photo PGA Tour

Australians Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman have parred the first extra hole of a playoff to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after their opponents, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, found the water from the tee and could do no better than double bogey.

For Smith it is his third PGA Tour title and for Leishman his 6^th but for Smith it completes a unique double in this particular event having also won in 2017, albeit with another playing partner.

Smith and Leishman began the final round in the alternate shot format one shot behind Schwartzel and Oosthuizen although through nine holes they were tied at 21 under. The Australian pair birdied the 11^th to move two ahead after the South Africans had bogeyed the 10^th.

Bogeys at the 13^th and 15^th however had them trailing the South Africans but perhaps the key turning point came at the reachable par 4 16^th after Smith had found the water with his tee shot.

After taking a penalty drop, Leishman hit the most delicate of pitches into the hole for an unlikely birdie and a share of the lead.

Both pairs bogeyed the par 3 17^th after missing the green and then parred to last to force a playoff.

Smith’s previous win in the event was with Sweden’s Jonas Blixt and while no doubt the victory back then was special for him given it was his first PGA Tour title, to have won with his fellow countryman and close PGA Tour friend, today’s success will be equally important.

The win will take Smith’s earnings in his five-year career on the PGA Tour beyond US$15 million while for Leishman he moves past US$32 million with the US$1050,000 each of the winning team pocketed for their success.

Leishman was of course delighted with the win and heaped a lot of praise on his playing partner.

“It was an awesome week, obviously,” said Leishman. “Cam played unbelievably well. I was saying to him when we finished if that had been an individual tournament, I think he would have won by a fair few shots.

“But I managed to not hold him back too much. But, no, it was a fun week. I mean, the course was unbelievable. I haven’t been here for a few years and the greens were firm, fast, even after 11 inches of rain last week.

“But it was just all around a really good week, on and off the golf course. Obviously, New Orleans is a great city and we enjoyed our time here and looking forward to coming back next year I’m sure.”

When asked about the crucial chip in Leishman responded; “I said to the boys, I said, Why don’t we just chip this in. It wasn’t the hardest chip in the world, but under the conditions — well, I won’t say it was a must make, but it was certainly very helpful that it went in.

“I actually forgot to get my ball out of the hole I was so excited. I went over and was high-fiving Cam, and Louis had to throw the ball to me. So yeah, it’s just nice to be able to celebrate with friends.

“We’re maybe me, Matty, Pinner, our caddies, we just had a great week. I’m really excited for them also. And, yeah, that chip-in was a lot of fun. It was nice to have crowds back out there too. The atmosphere was really good.”

Smith too was pumped by the win and talked about the nice vibe all week. “I think that we obviously were playing pretty good golf coming into the week. Leish coming off a Top-5 at the Masters. I played really well last week in Hilton Head.

“I mean, the conditions definitely favored the Aussies, I think, this week. It was windy for three out of the four days. The greens were firm and fast, exactly how we like it. Reminds us so much of home.

“And just everything just kind of fell into place. Yeah, I mean, it was just, it was so cool. It was, like Leish said, the crowd felt like a home crowd. It felt like we were playing on a home course. So, yeah, it was a really cool week.”

Neither Smith nor Leishman are scheduled to play next week’s Valspar Championship in Tampa and it may be that their next event will be the Wells Fargo event in ten days’ time.

SCORES

Hannah Green – file photo

Hannah Green has finished in a share of 3rd at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open at the Wilshire golf Club in Los Angeles and two shots behind the winner, Brooke Henderson.

Green’s final round of 66 was the equal best of the day and saw the 24 year old West Australian record her best finish of the season, although recent indications have suggested she was close to this sort of performance.

Green who is only the third Australian female to win a major title, had finished 12^th and 14^th in her two previous starts and she indicated earlier in the week that work with her coach on building clubhead speed is beginning to show benefits.

“I think putting has been pretty key for me, but then also hitting greens in regulation. You know, now that I have shorter shots in, I expect that my greens in regulation stats will go up a bit higher. That was probably the key to me having the good results this week was making sure that I was missing it in the right areas and hitting a lot of greens.

“I feel like I’m pretty close. Nate and I, my caddie, have been talking about it, and we feel like we’re not far off a win.

“Hopefully Thailand and Singapore, be my first time, so excited to get over there and see what can happen.”

The highlight of Green’s round was when recording an eagle at the par 4 14^th which she all but drove and converted when putting from just off the green and when she birdied the 15^th to follow, she was not without hope of winning the event.

Green is currently ranked 18^th in the female game and might improve a place or two as a result of this week’s effort.

Gabi Ruffels continued her impressive rookie season on the LPGA Tour when she finished as the next best Australian in 17th place. For Ruffels it was a nice reversal from a missed cut in Hawaii last week.

The winner Henderson, secured her 10th LPGA Tour title. She leads by one over Jessica Korda.

The event finished a day earlier than normal in order to allow players to head to Singapore for the first of two events in Asia.

Scores

Adam Scott file photo

The news in the last 24 hours that Adam Scott has withdrawn from the possibility of representing Australia at the Olympics is no real surprise given he has been throwing out signals that, as was the case in 2016, he will put his family, his regular schedule and quest for higher status in the game ahead of an event that does not mean as much to him as others.

Marc Leishman will likely join Cameron Smith as the Australians in the men’s side of the Olympic golf event while Minjee Lee and Hannah Green are those most likely to represent Australia in the female competition.

I admire Scott’s stance on golf in the Olympics and while he might have been a little more interested in 2021 than was the case five years ago, he is clearly not swayed enough and is a man of his convictions.

Scott’s withdrawal and that of one or two of the game’s other elite players including current word number one, Dustin Johnson, (and there may well be more to come before late July) does, however, point to greater issue and whether the inclusion of golf in the Olympic games is relevant, necessary and justifiable.

I am someone who loves the game of golf and have lived it in various capacities, some professional, over the last 55 years and some of it at a very high level, but I have never been and never will be swayed by the argument of golf being part of the Olympics.

Sure, the golfing community will tell you how important it is by promoting the overused cliché of ‘growing the game’ as a result of golf’s inclusion.

I am of the belief however if golf can’t grow itself with the amazing amount of elite and regular events in both the men’s women’s games, both professional and amateur, and the incredible opportunity for exposure they get week in week out, perhaps golf needs look inwardly and just how it goes about growing the game itself.

Typically, on any given week in Australia, I can watch on television as many as six overseas events whereas the ‘lesser’ sports that have been so much of the foundation of the Olympic Games might get some exposure once every six months if they are lucky.

Relying on the funding that the Olympics provides to the grass roots of the game, or at least we hope that funding reaches the grass roots level, seems like a soft way out of taking advantage of the huge base the sport has developed over the last sixty years or so since golf became a highly popular televised sport even without the exposure the Olympics has provided.

I wonder how much of the money generated by the re-inclusion of golf in 2016 actually filtered through to the relevant bodies that run the game in various countries and, if so, does it actually reach the grass roots level?

If a gold medal at the Olympics is not the pinnacle of a sport then does that sport deserve to have a place in the four yearly sports festival for sports that, typically, do not get the level of profile that golf and tennis get on an almost weekly basis?

Does a winning of a gold medal make the champion the greatest player on the planet? It might for one week but very soon after there will be another event to again determine the best player in the game.

If a cyclist or a wrestler or a swimmer or a badminton player wins in Tokyo then they can rightly claim the mantle at the top of their sport for four years.

And while I would agree that the golf’s gold medal’s importance and status will likely grow if the event remains in the Olympics, it is hardly ever likely to reach the importance of a Green Jacket or a US Open (men’s or women’s) or Open Championship or a Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup for example.

There feels like an element of greed in golf’s long-time push for inclusion but to some extent it I think there is more in it for the Olympics than the game.

If the object of the golf’s exercise by being included in the Olympics is to fund the game’s growth then perhaps if it is to be included it should be focused on a level other than the elite of the game who perhaps feel (rightly or wrongly) they would rather be elsewhere.

I say leave the Olympics to the sports that most need and deserve it and let golf have its constant place in the sun and not muscle in on a four yearly spectacle that should be reserved for the sports that need exactly that and benefit most from it.

Brad Kennedy with his 2013 Kansai Open trophy

The long wait for a return to the Japan Golf Tour ends this Thursday for many of the Australasian contingent who regularly ply their trade there with eight teeing it up at the Kansai Open in Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture.

After more than 15 months when the few events played in Japan were available to only domestic players due to Covid constraints, several Australasians have emerged from a 14-day quarantine in the south of the country to play the A$700,000 event.

It might be one of the smallest purses on the Japan Golf Tour but it is a week that will bring heart to those who have had to miss playing on the regular basis they had previously.

Adam Bland, David Bransdon, Matt Griffin, Brad Kennedy, Anthony Quayle, Todd Sinnott and Dylan Perry are joined by New Zealand’s Mike Hendry to get their 2021 Japan Tour season underway.

Brad Kennedy appears to be the standout amongst that group having won this event in 2013,  finished third in 2014 and runner-up in 2015 and given his recent success in claiming the recent PGA Tour of Australasia money list title there is reason to believe he could again do well.

The venue changes each year so there is no guarantee Kennedy will enjoy the Arima Royal Golf Club layout in Kobe to the same extent he did the earlier venues but there is little doubting his current form.