Seattle based Sydney golfer, Cameron Davis, has a share of the halfway lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii, the second season PGA Tour player producing birdies at the final two holes in his round of 66 to join Brendan Steele in the lead.
Still only 24, Davis is a former Australian Open, Australian Amateur Champion and World Amateur Champion and while it is taking a while for him to find his feet on the PGA Tour he clearly has the potential to develop a very successful career at this level.
Davis, who finished tied for third at his last start at the Australian PGA Championship three weeks ago, regained his PGA Tour status via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in September and although his PGA Tour form has been disappointing since, he talked afterwards about the learning curve he has been through in his introduction to golf at this level.
“I think just figuring out what your way of doing things is was my biggest thing,” said Davis. “Watching a lot of what other guys are doing out here you get sucked into trying to emulate people.
“Obviously they’re very good and they’ve got what works for them, and you have to figure out what works for you. I think I’ve had a little bit of a struggle with that over the last year. I think I am starting to figure it out. It’s nice to see it’s turning into some good scores here.”
“I’m just trying to — thinking back to the way I used to be when I was a junior and stuff, I feel like the quality of golf I was playing when I was finishing up my amateur career was really good and I was a lot more of a creative shot shaping sort of guy. I loved bending it both ways; not being scared to go after a tee shot here and there and all that.
“I started to get a little bit more — not so much conservative — but definitely taking a safer swing. Like feeling like going towards a stock swing for every shot was what was going to make me more consistent. I was looking to see what would shave scores off and reduce mistakes.
“After trying a couple years of trying to fit that together, it just wasn’t really clicking. Didn’t feel like it was really getting any better as I was working through it.
“Pretty much made a decision, All right, am I going to continue doing it this way in the hope it’s going to come together later on, or do I start playing the game the way that I see it instinctively, which is not worrying about what my golf swing looks like, but caring about where the golf ball is going.
“That’s the direction I decided to go down, and the last few tournaments that I’ve played have been going pretty well.”
Davis and Steele are just one ahead of a group of nine players in a share of 3rd place that group including Queenslander Cameron Smith whose round of 65 was the equal best of the day.
Smith gave some credit to playing until late in 2019 as some of the reason for a better showing than previously in this event, although he has made all four previous cuts at the Sony Open.
“I mean, it’s been pretty close this year. In past years I’ve had three weeks, four weeks off before I get here, and I’m typically pretty lazy when I’m home, eating pies and all that stuff.
“So it’s actually been quite good in the fact that I’ve been able to kind of carry over and I played really well at the Presidents Cup and played again the next week quite solidly.
“Yeah, so it’s (the form) definitely carried over I think more than previous.”
Matt Jones and Marc Leishman are the next best of the Australians in a share of 24th place but only four shots from the joint leaders.
Travis Smyth’s Consistent Run Continues in Singapore
New South Welshman, Travis Smyth, has continued his good recent form to be tied for 10th and five shots from the leader and defending champion, Jazz Janewattananond, at the SMBC Singapore Open at the Serapong Course at the Sentosa Golf Club.
Smyth’s recent form includes a runner-up finish at the NSW Open and top twenties at the Australian PGA Championship and Hong Kong Open and a round of 68 on Friday in the Asian / Japan Tour event continued that trend
Andrew Dodt is the next best of the Australasians in the field, the Queenslander just one behind Smyth and tied for 13th.
Victorians, Matthew Griffin and David Micheluzzi. also made the cut in the US$1 million event.
The leader, Janewattananond of Thailand, led the Asian Tour money list by some margin in 2019 and is generally considered the brightest prospect amongst the emerging players in Asia.
The closing nine of 31 swept him to a one-shot lead over Joohyung Kim and Miguel Tabuena but just one-shot further back are heavyweights Matt Kuchar and Justin Rose.
“It makes me really happy to be back here to play in the course that I won in a year ago,” said Jazz.
“There are still two more days and anything can happen. There are a lot of good players here. Kuchar and Rose are still within reach and I will just stick to my plan and hopefully will take a win for the weekend.
“Today I struggled at the start, was a bit shaky but I found the groove after and managed to get it done quite right. I just try to hit it better than this over the weekend. I mean, yesterday I hit better than this.”
Forty Six Earn Australasian Tour Playing Rights
Photo – Luke Toomey
46 golfers have either gained or re-gained their right to play the PGA Tour of Australasia in 2020 following the completion of the Final Stage of Tour School Qualifying at the Moonah links Open Course on the Mornington Peninsula.
The qualifiers were headed by New Zealander Luke Toomey, who, after playing much of his golf on the PGA Tour Series China in the last two years, gets the chance to play events in Australasia in 2020 and courtesy of his top re-ranking this week he will have access to all events on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Toomey defeated Victorian Peter Wilson in a playoff to earn top honours, that pair finishing six shots ahead of the long hitting Lincoln Tighe from Wollongong who returned from injuring a broken hand in early 2018 and has played on a medical exemption since. Tighe regains full status again.
The next best of the qualifiers were NSW’s James Grierson, American Derek Ackerman and New Zealand’s Nick Voke.
The availability of starts in PGA Tour of Australasia events will be dependent on just where players finished in the ranking this week.
Perhaps the biggest surprise amongst those missing out on securing their playing rights were former PGA Tour player James Nitties and 2016 NSW Open Champion Adam Blyth.
SCORES
Quarter Finalists Decided at Australian Amateur Championships
Can Elvis Smylie add this title to his Australian Junior win?
The quarter finalists in both the Men’s and Women’s Australian Amateur Championships have today been decided at the Royal Queensland Golf Club.
In the men’s division, Brisbane’s Lawry Flynn and England’s Ben Jones, who shared 4th place in the qualifying on Monday and Tuesday, are the leading qualifiers still in the field for tomorrow’s quarter finals while in the women’s event, New South Wales’, Grace Kim, and Gold Coaster, Lion Higo, are the leading qualifiers still alive for the weekend.
The number one seed in the men’s field, Andre Lautee, was this afternoon knocked out by New Zealander James Hyde after defeating South Australian Jack Thompson in the morning round of 32.
In tomorrow’s match-ups, Jones will face Hyde, Queenslander, Louis Dobbelaar, takes on Ireland’s Tom McKibbin, Australian Junior Champion, Elvis Smylie, is up against fellow Queenslander, Jediah Morgan, and England’s, Charlie Strickland, will tackle South Australian, Billy Cawthorne.
Smylie is looking to complete a rare double of holding both the winning Australian Junior and the Australian Amateur titles at the same time.
Smylie won the Australian Junior title in April on the Gold Coast and performed with distinction at the Australian Open where he comfortably made the cut before finishing 33rd.
Kim, from the Avondale Golf Club, will take on fellow Sydneysider, Kelsey Bennett, in tomorrow’s quarter finals of the Women’s Amateur Championship, Queenslander Cassie Porter will face Ida Ayu Indira Melati Putri of Indonesia, NSW’s Stephanie Kyriaocou is up against Minju Kim of South Korea and England’s Charlotte Heath plays Gold Coast’s Lion Higo.
The final for both the men’s and women’s events will be played over 36 holes on Sunday.
Grace Kim
Lautee and Toy Lead Qualifiers at Australian Amateur
Royal Queensland – photo Bruce Young
Victorian golfer Andre Lautee leads the qualifiers in the Australian Men’s Amateur Championship at the completion of 36 holes of strokeplay at the Royal Queensland and Brisbane Golf Clubs today.
Lautee’s round of 66 at Royal Queensland today, saw the Kingston Heath Golf Club member win medallist honours by one over New Zealander Jimmy Zheng and Germany’s Marc Hammer.
The 20-year old has won the Victorian Amateur Championship in each of the last two years and is currently Australia’s third highest world ranked amateur but, while it is early days yet, he has an opportunity to advance his cause significantly this week.
Lautee was quickly out of the blocks today with five birdies in his first seven holes and appeared at that point as if he might walk away with the top honours but Auckland’s Zheng and Hammer would eventually finish within one.
In the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship, England’s Emily Toy, who seven months ago won the Women’s British Amateur Championship, has led the qualifiers by two shots over New South Welshwoman, Doey Choi, and Korea’s Min A Yoon.
Sydney’s Grace Kim and South Australian Ella Adams were next best, two shots back.
Toy, from the Carlyon Bay Golf Club in Cornwall, was unable to match the brilliance of her opening round 65 at the Brisbane Golf Club but a round of 71 at Royal Queensland was bettered only by Doey Choi today.
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Large Australasian Contingent in Singapore
Jazz Janewaattananond – the defending champion – photo Asian Tour
The joint sanctioning between the Asian and Japan Tours will mean that this week’s SMBC Singapore Open contains fifteen Australians and one New Zealander in the event to be played at the Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong Course.
Six of those players are in the field courtesy of their standing on the Japan Golf Tour while for the remainder they get their chance for a range of reasons.
Marcus Fraser, David Micheluzzi and David Gleeson have received invitations to the event, Aaron Pike is in the field courtesy of his standing on the Australasian Tour money list, while Andrew Dodt and Daniel Nisbet are playing as a tournament winners on the Asian Tour.
Terry Pilkadaris, Travis Smyth and Jake Higginbottom and Josh Younger are Asian Tour members, while Adam Bland, Matthew Griffin, Dylan Perry, Won Joon Lee, David Bransdon and New Zealander Michael Hendry are regulars on the Japan Tour.
In addition to the US1 million purse, the opportunity exists for the leading four players finishing inside the top twelve this week and not otherwise exempt for this year’s Open Championship to start thinking about Royal St George’s.
NSW Open Champion, Josh Younger is the highest ranked Aussie in the field – photo Golf NSW
The event is the second event of the year on the Asian Tour following last week’s Hong Kong Open and the first for the Japan Tour.
Despite the presence of higher world ranked ranked players, Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar and Henrik Stenson, the man on whom most eyes will be focused this week is the brilliant Thai golfer, Jazz Janewattananond, who is the defending champion and, by some margin, the leading player on the 2019 Asian Tour Order of Merit.
The 24-year old is generally considered as Asia’s next big thing and it will be a surprise if he is not amongst the contenders come Sunday, especially given he won his last two events of 2019 and finished 4th at last week’s Hong Kong Open.
American Express and Abu Dhabi Betting Prospects
This week our betting thoughts focus on the American Express Championship in Calfornia and the Abu Dhabi Championship in the Middle East where the appears to be some good odds provided we can snare a winner.
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Cameron Smith’s PGA Tour Breakthrough in Honolulu
Cameron Smith – photo Bruce Young
He might have missed out on a piece of Australian golfing history a few weeks ago, when trying for three Australian PGA Championships in succession, but today, Queenslander, Cameron Smith, created some of his own golfing history when winning his first individual title on the PGA Tour.
Cameron Smith won the Sony Open with a playoff victory at the first extra hole over American Brendan Steele at the Sony Open in Honolulu.
The victory was made even sweeter given, that through two holes on Thursday, Smith was 4 over par after a bogey, triple bogey to start his week.
In damp and windy conditions on the final day, Smith began the final round three shots behind Steele, the margin reduced to just one when Smith birdied the first hole and Steele bogeyed the 2nd.
By the time the pair had reached the 17th tee, however, Steele was two ahead but a missed green at the par three led to a bogey and he stood on the 18th tee just one ahead of Smith, Webb Simpson and Ryan Palmer who were playing in the group ahead.
When Palmer lost a ball at the last and dropped a shot and Simpson was unable to birdie the par five, the stage was left to Smith and Steele to determine the winner.
Both found the fairway from the tee but with the green within reach both would miss their target, Smith finding the front left bunker and Steele pull hooking a driving iron well left of the green.
Steele secured a drop from the stands between he and the flag and pitched to 25 feet. Smith on the other hand hit a beautiful bunker shot from 30 yards to 8 feet and when Steele missed his birdie attempt Smith made no mistake and so it was into extra time.
The 10th was the hole to decide the winner and, although Smith missed the fairway, he hit a superb pitch from 110 yards to 15 feet. Steele had found the fairway but from shorter range made a mistake in judgement and flew the green.
He was unable to get up and down and so all Smith need to do was 2 putt from 15 feet which he was able to do.
Smith earns US$1.18 million for his win and moves to 31st in the world ranking, still below his previous best of 24th earlier in 2019 but a victory that will assist in his moving considerably higher given the knowledge he has that he can win on the PGA Tour.
“I didn’t feel like I played particularly well,” said Smith. “I just made the putts that I had to make, and you know, those up and downs to kind of keep the momentum going a little bit I managed to get up and down. It was a struggle all day, though. The conditions were wet and a little bit windy this morning.”
Cameron Davis made it a good week for yet another former Australian Amateur Champion when he recorded his best PGA Tour finish when sharing 9th place in the event and earning his biggest cheque in tournament golf (US$179,000)
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Maverick Antcliff’s Solid European Tour Start
Maverick Antcliff – photo China Tour
Queensland’s Maverick Antcliff has made a solid start to his European Tour career, following up a cut made at the recent Australian PGA Championship with a 13th place finish at the South African Open in Johannesburg over the weekend.
Antcliff gained the right to play the European Tour through as a result of leading the China Tour Order of Merit in 2019, having won three events on that tour last year. He also recorded nine other top tens to comfortably head to money earners and earn playing rights for Europe in 2020.
The China Tour has played a key role in Antcliff’s development as a professional golfer having played there in each of the last three years, earning the Rookie of the Year title in 2017 and eventually leading the money list last November.
The China Tour is not to be confused with the PGA Tour Series China, the China Tour run by the China Golf Association after a split with the tournaments run by the PGA Tour in 2017 and one that aligns itself with the European Tour.
The 26-year old Antcliff hails from Beaudesert south of Brisbane and is yet another product of the Hills International College in Jimboomba near Beaudesert where some of the notable alumni include Jason Day, Yani Tseng, Anthony Quayle and Aaron Pike.
On completion of his time at the Hills, Antcliff headed to the US where he attended college at Augusta State before eventually turning professional in late 2016.
Antcliff recorded a final round of 67 in Johannesburg, the third of three similar rounds he produced during the week and earned a cheque for €18,000 (A$29,000).
Although ten shots behind the winner Branden Grace, it was an encouraging week for Antcliff whose next start is likely to be the Vic Open at 13th Beach as his current ranking on the European Tour is likely to preclude him from starts in the next three events in the Middle East.
Min Woo Lee was the next best of the Australians when a shot behind Antcliff in a share of 15th place this week, Jarryd Felton was 62nd, Brett Rumford 66th and David Micheluzzi 69th.
The winner of the event was Branden Grace whose final round of 62 was too much for the defending champion and runner-up at the recent Australian Open, Louis Ootshuizen, who finished alone in second place but three shots from Grace who won his national open for the first occasion.
The winner, Branden Grace, also earned a start at the Open Championship – R&A
Wade Ormsby Claims Second Hong Kong Title
The Champion – photo Asian Tour
South Australian Wade Ormsby has begun 2020 in perfect style with a wire to wire victory at the Hong Kong Open, sharing the lead after day one and then extending it to two on days two and three and eventually winning by four over Ireland’s Open Champion, Shane Lowry, with Thailand’s Gun Charoenkul another shot back in 3rd place, another Thailand golfer Jazz Janewattananond 4th and American Tony Finau 5th.
The four most favoured players heading into the week, therefore, finished inside the top 5 at week’s end.
For Ormsby it was his second Hong Kong title in the last three years having also won in 2017 and his third Asian Tour victory. It also was just his third victory as a professional on a recognised tour, the other two coming at the 2013 Panasonic Open India Indian Open and his earlier win in Hong Kong.
The victory was worth US$180,000 to Ormsby and continues a lucrative stretch having finished 3rd at the recent Australian PGA Championship.
Despite the apparent ease of the win, it was a shaky start for Ormsby in today’s final round, a bogey at the first hole providing an element of doubt to the final result although three consecutive birdies followed and by the turn his lead was extended to five.
Ormsby was understandably proud of what he had achieved, especially given the work he has put in in recent times to take his game to another level.
“I’ve been working my guts out the last 14 to 15 months trying to take my game to the next level,” said the 39-year old, University of Houston graduate.
“At the Australian PGA three weeks ago, losing that one really hurt me so I put a few changes in place. I worked out over the break and to come back here and to get the win so soon, I can’t put it into words really.
“It’s still nerve-racking coming down the stretch you know, like that 18th hole, it can do anything to you but I got the tee-shot in play and hit a weak iron shot into it but anyway. Four on the card and won by four, so I’m very happy. I was playing great, you always got to play the Hong Kong Golf Club the same way.
“I think the game plan was the same. When you get in front there’s no point in changing that, no point trying to play defensive. The guys had to come and catch me basically. I was hoping to win this season but to do it in week two of the year in my first event is special and it will be one I’ll remember forever.
“I have three wins on the main tours in my career and this is my first wire-to-wire. I’m very proud of my play this week. Going through what I went through three weeks ago, that kind of hit me pretty hard. I didn’t even want to know the game for three or four days, but to come back and do what I’ve done this week, like I said, proud of myself and proud of my team.”
David Gleeson and Terry Pilkadaris both had good weeks, finishing the next best of the Australians when they tied for 7th and earned US$21,000 each.
The Asian Tour now moves south to Singapore for the Singapore Open, an event jointly sanctioned with the Japan Golf Tour.
SCORES
Cameron Davis – Doing Things His Way
Seattle based Sydney golfer, Cameron Davis, has a share of the halfway lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii, the second season PGA Tour player producing birdies at the final two holes in his round of 66 to join Brendan Steele in the lead.
Still only 24, Davis is a former Australian Open, Australian Amateur Champion and World Amateur Champion and while it is taking a while for him to find his feet on the PGA Tour he clearly has the potential to develop a very successful career at this level.
Davis, who finished tied for third at his last start at the Australian PGA Championship three weeks ago, regained his PGA Tour status via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in September and although his PGA Tour form has been disappointing since, he talked afterwards about the learning curve he has been through in his introduction to golf at this level.
“I think just figuring out what your way of doing things is was my biggest thing,” said Davis. “Watching a lot of what other guys are doing out here you get sucked into trying to emulate people.
“Obviously they’re very good and they’ve got what works for them, and you have to figure out what works for you. I think I’ve had a little bit of a struggle with that over the last year. I think I am starting to figure it out. It’s nice to see it’s turning into some good scores here.”
“I’m just trying to — thinking back to the way I used to be when I was a junior and stuff, I feel like the quality of golf I was playing when I was finishing up my amateur career was really good and I was a lot more of a creative shot shaping sort of guy. I loved bending it both ways; not being scared to go after a tee shot here and there and all that.
“I started to get a little bit more — not so much conservative — but definitely taking a safer swing. Like feeling like going towards a stock swing for every shot was what was going to make me more consistent. I was looking to see what would shave scores off and reduce mistakes.
“After trying a couple years of trying to fit that together, it just wasn’t really clicking. Didn’t feel like it was really getting any better as I was working through it.
“Pretty much made a decision, All right, am I going to continue doing it this way in the hope it’s going to come together later on, or do I start playing the game the way that I see it instinctively, which is not worrying about what my golf swing looks like, but caring about where the golf ball is going.
“That’s the direction I decided to go down, and the last few tournaments that I’ve played have been going pretty well.”
Davis and Steele are just one ahead of a group of nine players in a share of 3rd place that group including Queenslander Cameron Smith whose round of 65 was the equal best of the day.
Smith gave some credit to playing until late in 2019 as some of the reason for a better showing than previously in this event, although he has made all four previous cuts at the Sony Open.
“I mean, it’s been pretty close this year. In past years I’ve had three weeks, four weeks off before I get here, and I’m typically pretty lazy when I’m home, eating pies and all that stuff.
“So it’s actually been quite good in the fact that I’ve been able to kind of carry over and I played really well at the Presidents Cup and played again the next week quite solidly.
“Yeah, so it’s (the form) definitely carried over I think more than previous.”
Matt Jones and Marc Leishman are the next best of the Australians in a share of 24th place but only four shots from the joint leaders.