Europe again prevail on home soil


The successful European Team – Image courtesy of Rolex 

It was a week that had it all. A tearaway leader on day one, the spice and feistiness on display on day two and final day that kept the intrigue and match result alive for much longer than most would have imagined to be the case, but the Ryder Cup seldom fails to deliver and this week was no exception.

In the end, the Europeans won by five points, 16½to 11½, a result that appeared inevitable at the completion of day two but halfway through the twelve singles matches, a number of different scenarios were still in play and the impossible did at times seem possible, if remotely.

It would take until Tommy Fleetwood’s short birdie putt was conceded in the 11th match of the day at the 16th to ensure that the sought-after half point was secured, that the Europeans were assured of the 14½ points to regain the Cup. Fleetwood would go on to win the match 3&1.

They would eventually add points by Robert McIntyre and a half point by Shane Lowry to extend the margin to five and secure their 13th win in 19 encounters since their first in 1985.

It has been a phenomenal record for a European team that has typically been the underdogs (mathematically at least) heading into each event but their capacity to gel as a team and defy the odds on occasions has turned this contest into not only golf’s greatest event but arguably one of the world’s greatest sporting battles.

A star team has often been capable of overcoming a team of stars and this week once again proved that to be the case. Both captains did a good job but Europe’s Luke Donald’s emotional post-event interview told the story of his passion for task.

And so, by the time the Americans get to Adare Manor in Ireland in four years’ time, it will be a massive 34 years since they have won on European soil and there is every reason to believe that stat will be extended further in County Kildare.

The leading points scorer for the Europeans was Rory McIlroy with 4 points while for the USA side debutante Max Homa led the way with 3½.

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Travis Smyth moves to second on Asian Tour Order of Merit

Travis Smyth – file photo courtesy of Getty Images

New South Wales golfer, Travis Smyth, has moved to second position on the Asian Tour Order of Merit following his share of third place at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters yesterday.

For Smyth, it continues a fine record in Taiwan having won the Yeandger TPC Masters, twelve months ago, finished runner-up in that same event last week and now 3rd here.

Smyth won US$60,000 for his finish and moves behind only American Andy Ogletree on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

It was Smyth’s 5th top ten of the year (three of those 3 finishes) and continues a successful 18 months during which good performances in the Asian Tour’s lucrative International Series events and access to several LIV Tour events have provided a healthy bank balance for the 28-year-old.

Smyth gets to play another $US 2 million International Series event in Singapore this coming week with a further four events remaining on the 2023 Asian Tour schedule beyond.

New Zealand’s Ben Campbell was the next best of the Australasians in the field, finishing in a share of 8th place after leading into the weekend, but for Campbell it was his best finish since a runner-up finish at the New Zealand Open in March.

Scott Hend was 11th, Todd Sinnott 22nd, Jack Thompson 29th and Josh Younger 54th.

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Hannah Green benefits from break to contend in Arkasas

Hannah Green – photo Alex Slitz Getty Images 

Hannah Green’s consecutive opening rounds of 65 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers has left her just two shots from the 36-hole leader and with just one round to go in the 54 hole event, she is well-placed to contend for her fourth LPGA Tour title.

Green’s form in 2023 has been a roller coaster with a win earlier in the year and a recent 4th placing although, in three of her last four starts, she has not made the weekend but, despite a poor record in this event, which has seen her miss her two previous cuts, she finds herself very much in the mix.

“I’ve actually never played well at Walmart,” said Green. “I don’t have a good record of making the Sunday. You can’t really think about that. You just got to try and hit every shot. I know it sounds boring and everyone says that, but that’s what you’re trying to do out there.

It’s hard because the scoring is so low you feel like if you’re not under par early you’re really going to fall behind. Tomorrow, even if I am a couple back, you just never know what can happen. Someone could shoot honestly 10-under par and just come from nowhere.”

Green has recently returned from a three-week break back in Perth which has enabled her to recharge the batteries to some extent.

“I did decide to take Cincinnati off so I could have three solid weeks in Australia. I’ve always known that’s always good for my game usually, having a bit of time off. I feel like when you have an off-season I come out performing pretty well.

“I think making sure that I had time away from the game was the most important thing — even if I spent all three weeks away from the golf course.”

Green trails Hae Ran Ryu by two shots, the Korean yet toi win an LPGA Tour event.

Grace Kim, Karis Davidson and Lydia Ko are the next best of the Australasians in a share of 36th place, Ko slipping from her overnight share of 2nd place, while Su Oh is 47th and Stephanie Kyriacou 55th.

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New Zealand’s Ben Campbell leads in Taiwan

Ben Campbell – photo Nick Cheng / Mercurie Taiwan Masters

Ben Campbell moved into the second-round lead at US$1 million Mercuries Taiwan Masters today on four-under after carding a three-under-par 69 – to be the only player to shoot two sub-par rounds.

American Jarin Todd (69) and Dodge Kemmer (72) and India’s Chikkarangappa S. (72) are one back at Taiwan Golf and Country Club, which once again posed a huge challenge, with the rough up and the fairways very tight – US Open style.

Scotland’s David Drysdale and Sadom Kaewkanjana from Thailand, also carded 72s, and are a further shot back – in what is the most lucrative golf tournament in Chinese-Taipei.

Campbell traded five birdies with two bogeys, and goes into the weekend looking for his first win on the Asian Tour.

“Played good at the start, dropped a couple in the middle, they were soft bogeys, unfortunately, which is easy to do out here,” said the New Zealander, who shone at this year’s New Zealand Open, finishing in a tie for second place.

“I hit it close on a few and played the par fives well, which makes it easier. I kept the ball in play nicely off the tee. It was really windy at the start but the last few holes it died a bit which was a big help for me. It is playing firm and fast and coming out of the rough it is hard to hold the greens.

“My game is obviously improving but there is still a way to go. I feel like the last few weeks have been getting better and better. Feel like my game is trending in right direction.”

Campbell has been runner-up on several occasions during his career but his only win on a recognised tour was when winning the New Zealand PGA Championship in 2018, a PGA Tour of Australasia event.

Todd Sinnott is the next best of the Australasians in a share of 12th place and four shots from Campbell’s lead, followed another shot back by last week’s runner-up in Taiwan, Travis Smyth.

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Record opening day margin to Europeans at Ryder Cup


Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood were ecstatic after their morning win – photo DP World Tour

While it is early days yet, the massive lead the Europeans have built on day one of the 2023 Ryder Cup appears likely to lead to yet another European victory, their 13th in the last 19 biennial contests.

A lead of 6½ to 1½ is certainly not insurmountable but it is the manner in which that lead has been established that suggests the Americans face a near impossible task to win this battle for the first time in Europe for 30 years.

Opening with a 4-0 lead in the morning foursomes with Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton leading the way following their 4&3 win in the first match out, they were soon followed by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg who also won 4&3 and with wins to Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka followed by the final nail in the coffin by Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, the Europeans led 4-0 heading into the afternoon fourball matches.

A week ago at the Solheim Cup, the Americans had led 4-0 after the morning matches and so such a lead was not unassailable but when the Europeans extended that lead with a 2½- 1½ result in the foursome match-ups to go 6½ – 1½ the margin had become a major issue for the USA side.

Interestingly despite the lead, Rory McIlroy, leading from the front, was the only player in either side to have won both matches having paired with Fleetwood in the morning and then Matthew Fitzpatrick in the afternoon.

“Yeah, absolutely amazing. You know, for the first nine holes I was trying to hang on to this man’s coattails,” said McIlroy in a joint media conference with Fitzpatrick following their afternoon win. “I said to him walking up 10, “At least I contributed twice.”

“And then the boys (Americans) made a few birdies, you know, on the back nine there and we had to just sort of hang in and hit some good, solid shots down the stretch.

“But yeah, I mean, just a great day in front of some amazing home fans, and I said to Fitzy there, you know, for his first point for Europe, I’m happy that I was the one to get it with him. Proud of how him, how I played, and we just have to go out and regroup for tomorrow.

“I’ve been so lucky with the two partners that I’ve had with Tommy in the morning and this man, the start that he got off to, I was trying to hang on to his coattails. I contributed a couple of times there around the turn and thankfully we did enough to get it done.”

It goes without saying that the battle is not over yet but the USA side has to find a way to overcome a European side full of confidence after their magnificent opening day and to produce the sort of golf that might serve to at least quieten the partisan crowd in Rome.

As it stands at present both seem extremely formidable, if not impossible, tasks.

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Can Europe continue amazing home soil Ryder Cup record

Captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson in historic Rome – photo DP World Tour

That the USA side has not won a Ryder Cup on European soil for 30 years is a stat that many would not readily recognise or one that most would find difficult to believe, but it was indeed in 1993 when the Americans, led by captain Tom Watson, last tasted success there.

The tide in the results of the contest had turned just eight years earlier when success came for the first time for the Europeans who morphed from a Great Britain and Ireland side just six years prior to that.

All of a sudden in 1979, the addition of the likes of Spaniards Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido began a journey that, with the further addition of Bernhard Langer and Spaniards, Manuel Pinero, Jose Maria Canizares and Jose Rivero in 1985, turned the nature of the event from essentially a one-sided exhibition into the great sporting contest it has become.

The Europeans defeated the USA by a massive five-point margin at the Belfry that year and gave Europe the confidence and momentum to win 12 of the next 18 contests, the Americans unable to win an away game since 1993.

The event has become one of the sporting world’s great contests, more often than not pitting the might of the USA (whose side typically outranked the Europeans by some margin) in what has often been perceived as a David and Goliath battle and to many that is very much part of its intrigue.

As was the case at last week’s Solheim Cup, it has often been a case of a ‘star team’ outgunning a ‘team of stars’ and, on rankings alone, this week’s contest carries the same dynamic ahead of the event.

For just the third occasion since Continental Europe boosted the hopes of the embattled Great Britain and Ireland side, the Ryder Cup will be played on the Continent, Italy hosting after Spain (1997) and France (2018) had done previously.

The Marco Simone Golf Club and Country Club designed by Jim Fazio and David Mezzacane in Guidonia on the outskirts of Rome will ensure a passionate and partisan European crowd to urge their team to victory.

The disparity in world ranking between the two sides, whatever world ranking is now worth, again favours the USA side but it is a stat the Europeans have overcome so often in recent years.

Allowing for the inclusion of Brooke Koepka, who would be inside the top ten under different circumstances, seven of the American side are inside that category while only four of the Europeans are but that would be of little concern to the Europeans, in fact, it is likely to serve to motivate them further.

The Ryder Cup will not only capture the attention of golf fans worldwide but that of sports lovers generally who will be fascinated to see if the USA can overcome their lengthy European shutout and just how a passionate Italian-dominated crowd can assist their team to its 13th victory since its first in 1985.

European Team 

USA Team 

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Curtis Luck stages late PGA Tour bid


Curtis Luck – file photo

Perth’s Curtis Luck kept alive his chances of a return to the PGA Tour following a share of second place at the Korn Ferry Tour event in Columbus, Ohio this morning.

On a golf course and in an event that was the scene of his only win on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, the 2016 US Amateur Champion produced the best round of the final day (66) and improved from 61st to 47th on the Korn Ferry Tour points table.

With just the Tour Championship to come in Newburgh Indiana in ten days’ time, Luck has opened the door for a late run at a place in the top 30 and a PGA Tour card for next season.

It was Luck’s second-best finish in 103 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour and sets him up for a potentially career changing week in Indiana.

Luck was the only Australian to make the cut this week, Brett Drewitt missing by one, while Rhein Gibson and Dimi Papdatos were well off the mark.

All four however have made it into the top 75 who have gained a start at the Tour Championship and keep open their hopes of graduation next season.

Gibson is 36th, Drewitt 39th, Luck 47th and Papadatos 67th all assured of Korn Ferry Tour status next season but are now chasing higher honours.

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Europe retain Solheim Cup in epic Sunday battle


They might not have won the Cup but they did not lose it either – Europe retains the Solheim Cup  

The delicate balance that applied on the leaderboard entering the final day of the 2023 Solheim Cup promised much but delivered even more.

At 8 points apiece, the European and USA sides were locked in a battle that would see the Europeans winning the cup for the fifth time in the last seven encounters, the Americans finally breaking the recent domination of Europe or a tied result which would see neither team win but the Europeans retain the Cup.

All three scenarios became genuine possibilities from the first match between Megan Khang and Linn Grant took to the fairways of the Finca Cortesan layout in Andalucia in Spain until the final putt in what would be the deciding match between Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Nelly Korda was holed, giving the Europeans an unbeatable position and the retention of the cup.

Soon after, Lexi Thompson accounted for Sweden’s Emily Pettersen for the teams to share the overall honours but, for the Europeans, it was as good as victory.

Ciganda’s tee shot at the 17th, soon after a birdie to win the 16th, finished just three feet from the hole at the par 3 and when Korda’s chip from just off the green narrowly missed, she was left to secure the cup with her fourth win and a 100% record in front of home crowds.

It was fairytale stuff for Ciganda having won all four of her matches after standing out for the opening Foursomes on day one.

So the European control of the Solheim Cup in recent years continues with the USA having won just twice in the last seven encounters and once again displayed that a star team can often overcome a team of stars given the stronger world ranking of the USA side.

So now it is on to Rome for the Ryder Cup where a similar scenario awaits, the Americans having not won in Europe for 30 years and a partisan local crowd about to provide the Europeans to sort of support they will need to overcome a US side which on paper has considerably greater on paper strength than the ‘home’ side.

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Travis Smyth and Minjee Lee runner-up in Asian events


Minjee Lee – in action this week – photo KLPGA

Australian golfers have finished in the runner-up position in two events in Asia this weekend, Minjee Lee missing out after a playoff at the KLPGA’s Hana Bank Financial Services Championship in Incheon in South Korea and Travis Smyth finishing runner-up at an Asian Tour event in Chinese Taipei.

Smyth, chasing a successful defense of the Yeangder TPC event at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club in Taipei, his only victory on the Asian Tour, produced an impressive final round of 67 to finish three shots behind Thailand’s Poom Saksansin and earned US$82,500 in the process.

Smyth, a beneficiary of the Asian Tour’s close association with LIV Golf and that tour’s benefactors in 2022, recorded his best finish since winning this same event twelve months ago and was delighted with the quality of his game this week.

“Played pretty damn good, I shot bogey-free five under,” said the 28-year-old from Wollongong..

“I had a lot of looks, wasn’t able to keep it going, but can’t really ask for much more. If you had told me you can have that before the round, I would have said yes, probably, so it was a good day.

“I love this place and I think this course likes me as well. You know, I hit it in the trees a couple of times and got some lucky kicks back into the fairway and that sort of thing. I don’t know, I just got a good feeling about this place. And yeah, two years in a row. It’s funny, you know, because I came here before I won, I played here one other time, and I hated it. I played terrible (then).

“It was my first year on the Asian Tour then and I couldn’t figure out the grain, putted awfully, and I don’t know. I just feel like playing in Asia for so long now I can read the lies from the rough, I can read the greens a lot better, a lot more comfortable. And I don’t know what it is, I like this place.”

Queensland’s Douglas Klein also had a good week when he finished as the next best of the Australians in a share of 9th place, his first top ten in his rookie season in Asia.

Meanwhile, in Korea, Minjee Lee was on track to record a consecutive win after her success in Ohio two weeks ago when she finished in a share of first place with local Da Yeon Lee and Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit before losing at the third extra hole to Da Yeon Lee who holed from just under 30 feet for birdie after Tavatanakit had been eliminated with a bogey at the first playoff hole.

Both Lees three putted the second playoff hole, Minjee Lee’s seocn putt from less than 4 feet but when the Australian hit her approach to 9 feet behind the hole in her third time of trying it appeared she would be given another chance to claim victory.

It was not to be however as the Korean holed a downhill left-to-right putt and when Minjee Lee pushed her birdie attempt to the right it was all over.

Lee had birdied the 17th from 10th feet in regulation play to join the lead in the event and her putt to win in regulation at the 18th sat agonisingly on the edge of the hole and so it was onto the playoff.

For Lee however, it continues a fine late-year resurgence following on from her first win of the year in Ohio recently.

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Travis Smyth – File photo Paul Lakatos Asian Tour 

 

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European fight back sets up tense final day at Solheim Cup

Captains Suzanne Pettersen and Stacy Lewis – sharing a moment today  – photo Solheim Cup

Halfway through the opening day of the 2023 Solheim Cup in Andalucia in Spain, one could have been forgiven that the result was a foregone conclusion.

After all, the 4-0 lead the Americans had established in a dominating opening morning had the Europeans on the back foot, especially given their historic strength in the Foursome format in play in the opening stanza of the event.

But by the completion of play on day two the Europeans had drawn level, winning both their Fourball matchups 3-1 and despite not gaining any ground in their Saturday morning Foursomes, which they shared with the Americans 2-2, they head into their twelve singles matches on Sunday looking good to extend their recent domination in this intriguing trans-Atlantic battle.

The standout for the Europeans has been the only Spaniard in the team, Carlota Ciganda who has won all three of her matches after sitting out the opening Fourball on Friday morning. In doing so she is the only player on either team with a 100% record.

Ciganda has paired with Sweden’s Linn Grant and Denmark’s Emily Pedersen to win.

The Europeans have won four of their last six encounters against the Americans and the momentum they have built since lunchtime on Friday will go a long way to improving on that already impressive record.

While, on paper at least, the Europeans are the weaker of the teams in terms of world rankings, those sorts of stats go out the window when such a contest is on the line, especially in front of a very much partisan European crowd.

“I’m out of words, but we have to remember we are not there yet, there are still 12 points up for grabs tomorrow,” Europe captain Suzann Pettersen said. “We made quite a comeback, now we are tied and we’ll put it in fifth gear and keep going. If you look at how we started after yesterday’s morning, we’ve come a long way.”

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