pinehurst #2 and #4 layouts in the hope of securing a place in the leading 64 who will advance to the match-play.

Sunday’s 36 hole final is to be played over both courses.

Consider this however. Of those 312 who have made it this far they form part of an initial entry list of 7,191 with handicaps of 2.4 or better

Just to have made it into the field therefore is an achievement in itself, never mind making it beyond the stroke-play phase.

 

Pinehurst # 2 – the 16th hole courtesy of USGA

 

 

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Rhein Gibson and Tim Wilkinson return to PGA Tour

Rhein Gibson

Australian Rhein Gibson and New Zealander Tim Wilkinson will return to the PGA Tour next season following the completion of regular tour season events on the Korn Ferry Tour at this week’s Portland Open.

Gibson finished this week’s event in 11th place and as a result will complete his regular season in 10th place in the standings on the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour (previously the Web.Com Tour).

Gibson, from Lismore in Northern NSW, played the PGA Tour in 2017 before returning to the then Web.Com Tour in 2018 but is back to the big stage when the new season rolls around in two month’s time.

The leading 25 players will receive PGA Tour cards for next season and so while Gibson’s fate was already established prior to this week Wilkinson had an anxious wait after missing the cut in Portland to ride out the permutations of the final day and regain the PGA Tour status he has enjoyed previously.

He would eventually finish 24th in the rankings and is heading back to the PGA Tour which he played previously in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He has been back on the Korn Ferry Tour since so this provides another opportunity for the 41-year old.

Gibson and Wilkinson will be buoyed by their graduation to the PGA Tour but for Victorian, Brett Coletta, it was week which might have been.

Heading into the week, Coletta was in 25th place in the rankings and on the cusp of gaining his first PGA Tour card.

Unfortunately for Coletta he would bogey five of his last seven holes on Friday to miss the cut and, eventually, his PGA Tour card by two spots.

Coletta, along with fellow Victorian Cameron Percy, NSW’s Jamie Arnold and New Zealander Steve Alker will be required to compete in the three event Korn Ferry Finals in their quest to gain PGA Tour status.

If they can finish in the leading 25 players of that stand alone money list then they too would play the PGA Tour next season.

 

 

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Adam Scott improves to 5th at Northern Trust Open

Adam Scott file photo

Adam Scott’s final round of 65, the equal best of the day at the Northern Trust Open at Liberty National in New Jersey, has improved him from an overnight 17th to a 5th place finish in the opening event of the Fedex Cup playoffs.

Scott has also improved his Fedex Cup standing from 21st to 14th as the series heads to Chicago for next week’s BMW Championship.

Scott had won at Liberty National previously when successful in this event’s equivalent in 2013 and again displayed his liking for the layout with four rounds in the 60’s including his round of 6 under today.

Scott heads to the BMW Championship with his game in great shape with the chance to stake his claim for even higher honours in the FedEx Cup.

“I hit the ball well today. Much better than the first three days,” said Scott.

I worked on a couple things in the warm-up today and that worked out nicely. It was a good day to hit it well because the greens, the pins were a little tougher, and you didn’t want to have to be scrambling too much.

“I kind of took advantage of most of the good shots, but a couple on 14 and 15 that I might regret missing, but all in all, it was really good, and now I’m going to go into next week kind of knowing that I’m probably at East Lake and have a crack next week.”

Scott finished as the leading Australian by some margin this week, Matt Jones the next best when he finished 30th and Cameron Smith 59th.

Scott, along Jason Day and Marc Leishman, who both missed the cut this week, are the only three Australians who get to play the BMW Championship, Smith dropping to 84th and Jones 91st in the standings with only the top 70 heading to Chicago.

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