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
Casey Martin loses leg after long and gutsy battle
Casey Martin at the 2012 US open – photo Bruce Young
During the coverage of the Father and Son Challenge this weekend I was sad to hear that Casey Martin, a teammate of Tiger Woods, Notah Begay and others during his time at Stanford University in the mid 1990’s, was forced to have his leg amputated after suffering Klippel–Trénaunay syndrome since birth.
The condition is a rare congenital condition in which blood vessels and or lymph vessels fail to form properly.
Martin’s battle with the PGA Tour for the right to use a cart under what is known as the Americans with Disabilities act became universally known and garnered him with much attention and sympathy, and some controversy, as he fought to capitalise on the significant golfing skills he possessed.
He was granted the right to use a cart after suing the PGA Tour in 2001.
Martin was a player good enough to have won on the then Nike Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour) and in doing so in 1999, he graduated to the PGA Tour in 2000 but was unable to retain his playing privileges and returned to the secondary tour.
He would eventually lose status on the Nike Tour in 2003 and in 2006 was appointed as coach to the University of Oregon golfing team where he has remained since. That team did win the NCAA Championship in 2016 under Martin’s guidance.
He did though continue to play where opportunities arose and in 2012 achieved one of his finest moments when led the qualifiers at his venue for the 2012 US Open at Olympic Club (pictured).
In 2019 he broke his defective leg in an accident while recovering a garbage can from his suburban street and although he tried numerous means to keep the leg he eventually lost that battle in October of this year.
Casey’s fight against the authorities to allow him to use a cart did polarise the golfing community in some respects, some feeling it set a precedent and allowed him an unfair advantage despite his debilitating condition.
One can’t help but admire his determination to continue to play the game he loved as a career and to take on the conglomerate that is the PGA Tour in his quest to do so.
Adelaide’s Jack Thompson another first time Australasian Tour winner
Jack Thompson with his breakthrough trophy – photo PGA of Australia
Just seven days after New South Wales’ Blake Windred broke through for his first PGA Tour of Australasia victory, another of this country’s emerging talents, Jack Thompson, has claimed his first title at this level with victory at the Gippsland Super 6 event east of Melbourne.
The 23 year old Thompson turned professional soon after the disappointment of leading into the final round of the Australian Amateur Championship at the Kooyonga Golf Club in his hometown of Adelaide in February.
There, Thompson succumbed to a final round of 81 to slip well back in the field but he has long been considered a significant talent and since taking to the paid ranks soon after he has now recorded four top tens including this win in six starts on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
The event carries only minimal world ranking points given the lack of strength in the field, but it will advance Thompson from his current 918th position to around 560th and importantly he has security of tenure on the PGA Tour of Australasia for at least the next two years, allowing him to advance his cause in the professional ranks.
Thompson defeated Wollongong’s Jordan Zunic, a former New Zealand and Queensland Open Champion and a Northern Territory PGA Championship winner, in the final of the series of medal match play encounters to determine the winner from the top 24 qualifiers at the completion of 54 holes on Saturday.
To reach the final Thompson was required to beat Jackson Bugdalski, Michael Sim, Brett Rankin and Rohan Blizard, recovering from a two shot deficit with two to play in his opening round match against Bugdalski.
The win was worth $24,750 to Thompson and sets him up for when the PGA Tour of Australasia returns at the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland on January 13th.
BRACKETS
RESULTS AND MONEY
Chris Wood flirts with 59 in Gippsland
Chris Wood – file photo courtesy of PGA of Australia
Two of the main protagonists at the halfway stage of last week’s Victorian PGA Championship are again playing a key role at the Gippsland Super 6 as the event enters the weekend at the Warragul Country Club about an hour east of Melbourne.
Queensland’s Chris Wood found himself in third place through 36 holes seven days ago but this week takes a one-shot lead over Gold Coast based Michael Sim who last week was in second place heading into the weekend at Moonah Links.
Wood eventually finished 7th last week while Sim, the more experienced of the pair, slipped to finish 11th.
This week however they have taken advantage of having last week’s event under their belt after a lengthy break from tournament golf of this nature and only a shot separates the pair as the interestingly formatted event heads into round three.
Another shot behind Sim is the former European Tour event winner, Andrew Dodt.
It was Woods however who stole the show today with a round of 61 which included an outward nine of 29 and three further birdies and an eagle at the 17th where he holed from the fairway at the par 4. His quest for a sub 60 round was brought undone by bogeys at the 10th and 18th holes where a birdie would have seen him become just the second player to record a round in the 50’s in an event on the PGA Tour of Australia.
The first to do so was New South Wales’ Brad McIntosh who performed such a feat when recording a second round of 59 at the 2005 Queensland PGA Championship at Emerald Lakes on the Gold Coast.
McIntosh the first to break 60 in a professional event in Australia – photo Bruce Young
The leading 50 players and ties have made it to round three following which the leading 24 players face off in a six hole, head to head matches to eventually decide the winner and who will take home the first prize of $24,750.
Scores
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
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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