Elvis Smylie – photo Bruce Young
One of Australian golf’s most exciting golfing prospects in some years, Elvis Smylie, begins his international professional career in late June when he takes advantage of an invite to play the European Tour’s BMW International Open in Munich in Germany.
The event is one of at least four European Tour starts the 19-year-old left-hander is hoping to gain over the next couple of months, with other opportunities beyond those likely to present themselves, dependent on how he performs in the early events.
Smylie set Australian golfing tongues wagging when, soon after turning professional at the age of 18 earlier this year, he finished runner-up and 3rd in two of three PGA Tour of Australasia events in Victoria and NSW. Those efforts came just a few weeks after finishing runner-up in yet another PGA Tour of Australasia event at Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula after consecutive weekend rounds of 63 in what was his last event as an amateur.
His world ranking jumped from outside the top 1500 to just inside the top 500 currently but it would appear there is a lot more upside to come.
Those performances immediately confirmed much of the promise he had displayed as an amateur when winning the Australian Junior Championship, twice winning one of Australia’s more significant amateur events, the Keppera Bowl, in Brisbane and contending at various stages of the 2019 Australian Open.
Smylie during this year’s early season events on the PGA Tour of Australasia – photo PGA Tour of Australasia
The fast start to his professional career further justified the decision to turn professional at the age of 18 and provides the youngster with the belief he can mix it in the hurly burly world of professional golf.
Not that self-belief is lacking in Elvis Smylie. He has a nice balance of just that without the arrogance sometimes associated with such.
His innate capacity to handle a stage much bigger to that on which he had been playing since beginning the game at the age of 8 when his then and still coach, Ian Triggs, took him under his wing, is hardly surprising also.
Smylie’s pedigree involves a father and mother who were both tennis professionals, his mother, Liz, in particular, the winner of four Grand Slam Doubles titles and still a commentator for the BBC during Wimbledon.
Elvis, Liz and father, Peter, will leave for Germany in mid-June and although his schedule is not totally confirmed beyond his initial start at the BMW, he is all but guaranteed those four European Tour events and, courtesy of his performances in golf to date, he will gain access to the final stage of qualifying for the Open Championship at Royal St Georges in July.
Smylie will base himself in England where he has two sisters Jordi and Laura to provide a solid and familiar base for his campaign.
The US and European management company CAA (Creative Artists Agency), with whom Smylie has recently signed, have been instrumental in Smylie gaining a start in Germany and are working hard on other opportunities for him.
CAA have not had a large involvement in golf although they were managing the interests of Patrick Reed until recently. They do however have many high-profile entertainment and sporting clients and a family connection (Smylie’s brother-in-law Ash Simons) works for the company.
Given his already disclosed talent, Smylie had been the subject of several approaches from management companies but the family connection along with CAA’s proven track record in the talent management industry proved the deciding factor.
Peter Smylie will handle much of the day to day management of his son while CAA will attend to sponsorships and invites. CAA have a role in event sponsorship and commercial arrangements on both the European and PGA Tours.
“They got out of golf management as such when the arrangement with Patrick Reed finished but we were talking to Ash to get some general advice and that’s how it came about,” said Smylie.
CAA are currently working on invites to events around and after the Open Championship but there are other events beyond those which may also be possibilities. Obviously, if Smylie can play well in the events he can earn an invite to it will make ongoing opportunities more forthcoming.
That he wants to begin his international professional career in Europe is encouraging for the young man who appears to have a very strategic approach of his career path.
Traditionally, the means of young Australasians getting their careers established before heading to the US was to play in Europe first before even contemplating earning their right to play the PGA Tour.
In more recent years, more and more Australasians are heading directly to the US, many of them because of playing collegiate golf or when the Nationwide Tour visited here in the 2000’s several earned enough money through co sanctioned events in Australia to play their way onto the secondary tour and then the PGA Tour.
Some, like Jason Day, Rod Pampling and Stuart Appleby, headed direct to the US and succeeded but Greg Norman, Adam Scott, Robert Allenby, Ian Baker Finch, Nick O’Hern and others cut their teeth in professional golf through Europe first.
Smylie is aware of the importance of rounding out his game and skills with the variety European countries and golf courses provide and further highlights his measured approach to the development of his career.
“I think the European Tour allows you to learn so much about your game with changing conditions every week so I think the first couple of years would be great for me before I think about the US. I could then make the step to the PGA Tour when I think my game is ready.”
In some respects Covid has worked in Smylie’s favour as it has forced him to stay at home and play PGA Tour of Australasia events, gain experience at that level and earn enough money to have the security of his card on that tour when he returns from Europe.
“I think the good thing that I have done so far in my professional career is that I had the opportunity to play events here rather than just jump into possible invitations in Europe. Those events early in the year have provided me a great grounding and a chance to assess where I am at. Ironically, it has been because of Covid.”
“Not that I necessarily wanted to put myself in the position I did down at Rosebud as I had to make four birdies on the back nine to even make the cut. I knew if I didn’t do something I was going home so I was happy I was able to dig in and do it.
“I think I have the capability of doing something special early on and that exposure in Victoria, even though I was playing my last event as an amateur there, and at the NSW Open has helped that belief.”
Smylie won several titles as an amateur but points to his second Keperra Bowl victory and of course his win in the Australian Junior Championship in 2019 as the highlights.
“I think winning your national championship with the sort of names on that trophy kick started things for me and winning the 2020 Keperra Bowl for the second year running really displayed to me that I had taken my game to the next level when I shot 25 under there after winning by just two shots in 2019.”
The win at the Australian Junior Championship earned Smylie a start at the Australian Open at the Australian Golf Club in 2019 and not only did he make the cut there he was inside the top ten heading into the weekend before eventually finishing 33rd.
Smylie holds his 2019 Australian Junior Trophy – photo Bruce Young
Understandably, Smylie and his father have been putting all the pieces together for this first European campaign and one of the issues he will need to address is the appointment of a caddie which is made a little more difficult because of the uncertainty of his schedule.
“It is still up in the air at present. Obviously Clayts (former professional and respected golf analyst Mike Clayton) worked for me in those early events here in Australia, but he is busy with his golf course design work but hopefully he might be able to do something in the events back here in Australia later in the year.
“Mike is very calm and doesn’t talk a lot on the golf course either unless he has something to say. He keeps me distracted when the timing is right however by providing plenty of history tit bits on events also.
“I like to do my own yardages in conjunction with Clayts but will have to get more focused on that aspect as I used range finders throughout my amateur career and in the events early in the year we were also allowed to do so so that will be an adjustment I have to make.”
Smylie suggests the strength of his game are his short game and his capacity to get it round in a decent score even when things aren’t 100%.
“Being able to put a score together even when I don’t have my A game. It is almost like a never give up mentality as there is always something to play for.
“I remember I was 6 over through 14 holes in the event at Rosebud and it would have been easy to chuck it in but I dug in and finished at 4 over and then finished strongly to make the cut and eventually nearly won the event. I think being able to turn a 75 into a 72 is a great asset in this game.”
Smylie is a member at both Southport and Sanctuary Cove Golf Clubs on the Gold Coast and over the last few months has played with several others who are members at Sanctuary Cove including the likes of Anthony Quayle and Dylan Perry who are both members of the Japan Tour and on occasions with Brad Kennedy who, interestingly, beat him by one shot in the event at Rosebud.
“Southport is my home club but the practice facilities here at Sanctuary Cove are brilliant and have allowed me to work very hard on my game since my last event a few weeks ago at the NSW Open.”
So Smylie heads to Europe with the golfing world at his feet. An already proven capacity to play well in the paid ranks, a catchy name, a left-hander to boot and a tall elegant young man provide several points of difference and if he can achieve success at the next level again he could well go on to great heights in the game.
There is a lot to like about the way Elvis Smylie goes about his business and his upbringing will go a long way to keeping his success or otherwise in perspective.
Minjee Lee looking to improve US Women’s Open record
Minjee Lee in practice this week – photo USGA Robert Beck
Perth’s Minjee Lee will this week play her 8th US Women’s Open but, without a top ten yet to her name, her record in this event and in major championship golf generally is below the level she has regularly achieved in her LPGA Tour career to date.
Lee has just five top tens in 34 appearances in major championship golf and having been inside the top ten in the Rolex World Ranking for much of her recent time on the LPGA Tour she is perhaps underachieving at this highest level.
Admittedly Lee, has missed only four cuts in those 34 events and made six of her seven cuts to date at the US Open but she has a best of just 11th in the female game’s most significant event which came in the 2017 event when finishing seven shots behind the winner that year, Sung Hyun Park.
The San Francisco area, where this week’s event is being played, has, though, been good to Lee in the past having won the US Junior Championship at the adjacent Lake Merced in 2012 and finished runner-up to Lydia Ko at the same venue in the LPGA Mediheal event in 2018 and she is using those memories as a motivation this week.
“The look of the golf course is a lot like Lake Merced,” said Lee on Tuesday. “I won the U.S. Girls there, and I just really love San Francisco in general, so it always excites me to come back and visit.”
Lee warmed up for this week with a quarter final appearance at last week’s Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play event in Las Vegas and is feeling good as to how her game is trending.
“I feel like I have a good chance. It’s only Tuesday. I feel like my game is trending in the right direction. I feel like it’s U.S. Open week, it’s going to be a tiring week. Just, it being a major, I think just you give a little bit more pressure to yourself, I think, to perform.
“I’m really excited. It’s going to be such a challenging week, and I think that is what makes it the most exciting.”
Hannah Green poised for a good week at US Women’s Open
Hannah Green practising Tuesday as the ‘marine layer’ rolls in – photo Darren Carroll USGA
Australian Hannah Green already has a major title to her name and this week she sets out to add another at the US Women’s Open.
The Perth golfer, who won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2019, has played well in most events she has competed in 2021 including a near misses in Singapore and Thailand, a 3rd place at the LA Open and two other top twenties in other events she has played in the US earlier.
Green’s last appearance was at last week’s Bank of Hope Match Play event in Las Vegas where she failed to advance beyond the round robin stage but she is by some way Australia’s leading player on the LPGA Tour in 2021 and has some hope of another good showing this week.
The length Green has been able to add to her game while working with coach Ritchie Smith has already proven a great bonus to her game in 2021 and on the lengthy Olympic Club layout near San Francisco it is an asset that could well prove of significant benefit.
“This week is going to be a little different to what we’ve had the whole entire year,” said Green in a press conference on Tuesday. “I think this year pars are going to be great scores. I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw the winner at over par. That’s how tough it’s playing.
“The course is long, just because we are getting cooler temperatures, and the rough is really thick. So getting yourself around is going to be quite the tough task. Major championships are already a long week, but I think with having to concentrate with every shot on this golf course, it’s going to be quite grueling.
“I’m super excited. Obviously had some good results this year and love playing major championships, so I’m super excited.”
“They don’t actually have a first cut of rough here, so it’s going to be quite interesting,” added the 24 year old. “There’s a few run-offs that we have to worry about with the slopes and making sure that, even if you have to hit 3-wood and have a longer shot in, it’s going to be quite a different way of playing golf compared to just hitting driver everywhere.
“The rough is quite thick around the greens, so whoever hits the most greens, I want to say, is probably who’s going to win the tournament. So fairways and greens is key, but also giving yourself uphill putts. If you get some downhill putts, it’s going to be defensive. You won’t be able to be aggressive and try to make it.”
“All up, every part of your game is going to be tested this week, so I’m ready for the task.”
Green is Australia’s second highest ranked female player behind Minjee Lee but is now only two places behind her fellow West Australian in the Rolex Rankings.
It will be an interesting battle between the pair to see who might emerge as the leading Australian this week and, perhaps, something significantly better.
Seven Australasians to play US Women’s Open at Olympic Club
The famed Olympic Club during the 2012 (men’s) US Open – photo Bruce Young
Five Australians and two New Zealanders get to tee it up at this week’s US Women’s Open at the Olympic Club just outside of San Francisco, six of those having played the event previously.
The odd woman out is Brisbane golfer Emily Mahar who managed to qualify for the event at Sectional Qualifying in Virginia although Mahar has been living in the US since a family move when she was 13.
Mahar attends Virginia Tech and managed to secure the right to play the female game’s most significant event when earning one of the five spots available at her qualifying venue in April.
Interestingly, another of the Australians to make it into the field, Sarah Kemp qualified at the same venue.
Mahar and Kemp will be joined by fellow Australians, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Sarah Jane Smith and New Zealanders Lydia Ko and Amelia Garvey.
Jan Stephenson and Karrie Webb (twice) are the only Australians to have won the event, Stephenson in 1983 and Webb in consecutive years in 2000 and 2001.
This week’s venue will be used for the first time as the host of the US Women’s Open although it has been used on five occasions for the men’s version, the last of those in 2012 when Webb Simpson won the title.
8th hole Olympic Club photo USGA
Minjee Lee will be playing her 8th US Women’s Open, Hannah Green her 3rd, Sarah Jane Smith her 8th, Sarah Kemp her 5th and, as mentioned, Mahar her first.
Lydia Ko will play the event for the 10th time in 2021 and she has a best finish of all the Australasians in this week’s field, that coming when 3rd in 2016.
Christchurch’s Garvey, who has recently turned professional after a collegiate career at the USC, will play her second US Women’s Open but her first tournament of any sort in the paid ranks.
Jason Scrivener just keeps getting better
Jason Scrivener – file photo Bruce Young
Just seven days after his impressive PGA Championship debut in South California, Perth’s Jason Scrivener has finished in a share of 3rd place at the Made in Himmerland event in Farso in Denmark.
Scrivener finished as the leading Australian at last week’s PGA Championship when 23rd in his first attempt at the PGA Championship and in just his second major championship appearance.
There has been only one win in the professional career of Scrivener, that coming at the 2017 NSW Open but he has been once runner-up and three times third in European Tour events. The winning breakthrough appears to be close at hand.
Earlier this year Scrivener finished runner-up in Abu Dhabi behind Tyrrell Hatton and along with today’s finish he has now moved to 7th in the Race to Dubai as he continues his impressive rise in standings in world golf.
Scrivener is now likely to move just inside the top 100 in the world bettering his previous best of 111th set last Sunday at Kiawah Island.
Scrivener’s bogey free final round of 66 saw him finish just one shot from the second placed Guido Migliozzi but six shots from the winner, Bernd Wiesberger, who won his 8th European Tour title.
New Zealander Josh Geary finished 6th and just one behind Scrivener, Wade Ormsby 19th, Kim Felton and Min Woo Lee 52nd, and Dimi Papadatos 68th.
Geary recorded his best ever European Tour finish, bettering his previous best of 10th at the Belgian Knockout in 2018.
The European Tour now heads to Hamburg in Germany for the Porsche European Open.
SCORES
Minjee Lee eliminated at LPGA matchplay
Ariya Jutanugarn defeated Minjee Lee – photo Getty Images
Minjee Lee has been eliminated at the quarterfinal stage of the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play event in Las Vegas.
Lee won her round of 16 match against England’s Mel Reid on Saturday morning but against Ariya Jutanugarn it was a different story with the Thai golfer always in charge and running out the winner by a 5&4 margin after leading 5 up through ten holes.
Lee was 6 over when her match finished compared the 4 under she was when finishing her morning match.
In that morning match, Lee defeated Reid by 5&4.
In tomorrow’s semi-finals, Ariya Jutanugarn takes on American Ali Ewing while Sophia Popov meets Shanshan Feng to find the winner of the inaugural staging of the event at the famed Shadow Creek.
Minjee Lee advances to round of 16 at match play
Minjee Lee in action today – photo Getty Images
Minjee Lee is the only Australian to advance from the group stages of the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play event at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, recording two wins and a halved match in the round-robin stages of the event.
Lee confirmed her place in the Round of 16 with a 4&3 victory over Moriya Jutanugarn on Friday after defeating Cheyenne Knight in round two and sharing the honours with Jaye Marie Green on Wednesday.
Lee will take on England’s Mel Reid in the knockout phase of the event, Reid having topped her group after a playoff against Azahara Munoz to do so.
Lee’s fellow Australians, Hannah Green, Sarah Kemp and Su Oh have all missed out on graduating, Kemp unbeaten in her three matches in the group stage but three halved points were not enough to get the job done.
One of Kemp’s halved matches was against one of the game’s hottest players at present Patty Tavatanakit after being two up on the recent major winner through 13 holes.
Green and Oh recorded a win and two losses in their matches.
Elvis Smylie Begins International Professional Journey
Elvis Smylie – photo Bruce Young
One of Australian golf’s most exciting golfing prospects in some years, Elvis Smylie, begins his international professional career in late June when he takes advantage of an invite to play the European Tour’s BMW International Open in Munich in Germany.
The event is one of at least four European Tour starts the 19-year-old left-hander is hoping to gain over the next couple of months, with other opportunities beyond those likely to present themselves, dependent on how he performs in the early events.
Smylie set Australian golfing tongues wagging when, soon after turning professional at the age of 18 earlier this year, he finished runner-up and 3rd in two of three PGA Tour of Australasia events in Victoria and NSW. Those efforts came just a few weeks after finishing runner-up in yet another PGA Tour of Australasia event at Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula after consecutive weekend rounds of 63 in what was his last event as an amateur.
His world ranking jumped from outside the top 1500 to just inside the top 500 currently but it would appear there is a lot more upside to come.
Those performances immediately confirmed much of the promise he had displayed as an amateur when winning the Australian Junior Championship, twice winning one of Australia’s more significant amateur events, the Keppera Bowl, in Brisbane and contending at various stages of the 2019 Australian Open.
Smylie during this year’s early season events on the PGA Tour of Australasia – photo PGA Tour of Australasia
The fast start to his professional career further justified the decision to turn professional at the age of 18 and provides the youngster with the belief he can mix it in the hurly burly world of professional golf.
Not that self-belief is lacking in Elvis Smylie. He has a nice balance of just that without the arrogance sometimes associated with such.
His innate capacity to handle a stage much bigger to that on which he had been playing since beginning the game at the age of 8 when his then and still coach, Ian Triggs, took him under his wing, is hardly surprising also.
Smylie’s pedigree involves a father and mother who were both tennis professionals, his mother, Liz, in particular, the winner of four Grand Slam Doubles titles and still a commentator for the BBC during Wimbledon.
Elvis, Liz and father, Peter, will leave for Germany in mid-June and although his schedule is not totally confirmed beyond his initial start at the BMW, he is all but guaranteed those four European Tour events and, courtesy of his performances in golf to date, he will gain access to the final stage of qualifying for the Open Championship at Royal St Georges in July.
Smylie will base himself in England where he has two sisters Jordi and Laura to provide a solid and familiar base for his campaign.
The US and European management company CAA (Creative Artists Agency), with whom Smylie has recently signed, have been instrumental in Smylie gaining a start in Germany and are working hard on other opportunities for him.
CAA have not had a large involvement in golf although they were managing the interests of Patrick Reed until recently. They do however have many high-profile entertainment and sporting clients and a family connection (Smylie’s brother-in-law Ash Simons) works for the company.
Given his already disclosed talent, Smylie had been the subject of several approaches from management companies but the family connection along with CAA’s proven track record in the talent management industry proved the deciding factor.
Peter Smylie will handle much of the day to day management of his son while CAA will attend to sponsorships and invites. CAA have a role in event sponsorship and commercial arrangements on both the European and PGA Tours.
“They got out of golf management as such when the arrangement with Patrick Reed finished but we were talking to Ash to get some general advice and that’s how it came about,” said Smylie.
CAA are currently working on invites to events around and after the Open Championship but there are other events beyond those which may also be possibilities. Obviously, if Smylie can play well in the events he can earn an invite to it will make ongoing opportunities more forthcoming.
That he wants to begin his international professional career in Europe is encouraging for the young man who appears to have a very strategic approach of his career path.
Traditionally, the means of young Australasians getting their careers established before heading to the US was to play in Europe first before even contemplating earning their right to play the PGA Tour.
In more recent years, more and more Australasians are heading directly to the US, many of them because of playing collegiate golf or when the Nationwide Tour visited here in the 2000’s several earned enough money through co sanctioned events in Australia to play their way onto the secondary tour and then the PGA Tour.
Some, like Jason Day, Rod Pampling and Stuart Appleby, headed direct to the US and succeeded but Greg Norman, Adam Scott, Robert Allenby, Ian Baker Finch, Nick O’Hern and others cut their teeth in professional golf through Europe first.
Smylie is aware of the importance of rounding out his game and skills with the variety European countries and golf courses provide and further highlights his measured approach to the development of his career.
“I think the European Tour allows you to learn so much about your game with changing conditions every week so I think the first couple of years would be great for me before I think about the US. I could then make the step to the PGA Tour when I think my game is ready.”
In some respects Covid has worked in Smylie’s favour as it has forced him to stay at home and play PGA Tour of Australasia events, gain experience at that level and earn enough money to have the security of his card on that tour when he returns from Europe.
“I think the good thing that I have done so far in my professional career is that I had the opportunity to play events here rather than just jump into possible invitations in Europe. Those events early in the year have provided me a great grounding and a chance to assess where I am at. Ironically, it has been because of Covid.”
“Not that I necessarily wanted to put myself in the position I did down at Rosebud as I had to make four birdies on the back nine to even make the cut. I knew if I didn’t do something I was going home so I was happy I was able to dig in and do it.
“I think I have the capability of doing something special early on and that exposure in Victoria, even though I was playing my last event as an amateur there, and at the NSW Open has helped that belief.”
Smylie won several titles as an amateur but points to his second Keperra Bowl victory and of course his win in the Australian Junior Championship in 2019 as the highlights.
“I think winning your national championship with the sort of names on that trophy kick started things for me and winning the 2020 Keperra Bowl for the second year running really displayed to me that I had taken my game to the next level when I shot 25 under there after winning by just two shots in 2019.”
The win at the Australian Junior Championship earned Smylie a start at the Australian Open at the Australian Golf Club in 2019 and not only did he make the cut there he was inside the top ten heading into the weekend before eventually finishing 33rd.
Smylie holds his 2019 Australian Junior Trophy – photo Bruce Young
Understandably, Smylie and his father have been putting all the pieces together for this first European campaign and one of the issues he will need to address is the appointment of a caddie which is made a little more difficult because of the uncertainty of his schedule.
“It is still up in the air at present. Obviously Clayts (former professional and respected golf analyst Mike Clayton) worked for me in those early events here in Australia, but he is busy with his golf course design work but hopefully he might be able to do something in the events back here in Australia later in the year.
“Mike is very calm and doesn’t talk a lot on the golf course either unless he has something to say. He keeps me distracted when the timing is right however by providing plenty of history tit bits on events also.
“I like to do my own yardages in conjunction with Clayts but will have to get more focused on that aspect as I used range finders throughout my amateur career and in the events early in the year we were also allowed to do so so that will be an adjustment I have to make.”
Smylie suggests the strength of his game are his short game and his capacity to get it round in a decent score even when things aren’t 100%.
“Being able to put a score together even when I don’t have my A game. It is almost like a never give up mentality as there is always something to play for.
“I remember I was 6 over through 14 holes in the event at Rosebud and it would have been easy to chuck it in but I dug in and finished at 4 over and then finished strongly to make the cut and eventually nearly won the event. I think being able to turn a 75 into a 72 is a great asset in this game.”
Smylie is a member at both Southport and Sanctuary Cove Golf Clubs on the Gold Coast and over the last few months has played with several others who are members at Sanctuary Cove including the likes of Anthony Quayle and Dylan Perry who are both members of the Japan Tour and on occasions with Brad Kennedy who, interestingly, beat him by one shot in the event at Rosebud.
“Southport is my home club but the practice facilities here at Sanctuary Cove are brilliant and have allowed me to work very hard on my game since my last event a few weeks ago at the NSW Open.”
So Smylie heads to Europe with the golfing world at his feet. An already proven capacity to play well in the paid ranks, a catchy name, a left-hander to boot and a tall elegant young man provide several points of difference and if he can achieve success at the next level again he could well go on to great heights in the game.
There is a lot to like about the way Elvis Smylie goes about his business and his upbringing will go a long way to keeping his success or otherwise in perspective.
Sarah Kemp completes impressive week in Virginia
Sarah Kemp in action this week – photo Getty Images
Australia’s Sarah Kemp has finished 4th at the Pure Silk Championship in Williamsburg, Virginia recording her second-best LPGA Tour career finish in the process.
Kemp began her final round two behind the lead of eventual winner Wei Ling Hsu of Taiwan and Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn.
The 35 year old was still very much in the hunt through 11 holes of her round but Lu and Jutanugarn finished strongly, Lu in particular with an eagle at the 15th and a birdie at the 16th sweeping her into the lead.
Jutanugran had her chances also when she hit the lead through 14 holes before a double bogey at the 15th cost her the chance of a second LPGA Tour victory.
For Kemp, the US$66,000 and moves her to 29th in the Race to the Globe points race. She is now the second highest ranked Australian on the LPGA Tour this season.
“I thought about it (winning), said Kemp. “Not going to lie. I thought about winning, which I’m okay with. Like I want to get comfortable with that. Sure, I got a little ahead of myself thinking that, but the more I put myself in the situation the better I’m going to be at it.
“I’m playing great, so this is fun. This is so much fun. I loved being nervous. I loved being in contention. I want to do it more often. So I take heaps of confidence from a this week.”
Katherine Kirk finished 25th and Sarah Jane Smith 53rd.
The LPGA Tour’s next event is a match-play tournament in Las Vegas followed by the US Women’s Open at Olympic Club near San Francisco.
SCORES
Historic major championship year continues with Mickelson victory
A very proud Mickelson with his 6th major championship trophy – photo Darren Carroll PGA of America
What a start to the 2021 major championship season in tournament golf.
Not only have we witnessed the first Japanese golfer to win a major championship but even topping that achievement today was the remarkable and stirring PGA Championship victory by Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson’s two shot win over Louis Oosthuizen and Brooks Koepka on Kiawah Island might well have been considered one of the great major championship wins irrespective of his age, but that he was able to do so at the age of 50 (three weeks short of turning 51) and become, by three years, the oldest in the game to do so added a whole new dimension.
Beginning the day with a narrow one shot lead, the opening few holes exposed a Mickelson, perhaps a little tentative with the situation, and that was confirmed later when he acknowledged the help of his brother Tim in getting back to the committed approach he had adopted over the opening three days.
It was perhaps understandable given the magnitude of the task he faced, but the pep talk from his caddie had him refocused on what he needed to do and he paid credit to him.
“I’ll tell you a perfect example, and this is an intangible that makes him relatable or understand me, get the best out of me and makes him a great caddie is I’m walking off 6, I had made some uncommitted swings the first six holes.
“I had been striking the ball awesome the first three days. I had a wonderful warm up session, like I was ready to go and I made some uncommitted swings the first six holes. He pulled me aside and said, “If you’re going to win this thing, you’re going to have to make committed golf swings.”
“It hit me in the head, I can’t make passive — I can’t control the outcome, I have to swing committed. The first one I made was the drive on 7. Good drive on 7 gave me a chance to get down by the green and make birdie. From there on, I hit a lot of really good shots because I was committed to each one.”
Mickelson traded blows with, initially, Koepka early on with bogeys, birdies and a double bogey constantly changing the margin between the pair but by the turn Mickelson was two ahead.
Despite finding the water with his approach at the 13th Mickelson was able to save bogey and had actually extended his lead to 4 and although the margin was reduced to two by the time he reached the dangerous 17th he had two holes between he and history.
His tee shot at the 17th was both unlucky and lucky. It took an enormous bounce forward and found the heavy rough at the back of the green but he was lucky to find a lie where he could at least get at the ball and the bogey save kept him two ahead.
Playing the last with a two shot lead, he fought both the golf course and massive crowds who engulfed area in which his tee shot came to rest and after a 9 iron to 18 feet he was swamped by the crowd which he described as both awesome and unnerving.
“It’s an incredible experience. I’ve never had something like that. It was a little bit unnerving but it was exceptionally awesome, too. So that was kind of a special moment that I’ll be appreciative of the way that people here have supported me and the entire tournament.”
Mickelson – battling the crowds at the 18th – photo PGA of America
While outwardly controlling the emotions it is hard to imagine Mickelson was not gushing with pride over his magnificent achievement.
“Certainly one of the moments I’ll cherish my entire life. I don’t know how to describe the feeling of excitement and fulfillment and accomplishment to do something when — you know, of this magnitude when very few people thought that I could. But the people that believed in me, my wife, Amy, Tim and Andrew Getson, those are the people that continued to inspire me to get the best out of me.”
Mickelson has worked hard for his inspiring victory and given what he has contributed to the attraction of the game he deserves everything he gets. He understands that golf at this level is as much part of the entertainment industry as it is golf and his capacity to engage and relate to fans is as much part of his legacy as his on course achievements.
Koepka too was battling the crowds and later described his concern for his safety given he is still in recovery from knee surgery.
“I don’t think anybody really understands until you actually you’re coming out of surgery how — I mean, even when I was doing rehab and there’s five people kind of standing by your knee, you get a little skittish.
“Like I don’t mind waiting or being in that crowd but getting my — I don’t know, it felt like somebody tried to, I don’t know what the deal was, but it’s what it is. Be putting it in ice today. It feels like s— right now.
“Right now, no, I’m super disappointed, pretty bummed,” said Koepka. “I’m not happy. I don’t know if there’s a right word I can say on here without getting fined, but it hurts a little bit. It’s one of those things where I just never felt comfortable over the putts. I don’t know why, what happened.
“I’m super happy for Phil. Like I said, it gives you hope that you can — or it gives me hope that, you know, I mean, I hope I’m still playing at 50, but to be able to come out and compete and actually win, that’s a whole another thing. So kudos to him but it was really cool to see.”
Amongst the Australians, the standout was Jason Scrivener, not only because he finished 23rd and as the leading Australian, but it was the South African born West Australian’s second appearance in a major.
Scrivener’s final round of 69 included four birdies in his first ten holes and further highlighted the slow but sure progress the late blooming 32 year old is making as a professional.
Matt Jones was 30th, Jason Day was 44th, Cameron Davis 59th and Lucas Herbert 71st.
Now it is on to the US Open in three weeks’ time. How can it possibly match the heroics of the Masters and the PGA? Perhaps it can.
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18 holes between Phil Mickelson and a place in golfing folklore
Phil Mickelson and brother Tim grinding over a par saving putt at the last – photo PGA of America
Phil Mickelson stands on the threshold of one of golf’s great milestones after his third round of 70 at the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island left him one ahead of two-time champion, Brooks Koepka, and two ahead of his joint 36-hole leader, Louis Oosthuizen.
If Mickelson is able to hold on to his narrow lead through another 18 holes he becomes the oldest player in the history of the game to claim a major title and given the popular figure Mickelson is with the golfing public (he is the true entertainer) then the reaction to such success might well equal the heights of those of Hideki Matsuyama and his achievement at Augusta National six weeks ago.
If Mickelson played rugby, he would be describing his third round as one of two halves, an opening ‘masterclass’ of 32 followed by a closing nine of 38.
Despite the slowed pace after making the turn, however, he continued to display some outstanding shot-making and strategic thinking and tomorrow promises one of the more intriguing final rounds in recent major championship history.
Highlights of Mickelson’s opening nine were his second shot to the par 5 2nd hole which finished 20 feet from the hole and, my particular highlight, the 2nd from a fairway bunker at the 3rd which spun back from behind the hole for a near kick in birdie.
The momentum the 50 year old (he is 51 next month) had built continued with further birdies at the 6th and 7th but perhaps an equally important moment was when he hit a superb bunker shot to save par at the 9th and made the turn five ahead of the field.
Mickelson’s worst shot came at the 13th when he pulled hooked his tee shot and followed Oosthuizen into an adjacent watery grave but after teeing up again (as he had not crossed the hazard line at any point further up the fairway) he almost made bogey after an iron to 12 feet.
The double bogey, however, along with a bogey on the previous hole was bringing him back to the field and when Koepka, playing in the group ahead, birdied the 16th, the pair were tied at 7 under.
Mickelson’s wild drive at the 16th cost him an almost obligatory birdie there although he made an excellent recovery from the sandy area well left of the fairway to get himself back in play and made par.
He faced the final two holes tied with Koepka although when Koepka bogeyed the last from the middle of the fairway, he was one ahead. He safely negotiated the 17th after an excellent tee shot created a birdie opportunity he was unable to convert, then produced a text book ‘Phil Mickelson’ up and down at the last to hold on to his one shot lead.
It was vintage Mickelson although the quality of some of his shots over much of the round perhaps even surpassed his previous best.
“Even though it slipped a little bit today and I didn’t stay as focused and as sharp on a few swings, it’s significantly better than it’s been for a long time,” said Mickelson
“So, I’m making a lot of progress, and I’ll continue to work on that and hopefully I’ll be able to eliminate a couple of those loose swings tomorrow. Because I’m playing a lot better than the score is showing and I think if I can just stay sharp tomorrow, I’ll post a score that is — that better reflects how I’m actually playing.
“I think that because I feel or believe that I’m playing really well and I have an opportunity to contend for a major championship on Sunday and I’m having so much fun that it’s easier to stay in the present and not get ahead of myself
“I think certainly my brother has played a big part in kind of keeping me present and in the moment and not letting a couple of bad swings affect me here or there, and so I think we’re having so much fun that it’s easy to stay present.”
The battle between four-time major winner, Koepka and the five time champion Mickelson promises much on day four although the chances do not stop there.
Oosthuizen remains very much in touch despite an ordinary day and any improvement from the South African could well see him win a second major title to go with his 2010 Open Championship.
There was some discussion over whether Oosthuizen’s tee shot at the 13th had also not crossed the hazard line further up the fairway which might have required he also to re-tee the shot but Mickelson was having none of it.
“His ball clearly crossed over the hazard. I didn’t think that was an issue. It flew down there, it had a big cut to it. There was no question in my mind from where we were at that it crossed way up there.
“Mine was on the edge, and I just didn’t feel good about it. I thought it was — I just didn’t think it was — as much as it hooked, I just didn’t think it crossed it there.”
Twelve players are under par (see scores below) and any one perhaps still considers themselves a chance to take the title with a strong finishing round.
The weather on day four promises a significant change in the wind direction and so many will face a new look Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.
This is a final round of a PGA Championship that promises so much more than in many of the previous stagings.
Of the Australians, Cameron Smith retained his lead amongst the six who made the cut.
Smith is in 33rd place at 2 over par, Jason Scrivener is at 4 over in his very first PGA Championship, Jason Day made ground with his round of 72 to be in 51st place, Cameron Davis is 68th and Lucas Herbert 75th.
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