Kennedy, seen here following his recent in Victoria, gets a great opportunity in Florida – photo PGA of Australia
With two PGA Tour events being played concurrently this week, more Australasians than is normally the case get their opportunity to take advantage of a start close to the elite level of men’s professional golf.
The World Golf Championship Workday Championship at the Concession sees an eclectic mix of world players teeing it up in a $10.5 million event in Bradenton in the south west of Florida, while in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Open is played in Rio Grande.
In Florida, nine Australians tee it up in an event which brings together 74 players from the world ranking and a mix of players from various money lists worldwide while in Puerto Rico seven Australians and one New Zealander will play an event, the purse of which pales in comparison to that in Florida but an event that offers opportunity for several lesser PGA Tour players.
With no cut and a guaranteed minimum cheque of close to US$50,000 a significant payday is on offer whatever the outcome.
At the WGC event, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Jason Day, Lucas Herbert, Jason Scrivener, Brad Kennedy, Wade Ormsby and Min Woo Lee all get their chance on the Jack Nicklaus / Tony Jacklin designed layout about an hour south of Tampa.
For Scott, Smith, Leishman and Day this is just another PGA Tour (albeit with a little more prizemoney at stake) event, but for the others this represents a rare opportunity to compete against most of the world’s leading players.
Kennedy is an interesting one. Twelve months ago, Kennedy was winning his second New Zealand Open title in Queenstown and in just four events since he has won a PGA Tour of Australasia event and finished 41st at the Zozo Championship on the PGA Tour.
His game is not built around the power of the current players, but he has shown a command of his game despite struggling to keep up with the power hitters.
“It’s my second WGC. My first was way back in I think 2013 (2012 WGC-HSBC Champions) when I played in China,” said Kennedy.
“But WGCs are always great to get into. Played ZOZO (CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD last October), so it’s great to come back to the U.S. again and play another tournament.
“After I won New Zealand last year in March, I actually took six months off, didn’t touch a golf club. I just couldn’t see any progress happening and all the tournaments were being canceled, so I really just took a break. It was good to be home with the family.”
It wasn’t until December last year that I knew some events were coming up in Australia in January, February, so yeah, got myself ready for those. Fortunately won the first one back, so it was nice to get off to a good start again.
Kennedy and Min Woo Lee are in the field courtesy of their PGA Tour of Australasia efforts of late, Ormsby because of his Asian Tour performances and Scrivener and Herbert get their chance courtesy of some fine play in Europe in the last twelve months or so.
In Puerto Rico, Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Rhein Gibson, Mark Hensby, Cameron Percy, John Senden and New Zealander Tim Wilkinson will tee it up, Allenby making his first PGA Tour appearance since this very event twelve months ago.
Allenby, at one stage ranked close to the top ten in the world is now ranked outside the top 1800 and so this represents an opportunity to get things headed in the right direction as he no doubt considers a career on the PGA Tour Champions for which he becomes eligible later this year.
Allenby has won four PGA Tour titles but the last of those came at Riviera Country Club twenty years ago and having made the cut in just two of his latest nineteen starts this week offers a litmus test for him.
It is good, however, to see the four-time Australian PGA and twice Australian Open champion back competing again.
Both events off opportunity for some of Australia’s emerging stars but they also offer the chance to resurrect a career in the case of Allenby, Hensby, Chalmers and Senden.
There will be much interest in just how such a generous line-up of Australians perform this week in both Florida and Puerto Rico.
Dann and Wilson Share Bonnie Doon Lead
Charlie Dann – Photo courtesy of PGA of Australia Brett Costello
Sunshine Coast golfer, Charlie Dann, has a share of the the lead at the halfway mark of the Tour Players Series Sydney event at the Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Pagewood in Sydney’s south eastern suburbs.
Dann shares the lead with Victorian Peter Wilson,who, after a horror start to his afternoon round, fought back to play four holes in 4 under through the middle of his round and then added two late birdies to join Dann in the lead
The 28 year old Dann added a second round of 64 to his opening 67 and leads along with Wilson by one over Wollongong’s Travis Smyth, South Australian rookie Jack Thompson, Victorians Josh Younger and Blake Collyer and Queenslander, Shae Wools-Cobb
Dann was out early on day two and played his opening nine in 5 under 32 before adding two further birdies on the way in. The highlight came at the par 5 9th which he eagled.
Dann, a professional for just over two years, was an accomplished amateur, winning events such as the Keperra Bowl, the Master of the Amateurs and the Mandurah Open but his time in the professional ranks has not been easy although like so many other domestic players he has been starved for opportunities over the last twelve months.
Dann has, though, played well in events in Australia this year and in 2019 played events on the China Tour where he recorded several reasonable finishes and appears to be finding his feet at this level.
The manner in which he handles the unique opportunity he has created for himself over the weekend will be watched with interest.
Wilson is 15 years older than his co-leader and has a Tier 2 PGA Tour of Australasia victory to his credit when successful at the WAPGA Championship in Kalgoorlie in 2012.
“Obviously I got off to a rough start but I knew that seven, eight and nine were the easier down-wind holes,” said Wilson. “I just had to stay patient and wait for those holes to happen and I played them in 4-under again like I did yesterday.”
Much of the lead-up to the event was dominated by the arrival on the professional scene of 18 year old, Elvis Smylie, and he did not let anyone down.
After an opening round of 3 under 68 yesterday, Smylie struggled early in his round today but like Dann he too would eagle the 9th to turn in even par before an impressive homeward nine of 30 to be tied in 11th place and four from the lead.
The $150,000 event continues over the next two days.
Elvis Smylie – impressive professional debut – photo PGA Australia
Elvis Smylie Joins Gabi Ruffels In The Paid Ranks
Smylie following his Queensland Amateur Championship victory in 2019 – photo Bruce Young
Last week it was Gabriela Ruffels who entered the paid ranks of golf when she played the Gainbridge LPGA event in Florida and this week sees the opening event in what promises to be a significant professional career for yet another young Australian when Elvis Smylie tees it up in one of the PGA Tour of Australasia’s ‘Players Series’ events at the Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney.
18-year-old Smylie, who has already accumulated several impressive finishes in professional events, turned professional last week but eighteen months ago made the cut as a 17-year-old amateur at the Australian Open, actually contending at various stages over the weekend before finishing 33rd at the Australian Golf Club.
Perhaps the catalyst for the timing of the decision, however, came after his stunning performance at one of the early Player Series events where he pushed experienced and credentialed professional Brad Kennedy to the limit before finishing runner-up to his fellow Queenslander.
Smylie reeled off consecutive weekend rounds of 63 at the Rosebud Country Club on the Mornington Peninsula to force Kennedy into recording a final round of 62 to hold him out.
The winner of events such as the Australian Junior Championship, the Keperra Bowl and the Queensland Amateur Championship during his amateur days, Smylie has a great pedigree to hold him in good stead in these all-important early stages of his professional career.
His mother Liz was a four-time Grand Slam Tennis Champion in Doubles events and later an accomplished tennis commentator and his father Peter was also a tournament tennis player who became involved in player management.
That sort of knowledge and support is a tremendous resource to access, but Elvis Smylie has shown a capacity to be very self sufficient in his approach to the game, possessing an outstanding work ethic in addition to his significant playing skills and mindset.
At a time when the Korda sisters (Nelly and Jessica) and the brother and sister pair of Gabi and Ryan Ruffels have been the product of significant tennis parentage and are now playing professional golf, yet another is about to take his game to the world.
The tall left-hander with the catchy and appealing name, looks sure to endear himself to the Australian golfing public in the years ahead and although 18 is young to enter the topsy-turvy world of professional golf, there has already been plenty of evidence to suggest when it comes to Elvis Smylie it is a case of ‘if you are good enough you are old enough’.
Gabi Ruffels – photo USGA
Rapid Riser Morikawa Wins WGC Workday Championship
Collin Morikawa – photo Getty Images Sam Greenwood
Current PGA Champion, Collin Morikawa, continued his meteoric rise in the game with victory at this week’s WGC Workday Championship at Concessions in Bradenton in Florida.
Twelve months ago Morikawa stood outside the top 50 in the game but as a result of his PGA Championship win, and this week’s victory, he finds himself in 4th place in the world ranking and, it would seem, with a bullet.
Morikawa won by three over Brooks Koepka, Viktor Hovland and Billy Horschel.
After his round Morikawa acknowledged the pressure he felt under during the final round.
“It’s so huge. No matter what anyone says, sleeping on a lead has its pressure, has its nerves. But I was excited to get back in contention, to have a chance to win. It’s something that I miss.
“Obviously I haven’t had it for a while, but this is what we love to do, we love to win. It’s a tough thing out here, but this tournament means so much. With how good the field was, how good my game felt, to close it out like this, with such a stacked leaderboard coming after me, really means a lot.”
Morikawa agreed when it was suggested that may have been a sense of complacency after his PGA Championship win at Harding Park last year.
“Yeah, there definitely was. It wasn’t like, oh, man, I should be winning every single week, but it just almost in that kind of fall portion, it was like, oh, I should be playing good golf, or on my bad days I should still be contending.
“It’s not the case. These guys are way too good. And I know that. When I sat down after my last event on the Tour, which was the Masters, or even right before the Masters, I sat down with Rick, my coach, and I said, you know — I told him the honest truth, that this is just — you know, I got complacent.
“I was getting lazy. I was getting a sense of where I didn’t want to just be the best every single week. And that doesn’t mean I wasn’t practicing right or it doesn’t mean all this, it was just a mental state of, you know, coming out, being ready to play great golf Thursday through Sunday.
“So I kind of reset that before the Masters, I was able to work on that throughout December, a couple times on that European Tour. By the time this year started, my game felt really, really good, I just need to put four good rounds together.”
Cameron Smith finished as the leading Australian when he tied for 11th but he will rue two double bogeys during round three after visiting water at the 5th and 13th holes. He had made a fast start on Saturday and was contending for the lead before disaster struck and his eventual 77 cost him any chance before the final round.
Smith would, though, record a round of 67 today to head back in the right direction and improve nine positions.
Jason Day was the next best of the Australasians when he finished 18th despite a last hole bogey, Minwoo Lee was unable to repeat the brilliance of his third round 66 but finished 28th in just his second PGA Tour event, Marc Leishman was 39th, Jason Scrivener 41st, Wade Ormsby 52nd, Adam Scott 54th, Brad Kennedy 61st and Lucas Herbert 70th.
The PGA Tour now moves to Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Cameron Percy Records One of Best PGA Tour Finishes
Australian Cameron Percy has finished in a share of 7th place at the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open, recording one of his best finishes on the PGA Tour in the process.
Percy began the final round in a share of 3rd place in the alternate event on the PGA Tour, but his four birdies were countered by three bogeys and he was unable to build any momentum in chasing the leaders.
The performance followed a solid week at Pebble Beach two weeks ago and the 46-year-old played some impressive golf in the demanding windy conditions at the Grand Reserve layout in Rio Grande.
Percy moved into contention in the early stages of his third round with six birdies in his opening ten holes but a double bogey at the 13th ended an encouraging run at that point. He would though add two further birdies and moved into contention again heading into today’s final round.
Percy first joined the tour in 2010 and, in what could be described as a ‘sliding doors’ moment, lost a playoff in Las Vegas that year when Jonathan Byrd holed-in-one to defeat him.
Percy has bounced between the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours since, but this is an encouraging week for him and confirms the work he has been doing with fellow Victorian and now respected coach, Brad Hughes, is falling into place.
The tournament was won by South African Branden Grace who eagled the 17th and birdied the last to defeat Jhonattan Vegas by one.
Greg Chalmers who was just one off the lead through 36 holes, recovered from a third round 76 with a final round of 68 and finished 22nd, New Zealander Tim Wilkinson was 27th, Aaron Baddeley 30th, and John Senden, the only other Australasian to make the cut, 75th.
Great Week For Sarah Kemp in Orlando
Sarah Kemp – file photo Bruce Young
35 year old New South Wales golfer, Sarah Kemp, has produced her second best-ever result on the LPGA Tour when finishing runner-up at the Gainbridge LPGA Tour event at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando.
Kemp, whose best had been when runner-up at the 2019 Women’s Australian Open over two years ago, birdied two of her final three holes in today’s final round to finish tied for 5th in her first event of the 2021 LPGA Tour season.
Beginning the final round in 11th place, Kemp took some time for the round to build momentum but over the final ten holes she produced five birdies and two bogeys for her round of 69 after playing some outstanding golf for much of the week.
Kemp spent time in Australia during the off-season including time in quarantine but this is an encouraging start to the season as she looks to consolidate her standing on the LPGA Tour.
Kemp finished five shots behind the winner and the current 4th ranked player in the world, Nelly Korda, who is likely to move into the 3rd position with this win. She also earns a cheque for US$75,000.
In the opening event of the season in January, Korda finished 3rd behind her sister Jessica, both sisters former Women’s Australian Open champions.
For Korda it was her 4th LPGA Tour title but her first on home soil, having won in Australia and Taiwan (twice) previously.
Tied for 2nd place were American Lexi Thompson and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko who finished three behind Korda.
Ko continues her return to the game that saw her as one of the dominant figures on the LPGA Tour four years ago, this her 5th top ten in her last six starts after switching to coach Sean Foley in early 2020.
Victorian, Gabi Ruffels, in her very first event as a professional, made the cut and finished 36th to get her career underway.
Lydia Ko Has 36 Hole Lead in Orlando
Lydia Ko – file photo
Lydia Ko has consolidated her opening round lead at the Gainbridge LPGA event at Lake Nona in Orlando, adding a second round 69 to lead by one over Nelly Korda.
A 15-time LPGA Tour event winner, Ko, playing on her now home golf course, has not won since 2018 but she has shown signs of late that the game which saw her dominate women’s golf during 2015 and 2016 is on its way back.
After an early bogey today, Ko birdied four of six holes on her way to the turn although she did bogey her 9th and 12th holes before a late recovery kept her clear of the impressive Korda.
When asked if she had set a goal before today’s round Ko was quick to respond. “I personally don’t shoot like setting goals because sometimes it could be really windy and even par could be a great, great score. Obviously a round like yesterday would be nice, but sometimes just putting numbers is just a number and all I can do is just try my best and be committed.
“I think in general my goal is to just make sure I hit every shot with commitment and be aggressive with that, and I think I’ve been able to do that pretty well. So hoping to continue that over the weekend.
“It’s definitely nice to be in contention at the top of leaderboard,” said Ko referring to the fact she has not won in three years. “No matter what happens over the weekend, I think it’s good to just keep putting myself in these positions. I think you get more comfortable with it and the more times you’re there I think the higher chance that at the end it will all happen for you.
“So I’m trying to not think about what may happen on Sunday. I’m just trying to take one shot at a time, and if I’m able to do it pretty well and be in contention going into Sunday the last few holes, that’s great.
“I think result needs to be more secondary for me. I just need to be more comfortable and have belief in my own game.”
New South Wales’ Sarah Kemp is doing very well having added a second round of 69 to be tied for 8th. Kemp has not recorded a top ten on the LPGA Tour since finishing 10th at the Australian Women’s Open two years ago so this is an encouraging start for her.
Kemp made mention of the benefit of extra work on her wedge game over the off period.
“My wedges have been really good,” said the 35 year old. “I purchased a TrackMan at the end of last year and I’ve done a lot of work with wedges on it especially, so like calibrating even where I grip it on the grip, the letters that I grip it on and stuff like that and my swing lengths, and it’s really paid off with my wedges, so that’s good.
Australia’s Gabi Ruffels, in her first event as a professional made the cut but she needed a strong finish to do so. She birdied her 13th, 14th and 15th holes to ease her way into the weekend field and further confirmed her considerable promise.
Katherine Kirk and Sarah Jane Smith both missed the cut.
Another player to make the cut was Annika Sorenstam who finished right on the cut mark after a second round of 71. It was Sorenstam’s first LPGA Tour event in 13 years but even after that significant break she displayed that she still has what it takes.
Scores
Cameron Smith At It Again in Florida
Cameron Smith in action today – photo Getty Images Sam Greenwood
Australian Cameron Smith has once again put himself in the firing line of a significant PGA Tour event, this time the WGC Workday Championship at The Concession in south west Florida.
Smith has completed the opening two rounds of the US$10.5 million event just one shot off the pace set by Brooks Koepka and shares second place with Collin Morikawa and Billy Horschel.
Off the back of an impressive 4th place at the Genesis Invitational last Sunday, Smith produced a seven-birdie round of 66 to again show his capacity to play big events well.
With now just six weeks to the Masters, where Smith finished runner-up last November, the 24-year old’s form appears to be falling into place at exactly the right time.
“I just feel like I’m playing really solid at the moment,” said Smith. This is probably the best my ball-striking’s felt to myself in a very long time. So yeah, really comfortable with the short and long stuff.
“I think it (the Nicklaus / Jacklin layout) is tough but fair. You can make birdies if you hit your tee shots in the right spots. I think the greens, if they firmed up a little bit, this place could be pretty interesting. I think they’ve done a really good job in prep for it. Hopefully the greens firm up a little bit on the weekend, we can see some more creative shots into the green.”
Compared to last week in California the temperature this week is considerably hotter but Smith is enjoying the warmer conditions.
“Yeah, I love being in the heat. Those early morning tee times in L.A. last week were pretty brutal. I grew up in Brisbane, it’s a very similar climate to this, so I love being out there and getting hot.”
Koepka continues to recover from injury issues and is returning to the sort of form that saw him as the world number one previously. His recent win in Phoenix had him back on track and despite a final hole bogey today, his round of 66 was good enough to edge him clear of the field.
“I’ve only been home like 25 days since Boston of the Playoffs last year, so I’ve spent the entire time in San Diego with my trainer Derek, just grinding, trying to make sure my knee’s right,” said Koepka.
“Once my body was right, it was only a matter of time before my swing kind of came into a groove I guess you could say. Then once — I mean, in December it finally was like it started to click, so I put in the work, it’s just now I’m starting to see it.
“Usually, I can never find my game until THE PLAYERS, that’s kind of when it starts to feel like it’s coming around, but the fact that it’s here a little bit early is nice.”
Jason Day is the next best of the Australians after Smith, a second round of 69 improving him to 4 under and in a share of 17th.
Wade Ormsby was unable to repeat his first round effort and was round in 74 to be in 26th place, a position he shares with Marc Leishman, Jason Scrivener went the other way with a round of 68 to be 37th, Adam Scott is 43rd, Min Woo Lee 49th and Brad Kennedy and Lucas Herbert 69th in the 72 player field.
There is no cut in this event so all players get to play all 72 holes.
Scores
Greg Chalmers’ Form Turnaround in Puerto Rico
Greg Chalmers in action this week – photo Getty Images Andy Lyons
In his last twelve PGA Tour starts, Texas based Australian golfer, Greg Chalmers, has missed the cut in ten and has a best finish of 50th in the other two. In fact in his one and only start this year on the PGA Tour, Chalmers recorded a second round of 83 to miss the cut by a large margin.
Today, Chalmers finds himself just one off the pace set by Brandon Wu at the Puerto Rico Open but even he, heading into this week’s event, was unsure how things might pan out.
“To be honest, I don’t think my confidence was super high,” he said after his second round of 68 was added to his opening 66 at the Grand Reserve Country Club in Rio Grande.
“It was sort of teetering on what’s going to happen here. But you’re always open to the idea that something good could happen, you will start playing better and start seeing some better shots.
“I played nicely in the practice rounds. I was really excited about how I was hitting the ball leading into — I got here Sunday, so I had a lot of time to prepare, and I really hit the ball nicely on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
“But I have done that before and not done very well. So, I really am pleased to say that what I saw early in the week has continued, and I actually have a couple of things I wish were a little better, but really pleased with how that’s going.”
Birdies at his final two holes today saw Chalmers close within one of the lead of Wu who has yet to record a top ten in his PGA Tour career to date, playing events on the Korn Ferry Tour in the main.
Wu was one of the best amateurs in the US until turning professional eighteen months ago but was unable to gain status on the Korn Ferry Tour, although he did Monday qualify his way into a few events and eventually won their Tour Championship.
Because of the carry over of Covid 19 Wu has still not earned full status for the PGA Tour but a win this week would change all of that.
Chalmers is perhaps one of the more underrated of the Australian players on the PGA Tour as, although he has recorded only one PGA Tour victory in the twenty or more years he has competed in the US, he enjoys an enviable record at home having won two Australian Opens, two Australian PGA Championships and one Australian Players Championship.
Chalmers has only partial status on the PGA Tour via a major medical extension category and grabs starts where he can get them but now, at the age of 47, he no doubt looks ahead to the possibility of playing the PGA Tour Champions if he can play his way on to that tour.
Chalmers has been working with the highly regarded coach and former player Bradley Hughes in more recent times and, like some of the other players Hughes is involved with, he is beginning to show the benefits.
Victorian, Cameron Percy, another to be working with Hughes of late, is two shots behind Chalmers with New Zealander Tim Wilkinson another shot back.
Aaron Baddeley and John Senden have also made the cut.
Scores
Gabriela Ruffels Makes Professional Debut at Lake Nona
Gabi Ruffels now playing for money, with her 2019 US Amateur trophy – Photo Steve Gibbons USGA
The LPGA Tour season for 2021 essentially gets underway this week and while one event has already been played in Lake Buena Vista over a month ago, this week’s Gainbridge LPGA event at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando signals the start of 33 further events this season.
The Australasian contingent is headed by Lydia Ko who will be joined by Katherine Kirk, Sarah Jane Smith, Sarah Kemp and recently turned professional Gabriela Ruffels in representing those from down under.
The 2019 US Women’s Amateur Champion and runner-up in the same event last year, Ruffels has recorded top twenty finishes in three of her five LPGA Tour starts to date including twice in majors and is generally considered an outstanding prospect for Australian golf in the future.
Having finished her time at the University of Southern California Ruffels now gets the chance to play for money and many expect her to earn a lot of it.
Notably missing from the Australasians who play the LPGA Tour is Minjee Lee who is not expected to begin her 2021 season until later in March.
Ko is a member at this golf course and was keen to point out that the fact that where the event was being played a role in her decision to tee it up this week.
“Yeah, obviously extra excited to play at a golf course that I play at for the majority of my off weeks and off-season,” said the New Zealander.
“I was kind of surprised when I heard the tournament was coming here. I know there was a little bit where none of us were sure we were going to play this event. When I heard it was at Nona I wasn’t sure if this tournament was going to be on my schedule, but being here at the course I pretty much live and practice at, I knew it was kind of a no-brainer for me to play.
“Right after CME I went to Korea and I took five, six weeks off. With the quarantine there that took another couple weeks.
“I mentioned like a few days or a week ago I had deviated septum surgery, so that took me out for two to three weeks. So I’ve only been back in Florida for three to four weeks, so ever since I’ve been back I’ve been slowly getting back into things, working out where my trainers, working on the swing with Sean (coach Foley) .
“So, yeah, I wish I had a bit more time to get ready for this event. That’s the time I had, so I tried to be as productive as I can. I think this off-season probably the difference was I tried to spend a little bit more time on the golf course than practicing a lot just on the facilities, especially as this event was going to be my first one.
“So tried to kind of see and understand and get comfortable with playing. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how well you hit it on the practice days. You’ve got to be able to bring it on the golf course. So I think that was probably the biggest difference for me this off-season compared to the others.”
Given Ko’s relative slip from the level of her play in her early years on the LPGA Tour she was asked if winning so early in her career might have worked against her. Her response was interesting and considered.
“I don’t think so. (Laughter.) I think a lot of things happened for me at such an early age, and obviously things that I could have only dreamed of. Even my first win in Canada, it happened like without — I don’t know when it sunk in, and definitely didn’t sink in like when this tournament finished. It took a while for me to kind of understand that whole situation. Might have taken a year after that for me to understand that.
“But I’m sure at points I might have said to myself, Maybe if those things didn’t happen early then there wouldn’t have been as much expectations. At the same time, I think because those things happened early I was able to come out on tour a little earlier and a lot of opportunities were given to me.
“So I think you just got to be grateful for everything that’s happened. Let’s say even if it was just the end of my career right now, I think I’ve got so many things to be thankful for. So I think that just also at the same time just motivates me and just going to push me to become a better version of myself.
“At the same time, I can’t try to be the person I was when I was world No. 1 or winning at those moments because I’m just not the same anymore. Experience changes you. I just have to be the best player, the best person, I can be at this moment and not compare myself to my past.”
Katherine Kirk played very well late in 2020 as she ran up several top tens in quick succession and although that form dropped off a little in the last few events of the year her results were encouraging.
Sarah Jane Smith is still regaining her playing skills following a departure from the LPGA Tour to have her first child eighteen months ago.
Kemp is well outside the top 200 in the world and has done well to retain her (albeit limited) LPGA Tour status.
The tournament will also see a rare appearance from former world number one and the player who most think is the greatest female player of all time, Annika Sorenstam, who is playing what is essentially a home event given she lives at Lake Nona.
Opportunity for Many Australians in Florida and Puerto Rico
Kennedy, seen here following his recent in Victoria, gets a great opportunity in Florida – photo PGA of Australia
With two PGA Tour events being played concurrently this week, more Australasians than is normally the case get their opportunity to take advantage of a start close to the elite level of men’s professional golf.
The World Golf Championship Workday Championship at the Concession sees an eclectic mix of world players teeing it up in a $10.5 million event in Bradenton in the south west of Florida, while in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Open is played in Rio Grande.
In Florida, nine Australians tee it up in an event which brings together 74 players from the world ranking and a mix of players from various money lists worldwide while in Puerto Rico seven Australians and one New Zealander will play an event, the purse of which pales in comparison to that in Florida but an event that offers opportunity for several lesser PGA Tour players.
With no cut and a guaranteed minimum cheque of close to US$50,000 a significant payday is on offer whatever the outcome.
At the WGC event, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Jason Day, Lucas Herbert, Jason Scrivener, Brad Kennedy, Wade Ormsby and Min Woo Lee all get their chance on the Jack Nicklaus / Tony Jacklin designed layout about an hour south of Tampa.
For Scott, Smith, Leishman and Day this is just another PGA Tour (albeit with a little more prizemoney at stake) event, but for the others this represents a rare opportunity to compete against most of the world’s leading players.
Kennedy is an interesting one. Twelve months ago, Kennedy was winning his second New Zealand Open title in Queenstown and in just four events since he has won a PGA Tour of Australasia event and finished 41st at the Zozo Championship on the PGA Tour.
His game is not built around the power of the current players, but he has shown a command of his game despite struggling to keep up with the power hitters.
“It’s my second WGC. My first was way back in I think 2013 (2012 WGC-HSBC Champions) when I played in China,” said Kennedy.
“But WGCs are always great to get into. Played ZOZO (CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD last October), so it’s great to come back to the U.S. again and play another tournament.
“After I won New Zealand last year in March, I actually took six months off, didn’t touch a golf club. I just couldn’t see any progress happening and all the tournaments were being canceled, so I really just took a break. It was good to be home with the family.”
It wasn’t until December last year that I knew some events were coming up in Australia in January, February, so yeah, got myself ready for those. Fortunately won the first one back, so it was nice to get off to a good start again.
Kennedy and Min Woo Lee are in the field courtesy of their PGA Tour of Australasia efforts of late, Ormsby because of his Asian Tour performances and Scrivener and Herbert get their chance courtesy of some fine play in Europe in the last twelve months or so.
In Puerto Rico, Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Rhein Gibson, Mark Hensby, Cameron Percy, John Senden and New Zealander Tim Wilkinson will tee it up, Allenby making his first PGA Tour appearance since this very event twelve months ago.
Allenby, at one stage ranked close to the top ten in the world is now ranked outside the top 1800 and so this represents an opportunity to get things headed in the right direction as he no doubt considers a career on the PGA Tour Champions for which he becomes eligible later this year.
Allenby has won four PGA Tour titles but the last of those came at Riviera Country Club twenty years ago and having made the cut in just two of his latest nineteen starts this week offers a litmus test for him.
It is good, however, to see the four-time Australian PGA and twice Australian Open champion back competing again.
Both events off opportunity for some of Australia’s emerging stars but they also offer the chance to resurrect a career in the case of Allenby, Hensby, Chalmers and Senden.
There will be much interest in just how such a generous line-up of Australians perform this week in both Florida and Puerto Rico.