The Australians facing media in Adelaide today – Tertius Pickard Liv Golf
On the eve of LIV Golf’s first event in Australia, it is clear that the four Australians in the field are enjoying almost unparalleled support as they set out to prove their competitiveness both as individuals and as a team in the US$25 million event.
Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and Jed Morgan were the focus of attention at today’s press conference as they will no doubt be over the next three days.
In opening remarks by all four they recognise that the opportunity offered by LIV Golf for such a strong field to play in Australia perhaps for the first time in a strokeplay event since the days of the Kerry Packer funded Australian Open is not only a bonus for local golf fans but one they are going to relish as individuals.
“Yeah, it’s great to be home,” said Leishman. “All four of us are pretty pumped to be here. Obviously excited to get started tomorrow. The support that the Australian people and people of South Australia have shown for LIV and us so far has been pretty awesome, and obviously it’s going to be a lot bigger and better during the tournament.
“Yeah, happy to be home. A lot of familiar faces, familiar food and drinks.”
The 2022 (January) PGA Championship winner, Jed Morgan, echoed the words of Leishman. “Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it. I think Australians have — I’m sure it’s been said many times this week, been deprived of these two boys here and Jonesy and myself playing golf in Australia for the last few years.
“I guess basically the standard of tournaments here haven’t quite met what Australians love, so it’s cool for this type of tournament to be back in Australia.
Two time Australian Open Champion Jones is enjoying the opportunity to be back in Australia in the middle of the year rather than his traditional visit at year’s end, allowing a fresher approach to playing in front of home crowds than has been the case previously.
“We don’t normally get to come to Australia this time of year,” said Jones. “So for Cam, Leish, myself, we’ve been on Tour for a long time, we don’t normally get to come back in April, normally back here in December at the end of the year when we’re exhausted. To come back here in April when we’re enthusiastic and excited to play golf, it’s kind of exciting.”
Smith acknowledged the manner in which the Australian golfing public has embraced the event even before it getting underway tomorrow.
“Yeah, it’s great,” said the current Open Championship winner. “I think like Leish said, the Australian public and definitely Adelaide I think has embraced the golf tournament.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow. I think it’s going to be the benchmark for LIV Golf going forward.”
Sometimes a bit overplayed when assessing local knowledge and experience Leishman confirmed the joy of playing at home in conditions and on surfaces familiar to him since childhood.
“Yeah, I think we all got here Monday, played nine Tuesday, nine Wednesday, nine today. I think we’ve all done a fair bit of work on the greens, on the chipping green particularly.
“It’s nice to be back in Australian turf conditions, too. It’s great turf conditions all around the world, but you can just tell when you’re in Australia. It’s firmer, it’s fast around the greens, and it’s just different.
“I think just our years of playing on these turf conditions might be a little advantage rather than knowing the course well, if that makes sense.”
Morgan thought there would be some hometown advantage despite his golfing upbringing being very much on different surfaces in Queensland then those he will face this week.
“I think growing up as an Aussie, you learn so many different shots around the green. It’s nice to come back and actually play and have the opportunity to play three different shots from the same spot. So I think, yeah, that’s so unique. Playing golf in America, depending on when you play, what time of year, but the majority of times, shots overseas, apart from obviously the UK, present one option, and that’s pretty much the shot.
“But here obviously with how perfect everything is presented to us, there’s four different ways you can hit it. You can hit the same shot with a lob wedge as you can with a driver around the green. It’s really good. Probably not a driver, but you know what I mean.”
Jones expressed the enjoyment of playing as both individuals and as part of the four man team headed by Smith.
“I mean, the dynamics — we get to practice and play a lot together, so we get to talk to each other about how we play a hole, certain shots you hit on a hole, where you don’t normally get that a lot on the other tours but more so after the rounds and before the rounds we spend a lot of time together having dinner, having breakfast together and just talking. It’s just good to be with three other guys, three friends, and having a good time together traveling the world playing the game we love.”
Asked as to the possibility of expanding the number of LIV Golf events in Australia, Smith mentioned his desire to have such an event in his home state of Queensland at some stage.
“I think it would be unreal up there. Coming down here this week just to Australia I think means a lot to everyone, and I think it’s going to be a great event. If we can squeeze two in, it’s my home state, so it would be kind of a personal preference.
“I know we’re kind of from everywhere around here, so we’re going to, I guess, wait and see what happens. Like Greg said before, our main priority is making this the best event that we can make it, and yeah, we’ll go from there.”
Day One Pairings
Cam Smith keeps local interest alive in Adelaide
Cam Smith – photo Chris Trotman LIV Golf
Cameron Smith might not necessarily be in genuine contention to win the first LIV Golf event held in Australia, but, by putting together a fine second round of 66 at The Grange Golf Club today, he has kept open the chances of a very high finish and provided the huge crowds who have flocked to Adelaide, patriotic interest until the completion of the event tomorrow.
Smith is in a share of 8th place and although a massive 11 shots behind the runaway leader, Talor Gooch, he is just one shot out of a six-way share of 2nd place second and a strong finishing round tomorrow could well seem in claim a very creditable runner-up finish and give local fans even more to shout for.
Smith began his day with a bogey at the 4th hole in the shotgun format but recovered quickly with four birdies in his next four five holes before adding three more later in his round as he progressed up the leaderboard.
When asked after his round re the contrast between the opening day’s atmosphere at the Grange and that of today Smith responded; ‘I think it was much the same, to be honest. I think for me, I tried to kind of embrace the crowd a little bit more. I think yesterday I was maybe trying to maybe focus a little bit too much on the golf and trying to make stuff happen. I think I was a little bit more relaxed today, and yeah, it worked out.’
Smith was also asked how he would handle an eleven shot deficit tomorrow? “I feel as though I’ve got the place pretty sorted in regards to how to play it. I think there is a really low number out there. I think I shot 6-under today, and I can think of three or four off the top of my head that could have been better.
“Yeah, I think obviously Talor is playing some really good golf at the moment. I think he would have to help us out a little bit, which I don’t really wish on anyone, but I’m going to go out there tomorrow and play the same way as I did today. I feel as though I hit lots of quality shots, just a few more of those 10-footers need to go in.
As to how he felt the week was going from the point of view of the event itself Smith said; “I didn’t think it was going to quite be like this. I think the course being presented how it is, all the players love it. The crowds are so energetic. Probably the most energetic crowd I’ve ever played in.
“I mean, I would go as far as to say this is best event I’ve ever played. I think I’m probably biased a little bit being from Australia, but this is what LIV Golf is about, and this is what we need every week.”
Marc Leishman is the next best of the Australians in a share of 35th place, Matt Jones 44th and Jed Morgan 46th in the 48 man field.
The Australian team known as The Ripper GC is in last place in the 12 team side of the event, that contest headed by a team consisting of Talor Gooch, Harold Varner 111, Bubba Watson and Thomas Pieters.
SCORES
Australasian challenge struggling at Chevron Championship
Karis Davidson – photo Getty Images / LPGA
The Australasian challenge at the opening major of the year for women’s golf, the Chevron Championship in Houston, Texas, is well off the pace at the halfway mark.
At the completion of the opening 36 holes, Gold Coast’s Karis Davidson is the closest of the seven golfers from this part of the world to the lead held by Korean A Lim Kim, Davidson, six shots off the pace and in a share of 23rd place as the US$5 million event enters the weekend.
The leading Australasian after yesterday’s opening round, Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou, battled to a second round of 76 and slipped from a share of second place to a share of 48th, a double bogey at her 9th hole and three late bogeys costing her dearly after such a great start.
Minjee Lee was the only other of the seven Australasians to make the weekend, finishing in 58th place at 1 over and right on the cutline.
Sarah Kemp and Lydia Ko finished their opening 36 holes in 78th position, Grace Kim 91st and Hannah Green 103rd, world number one, Ko, missing her first cut in a major since the 2019 AIG Open.
SCORES
Kazuma Kobori earns top card at Australasian Tour School
Kazuma Kobori left- on his way to a successful professional career – file photo Australian Golf Media
New Zealand amateur Kazuma Kobori has finished as the leading qualifier at the PGA Tour of Australasia Tour School completed at the Moonah Links Open course today.
Kobori who four years ago, at the age of 17, won the NZPGA Championship near Christchurch, a PGA Tour of Australasia event, has remained as an amateur until now but recent good finishes in events such as the New Zealand Open (6th), the NZ PGA Championship (4th) and a 6th place in a Japan Tour event last year have prompted the now 21 year old to chase his professional dreams.
Kobori, the current Australian Amateur Champion, is the brother of outstanding Momoka Kobori who is already playing her trade successfully in Europe having won two events on the secondary version of the Ladies European Tour and produced several good finishes including a win against the men in the Webex Series on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Kobori shared the 72 hole strokeplay honours with Queensland’s Chris Crabtree, whose main claim to fame until now was when 4th at the 2017 NSW Open. Kobori though would birdie the first playoff hole to establish the important top position.
Kobori will continue as am amateur until later in the year after events such as the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship after which it is likely he will turn to the paid ranks.
27 year old Crabtree, though, will secure the $10,000 winner’s cheque due to Kobori’s amateur status.
Both players finished on 11 under par, one shot clear of New Zealand’s Sung Jin Yeo who recently finished runner-up at the NZPGA Championship.
The top 30 finishes gained playing rights to the 2023/2024 PGA Tour of Australasia.
SCORES
Stephanie Kyriacou’s fine start at Chevron Championship
Stephanie Kyriacou – photo Getty / LPGA
Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou has made a fine start to her sixth major championship, producing an opening round of 68 to be just one off the lead at the Chevron Championship in Houston in Texas.
An eagle at her final day capped off what had already been a solid start to the event being played at the new venue, the Club at Carlton Woods north of Houston, for 22 year old Kyriacou
“I had 89 meters, so yeah, my caddie was just like, come on, you’ve got one more shot, try and stick it in there. I was just trying to hit it close, to be honest, and then it went in.
“Yeah, I was a little bit shocked to be honest. I’ve never had a hole-out in a professional tournament, so I guess that was pretty cool.”
The opening round was subject to weather delays but Kyriacou felt she hadn’t suffered unduly.
“I’d say it got a little bit softer on the greens, which was nice, but yeah, it only kind of rained for about four or five holes for us, and then it got called off, and then it didn’t rain for the rest, so I guess we were kind of lucky with what the weather was predicting. We kind of got away with it a little bit.
Kyriacou is building a good record in major championships so early in her career, having finished inside the top ten in two of her five appearances to date with a best of 7th at last year’s AIG Women’s Open Championship.
Kyriacou is in her second season on the LPGA Tour and although she had a more than satisfactory rookie season she feels it was a great learning curve for what is about to come.
“This year I think for me has been a bit of a slow start. Last year was a bit tough. I learnt a lot about traveling in America, playing on the LPGA. In the off-season I kind of like took that away with me and worked hard on the stuff I needed to.
“So I think just getting back into the swing of things, back into tournament golf and all that has been good, but yeah, it’s been a bit slow for me, so it’s nice to see some good results here and there. Yeah, it’s only day one, so hopefully the rest of the week is as good as today.”
Another second season LPGA Tour player Karis Davidson from the Gold Coast also did well. Davidson was required to return to the Tour School late last year but regained her playing rights and in just her first major championship has made an impressive start with a round of 70 to be tied for 9th.
World number four, Minjee Lee, with coach Ritchie Smith on the bag, is also at 2 under 70, Lydia Ko a 71, Hannah Green and Grace Kim 75, and Sarah Kemp 76.
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Does local knowledge mean much in a field of 13 major champions
The Australians facing media in Adelaide today – Tertius Pickard Liv Golf
On the eve of LIV Golf’s first event in Australia, it is clear that the four Australians in the field are enjoying almost unparalleled support as they set out to prove their competitiveness both as individuals and as a team in the US$25 million event.
Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and Jed Morgan were the focus of attention at today’s press conference as they will no doubt be over the next three days.
In opening remarks by all four they recognise that the opportunity offered by LIV Golf for such a strong field to play in Australia perhaps for the first time in a strokeplay event since the days of the Kerry Packer funded Australian Open is not only a bonus for local golf fans but one they are going to relish as individuals.
“Yeah, it’s great to be home,” said Leishman. “All four of us are pretty pumped to be here. Obviously excited to get started tomorrow. The support that the Australian people and people of South Australia have shown for LIV and us so far has been pretty awesome, and obviously it’s going to be a lot bigger and better during the tournament.
“Yeah, happy to be home. A lot of familiar faces, familiar food and drinks.”
The 2022 (January) PGA Championship winner, Jed Morgan, echoed the words of Leishman. “Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it. I think Australians have — I’m sure it’s been said many times this week, been deprived of these two boys here and Jonesy and myself playing golf in Australia for the last few years.
“I guess basically the standard of tournaments here haven’t quite met what Australians love, so it’s cool for this type of tournament to be back in Australia.
Two time Australian Open Champion Jones is enjoying the opportunity to be back in Australia in the middle of the year rather than his traditional visit at year’s end, allowing a fresher approach to playing in front of home crowds than has been the case previously.
“We don’t normally get to come to Australia this time of year,” said Jones. “So for Cam, Leish, myself, we’ve been on Tour for a long time, we don’t normally get to come back in April, normally back here in December at the end of the year when we’re exhausted. To come back here in April when we’re enthusiastic and excited to play golf, it’s kind of exciting.”
Smith acknowledged the manner in which the Australian golfing public has embraced the event even before it getting underway tomorrow.
“Yeah, it’s great,” said the current Open Championship winner. “I think like Leish said, the Australian public and definitely Adelaide I think has embraced the golf tournament.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow. I think it’s going to be the benchmark for LIV Golf going forward.”
Sometimes a bit overplayed when assessing local knowledge and experience Leishman confirmed the joy of playing at home in conditions and on surfaces familiar to him since childhood.
“Yeah, I think we all got here Monday, played nine Tuesday, nine Wednesday, nine today. I think we’ve all done a fair bit of work on the greens, on the chipping green particularly.
“It’s nice to be back in Australian turf conditions, too. It’s great turf conditions all around the world, but you can just tell when you’re in Australia. It’s firmer, it’s fast around the greens, and it’s just different.
“I think just our years of playing on these turf conditions might be a little advantage rather than knowing the course well, if that makes sense.”
Morgan thought there would be some hometown advantage despite his golfing upbringing being very much on different surfaces in Queensland then those he will face this week.
“I think growing up as an Aussie, you learn so many different shots around the green. It’s nice to come back and actually play and have the opportunity to play three different shots from the same spot. So I think, yeah, that’s so unique. Playing golf in America, depending on when you play, what time of year, but the majority of times, shots overseas, apart from obviously the UK, present one option, and that’s pretty much the shot.
“But here obviously with how perfect everything is presented to us, there’s four different ways you can hit it. You can hit the same shot with a lob wedge as you can with a driver around the green. It’s really good. Probably not a driver, but you know what I mean.”
Jones expressed the enjoyment of playing as both individuals and as part of the four man team headed by Smith.
“I mean, the dynamics — we get to practice and play a lot together, so we get to talk to each other about how we play a hole, certain shots you hit on a hole, where you don’t normally get that a lot on the other tours but more so after the rounds and before the rounds we spend a lot of time together having dinner, having breakfast together and just talking. It’s just good to be with three other guys, three friends, and having a good time together traveling the world playing the game we love.”
Asked as to the possibility of expanding the number of LIV Golf events in Australia, Smith mentioned his desire to have such an event in his home state of Queensland at some stage.
“I think it would be unreal up there. Coming down here this week just to Australia I think means a lot to everyone, and I think it’s going to be a great event. If we can squeeze two in, it’s my home state, so it would be kind of a personal preference.
“I know we’re kind of from everywhere around here, so we’re going to, I guess, wait and see what happens. Like Greg said before, our main priority is making this the best event that we can make it, and yeah, we’ll go from there.”
Day One Pairings
Seven Australasians tackle women’s first major of year
Lydia Ko with her 2016 ANA Inspiration ( now Chevron) trophy. – photo Getty / LPGA
The first major of the year for women’s golf is played this week in Houston, Texas, when the time honoured Chevron Championship (formerly known under various names including Nabisco Dinah Shore, Nabisco Championship and ANA Inspiration) begins on Thursday.
The event first became a major in 1983 and was held at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Rancho Mirage in Californian until the move to Houston for the first time for this week’s edition.
Australians will perhaps remember the event most vividly when Karrie Webb won the title for the second time by holing out from the fairway for eagle at the 72nd hole in 2006 and going on to defeat Lorena Ochoa in a playoff to win her 7th and last major title.
Lydia Ko is another from this part of the world to have won the event claiming the title in 2016, to date just the second major championship amongst her 19 LPGA Tour victories.
In 2023 the event moves to the Jack Nicklaus designed signature course at The Club at Carlton Woods to the north of Houston where a new era for the event begins.
Australasians in the field this week include Ko, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Grace Kim, Stephanie Kyriacou, Sarah Kemp and Karis Davidson, Kim the most recent of those to win on the LPGA Tour with a victory in Hawaii last week.
Recently married Ko has made a slow start to her 2023 LPGA Tour season having one top ten in three starts but she did win an event in Saudi Arabia and the current leading world ranked female golfer is sure to give a good account of herself given her consistent record in majors despite winning only two. Ko has been ten times inside the top three in majors and should feature again.
“Yeah, I’m excited,” said Ko referring to the new venue. “Like I said earlier, it’s sometimes weird to have change, but I think it’s change for the better, and Chevron just did a great job last year, and I think to be able to also respect the history that we had there and to bring it here into their backyard, I think it’s exciting.
“Hopefully a lot of people will be able to come out and watch us play, and yeah, it’s a very cool place for us to be in, and as a Tour I think we’re very grateful for these kind of partnerships.
“I had two weeks off after PV, (LA Open) so just worked on my game and took some good time off, as well. Like I came here, I was overseas a little bit, so I actually got here a little early, so got here on Saturday, so I feel like when you come to a new golf course it’s nice to kind of play the golf course a little bit more just to get familiar with the holes and just get familiar with the golf course itself.
“But it’s just good to get used to the golf course and just see like which areas are not bad places to miss, and I think with major championships and especially golf courses like this, sometimes a bogey is not the end of the world, and when you do have an opportunity you can make birdie, and just being really patient out here, and I think the more you get used to it, the better I’m able to understand that.”
Minjee Lee is chasing a third major championship having won the 2021 Evian Championship and the 2022 US Women’s Open. Lee too has made a slow start to her LPGA Tour season but she has become a consistent player in majors and should improve sharply this week.
Grace Kim will play in her first major championship and after her breakthrough win last week there will be much interest in just how she performs against a considerably stronger field than was the case in Hawaii. There is little doubting a great future for the 22 year old and just how she handles this level will be watched with interest by Australian golf fans.
Hannah Green has recorded a best of 20th in four LPGA starts in 2023 but she is a major winner and a big event player to a large extent and could do well.
Kyriacou, Kemp and Davidson have done well to make the field and while not likely to be contenders as such they offer depth to the Australasian Challenge.
Field and Leaderboard
Anticipation mounting in Adelaide
L-R Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau – photo Charles Laberge LIV Golf
Not since the days of the Kerry Packer funded Australian Open in the 1970’s has a field consisting of so many major winners been assembled for an Australian stroke-play event when Liv Golf’s Adelaide version gets under way on Friday.
The anticipation amongst Australian golf fans is palpable but based on early press conferences today so too is the case with the participants who sense the hype ahead of the first LIV Golf event in this country.
13 different major winners are included in the 48 man field, three of them, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson De Chambeau amongst the first to appear before the media in today’s introduction to the media.
“I think, yeah, the atmosphere is going to be great,” said Johnson. “I mean, with the amount of fans that will be out every day, I think it’s going to be an awesome atmosphere, and as golfers we love playing in front of as many people as come out and watch. The more people, the better. Yeah, I think it’s going to be a great week.
All three appeared excited to be in Australia, especially Koepka who is here for the first occasion.
“I’ve never been to Australia,” said the recent runner-up at the Masters and four time major champion. “I missed that Presidents Cup because I was hurt. Nice to be here for the first time. It’s always been a bucket list thing for me to do, come to Australia, so super excited, and it should be a good week.”
Johnson has been here on several occasions and although this is a new scenario and environment, the US Open and Masters Champion is delighted to be back.
“Yeah, I’ve always enjoyed coming down here, been down here a few times, played Sydney and played Melbourne twice for Presidents Cup and played in Perth, also, so I’ve been down here a few times, and yeah, really enjoy Adelaide. I like the golf course. I think, like I said, the fans, we’ve got a lot of fans coming out this week, so everybody is excited about the golf being here, and I’m excited to be here.”
De Chambeau played in Australia as an amateur and since and has already developed a passion for the Australian sunbelt style of golf.
“I love the golf courses here,” said the 2020 US Open Champion. “Sand Belt is always fun playing on, firm, fast conditions. I played here as an amateur back in 2016, as well. I’ve always loved it, the people, the golf courses, I can’t say too many more good things because there’s not much more good stuff to say. It’s all there.”
“I think shorter players do have an advantage because the ball is rolling so much. I have to lay back a lot of the times. I can’t just blow it out there and hit a wedge on. It kind of puts me more in a box, which is fine. I’ve just got to have good wedging and putt it really well.”
When asked if the shorter course will be of concern to Johnson given his power game, he responded. “A course like this, it doesn’t matter where you hit it, you’ve just got to hit it in the fairway. For one, it’s Bermuda rough, and it’s spotty but a lot of places it’s pretty deep and it sits right on the bottom. It’s tough to play out of.
“But if you hit it out of the fairway this week, the course obviously it is fairly short and the ball is running. You can get a lot of wedges in your hands if you’re driving it well.
“For me, I think for a lot of the guys, if we’re driving it straight, we’re going to play pretty good around here.”
Koepka was asked if he had been able to process his final round demise at Augusta National.
“Yeah — you just kind of take some time and digest it all. Did a good job of that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and just kind of relaxed and tried to think about why it happened, why I played bad on Sunday, or Saturday-Sunday, whatever it was.
“I’m always pretty honest with myself, and normally it goes on what I was thinking, what I was doing. It was nice to get to the bottom of it.
“Look, you tell anybody you’re going to finish second in a major, especially where I was six months ago, a year ago, I’m not sure there, so I would have taken that, so it’s tough to really argue with it.
“Then reality, expectations and all that stuff gets thrown in there. But it was a good solid week and I can’t really complain. Gave myself a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask for every time you tee it up.”
The Australians, Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and Jed Morgan will feature in a media conference on Thursday.
Another big cheque for Cameron Davis
Cameron Davis – file photo
Sydney’s Cameron Davis has recorded his second top ten of the 2023 PGA Tour year with a share of 7th place at the RBC Heritage Classic at Harbour Town Golf Links at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.
As was the case at the recent Players Championship where he finished an impressive 6th, this weeks’ tournament was one of the designated PGA Tour events and as such offered a total purse of US$20 million ensuring Davis will earn a cheque for US$607,000.
Davis tied for 3rd place in last year’s RBC Heritage confirming an affinity with the classic Pete Dye layout.
Davis was bogey free in his final round of 68, improving from 9th overnight to share 7th place with three others.
Davis’ good recent run comes after missing five of his first six cuts of 2023 and has him moving up the FedEx Cup points table after a slow start to the year.
“It was a good week,” said Davis. “I would like to have gotten a little more momentum going today and got a little higher up the leaderboard but always nice to finish inside the top ten.
“Hopefully it is the sign of good things to come and now I have a few weeks off before being back at the Wells Fargo in Charlotte (in early May)”
Of the other Australians, Adam Scott was 31st and Lucas Herbert 63rd.
The tournament was won by England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick who defeated Jordan Spieth in a playoff.
SCORES
Brett Drewitt moves to 2nd on Korn Ferry Tour Points table
Brett Drewitt – file photo – a return to the PGA Tour now likely
New South Wales golfer, Brett Drewitt, might have narrowly missed out on a second Korn Ferry Tour victory at the Veritax Bank Championship in Arlington in Texas this morning, but by finishing second to American Spencer Levin the 32 year old has improved to second place in the Korn Ferry Tour standings in 2023 and is on track for a return to the PGA Tour next season.
The leading 25 players at season’s end graduate to the PGA Tour, Drewitt looking to return there for the third time having played in 2016 and 2022.
Drewitt began today’s final round with a five shot lead but it took a strong recovery from a slow start to the day to keep pace with Levin’s stunning final round of 63.
2 over through 10 holes, Drewitt birdied three of his next four holes to draw level with Levin but a bogey at the 17th would prove costly as, even though he would birdie the last, he would finish one behind Levin, a former PGA Tour player chasing his first win on either the Korn Ferry or PGA Tour.
Levin bogeyed the final hole at Korn Ferry Tour School last year to miss full playing rights but this win solves those issues.
In now six Korn Ferry Tour starts this season, Drewitt has recorded four top 4 finishes, sweeping him to second on the points table behind Ben Kohles.
SCORES
Grace Kim wins just third event as LPGA Tour cardholder
In just her third event as an LPGA Tour card holder, 22 year old Sydney golfer, Grace Kim, has today broken through for her maiden win at that level with a birdie at the first extra hole of the Lotte Championship in Hawaii to defeat China’s Yu Liu and Korea’s Yu Jin Sung.
Kim birdied her final two holes in regulation play at Ewa Beach on Oahu to force her way into the playoff and then claim the first prize of US$300,000 with a birdie at the par 5 18th to establish her status as Australian golf’s rising female star.
Having missed the cut at her first start in her rookie year in Arizona in March and finished 59th in the event in LA later that month, Kim has staged a massive turnaround to contend throughout the weekend and go on to win.
Kim gained access to the LPGA Tour after finishing 5th on last year’s secondary Epson Tour allowing the 2021 Australian Women’s Amateur Champion to graduate to female golf’s holy grail and she has made an almost immediate impact.
“I think just the birdie on 17 was definitely the big momentum changer,” said Kim. “Yeah, just kind of speechless right now. I will let you know that my second shot on that playoff hole, that wasn’t intentional. I kind of got lucky there. So, yeah, I guess it was a good day after all.
“I think the communication between my caddie and I worked really well. Mike, he’s very good. I think he kind of brings me back whenever I think too aggressively or isn’t quite appropriate for the kind of situation.”
Kim has been the recipient of a Karrie Webb scholarship in recent years and she acknowledged the role one of Australia’s greatest ever players has had in her development.
“I mean, I don’t think I have to say much. She’s already helped me out so much from my amateur days. Yeah, I think this win is definitely a credit to her for sure.”
Kim will now play next week’s first major of the year for the women when she tees it up at the Chevron Championship in Houston.
The Gold Coast’s Karis Davidson also had a good week when she finished in 19th place.
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