Joaquin Niemann – image LIV Golf
Just two months after winning the Australian Open in a playoff, Chilean golfer Joaquin Niemann has survived a four-hole playoff against Spain’s Sergio Garcia in near darkness to win his first LIV Golf Tour title.
Niemann’s win in the LIV Golf Mayakoba in Playa Del Carmen in Mexico, was made even more dramatic and impressive by the fact that he had incurred a two-shot penalty before even teeing off in today’s final round as a result of a rules infringement yesterday in which he took an incorrect drop.
Instead of starting four ahead of the field, the 25-year-old began the final round two ahead of South African Dean Burmester and new LIV Golf recruit Jon Rahm but after opening with a stunning 59 on Friday, Niemann could only manage a 1 under round today and was caught by Garcia’s 5 under effort.
It took four holes to decide the winner, with darkness ensuring the fourth and what would be final hole of the playoff would be the last of the day and require a return to settle to result tmorrow if either player could not grab the title.
It would be Niemann who would birdie the fourth and final hole under the lights of the adjacent scoreboards and supplementary assistance from the hospitality tents alongside the 18th green.
Niemann, who has played the LIV Golf Tour since its inception in 2022, is now achieving the level of golf he has promised since turning professional in 2018 as the leading male amateur in the world.
“Yeah, it was a lot of different days” said Niemann when explaining a somewhat roller coaster of a week.
“Obviously, the first day comes with expectations. I was playing good. First tournament of the LIV season, and I was expecting a lot from myself, and I was able to manage myself through the golf course really well and ended up shooting 59, which was — I think it’s a dream to be under 60.
“Then Saturday was a really tricky day. The wind got up. Obviously, I was on the lead by a few strokes. I think it was a little bit harder to play well after that round and then the wind getting up.
“Saturday was still a pretty good day, a good test for what was coming on Sunday. Then Sunday started a little bit different because I got a two-shot penalty on Sunday morning, which was a little bit hard to swallow at the beginning, but then I knew that I had to change the situation and not let the situation beat me.
“I think it gave me more energy to go out and fight and prove to myself that it’s not going to bother me. I’m pretty happy that the day ended up this way, especially how the morning started. I think dinner is going to taste a little bit better than breakfast.”
“I think I have a different mindset for this year,” said Niemann when asked after his win about his after his goals for this year.
“It kind of hurt me a little bit not being in the majors and I think also helped me to get motivation to kind of earn my spot back into the majors, into the elite players.
“I think it helped me a little bit to get focused back, to start working harder, to start working with a purpose.
“I think it’s paying off, and I just want to keep telling myself that I’m capable of doing this, of winning tournaments, and this is a good way to prove that, and I don’t want to stop working the way I’m doing it. I just want to keep going.”
Garcia’s close call was his second playoff loss in LIV events but his final round of 65 was a great boost for him.
The Australians finished one shot out of a cheque in the team’s competition, Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones finishing one shot out of third place.
Cam Smith did best in the Individual competition when he shared 8th place and five shots from the playoff.
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Kazuma Kobori at it again in Sydney
Kobori – chance for a third title from ten professional starts – image Australian Golf Media
New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori continues his outstanding run in the early stages of his professional career and at the halfway stage of the Webex Players Series event at the Castle Hill Golf Club in Sydney, the 22-year-old from Rangiora north of Christchurch leads by one.
Kobori added a second round of 64 to his opening 65 to lead over fellow New Zealander and recent winner, Kerry Mountcastle, Victorian James Gibellini and South Korean Jenny Shin.
Kobori, who has recorded two wins and three top tens in his nine starts since turning professional last November, is currently in third place on the PGA Tour of Australasian Order of Merit and has a great opportunity to all but cement his card for the 2025 DP World Tour handed out to the leading three players on the Order of Merit at season’s end with victory this week.
“I really enjoy this course,” Kobori told the PGA Tour of Australasia’s website. “I walked up to the course I think it was Tuesday morning and you get courses where you just walk up and go ‘Okay, I kind of like this place’.”
Mountcastle was a surprise winner of the Gippsland Super 6 title in November and is nicely placed to challenge for a second Australasian Tour title.
Gibellini appears to have found something in his game in recent months after an amateur career in Queensland.
Shin is the leading female in the mixed-gender event, finishing her opening 36 holes, adding a round of 67 to her opening 63 yesterday.
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LIv Golf and PGA Tour compete for hype in Vegas and Phoenix
Liv Golf Las Vegas – image LIv Golf – pity the PGA Tour didn’t make free images available for such use
The PGA Tour and Liv Golf clash heads in more ways than one this week when the PGA Tour’s most watched and hyped event, The WM Phoenix Open, is played opposite LIV Golf’s Las Vegas event.
LIV Golf Las Vegas remains a 54-hole event but, for it not to clash with the Superbowl on Sunday, also held in Las Vegas, the event begins on Thursday and ends Saturday for the first occasion in the history of the new league.
The razzmatazz around both events will be fully on display with the outstandingly successful and attended WM Phoenix Open up against an event that will no doubt generate a huge amount of additional hype due to the influx of golf’s typical demographic from around the country to attend the Super Bowl.
Traditionally, the WM Phoenix Open has finished early on Sundays to accommodate America’s passion for the final showdown of one of their Apple Pie sports, NFL, and that will remain the case so LIV Golf is afforded free air to complete their event 24 hours earlier.
But it will be the now iconic 16th par three 16th hole at the TPC Scottsdale which will have comparisons drawn with Liv Golf’s attempt to generate the sort of passion from a Las Vegas crowd already hyped with the prospect of the Super Bowl with the sort of crowd participation seen at Liv Golf events in Adelaide.
In the PGA Tour event, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Aaron Baddeley and New Zealand’s PGA Tour rookie, Ryan Fox, will represent Australasia while in Las Vegas the Australian combination of Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones chase an improvement on their 4th place finish in Mexico.
Scottie Scheffler looks the winner of the WM Phoenix Open given he has been the champion in each of the past two years and that he has begun the season well with impressive early form.
The winner of the LIV event earns US$4 million while the Phoenix Open Champion earns US$1.84 million.
Jason Day adds another top ten at weather reduced Pebble Beach
Jason Day – file photo
Jason Day’s third round of 63 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am placed him in a position to challenge for the title in the final round at Pebble Beach Links but, unfortunately for the Australian, his hopes were dashed when the fourth round was canceled this morning due to a disastrous forecast for the Monterey Peninsula area on Monday which had been scheduled as the carryover day for the delayed final round.
A release from the PGA Tour read as follows; “The storm affecting the Monterey Peninsula throughout the day Sunday is forecast to continue into the early hours of Monday with very strong winds. Although conditions are forecast to improve through the morning Monday, after consultation with Monterey County emergency authorities, who have implemented a Shelter in Place order until early tomorrow morning for the greater Pebble Beach community, and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of all constituents, there will be no play on Monday. Therefore, in accordance with the PGA TOUR Regulations the tournament results will be final through the conclusion of 54 holes.”
For Day his eventual share of 6th place was 9th top ten in the event first his first appearance in 2008 including a runner-up finish in 2018.
Following his fine third round on Saturday Day was asked about his longevity in terms of his playing future.
“That’s a really good question. Just because, you know, I still feel like I’m in my 20s but I’m obviously past my mid 30s now. Yeah, like obviously to sit 3 there — I remember joke — not joking.
“There was a good time there where I was like, you know what, once I get to 40 I’m like thinking about retiring. I think at the time I was like dealing with some injuries and whatnot and I wasn’t feeling that great.
“To be in like the second half of my career, like it’s surprising because this is my 17th season on the Tour and all the guys, it’s like I’m getting older and the guys that come out every single year, the new faces are getting younger, you know what I mean?
“With that being said, I think watching these young guys play knowing that they’re hitting it further and they’re full of confidence and they’re big and strong, I feel like I’ve got the experience on my side to be able to handle certain situations, pressure situations.
“ I just have to make sure that I do everything I possibly can to make sure that I’m healthy, I don’t lose any speed and I mentally want to. If I can do those few things, I should have a decent second half of my career.
The event was one of the newly created Signature events on the PGA Tour with increased prizemoney ensuring Day earns a cheque for US$642,000 for his share of 6th place.
The event was won by Wyndham Clark who took a one-shot lead following a third round of 60, that lead now holding up as the winning score.
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Joaquin Niemann wins first LIV Golf title in playoff
Joaquin Niemann – image LIV Golf
Just two months after winning the Australian Open in a playoff, Chilean golfer Joaquin Niemann has survived a four-hole playoff against Spain’s Sergio Garcia in near darkness to win his first LIV Golf Tour title.
Niemann’s win in the LIV Golf Mayakoba in Playa Del Carmen in Mexico, was made even more dramatic and impressive by the fact that he had incurred a two-shot penalty before even teeing off in today’s final round as a result of a rules infringement yesterday in which he took an incorrect drop.
Instead of starting four ahead of the field, the 25-year-old began the final round two ahead of South African Dean Burmester and new LIV Golf recruit Jon Rahm but after opening with a stunning 59 on Friday, Niemann could only manage a 1 under round today and was caught by Garcia’s 5 under effort.
It took four holes to decide the winner, with darkness ensuring the fourth and what would be final hole of the playoff would be the last of the day and require a return to settle to result tmorrow if either player could not grab the title.
It would be Niemann who would birdie the fourth and final hole under the lights of the adjacent scoreboards and supplementary assistance from the hospitality tents alongside the 18th green.
Niemann, who has played the LIV Golf Tour since its inception in 2022, is now achieving the level of golf he has promised since turning professional in 2018 as the leading male amateur in the world.
“Yeah, it was a lot of different days” said Niemann when explaining a somewhat roller coaster of a week.
“Obviously, the first day comes with expectations. I was playing good. First tournament of the LIV season, and I was expecting a lot from myself, and I was able to manage myself through the golf course really well and ended up shooting 59, which was — I think it’s a dream to be under 60.
“Then Saturday was a really tricky day. The wind got up. Obviously, I was on the lead by a few strokes. I think it was a little bit harder to play well after that round and then the wind getting up.
“Saturday was still a pretty good day, a good test for what was coming on Sunday. Then Sunday started a little bit different because I got a two-shot penalty on Sunday morning, which was a little bit hard to swallow at the beginning, but then I knew that I had to change the situation and not let the situation beat me.
“I think it gave me more energy to go out and fight and prove to myself that it’s not going to bother me. I’m pretty happy that the day ended up this way, especially how the morning started. I think dinner is going to taste a little bit better than breakfast.”
“I think I have a different mindset for this year,” said Niemann when asked after his win about his after his goals for this year.
“It kind of hurt me a little bit not being in the majors and I think also helped me to get motivation to kind of earn my spot back into the majors, into the elite players.
“I think it helped me a little bit to get focused back, to start working harder, to start working with a purpose.
“I think it’s paying off, and I just want to keep telling myself that I’m capable of doing this, of winning tournaments, and this is a good way to prove that, and I don’t want to stop working the way I’m doing it. I just want to keep going.”
Garcia’s close call was his second playoff loss in LIV events but his final round of 65 was a great boost for him.
The Australians finished one shot out of a cheque in the team’s competition, Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones finishing one shot out of third place.
Cam Smith did best in the Individual competition when he shared 8th place and five shots from the playoff.
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Brett Coletta and Ashley Lau – Vic Open Champions
Ashely Lau and Brett Coletta – image Australian Golf Media
Victorian Brett Coletta and Malaysia’s Ashely Lau are the respective male and female Vic Open Champions following the completion of the dual event at 13th Beach on the Bellarine Peninsula today.
For 27-year-old Coletta, the win represents his second as a professional having also won an event in the Hunter Vally last year although in 2016 he won the Queensland Open as an amateur at the Brisbane Golf Club before turning to the paid ranks soon after.
A regular on the Korn ferry Tour during 2019 and 2020 Coletta got within two places of earning his PGA Tour playing rights for 2020 after recording three top-five finishes in 2019 but missed out, his career adversely affected by Covid issues in the following years.
After sharing 17th place at the halfway stage, Coletta added consecutive weekend rounds of 65 to take the title by two over Sydney’s Jordan Zunic, a former New Zealand Open Champion, who appears boosted by recent success in claiming his Asian Tour card for 2024, and recent DP World Tour graduate Andrew Martin.
Coletta earned A$75,600 for his win and moves into second place on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit behind Min Woo Lee and is on track for a DP World Tour card given to the leading three players at season’s end in two months.
The Women’s Vic Open was won by the very impressive Ashley Lau of who produced a brilliant final round of 66 to defeat two-time major winner and the defending champion, Jiyai Shin whose 30-foot putt at the 72nd hole to force a playoff lipped out.
Lau who plays the Futures Tour in the USA, has won and finished 4th in her previous two starts in Australia and more is expected of the talented Malaysian.
The next event for both the PGA Tour of Australasia and the WAPGA will be the mixed-gender Webex Player Series event in Sydney starting on Thursday.
MEN’S SCORES
WOMEN”S SCORES
Nick Voke leads Vic Open
Nick Voke – in action on Friday – photo Australian Golf Media
New Zealand’s Nick Voke has the halfway lead at the Vic Open at 13th Beach on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, the 29-year-old former Iowa State University standout just one ahead of Gold Coast teenager and amateur Billy Dowling, Queenslander Jack Munro and Shell Harbour’s Travis Smyth.
Voke has played the China, Korn Ferry and Australasian Tours since turning professional in 2018 but has yet to win on the PGA Tour of Australasia, his best finish being when runner-up at the Queensland PGA Championship last November.
Voke has, though, won events on the China Tour and is generally considered a better player than his results in the paid ranks to date would suggest.
Voke added a second round of 68 to his opening 67 on a windswept 36-hole 13th Beach complex but twelve players are within three shots and essentially many of the 63 players surviving the cut at 1 under will fancy their chances over the weekend.
Voke narrowly missed regaining his Asian Tour playing rights at the recent Qualifying School after struggling for much of the 2023 season and is currently without playing rights for any tour other than the PGA Tour of Australasia so this represents an important weekend for the Aucklander.
18-year-old Dowling is the current Queensland Amateur Champion and has often produced some amazing scoring including twice shooting 59. The slightly built golfer is now a member of the Golf Australia squad and continues to impress.
Smyth performed brilliantly in Asia last year finishing an impressive 4th on the Order of Merit with earnings of US$560,000 and has been a commercial success since turning professional, taking advantage of starts in International Series events and several starts in the early stages of Liv Golf.
The women’s Vic Open being played alongside the men’s, is led by Japan’s Shina Kanazawa and Korea’s Min A Yoon who lead by one over Gold Coast LPGA Tour player Karis Davidson.
Former Australian Women’s Open, two-time Women’s British Open Champion and defending champion here, Jiyai Shin, is poised to challenge the leaders, the prolific winner of titles worldwide just three off the lead heading into the weekend’
The impressive and seemingly ever-present Malaysian, Ashley Lau, is another shot back.
MEN’S SCORES
WOMEN’S SCORES
LIV Golf’s 2024 season begins in Mexico
Lucas Herbert – joins the Australian team of Cam Smith, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones – image LIV Golf
LIV Golf’s 2024 season gets underway this Friday when LIV Golf Mayakoba is played at the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon Golf Course on the Riviera Maya in Mexico.
The event is the first of four over the next two months and the first of twelve so far confirmed on the schedule for 2024.
The addition of another team to the line-up brings the field size to a total of 54 although two have yet to be included in a team and are in the field as Wild Cards.
The most significant additions to the LIV Golf line-up for this week’s Mayakoba tournament are Spain’s Jon Rahm, England’s Tyrell Hatton, Australian Lucas Herbert and Poland’s Adrian Meronk.
Rahm and Hatton form part of the newly formed Legion X111 team captained by Rahm while Herbert replaces Jed Morgan in the Australian combination of Cameron Smith, Marcus Leishman and Matt Jones, while 2022 Australian Open Champion Meronk is added to Martin Kaymer’s line-up.
The announcement today of the newly formed PGA Tour Enterprises partnership does not clarify the extent of LIv Golf’s role but the door appears to have been left open for future investment by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
PLAYER ROSTER
Nelly Korda edges out Lydia Ko in Florida
Lydia Ko – near miss cost her Hall of Fame entry but her time will come – file image LPGA / Getty Images
The final hour of play at the LPGA Drive On Championship in Bradenton, Florida provided some of the most dramatic and high-quality golf as former World Number One’s, Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko, duked it out in a tense final-round battle before Korda prevailed at the second extra hole of a playoff to win her 9th LPGA Tour title.
It was a day that saw massive lead changes. Korda began the final round four ahead of Ko and was actually six ahead of the New Zealander after Ko had double-bogeyed her 3rd hole of the day.
Korda, though, would struggle for much of the round and by the time she reached the 17th tee she was 5 over for the day and three behind Ko who had bounced back from her early stumble with several birdies to eagle the 17th after a stunning hybrid to less than a foot.
Behind Korda needed a near miracle to catch Ko and she was about to produce just that. Her approach to the 17th finish 20 feet behind the flag and when she holed that her chances of an unlikely victory depended on a birdie at the last.
Her approach finished a foot from the hole and when she converted Ko and Korda were headed to a playoff which Korda would eventually win with a save from behind the green while Ko, who had also saved par on the first playoff hole, three putted from 25 feet.
“Gosh, I thought that the tournament was over going into 17,” said Korda who is a member at the venue. “I just kind of gave myself a chance. I knew that if I rolled that eagle in, I had to birdie the last hole.
“Yeah, I seem to always make it very dramatic and interesting, so there is no better feeling than to do it in front of a home crowd.
“I think even when I was down they were so, so positive and keeping me in it. It was such a grind out there, so back and forth. I felt like I never really got anything going. But, I mean, I just can’t even believe it right now.”
For Ko the loss was doubly disappointing as not only did she not win her opening two events of the year, she missed out on qualification for the LPGA Hall of Fame which the victory would have given her.
Still, her time will surely come and she said as much after the playoff.
“To be honest, obviously I three-putted the second playoff hole, but other than that I don’t feel like I lost the tournament. You know, I made a great eagle on 17, great par on 18, and then Nelly just went eagle as well and then birdied the last.
“So, it’s kind of like what can you do? We played our hearts out until the very end and we put ourself into the playoff. You know, I tried my best out there. I don’t know, like I think every situation a very different. I think I was a lot calmer last week than I thought I was going to be. I was a lot calmer I think today than I thought I was going to be.
“So, it’s just I think depends on the situation. Always nice to be able to come down the last with a few-shot lead or cushion. It’s always nice.
“All I can do is play the best golf I can and keep giving myself opportunities and hopefully it will happen.”
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Nelly Korda – image courtesy of Getty Images
Kazuma Kobori goes back to back at Rosebud Country Club
Kazuma Kobori – kissing trophies becoming a habit – image courtesy of Australian Golf Media
There was every suggestion that New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori would make an immediate impact on turning professional but the speed in which he has established himself amongst the elite of the PGA Tour of Australasia has been particularly impressive.
Today the 22-year-old from Rangiora north of Christchurch fought off a final round challenge from the resurgent Tasmanian Matthew Goggin at the Webex Player Series Victoria to eventually win by one over Malaysian lady golfer Ashley Lau in the mixed-gender event with Goggin bogeying his final hole to slip back into third place alone.
Today’s win follows his victory in a similar event last week on the Murray River, providing a rare back-to-back win.
Kobori turned professional last October after completing perhaps New Zealand Golf’s most successful year by an amateur, winning the Australian Amateur Championship the historic Western Amateur in Chicago and the top spot in the Eisenhower Trophy’s individual title, in addition to leading the qualifiers at the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Tour School.
In now seven starts in the paid ranks, Kobori has won two events and recorded two other top tens and has now moved to 2nd position on the 2023/2024 PGA Tour of Australasian Order of Merit.
With Min Woo Lee (winner of the Australian PGA Championship and only player ahead of Kobori at this stage) unlikely to play any further events on this season’s PGA Tour of Australasia and therefore not complete the required number of events to feature on the Order of Merit, Kobori is well placed to take one of the DP World Tour cards on offer to the leading three players at season’s end.
Kobori took a one-shot lead into today’s final round at the Rosebud Golf Club and through nine holes he was tied with Goggin at 17 under.
Kobori birdied two holes early in his back nine then held on as Goggin tried to draw level at the last but three putted to allow Lau to sneak into second place on her own.
Five more events remain on the PGA Tour of Australasian schedule including the New Zealand Open in Queenstown which carries the same level of points as the Australian Open and Australian PGA Championships and with Kobori having finished an impressive 6th in that event last year he might well finish close to Min Woo Lee by season’s end.
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South Australian Blum leads Webex Players Series Victoria
Kristalle Blum – image Australian Golf Media
South Australian Kristalle Blum has retained her first-round lead at the halfway stage of the Webex Players Series Victoria event as the mixed-gender event heads into the final 36 holes at the Rosebud Country Club on the Mornington Peninsula.
The 26-year-old, who plays on the Ladies European Tour’s secondary division where she recorded four top tens amongst 14 starts there in 2023, missed the cut in this event last year but after an opening round of 62 on Thursday to lead the field she added a 67 in gusty winds to have her two ahead of Thailand’s Saraporn Chamchoi.
The performance represents a significant turnaround in recent form, Blum having missed the cut in her previous three events.
In a share of 3rd place and the leading men are last week’s Murray River event winner, Kazuma Kobori of New Zealand, New South Wales’ Justin Warren who just a week ago earned Asian Tour playing rights for 2024, South Australian Lachlan Barker and Victorian James Marchesani.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the opening two rounds was the disappointing performance of several players who played so well at Murray River last week.
Momoka Kobori, Michael Hendry, Andrew Kelly and Jak Carter all missed the cut, after featuring in last week’s event while recent winner, Matt Griffin has now missed the cut in three of his last four starts although he did win the fourth of them.
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