Brad Kennedy being presented the 2020 NZ Open trophy by four time winner Sir Bob Charles
The New Zealand Open, one of the few remaining Tier One events on the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule for 2021 / 2022, announced today that in all likelihood the event will proceed as scheduled on March 31st 2022, but it may be that one of the world’s oldest national open championships will be restricted to players from New Zealand only.
The event, at Millbrook Resort, near Queenstown, has grown in recent years due to the introduction of a pro-am format along the lines of the AT&T Pebble Beach and Alfred Dunhill Links Championships, its location in the heartland of New Zealand’s tourism’s highly popular Central Otago region adding further to its appeal for both participants and spectators.
A final decision on the composition of the field for 2022, and indeed if the event will proceed, will be delayed as long as possible, but announcements by the New Zealand Government last week whereby only New Zealanders can enter the country from January and others from April 30th have placed further constraints on the hugely popular event, including the possibility of an international field.
Tournament organisers today vowed that they will use their best endeavours to stage the tournament and provide a much-needed boost to Queenstown and the greater Otago region, given the severe economic impacts of the pandemic.
In addition, the tournament provides a significant platform through its televised coverage to promote tourism to New Zealand, and this is something that will be desperately needed once international borders re-open.
The New Zealand Open has been placed upon the Government Approved event list, and while it is possible for some international players to attend, the challenge faced is the need for players to self-isolate for seven days upon arrival without access to practice facilities.
“We believe that it will be very difficult to convince foreign national professionals to take an extra week out of their playing schedule, particularly at a time when other tournaments around the world are getting back to a more normal situation,” said Tournament Chairman Mr John Hart.
“In all probability, our only option will be to run a tournament that mainly features Kiwi’s, and we are delighted that a number of New Zealand’s leading professionals, including Ryan Fox, Mike Hendry, Josh Geary and others have signalled their support for the event, regardless of format,” said Mr Hart.
“Our process will now be to consult with our tour partners, international players, amateurs, sponsors and other key funding agencies to ascertain what might be possible, and indeed, if we are able to run a financially viable and high-quality event” concluded Mr Hart.
The event, first played in 1907, was cancelled in 2021 for one of the few times since its inaugural staging (other then wartime) due to Covid 19 restrictions. It was last played in March of 2020 when won by Australian Brad Kennedy who defeated his countryman, Lucas Herbert.
Herbert has gone on to win on both the European and USPGA Tours since, while Kennedy’s win leaves him well placed on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, his money from the victory at Millbrook Resort counting towards the Asian Tour which jointly sanctions the event.
A further announcement on the future of the 102nd New Zealand Open and its playing format will be made within the next few weeks.
Lucas Herbert – NZ Open runner-up in 2020 wins on the PGA Tour in 2021 – photo Getty Images
Kyriacou, Smith and Davidson earn LPGA Tour status
Stephanie Kyriacou – file photo LET
The three Australians who this week attempted Final Stage qualifying for the 2022 LPGA Tour have successfully negotiated their way onto female golf’s biggest stage but it was not without a scare for two.
Sarah Jane Smith and Karis Davidson have both finished right on the cut off score of 4 under after recording rounds of 76 and 77 respectively in their eighth and final rounds of the 144-hole marathon.
The leading 45 players and ties all earned their LPGA Tour cards and both Smith and Davidson tied for 41st amongst the 46 players who made it through.
Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou, however, found the going a lot less stressful when she added a final round of 71 to finish in a share of 16th place and after two successful years on the Ladies European Tour, she has earned the right to play in female golf’s biggest arena in 2022.
Smith has, of course, played the LPGA Tour previously but for Davidson who has played in Japan for the best part of her three-year professional career, like Kyriacou, she is off to the LPGA Tour for the first time.
The Gold Coast based Davidson, who was born and raised in Scotland until her early teenage years, was forced to batten down the hatches after a horror outward nine of 41 which saw her fall outside the cutline.
That she was able to fight back with an inward nine of even par 36 highlights the sort of mental fortitude which will carry her in good stead in the years ahead on the LPGA Tour.
Smith has played the LPGA Tour for the last 13 years but she too fell victim to the pressures of Final Stage qualifying when dropping three shots in her last six holes for her round of 76 and one of the last places amongst the 46 players who earned their cards.
Scores
Blake Windred confirms promise with Vic PGA victory
Blake Windred – all smiles after his breakthrough win – photo PGA of Australia
24 year old NSW’s professional, Blake Windred, is in just his second year as a professional golfer but in that time in the paid ranks he had already given plenty of indication that he would be a force to be reckoned with.
Playing on the European Challenge Tour in 2021, the former Australian Eisenhower representative has missed only one cut and recorded three top tens including a runner-up finish at an event in Spain in 21 starts in 2021, so there has been plenty of evidence to suggest a first win as a professional was not far away.
Today, he was able to confirm those predictions with a breakthrough win at the Victorian PGA Championship at the Moonah Links Resort defeating last year’s PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner, Brad Kennedy by one shot.
Windred earned $24,750 for his victory and takes an early lead in the new Order of Merit.
The final round over the Open course at Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula today, turned into a tense battle where as many as half a dozen players were genuine chance to take the title.
Windred though would hole a pitch from 15 metres short of the green at the par 4 14th hole and when he birdied the 15th he was two ahead of Kennedy.
Winning at any stage is never easy, especially when chasing a first title, and after taking bogey at the 16th, Windred was forced to save par at the final two holes, once with a lengthy two putt for par at the 17th and a up and down to save par at the last to hold off Kennedy.
Kennedy missed the cut when he played an event at Moonah Links earlier in the year but with his last four events being either majors, a world championship or a European Tour event, this was a level below those he has been competing against of late.
The consistent 47 year old Queenslander has made yet another good start to a PGA Tour of Australasian season and will no doubt be a force to be reckoned with in the months ahead.
Scores and money
Andrew Evans heads qualifiers at Japan Tour School
Andrew Evans – file photo PGA of Australia
NSW golfer Andrew Evans turns 36 in a few days’ time, but his birthday may well have come early after finishing atop the Japan Tour Qualifying School this week.
Evans has played both the Japan Golf Tour and the secondary tour in that country this season although there has not been a lot to show for his commitment during these difficult times for international golfers.
He did show recent improvement when finishing 4th at the secondary tour’s final event six weeks ago but that aside it has been a frustrating season in Japan – until now that is.
By gaining access to such a lucrative tour with such a high ranking in 2022, however, his fortunes have taken a significant turn. By finishing 1st this week he avoids the re re-ranking process which occurs at various stages to allow current form to determine a player’s status rather than his showing at Q-School.
Despite winning the Queensland Open on the Sunshine Coast earlier this year, Evans is perhaps best known until now for his runner-up finish to Peter Senior at the 2015 Australian Masters in Melbourne, boxing well above his weight at the time.
Evans was already all but assured assured of gaining status when heading into the final round of the 72-hole event at the Tom Watson Golf Course in the southern Japan city of Miyazaki.
He would, though, secure not only his card but a guarantee of the best possible status for 2022 by recording a final round of 65 to head the qualifiers by one.
It will essentially provide Evans with access to all events on the Japan Golf Tour next year and although he has played the Japan Tour previously, the level of status he will now enjoy means he can plan his schedule with the surety of knowing what events he can play.
He will join Australian players such as Anthony Quayle, Dylan Perry, Brendan Jones and Brad Kennedy and New Zealander Mike Hendry on a tour which will hopefully be less impacted for international players than has been the case of late.
Andrew Evans en route to a runner-up finish at the 2015 Australian Masters.
Local Brad Kivimets leads Victorian PGA Championship
Michael Sim – shaping as major threat – file photo
27-year-old local, Bradley Kivimets, leads the Victorian PGA Championship at Moonah Links Resort, adding a second round of 64 to his opening 68 to lead by two over Gold Coast based West Australian, Michael Sim, with another two shots back to Queensland’s, Chris Wood, who is defending his title this week.
The event is the first of the PGA Tour of Australasia’s golfing summer and provides welcome relief for so many Australian golfers who have been starved of playing opportunities over the past twenty months.
Kivimets has played with only limited status on the Australasian Tour since turning professional five years ago but has supplemented his time playing, where he has been able to gain starts, with a role as teaching professional at the nearby Portsea Golf Club.
His best finish in a PGA Tour of Australasia event has been a hardly convincing 38th in the few events he has played at this level, so this week represents a great opportunity to elevate his standing.
Sim is one of the more credentialed players in this week’s field having won four times on the Korn Ferry Tour in the US and played the PGA Tour for a couple of years ten years ago where he did well enough to finish runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in 2010.
Sim’s career has been plagued by back issues but as the world’s number one amateur before turning professional and a great start to his professional career when turning to the paid ranks in 2006, he has been unable to fulfill much of that early potential.
In more recent times and after taking a bridging course with the PGA of Australia, however, Sim has begun to play well again with victories at similar events to those of this week’s level including the Queensland Open and Queensland PGA Championships.
Sim has also shown form in recent weeks in pro-am events in Queensland with a runner-up finish at last week’s Bartons Wynnum pro-am.
51 players made the cut which fell at 1 over par.
The final 36 holes of the event will be played over the Open layout at Moonah Links over the weekend.
Scores
Enigmatic Mark Hensby chasing Champions Tour rights
Mark Hensby – file photo courtesy of Golf NSW
US based Australian, Mark Hensby, gets his chance to play the PGA Tour Champions when he takes on the Final Stage of Qualifying in Florida this week.
At the halfway stage of the 72 hole test at the TPC Tampa Bay, Hensby finds himself in 21st place needing to finish inside the top 5 to secure full status.
Hensby fought back from a near disastrous triple bogey at his 7th hole today for a round of 73 but he will likely need to match his opening round of 68 over each of the final two rounds to have any chance.
Hensby, a former winner on the PGA, European and Korn Ferry (3) Tours, a Presidents Cup player in 2005 and a top 30 world ranked player, has a had a career plagued by injury but at his best he not only won the 2004 John Deere Classic, but the 2005 Scandinavian Masters where he defeated Henrik Stenson in a playoff.
In that same season (2005) he recorded top fives at the Masters and US Open Championships (both on debut) but just a few months later, after representing the International side in the Presidents Cup, he suffered significant injuries in a car accident, curtailing a career which offered so much promise at the time.
Born in Victoria but raised in Tamworth until leaving for the US at the age of 23, he fought his way to the PGA Tour in 2001 after winning events such as the Illinois State Championship as an amateur in 1994 and the Illinois State Open in 1996 and then finishing runner-up on the Korn Ferry Tour (then Buy.Com Tour) in 2000.
No sooner had he gained his PGA Tour playing rights for 2001 than he lost them but was back on the PGA Tour in 2003 after again graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour.
Hensby is very much a self-made man who took a punt on travelling to the US as an unheralded amateur but has often been an outspoken individual whose stance against the PGA Tour’s anti-doping policy in 2017 cost him a twelve-month suspension from the PGA Tour.
“The PGA Tour announced today (Monday) that Mark Hensby has violated the Tour Anti-Doping Policy for failing to provide a drug testing sample after notification and has been suspended for a period of one year,” a Tour statement read at the time.
Hensby responded by saying “Call me stupid but don’t call me a cheater.”
The now 50-year-old has played 17 events on either the Korn Ferry or PGA Tours in 2020 and 2021 and while he has made only five cuts in that time he has very importantly continued, despite limited status, to compete and his performance this week will be watched with interest.
Scores
Australians keep LPGA dreams alive
Stephanie Kyriacou – great year continues in Alabama – file photo Tristan Jones LET
Three of the four Australians involved in the final stages of qualifying for the 2022 LPGA Tour will advance to the event’s second week in their quest to be one of the 45 golfers to earn an LPGA Tour card on December 12th.
One of Australian golf’s brightest young prospects, Stephanie Kyriacou, reeled of a final round of 63 at the Crossings Course at the RTJ Magnolia Grove in Mobile, Alabama, to finish 4th and lead the way for the Australians.
The leading 70 players and ties from the original field of 110 following the completion of 72 holes this week have their scores carry over to another 72 holes beginning this coming Thursday.
Kyriacou, from Sydney, finished third on the Ladies European Tour’s Order of Merit in 2021 with a series of high finishes including a win in the Netherlands.
Scottish born Gold Coaster, Karis Davidson, who has plied her trade in Japan since turning professional three years ago, finished 11th this week while Queenslander, Sarah Jane Smith, who has played the LPGA Tour for the last 13 years, finished 24th.
All three are well placed to be playing the LPGA Tour in 2022 although they still have a demanding week ahead in Dothan where their playing futures will be determined.
Only Queenslander Robyn Choi missed out on graduating to week two, but will have Symetra Tour playing rights in 2022.
Scores
Ormsby retains lead on Asian Tour money list
O
Ormsby seen here with the 2020 Hong Kong Open trophy, the catalyst to his Asian Tour OOM lead.
South Australian Wade Ormsby retains his position atop the Asian Tour money list following his share of 14th place at this week’s Laguna Phuket Championship in Thailand.
Ormsby finds himself with earnings of US$250,000 in Asian Tour events over the 2020 / 2021 period, US$10,100 ahead of this week’s winner in Phuket, Pachara Khongwatmai, with another US$21,0000 back to Joohyun (Tommy Kim of Korea).
There are two events remaining on the current Asian Tour Order of Merit, those tournaments to be played in Singapore in January to determine the final breakdown.
A win on the money list provides access to several events internationally and so, if Ormsby is to hold on to claim the mantle and become just the second Australian to do so in the last twenty years, then there is a lot at stake for the 41 year old from Adelaide.
Ormsby put together consecutive weekend rounds of 68 on the demanding Laguna Golf Phuket layout to earn US$13,550, although the honour of the leading Australian this week went to Scott Hend who on Friday recorded the second-best round of the week (63).
Hend was unable to build on that great start to the week and consecutive rounds of 70 over the weekend saw him finish in a share of 10th with three others.
NSW’s golfer Travis Smyth finished in a share of 24th, which, after an opening round of 63, will be a little disappointing although it followed a good week at last week’s event also in Phuket when he finished 10th. Smyth is currently in 20th place on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.
New Zealand’s Ben Campbell finished 30th in just his second Asian Tour event in over two years, Victorian Ben Eccles was 34th, Andrew Martin was 57th and Cory Crawford 75th.
The winner, Pachara Khongwatmai, is 22 years old but has played the Asian Tour since turning professional at the age of 14 in 2013.
This was his first win on the Asian Tour but he has won several events on development tours and has been six times runner-up at this level.
The winner this week, Pachara Khongwatmai – photo Paul Lakatos Asian Tour
Four Australians aiming for LPGA Tour status
Stephanie Kyriacou – one of Australian golf’s brightest prospects
A field of 110 players will take to the fairways of the Crossings and Falls Courses in Mobile in Alabama beginning on December 2nd as part of a two-step process to establish their right or otherwise to play the LPGA Tour in 2022.
The low 70 players at the completion of 72 holes on Sunday 30th will then advance to the second week to be played at Highland Park in Dothan, Alabama where the leading 45 are guaranteed LPGA Tour status next season.
All players who have made it into this week’s field are assured of at least Symetra Tour status in 2022 but clearly the goal is to be playing the Holy Grail of women’s golf, the LPGA Tour.
Four Australians have earnt their way into the field, namely former LPGA Tour players, Sarah Jane Smith and her fellow Queenslander, Robyn Choi, while for the Gold Coast’s Karis Davidson and Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou this week marks an important step in their elevations as professional golfers and an opportunity to play the LPGA Tour for the first time.
Smith finished her 2021 season in 151st place on the LPGA’s Race to the Globe points standing following a season where she made just five of 18 cuts and lost her full LPGA Tour status as a result.
The 37-year-old first played the LPGA Tour in 2008 after qualifying the previous year and although she has yet to win an event she did record a best finish of runner-up at the Kingsmill Championship in 2014.
Smith’s most significant performance however might well be when recording a 5th place finish at the 2018 US Women’s Open behind Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn at Shoal Creek in Alabama after leading by three through 36 holes.
Smith and her husband Duane recently had their first child, Theo Kai, born in 2019.
Robyn Choi played the Futures (Symetra Tour in 2021) but although she missed only two cuts in 20 starts, she did not do well enough to graduate to the LPGA Tour and must now face qualifying.
She has been through this process previously however having gained her 2019 LPGA Tour card in this manner.
Scottish born Gold Coaster, Karis Davidson, has played the Japan LPGA Tour since turning professional in late 2017 and has recorded eight top ten there in that highly competitive environment.
Davidson’s schedule has been disrupted in 2021 but she managed to play her way through Stage 11 qualifying to reach this week’s final and for that alone she deserves a lot of kudos. She now has the opportunity to take her game to the next level.
Stephanie Kyriacou has been a standout Australian on the Ladies European Tour since turning professional following her win as an amateur in an LET event in Bonville, Australia in early 2020.
In 2021 she won again on the Ladies European Tour and finished a very impressive 5th on their standings at year’s end earning the right to this week’s event.
So the four Australians represent an eclectic mix, two (Smith and Choi) having been there and done that while the other two are very progressive young golfers with potentially big futures ahead of them.
All four face very important weeks in their careers this week however.
New Zealand Open organisers determined for event to proceed
Brad Kennedy being presented the 2020 NZ Open trophy by four time winner Sir Bob Charles
The New Zealand Open, one of the few remaining Tier One events on the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule for 2021 / 2022, announced today that in all likelihood the event will proceed as scheduled on March 31st 2022, but it may be that one of the world’s oldest national open championships will be restricted to players from New Zealand only.
The event, at Millbrook Resort, near Queenstown, has grown in recent years due to the introduction of a pro-am format along the lines of the AT&T Pebble Beach and Alfred Dunhill Links Championships, its location in the heartland of New Zealand’s tourism’s highly popular Central Otago region adding further to its appeal for both participants and spectators.
A final decision on the composition of the field for 2022, and indeed if the event will proceed, will be delayed as long as possible, but announcements by the New Zealand Government last week whereby only New Zealanders can enter the country from January and others from April 30th have placed further constraints on the hugely popular event, including the possibility of an international field.
Tournament organisers today vowed that they will use their best endeavours to stage the tournament and provide a much-needed boost to Queenstown and the greater Otago region, given the severe economic impacts of the pandemic.
In addition, the tournament provides a significant platform through its televised coverage to promote tourism to New Zealand, and this is something that will be desperately needed once international borders re-open.
The New Zealand Open has been placed upon the Government Approved event list, and while it is possible for some international players to attend, the challenge faced is the need for players to self-isolate for seven days upon arrival without access to practice facilities.
“We believe that it will be very difficult to convince foreign national professionals to take an extra week out of their playing schedule, particularly at a time when other tournaments around the world are getting back to a more normal situation,” said Tournament Chairman Mr John Hart.
“In all probability, our only option will be to run a tournament that mainly features Kiwi’s, and we are delighted that a number of New Zealand’s leading professionals, including Ryan Fox, Mike Hendry, Josh Geary and others have signalled their support for the event, regardless of format,” said Mr Hart.
“Our process will now be to consult with our tour partners, international players, amateurs, sponsors and other key funding agencies to ascertain what might be possible, and indeed, if we are able to run a financially viable and high-quality event” concluded Mr Hart.
The event, first played in 1907, was cancelled in 2021 for one of the few times since its inaugural staging (other then wartime) due to Covid 19 restrictions. It was last played in March of 2020 when won by Australian Brad Kennedy who defeated his countryman, Lucas Herbert.
Herbert has gone on to win on both the European and USPGA Tours since, while Kennedy’s win leaves him well placed on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, his money from the victory at Millbrook Resort counting towards the Asian Tour which jointly sanctions the event.
A further announcement on the future of the 102nd New Zealand Open and its playing format will be made within the next few weeks.
Lucas Herbert – NZ Open runner-up in 2020 wins on the PGA Tour in 2021 – photo Getty Images
Return to Asia sparks Scott Hend’s return to form
Scott Hend with his 2016 Asian Tour Order of Merit trophy – file photo Asian Tour
Australia’s Scott Hend has not played an event on the Asian Tour since the Hong Kong Open in early 2020 but today he gave another indication as to why he has been such a dominant force in Asia since first playing there nearly 15 years ago.
The 48-year-old Florida based Brisbane golfer finished in a share of 4th place at this week’s Blue Canyon Phuket Championship in Thailand, the first Asian Tour event since March of 2020 and Hend’s first top ten in his last sixteen starts anywhere in 2021.
Admittedly most of those starts, in fact all of them in 2021 have been in a hectic 28 event European Tour schedule for Hend, who produced a brilliant weekend of 65 and 67 to come from eight shots behind the halfway leaders to finish two shots from the winner, Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei.
Following his brilliant third round of 65 yesterday, Hend was knocking on the leader’s door today when he reached 4 under for the day through 11 holes but a bogey at the hole he eagled yesterday, the 15th, slowed the momentum and he would eventually finish in a share of 4th and earn a cheque for US$38,200.
The finish moves Hend to 22nd on the 2020 / 2021 Order of Merit but it should be remembered he has played only two events in a season in which two seasons have been formed into one.
Throughout his career Hend has been regularly amongst the top four or five on the Asian Tour money list when he has focused his attention there. He has spent a lot of time in Europe and played the PGA Tour for couple of seasons but Asia seems to be a place he feels at home and where he has had his most success including ten Asian Tour titles.
On eight occasions since 2007, Hend has been inside the top four finishers on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, one of those when he won the Order of Merit in 2016. He has also been three times runner-up.
Hend is currently entered to play next week’s Laguna Phuket Championship where a win could sweep him into second place on the current Order of Merit although that might be dependent on how the likes of the current leader, Wade Ormsby of Australia, and this week’s winner, Chan, perform.
Ormsby finished 23rd this week and retains the lead atop the money list, US$15,000 ahead of Chan. Most of Ormsby’s earnings came from his win at the Hong Kong Open in the first week of 2020 and another very good week when 7th at the New Zealand Open, now jointly sanctioned between the Asian and Australasian Tours.
Brad Kennedy, who won the New Zealand Open in March of 2020, is the next best of the Australians on the Order of Merit in 5th place with US$173,000, all of which was won in Queenstown.
Kennedy’s fellow Queenslander, Andrew Dodt, is 9th and Wollongong’s Travis Smyth who finished an solid 10th this week is 17th.
The leading 30 players on the Order of Merit at the completion of the current season in January earn the right to play a lucrative (US$5 million) event in Saudi Arabia early in 2022.
Phuket Scores
This week’s winner Chan Shih-Chang – photo Paul Lakatos Asian Tour