Cam Davis leads Australians in Detroit but improvement for Jason Day

Jason Day – file photo PGA of America

It was an encouraging week for Jason Day at this past week’s Rocket Mortgage Championship in Detroit, the 34 year old producing his third best PGA Tour finish in 13 starts this season and his best in his last six starts with a share of 17th at the Detroit Golf Club.

Day’s final round off 66 moved him from 29th to 17th overnight and moved him to 106th in the FedEx Cup standings assuring him of a start in the first of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, beginning on August 11th.

2022 has been Day’s worst season in terms of FedEx Cup standing since first joining the PGA Tour via the then Web.Com Tour in 2008.

His worst season came in 2021 when finishing 114th in the final standings and although he has struggled in 2022, his finish in Detroit gives some hope to make a late charge up the standings during the, hopefully, three Playoff events.

Defending champion Cameron Davis finished as the best of the Australians when he tied for 14th after only just making the cut on Friday. His weekend rounds of 65 and 67 now have him in 61st place in the FedEx Cup standings.

Adam Scott’s roller coaster of a week continued on Sunday recovering from a third round of 78 which came after a second round 66, with a final round of 65 to finish 39th.

Scott now finds himself in 73rd place in the FedEx Cup standings.

The leading 125 players will play the opening FedEx Cup Playoff.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic was won by Tony Finau who made it two wins from two starts after for so long being considered a player who struggled to break through despite his many near misses.

Finau has recorded nine runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour but until two weeks ago had only one win to his name.

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Great fightback from Cameron Davis but still well back

Cameron Davis – file photo

Defending champion Cameron Davis has bounced back with a third round of 65 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, improving 43 places after just making the cut and is now in a share of 16th place, albeit 11 shots from the joint leaders, Tony Finau and Taylor Pendrith.

Davis who won his first and only PGA Tour title to date in this event last year was on track for a course record 63 when he finished in the middle of the fairway and just 114 yards from the hole at the last but a thinned approach saw him miss the green and he took bogey.

Still, it was a great bounce-back from his second round of 73 and while contending for the title is out of the question it was an encouraging recovery for the Sydney golfer.

“I mean, it was a nice bounce-back from yesterday where I felt like for the first, at least the first few holes I feel like I completely lost my swing, I had no idea where it went,” said Davis.

“On the back got some good stuff going yesterday afternoon and then brought it into today and made some putts with it today as well. A little sour end there with a wedge, but 17 really good solid holes. But I’m not on the number anymore, I’ve kind of worked my way back into the middle of the pack somewhere, which is nice.

“It was just more of a relaxing round. You’re playing in the morning, the greens are smoother, there’s no wind, you pick your number. If you hit it solid, you know where it’s going to go rather than being left up to the wind above the trees that you can’t really feel.

“Today was just a little bit more relaxed on the greens. I wasn’t trying to make a putt to hopefully make the cut on the number, it was just trying and make some progress and have a good round. Yeah, it just worked a lot better than it did yesterday.”

Jason Day is two behind Davis and in a share of 29th while Adam Scott somehow managed to record a round 12 shots worse than his third round 66 and slumped to a share of 66th with a round of 78.

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Stenson casts aside distractions to lead LIV Golf Bedminster


Henrik Stenson heads out to play his second round today – photo LIV Golf

Henrik Stenson has cast aside the distractions of the past two weeks to lead the LIV Series Bedminster event into the third and final round in Bedminster in New Jersey.

Stenson’s second round of 69 has him three clear of Dustin Johnson with co-first round leader Patrick Reed another shot back in a share of third place with Taylor Gooch and Carlos Ortiz.

The highlight of Stenson’s round was a massive eagle putt at the 8th and although he would drop a shot at the 18th, that he has the lead after such a emotional week during which he lost the Ryder Cup captaincy is particularly impressive.

“Yeah, it’s certainly been a busy and emotional week, no question, or 10 days,” said Stenson. “But I was very happy with how I managed to channel the concentration and go out and play the best round of the season yesterday.

“I didn’t have my best stuff today, but I was still focused and good attitude, and that’s what kept me in the ballgame. Yeah, pleased with the way I’ve kind of kept my head down and focused on business.

“Today I definitely didn’t have my best, but I was hanging in there. It was tougher conditions with the wind. It’s a tough golf course, and the greens are extremely quick and quite undulated. With the wind it’s even harder to put the ball in the perfect spots, and yeah, it was a bit of a grind at times, and then we kind of came through with some really good shots and made some nice putts.”

Travis Smyth added a 73 to his opening 69 to be tied in 14th place and lead the four Australians in the 48 man field.

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Dustin Johnson – photo LIV Golf

 

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Adam Scott improves at Rocket Mortgage Classic


Adam Scott – file photo

While much of the focus was on the potential defence of the title by Australian Cameron Davis, it was his fellow countryman, Adam Scott, who put his hand up in the opening two rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

Scott finds himself in a share of 7th place after a second round of 66 and he is six shots behind leader Canadian Taylor Pendrith as the event heads into the weekend.

Jason Day who has slipped to 150th in the world rankings is tied for 35th and at 5 under par and tens shots from the lead while Davis himself only just made the cut on the number at 3 under par after being unable to capitalise on his opening 68.

“Yeah, it’s a good start,” said Scott. “Yesterday I think we in the afternoon had the toughest conditions and 3 under was a pretty good score, especially when there was a lot of low numbers already posted before I teed off.

“So I kind of, I clawed my way around yesterday and nearly really got it going today and generally playing pretty solid. I’m sure I’ll be quite a few back starting the weekend, but my game is in a good spot and I think I can play well on the weekend and make up the ground.”

Scott was asked about a change of the angle of attack in his driving and explained; “Well, I made a conscious effort after the U.S. Open when I started practicing a week or so after the U.S. Open to change that because although my play is OK, generally.

“I think if a couple of errant drives a day was costing me the chance of shooting rounds like today or even the good rounds I played at the open at St. Andrews, so just bringing the ball a little more under control. It’s funny because I haven’t — I don’t feel like I’ve sacrificed any distance even though we all think you’ve got to launch it high to hit it far.

“But it’s helpful when you play St. Andrews to do that because it runs. So I didn’t feel like I was sacrificing too much, but I’ve certainly hit more fairways and feel like I’m going to.”

Scott is currently in 72nd place in the FedEx Cup standings but given current circumstances with the LIV Golf defectors that will improve and if he can finish this week off week, then even further.

The leader Pendrith is yet to win on the PGA Tour but was twice a winner in Canada. He leads by one over his fellow first round leader and last week’s winner, Tony Finau,

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Jeffrey Guan goes down in epic US Junior Quarter Final


Jeffrey Guan during his quarter final match – photo USGA Chris Keane

Sydney’s Jeffrey Guan has gone down in the quarter-finals of the US Junior Championship at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, but not without an epic battle against Californian Eric Lee, the match finishing at the second extra hole where Lee closed out the match with a birdie 3.

The encounter appeared to be a one-way street through 11 holes with the American racing to a 5 up lead but, somehow, Guan was able to drag himself up off the canvas to fight his way back into the match, winning six holes and losing one in his next seven to draw level at the 18th.

Both players parred the first extra hole but the birdie by Lee sees him into the semi finals and Guan eliminated.

Guan from the Australian and Bexley Golf Clubs in Sydney is a two time Australian Junior Champion.

All four of the quarter final matches were separated by no more than one hole in a fascinating day of close encounters.

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Lydia Ko takes Trust Golf Scottish Open lead

 

 

Lydia Ko tees of at her 10th hole today – photo Getty Mark Runnacles – LPGA

Lydia Ko will take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open Championship at the Dunbarnie Links.

Ko, who has recorded five top three finishes in her last seven LPGA Tour starts and is currently the world number 4, added a second consecutive round of 65 to edge two clear of American Lilia Vu who last year finished as the leading money winner on the secondary Epson Tour to earn her LPGA Tour card.

Korea’s Eun-Hee Ji is another shot back in third place.

Ko powered home over her closing nine in 30 to sweep to the lead and after her round described the day’s play.

“I felt like I played more solid yesterday. Today — well, maybe it was the same. I mean, technically I shot the same score anyways. I think I had a few more birdie opportunities today that I missed.

“I think sometimes when you’re giving yourself a lot of looks, I think you can get easily frustrated because not all of them are going to drop. And I think a lot of the times when I was putting for birdie, it was in pretty good range and not that tricky, where I think I was putting pressure on myself, then I would hit a misshot on the next one.

“So I tried to make sure that what happened behind me wasn’t going to affect what was happening in front. I got off to a good rhythm, birdieing the third, and then hit it nearly on the 1 (her 10th hole), on the 4th, and then a great shot into 5.

“So, yeah, I think especially in conditions like this, where the wind is pretty calm and the sun is out, you have to take advantage of it because we all know that over on this side of the world, it can change pretty quick.”

Ko had the better of the conditions on the opening two days but knows that over the weekend, when the field congests in terms of tee times, conditions tend to even out a little.

“Especially over the weekend. Everyone is playing in pretty much similar conditions. I don’t think it changes that much. It can a little bit over the first couple of days just because the amount of players is a lot larger, but on the weekend, everyone is playing in the same conditions. If it’s going to rain and be windy, it’s going to be the same for all.

“So you just have to play with what you get, and those are the aspects that you expect over here. If you do end up surviving four days without rain, you say, wow, what a beautiful week we had, even though it is summer. So it’s almost more surprising when you have four sunny days.

“You just have to embrace it and know the wind and the rain and fescue, all that comes to factor when you’re playing links golf. So you just have to be patient and try and hit good quality shots and see what happens.”

Hannah Green and Minjee Lee are the best of the Australians at 5 under par and a massive nine shots from Ko’s lead.

The West Australian pair were the only two Australians to make it to the weekend with Stephanie Kyriacou, Su Oh and Whitney Hillier missing the cut.

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Jeffrey Guan reaches Quarter Finals at US Junior Championships

A happy Jeffrey Guan following his comfortable win in the Round of 16 – photo Chris Keane USGA  

Sydney’s Jeffrey Guan has reached the quarter finals of the US Junior Amateur Championship in Bandon in Oregon following his victories in today’s Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches.

Guan was up against Pennsylvania’s Nicholas Gross in the morning Round of 32 match-up and survived a tight encounter after being 2 down with just six holes to play.

Guan applied the after burner with three birdies in his next four holes and eventually won the match with a birdie to halve the 18th and win the match 1 up.

His afternoon encounter against Charlie Palmer for Arizona was a much easier encounter, Guan taking control of the match early to be 4 up through 8 holes. He reached 6 up through 12 and although he lost the 13th, the match was all over at the 14th with Guan the winner, 5&4.

“I am really excited,” said Guan. “The target for me this week was to make the top 64 and then focus on every match if I did make it. I did just that today.”

Tomorrow Guan faces Californian Eric Lee in an attempt to reach the Semi Finals. Lee, a Sunny Hills rising senior who plans to play for the University of California-Berkeley in 2023, knocked out incoming Long Beach State freshman and Servite High grad Jack Cantlay, of Los Alamitos, Calif., 2 and 1.

The winner of the 2021 American Junior Golf Association’s Tournament of Champions and runner-up in the 2021 Junior PGA Championship, Lee never trailed in beating the younger brother of reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Patrick Cantlay.

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Jeffrey Guan only Aussie survivor at US Junior

Jeffrey Guan in action earlier this week – photo Chris Keane USGA

Sydney’s Jeffrey Guan has progressed through the opening round of the match play phase of the US Junior Championships in Bandon in Oregon.

Guan, a two time Australian Junior Champion, easily accounted for his American opponent Tiger Christensen 7&5, finishing his match at the 13th hole and being 5 under for the holes played.

Guan will play the American Nicholas Gross, who finished 4th during the stroke-play phase in tomorrow’s Round of 32 match.

Victoria’s Harvey Young was not quite as fortunate however as he fell victim to the 53rd qualifier Mason Snyder 3&2 and although Young finished his match at even par, Snyder was 4 under for the 16 holes played.

New Zealand’s Jayden Ford finished in a share of second place in the 36 hole qualifying but was unable to maintain that form in today’s opening match play encounter and went down to Norway’s Oscar Bach.

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Four Australians play third Liv Golf event

Travis Smyth – practicing this week in New Jersey

Despite the growing strength of the field for this week’s Liv Golf event in Bedminster in New Jersey, four Australians have retained their place in this week’s third of the eight-tournament series.

Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby, Travis Smyth and Jed Morgan will tee it up in the US$25 million event headed by the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson De Chambeau, Brooks Koepka and the two men successful in the opening two events, Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace.

Fellow Australian Kevin Yuan played in the first event in London while Blake Windred played both in London and Portland but both have lost their places in series as players such as Charles Howell 111, Jason Kokrak, Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey bolster the 48 man field.

Yuan earned US$150,000 for his 33rd place in London while Windred earned a combined US$265,000 for his efforts in London and Portland so the series provided the young golfers an invaluable cushion for what lies ahead elsewhere.

Smyth has been the big earner amongst the Australians in the opening two events having won close to US$650,000 to date, most of that coming from the runner-up finish his team recorded in London.

Bedminster Purse

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New Zealand golf’s bodies form working alliance

 


A scene from the New Zealand PGA Championship – photo NZPGA

Golf New Zealand and the Professional Golfers’ Association of New Zealand (PGA of New Zealand) have entered a landmark agreement marking a historic day for golf in Aotearoa.

The agreement between the national body and the PGA of New Zealand will see an enhanced and cohesive approach to the delivery of services throughout the country.

Together, the PGA of New Zealand and Golf New Zealand are focused on inspiring increased participation in golf through a range of initiatives, programmes, education, and support services. To enhance outcomes, the two organisations have agreed to unite under a one workforce model that will create greater efficiency and increased positive impacts for golf.

From 1 August, Golf New Zealand will assume the operational delivery functions of the PGA of New Zealand, reporting to their Board under a wide-ranging services agreement. The PGA of New Zealand workforce will become embedded into the wider Golf New Zealand team collectively focused on operating in the best interests of the game. The Golf New Zealand team will also provide a wide range of additional services such as financial management, marketing, communications, golf operations and general administration support for the PGA membership.

Importantly, the PGA of New Zealand Board remains in place to ensure the enduring enhancement of the PGA brand, history, equity, and legal structures. The PGA of New Zealand Board will set and approve PGA of New Zealand specific strategies and programmes and importantly ensure strategy delivery for its members.

Golf New Zealand Chief Executive Dean Murphy says:

“This is a significant moment for golf in New Zealand. We recognise the special role that PGA Professionals play across all parts of the golf sector in New Zealand, and we want to see this role enhanced as we move into the future.”

“This new initiative will see our organisations join forces to drive enhanced outcomes for golf. The sport has such great opportunities in front of it, and I know by joining forces with the PGA of New Zealand, we will be able to deliver better results for our members and drive the sport to continue to thrive.”

PGA of New Zealand Chair Phil Ellison mirrors Murphy’s thoughts:

“The PGA of New Zealand recognised the opportunity to enhance the game of golf and delivery to our members by utilising the skills and resources of Golf NZ. The PGA of New Zealand Board believe that by focusing the PGA’s limited resources into strategy delivery and drawing on Golf NZ’s vast golf experience and resources that a better service and cohesiveness will be delivered to all golfers in NZ.”

“Our goal is to focus on the enhanced delivery of our three strategic pillars being Education, Vocational Golf, and Tournaments for our members. We are confident under this new structure we together will achieve far more through the whole than the sum of the parts.”

Golf New Zealand is committing significant investment into this delivery model, including up-weighting the PGA of New Zealand staffing structure with two new roles: a PGA Member Services Manager and a PGA Tournaments Coordinator. These two new roles will join two existing PGA Education roles under the one workforce model will deliver enhanced outcomes for the PGA members and the greater golf community.


New Zealand Golf’s flagship event – the NZ Open – Sir Bob Charles with 2020 winner Brad Kennedy photo Photosport

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