Adam Scott Australia’s flag carrier at Sentry Tournament of Champions


Adam Scott plays his 8th Tournament of Champions – photo PGA of Australia

The PGA Tour begins its 2023 calendar schedule this week with the now traditional staging of the Sentry Tournament of Champions for winners and those otherwise eligible from performances in the previous calendar year, but twelve months on from Cameron Smith’s first of five titles in 2022 things have changed for the once Holy Grail of professional golf.

Players such as Smith and Joaquin Niemann who would have qualified to play at Kapalua have left to join LIV Golf and the world number one, Rory McIlroy, has made the decision to give the event a miss despite it being one of the now 13 ‘elevated’ events the PGA Tour promotes to attract the best players into events where prizemoney begins at US$15 million and in some cases reaches US$20 million per event.

Clearly, this has been a reaction to the money on offer for players who have switched to LIV but in order to play the events, players, as members of the PGA Tour, must commit to all but one and in the case of McIlroy he has decided to extend his Xmas / New Year break and begin later in the season as he has done regularly.

39 winners or those otherwise eligible from the 2022 year are in the field including last year’s runner-up Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay (4th last year) and world number 2 Scottie Scheffler who did not play in 2022 as it was not until Phoenix in February that his amazing run began.

Adam Scott is the only Australasian in the field, the 42 year old earning the right to play not because of winning in 2022, but having made the Tour Championship he benefits from a newly introduced category.

Scott has only seven previous starts in the event for two top tens, often preferring to start his season later in the year but he does come off a runner-up finish at the Australian Open and as Australia’s flag carrier this week his progress will be watched with interest.

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Master of the Amateurs gets amateur golf underway in 2023

Harrison Crowe – defending champion, Asia Pacific Amateur Champion and 2023 Masters invitee – photo AAC

The Master of the Amateurs gets amateur golf underway for 2023 when the highly regarded title goes up for grabs at the Southern Golf Club in Melbourne’s Sandbelt, where the event is to be staged for the next three years.

From its inception in 1997 until now, the event has regularly seen players destined to be amongst the game’s best either win or compete with distinction on some of Australia’s finest layouts.

Names such as Brendan Jones, Jason Day, Aaron Wise and Sahith Theegala stand out amongst the winners, but others such as Cameron Smith, Rickie Fowler, Will Zalatoris, Russel Henley, Marc Leishman, Morgan Hoffman, Tommy Fleetwood and Bryson De Chambeau, to name but a few, have graced the fairways of high quality layouts en-route to a successful professional career.

The defending champion is New South Welshman, Harrison Crowe, who gets a chance to hone is game ahead of teeing it up at the Masters in April, a right he earned courtesy of his fine win at the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship.

Crowe may well have been a professional by now, but by winning the Asia Pacific title and gaining a start at August National, provided he remains amateur, then he gets a chance to defend the title he won by a narrow one shot at the Victoria Golf Club twelve months ago.

A women’s division was introduced in 2018 and players such as Japan’s Yuka Yasuda and Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou are prominent on an honours board, still very young in the making but one sure to produce world class players in the future.

108 male golfers and 48 females will compete in their respective events over 72 holes.

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Ruffels and Rudgeley earn Ladies European Tour status


Kirsten Rudgeley – great boost to her professional aspirations – photo WATC

A former winner of and runner-up at the US Women’s Amateur Championship, Gabi Ruffels, and Perth’s, Kirsten Rudgeley, have emerged as the two Australians to gain the all important Category 12 status for the 2023 Ladies European Tour following the completion of their 90 hole qualifying school in La Manga in Spain.

Both players finished with a fifth and final round of 68 to finish 8th and 9th respectively and open the door for what should be a full season on the Ladies European Tour.

Rudgeley’s bounce-back from a potentially damaging 4th round of 75 was crucial as she pursued full status and the former runner-up at the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship now has the key ingredient of an early professional career, namely somewhere to play.

The London born but Perth raised golfer, this year played the Augusta National Women’s Championship and in 2021 qualified to play the AIG Women’s Open so she has considerable experience behind her as she sets out on a professional career.

Ruffels has played the LPGA Tour’s secondary series the Futures Tour in 2022 and finished 15th overall but needing to be inside the top ten to earn the right to play the LPGA Tour, she fell short and so the decision to head to Europe where she is expected to feature prominently given her excellent pedigree and background.

New Zealand’s Weyung Keh and Hanee Song finished an agonising one shot out of Category 12 status but will have the chance to play with Category 18 status which should gain them both sufficient starts to make their mark if good enough.

 

 

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Four Australasians remain alive at Ladies European Tour Q School


Gabi Ruffels – file photo courtesy of USGA

With just one round now to play at the Final Stage of qualifying in Spain, two Australians and two New Zealanders remain alive in their pursuit of playing rights to the 2023 Ladies European Tour.

Of the ten Australians who began the 90 hole examination, only Hanee Song (NZ) and Gabriela Ruffels (Australia) both tied in 14th place and New Zealand’s Wenyung Keh (19th)  and Kirsten Rudgeley (26th) have kept open their chances of claiming one of the, ideally, top 20 cards but worst case top 50 for LET status next season.

Kristalle Blum, Kelsey Bennet, Amy Walsh, Jordan O’Brien, Munchen Keh, and Stefanie Hall all finished outside the leading 60 and ties required to play the final round.

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Eligible LIV Golfers to play Masters


Cameron Smith – one of several golfers no doubt relieved by the overnight news

The news overnight that Augusta National Golf Club has agreed to their existing qualifying criteria for the 2023 Masters applying to all golfers irrespective of their allegiance to LIV Golf or otherwise will be a great Xmas present to Cameron Smith and the others who have aligned themselves with the Saudi backed series provided of course they fit within the qualifying guidelines.

Liv Golf members such as Smith, Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Bryson De Chambeau, Charl Schwartzel and several others have all qualified through various means and the much awaited announcement today means all will tee it up at Augusta National in April.

Smith gains access through many different qualifying criteria including his world ranking (3), that he is the Open Champion and that he finished 3rd in the event last year and so gets the chance to go one better then his runner-up finish to Dustin Johnson in 2020 and add a second major to his rapidly growing CV.

Chairman Fed Ridley’s announcement released overnight reads as follows

December 20, 2022

STATEMENT REGARDING THE 2023 MASTERS TOURNAMENT

“From its inception in 1934, the purpose of the Masters Tournament has been to benefit the game
of golf. Each April, the Masters assembles the world’s leading golfers to compete for the Green
Jacket and a place in history. It provides a stage for fans to experience dramatic moments of
competition at the highest level and promotes the sport domestically and abroad.

Through the years, legends of the game have competed and won at Augusta National Golf Club.
Champions like Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Gary
Player, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have become heroes to golfers of all ages.

They have inspired some to follow in their footsteps and so many others to play and enjoy the
game. They have supported the sport and, thus, all who benefit from it. They have shown respect
for those who came before them and blazed a trail for future generations. Golf is better because
of them.

Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the
game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it. Although we are disappointed in these
developments, our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers
this coming April.

Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those eligible under our current criteria
to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament. As we have said in the past, we look at every aspect
of the Tournament each year, and any modifications or changes to invitation criteria for future
Tournaments will be announced in April.

We have reached a seminal point in the history of our sport. At Augusta National, we have faith
that golf, which has overcome many challenges through the years, will endure again.”

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One last 2022 task for Australasians at LET Tour School


Gabi Ruffels – former US Amateur Champion chasing status in Europe – photo USGA

While most other golfers will be thinking of Xmas and the Festive Season ahead, several Australasians face an important last task in 2022 when they vie for the right to play the Ladies European Tour in 2023.

The Final Stage of Qualifying for the LET begins in La Manga in Spain on Saturday where two course are being used in the 90-hole qualifier.

A cut will be made at the completion of the first 72 holes over two courses (the North and South Courses) at La Manga Club) following which the leading 60 players and ties will play the final round at the South Course.

146 golfers representing 31 countries are entered as they chase, ideally, one of the leading 50 cards with the leading twenty earning Category 12 status and the next 30 earning Category 16 status. Others earn very limited Category 18 status.

Amongst the 146 players entered are Australians Gabriela Ruffels, Amy Walsh, Stefanie Hall, Jordan O’Brien, Kelsey Bennett, Kirsten Rudgeley and Kristalle Blum, along with New Zealanders, Munchin Keh, Wenyung Keh and Hanee Song.

Ruffels a former winner and runner-up in the US Women’s Amateur Championship has been unable to earn full playing rights on the LPGA Tour and changes direction in an attempt to establish herself on a recognised tour and realise her significant talent.

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Davidson and Oh regain LPGA Tour status

Karis Davidson – file photo

Queensland’s Karis Davidson and Victorian Su Oh have both regained the right to play the LPGA Tour in 2023 following the completion of Q Series qualifying in Alabama this morning.

144 holes were used to decide the 45 players who gained status of varying degrees with Davidson finishing in a share of 28th place and Oh 38th.

Davidson was a rookie on the LPGA Tour this season, after playing in Japan pre-Covid but her limited status allowed only 11 starts this year and after finishing in 106th place on the CME Race to the Globe Points table she was required to regain her playing rights.

Davidson played her final nine holes in 3 under 33 to finish three shots inside the cutline, that coming after a 4 under 32 and a round of 67 on Saturday

Oh has played the LPGA Tour since 2016 with varying degrees of success, winning close to $US2.5 million in that time but after finishing the 2022 season in 103rd position she was back at the Q School for the first time since first gaining her card in 2015.

Oh, too, staged a late rally to force her way into the top 45 with birdies at two of her last three holes, to make the mark by two.

Unfortunately Queenslander Robyn Choi and New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey both missed out on a place in the top 45 but will have Epson (Secondary) Tour status in 2023.

Choi appeared to be in control and inside the required number before a final nine of 41 saw her finish three from making it through.

Players finishing in positions 1-20 and ties earn LPGA Tour status in category 14.

Players finishing in positions 21-45 and ties earn LPGA Tour status in category 15 and Epson Tour status in category C.

Players finishing outside the top-45 and ties, who complete all rounds before the cut, will earn Epson Tour status for 2023.

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Australasian numbers in Japan reduced for 2023


Andrew Evans – regains Japan Tour status
The numbers of Australasian golfers plying their trade on the Japan Golf Tour will be reduced in 2023 following the completion of that tour’s Final Stage of Qualifying completed in Miyazaki in southern Japan this week.

93 golfers competed for a position inside the top 25 to secure status for next season and while the Japan Tour’s qualifying school does not distribute cards as such, those players finishing inside the top 25 will be assured of sufficient starts before a re-rank mid-season to allow them to potentially secure their ongoing involvement later in the season.

Amongst the Australasians doing well were New South Welshman, Andrew Evans, and Queensland based New South Welshman, Dylan Perry.

Evans who led the qualifiers at last year’s Japan Tour School finished ranked 18th this year while Perry finished 19th.

Evans played 19 events on the Japan Tour in 2022 but after a solid start to his campaign when producing top twenties in two early events, he eventually finished 94th on the money ranking and was forced to return to the Tour School.

Perry, a former runner-up at the British Amateur Championship, made only one cut in the seven events he played in Japan this year but has regained good status for this year.

Perry first joined the Japan Tour in 2019 and has a best finish in his time there of 3rd at the Heiwa Championship in that rookie season.

South Australian Adam Bland finished 33rd this week and will likely get the occasional start early in the new season but the issue with that is knowing when those starts come. Bland first joined the Japan Tour in 2014 and did win an event in 2015 but in 2022, despite recording two top tens in 17 starts, he had not done enough to retain status with out a return to Tour School.

New Zealand’s Michael Hendry finished 49th this week and will be unlikely to gain sufficient starts to build a campaign while Victorian Matt Griffin’s seven year campaign in Japan appears over after he finished 68th this week.

Currently, Brad Kennedy, Anthony Quayle and Brendan Jones are the only Australasians to have avoided Tour School and will be back in Japan next year.

Others to have played in Japan in recent years, Todd Sinnott and David Bransdon have also missed out on status for next year.

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Green and McKenzie earn 2023 PGA Tour Champions playing rights

Richard Green – file photo

Victorians Richard Green and David McKenzie have successfully negotiated one of the most demanding tests in professional golf after finishing inside the top five at Final Stage of PGA Tour Champions Qualifying in Arizona this week.

For Green it marks a debut season on the PGA Tour Champions in 2023 while for McKenzie he regains playing rights having first joined the Tour in 2018.

Green’s four shot victory over 78 players to claim the top spot this morning comes a few weeks after winning at his First Stage qualifying venue in Nevada by a massive 12 shots and augurs well for a successful post-50 career in golf.

“It means everything,” said Green of earning PGA TOUR Champions membership. “I’ve had a long career playing overseas in Europe and I’ve wanted to always play in America. I tried my best to get a card on the PGA TOUR in the 2000s and just fell short all the time. It’s like a goal achieved, so that’s a big deal.”

The top five finishers at Final Stage of Q-School will be fully exempt into all open, full-field events on the 2023 PGA TOUR Champions.

Left-hander, Green, was a three-time winner on the DP World Tour and among other victories was a win at the 2004 Australian Masters at Huntingdale and in 2022 he won twice on the European Senior (Legends) Tour.

Interestingly, Green’s win at the Australian Masters came after a playoff against McKenzie.

McKenzie, a veteran of 102 PGA Tour Champions starts already, finished in a share of 3rd this week, holding on to one of the top five spots by just one shot.

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David McKenzie – file photo

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Does Cathedral Lodge victory earn Nick Flanagan another reprieve?


Nick Flanagan with Cathedral Golf Club’s owner David Evans – photo Gary Lisbon.

The win by Newcastle’s Nick Flanagan in this week’s Cathedral Invitational at the Cathedral Lodge and Golf Club about two hours north of Melbourne, might have been achieved in a two day near end of season hit-out for many of those who played in last week’s Australian Open, but, for Flanagan, the victory and the accompanying A$100,000 might just once again open the door to extending his professional golfing career.

One of the hottest amateurs in the world when becoming Australia’s first ever winner of the US Amateur Championship (2003), the now 38 year old US based golfer has ridden a roller coaster of success and otherwise since turning professional in 2004.

In 2007 he won three events on the then Nationwide Tour in the US, graduated to the PGA Tour through the Battlefield Promotion and was named Nationwide Tour Player of the Year.

Despite a good start to his rookie season on the PGA Tour he failed to retain his status and was back on the secondary tour in 2009. His only other win would come three years later when winning the 2012 BMW Charity Pro Am on the Nationwide Tour defeating fellow countryman Cameron Percy in a playoff for that title.

Flanagan head to head against Adam Scott at the 2019 Australian PGA before finishing 3rd. – another key moment

Three years ago, Flanagan finished in 3rd place behind Adam Scott at the final Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines and it was a very emotional Flanagan at the time who essentially had given himself a reprieve from the professional golfing graveyard and the possibility of having to look elsewhere to support his wife and family.

“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,” said Flanagan that day. “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.”

Three months later he finished 3rd behind Brad Kennedy at the 2020 New Zealand Open, yet another important moment in extending his finances and passion to play the game for a living.

It was a lovely moment then and yesterday’s win prompted similar emotions as he held the winner’s cheque and considered what this might mean to him.

“I wanted to come back and I pretty much just said we’ll see what happens and if it goes great, great, and if it doesn’t then we’ll sit down over Christmas and decide what’s next,” Flanagan told the PGA Tour of Australasia.

“It’s not the first time I’ve done that – the last time I did it I finished third two weeks in a row. Maybe there’s something to that attitude of kind of knowing it’s not that big a deal if I’m not going to play golf as a career. It really just lets you go out and free-wheel it.

“With two kids now every cent counts. For me to keep chasing these tournaments and spending the money to come over, if you don’t perform it goes really quick and your priorities change.

“This will definitely give me a little bit of breathing room to be able to come back and play a little bit next year, the events at the beginning of the year, and hopefully bring the family with me which we haven’t been able to do with how expensive it can be.”

Flanagan defeated another former outstanding amateur but another who has been battling in the paid ranks, Scott Arnold in a playoff for the title, the difference between first and second place a much needed A$50,000 for both of them.

Grace Kim and Karrie Webb tied for 3rd in the mixed gender event and secured cheques for A$18,000 each.

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