Min Woo Lee in action on the greens today – image PGA of America
Australasians are well placed at the halfway stage of the PGA Championship in Philadelphia, with five of the eight who started the event within four shots of the lead as the second major of the year enters the weekend.
It is the first time since 2012 at Kiawah that no player is as many as 5-under par or better through 36 holes of a PGA Championship.
Min Woo Lee leads the charge at 3 under and just one behind the joint leaders, Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy, but Jason Day, three from the lead and Cam Smith, Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier four back, have kept alive their hopes of a significant finish.
Lee began the day tied for the lead at 3 under with six others, but through 10 holes had slipped to 1 under before birdies at the 11th, 15th and 16th before missing the green at the 17th and taking bogey. He was, however, able to par the last and finish with a round of even par 70, and he shares third place and one from the lead.
Yeah, not as in control as yesterday, I would say,” said Lee when asked to describe his round. “But happy with the grind. I did lose it a little bit out there just in the middle part. There’s some tough holes out there. But it’s very easy to get your mind spiralling, but you can’t do that at a major championship.
“So made sure Shane, my caddie, and I had to regroup and thought I played the last seven, eight holes pretty good. But, yeah, the scores are showing that it’s a very tough course.
“I just like the way this course shapes up for me. You have to drive it really well, and I have been driving it really well. Approach play is a lot better. The chipping and putting’s not too bad too.
“So I think just becoming a lot better player over the last year, I would say, definitely matured, but the game has matured as well, and that’s where we wants to be. Hopefully, we can keep going when the circumstances become tougher, especially at a major.”
Lee is one of six players at 3 under and just one off the lead but, such is the congestion on the leaderboard, 29 players are within four shots of the lead and so Lee has a big task to not only push ahead over the final 36 holes but to watch his back also.
Jason Day jumped out of the blocks with two birdies to begin his round, but he would drop shots at the 9th and 12th holes. At 1 under par, however and, just three from the lead, he is very well placed in pursuit of his second win in this championship.
Cam Smith recorded three birdies and four bogeys in his round of 71 to be at even par and just four off the lead, and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox recovered from a slow start to his round to finish with a round of even par and be at that same score for his opening 36 holes.
Daniel Hillier has done well in his first attempt in the event to make the cut and be just four from the lead at even par heading into the weekend. Hillier, who appears to be building some rather substantial platforms in his career of late, produced an eagle from 40 or so feet at the 10th, and despite a bogey at the last, the final stages of this event could well highlight his capacity to compete at this high level.
Elvis Smylie sat on the cutline for much of the day after his early start on day two, but late in the afternoon, it became clear that his score of 4 over would see him through to the final 36 holes, which is a significant achievement in itself.
Adam Scott and Travis Smyth will both miss the weekend.
Of the leaders, both are well credentialed PGA Tour players, McNealy having won one event and recorded numerous top-three finishes, while Smalley has yet to win but has numerous second-place finishes to his name thus far.
The real threat, however, would appear to come from the logical favourites Scottie Scheffler, who finds himself just two from the lead after his round of 71 today.
Scheffler was unable to build any momentum during today’s second round after dropping three shots early, but he did enough to be just two shots from the lead and very much still the man to beat despite his frustration in the way the course was set up today.
“This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on TOUR, and that includes U.S. Opens, that includes Oakmont. I did ask, I asked Fooch, who caddies for Justin Rose. He’s been around a long time — and I asked Teddy too — have you seen anything like this before? They said maybe Shinnecock is the only place they have seen that has pins that could compare to this.
“But it’s different in a sense on this golf course, because Oakmont, their greens are extremely severe, but they’re extremely severe in one direction. Here, it’s like the green may slope all this way, and then we put the pin down here and then there’s also a slope this way. And like it’s not as, how would you say, natural to the slopes that are there. There’s a bit more, I think, that’s manufactured into the greens, and it’s just very difficult.
“It’s difficult to get the ball close to the hole. It’s difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind, and I think that’s why you see the scores so close to par.
Rory McIlroy appeared to play himself out of the tournament on day one, but with a second-round 67, he has let everyone know that, on a golf course such as this, he is certainly not out of it at 1 over and just five back.
“It’s been hard to make birdies out there because obviously, one, the wind the last couple days, but also where they have put these hole locations, I feel like they have really tried to protect the course the first couple of days. So it seems like they have used up a lot of the really hard ones.
“So, depending upon a little bit calmer conditions and maybe a couple more favourable hole locations, I think guys that are just here for the weekend I think everyone’s got to feel like they have got a chance. Yes, it’s bunched, but you get on a run with wedges on that front nine, and you shoot 4-, 5-under and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things.
“At five back, I do feel like I’m right in the tournament, and that’s really what I wanted to do today was to just get myself back in it, and I feel like I’ve done that.”
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Hannah Green gets the nod amongst Australians at Riviera Country Club
Hannah Green – preparing for the US Women’s Open this week – image Kathryn Riley USGA
Australian women golf’s three most recent major winners, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Grace Kim are amongst six Australians in the field for this week’s US Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club in the suburbs of Los Angeles, with Hannah Green at number 5, now the highest world-ranked of the three.
Green will play her 8th US Women’s Open with a best of 12th in her previous seven attempts, but importantly for the 29-year-old she enters the event in some of the best form of her career. In just seven starts on the LPGA Tour this year, Green has recorded two wins, two other top tens, and a 14th place at her most recent start. She also won twice in Australia.
Green has steadily improved her results, the more she has played the US Women’s Open and given the style of game she possesses and the confidence she must surely be playing with at present, then she deserves consideration to become the 4th Australian (joining Jan Stephenson, Karrie Webb and Minjee Lee as winners of the female game’s most coveted title.
Minjee Lee tees off in practice this week – image USGA
Green’s fellow West Australian, Minjee Lee, won the title in 2022 at Pine Needles in North Carolina, setting a still-alive scoring record of 271 when doing so. Lee has missed only one cut in 12 attempts in the event, but her form in 2026 is well below that she was in before her win four years ago, and there is a question as to her capacity to contend this week.
Other than her win in 2022, Lee’s only other top ten at the US Women’s Open was when 9th behind Yuka Saso in 2024.
Grace Kim practising this week – image USGA
Grace Kim’s win at last year’s Evian Championship came as a surprise so early in her career, but she had finished an encouraging 13th at the US Women’s Open in 2023, suggesting even then she had the constitution to do well in the demands of golf at the highest level.
Kim has yet to record a top ten in an LPGA Tour event this season, but arrives at Riviera with a series of solid if unspectacular finishes to date this year.
Kim’s lack of distance from the tee might work against her on a golf course where a capacity to at least be adequate in distance appears as if it will be a considerable advantage.
Australia will also field Stephanie Kyriacou, Karis Davidson and Gold Coast amateur Sarah Hammett in the US$12 million event, but it appears as if Hannah Green should start as the favourite amongst the Australians.
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Nelly Korda looking to turn domination into US Women’s Open success
Nelly Korda during practice on Tuesday – image Kathryn Riley USGA
World number one, Nelly Korda, will this week attempt to turn her domination of the women’s game in 2026 into a breakthrough success in her own national open when she takes on the US Women’s Open at the Riviera Country Club, trying to better her runner-up finish in the event in 2025.
Korda has played in eight LPGA Tour events in 2026 for three wins, three runner-up finishes, a 3rd and 8th place, and although the winner of three majors already in her career, the one she likely wants the most has eluded her to date.
It has been a phenomenal start to the year, but she is keen to put behind her the disappointment of finishing two shots behind Maja Stark at Erin Hills in Wisconsin last year.
“Last year was just a weird year of kind of not necessarily playing my best, but also when I did, not getting the bounces or just missing by a centimetre here and there. But I also learned a lot about myself. It made me hungrier to be in those positions.
“Yeah, it was just like there’s no better place to be in than in the hunt on a back nine on Sunday at a major championship, especially at the Women’s Open. It would have been a lifelong dream, but there’s more chances.”
After the disappointment of not winning at all in 2025, Korda talked about the return to the form that had seen her such a dominant force in 2024, when she won seven times on the LPGA Tour.
“I was definitely a little bit more motivated after last year not getting a win, but when it came to just my prep, everything stayed the same,” added Korda. “This year I didn’t go to Asia. I took that time off to really get my body ready, spend some time in the gym, and didn’t touch my clubs for a little bit. Then, when I thought I was ready, I started really grinding on my game. That’s kind of what I’ve been doing for the past three or four years.
I’ve stayed the course because I’ve felt the best this way, and I’m just going to continue it. Sometimes you get the bounces, and the luck goes your way, and sometimes it doesn’t. But athletes, after they’ve had like a tough year, they try to reinvent the wheel, and they try to change so much about their games. I feel like that leads them into trouble. It makes them doubt stuff a little bit more. Maybe you just don’t feel very comfortable in your own skin after you’ve changed a lot about your game, maybe your team as well.
“I always just try to be like, okay, this works. I’m putting in the effort every single day, and I know that if I continue this path, like it will change.”
Korda is already enjoying what the Riviera Country Club will offer this week.
“It’s in pristine condition. It’s an amazing place. Obviously, the men rave about it every year, and for us to get to play this golf course in a major championship in major championship conditions has — obviously, today being Tuesday, and yesterday, it’s already in absolute great condition.
“I know some golf courses kind of wait until Wednesday to really speed up the greens, but it’s amazing out here. I mean, the vibe of the place, knowing that so much history has been played out here. It’s a great place for us to play.”
Despite the venue being used on so many occasions for significant men’s events, Korda has not really paid a lot of attention to previous championships at the Riviera Country Club, but feels confident in the processes she has in place to do well.
“If I’m being honest, I haven’t researched at all. I don’t necessarily watch too much golf. I had my coach, one of my coaches, Jamie Mulligan, come out here, and he’s from this area, and he’s been at this golf course millions of times. So yesterday he came out and walked with me, as he will today as well.
“Obviously, he has a lot of knowledge, and I was just asking him some questions, but sometimes too much information isn’t really good. So I just try to play the golf course and kind of figure it out on my own. I know Jason, my caddie, has done a lot of research as well on the golf course.
“So we’ll pick a game plan depending on the day. Every day is going to be different. I know the wind switches here kind of from morning to afternoon based off it coming from the water. So, yeah, every day is going to be a different game plan.
“For me, I just try to scope out the golf course myself and figure it out.”
This will be Korda’s 12th US Women’s Open appearance with three top tens and a best of 2nd in 2025.
Lydia Ko on cusp of LPGA Tour money earnings record
Lydia Ko – in action on Tuesday – image Logan Whitton USGA
14 years on from her first appearance in a Women’s US Open in 2012, when she played the event as a 15 year old amateur, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko will tee it up for the 15th time in the female game’s most significant event when she takes to the fairways of the famed Riveira Country Club in the suburbs of Los Angeles this Thursday.
Ko has missed only one cut in those 14 previous starts, but with only two top-ten finishes, she has perhaps performed below the standards she has set in her overall career to date.
Ko is currently in 11th position in the Race to the Globe in 2026 and is now number 10 in the Rolex standings, her worst standing in nearly two years, perhaps as other things become equally, if not more, important in her life as she approaches 30 (she is now 29).
Ko will, however, be one of the more fancied players this week, given her brilliant career to date. If she were able to finish 3rd alone or better this week, she would move past the great Annika Sorenstam to become the greatest prizemoney winner in the history of the LPGA Tour.
That milestone will surely come at some stage, it would seem, Ko needing another US767,000 to pass the US$22,584,000 Sorenstam earned in her 15-year LPGA Tour career.
Ko spoke to the media on Tuesday and put the chase of Sorenstam’s record in perspective.
“To be honest, it’s hard to compare myself to her record just because she won 70-something times and 90-something times worldwide,” said Ko.
“I think I’ve won a decent amount, having 23, but like 70-something is a completely different level than what I’ve done. We’re playing in a very different generation right now. You win CME, you get $3 million. Jeeno has played two tournaments, and she’s won like $6 million-plus, including the Aon she won one year.
“It’s cool to be, I guess, compared to that record and hopefully surpass it at some point, but it’s like very hard to kind of like compare it because we are playing for a lot more money than she did back in that day.
“For me, the win count is probably a little bit more meaningful. Not that the money isn’t meaningful. Obviously we’re very grateful that we get to play for a lot more money, and the last few majors, it’s been like a million-dollar purse increase starting in L.A. So it’s very exciting for the women’s game, but record-wise, no, I just feel like I’m like an ant and she’s — I don’t know what the biggest bug or living thing is, but she’s that.”
Ko was asked her thoughts on how the Riviera Country Club, so often used in men’s events, will set up for a women’s event of this standing for the first occasion.
“I think it’s fairly long. The wind direction is going to be a huge factor. I hit pitching wedge into one of the greens two days ago, and then I hit 5-iron today. It’s not like the wind has been very strong.
“So just with the combination of how strong the wind is and what time of the day you play, the course is going to firm out a little bit more. I truly think it’s just advantageous for the person who necessarily hits it 20 yards further.
“I think it’s got a lot of character. I think that’s why it’s going to be difficult but fun and fair. You don’t often get to go to super fair courses, and I think this is a true testament of that.”
There has often been speculation as to just when Ko will pull the plug on her competitive playing career and perhaps her answer to a question on the LA Olympics gave a hint of her thinking in that regard.
“The L.A. Olympics? Who knows? I could be a part of it in a different place rather than just competing, and I do take pride in competing for New Zealand at the Olympics, and I really hope that I can be a part of it somehow in some shape or form. But no. Three Olympics, and that stress was enough.”
Ko has an afternoon (1.14) tee time on day one.
Six Australasians face US Women’s Open Challenge
The 9th hole at Riviera Country Club with the iconic clubhouse in the background – image courtesy of USGA
The famed Riviera Country Club in the suburbs of Los Angeles will, for the first time, play host to the US Women’s Open where five Australians and one New Zealander will contest the most significant title in women’s golf.
Minjee Lee, Lydia Ko, Hannah Green, Grace Kim, Stephanie Kyriacou, and amateur Sarah Hammett have all earned their way into the field of 156 for the US$12 million event, Lee, the only player amongst that group to have experienced success when she won at Pine Needles in North Carolina in 2022.
Three Australians have won four US Women’s Open Championships. Jan Stephenson won in 1983, Karrie Webb in 2000 and 2001, and Lee in 2022.
19-year-old Queenslander, Hammett, now studying at the University of Southern California, is the only debutante among the group, having earned the right to join the field courtesy of her great effort to lead the qualifiers at her final qualifying venue in Arizona.
Amateur Sarah Hammett – image USGA
Minjee Lee will make her 13th start in the Women’s US Open, with her 2022 win as the standout. There has been only one other top ten for the current world number 9, and she will need a significant improvement on her most recent form in 2026 if she is to be a contender again.
Minjee Lee – with her 2022 US Women’s Open trophy – image USGA
Lydia Ko will be making her 15th start in the event, having first played in 2012 when, as an amateur, she tied for 39th. For a player of her standing, Ko’s record at the Women’s US Open is below her normal standards, having recorded just two top tens in those 14 previous starts for a best of 3rd in 2016.
Ko has played well enough in recent weeks for her to be considered a contender but her disappointing record in the event is a concern.
Lydia Ko – during the 2024 US Women’s Open – image USGA
Hannah Green arrives at the event as Australasia’s leading world-ranked player. With four wins in seven starts, including two in Australia in 2026, the West Australian will play her 8th Women’s US Open.
Hannah Green- A winner already in Los Angeles this year – can she make it another – image LPGA
Grace Kim tees it up as Australasia’s only major championship winner over the past four years, having won the 2025 Evian Championship and will play her 4th US Open with a best of 13th at her second start in 2023. Kim has made all but one of her eight cuts in 2026 but she has just the one top ten when 10th at the Women’s Australian Open.
Grace Kim – already a winner of a major – image LPGA
Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou is the final member of the Australasian group. Kyriacou will play her third US Women’s Open, but having missed the cut in her previous two and with seven consecutive missed cuts entering the event, it will be a significant effort for her to just make the weekend.
Stephanie Kyriacou – struggling with her game this year – image PGA of America
Working in favour of the group however is the Australian feel to the outstanding, traditional golfing layout, where so many Australians have done well in PGA Tour events over the years.
Adam Scott (twice), Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley and Steve Elkington (1995 PGA Championship) have all won events around the original George Thomas Jr designed (1926) layout.
Field
Footnote – Queensland’s Karis Davidson has now been added to the field courtesy of Celine Boutier’s win at the weekend, opening up the one spot left for a potential non-exempt winner gaining a start. Davidson had finished as an alternate at her final qualifying venue in April and plays in her first start in a US Women’s Open
Scott Hend secures PGA Tour Champions future with five shot Morroco win
The years of travel to events anywhere have paid off with Hend’s biggest cheque and a future on the PGA Tour Champions – file image courtesy of NZ Open
Until this week, Queensland’s Scott Hend had played two events on the PGA Tour Champions in 2026 for a runner-up and a third-place finish, but, very importantly, his five-shot win in Morocco overnight has secured the 52-year-old his full playing rights for that tour, and he can now focus on what should be a very lucrative career there.
Hend led after round one at the Trophy Hassan 11, slipped one behind Tommy Gainey through 36 holes in the 54 hole event, but today completed an emphatic five-shot win over Gainey and New Zealand’s Steve Alker with a final round of 69.
A bogey at his opening hole of today’s final round saw Hend fall two behind Gainey, but by the turn, he was one ahead of Gainey, whose double bogey at the 9th and another bogey at the 10th would prove costly.
Alker was also emerging as a threat when he reached the turn in 4 under, but a double bogey at the 11th effectively put paid to his chances of a second win for the season.
Hend was just two ahead of Gainey with three to play, but bogeys at the 17th and 18th by the American and a birdie at the last by the Australian sealed the deal for Hend, who earns US$400,000 for his breakthrough win and moves to a very impressive 5th on the Charles Schwab Cup standings in just three events compared to the seven or eight those ahead of him have played.
One of the game’s great travelling journeymen for much of his career, Hend now has a tour on which he can focus much of his attention, in a country where he and his family have their permanent base, ensuring what should be a very productive time for him in the US.
“It means the world to me,” said Hend. “It means I can be back in the States full time, back in my house, back kicking my kids on the backside when they’re doing things wrong, supporting the wife. Just generally to feel like I’m competing against the best senior players in the world; it’s an awesome feeling.
“I thought coming T-3 at the Senior PGA, and then I finished 2nd at the Regions, 2nd in Barbados, I felt like I was on the way up. I didn’t feel like a win was going to come this quick, so hey, when the win comes, you take it. Not complaining, it’s awesome. It’s early in the season for me. Hopefully I can kick on and contend really strongly in the senior majors.”
“To win this tournament in the 50th edition is very prestigious and very special to me. To see the trophy is amazing. It’s an amazing trophy. To win out here on the Champions Tour and to win in Morocco, with the start of the week being a little bit cool for us and then heating up as the week went on, was a little bit challenging to stay mentally spot on out there and not get too tired from the heat.
“It was just a great trophy to win, and as I said, to win the 50th edition is amazing.”
Alker improved from 8th to his share of 2nd and improved two places to 4th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
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Scott Hend contending again at Trophy Hassan event in Morocco
Scott Hend – file photo courtesy of Photosport NZ / NZ Open
Scott Hend has been in contention in the PGA Tour Champions events in which he has been able to gain a start in 2026, but the victory that would secure him full playing rights on the lucrative over-fifties tour has thus far eluded him.
Just two starts this season have yielded a 3rd place at the Senior PGA Championship and a runner-up finish at the Regions Traditions, both majors, have highlighted Hend’s capacity to do well on the PGA Tour Champions if and when he gains full status, and tomorrow he gets another chance to do just that.
After leading the US$2.5 million Trophy Hassan 111 event in Morocco following an opening day 66, Hend began the second round in the worst possible fashion when he triple bogeyed his opening hole but staged a remarkable recovery with seven birdies and an eagle to go with two bogeys for a round of 69 over the par 73 layout and with one round to play in the 54 hole event he sits just one off the pace and in a share of second place.
“I think it’s an exceptionally good round considering I started with a triple bogey on the first and saw every single tree on the left-hand side. To just hang in there and grind it out was really good.
“Made a really poor bogey on the eighth hole, the par 5,” said Hend. “Very scrappy golf today, but if I can play really scrappy and shoot 4 under, then look out tomorrow.”
Hend is behind only Tommy Gainey whose consecutive rounds of 67 have him one ahead of Hend and South African Darren Fichardt.
Greg Chalmers is four shots behind Hend and the next best Australasian in 6th place, while Steve Alker and Cameron Percy are also inside the top ten in a share of 8th place at 5 under and six behind Hend.
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Nice guy Aaron claims one of golf’s biggest prizes
Aaron Rai – image PGA of America
English golfer Aaron Rai’s stunning three-shot victory at this week’s PGA Championship is perhaps not the surprise that it might have appeared on initial glance.
The understated 31-year-old began the year in 23rd place in the world ranking, but his win this week has moved him to 15th, surpassing his previous best of 22nd when winning the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship two years ago.
Of Indian and Kenyan heritage but England-born, although now Florida-based, Rai turned professional in 2012 and graduated to the then European Tour in late 2018 after a successful season on the Challenge Tour, where he won three events. Soon after he won the Hong Kong Open, where he held off amongst others Matt Fitzpatrick and added a Scottish Open not long after.
Rai played events on the secondary Korn Ferry Tour’s finals where he finished runner-up in one event and thus gaining access to the 2022 PGA Tour.
He has steadily built his resume in the US, but he also played events on the DP World Tour where he won the 2025 Abu Dhabi Championship. In both Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi he defeated Tommy Fleetwood in playoffs to secure the wins.
His wins on the PGA Tour included his win at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro and now this coveted major title, becoming the first Englishman in to do so but he has also developed into a very consistent performer in the US including numerous top tens in addition to his now two wins.
Rai’s season to date on the PGA Tour had been dismal with not one top 20 in eight starts until an encouraging 5th place in last week’s alternate event in Myrtle Beach, where he finished 5th after trailing by one heading into the final round.
It appeared just the boost he needed as he attempted his 4th PGA Championship.
Rai trailed by two heading into today’s final round, but in a round of 65 highlighted by a 40-foot eagle putt at the 9th, where he took the lead, he drew clear over the closing stages with a final nine of 31 and the three-shot victory, capped off with yet another huge putt for birdie at the last.
Rai is very much a family man and enthused about the support he has been given by his wife, herself a former professional golfer, and his parents, who have played such a big role in his development as a golfer.
His wife, Gaurika Bishnoi, has been a real sounding board as he has built his success.
“She’s been incredible,” said the champion. “I’m not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn’t be here without her. Both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I’m sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game.
“She’s a professional golfer herself. So her mindset, her advice, her thoughts, whether it’s technique or the way I’m holding myself is absolutely invaluable. She encompasses so many different sides in her opinions.
“We even had a conversation yesterday for probably 30 minutes in the car just before we got back to the hotel, just speaking a little bit about today. Again, some of the things that she mentioned in the conversations were really with me today.
“Yeah, I really wouldn’t be here without her.”
His parents, too, earned a special mention in his post-tournament media conference.
“It’s probably hard for me to really express everything that I feel towards them. I think I’ll get way too emotional to speak. Yeah, starting with my dad, he was with me every day that I went to practice from the age of 4, 5 years old. He actually quit his job and started to focus on my golf from a really young age.
“I used to read a lot about golf. He used to be really active in everything he did with me around the game. My mom has been absolutely incredible as well. She works extremely long hours to just provide for the house, really, especially with my dad also not working as much. So she did a lot of things, and her support has been phenomenal.
“Obviously, I would love to share this with them. It would be amazing if they were here. I can’t put into words how much they’ve done in terms of the support, in terms of the care, in terms of love. Again, I wouldn’t be here without them at all.”
A question was raised about his reputation as a nice guy and being so kind to all of those he crosses paths with.
“I think a lot of that has come from upbringing, my mom, my dad, my siblings. Golf was always a very big part of my life from a very young age, but my mom and my siblings were very fast to continue to reinforce the importance of just being a good person and trying to do the right things away from golf.
“And that was consistent from a very young age, from the age of 5, 6 years old. I think, as I’ve continued to develop as a junior, as an amateur, as a professional, golf in itself is an extremely humbling game.
“There’s so much hard work and discipline that goes into acquiring the skills to become better, but you also realize that nothing is ever given in this game at any point, whether it’s a tournament, whether it’s a practice round, whether it’s even away from a tournament week. All of these things have to be done diligently and require focus.”
Rai advances into the top 15 in the world and will no doubt now have played his way into calculations for next year’s Ryder Cup team in Ireland.
“I try not to consciously focus on it too much. These things are always around, whether it’s Ryder Cup, whether it’s the next event, whether it’s the next major. So those are things that you can never completely ignore, but I try not to focus on them as real motivations to push me forward.
“I hope to continue to move in a pretty similar way in terms of practice, training, application towards the game, and we’ll see where that takes me.”
Cameron Smith returns to major championship contention
Cameron Smith – in action in today’s final round – image PGA of America
Cameron Smith has returned to major contention with a near miss at the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia, getting within one shot of the lead when he birdied the 9th before finishing in a share of 7th place. Although unable to challenge for the victory late in the round, he produced his best finish in a major championship in over two years and finished 72 holes for the first time in his last seven attempts at this level.
Although five shots from the winner, Aaron Rai, Smith was just two shots out of a tie for second place.
A switch from the man who guided him to such success earlier in his career, Grant Field, to his new coach, Claude Harmon 111, would appear to have been the catalyst for a significant turnaround. However, Field must be congratulated and not overlooked for the role he has played in assisting Smith to some giddy heights in the game.
Harmon’s undoubted success with a range of players no doubt played its part in the decision by Smith, but also Harmon’s base in Florida was likely a factor, the tyranny of distance given Field’s location on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, perhaps playing its part.
“I mean, just the belief that I’m doing the right thing,” said Smith when asked what he would take away from this week. “That’s really it. It was a hard call to make to my coach. I had been seeing Grant (field) since I was 9 years old. So I’d been with him for 23 years, and probably one of the most difficult phone calls I’ve ever had to make.
“And, yeah, it’s still kind of lingering, but I feel like I’ve made the right call, and I can see it in my golf and just my strike of the ball and seeing some different shots. It’s been nice.”
“It was really solid,” added Smith, referring to his final round of 68. “I mean, I got off to the start that I wanted to get off to. Hit a few kind of, I guess, wayward drives there on the back nine, but still had a few looks at birdie and just wasn’t able to capitalize on the back nine.
“I haven’t been there in a little while. It was good. I love that stuff. That’s why we compete. We compete to win, and it was nice to get the heart rate up and, you know, feel your hands and your legs get a little bit jelly. It was cool.
“And I’m happy with how I played with all that going on as well. So like I said, lots of positive stuff.”
Smith reached the turn in 3 under to get to 5 under for the championship, and at that point was just one shot from the lead of Alex Smalley, who had only just finished his second hole.
His only real mistake came when he three-putted the 17th hole, but still had an outside chance of getting within one of the lead at that point when he stood over a 16-foot putt for birdie at the last.
The putt missed, and he fell to 4 under, and with Justin Thomas already in the clubhouse at 5 under, his chance of a second major title was gone.
“I mean, I wanted to hole that putt (on the 18th). I feel like there was a lot of good putts I hit on the back nine. The one on the 18th was probably the worst putt I hit all day, which was frustrating.
“But I had lots of good looks. I’m proud of how I hung in there today, and I’m proud of how I showed up this week, with a new thought and a new swing.
“I mean, it feels great to play nice. You don’t work hard to play crap, and it’s frustrating, and the last couple of years have been frustrating. I feel like I’ve been putting in the work and not really getting anything out of it.
“I made a swing coach switch a couple weeks ago now to Claude (Harmon), and we’ve just managed to clean up a few things that were perhaps a little bit off, and I feel like I’ve got a lot more confidence in my swing.
“Even out there today, under the pressure I felt like I was able to trust it already. So lots of positive signs.
Smith led the eight-strong Australasian challenge while Min Woo Lee was 18th, Daniel Hillier 27th in his first PGA Championship, Ryan Fox 35th, Jason Day 65th and Elvis Smylie 75th.
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Australasians well placed ahead of Aronimink’s weekend
Min Woo Lee in action on the greens today – image PGA of America
Australasians are well placed at the halfway stage of the PGA Championship in Philadelphia, with five of the eight who started the event within four shots of the lead as the second major of the year enters the weekend.
It is the first time since 2012 at Kiawah that no player is as many as 5-under par or better through 36 holes of a PGA Championship.
Min Woo Lee leads the charge at 3 under and just one behind the joint leaders, Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy, but Jason Day, three from the lead and Cam Smith, Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier four back, have kept alive their hopes of a significant finish.
Lee began the day tied for the lead at 3 under with six others, but through 10 holes had slipped to 1 under before birdies at the 11th, 15th and 16th before missing the green at the 17th and taking bogey. He was, however, able to par the last and finish with a round of even par 70, and he shares third place and one from the lead.
Yeah, not as in control as yesterday, I would say,” said Lee when asked to describe his round. “But happy with the grind. I did lose it a little bit out there just in the middle part. There’s some tough holes out there. But it’s very easy to get your mind spiralling, but you can’t do that at a major championship.
“So made sure Shane, my caddie, and I had to regroup and thought I played the last seven, eight holes pretty good. But, yeah, the scores are showing that it’s a very tough course.
“I just like the way this course shapes up for me. You have to drive it really well, and I have been driving it really well. Approach play is a lot better. The chipping and putting’s not too bad too.
“So I think just becoming a lot better player over the last year, I would say, definitely matured, but the game has matured as well, and that’s where we wants to be. Hopefully, we can keep going when the circumstances become tougher, especially at a major.”
Lee is one of six players at 3 under and just one off the lead but, such is the congestion on the leaderboard, 29 players are within four shots of the lead and so Lee has a big task to not only push ahead over the final 36 holes but to watch his back also.
Jason Day jumped out of the blocks with two birdies to begin his round, but he would drop shots at the 9th and 12th holes. At 1 under par, however and, just three from the lead, he is very well placed in pursuit of his second win in this championship.
Cam Smith recorded three birdies and four bogeys in his round of 71 to be at even par and just four off the lead, and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox recovered from a slow start to his round to finish with a round of even par and be at that same score for his opening 36 holes.
Daniel Hillier has done well in his first attempt in the event to make the cut and be just four from the lead at even par heading into the weekend. Hillier, who appears to be building some rather substantial platforms in his career of late, produced an eagle from 40 or so feet at the 10th, and despite a bogey at the last, the final stages of this event could well highlight his capacity to compete at this high level.
Elvis Smylie sat on the cutline for much of the day after his early start on day two, but late in the afternoon, it became clear that his score of 4 over would see him through to the final 36 holes, which is a significant achievement in itself.
Adam Scott and Travis Smyth will both miss the weekend.
Of the leaders, both are well credentialed PGA Tour players, McNealy having won one event and recorded numerous top-three finishes, while Smalley has yet to win but has numerous second-place finishes to his name thus far.
The real threat, however, would appear to come from the logical favourites Scottie Scheffler, who finds himself just two from the lead after his round of 71 today.
Scheffler was unable to build any momentum during today’s second round after dropping three shots early, but he did enough to be just two shots from the lead and very much still the man to beat despite his frustration in the way the course was set up today.
“This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on TOUR, and that includes U.S. Opens, that includes Oakmont. I did ask, I asked Fooch, who caddies for Justin Rose. He’s been around a long time — and I asked Teddy too — have you seen anything like this before? They said maybe Shinnecock is the only place they have seen that has pins that could compare to this.
“But it’s different in a sense on this golf course, because Oakmont, their greens are extremely severe, but they’re extremely severe in one direction. Here, it’s like the green may slope all this way, and then we put the pin down here and then there’s also a slope this way. And like it’s not as, how would you say, natural to the slopes that are there. There’s a bit more, I think, that’s manufactured into the greens, and it’s just very difficult.
“It’s difficult to get the ball close to the hole. It’s difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind, and I think that’s why you see the scores so close to par.
Rory McIlroy appeared to play himself out of the tournament on day one, but with a second-round 67, he has let everyone know that, on a golf course such as this, he is certainly not out of it at 1 over and just five back.
“It’s been hard to make birdies out there because obviously, one, the wind the last couple days, but also where they have put these hole locations, I feel like they have really tried to protect the course the first couple of days. So it seems like they have used up a lot of the really hard ones.
“So, depending upon a little bit calmer conditions and maybe a couple more favourable hole locations, I think guys that are just here for the weekend I think everyone’s got to feel like they have got a chance. Yes, it’s bunched, but you get on a run with wedges on that front nine, and you shoot 4-, 5-under and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things.
“At five back, I do feel like I’m right in the tournament, and that’s really what I wanted to do today was to just get myself back in it, and I feel like I’ve done that.”
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More aggression serves MIn Woo Lee well at Aronimink
Min Woo Lee – all concentration during his opening round of 67 – image PGA of America
The eight-strong Australasian challenge at this year’s PGA Championship at the Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia has begun the second major of the year well, with Min Woo Lee leading the charge after day one.
Lee’s round of 67 has him in a seven-way share of the opening round lead, the overall field in one of the more congested opening rounds of a major championship in recent times; in fact, 32 players are within just two shots of the lead.
Five birdies and two bogeys in his three-under-par round of 67 had Lee sharing the lead for much of the opening day after his morning tee time, but Jason Day and Cam Smith also took advantage of their relatively early starts with rounds of 69 to be very much in the thick of things heading into day two.
When asked how he felt about where he stands after day one, Lee responded;
“Yeah, it’s great. I think we’re all trying to get off to a good start. I think over the last few months I haven’t done that.
“I think just a little bit of a mindset change, go out there and be aggressive instead of — you know that saying of you can shoot yourself out of a Thursday, but I think I’ve nearly taken that too far and played a little bit conservative. I’m hitting the ball really good, so why not go at some pins and make some putts?
“It’s great to start off well. We’re all trying to do that. It’s tough, but I think it was kind of the right time to put the foot on the pedal a little bit and hit some shots that needed to be more aggressive than not.”
“Played great,” said an enthusiastic Lee. “Drove the ball really well. I think every major you have to, but especially this course, the rough is pretty juicy, and you don’t want to attack the greens over in the rough just because you can get some fliers or you can get some lies that sit down.
“So I drove it really well and am pretty happy with that side of the game. I thought I played pretty solid all day, didn’t get myself in too much trouble. There’s tough holes out there, of course, but yeah, played really well.”
In 18 previous major starts, Lee has just one top-10 finish to his name, that coming when 5th at the US Open in 2023.
Day and Smith, who were also out relatively early, recorded solid rounds of 69 to be just two back, Smith dropping shots at his final two holes to take the edge off an otherwise impressive start.
Day began well with an outward nine of 33 but was home in 1 over 36 for his 1 under start.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox made a good start when he reached the turn in 2 under 34 but two dropped shots on the way in would see him sign for a round of even par, which, given the nature of scoring, was a very solid opening round.
Amongst those at 3 under and in a share of the lead, however, is Scottie Scheffler, who seemed untroubled in very comfortable round of 67 and given he has a morning tee time on day two it might be that he builds a substantil lead by this time tomorrow.
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