Adam Scott finished in a four-way share of second place at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf and Country Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, one shot behind winner J.J. Spaun on a day when as many as 20 players had a realistic chance of taking one of European golf’s greatest titles.
Scott began the day two shots behind Manuel Elvira and Filippo Celli, but an almost compulsory birdie at the par-5 4th put him among 15 players within one shot of the lead. A bogey at the 6th after missing the green and then a five-foot putt was followed by several frustrating near misses on the greens, but the final seven holes at Wentworth provided plenty of opportunity, and Scott took near full advantage with birdies at the 12th, 13th, 17th and 18th for his round of 68 and to have a share of the lead at that point.
2025 US Open Champion, Spaun, was playing two groups behind Scott, and although he missed an opportunity at the 17th, he would two-putt for birdie at the last to claim the lead, although he was joined almost immediately at 17 under by Elvira, who hit the most magnificent approach to the par 5 17th and converted for eagle.
Elvira, without a win as a professional, needed a birdie at the reachable par 5 last to take the title and, after finding the fairway with an iron from the tee, was left with just over 250 yards to the hole. He decided to lay up but found a fairway bunker, then missed the green with his third.
He then found the greenside bunker with his 4th. He needed to get up and down to take second outright but failed to do so, and the resultant double bogey saw him fall back into a share of second place, still a great result, but it was a case of what might have been for the 30-year-old Spaniard. The difference between a potential win and his share of second place was €800,000
Scott earned €520,000 for his share of second place and moved 50 places to 34th in the Race to Dubai rankings.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox began the day three from the lead but made a great start, and when he birdied the 8th and 9th holes for an outward nine of 31, he had the lead at 14 under par. After a mid-round talk with Sky’s on-course interviewer, Tim Barter, Fox pulled his second slightly at the 11th and found the front left bunker and was unable to get up and down. Then, after finding the rough at the reachable par 5 12th, he unluckily hit a bunker rake left in front of the greenside bunker and was faced with an awkward pitch over that bunker, which he failed to negotiate and was forced to save par from the sand.
It had been a costly stretch and perhaps more thought should be given to interviewing players so late in an event when there is so much going on. Fox obviously agreed to the on-course chat, but he might have been better advised to refuse given the circumstances. It is not in Fox’s nature to do so, but it might also be up to the producers to avoid such a situation.
Fox did, however, hit a fine shot to the last, and although he missed his eagle chance, his birdie saw him finish with a round of 68 and a share of 6th place. Fox earned €220,000.
Daniel Hillier added a second consecutive round of 69 to finish 36th, while Kazuma Kobori was 56th.
For Hillier, he is now in 9th position amongst the players in line for one of the ten PGA Tour cards for 2027, given to the leading ten in the Race to Dubai rankings at season’s end and who are non-exempt for the PGA Tour. Hillier is now 12th in the Race to Dubai rankings.
RESULTS
John Lyras leads in Kalgoorlie
The Graham Marsh designed Kalgoorlie Golf Club in Western Australia – image PGA of Australia
The second event of the 2026/2027 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, the WAPGA Championship, has reached the halfway stage at the Kalgoorlie Golf Club in Western Australia, one of 18 tournaments on this year’s schedule.
The opening event of the new season was played in Port Moresby in August when Josh Armstrong won over Lachlan Aylen and Louis Dobbelaar, but this event kicks off a prolonged series of events over the next five months culminating in a three-event swing in New Zealand through February and the National Tournament on the Mornington Peninsula in late March.
The three standout events in terms of prestige and prize money will be the Australian and New Zealand Opens and the Australian PGA Championship, with most of the other events carrying prize money of around A$250,000, the exception being the NSW Open, which plays for around A$800,000.
This week’s event in Kalgoorlie is played at the publicly owned, Graham Marsh-designed Kalgoorlie Golf Club, set amid the red dirt of the gold-mining area east of Perth, about 600 kilometres east of the city.
Through 36 holes, the leader is NSW golfer John Lyras, who has returned to tournament golf after a wrist injury has curtailed much of 2026, and although without a victory on the Australasian Tour, he has produced one or two runner-up finishes, including when second behind Brendan Jones at the 2023 NZ Open.
“I feel like I’m getting to a point where I’m starting to understand my game a bit better,” said Lyras. “And playing these first two rounds, that was really evident out there for me, even just analysing my own game out there. And I’m really pleased with the progress that I’ve got going at the moment.
“And truthfully, I love the direction I’m heading, but ultimately it’s just trying to alleviate some stresses on the body and my swing. And at the same time, it’s translating into better shots and the scoring still, you probably don’t score as well as you’d like to every round of golf – I think every golfer can say that – but I think just in terms of the way the ball feels off the club and through the turf, it’s been very different, and it’s been nice to feel a little bit less stress through the hands and the arms during a round of golf.”
Lyras leads by one over Queensland’s Dylan Gardner and American Tyler McCumber, whose father, Mark, was a ten-time winner on the PGA Tour, including wins at the Players Championship and the Tour Championship.
28-year-old Gardner is another yet to win on the PGA Tour of Australasia, but he did finish runner-up at the Gippsland Super 6 in 2024.
The cut fell at 2 over, eight shots from the lead, with 51 players making it to the weekend.
Leaderboard
Grace Kim finishes 7th in Hawaii
Grace Kim – file imageSydney’s Grace Kim has recorded her equal best result of the 2026 LPGA Tour when she finished in a share of 7th place at the Lotte Championship on Oahu in Hawaii.
Kim finished 7th earlier in the season at the Meijer Classic, but although she has made 13 of 17 cuts, there have been few finishes in contention.
Kim, who won her first major title in 2025 and has now just two top-ten finishes this season, has improved to 62nd in the Race to the Globe rankings compared to her 31st place at the completion of last season.
Porter is in 46th place in the Race to the Globe rankings.
Robyn Choi and Gabi Ruffels were the only other Australians to make the weekend but finished well back.
Results
Steve Alker makes it four wins for PGA Tour Champions season
Alker with yet another trophy – image Getty ImagesNew Zealand’s Steve Alker has held off a strong final-day challenge from Tag Ridings to win his 4th PGA Tour Champions title of the season, his 5th win of 2026, and his 14th PGA Tour Champions title in five years.
Alker earns US$345,000 for his win and takes his season’s earnings to US$2.3 million.
Alker’s win was all the more meritorious after back issues early in the week and after his regular caddie fell ill during Friday’s opening round, and a local 19-year-old caddie replaced him.
After one win early in the season, Alker has been on a roll, winning three of his last four and adding a European Senior Tour win, for four wins and a runner-up finish in his last five starts.
“Yeah, it’s pretty special, I haven’t done it since ’22,” said the 55-year-old, referring to the four victories. “Kind of a little bit surprised. I just crushed it the last six weeks; the scoring got better, my putting got better, driving it better, doing everything better. So I didn’t have my A-game today; we didn’t have our A-game in the last group, but just good to get it done. Made some big putts there at the end. Just so happy with No. 4.”
“Whyatt, (replacement caddie), he’s a local guy here; he’s only 19. He’s done a great job, helped me on some putts here and there I just wasn’t sure of because I hadn’t seen the golf course, hadn’t had enough time on it. So it all worked out.”
Alker will move past US$2 million for the season (US$2.3 million) but remains in 3rd position on the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab standings behind Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson.
RESULTS
Adrian Meronk wins first event in nearly four years
Adrian Meronk – first win since the 2022 Australian Open Germany-born but Polish citizen Adrian Meronk, has today won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, his first win since his 2022 Australian Open victory and his first DP World Tour success since the 2022 Irish Open.
Meronk, who has played the LIV Golf League in recent times, began the final round two behind the leader, Casey Jarvis of South Africa, but his equal best 3rd round of the week, a 63, had given him the momentum heading into the final day over the Old Course at St Andrews and by the turn he had drawn level.
He would finish the stronger and eventually won by two over Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard and Jarvis.
“It’s unreal,” said emotional Meronk. “As I told you before, I never usually cry but this one feels really special. I’m sorry, I’m just lost for words. To win here after ten years, after turning pro, it’s a dream come true, and it’s unusual. I’m sorry, I’m at a loss for words, but I’m extremely happy and relieved.
“The goal for the rest of the season was to try to get my status for next year, and that helps me a lot. I’m super happy that I actually got that goal, but I will have to re-evaluate my goals for the rest of the season and see what happens. I’ll do that tomorrow and then see what happens. I’m super happy and super grateful to be in that position.
Scotland’s Michael Stewart and England’s Tommy Fleetwood tied for 4th.
In what was an overall disappointing week for the large contingent of Australians and New Zealanders, Daniel Hillier did best when he tied for 30th.
Nick Voke was 51st, Declan O’Donovan 55th and Cameron John 61st.
The DP World Tour now heads to Madrid for the Spanish Open.
Results
Daniel Hillier best of the large Australasian contingent at St Andrews
Daniel Hillier – file image NZ Open / Photosport NZ
The 54-hole cut has been made at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier is the best of the large contingent of Australasians, with Hillier’s three-round total of 10 under par leaving him in a share of 21st and eight shots behind the leader, Casey Jarvis of South Africa.
Hillier played the St Andrews Old Course layout on day three and made the turn in 33, but a homeward nine of 37 saw him lose ground but he is one good round away from a top ten.
Hillier is chasing one of the PGA Tour cards for 2027 handed out to the leading ten players in the Race to Dubai rankings at season’s end and not otherwise exempt to the PGA Tour. He is currently 9th in those rankings so a good round tomorrow will assist in that cause.
Victorian Cameron John and NSW’s Declan O’Donovan have done well to make the cut at 7 under and in a share of 46th place while New Zealand’s Nick Voke is the only other of the original 22 Australasians to make it to tomorrow’s final round.
LIV Golf members Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Elvis Smylie and Marc Leishman were amongst those to miss the cut.
Leaderboard
Victorian Nadene Gole chasing second US title
Nadene Gole – image USGA
Victorian Nadene Gole has reached the quarter-finals of the US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the Portland Golf Club in Portland, Oregon, the 58-year-old, who two years ago became the first Australian to win the US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, taking on China’s Xiaolong Zhong, who qualified in first place in Monday’s stroke play, in her quarter-final match-up.
Gole, who qualified in 34th place on Monday, is in good form at present, having won the recent Arizona Women’s Senior Amateur and, in 2024, also won the British and New Zealand Senior Women’s Amateur after what had been a lengthy break from tournament golf.
Sydney’s Gemma Dooley also qualified for the match play phase but was beaten in today’s round of 16 match against Gole’s opponent tomorrow.
SCORING
Many Australasians get unique opportunity at Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Victorian Cameron John gets his first chance in the event courtesy of his great Australasian Tour efforts last season
This week’s 25th edition of the $5 million Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, played over three layouts in the Fife and Angus Council areas to the north and east of Edinburgh, provides a great opportunity for several Australasian golfers to gain exposure to a high-class event on outstanding layouts and for a prize fund to which they are seldom, if ever, exposed.
Played in a pro-am format, similar to that of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and more recently the New Zealand Open, players are teamed with one amateur for the opening three rounds played at each of St Andrews Old Course, Kingsbarns Golf Links and Carnoustie Golf Links before leading professionals and teams, making the 54-hole cut, return to St Andrews for the final round.
That the purse of US$ million is no greater than that offered in 2010 tells the story of an event for which its popularity is built on the format in which many of the game’s leading players enjoy the opportunity to not only play for a reasonable purse on fine golfing facilities, but the opportunity to reward many of the friends and families the opportunity to join them as golfing partners for the week.
Many of the game’s modern-day greats have played the event, and several have won, although the only one to have done so from our part of the world is New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who also teamed with Shane Warne to finish runner-up in the 2021 team’s section of the championship.
Ryan Fox is not in the field for this year’s event, which is understandable given his involvement in Chicago last week, but there is a long list of twenty-two Australians who have entered the event, many of them gaining a start in the event courtesy of their performances on the PGA Tour of Australasia last season.
Cameron John, James Marchesani, Will Florimo, Jay McKenzie, Marc Leishman, Austin Bautista, Jack Thompson, Matias Sanchez, Nick Voke, and Decland Donovan are in the field as a result of the Australasian Tour Order of Merit standings, but there are several others who also get a chance.
Wade Ormsby and Kevin Yuan compete based on their Asian Tour efforts, while Ryan Peake gets another chance to improve his standing in his rookie year in Europe.
New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, who surprisingly did not play in France last week, is entered, hopefully over a recent injury, to allow him to improve on his already impressive 13th position in the Race to Dubai rankings and to consolidate his current 9th place in the list of 10 who earn PGA Tour cards at the end of this DP World Tour season.
LIV golfers Elvis Smylie, Cam Smith and Lucas Herbert are in the field, while Jason Scrivener, David Michelussi, Anthony Quayle, Jack Buchanan and Conner McKinney round out a large ‘down under’ brigade.
Several Australasians fighting for survival in Europe
Australian Jason Scrivener makes good start in Paris – file image
With just five events remaining on the 2026 DP World Tour before the first of the two playoff events in Abu Dhabi in early November, several Australians face an important few weeks in their DP World Tour careers.
In order to make it to Abu Dhabi or perhaps even save their status on the DP World Tour they will need to finish inside the top 70 to gain access to the Abu Dhabi Championship, the top 50 to make it all the way to the DP World Tour Championship or be inside the top 115 to just retain their playing privileges for next season, unless otherwise exempt.
This week’s FedEx Open de France at Le Golf National near Paris is therefore an important week for several who ply their trade on the DP World Tour.
At the halfway stage of the event, Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick leads at 13 under, but West Australian Jason Scrivener has improved his chances of retaining his status for next season by opening with rounds of 65 and 70 to be sharing 11th place at 7 under and six behind Fitzpatrick.
Scrivener has yet to win on the DP World Tour, but he has regularly kept his status and has recorded several top 3 finishes, including when runner-up in Abu Dhabi in 2021.
He has improved to 102nd in the projected rankings as a result of his good start this week but still has work to do if he is to finish inside the top 115 in the Race to Dubai rankings by season’s end or, hopefully, make it to the Playoffs. After four missed cuts in succession, however, it is a good turnaround for the South African-born but now Perth-based golfer.
Queensland’s Anthony Quayle is another who needs a big finish to the season if he is to retain his standing after earning the right to play in Europe via the PGA Tour of Australasia in 2024/2025. Quayle opened with a round of 66 this week, but a second round of 72 now has him in 39th place heading into the weekend, improving slightly to 137th in the season-long standings.
Ryan Peake is another who earned the right to play in Europe via the PGA Tour of Australasia, where his performances included a win at the 2025 New Zealand Open.
Peake has missed the cut this week and has slipped to 166th in the Race to Dubai standings and will need something very special in the remaining few events of the season for which he is eligible. Peake has struggled for much of the season, missing 11 of his last 13 cuts.
Cam Smith and Kazuma Kobori both missed the cut this week, Smith’s immediate future in Europe is assured irrespective of what he decides to do with his LIV Golf involvement however. His Open Championship victory in 2022 gives him security of tenure for some time to come.
Kobori made it all the way to Dubai last season, but he is currently in 80th position in the Race to Dubai standings, and in order to even get to Dubai he has work to do over the next few events.
Elvis Smylie, Connor McKinney and David Micheluzzi also missed the cut by some margin this week, Smylie no doubt assured of some medical exemption in 2027 following rib issues keeping him out for 3 months this season. He is a LIV Golf member also, but where things stand there is anyone’s guess.
Micheluzzi and McKinney however, are 179th and 151st in the standings, and their immediate playing future in Europe looks in jeopardy.
Open de France Leaderboard
International side faces unenviable task at Medinah
Captains Geoff Ogilvy and Brandt Snedeker – image courtesy of Getty Images
The 16th edition of the Presidents Cup gets underway on Thursday at the Medinah Golf Club in Illinois, the International side still in the process of making the event a bona fide contest, having won only one of the previous encounters (Royal Melbourne in 1998) and forced a tie (in South Africa in 2003) on one other.
The Americans have therefore won 13 of the 15 times the two sides have met, including the last eleven in succession. Those stats suggest this week’s event will be a one-sided procession, although not all of the American victories have been as dominant as the records suggest.
The Internationals came close to victory when they lost by just one point in Incheon, Korea in 2015, a last-round battle between Sang Moon Bae and Jay Haas having the Internationals in with a real chance of sharing honours for the second occasion before Bae made an agonising mess of the final hole at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in front of his home fans.
In 2019, the event was played at Royal Melbourne, and the Internationals took a 10-8 lead into Sunday’s singles before being run down 8-4 and losing 16 -14.
The closest of encounters, therefore, including the win and the tie, have come at International venues, suggesting the Medinah Golf Club gives the Americans an even greater advantage than their ranking strength alone.
As is the case with the Ryder and Solheim Cups, the USA side enters the event as the heavy favourite as a result of their superiority in terms of world rankings. The USA side can boast that nine of their 12-man side are currently inside the top 20 in the world rankings, while the Internationals have only Si Woo Kim (14th) in that category.
Not that world rankings are the only barometer for success. Both the Solheim and Ryder Cups have been won more regularly in recent years by the less credentialed side mathematically, but the numbers in this week’s encounter are so heavily weighted in the favour of the Americans it is hard to see the Internationals mounting a serious contest.
The decision by Ernie Els in 2019 to introduce a shield to assist the International side in unifying under a common theme has perhaps assisted the side in overcoming the wide range of countries it represents and providing a rallying cry and a clearer identity for a team which regularly faces a very partisan American side and their fans was noble. That will be further the case this week, given the event is played about an hour west of Chicago.
Australian Geoff Ogilvy gets his chance to join fellow Australians Peter Thomson, Greg Norman and David Graham as team captains for the Internationals, the 2006 US Open winner and eight-time PGA Tour titleholder adding further benefit to the side given his role in his design team’s redesign at Medinah although that is unlikely to play too great a part in the team’s chances.
Whether his appointment is a poison chalice remains to be seen, but Ogilvy’s record, forthright manner and ownership of his own decisions suggest he will not back off from making the many hard decisions that will come his way during Cup week.
If there is one nugget that the Internationals could hope to utilise this week, it is that the USA side have to face either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup every year, and whether the typically one-sided nature of this particular contest creates apathy and complacency might just provide some hope of a contest at least, but, in all reality, it would seem the outcome of the 2026 Presidents Cup is a foregone conclusion.
A side that can leave out J.J. Spaun and Gary Woodland must be very good.
I would dearly like to see a different outcome, but it is hard to imagine it.
THE TEAMS AND SCORING
Scott finishes runner-up, Fox 6th at BMW PGA Championship
Scott began the day two shots behind Manuel Elvira and Filippo Celli, but an almost compulsory birdie at the par-5 4th put him among 15 players within one shot of the lead. A bogey at the 6th after missing the green and then a five-foot putt was followed by several frustrating near misses on the greens, but the final seven holes at Wentworth provided plenty of opportunity, and Scott took near full advantage with birdies at the 12th, 13th, 17th and 18th for his round of 68 and to have a share of the lead at that point.
2025 US Open Champion, Spaun, was playing two groups behind Scott, and although he missed an opportunity at the 17th, he would two-putt for birdie at the last to claim the lead, although he was joined almost immediately at 17 under by Elvira, who hit the most magnificent approach to the par 5 17th and converted for eagle.
Elvira, without a win as a professional, needed a birdie at the reachable par 5 last to take the title and, after finding the fairway with an iron from the tee, was left with just over 250 yards to the hole. He decided to lay up but found a fairway bunker, then missed the green with his third.
He then found the greenside bunker with his 4th. He needed to get up and down to take second outright but failed to do so, and the resultant double bogey saw him fall back into a share of second place, still a great result, but it was a case of what might have been for the 30-year-old Spaniard. The difference between a potential win and his share of second place was €800,000
Scott earned €520,000 for his share of second place and moved 50 places to 34th in the Race to Dubai rankings.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox began the day three from the lead but made a great start, and when he birdied the 8th and 9th holes for an outward nine of 31, he had the lead at 14 under par. After a mid-round talk with Sky’s on-course interviewer, Tim Barter, Fox pulled his second slightly at the 11th and found the front left bunker and was unable to get up and down. Then, after finding the rough at the reachable par 5 12th, he unluckily hit a bunker rake left in front of the greenside bunker and was faced with an awkward pitch over that bunker, which he failed to negotiate and was forced to save par from the sand.
It had been a costly stretch and perhaps more thought should be given to interviewing players so late in an event when there is so much going on. Fox obviously agreed to the on-course chat, but he might have been better advised to refuse given the circumstances. It is not in Fox’s nature to do so, but it might also be up to the producers to avoid such a situation.
Fox did, however, hit a fine shot to the last, and although he missed his eagle chance, his birdie saw him finish with a round of 68 and a share of 6th place. Fox earned €220,000.
Daniel Hillier added a second consecutive round of 69 to finish 36th, while Kazuma Kobori was 56th.
For Hillier, he is now in 9th position amongst the players in line for one of the ten PGA Tour cards for 2027, given to the leading ten in the Race to Dubai rankings at season’s end and who are non-exempt for the PGA Tour. Hillier is now 12th in the Race to Dubai rankings.
RESULTS