US Senior Open completes trio of US titles


Sentry World’s picturesque 16th hole – photo USGA Fred Vuich

Two weeks ago, it was the elite of men’s golf who tackled American golf’s most significant title, last week the women got their turn and this week at Sentry World in Steven’s Point in Wisconsin, the elite of over fifty males chase the greatest title in Senior golf, the US Senior Open.

The event was first played in 1980 when won by Roberto De Vicenzo and many of the games greats in the appropriate demographic have their name on the trophy since including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Hale Irwin, Bernhard Langer Padraig Harrington to name a few.

As is the case with all USGA events, the US Senior Open is a classy event and having caddied in a couple, one of which resulted in a near miss at Pinehurst in 1994, the event holds great memories for me and typifies the quality of USGA run championships.

This year six Australians and two New Zealanders are included in the field, headed by one of the PGA Tour Champion’s stars over the past two years, Steve Alker.

The only Australasian to have won the event was when Graham Marsh triumphed in 1997, three years after our near miss in 1994 (see video below) when, after making up six shots over the final round, he bogeyed the last to lose by a shot to Simon Hobday.

Alker is joined in the field by fellow New Zealander and 2005 US Open Champion Michael Campbell, Stuart Appleby, Mark Hensby, Richard Green, Rod Pampling and qualifiers from Australia Mick Smith and Paul Archbold.

Footnote – Peter Fowler has joined the field as an alternate via Final Qualifying

Stevens Point is located in the middle of Wisconsin about 100 kilometres north and west from Milwaukee.

Tee Times

1994 US Senior Open – oh the agony

 

 

 

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Grace Kim (14th) best of Australians at KPMG PGA

Grace Kim – photo courtesy PGA of America Darren Carroll

Grace Kim has finished in 14th place in her first appearance in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, further confirming what appears to be a great future on the LPGA Tour.

Kim’s weekend rounds of 69 and 69 moved her through the field after being 21st at the halfway stage and she will add US$147,000 to her rookie season earnings in the US$10 million event.

Kim finished five shots behind the winner, Ruoning Yin of China, who became just the second player from her country to win a major title following Shan Shan Feng’s victory in this same event 11 years ago.

Minjee Lee (20th) and Gabi Ruffels (24th) were the next best of the Australians.

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Another PGA Tour top ten for Min Woo Lee


Min Woo Lee – file photo Bruce Young

A four-way share of 9th place at the Travelers Championship near Hartford in Connecticut has given new PGA Tour Special member, Min Woo Lee, a massive boost in earnings towards confirming his status on the Tour for next season.

Such was the scoring at the TPC River Highlands that a final round of 3 under 67 actually saw Lee slip back two places from his 54 hole standing but the finish will ensure a cheque for US$525,000.

The finish may also provide a start in next week’s Rocket Mortgage event in Chicago should he so choose but Lee has already accumulated a lot of money this season, cheques for US$763,000 at both the Players Championship already having secured his immediate future in the US.

Now one of the recently introduced designated events on the PGA Tour to counter the impact of LIV Golf, the Travelers Championship carried a total purse of US$20 million of which the winner, Keegan Bradley earned US$3.6 million.

Bradley won by three over Brian Harman and Zac Blair with the ever-present Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and Chez Reavie tied for 4th.

Lucas Herbert (15th) and Adam Scott 19th were the next best of the Australians.

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Daniel Hillier’s biggest career payday in Germany


Daniel Hillier – file photo courtesy of USGA

New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier has earned his biggest payday in professional golf with a share of 3rd place at the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany, the 24 year old recovering from a slow start to his final round to finish with a 1 under par 71 and a four way share of third place.

Hillier’s cheque for €87,000, surpasses his previous biggest of €54,000 when 3rd at the ISPS Handa World Invitational when playing on invite in 2021.

Now in his rookie season on the DP World Tour following a successful season on the Challenge Tour in 2022, Hillier has recorded two top 5 finishes in his last three starts, further highlighting the considerable future predicted for the powerful Wellingtonian.

Hillier led through 36 holes of this week’s event, dropped off the pace after a third round 71 and with two bogeys in his opening three holes today it appeared as if he might slip outside the top ten before recovering with five birdies and two further bogeys to finish just two behind the winner, Thurston Lawrence of South Africa.

RESULTS

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Brendan Jones 4th in Korea Open


Brendan Jones -file photo – courtesy of Japan Tour
Australian golfer, Brendan Jones, has finished in a share of 4th place at the Asian Tour’s Kolon Korea Open, the 48-year-old taking advantage of his new found status on the Asian Tour to play an event which also offered the chance of a start at the Open Championship.

The leading two players not otherwise exempt to this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool earned the right to play the event and while Jones just missed out (finishing two shots from the required number) it was nonetheless a good week from the Canberra golfer.

Jones gained Asian Tour status courtesy of his win at the New Zealand Open in March, an event jointly sanctioned by both the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour, and after playing a stand-alone Korean Tour event at last week’s Hana Bank Open where he missed the cut, he has turned his fortunes around this week.

The tournament was won by American Seungsu Han who won by a massive six shots over the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.

Jones’ fellow Australian Junseok Lee struggled to a final round of 77 to finish in a share of 13th, Kevin Yuan was 40th and Won Joon Lee 45th and Scott Hend 61st.

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Minjee Lee within two of KPMG PGA lead


Minjee Lee during today’s round two action – image PGA of America Scott Taetsch

Minjee Lee produced the equal best round of the day (67) to improve 28 positions on day two of the KPMG PGA Championship at the Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey and at the halfway mark of the second major of the year from women’s golf, she is in a share of 5th place and just two behind Ireland’s Leona Maguire.

Lee raced to the turn in 32 after starting at the 10th hole today and played her closing nine in even par to be 3 under for the event.

NSW’s, Grace Kim, is the next best of the Australians in a share of 21st after being unable to keep pace with her opening 70.

Victorian, Gabi Ruffels, currently starring on the secondary Epson Tour after failing to enter final LPGA Tour qualifying last year is tied for 29th after fighting back from four consecutive dropped shots in the middle of her round.

Hannah Green and Stephanie Kyriacou are tied for 49th while Lydia Ko, seemingly battling swing changes, only just made the cut on the number.

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Australians stay in touch in lucrative Travelers Championship


Adam Scott – file photo courtesy of PGA of America

Australian golfers are well placed at the halfway mark of the Travelers Championship in Hartford Connecticut, Adam Scott tied for 5th while Min Woo Lee and Lucas Herbert are another shot back and in a share of 7th place.

Admittedly, the leaders Denny McCarthy and Keegan Bradley are some five shots ahead of Scott but all three Australians are well enough place to make their presence felt over the final 36 holes in this US$20 million designated event on the PGA Tour.

Scott was unable to replicate the brilliance of his opening round 62 but a 2 under 68 kept him in touch.

“Yeah, I mean, bit of a slow day compared to yesterday,” said Scott. “Still was 68. You know, wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders. Missed a few fairways, missed a few greens, and missed a few putts that looked pretty good. Just didn’t really get the momentum going. But, you know, hopefully that’s my slow day for the week.

“I think there is something where obviously it’s not as penal as a U.S. Open and it gives you a little freedom. I don’t know, you give yourself a break and after a week of not aiming at a pin you can aim at a pin, and that can sometimes spark good things. There is no doubt U.S. Opens are demanding. Nice to come back and make birdies.

“I mean, if I can just erase a little missed cut at the U.S. Open out, I had three top 10s in my last four events; everything was looking pretty good. Through two days here still feels pretty good. I would like to keep this going and keep notching up the results and try and make a big run the next few weeks into the Playoffs and get amongst it.”

Lee is taking advantage of the new status he has on the PGA Tour and after thinking he might not make this field, his top ten at last week’s US Open was the catalyst for him gaining a start here.

Lee had his thoughts on the efforts of the Australians to date.

“I think I guess we thrive off each other. Scotty is obviously one of the best ball strikers so it’s going to suit him — any course is going to suit him — but it really highlights iron play, and he’s obviously really good at that. Not sure what Cam finished up on, but, yeah, he’s played well, too. It’s good to see. I think he’s had a rough couple weeks, so nice to see him on the leaderboard.”

Herbert’s round of 64 was highlighted by an outward nine of 30 on a day where one of his original playing partners was forced to withdraw leaving him playing in a two ball with Nick Hardy.

“I mean, I found a little something with my putter yesterday morning before the round,” said Herbert.

“That’s really helped. I’ve putted great the last two days. To be honest, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my game. Literally out here trying to enjoy myself a bit. Yeah, feel like it’s been a bit of a rough stretch the last few weeks. Just feeling a bit defeated on the course. So I know I’ve been doing the right things and just trying to enjoy myself out there and probably not take it too seriously.”

Herbert has not played well in the US this season but there was one highlight when winning in Japan.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a tale of like two different tours. I’m playing great in Europe and had a garbage season on the PGA TOUR. Just didn’t got the results that I wanted. Haven’t been able to capitalize on results when I got myself into a decent position to do that.

“Yeah, just I’m 150 odd on the FedExCup and not even close to where I want to be. It’s, yeah, been tough to sort of deal with that and just managing my emotions and expectations. But it’s just a new challenge of the PGA TOUR.

“This is my second full season on the PGA TOUR, so it’s just a new challenge of figuring out how to play out here, how to beat these guys, play these golf courses better than them. And, yeah, I think when I do get better results it’s going to feel even better because I have gone through this struggle.”

Given the money available this week where even a top 10 is worth more then US$500,000 a good weekend for Herbert could change his season completely.

Jason Day and Cameron Davis also made the cut but are back in 41st position at 5 under and tens hots from the lead.

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New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier leads BMW International Open


Daniel Hillier in action during round two – image courtesy of Getty Images

New Zealand’s DP World Tour rookie, Daniel Hillier, has a one shot lead at the halfway mark of the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany, a second round of 67 moving the 24 year old ahead of Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.

Hillier’s form in his debut season on the DP World Tour has been quite a mixture to date. Two starts ago he finished 5th at the KLM Open but either side of that have been four missed cuts so again he has found form in a comparative drought just as he did in the Netherlands.

“Pretty tough conditions out there,” said Hillier. “Breeze is definitely up and making it tricky. Pretty swirling winds as well. But yeah, played really solid front nine. There were a couple of lucky ones coming in and managed to go round bogey free which was pretty good.

“I mean I think it helps when you come from Wellington, playing in the wind all your life. Then you have to navigate your way around it. As I say, got lucky couple of times coming in.

“It’s great golf course. I think it says my game crowds have been pretty awesome as well from obviously I mean, I’ve been to the marquee great. But you know so yeah, I feel the German guys have got a lot of spectators there watching them.

“Hopefully being one of the final groups tomorrow, we’ll get some more people watching and should be a fun couple of days.”

Hillier, a two time winner on the European Challenge Tour and a former two time New Zealand Amateur Champion and Australian Junior title holder, is considered New Zealand’s brightest young male star.

His best finish to date on the DP World Tour was when 3rd in an event in 2021 when playing on invitation but his 5th place in the Netherlands has been his best since gaining his card via the Challenge Tour late last year.

Australians Blake Windred and Elvis Smylie were also in the event but have failed to make the weekend.

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Greer and Stubbs face each other at Amateur Championship


Josh Greer – file photo USGA

Two of the three Australians who advanced to the match play phase of the Amateur (British) Championship at the Hillside Golf Club in Southport have moved through to the third round of the knockout phase following victories this morning.

That’s the good news, the bad news however is that both players will face off in round three, thus allowing only one Australian to remain in the event after tomorrow’s third round

21 year old West Australian Greer, who qualified in 5th place in the 36 hole strokeplay stages of the event, was up against Italian Matteo Cristoni today and accounted for him 2&1 while Victorian, Jasper Stubbs, just crept home against Japan’s Minato Oshima by a narrow one hole margin.

Greer has already qualified for the PGA Tour of Australasia having successfully negotiated his way through Tour School for next season so this last few weeks of his amateur career appear to be going well.

Stubbs is the current New Zealand Amateur Champion having won in Dunedin last November.

Gold Coast youngster Billy Dowling was up against Frenchman Clemente Charmasson but agonisingly lost at the 4th extra hole in their 18 hole encounter.

Dowling, who qualified in 40th place was forced to play an eliminator against Max Kristoffer of Denmark and did well to advance to the main field before being beaten today.

The surprise amongst the many Australians in the field was that former NSW Open and Asia Pacific Amateur Champion Harrison Crowe missed out on a place in the match play phase by one shot.

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Nine Australasians in KPMG PGA Field


World #3 Lydia Ko doing homework ahead of this week’s event – image PGA of America

The elite of women’s golf are in Springfield in New Jersey this week for the staging of their second major championship of the 2023 LPGA Tour season, the KPMG PGA Championship at the famed Baltusrol Golf Club.

The event carries prizemoney of U$S9 million with a first place cheque for US$1,350,000, a huge increase on the US$3.8 million on hand when Australia’s Hannah Green became just the third Australian after Jan Stephenson and Karrie Webb to take this title and won US$575,000.

Australasia has a strong representation of nine players, headed in terms of world ranking by New Zealander Lydia Ko who will play her 11th Women’s PGA Championship, three of those resulting in top tens with a best of 2nd behind Brooke Henderson in 2016.

Ko won an event early in the year in Saudi Arabia but for much of the year to date her form has been below that she displayed for much of 2022 and she will need to improve if she is to be a factor this week.

“I haven’t been playing the best golf leading up to this event,” said Ko “But in saying that, I feel like my scores haven’t been the exact reflection of how I’ve been playing.

“Last week I didn’t feel like I played that bad but just a few putts here and there, maybe a few shots, and those are the big differences at the end of the week.

“Hopefully being able to bring all that together, that’s the weird thing and fun thing and frustrating thing about golf is that every day it’s different. Everything is clicking for you one day or that week, and then it may not be the case the week after.

“Hopefully it’s not too far away, and I’m just trying to be positive, especially on a golf course when you know it’s going to be tricky. You just have to be really patient.

“A lot of people are saying it’s tough, but it’s tough for everyone. It’s not just tough for one certain player. It’s going to be fair, and I’m hoping to have a fun week out here at a beautiful golf course.”

West Australian Minjee Lee has fared better in 2023 has also not played her best to date this year, a runner-up finish at the Founders Cup her only to ten in seven starts.

Lee will play her 8th Women’s PGA Championship, her best being when runner-up behind In Gee Chun last year.

Perth’s Hannah Green is one of only three Australians to win this title, her magnificent win in 2019 and her 5th place last year her best finishes in five previous starts.

Three starts ago Green won her third LPGA Tour title in Los Angeles but her form around that has been lacking in consistency. She has shown a capacity to play the big events well, however, and could again do well.

Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou just keeps getting better and appears destined for big things on the LPGA Tour after a couple of successful seasons in Europe.

Kyriacou finished 10th in this event last year and was then 7th at the AIG Women’s Open suggesting she does not mind the big stage. She has not exactly been setting the world on fire yet in 2023, but she has the game to go a long way.

NSW’s Grace Kim is in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour and is already making her mark with a win in Hawaii and a 10th place at the Founders Cup. Kim missed the cut in her only previous start in the event last year.

NSW’s Sarah Kemp has played well in patches in 2023 but having missed her last two cuts she arrives at this event with her confidence not at the level it was earlier in the year. This will be Kemp’s 13th start in this event making her the most experienced of the Australasians in that regard.

Having said that, Kemp has only made the cut in four of her previous twelve appearances in the event with a best of 37th.

Victorian, Su Oh, is a much better player than her current standing suggests but she has been forced to play both LPGA Tour and Epson Tour events in 2023 in order to keep continuity. A recent 6th place in an LPGA Tour event suggests she might have found something with her game and let’s hope she can continue to build on that effort.

Victorian, Gabi Ruffels has been in outstanding from on the Epson Tour in 2023 with two wins and one other top ten. She is already assured of graduating to the LPGA Tour next season but gets a chance at the higher level courtesy of her performances on the secondary tour.

Ruffels,a  former winner and runner-up in the US women’s Amateur Championship, has already performed well at the elite level with top twenty finishes in three major championships and, with the confidence her success on the Epson Tour has no doubt brought, she might do better again.

Karis Davidson is struggling a little in her second season on the LPGA Tour and gets to play this event for the first occasion. A 17th place three starts ago suggests her game is getting better but it needs to.

LEADERBOARD

 

 

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