Paul Casey – seen here in one of his previous visits to Australia – SMP Images
This week’s Emirates Australian Open brings together one of the stronger fields assembled for the event in several years.
Sure it might not boast the likes of Jordan Spieth who won twice in three years in 2014 and 2016 but it is the depth of the field that makes it one of the strongest in recent times.
The event’s positioning in the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule ahead of the Presidents Cup has opened the opportunity for several of those in the International Team for Royal Melbourne Golf Club next week to play in Sydney and while some may well have played either way, the likes of Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer, C.T Pan, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith will benefit by an outing the week before.
It would have been even stronger but for the late withdrawal due to injury of Jason Day.
Their entries certainly strengthen both the field and the interest in the event but along with them, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia add yet another dimension to what is shaping as an intriguing contest.
The defending champion is Abraham Ancer whose victory last year was perhaps a surprise given his ranking of 96th in the world on his arrival in Sydney last year but in the twelve months since he has elevated his standing in the game to number 38 and he begins the week as the 6th highest ranked player in the field.
Ahead of Ancer in terms of world ranking order this week are Casey, Scott, Oosthuizen, Leishman and Garcia but the Mexican has put together several good finishes on the PGA Tour in 2019 including a runner-up finish at the Northern Trust Open and importantly has played well in his two last starts with top tens in China and Mexico.
This, of course, is a different venue in 2019 to that which Ancer won over last year, his victory coming at the adjacent Lakes Golf Club, but the Australian Golf Club is one of Australia’s best tournament courses and typically fine players win around the eastern suburbs of Sydney layout.
Paul Casey begins the week as the leading world ranked player in the field having completed a season which has seen him advance to 14th in the world after starting the year in 22nd place.
He has developed into a very consistent player in 2019 with seven top 5 finishes worldwide in 2019 including wins at the Valspar Championship in the US and at the Porsche European Open in Germany.
Casey has shown a capacity to win anywhere in the world including at the ANZ Championship in Sydney in 2003 and it would be no surprise if he was to contend at worst this week.
Adam Scott has won his national championship just once and that was ten years ago but he has not played the event in recent years, so his return is a welcome one for the tournament and Australian golf fans.
Scott is the second highest ranked player in the field and while yet to record a win in 2019 he has played very solidly in recent months with top tens in more than half of his last twelve starts and while it has been a month since his last start 11th at the WGC HSBC Champions event in China he does space his events and a good showing would not surprise.
Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith add further strings to the Australian bow, Smith going so close to winning the event three years ago when losing a playoff to Jordan Spieth at Royal Sydney in 2016 and then when 4th the following year at the Australian Golf Club and 10th last year. He has won the last two Australian PGA Championships so his form at home is hard to fault.
Leishman is now Australia’s second highest ranked player and although he has not won in 2018, he has continued to play well.
Oosthuizen has not missed a cut in his last eighteen starts and his recent 3rd place in China and 6th place at the Nedbank Challenge suggests his game is peaking for both this week and next.
So the 2019 Emirates Australian Open offers plenty of interest for golf fans both in Sydney and across the world and might well
It appears as if it will be the last time Emirates will play host sponsor of the event but it might well be one of the best during their welcome tenure in that role.
The first hole at the Australian Golf Club
Amateurs Share Lead at Australian Open
Photo Takumi Kanaya – Golf Australia
Two of Asia best amateur golfers in recent years have a share of the opening round lead at the Emirates Australian Open, Japan’s Takumi Kanaya and Taiwan’s Chun-An You opening with rounds of 66 at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney to lead by two over Australians Matt Jones, Dimi Papdatos and Daniel Nisbet.
Both players have been beneficiaries of the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship in recent years, Kanaya a winner in 2017 and runner-up in 2019 and Yu a regular top ten finisher in recent years, highlighting the benefit being provided to golf in the Asia Pacific region by the increasingly significant world class amateur event.
Kanaya won one of the flagship events on the Japan Golf Tour two weeks ago when successful at the Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters and twelve months ago finished 17th at the Australian Open while Yu is currently the 6th ranked male amateur in the world.
Kanaya began his round at the 10th hole and book-ended his day with four consecutive birdies to begin and two consecutive birdies to finish. His only bogey would come at his 12th hole bit it was another impressive performance in an Australian event for the 21-year old.
“I play Australian Golf Club third time this year,” said Kanaya. “So, I was 17 years old, I played 2015, so I shot 85 second round, so I learned (the) Australian golf style. I just (knew) Japanese golf style before 17 years old. I have confidence, but I have three more days, so I will do my best tomorrow.
After beginning his day with an early bogey at his second hole, Yu birdied seven of his last twelve holes to join Kanaya in the lead several hours after Kanaya finished his morning round. Yu gets the chance to steal a march on Kanaya with an early tee time on day two while Kanaya plays in the afternoon field.
“Yeah, it feels great,” said Yu who attends Arizona State University. “I’ve played here four, five years ago and so I know the course a little bit. I played great out there, so hopefully tomorrow I can do it again, yeah. The better scores actually came in this morning and this afternoon was much more difficult. So, you’ve got an early start tomorrow, ready to go.
PGA Tour player, Jones, continued his love affair with the Australian Golf Club where he has spent so much time in earlier years and when visiting his coach while home, Gary Barter. Jones defeated Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott to win this event in 2015 and has again begun well, his round highlighted by an eagle at his 9th hole (the 18th of the course).
Papadatos finished runner-up behind Abraham Ancer at the Australian Open last year and although he has not recorded a top ten anywhere in the world since he has again shown a liking for playing at home.
Nisbet, who, like Papadatos, is a former New Zealand Open champion, but aside from a win at the Queensland PGA Championship earlier this year his season in 2019 has been well below his best. Today’s round was a real encouragement for the Gold Coast based golfer.
Pre-tournament favourite Paul Casey is three shots off the lead after his round of 68, an eagle at the 14th after an iron to 2 inches from 210 yards boosting his round after a slow start to the day.
Australia’s number one and the number two world ranked player in the field, Adam Scott was a surprise, his round of 71 leaving him a massive ten shots from the lead.
Australian Open offers strongest field in recent years
Paul Casey – seen here in one of his previous visits to Australia – SMP Images
This week’s Emirates Australian Open brings together one of the stronger fields assembled for the event in several years.
Sure it might not boast the likes of Jordan Spieth who won twice in three years in 2014 and 2016 but it is the depth of the field that makes it one of the strongest in recent times.
The event’s positioning in the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule ahead of the Presidents Cup has opened the opportunity for several of those in the International Team for Royal Melbourne Golf Club next week to play in Sydney and while some may well have played either way, the likes of Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer, C.T Pan, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith will benefit by an outing the week before.
It would have been even stronger but for the late withdrawal due to injury of Jason Day.
Their entries certainly strengthen both the field and the interest in the event but along with them, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia add yet another dimension to what is shaping as an intriguing contest.
The defending champion is Abraham Ancer whose victory last year was perhaps a surprise given his ranking of 96th in the world on his arrival in Sydney last year but in the twelve months since he has elevated his standing in the game to number 38 and he begins the week as the 6th highest ranked player in the field.
Ahead of Ancer in terms of world ranking order this week are Casey, Scott, Oosthuizen, Leishman and Garcia but the Mexican has put together several good finishes on the PGA Tour in 2019 including a runner-up finish at the Northern Trust Open and importantly has played well in his two last starts with top tens in China and Mexico.
This, of course, is a different venue in 2019 to that which Ancer won over last year, his victory coming at the adjacent Lakes Golf Club, but the Australian Golf Club is one of Australia’s best tournament courses and typically fine players win around the eastern suburbs of Sydney layout.
Paul Casey begins the week as the leading world ranked player in the field having completed a season which has seen him advance to 14th in the world after starting the year in 22nd place.
He has developed into a very consistent player in 2019 with seven top 5 finishes worldwide in 2019 including wins at the Valspar Championship in the US and at the Porsche European Open in Germany.
Casey has shown a capacity to win anywhere in the world including at the ANZ Championship in Sydney in 2003 and it would be no surprise if he was to contend at worst this week.
Adam Scott has won his national championship just once and that was ten years ago but he has not played the event in recent years, so his return is a welcome one for the tournament and Australian golf fans.
Scott is the second highest ranked player in the field and while yet to record a win in 2019 he has played very solidly in recent months with top tens in more than half of his last twelve starts and while it has been a month since his last start 11th at the WGC HSBC Champions event in China he does space his events and a good showing would not surprise.
Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith add further strings to the Australian bow, Smith going so close to winning the event three years ago when losing a playoff to Jordan Spieth at Royal Sydney in 2016 and then when 4th the following year at the Australian Golf Club and 10th last year. He has won the last two Australian PGA Championships so his form at home is hard to fault.
Leishman is now Australia’s second highest ranked player and although he has not won in 2018, he has continued to play well.
Oosthuizen has not missed a cut in his last eighteen starts and his recent 3rd place in China and 6th place at the Nedbank Challenge suggests his game is peaking for both this week and next.
So the 2019 Emirates Australian Open offers plenty of interest for golf fans both in Sydney and across the world and might well
It appears as if it will be the last time Emirates will play host sponsor of the event but it might well be one of the best during their welcome tenure in that role.
The first hole at the Australian Golf Club
Anthony Quayle Finishes 3rd at Casio World Open
Anthony Quayle has today fallen short in his quest to win his first Japan Tour title but his 3rd place finish at the Casio World Open has seen the 25 year old Queensland based golfer produce his best result in eighteen months and boost his bank balance by the equivalent of A$180,000.
Quayle will improve to 29th on the money list for 2019 and earn himself a start at the season ending Golf Nippon Series event in Tokyo which is limited to the leading 30 players on the money list.
Quayle took a lead into the final round today after a barnstorming finish to his third round on Saturday and appeared to be on his way to a first victory as a professional with four birdies in his first ten holes.
Bogeys at his 14th and 18th holes however allowed former Presidents Cup player, Kyung Tae Kim, of Korea to win his 14th Japan Tour title but his first in over three years.
Kim won by two over South African Shaun Norris with Quayle another shot back.
Quayle’s fellow Sanctuary Cove based golfer, Dylan Perry, was the next best of the Australians when he produced a brilliant weekend to finish 18th after only narrowly making it into the weekend field.
Brad Kennedy was 49th, Won Joon Lee was 53rd and David Bransdon 58th.
The final event of the year is played in Tokyo next week, the Golf Nippon Series field containing four Australians, Brendan Jones, Brad Kennedy, Matthew Griffin and Anthony Quayle although Quayle may possibly be considering playing the Australian Open instead.
Scores
Josh Younger’s Australasian Tour Breakthrough at NSW Open
Photo: Josh Younger – Golf NSW
35-year old Victorian, Josh Younger, has today won his first PGA Tour of Australasia title with a playoff victory over Travis Smyth at the AV Jennings NSW Open at the Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club in Sydney’s west.
Younger had led after the opening round on Thursday when he began the week with a round of 63, but he slipped off the pace over the next 36 holes but remained close to the lead as the event headed into its final day.
A double bogey at his final hole added to the long wait Younger has experienced for the breakthrough win in his career but he was able to seal the deal with a birdie at the second extra hole to claim the significant title.
“Normally when you make six down the last it’s all over, you need things to go your way but it’s a massive relief,” said Younger.
“It’s relief. I’ve been (a professional) for 10 years. I got pipped in a playoff in New Zealand PGA in 2016, finished runner up at the (Australian) Masters, so I sort of haven’t really gotten near it as much,” Younger said.
“It’s just so hard to win, that’s the reality of it. There’s 150 blokes each week, competition is just that good now and the cards have got to fall your way.
“There’s times where you can play your best tournament and someone just does better. There are other times when it might fall your way a little bit so it’s a massive relief.”
Smyth will rue the bogey he made at the 17th hole today but his runner-up finish was his best on the PGA Tour since winning the 2017 NT PGA as an amateur and follows several good finishes in Asia of late where he currently plies his trade.
Min Woo Lee’s final round of 73 was never going to be good enough but he would still finish 3rd and record his highest finish since turning professional late in 2018.
Local golfer, Justin Warren, would also double bogey his final hole but the youngster from Picton near Sydney has already displayed an impressive game in his very short career since turning professional in the middle of 2019.
The round of the day came from former winner Ben Eccles whose seven under par 65 saw him finish in a share of 10th place with, amongst others, Brody Martin and another former winner, Peter Lonard, who both recorded rounds of 66.
The PGA Tour of Australasia now heads to Sydney’s coast for this week’s Emirates Australian Open at the Australian Golf Club.
scores
Anthony Quayle’s Big Move at Casio World Open
Gold Coast based, Anthony Quayle, continued his recovery from a mid-season slump on the Japan Tour, a second round, best of the day 65 at the Casio World Open moving the 25-year old into second place at the halfway mark.
Quayle, who was born in Port Macquarie but raised in Gove in the Northern Territory before moving to Queensland, is in his second season on the Japan Tour and has shown in his short time there he has the game to win.
He has already been runner-up in the prestigious Crowns event early in his Japan Tour career but there have been several other top tens and his first win must surely be not far away.
After struggles through the middle of the year, Quayle has played well in each of his last two starts and in his second round at the Kuchi Koroshio Country Club in the island of Shikoku, his 7 under par round swept him from 36th overnight to just two from the lead of Shintaro Kobayashi.
Kobayashi has yet to win on the Japan Tour in fact he plays the secondary tour in Japan so this is an opportunity the 33 year old will be keen to capitalise on.
Quayle’s fellow Gold Coast based golfers, Brad Kennedy and Dylan Perry are the next best of the Australians in a share of 35th while Won Joon Lee and David Bransdon just scrapped into the weekend field.
Andrew Dodt on ’59’ Watch at NSW Open
Photo – Andrew Dodt – Golf NSW
Newcastle based Queenslander, Andrew Dodt, had all eyes on him over the closing stages of his morning round on day two of the AV Jennings NSW Open at the Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club.
Dodt had only just scrapped into the field after tournament organisers opened several spots for those impacted by the cancellation of this week’s Hong Kong Open.
The 33-year old raced to 11under par on the par 72 layout through 15 holes today and, while the final three holes are not exactly snacks, on the Graham Marsh designed layout, the expectation was brewing for him to become the first player in a PGA Tour of Australasia event to break the magical 60.
NSW’s Brad McIntosh had done so in 2005 at the Queensland PGA Championship on the Gold Coast but that was then an event on the Von Nida Tour so there was much anticipation as to whether Dodt could birdie two of his final three holes to create the milestone.
Unfortunately, he was unable to birdie any, but his course record round of 61 left him one shot ahead of the brilliant Perth rookie Min Woo Lee and two ahead of overnight leader, Josh Younger.
“That was the best round of my pro career so far,” said Dodt, who bases himself in Newcastle these days after being raised in Gatton west of Brisbane.
“I got hot around the turn and made a few birdies, and then I started getting a bit nervy, thinking ‘I’m getting pretty low here.’
The winner of the 2019 Sarawak Championship was one of the favourites in the event after receiving a last minute invite into the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tournament.
Since claiming the Asian Tour victory in August, Dodt has made the cut in all six tournaments he has contested across the PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tour, but believes his low scores must continue to be in contention come Sunday.
“This is the first time I’ve played here. I checked the scoring from the last two years and I know you’ve got to be 20-under to win,” he said.
Shellharbour’s Travis Smyth is at 10 under par and alone in 4th position while NSW rookie, Justin Warren, who turned professional in the middle of this year after a career in collegiate golf in the US, is 5th at 9 under and five from the lead.
Brad Macintosh with the card his round of 59, 14 years earlier.
Josh Younger’s brilliant start at Twin Creeks
photo: Josh Younger Golf NSW
35-year old Victorian, Josh Younger, played in the more difficult afternoon field on day one of the AV Jennings NSW Open at the Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club west of Sydney but that did not stop him from producing a stunning opening round of 9 under par 63 to lead by one.
Younger, who has yet to win on the PGA Tour of Australasia, began his round at the 10th and birdies seven of his first eight holes to make the turn in 29 and, although the momentum slowed somewhat after making the turn, he had established the base for a round which would eventually give him the lead over the exciting Perth golfer, Minwoo Lee, and Justin Warren of Picton in NSW.
Younger’s previous best on the PGA Tour of Australasia was when runner-up to Nick Cullen at the 2014 Australian Masters but importantly for his ongoing chances this week, he finished 3rd in this event last year and although 2019 has been a struggle for him recent work with a mental coach appears to have made a difference.
“I started off on the back-nine and made six straight and then just tried to keep out of my own way from there on in,” said Younger.
“People won’t believe me but the back-nine was tough. We came through the turn and the wind got up and that front-nine played quite difficult. I had a good start and was able to stay patient and let things happen. I picked up a couple more coming in and saved a couple of pars.”
Lee is just completing his first year as a professional, a year which saw him narrowly miss his full status on the European Tour for 2020 but he will have enough to secure plenty of starts.
Lee is joined in second place by 24 year old Warren, who completed his education at the University of Arkansas in the US in the middle of this year, but he had gained access to the PGA Tour of Australasia at the Tour School late in 2018.
Dimi Papadatos, Travis Smyth and local amateur Nathan Barbieri are tied for 4th at 7 under par and two from the lead.
Despite the breezy afternoon conditions, 64 players broke par on the Graham Marsh designed layout.
NSW Open Gets Australasian Summer of Golf Underway
Photo: Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club – Golf NSW
The Australasian summer of professional golf begins this Thursday with the staging of the AV Jennings NSW Open at the Graham Marsh designed Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club in Luddenham in Sydney’s west.
While the assembled field does not include any of Australia’s leading 15 world ranked players, it has proven to be a great launching pad for golfers in recent years, the success of Perth’s, Jason Scrivener (2017), and Queenslander, Jake McLeod, last year, seeing both golfers advance their game and standing in professional golf considerably as a result of their breakthrough Tier One wins on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
In 2017 Scrivener recorded his first win in professional golf and has gone on to record impressive seasons in Europe in each of the last two years, including in 2019 where he has earned more than €1 million on the European Tour alone and finished 32nd in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
McLeods’ win in 2018 came a week before his very impressive 3rd place at the Australian Open a week later, a finish that would lead to him securing the top spot on the 2018 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit and allowing him access to the European Tour in 2018.
McLeod lost his status in Europe at season’s end, but he has won it back at the recent tour school in Spain further highlighting the underlying experience and importance of his win at Twin Creeks twelve months ago.
Neither player are in this week’s field but their play since their wins at Twin Creeks highlights the impact such a victory can have on a career.
Now a Tier One event on the PGA Tour of Australasia, this week’s event has attracted an interesting mix of the old and the new, the field headed in terms of world ranking Australians by US based Lismore golfer, Rhein Gibson who regained his PGA Tour status via the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 where he won his first event on a recognised tour when winning the BMW Charity Pro-Am.
Gibson shared second place through 36 holes at last week’s RMS Classic in Sea Island in Georgia but struggled over the weekend in the PGA Tour event to finish midfield. At his best however Gibson is a brilliant player capable of recording some very low scores and did finish 4th in this event three years agoalbeit at a different venue.
Several players who missed out on gaining European Tour cards at the recent European Tour School will look to bounce back, those players including Dimi Papadatos, Jarryd Felton, Zach Murray, Brett Rumford, Blake Windred, Nick Flanagan and David Micheluzzi looking to atone for the disappointment of last week.
West Australian Jarryd Felton missed out on gaining his European Tour card by just one shot last week so perhaps he more than others will be looking to bounce back from what must have been a gut wrenching moment for him. Felton has finished runner-up and 6th in this event previously.
Windred and Micheluzzi are recent graduates to the professional ranks while another recent outstanding Australian amateur, Min Woo Lee, who has just completed his first season on the European Tour, is also in the field.
Player list
Su Oh completes best LPGA Tour season
Su Oh – file photo Henry Peters
Australian, Su Oh, has completed an impressive finish to the 2019 LPGA Tour season with a share of 6th place at the season ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples in Florida.
Oh finished five shots behind the winner, Sei Young Kim, but she earned a cheque for US$119,000, second only to the prizemoney earned when runner-up earlier in the season at the Meijer LPGA Classic in June.
The effort completed an impressive run of finishes over recent weeks for the 23 year old.
Oh will finish the season with earnings of US$640,000 and in 33rd place in the money list ranking, her best season on the LPGA Tour.
Katherine Kirk was the next best of the Australians when she finished 18th, Minjee Lee was 55th and Hannah Green 56th.
Minjee Lee finished the season as the leading Australian money earner in 8th place on the money list with earnings just over US$1.5 million.
Jon Rahm scoops the pool in Dubai
Jon Rahm – Getty Images
Spain’s Jon Rahm has won both the Race to Dubai and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, a birdie at the final hole enough to edge him one shot clear of Tommy Fleetwood who had thrown out all stops with five birdies in his last seven holes to just fall short.
Rahm not only secures the largest first prize in tournament golf (€3 million) but he will move to number 3 in the world ranking behind only Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy.
“Man, you dream of making birdies on 18 to win a tournament,” said Rahm. “And how I was playing early on, I was hoping not to need that, but it happened, and I came through when I needed it and really proud of myself for that.
“I’ve thought about it (winning the Race to Dubai) all week. I’ve thought about it the last two hours. I’ve thought about it as soon as I made the putt. But it still hasn’t processed in my mind. It’s a thought in there it still has not been internalised.
“It’s really so hard to believe that some of the greatest champions in European golf and Spanish golf haven’t been able to accomplish what I have in just three years. That’s what I can’t really put my mind into.
“Sergio has been a great Spanish champion for years, a major winner. Ollie, two-time major championship winner. Miguel Angel Iimenex has done a great job, as well. Alvaro Quiros has won this event. So many great players throughout the history of Spain that have had a chance and they didn’t get it done.
“It’s just hard to put that in perspective to know that since Seve, I’m the next one to get it done. I mean, I can put the words, but it just doesn’t feel like it’s true. It’s hard to believe.”
Rahm went into the final round in a share of the lead with Frenchman Mike Lorenzo Vera, but he pulled six shots clear after seven holes. The 25-year old dropped consecutive shots on the eighth and ninth holes and his lead was further eroded on the back nine as Fleetwood finished with five birdies in his final seven holes to sign for a 65 and set the target of 18 under par.
That meant Rahm, who had posted two birdies and two bogeys after the turn, then had to birdie the last hole for victory to avoid a winner-takes-all play-off with Fleetwood to decide both the tournament and the Race to Dubai. He duly held his nerve with a superb bunker shot to four feet before rolling in the putt for a 68 to finish on 19 under par and claim the €3million first prize, becoming just the second Spaniard after Seve Ballesteros to be crowned Europe’s Number One.
Joint 54-hole leader Lorenzo-Vera secured third place another shot behind Fleetwood with Rory McIlroy another five shots away in 4th place.
Australia’s Jason Scrivener completed a great finish to the season when he produced the round of the day (65) to jump 19 places to share 10th place this week and finish in 32nd place in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Scrivener’s last three European Tour starts have yielded close to A$800,000 for the 30-year old West Australian.
Scott Hend was the other Australian to make it into the select field but finished in a share of last place in the 50 man field.
The European Tour’s new season begins this coming week at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.