Adam Scott file photo – JGTO
Adam Scott will head to Australia this week with his game in good shape ahead of an attempt to win a third Australian PGA Championship and a second Australian Open later this month and in early December.
Scott’s share of 5th place behind the Colombian Camilo Villegas at this week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Southampton in Bermuda suggests he is ready to tackle the PGA Tour of Australasia and DP World Tour events in Brisbane and Sydney.
Scott won his two previous Australian PGA Championships at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and his one Australian Open to date at the NSW Golf Club in 2009 and he was keen to play this week to have his game in shape to play in his homeland.
“Well, it was really one of the reasons for coming to play was to kind of make sure I’m not rusty when I play at home,” said Scott after his final round today.
“I want to play well down there. I want to play well every week, but if I didn’t play great this week, I would have known what to do when I got there and not just guessing. But I really like where things are at.
“There’s a lot of good stuff to take out of my game this week and if I play in similar style down there, hopefully I can end up on top.”
Scott and the golfing world generally rejoiced in the return to the winner’s circle of Villegas, a player who has been good enough to win five PGA Tour events including the Tour and BMW Championships in 2008, and, who reached as high as number 7 in the world ranking.
Scott was asked today about some assistance he had given Villegas with his putting.
“Yeah, we kind of did a little scouting trip to Quail Hollow after the TOUR Championship last year before the Presidents Cup (where Villegas was an assistant captain) and there you get to really hang with the guys with very little commitment.
“Camilo and I were talking about his golf and putting and I kind of — I think I introduced him to the LAB putter at that point. I at least gave him the contact of Sam at LAB. He’s been putting great with it.
“He’s obviously very comfortable. In the last couple weeks has been incredible, so I’m stoked for Camilo. He’s such a positive guy. To see him playing well again is nice for an old mate.
Not only did Villegas win this week for the first time since 2014 but he last week finished runner-up after missing seven of his previous nine cuts suggesting a return to his glory days, made even more significant after the devastating loss of his young daughter Mia at the age of 2 to brain cancer.
“Tough to put in words right now, but wow, what a ride, man,” said an emotional Villegas.
“You know what, I love this game. This game has given me so many great things, but in the process it kicks your butt. Life has given me so many great things and in the process it kicks my butt, too. My little one up there watching.
“The support has been unbelievable, I mean, at every angle. The amount of text messages I got last week, I must have got 500 text messages, I didn’t even win the golf tournament. I felt the energy.
“You know what, it kept building up. Everybody here on the island was great, they were just rooting me on. Got to believe in energy, man. Like I said, I’ve got my little one up there watching it, smiling. She’s where she needs to be after a long fight. To everybody, just I want to say thanks, it’s been a fun week.”
Villegas was quick to thank Adam Scott for some assistance he had given him with his putting.
“Yeah, I guess I’ve got to thank Adam in a way because you’re right, we did a little trip to Quail Hollow before the Presidents Cup and I was watching Adam putt with a broom. He kept rolling it so good and he kept telling me how confident he was feeling.
“At one point I’m like, OK, man, let me try it. I started trying the broom, which I didn’t think I
was going to go to the broom, but we started talking about the technology behind the putter.
“I have always been a Scotty Cameron guy, which I love, respect and thank him for all the
support over the years, but then came this LAB putter and it felt good. It felt good right away.
I tried different versions of it, different lengths, different grips, different shaft leans on it and
then finally I came with one that feels very comfortable.”
SCORES
Steve Alker’s amazing run continues in Phoenix
Steve Alker – photo Getty Images
Steve Alker’s 7th PGA Tour Champions victory in Phoenix this past weekend at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship to finish the 2023 season as the runner-up in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup, further highlights what a remarkable 27 months it has been for the 52-year-old New Zealander since first joining the tour for the over fifties in August of 2021.
Nobody, not even Alker himself I would think, could have imagined the level of success he has reached in such a short time and, in many cases, against and ahead of players who were considerably more credentialed before they too embarked on a career amongst the over fifties.
Alker began the final round of the final Charles Schwab Cup event of the season with a four-shot lead but as is so often the case that sort of lead can quickly disappear despite the manner in which he had been playing over the first 54 holes.
He would though hold off strong challenges from Stephen Ames and Ernie Els to win by one to claim the US$528,000 first prize and the US$500,000 bonus for finishing runner-up in the season long series.
“You know, just trying to get my swing together a little bit, it wasn’t quite there today,” said Alker after the win when asked about a birdie at the 9th to settle things down after a struggling start to his final round. “But the putt was huge and just kind of settled me down I hit a great tee shot on 10 and kind of felt good after that. I made it exciting here at 18, but that wasn’t the plan, I tell you.”
“Another multiple-win season,” said Alker when asked if he could have imagined his success when embarking on this journey.
“I didn’t get it done this year. but Stricker had an amazing year, he was phenomenal, so we were chasing him all year. But to get second after going first last year, that means a lot just to keep the consistency. And I get a couple of wins, it’s nice. The guys are just getting better out here and just pushing harder, so you’ve just got to try a little bit better every year.”
The Charles Schwab Cup had already been claimed even before last week’s first shot was hit in anger with Steve Stricker so far in front of his rivals that even the forced withdrawal due to an illness to his father could not prevent him from claiming the trophy.
For Alker however, it followed a 2022 season in which he had won the Charles Schwab Cup and finished 3rd behind Padraig Harrington in the 2022 version of this week’s event.
The most stunning aspect of Alker’s success on the PGA Tour Champions is the turnaround of what had been a relatively mediocre regular tour career into one of the most successful in the early stages of a PGA Tour Champions career.
In August of 2021 Alker, like so many other hopefuls turning the age of 50, threw his hat in the ring at the Boeing Classic in Washington State in the hope of pre-qualifying for the event. He managed to do that by earning one of the only four spots available that week.
Not only did he secure a start he took full advantage by finishing 7th behind Rod Pampling and guaranteed himself a start the following week. In a total of ten starts in the remainder of the 2021 season, Alker recorded nine top tens including a win and the rest as they say is history.
Alker now owns 7 PGA Tour Champions titles, and has accrued US$7.3 million in earnings in just 27 months and, although some US$27 million behind the all-time PGA Tour Champions money leader, Bernhard Langer, given Alker has played just 53 events compared to the 340 by the German golfer he is making considerable headway on the now 66-year-old Langer.
But, it is not only the number of wins for Alker, it has been his amazing consistency recording 31 top-five finishes in his 53 starts.
Alker turned professional in 1995 and won a small tournament in the Pacific Islands before winning the Queensland Open late that year. This writer happened to be the on-course commentator for the ABC’s coverage of that event at Windaroo Lakes south of Brisbane and so impressed was I with the immaculately tidy game of the then 24-year-old I figured a highly successful career lay ahead.
Alker has admittedly been successful but he struggled to reach the elite level. After the then almost obligatory couple of years in Europe he headed to North America where he played in Canada and on the then Buy.Com Tour before graduating to the PGA Tour in 2003.
Unable to retain his playing privileges Alker returned to the Nationwide Tour (name change in 2003) before heading back to Europe in 2007 and returning to the USA in 2010 for good after a win at the co-sanctioned NZPGA Championship in Christchurch. He regained his PGA Tour playing rights for 2014 but again it was short-lived and he played out his regular tour career on the Web.Com and Korn Ferry Tour.
By playing competitively until he turned 50 in August of 2021 he was tournament sharp when the opportunity arose to qualify for a PGA Tour Champions event and he has subsequently become one of the dominant figures since his arrival along with the likes of Bernhard Langer, Padraig Harrington, and Steve Stricker.
Alker possesses a very simple but technically sound and effective golf swing in which very little that can’t be fixed in a hurry can go wrong and this along with his fitness and health has worked wonders for him at this level.
It is hard to imagine that this level of success can not continue for several more years to come for the affable now Arizona-based man from Hamilton in New Zealand’s Waikato province.
Charles Schwab final standings
Adam Scott ready for Australian campaign after 5th place in Bermuda
Adam Scott file photo – JGTO
Adam Scott will head to Australia this week with his game in good shape ahead of an attempt to win a third Australian PGA Championship and a second Australian Open later this month and in early December.
Scott’s share of 5th place behind the Colombian Camilo Villegas at this week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Southampton in Bermuda suggests he is ready to tackle the PGA Tour of Australasia and DP World Tour events in Brisbane and Sydney.
Scott won his two previous Australian PGA Championships at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and his one Australian Open to date at the NSW Golf Club in 2009 and he was keen to play this week to have his game in shape to play in his homeland.
“Well, it was really one of the reasons for coming to play was to kind of make sure I’m not rusty when I play at home,” said Scott after his final round today.
“I want to play well down there. I want to play well every week, but if I didn’t play great this week, I would have known what to do when I got there and not just guessing. But I really like where things are at.
“There’s a lot of good stuff to take out of my game this week and if I play in similar style down there, hopefully I can end up on top.”
Scott and the golfing world generally rejoiced in the return to the winner’s circle of Villegas, a player who has been good enough to win five PGA Tour events including the Tour and BMW Championships in 2008, and, who reached as high as number 7 in the world ranking.
Scott was asked today about some assistance he had given Villegas with his putting.
“Yeah, we kind of did a little scouting trip to Quail Hollow after the TOUR Championship last year before the Presidents Cup (where Villegas was an assistant captain) and there you get to really hang with the guys with very little commitment.
“Camilo and I were talking about his golf and putting and I kind of — I think I introduced him to the LAB putter at that point. I at least gave him the contact of Sam at LAB. He’s been putting great with it.
“He’s obviously very comfortable. In the last couple weeks has been incredible, so I’m stoked for Camilo. He’s such a positive guy. To see him playing well again is nice for an old mate.
Not only did Villegas win this week for the first time since 2014 but he last week finished runner-up after missing seven of his previous nine cuts suggesting a return to his glory days, made even more significant after the devastating loss of his young daughter Mia at the age of 2 to brain cancer.
“Tough to put in words right now, but wow, what a ride, man,” said an emotional Villegas.
“You know what, I love this game. This game has given me so many great things, but in the process it kicks your butt. Life has given me so many great things and in the process it kicks my butt, too. My little one up there watching.
“The support has been unbelievable, I mean, at every angle. The amount of text messages I got last week, I must have got 500 text messages, I didn’t even win the golf tournament. I felt the energy.
“You know what, it kept building up. Everybody here on the island was great, they were just rooting me on. Got to believe in energy, man. Like I said, I’ve got my little one up there watching it, smiling. She’s where she needs to be after a long fight. To everybody, just I want to say thanks, it’s been a fun week.”
Villegas was quick to thank Adam Scott for some assistance he had given him with his putting.
“Yeah, I guess I’ve got to thank Adam in a way because you’re right, we did a little trip to Quail Hollow before the Presidents Cup and I was watching Adam putt with a broom. He kept rolling it so good and he kept telling me how confident he was feeling.
“At one point I’m like, OK, man, let me try it. I started trying the broom, which I didn’t think I
was going to go to the broom, but we started talking about the technology behind the putter.
“I have always been a Scotty Cameron guy, which I love, respect and thank him for all the
support over the years, but then came this LAB putter and it felt good. It felt good right away.
I tried different versions of it, different lengths, different grips, different shaft leans on it and
then finally I came with one that feels very comfortable.”
SCORES
Kerry Mountcastle adds to great New Zealand golfing weekend
Kerry Mountcastle – image Australian Golf Media
New Zealand’s Kerry Mountcastle, currently ranked 1931st in the world ranking, will make a significant dent in that ranking and ensure access to all the upcoming events on the PGA Tour of Australasia with victory today in the Gippsland Super Sixes event at the Warragul Country Club in Victoria.
Mountcastle, a former New Zealand Eisenhower Trophy representative and a two-time winner on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour, claimed his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title with a victory over Queensland’s Jake McLeod after Mountcastle had defeated amateur Joseph Owen in the semi-final and McLeod accounted for South Australian Jak Carter to reach his encounter with the eventual winner.
Mountcastle had survived a lengthy playoff on Saturday evening just to get into the final 24 to compete in today’s six-hole head-to-head match-ups.
Mountcastle earns A$36,000 and moves to the top of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia money list.
It would be the first of two New Zealand victories on Sunday, Ben Campbell winning in Hing Kong just a couple of hours later.
SCORES
Ben Campbell’s strong finish claims Hong Kong Open
Ben Campbell – image Paul Lakatos
In what is no doubt the most significant moment in the golfing career of New Zealander Ben Campbell, the 32 year old Queenstown based golfer holed a 15-foot putt at the final hole of the Hong Kong Open to defeat Australia’s Cam Smith and secure the US$360,000 first prize.
Always a considerable talent, Campbell has won only one tournament on a recognised tour since turning professional in 2012, that being at the New Zealand PGA Championship in 2018, but he has been plagued by injury and illness especially early in his career.
Today he produced a final round of 66 including birdies at his final two holes to edge out the prolific winner on the LIV Tour and the 2022 Open Champion Smith.
Campbell a former runner-up in both the New Zealand and Australian Amateur Championships, now moves to 4th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit for 2023.
Campbell had arrived on the final tee today tied with playing partners, Smith, and Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai.
Smith was forced to lay up and could only make par while Phachara three-putted for his bogey to finish tied for 3rd.
“It’s good to finally get the monkey off the back and yeah, sort of just battling away all day,” said Campbell referring to his first Asian Tour victory.
“Sort of didn’t get off to the greatest of starts and swing wasn’t feeling that great. Sort of went back to a few close losses and wrote a few notes down in my yardage book last night, and really used them on those last four or five holes.
“It was getting a bit tight in the swing and just from those past experiences managed to, I think, you know, put a couple of nice swings coming down the stretch which really helped.”
SCORES
Ten Australasians face DP World Tour Q-School
Haydn Barron – the best of the Australians after day one – file photo
Nine Australians and one New Zealander are amongst the 156 hopefuls chasing one of 25 cards on offer at the Final Stage of Qualifying for the 2024 DP World Tour.
Australians Haydn Barron, Hayden Hopewell, Andre Lautee, James Machesani, Connor McKinney, Matias Sanchez, Elvis Smylie, Justin Warren and Blake Windred will be joined by New Zealand’s Sam Jones to play the gruelling event at Infinitum Golf in Tarragona in Spain, hoping, initially, to survive the 72 hole cut for the leading 70 golfers and ties and then to secure one of the precious DP World Tour cards over the closing 36 holes.
Barron finished 4th at last year’s Australian Open at the Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne and in doing so gained a start at the Open Championship earlier this year. He also finished runner-up at the recent WA PGA Championship.
At the completion of the opening round, it is West Australian Haydn Barron who is doing best of the down-under brigade after an opening round of 67 has him in a share of 3rd place.
Those successful can look forward to the possibility of their opening two events as cardholders being at the Australian PGA and Open Championships in late November / early December.
SCORES
Cam Smith in form ahead of Australian PGA Championship defence
Cam Smith in action this week – image Paul Lakatos
Cam Smith is just one shot off the pace at the Hong Kong Open, the two-time winner on the LIV Golf Tour in 2023, trailing only Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai at the halfway stage of the Asian Tour event at the Hong Kong Golf Club.
Smith, who last played an individual LIV Tour event in Jeddah a month ago although he was in the teams event in Florida three weeks ago, followed up his opening round of 63 which had given him a share of the lead on Thursday with a round of 66 today and heads into the weekend in a great position to win his first Asian Tour title.
With just two weeks to go before Smith attempts to defend his Australian PGA Tour title at Royal Queensland, his form over the opening two rounds shows his game is in good shape to win a third Australian PGA Championship title having won his first two at RACV Royal Pines.
Smith, finished second on the individual LIV Golf rankings behind American Talor Gooch in 2023, played in this event in 2014, the year after he turned professional, and tied for ninth – providing a snapshot of what was to come.
“It’s been a long time since I have been here. It’s probably been too long,” said Smith, who played just the one season on the Asian Tour.
“Hong Kong is one of my favourite cities, the golf course speaks for itself and the Asian Tour is on the up, and I love it.”
Just one shot further back and tied for 4th is yet another Australian in Harrison Crowe, the former NSW Open and Asia Pacific Amateur Champion who earlier this year played in both the Masters and the Open Championship courtesy of his win at the Asia Pacific.
New Zealand’s Ben Campbell is also tied for 4th after his second round of 64, continuing some good recent form in Asia for the Queenstown-based 32-year-old.
SCORES
Four Australasians make Charles Schwab Cup field
Steve Alker finished 4th in regular season Schwab Cup – file photo USGA
Australasia will field its strongest-ever representation in the PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab Cup starting in Phoenix on Thursday with Steve Alker, Richard Green, Rod Pampling and Mark Hensby making the select 36-player line-up, finalised at the completion of the last event of the regular tour season in Florida this morning.
Alker has finished the regular season in 4th place, Green, in his debut season in 14th place, Rod Pampling 18th, and Hensby 27th.
Alker, Pampling and Hensby have all won this season while Green’s consistency has seen him record five top tens including a playoff loss two weeks ago.
The Charles Schwab Championship has been played each year since its inaugural staging in 1990 but an Australasian has yet to win the event which this year carries a purse of US$3 million.
The Line-Up
Brad Kennedy’s late season form continues
Brad Kennedy – image courtesy of JGTO
Gold Coast golfer, Brad Kennedy, continued some good late-season form with a share of 6th place at the Japan Golf Tour’s Mynavi ABC Championship this weekend.
Following on from his best of the season 3rd place finish at the Japan Open three weeks ago, Kennedy finished alone in 6th place seven shots behind the winner Keita Nakajima, who recorded his 3rd win of the season and who moves clear of Takumi Kanaya on the Japan Tour money list.
Nakajima was the 2018 Australian Amateur Champion and was number one in the world amateur rankings for more than a year prior to turning professional late in 2022.
Kennedy moves to 32nd on the Japan Tour money list behind only Anthony Quayle (23rd) in terms of Australians on that list.
RESULTS
Amateur Phoenix Campbell rises to win Queensland PGA
Phoenix Campbell – image Australian Golf Media
22-year-old Victorian amateur, Phoenix Campbell, has staged a whirlwind finish to the Queensland PGA Championship at the Nudgee Golf Club in Brisbane to win the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia event and with it the prospect of a professional career.
Currently ranked 811th in the World Amateur rankings despite winning the prestigious Riversdale Cup in Victoria earlier this year, Campbell gained a start in this event courtesy of the elite amateur invite category but after an opening round of 75 on Thursday the prospect of even being around for the weekend, let alone contending and winning, seemed a far off proposition.
He would make steady progress through rounds two and three but even so he began the last round eight shots adrift of the 54-hole leader, Andrew Kelly.
Campbell made steady progress until the turn when he had moved to 6 under for the tournament but at that stage he was still five shots behind Kelly who was treading water but still in command.
Then came the amazing finish of Campbell who, after dropping a shot at the 11th, would birdie the 13th, 14th and 16th and, as he stood on the 18th tee, he was just one back of the lead.
A 7 iron approach finished 2 feet from the hole at the par 3 and when that was holed he was tied in the lead with another unlikely winner, Jack Poutney, who had actually led the qualifiers on Monday just to get a start in the event.
Campbell then had a 45-minute wait to see whether the many players still within a shot of him could gain the extra shot needed to join a possible playoff but it was not to be and he was declared the winner after last year’s Order of Merit winner, David Micheluzzi, missed a ten-foot putt for birdie to force a playoff.
Campbell from the Yarra Yarra Golf Club joins a select group of amateurs in recent years to win a PGA Tour of Australasia event including Curtis Luck, Ben Eccles, Brett Coletta, Kazuma Kobori and Harrison Crowe but just where he goes from here may take a few days to decide.
His win gives him full access to the PGA Tour of Australasia without having to go through any qualifying process and a kick start to a professional career if he so chooses.
Seven players would share second place and with Campbell ineligible for the first-place prize money of $45,000, those tied for second place including Micheluzzi, Harrison Crowe, Deyen Lawson, Blake Proverbs, Nick Voke, Lawry Flynn and Jack Poutney would each secure cheques for $18,085.
New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori, the Australian Amateur Champion and playing his first event as a professional produced the best final round of the day (66) to share 9th place.
SCORES
Voke and Kelly lead QLD PGA
Nick Voke – file photo
New Zealand’s Nick Voke and Victorian Andrew Kelly share the halfway lead at the Queensland PGA Championship at the Nudgee Golf Club in Brisbane, the pair at 9 under and one shot ahead of Queensland’s Mitchell Varley.
Voke has spent much of this year on the Asian Tour after two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour although with little to show for his efforts to date. He is, however, a multiple winner in China in earlier years and did produce his best finish in Asia this year when 11th at the recent Macao Open won by Australia’s Min Woo Lee.
Voke only just made the field for this week as even earlier in the week his chance of a start was in doubt until he gained entry to the field via an alternate spot.
A former Iowa State attendee during a collegiate golfing career, the 29-year-old Aucklander was out at 6.30 on day two and took advantage of the benign conditions to reel off a second round of 62, a course record, which included a homeward nine of 30.
Voke’s co leader, Andrew Kelly missed the cut in last week’s event in South Australia but after an opening 69 yesterday he moved to the top of the leaderboard with a round of 66 today.
36-year-old Kelly, a professional for 13 years, has had a tough year to date on the PGA Tour of Australasia missing nine of 14 cuts, although a recent 3rd place in Darwin suggests he might have found something.
Neither player has won on the PGA Tour of Australasia to date and this weekend offers a great opportunity.
SCORES