Billy Horschel- photo Getty Images
The completion of this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club west of London marked decision time for European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington, his task to add three players to the nine who had automatically made the team through various qualifying criteria.
Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and 2019 Open Champion, Shane Lowry have been given the nod to complete the team to take on the USA at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin on September 24th
They join Jon Rahm, Victor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Tyrell Hatton, Paul Casey, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood and Bernd Wiesberger in the 12 man European team who will be attempting to defend the title they won in France in 2018.
For Lowry, it will be his first appearance at the Ryder Cup with last year’s event postponed due to Covid issues and he will be joined by fellow rookies Wiesberger and Hovland.
The unlucky player in terms of the European Team was perhaps Justin Rose who despite a last round 65 to finish 6th this week will miss Ryder Cup team inclusion. Rose has played in five Ryder Cups, three of those winning sides but the decision between he and Shane Lowry went the way of the man from Ireland.
Harrington displays his final team – photo Getty Images
Perhaps ironically, the BMW PGA Championship title was won by an American who was unable to make the USA team, Billy Horschel. Horschel’s final round of 65 was enough to hold off a late bid by Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat who was attempting to overcome his third round of 74 after leading through 36 holes.
Aphibarnrat raced to 8 under for the day through 12 holes and when he birdied the 16th it appeared the comeback might well be complete.
He would, however, bogey the first of the two par fives to finish at Wentworth, opening the door for a final hole birdie by Horschel, playing an hour behind him, to take the title.
Wales Jamie Donaldson birdied his final two holes to finish in a share of 2nd place with Aphibarnrat and England’s Laurie Canter, the latter of whom was playing in the final group of the day and was unable to secure the one extra birdie he needed over the closing six holes to force a playoff.
Canter’s finish moves him inside the top 100 in the world from 179th and after missing his last three cuts it was a remarkable effort by a player yet to win on the European tour.
Horschel has now won two big events in 2021, the WGC Dell Match Play and now the European Tour’s flagship event and could be considered unlucky that his timing was sufficiently out to miss US Ryder Cup team selection.
“Man, I’m speechless, which is very, very rare,” said the normally talkative Horschel. “As I’ve said two years ago and as I said this week the crowds are absolutely unbelievable here and they supported me when I came over in 2019 and they supported me this year. Played really good today, really well. Obviously missed a few putts but to win this event means a lot.
“I didn’t realise I was the first American to win a Rolex event. Obviously, the Rolex Series has been around for a few years, and I know some of the other guys have played some of the other Rolex Series events. I didn’t realise that I was the first one to do it, and that’s pretty special.
“To add my name to Arnold Palmer, that’s legendary stuff. That guy, if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have this modern era of golf to play in front of thousands of fans and big sponsors. Tiger Woods took it to another level but Arnie is the one who started it.
“So to have my name on that trophy next to his being the second American to win this event here at Wentworth is pretty special. As I said yesterday and as I said today, this event to me after I left here in 2019 was an event I wanted to win in my career before it ended and it rivals or it’s equal to me in the sense of THE PLAYERS. This event has historical preference. The winners of this event are legendary. You know, this is very equal to me in the sense of THE PLAYERS Championship on the PGA TOUR.”
As Horschel suggested, he becomes just the second American to win the event, following in the footsteps of Arnold Palmer who won at Royal St Georges in 1975.
Adam Scott was within two of the lead starting the final round but was unable to make any progress on a day of extremely low scoring and actually slipped to finish as the leading Australasian but in a share of 14th after a final round of 71.
Scott had talked on Saturday afternoon of the need to begin his final round faster than had been the case in rounds two and three but once again he was on the back foot early with bogeys at the 1st and 6th.
Wade Ormsby was 49th and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox 63rd.
The Ryder Cup – one of Sport’s greatest battles
The Ryder Cup – photo PGA of America
As has been so often the case, even over the 42 years since the Ryder Cup developed in 1979 into a contest between Europe and the USA rather than just Great Britain and the USA, the Americans will start the on-paper favourites at this week’s edition of one of sports’ most intriguing battlegrounds.
One look at the respective line-ups of the two sides highlights why the Americans command such respect by those making books for betting on the event but as the last 42 years have shown, what is on paper is often irrelevant in the heat of this most tense of encounters.
This week the Americans can boast 11 of their 12 players inside the top sixteen in the current world ranking while the Europeans claim just three in that category.
The lowest ranked American is rookie Scottie Scheffler at 21 in the world while for the Europeans, eight of their 12-man line-up are ranked lower than Scheffler and their lowest ranked, Bernd Wiesberger currently stands 63.
Disparity of this sort has been the norm over the last 36 years since the Europeans first won the Cup in 1985 and, despite it, in the 17 encounters between the sides including and since 1985, the Europeans have dominated the contest, winning on 11 occasions losing five and forcing a tie once.
The change in fortunes came about when a decision was made for the 1979 cup allowing Great Britain and Ireland to become a European side and when players such as Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, amongst others, helped balance the respective strengths of the sides, the Ryder Cup developed into one of sport’s greatest contests and spectacles.
The inclusion of World Golf Championships in 1999 also aided the cause of the Europeans as those events allowed greater access to events to international where the best played against the best and players from the European Tour developed a greater belief in their ability to compete as individuals against the Americans.
In 2021 the Americans have a home-town advantage. At Whistling Straits, on the shores of Lake Michigan, this year’s event is likely to command one of the most passionate and partisan fan-bases seen in a Ryder Cup for many years.
It is about now, and because of the global reach of the contest, that every sports fan, golfer or not, becomes an expert, rolling out all sorts of statistics as to why the Americans will dominate this event from the start but in the heat of a Ryder Cup battle, recent history has shown that statistics only matter after the event and not before and there will be plenty of Monday morning quarter backs saying why whatever result eventuates was predictable.
For many years this contest gained its popularity because of its David and Goliath appeal but in the modern day it is a case of just who is David and who is Goliath?
Common sense suggests the Americans should and will start as red hot favourites to reclaim the title they lost in Paris in 2018 but this contest is not so much about common sense but rather the raw ingredients of a contest of the highest order when bodies and reputations are on the line.
There is little doubt that, on any given day, any one of the combinations in the fourballs or foursomes or individuals in the single match-ups are capable of beating their opposite number. That unpredictability is what makes the Ryder Cup what it has now become.
In the many years between 1927 and 1979, there was a predictability about the result that ensured the biennial contest was little more than an exhibition which allowed golf in Great Britain the opportunity to see the great Americans on their soil every four years.
It is far from an exhibition now .
USA Team
European Team
The fans in Paris in 2018 – photo PGA of America
Impressive PGA Tour Champions week for Australasians
John Senden file photo – records top ten on PGA Tour Champions
Four Australasians have finished inside the top 12 players of the PGA Tour Champions Sanford International in Sioux Falls in South Dakota, making it one of the most successful weeks ever in terms of the number of down-under golfers featuring in a PGA Tour Champions event.
Rod Pampling was 4th, John Senden and Steve Alker were 7th and David McKenzie 11th, Pampling contending for the title before finishing two shots from the winner in a playoff, Darren Clarke.
Despite his impressive finish, Pampling slips one place to 11th on the season’s Charl Schwab points table, but it continues a season where he has recorded a breakthrough win at this level and produced seven other top tens in the combined 2020/2021 season.
New Zealander, Alker, is one of the finds of the 2021 Champions Tour. Turning 50 in just July, the US based, Waikato golfer has now recorded four top tens after qualifying for his initial event in early August via Monday qualifying.
Playing without PGA Champions Tour status, Alker has, by finishing inside the top ten each week, gained a start the following week and he has already accumulated enough Charl Schwab points to move to 63rd on the table.
Needing to finish inside the top 54 by season’s end to earn at least partial status on next year’s tour he is moving along nicely although the job is not yet done. If he can continue this progress and finish inside the top 36 by season’s end, he will have earned full status for next season.
Senden recorded his best finish on the PGA Tour Champions having turned 50 in April of this year after 20 years as a PGA Tour player, his final round of 65 today allowing him to jump 24 places from his 36-hole position.
Like Alker, Senden continued to play to play competitively until the age of 50 and despite little success while doing so of late he arrived at the PGA Tour Champions with his game ready to compete at this level. He needs something special over the next few weeks if he is to avoid the demanding Tour School however
McKenzie’s 11th place finish has moved him one place to 50th in the standings and now in his 4th year on the PGA Tour Champions he continues to perform at a level above his previous exploits in the game.
Stephen Leaney was 44th this week, Mark Hensy 49th and Robert Allenby 65th.
Marc Leishman’s final round brilliance at Fortinet Championship
Marc Leishman – file photo
Australia’s Marc Leishman produced eight birdies in the first 14 holes of his final round of the Fortinet Championship in Napa in California and although he was unable to secure the extra birdie or two he needed to contend for the title over the closing holes at the Silverado Golf Club, his round of 65 would see him finish in a share of 4th place and four shots from the winner, Max Homa.
Leishman began the final day two hours ahead of the final group and with an outward nine of 32 he was challenging for the lead in the opening event of the new PGA Tour season. After further birdies at the 10th, 11th and 14th holes, the possibility of a huge come from behind victory, as he had done previously on the PGA Tour, was becoming a possibility.
The momentum slowed however and after missing makeable chances at the 16th and 17th his chance of victory was gone although it was an impressive day all the same.
Leishman had mixed emotions at the completion of his round. “A little disappointed with the last three holes, a few birdie opportunities there, could have really put some pressure on,” said the Victorian. “Yeah, definitely happy with the week and good start to the season.”
With so long to wait before the final few groups finished, it gave Leishman the chance to reflect on the year to date.
“Wherever I finish, to play golf like I have the last two days was really pleasing. Hasn’t been the greatest year I would say. There’s been patches of good stuff, third at the Travelers and top-5 at the Masters, I believe, but other than that it’s been pretty lame. So good to put some good scores together, get a sniff again. It’s nice to get in the hunt, get the juices flowing. I love that, that’s what we do, that’s why we do it.”
Leishman will play three more PGA Tour events before ending his 2021 campaign. Two of those events are in Las Vegas and one in Houston.
Aaron Baddeley played this event on invite as he now has very limited status on the PGA Tour and finished 36th while Cameron Percy was 64th.
The PGA Tour will now head to the Sanderson Farms Championship in two weeks’ time, the break necessary because of this coming week’s Ryder Cup.
SCORES
Su Oh finishes runner-up in Portland Oregon
Su Oh – a timely return to form – Steve Dykes Getty Images
Victorian Su Oh has equaled her best ever finish on the LPGA Tour when finishing runner-up at the Cambia Portland Classic in Oregon this weekend.
Oh finished tied for second with Jeongeun Lee and four shots behind the former world number one, Jin Young Ko, after a final round of 69 and pocketed a cheque for $US110,000 in the process.
Oh has battled for much of 2021 but on a windswept and rain effected layout, she produced her best LPGA Tour finish since finishing runner-up at the Meijer LPGA Classic in 2019, signalling a continuation of an improvement in recent starts.
The event had been reduced to 54 holes after stormy weather buffeted the new venue for this event on Saturday but Oh handled the delay in her stride.
“I mean it’s definitely different. But I think we’re all pretty used to playing golf, so it’s not going to be new out here. Maybe since it’s such a hike of a golf course maybe it was nice having a day off.
“I just came out to putt )on Saturday) because I didn’t really putt that well on Friday. But it was kind of nice in a way and a bit strange in a way. I guess everyone that doesn’t finish first wishes there’s “another day tomorrow, right?
But still second is not a bad finish, so best one for the year, so hopefully get some momentum going into the next few tournaments.”
Oh, a contemporary of Australia’s number one golfer, Minjee Lee, has played the LPGA Tour since 2016, her best year to date coming in 2019 when runner-up on two occasions. With just five events remaining prior to the Tour Championship, the return to form comes at a good time for the, still only, 25 year old.
Her finish this week improves her to 47th in the Race to the Globe standings from her 72nd position starting the week and increases the possibility of her making the 60 player field for the Tour Championship.
The winner, Ko, led into the final round and was never really threatened as she eased to a four shot victory, claiming her 9th LPGA Tour title and opening the possibility of a return to the number one spot in the female game she held for nearly two years before Nelly Korda took the mantle.
Other Australians to complete the event were Katherine Kirk 26th and former winner of the event Hannah Green who finished 57th.
Scores
Su Oh finds form in Oregon
Su Oh – file photo – Henry Peters
Su Oh has not enjoyed the best of seasons on the LPGA Tour but her most recent form suggests things are getting better for the Victorian and today that improvement continued when finding herself in a share of 4th place and four shots from the leader and former world number one, Jin Young Ko.
Oh added a second round of 71 but a closing nine of 33 assisted her into a contending position heading into the weekend.
Oh was battling when she reached the turn but three birdies, an eagle and a double bogey saw her move back into calculations for the final 36 holes.
Oh expressed her disappointment in a season which has seen her unable to get back to Australia as often as she normally would.
“I mean, it’s been very hard,” said Oh. “I think it’s just the fact that we can’t go home; my family can’t come out of Australia. I just had a flight and it’s just been cancelled.
“Yeah, it’s just very frustrating. I’m sure people back in Melbourne and Sydney right now are even more frustrated. They’ve been in lockdown, like all my friends.
“I just hope we can get our crap together.”
Katherine Kirk is 41st and former winner of the event albeit on another venue, Hannah Green, just made the cut in 70th place despite a quadruple bogey at her second hole today.
Gabi Ruffels and Sarah Jane Smith both missed the cut.
Aaron Baddeley takes advantage of tournament invite
Aaron Baddeley – file photo – Bruce Young
Aaron Baddeley no longer has full status on the PGA Tour and in this week’s Fortinet Championship in Napa California the 40-year-old required a tournament invite to gain a start.
The two-time Australian Open Champion and four-time PGA Tour winner is tied for 24th after opening rounds of 71 and 68 to lead the three Australians to make the weekend in the opening event of the 2021 / 2022 PGA Tour schedule.
Baddeley trails the leader, Maverick McNealy by seven shots, the leader two ahead of rookie and three time Korn Ferry Tour winner, Mito Pereira and Beau Hossler.
Baddeley finished outside the top 125 on last season’s FedEx Cup table and, as a consequence, was required to enter the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in order to regain PGA Tour status.
He was unable to do so having a best finish of 22nd in his three attempts and must now rely on the generosity of sponsors and the occasional event where his very limited PGA Tour status might gain him a start in lesser events.
This has been an encouraging start at least as he looks to resurrect his PGA Tour career.
Cameron Percy and Marc Leishman were the only other Australasians to survive the cut, that pair in 38th place and just one behind Baddeley.
Lucas Herbert was playing his first PGA Tour event as a cardholder but missed the cut as did Brett Drewitt and New Zealander Danny Lee.
Scores
Australasia’s increasing strength on PGA Tour Champions
Rod Pampling – file photo – Bruce Young
The PGA Tour Champions has seen an increase in the number of Australasian participants in recent times, the lucrative 50 and over playground for former PGA Tour players and others good enough to earn the right to play there proving a happy hunting ground for recently turned 50-year-olds.
In the early stages of the PGA Tour Champions players such as Peter Thomson, Bob Charles, Bruce Crampton, Graham Marsh, Stewart Ginn, Rodger Davis and more recently Peter Senior represented this part of the world well but there are now greater numbers involved.
At this week’s Sanford International in Sioux Falls in South Dakota, seven Australasians are doing battle with a field that includes at least 15 former major champions and several are doing well in the event’s early stages.
Queensland’s Rod Pampling, who is in his second year on the PGA Tour Champions, heads the down under brigade after the opening round of this week’s event, his recent breakthrough win at the Boeing Classic in Washington State providing the catalyst for even further improvement.
51 year old Pampling opened with a round of 64 today to be tied for 2nd place and just one behind the leader, K.J. Choi. A bogey at his final hole on day after a flyer from the rough one cost Pampling the chance to share the lead but he is nicely placed ahead of the final 36 holes in the 54-hole event.
Pampling is enjoying that he is now playing courses he has played previously now that he is in his second season on the PGA Tour Champions.
“It’s been nice because now they’re playing courses that I know now,” said the three-time PGA Tour winner. “So last year was not quite sure on some of the holes, but now sort of getting to the stage where I know the courses, so it’s a nice bit of familiarity there. We’re just going with that and so far it’s been working good.”
New Zealand’s Steve Alker, without status on the PGA Tour Champions, gained access to the Boeing Classic via Monday qualifying a few weeks ago and has already turned a few heads with his performances to date.
In just three events, Alker has won US$253,000, one of those finishes when 3rd at the Ally Championship in Michigan and in each start he has finished inside the top ten earning the right to play the following week’s event because of that.
The money Alker has accumulated in that short time has him currently in 65th place in the Schwab Cup money list and if he can finish inside the top 36 he gains full access to PGA Tour Champions events next year and if inside the top 54 he will likely gain starts at half the events in 2022.
If he does not achieve those goals then he will be required to attend the cut throat Tour School qualifying process.
Alker opened this week’s event with another solid round of 65 to be tied for 7th and on track for another good week.
Melbourne born but Tamworth raised, Mark Hensby, a player good enough to have won on the PGA Tour and represented the Internationals in the Presidents Cup in his halcyon year of 2005, is playing in one of his first PGA Tour Champions events and is also tied for 7th along with Alker after his opening round of 65.
Hensby Monday qualified to gain access to the field and, like Alker, he could well make an immediate impact at this level despite a tough time in recent years battling to retain even Korn Ferry Tour status.
John Senden opened with a round of 67 today, David McKenzie 68, Stephen Leaney 69 and Robert Allenby 72.
Scores
Australasians struggle at the Dutch Open
Ryan Fox – file photo
Australasians are yet to make any sort of impact at the halfway mark of the European Tour’s Dutch Open being played in Cromvoirt in the Netherlands.
New Zealander Ryan Fox and Queensland’s Maverick Antcliff are the only two to have made it to the weekend in the €1 million event, the pair tied in 39th place and eight shots from the lead held by Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg.
Antcliffe was round in 67 today while Fox added a 68 to his opening round of 72, both players finishing strongly to ensure the chance to make progress over the final 36 holes.
Currently in 77th and 99th respectively in the Race to Dubai rankings, Antcliffe and Fox both have work to do over the remaining five events before the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai if they are to be inside the top 60 who will secure a place in that lucrative season ending event.
Currently Min Woo Lee leads the Australians in the Race to Dubai rankings in 10th place with Jason Scrivener (16th) and Lucas Herbert (19th) also currently inside the top 60.
Jake Mcleod, Josh Geary, Elvis Smylie and Deyen Lawson all failed to make the weekend but 19 year old Queenslander Smylie, who is playing on invitation, improved on his opening 77 with a round of 69 today.
Scores
PGA Tour season begins in Napa with new Aussie recruits
Fortinet Championship logo – PGA Tour
Lucas Herbert gets to play his first event as a PGA Tour card holder this week when he tees it up at the opening event of the 2021/2022 season, the Fortinet Championship (previously the Safeway Open) at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa in Northern California.
Herbert earned his PGA Tour status via the recent Korn Ferry Tour Finals and although he has played several PGA Tour events previously this will be the first of what promises to be a lengthy and successful career as a cardholder.
Herbert has won two of the mores significant events on the European Tour in the last two years and now steps up to this higher level where many expect him to continue the progress he has made in his career to date.
Herbert will be joined in this week’s field by fellow Australians Marc Leishman, Cameron Percy, Aaron Baddeley and Brett Drewitt along with New Zealander Danny Lee
Leishman finished 3rd in this event two years ago when three shots behind the winner Cameron Champ after a superb weekend saw him make up a lot of ground.
This will be Leishman’s first event since finishing well back at the BMW Championship three weeks ago which ended his 2021 season.
Aaron Baddeley has lost his full PGA Tour status after failing to play well in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals but he has managed to secure a start here courtesy of the sponsors and will be keen to take advantage in an event in which he finished 4th three years ago when just one shot behind the winner, Kevin Tway.
Cameron Percy finished outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings in 2021 but he has sufficient status to earn a start here and will play the event for the 5th occasion with a best of 7th in 2019.
Percy struggled for much of 2021 on the PGA Tour but in recent weeks his form has improved and although he was unable to make the Fed Ex Cup Playoffs, he was performing well enough late in the season.
Brett Drewitt gets another chance on the PGA Tour having graduated through the regular season on the Korn Ferry Tour. The Inverell golfer’s persistence has to be admired having played himself onto the PGA Tour on two occasions now and if he was to begin the season well then few would begrudge him such success.
New Zealander Danny Lee has lost his full PGA Tour status after a poor year in 2021 but having had one or two solid finishes in this event in previous years, a start here might be enough to get things headed back in the right direction.
The favourite in the event will undoubtedly be the World Number One Jon Rahm whose appearance here is perhaps a surprise given the events’ proximity in time to the Ryder Cup in Wisconsin next week.
Horschel wins BMW PGA – European Ryder Cup team finalised
Billy Horschel- photo Getty Images
The completion of this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club west of London marked decision time for European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington, his task to add three players to the nine who had automatically made the team through various qualifying criteria.
Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and 2019 Open Champion, Shane Lowry have been given the nod to complete the team to take on the USA at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin on September 24th
They join Jon Rahm, Victor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Tyrell Hatton, Paul Casey, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood and Bernd Wiesberger in the 12 man European team who will be attempting to defend the title they won in France in 2018.
For Lowry, it will be his first appearance at the Ryder Cup with last year’s event postponed due to Covid issues and he will be joined by fellow rookies Wiesberger and Hovland.
The unlucky player in terms of the European Team was perhaps Justin Rose who despite a last round 65 to finish 6th this week will miss Ryder Cup team inclusion. Rose has played in five Ryder Cups, three of those winning sides but the decision between he and Shane Lowry went the way of the man from Ireland.
Harrington displays his final team – photo Getty Images
Perhaps ironically, the BMW PGA Championship title was won by an American who was unable to make the USA team, Billy Horschel. Horschel’s final round of 65 was enough to hold off a late bid by Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat who was attempting to overcome his third round of 74 after leading through 36 holes.
Aphibarnrat raced to 8 under for the day through 12 holes and when he birdied the 16th it appeared the comeback might well be complete.
He would, however, bogey the first of the two par fives to finish at Wentworth, opening the door for a final hole birdie by Horschel, playing an hour behind him, to take the title.
Wales Jamie Donaldson birdied his final two holes to finish in a share of 2nd place with Aphibarnrat and England’s Laurie Canter, the latter of whom was playing in the final group of the day and was unable to secure the one extra birdie he needed over the closing six holes to force a playoff.
Canter’s finish moves him inside the top 100 in the world from 179th and after missing his last three cuts it was a remarkable effort by a player yet to win on the European tour.
Horschel has now won two big events in 2021, the WGC Dell Match Play and now the European Tour’s flagship event and could be considered unlucky that his timing was sufficiently out to miss US Ryder Cup team selection.
“Man, I’m speechless, which is very, very rare,” said the normally talkative Horschel. “As I’ve said two years ago and as I said this week the crowds are absolutely unbelievable here and they supported me when I came over in 2019 and they supported me this year. Played really good today, really well. Obviously missed a few putts but to win this event means a lot.
“I didn’t realise I was the first American to win a Rolex event. Obviously, the Rolex Series has been around for a few years, and I know some of the other guys have played some of the other Rolex Series events. I didn’t realise that I was the first one to do it, and that’s pretty special.
“To add my name to Arnold Palmer, that’s legendary stuff. That guy, if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have this modern era of golf to play in front of thousands of fans and big sponsors. Tiger Woods took it to another level but Arnie is the one who started it.
“So to have my name on that trophy next to his being the second American to win this event here at Wentworth is pretty special. As I said yesterday and as I said today, this event to me after I left here in 2019 was an event I wanted to win in my career before it ended and it rivals or it’s equal to me in the sense of THE PLAYERS. This event has historical preference. The winners of this event are legendary. You know, this is very equal to me in the sense of THE PLAYERS Championship on the PGA TOUR.”
As Horschel suggested, he becomes just the second American to win the event, following in the footsteps of Arnold Palmer who won at Royal St Georges in 1975.
Adam Scott was within two of the lead starting the final round but was unable to make any progress on a day of extremely low scoring and actually slipped to finish as the leading Australasian but in a share of 14th after a final round of 71.
Scott had talked on Saturday afternoon of the need to begin his final round faster than had been the case in rounds two and three but once again he was on the back foot early with bogeys at the 1st and 6th.
Wade Ormsby was 49th and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox 63rd.