Collin Morikawa is all smiles after his major breakthrough – photo Darren Carroll PGA of America
Jason Day has finished in a share of 4th place after a bogey free final round of 66 at the PGA Championship at the TPC Harding Park near San Francisco, finishing three shots behind the eventual winner, Collin Morikawa, who at the age of 23 and in just his second season in professional golf, is a major champion.
Day began the day three shots from the lead held by Dustin Johnson and when he birdied the first he had drawn within two but on a day of low scoring with none of the eventual first 28 finishers over par, the Australian needed to keep moving forward if he was to challenge for the title.
He would produce an impressive final round but it was not enough off hold off the fast finishing Morikawa and Paul Casey, Casey sharing the runner-up place with 54 hole leader, Johnson.
It was however a continuation of a resurgent Jason Day who has now recorded finishes inside the top 7 in his last four PGA Tour starts and continued his progress back up the world ranking from his current 42nd place, to 32nd, having fallen to 63rd six weeks ago.
“Yeah, there’s three holes that I obviously would like to maybe just give myself a better opportunity and that’s 4, 7, and then there’s one on the back side that I — like 15 — no, 16, sorry,” said Day when assessing his round.
“You know, overall, I played solid golf from tee-to-green. Gave myself the opportunities. Although I played great, there’s still a lot more to improve on. I feel like my game was solid enough to get, you know, into a playoff, if not win. Overall, I’m very happy with how things went.
“It was really cool to be able to be in contention again at a major championship on Sunday. It’s just nice to be able to know that the game can handle the pressure of trying to win a major championship.
“I’ve been moving in the right direction over the last four tournaments. I’s like a puzzle, really. Everything is starting to connect and click.”
Adam Scott began the day seven shots behind Johnson and began well with birdies at the 4th and 5th and when he birdied the 10th, a top ten finish appeared a distinct possibility but he would bogey the 12th after coming up short with his approach and finished with 68 and in a share of 22nd place.
It was however a very impressive week given his lack of recent competitive play.
The winner, Morikawa, began the day two from the lead and when he reached the turn in 33 he was on the edge of contention and when he birdied the 10th he would become one of seven players tied for the lead at that point.
Somebody needed to break the deadlock and it would be Morikawa. He pitched in from just off the green at the 14th and then followed up two holes later with a stunning tee shot at the driveable par 4 16th and converted from 8 feet for eagle. It gave him the cushion to play the final two holes with ease, but he played them well anyway and won by two over Johnson and Casey.
“It’s amazing, said the champion. “It’s been a life goal, obviously as a little kid, kind of watching everyone grow up, all these professionals, and this is always what I’ve wanted to do. I felt very comfortable from the start.
“As an amateur, junior golfer, turning professional last year, but to finally close it off and come out here in San Francisco, pretty much my second home where I spent the last four years, is pretty special.
“I’m on Cloud Nine right now. It’s hard to think about what this championship means, and obviously it’s a major, and this is what guys go for, especially at the end of the their career, and we’re just starting.
“So I think this is just a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum, and it just gives me a little taste of what’s to come. I got a taste of this now. Obviously it was a very crowded leaderboard. At one point if you looked at the leaderboard it was all at 10-under and it was a party pretty much. So yeah, this one is going to be very special.”
Cameron Smith was the only other Australian to make the cut and finished 43rd.
Persistence Pays for Inverell’s Brett Drewitt
Brett Drewitt – file photo
29-year-old NSW golfer, Brett Drewitt, has today won his first Korn Ferry Tour event with a narrow but impressive victory at the rescheduled Lincoln Land Championship in Springfield, Illinois.
Born in Taree but raised in Inverell in the New England area of NSW, Drewitt turned professional in 2013 and gained access to the then Web.Com Tour after performing with distinction on the feeder tour, the PGA Tour China, in 2014.
By 2017 he had graduated to the PGA Tour via the Web.Com Tour finals and although he found that level of play a little beyond him at that stage he has continued to play the Web.Com and now Korn Ferry Tour since.
Having missed the cut in two of his last three events including at last week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship, Drewitt’s form reversal was a welcome surprise and his finish has jumped him to 18th in the Korn Ferry Tour rankings for 2020.
If he is able to finish inside the top 10 at the completion of the Orange County National Championship in four weeks’ time he will regain at least partial exemption to the PGA Tour.
The leading ten players on the points table at the completion of events in October get the chance to play the secondary events on the PGA Tour in 2021 with the full Korn Ferry Tour points table now carried over until the 2021 season
“It’s surreal right now; it’s been a hard road over the last couple of years,” Drewitt told the PGA Tour. “This year has been a rollercoaster.
“When I got to the PGA TOUR, I led in ball-striking out here [in 2016]. I just trusted that I still had it, even if it might not show in my stats. And then the putts started dropping and that’s just the way it goes.”
Drewitt’s win follows three weeks after the breakthrough victory of West Australian Curtis Luck on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Leishman and Smith Advance to Tour Championship
Marc Leishman – to play his 5th Tour Championship – file photo.
Australians Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith have graduated to the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship in Atlanta next week, the pair remaining inside the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings following the completion of the BMW Championship near Chicago today.
Despite Leishman finishing last of the 69 players at the BMW Championship, his exploits earlier in the disrupted 2020 season all but ensured he would advance irrespective of his performance at Olympia Fields.
Smith began the week in Chicago in 26th place in the standings but after a slow start to the event he produced an impressive weekend with rounds of 68 and 69 to move into a share of 20th place for the week and comfortably inside the top 30 who get to compete for the riches of the Tour Championship.
Leishman began the week in 25th place in the standings and although he struggled throughout and finished in 69th place of the eventual 69 who completed 72 holes over the demanding layout, he is in 25th place in the FedEx Cup standings as the Tour Championship gets underway.
After his round he discussed this week’s performance.
“I’m just struggling with energy and that sort of thing on the course, not playing great, either,” he said. “Yeah, I don’t know what it is. Just haven’t been much fun on the golf course, either. It’s a tough game. We all know that.
“Take the good with the bad, and this is why you celebrate your wins so hard because you’re going to have times like this. You hope you don’t, but like I said, it’s a hard game, and you’ve got to take the good with the bad. I’m going through a rough patch at the minute but hoping to turn that around next week for sure.”
Adam Scott began this week’s event in 38th position in the standings and through 54 holes he had moved inside the projected top 30 and was just two from the tournament leaders this week, Hideki Matsuyama and Dustin Johnson.
On a day where scoring improved considerably, however, Scott was unable to build any momentum through the early stages of his round and four dropped shots in his final four holes of round 4 saw him finish the week in 25th place and in 41st place in the FedEx Cup standings. He will therefore miss out on the Tour Championship, an event he won in 2006.
Leishman gets to play the Tour Championship for the 5th occasion having first played in his PGA Tour rookie season of 2009 and for each of the last three years.
Smith plays the Tour Championship for the second occasion having qualified in 2018 when he finished 20th.
Jason Day was the other Australian to have made it to the BMW Championship but he was unable to improve its standing, finishing 64th this week and 58th in the FedEx Cup standings and will not play in Atlanta.
The tournament was won in the most stunning fashion by Jon Rahm who was forced to recover from Dustin Johnson’s heroics when holing an impossible putt from 30 feet at the 72nd hole only to hole one of nearly twice the distance on the first extra hole himself to take the title and his first FedEx Cup playoff victory.
For Rahm it was his 5th win of 2019 to go along with four runner-up finishes.
Johnson remains in first position in the FedEx Cup standings while Rahm is now in second place, the same positions held in the world ranking.
Curtis Luck’s Professional Breakthrough in Ohio
Curtis Luck – an important breakthrough in Ohio.
West Australian Curtis Luck has today won his first event as a professional with a narrow but impressive win at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Nationwide Children’s Hospitals event in Columbus in Ohio.
The former US and Asia Pacific Amateur Champion led through 54 holes at the Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course but fell behind before two late birdies saw him edge clear to win by one over American’s Theo Humphrey, Taylor Montgomery and Cameron Young.
Luck had been struggling in recent weeks missing his last three cuts on what is the USPGA Tour’s secondary tour but this victory has him on track to return to the PGA Tour where he played in 2019.
Luck will improve from 135th to 18th on the Korn Ferry Tour’s points table and with the leading ten players at this season’s end earning the right to play the PGA Tour next season, he has positioned himself for a potential run at a return to the big time.
The 2020 and 2021 seasons have been merged due to the impact of Covid 19 but an allowance has been made for the leading ten points scorer to play the PGA Tour in 2021.
Luck’s return to form suggests he may well be amongst that group, following the completion of the season in early October.
Cameron Davis Finding His PGA Tour Feet
Davis and caddie Tschudin – file photo
25-year-old Australian golfer Cameron Davis is just two from the lead of Dustin Johnson at the Northern Trust Open in Boston, a second round of 65 added to his opening 64 at the TPC Boston having him tied for second place.
The performance leaves the US based New South Wales golfer nicely placed in the opening event of the FedEx Cup playoffs and improves his chances of graduating to the penultimate playoff event next week in Chicago and the Tour Championship in Atlanta the following week.
Davis was forced to regain his playing privileges for the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour finals last year but as his experience builds in the big league he is beginning to fulfill some of the significant potential he has displayed throughout his career to date.
Top tens in Hawaii and Florida earlier this year before the Covid enforced break gave an indication of the benefit of his earlier experience on the PGA Tour but in recent weeks he also has been in very solid form with two top twenty finishes in his last three starts.
The former World Amateur Champion, Australian Amateur Champion, Australian Open Champion and a member of the Australian Eisenhower winning side in Mexico, Davis was a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2018 in the year following his brilliant win in his national open at the Australian Golf Club in 2017.
“I’ve been working hard on the physical and mental side of the game and it’s nice to see both coming together,” said Davis after his round today.
“Through the quarantine, there was not much golf at all. Took a little while to get going again. A little bit of work on both is nice to see it kind of coming together to the point where I can play 18 holes of good quality stuff.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to 36 more and see where it takes me.”
Davis was in 91st position in the FedEx Cup table heading into this weekend and needed a good week if he was to advance but wasn’t about to get too aggressive.
“I don’t think I would play this course any differently if I was doing really well in the FedExCup or not. I’d just pick my plan for what I think will give me the best chance to have a good score and I think that would be the same if I was No. 1 or No. 125.
“It’s just one way around this place that suits my eye for each pin location. I’m going to stick to that plan. I don’t think anything is attacked more unless it’s like back nine on Sunday, and you’ve got to really make a charge and you can’t afford to be making pars.
“I think that’s the only time it really changes, but up until that point, I feel like the game plan that I’ve got gives me the most chances for birdie.”
Davis has the benefit of a good friend and experienced golfer, Andrew Tschudin, (pictured) on his bag as he has been almost since turning professional.
Tschudin is a player good enough to have won the Queensland PGA Championship several years ago and began his caddying life when on the bag of Minjee Lee when she was runner-up behind Cheyenne Woods at the Australian Ladies Masters at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast while still an amateur.
In another boost for Australasian golf, New Zealander Danny Lee is one shot behind Davis and tied for 4th.
Minjee Lee’s Bounce-back Offers Hope
Minjee Lee – file photo courtesy of LET
Through four holes of her opening round of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon in Scotland, Australia’s Minjee Lee could have been forgiven for asking just what on earth was going on.
Having played very well in recent weeks she appeared to be building towards a special performance in this the first female major championship of the year but with two bogeys and a double in her opening six holes on Thursday, her hopes of a best ever major championship finish appeared to be fading.
She would, however, play her next 30 holes in a very impressive 3 under par and now, following her second round of 2 under par 69, she stands at 1 over for the tournament and tied in 4th place and just two from the lead held by Dani Holmqvist.
Again she began slowly on day two, with bogeys at her opening two holes but she put together four birdies and no bogeys over the remaining 16 holes, including consecutive birdies at the 17th and 18th, to be nicely placed heading into the weekend.
Lee was a bit more ready for the conditions today as the opening day’s blustery, cool and damp weather came as a bit of a surprise. Conditions did not improve today but the 24 year old was ready for them and although she made a shaky start she played the remaining holes better then anyone in the field.
“I wasn’t really expecting the severity of the winds (yesterday), and even the practice rounds last week it wasn’t very windy. Once the wind hit me, I was like, oh, it was very tough.
Then today, I think I sort of expected like how much wind there was going to be and sort of adjusted a little bit better to the wind that we had.
“I haven’t really seen the forecast for tomorrow or the weekend but I’m sure it’s going to be windy. I think just at this point in time, I think can’t really think too far ahead. Just stay in the moment. Stay patient with the wind.”
Perhaps the highlight of her round came at the 11th when she chipped in from off the green but her closing two birdies have given her perfect momentum heading into the weekend.
Lee is one of only three players along with Inbee Park and Amy Olson to have broken 70 in the opening 36 holes reflecting the demands of the windswept layout and the quality of Lee’s play.
Lee is tied in 4th place with New Zealander, Lydia Ko, who continues her improvement from the indifferent form she has displayed over the past eigtheen months or so.
Now working with former Tiger Woods coach Sean Foley Ko appears to be getting back to her best with one or two good finishes of late.
“I feel like every competitive round I get in, there’s a bit more confidence that builds in,” said Ko. “It’s like the saying where, you know, just even like an 18-handicapper, you know, that one shot brings me back up for tomorrow; and I really think it’s the same for me, too; that one good shot that you feel, that that’s the shot I want to emulate on the next hole or tomorrow.
“The more times I put myself in contention or in a good position it gives me confidence about my game. Sean has been trying to get me to swing aggressively and freely and I feel like I hit it better that way.
“Sometimes it’s easier said than done, but you know, I’ve just got to go out there and not worry about it and just believe in myself.”
Sweden’s Holmqvist leads by one over American Austin Ernst and Spain’s Sophia Popov with another shot back to those tied in 4th place.
Can Minjee Lee Claim Maiden Major Title?
Royal Troon – photo Ladies European Tour
Australia’s Minjee Lee has yet to win a major title amongst her five LPGA Championship victories but this week’s AIG Women’s British Open Championship, at Royal Troon on Scotland’s Ayrshire Coast, offers a great chance for the 24-year-old to take her standing in the game to another level.
Despite her significant level of success close to the elite of women’s golf, the Perth golfer’s performance in major championship golf has been somewhat disappointing with just three top tens in 29 major championship starts.
Lee has played the Women’s British Open event on six previous occasions, two of those resulting in top tens with a best of 9th in 2015 at nearby Turnberry. She also finished 11th last year so this would seemingly represent a great opportunity.
Also importantly for her chances this week is that Lee has returned after the enforced layoff imposed on the LPGA as a result of Covid 19 in fine form having finished 3rd, 4th and 16th in her three starts to date.
There appears no real reason therefore why she could not at least challenge for what would be her most significant title to date.
Lee’s consistency is perhaps her greatest asset, recording seven top 3 finishes in addition to her most recent victory over the past two years.
If she is able to win this week’s event she will join Jan Stephenson, Karrie Webb and Hannah Green as Australia’s female major championship winners.
Lee is joined in the field by fellow Australians, Hannah Green, Katherine Kirk, Su Oh, Sarah Jane Smith, 2019 US Amateur Champion and the runner-up in the same championship two week’s ago, Gabriela Ruffels, Sarah Kemp, Stephanie Kyraciou and Whitney Hillier.
Jack Trent Advances to Match Play at US Amateur
A typical scene at Bandon Dunes during this week’s qualifying stage. Photo Steve Gibbons USGA
Sunshine Coast golfer, Jack Trent, has safely made it through to the leading 64 golfers to qualify for the match-play phase of the US Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon.
21-year-old Trent, who is currently attending college at the University of Las Vegas, added a second round of 73 at the Bandon Trails layout to go with his opening 69 at Bandon Dunes to finish in 30th place and safely inside the cut off and will advance to tomorrow’s knockout matches.
Trent was one of four players who contested the qualifying rounds and was the only one to advance, Perth’s, Connor McKinney, bogeying three of his last five holes to miss out by one on a playoff for the final place.
McKinney had put himself well in contention with an opening nine if 32 but was unable to capitalise on his fine start and is out of the event.
Perth’s Connor McKinney – disappointing finish cost him his chance – photo USGA Steve Gibbons
South Australian Lachlan Barker and Victorian Lukas Michel finished outside the required mark.
The opening match play opponents will not be determined until the finish of a large playoff for final places in the field.
The surprise of the day was the failure of the defending champion Andy Ogletree to secure a place in the match-play field.
Jason Day 4th behind Collin Morikawa at PGA Championship
Collin Morikawa is all smiles after his major breakthrough – photo Darren Carroll PGA of America
Jason Day has finished in a share of 4th place after a bogey free final round of 66 at the PGA Championship at the TPC Harding Park near San Francisco, finishing three shots behind the eventual winner, Collin Morikawa, who at the age of 23 and in just his second season in professional golf, is a major champion.
Day began the day three shots from the lead held by Dustin Johnson and when he birdied the first he had drawn within two but on a day of low scoring with none of the eventual first 28 finishers over par, the Australian needed to keep moving forward if he was to challenge for the title.
He would produce an impressive final round but it was not enough off hold off the fast finishing Morikawa and Paul Casey, Casey sharing the runner-up place with 54 hole leader, Johnson.
It was however a continuation of a resurgent Jason Day who has now recorded finishes inside the top 7 in his last four PGA Tour starts and continued his progress back up the world ranking from his current 42nd place, to 32nd, having fallen to 63rd six weeks ago.
“Yeah, there’s three holes that I obviously would like to maybe just give myself a better opportunity and that’s 4, 7, and then there’s one on the back side that I — like 15 — no, 16, sorry,” said Day when assessing his round.
“You know, overall, I played solid golf from tee-to-green. Gave myself the opportunities. Although I played great, there’s still a lot more to improve on. I feel like my game was solid enough to get, you know, into a playoff, if not win. Overall, I’m very happy with how things went.
“It was really cool to be able to be in contention again at a major championship on Sunday. It’s just nice to be able to know that the game can handle the pressure of trying to win a major championship.
“I’ve been moving in the right direction over the last four tournaments. I’s like a puzzle, really. Everything is starting to connect and click.”
Adam Scott began the day seven shots behind Johnson and began well with birdies at the 4th and 5th and when he birdied the 10th, a top ten finish appeared a distinct possibility but he would bogey the 12th after coming up short with his approach and finished with 68 and in a share of 22nd place.
It was however a very impressive week given his lack of recent competitive play.
The winner, Morikawa, began the day two from the lead and when he reached the turn in 33 he was on the edge of contention and when he birdied the 10th he would become one of seven players tied for the lead at that point.
Somebody needed to break the deadlock and it would be Morikawa. He pitched in from just off the green at the 14th and then followed up two holes later with a stunning tee shot at the driveable par 4 16th and converted from 8 feet for eagle. It gave him the cushion to play the final two holes with ease, but he played them well anyway and won by two over Johnson and Casey.
“It’s amazing, said the champion. “It’s been a life goal, obviously as a little kid, kind of watching everyone grow up, all these professionals, and this is always what I’ve wanted to do. I felt very comfortable from the start.
“As an amateur, junior golfer, turning professional last year, but to finally close it off and come out here in San Francisco, pretty much my second home where I spent the last four years, is pretty special.
“I’m on Cloud Nine right now. It’s hard to think about what this championship means, and obviously it’s a major, and this is what guys go for, especially at the end of the their career, and we’re just starting.
“So I think this is just a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum, and it just gives me a little taste of what’s to come. I got a taste of this now. Obviously it was a very crowded leaderboard. At one point if you looked at the leaderboard it was all at 10-under and it was a party pretty much. So yeah, this one is going to be very special.”
Cameron Smith was the only other Australian to make the cut and finished 43rd.
Agonising Loss for Ruffels at US Women’s Amateur
Zhang at the age of just 17 – the US Women’s Amateur Champion – photo USGA
A missed putt from less than 3 feet at the 2nd extra hole in today’s final of the US Women’s Amateur Championship in Rockville, Maryland, has cost Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels the opportunity to win the event for the second consecutive occasion.
In an incredibly hard-fought final against the 17 year old American, Rose Zhang, in which there was never more than two holes between the pair at any stage and only one over the last eighteen, Zhang saved a miracle par at the 36th hole and then watched as Ruffels, three years her senior, failed to get up and down from behind the hole at the 38th.
Zhang saved par at the 36th hole after her drive found the left rough and she was unable to clear the rough with her second leaving herself still 90 yards or so for her 3rd. She would hit the most extraordinary pitch to less than two feet which was conceded but surprisingly she conceded Ruffel’s putt from three feet. The pair then moved into extra holes before Zhang parred the 38th and watched as Ruffels missed form very short range.
“Yeah, you can’t take any putt for granted out here,” said Ruffels. “These greens are crazy fast, and that did have a little break to it. I was playing it outside of the hole. I actually hit it on my line, it’s just kind of heartbreak seeing it horseshoe out.
“Rose played great today and got up-and-down. I got up-and-down when I needed to; I thought maybe I had it. But she deserves it.
“Rose was one of the toughest opponents. She never let the door open. Like she was dead straight down the middle, hits greens. What a good player. Her wedge game is amazing, putting is amazing. She’s so solid. I can’t believe she’s only 17. Yeah, all credit to her.”
Ruffels has a busy schedule ahead of her, earning starts in events because of her win in this very event last year.
“I’m going back to Orlando, and then I leave on Sunday for the British Open, and then I have the other three majors. So I have the ANA, then the U.S. Open at the end of the year. Hopefully college season, I’m not sure, but looking forward to the three majors.
“This week I’ll just have a little break, maybe a couple days off, and then — I mean, Scotland is definitely different golf. I’ve never played in Europe before, so just get out there and get some practice rounds in, and yeah, just kind of do the same thing that I’ve been doing.”
It was a gut-wrenching way for Ruffels’ valiant attempt at a second consecutive US Women’s Amateur Championship to finish but, despite her age, Zhang is a highly credentialed youngster and is actually ranked higher than Ruffels in the World Amateur Ranking.
Ruffels can feel very proud of her outstanding play in both attempts at this most significant of women’s amateur events but that will be of little consolation for her as she considers what might have been.
Ruffels in action in today’s final
Four Australians Tackle US Men’s Amateur Championship
With the final of the US Women’s Amateur Championship, featuring one Australian, up for grabs on Sunday US time, final preparations are underway for four Australians to contend the US Men’s Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes in Oregon beginning on Monday August 10th.
Jack Trent, Connor McKinney, Lachlan Barker and Lukas Michel have managed to earn their place in the field of 264 of which only 64 will graduate to the match play phase after 36 holes of qualifying at both Bandon Dunes and
The field has been reduced from the original 312 due to Covid 19 concerns during the traditional qualifying phases.
The Sunshine Coast’s, Trent, is playing the event for the second occasion having advanced to the Round of 32 in last year’s U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2.
Trent, who reached the Round of 16 in this year’s Australian Amateur, received All-West Region and All-Mountain West Conference recognition as a junior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 2019-20. Trent, who earned all-conference honors for the third time, recorded four top-10 finishes. He also played in two U.S. Junior Amateurs (2014, 2015) and won two Nevada state high school titles.
McKinney (18) was born in Scotland but now resides in Perth and has previously won the qualifying for the Australian Amateur Championship and was 3rd in last year’s World Junior Championship. He plays the event for the first occasion.
South Australian Barker is currently attending Iowa State University in the US but has recorded success at Junior levels in Australia and has enjoyed success as a member of the Iowa State Collegiate team. Like McKinney he plays his first US Amateur Championship.
Victorian, Michel, became the first international player to win the U.S. Mid-Amateur last year when he defeated Joseph Deraney in the final at Colorado Golf Club. He went on to tie for 21st in the Australian Open and reached match play for the second consecutive year in the Australian Amateur. Michel, earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Melbourne.
He is in the field courtesy of his US Mid-Amateur victory.
The quartet will be chasing Australia’s third victory in the US Men’s Amateur Championship to follow Nick Flanagan’s win in 2003 and Curtis Luck’s victory in 2016.