Lydia Ko – photo Ladies European Tour
World number one Lydia Ko has consolidated and extended her lead in the Rolex World Ranking with a narrow one shot victory at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International in Saudi Arabia and in doing so secured her second largest cheque in the game (US$702,000).
The figure is second to only the US$2,000,000 she won when winning the Tour Championship late last year.
The event, funded by the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund, carried a total purse of US$5 million and while not an LPGA Tour event (it was part of the Ladies European Tour’s schedule) it provided a huge boost in earnings for many in the field including Ko and the runner-up Aditi Ashok of India who secured US$420,000 for her runner-up finish.
Ashok has recorded a win, a 3rd place and now a runner-up finish in three Ladies European Tour events this year.
The victory, in her first outing of 2023 after being recently married, was Ko’s second in the event having also won in 2021.
“When I came in 2021 I thought the course conditions were really good, but I came here again two years later and it’s even better,” said Ko. “The rough was a little bit more up so it felt a little different in ways.
“But, yeah, when you’re playing in really good conditions, you just know that you got to hit good, committed shots, and then you’re able to get good feedback off that. The course has been great to me.
“Hopefully I’m going to get some good momentum. I’m playing the next couple weeks, so the next week will be my first LPGA event of the season in Thailand. Not so long flight over to Thailand and start my season on that tour.
“Every day is different, so I don’t think you can take anything for granted. I’m just going to stick to my process and keep working on the things I’ve been working on and enjoy it. Hopefully this is a light to a good start of the 2023 season.”
Ko has been working with a new caddie this week although David Jones has worked for her once previously when successful at the 2021 Lotte Championship and she mentioned how that familiarity has helped in the transition.
Ko ended what had been a particularly successful relationship with her previous caddie Derek Kistler despite a win in her last event, the Tour Championship.
“Yeah, this is our second win together. Our first win was my first win in three years, which was at LOTTE Championship in 2021. I had worked three events prior to that with him. I worked the Scottish Open and the British Open and then the BMW Championship as well.
“So he is a new face, but like someone similar that I know that we have good chemistry. Dave, because he used to play, I feel like he has the mindset of a player and he’s very positive. Even when I don’t hit a good shot, he’s out there thinking, what can we do to recover from here.
“So I try and be more positive when I’m on the golf course, and he definitely helps me with that. I think his knowledge with that playing background I think helps.
“So just having somebody that I can rely on and believe and trust, I think is very important, whether it’s (indiscernible) or not, that’s a secondary thing, but I trust him. So even though this was our first official week together, it didn’t feel like it.”
Stephanie Kyriacou was the only other Australasian to make the weekend and finished 50th.
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Lydia Ko wins big in second Saudi Ladies International victory
Lydia Ko – photo Ladies European Tour
World number one Lydia Ko has consolidated and extended her lead in the Rolex World Ranking with a narrow one shot victory at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International in Saudi Arabia and in doing so secured her second largest cheque in the game (US$702,000).
The figure is second to only the US$2,000,000 she won when winning the Tour Championship late last year.
The event, funded by the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund, carried a total purse of US$5 million and while not an LPGA Tour event (it was part of the Ladies European Tour’s schedule) it provided a huge boost in earnings for many in the field including Ko and the runner-up Aditi Ashok of India who secured US$420,000 for her runner-up finish.
Ashok has recorded a win, a 3rd place and now a runner-up finish in three Ladies European Tour events this year.
The victory, in her first outing of 2023 after being recently married, was Ko’s second in the event having also won in 2021.
“When I came in 2021 I thought the course conditions were really good, but I came here again two years later and it’s even better,” said Ko. “The rough was a little bit more up so it felt a little different in ways.
“But, yeah, when you’re playing in really good conditions, you just know that you got to hit good, committed shots, and then you’re able to get good feedback off that. The course has been great to me.
“Hopefully I’m going to get some good momentum. I’m playing the next couple weeks, so the next week will be my first LPGA event of the season in Thailand. Not so long flight over to Thailand and start my season on that tour.
“Every day is different, so I don’t think you can take anything for granted. I’m just going to stick to my process and keep working on the things I’ve been working on and enjoy it. Hopefully this is a light to a good start of the 2023 season.”
Ko has been working with a new caddie this week although David Jones has worked for her once previously when successful at the 2021 Lotte Championship and she mentioned how that familiarity has helped in the transition.
Ko ended what had been a particularly successful relationship with her previous caddie Derek Kistler despite a win in her last event, the Tour Championship.
“Yeah, this is our second win together. Our first win was my first win in three years, which was at LOTTE Championship in 2021. I had worked three events prior to that with him. I worked the Scottish Open and the British Open and then the BMW Championship as well.
“So he is a new face, but like someone similar that I know that we have good chemistry. Dave, because he used to play, I feel like he has the mindset of a player and he’s very positive. Even when I don’t hit a good shot, he’s out there thinking, what can we do to recover from here.
“So I try and be more positive when I’m on the golf course, and he definitely helps me with that. I think his knowledge with that playing background I think helps.
“So just having somebody that I can rely on and believe and trust, I think is very important, whether it’s (indiscernible) or not, that’s a secondary thing, but I trust him. So even though this was our first official week together, it didn’t feel like it.”
Stephanie Kyriacou was the only other Australasian to make the weekend and finished 50th.
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David Micheluzzi wins TPS Sydney to consolidate OOM lead
David Micheluzzi – image Australian Golf Media
The young man who was already the Order of Merit leader on the PGA Tour of Australasia, David Micheluzzi, played his final ten holes of the TPS Sydney Presented by Webex event at Bonnie Doon in a massive nine under par to win his second PGA Tour of Australasia event.
Beginning at the 9th, which he eagled to turn in 3 under, Micheluzzi added a further seven birdies over the closing nine holes for a homeward nine of an incredible 27 to win by four over Deyen Lawson and Daniel Gale with another two shots back to the Sydney amateur Jeffrey Guan, who had the outright lead early in the round after sharing the lead with Gale into the final day.
Micheluzzi won his first event at the WA PGA Championship in October of last year and with two other runner-up finishes this season along with top ten finishes at the Australian PGA and Open Championships, the 26 year old has further consolidated his place at the top of the rankings this season and assured himself a place on the DP World Tour next season.
The leading three players on the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Order of Merit at the completion of the final event in early April will earn a much sought after card for Europe in 2024 and open the door for a career which looks destined to provide big things for the Victorian.
One of this country’s more gifted amateurs before turning professional, Micheluzzi turned professional late in 2019 and like so many of his era, his progress was curtailed by Covid and the inability to gain access to a tour other than the PGA Tour of Australasia.
There is little doubting his significant talent, however, most obvious when 5th at the Australian Open as an amateur behind Abraham Ancer in 2017 and his immediate future now looks assured with access to Europe.
Another win at the New Zealand Open in two weeks’ time, and who is to say his current form won’t offer that opportunity, will also open the door to the growing riches of the Asian Tour, given that tour’s joint sanctioning with the NZ Open, providing him an embarrassment of playing options.
Micheluzzi’s win this week comes on top of a runner-up finish behind New Zealander Mike Hendry at last week’s Vic Open leaving him now well clear of Cameron Smith on the Australasian Tour’s Order of Merit and all but assured of the top spot when finalised in April and more importantly one of those three precious exemptions in Europe.
Sarah Kemp led the women’s challenge when she tied for 5th with Lawry Finn and last year’s runner-up Brendan Jones.
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Newly married Lydia Ko contending in Saudi Arabia
Lydia Ko – photo Ladies European Tour
Perhaps ironically, the ladies don’t appear to be copping as much flack as the men by playing in Saudi Arabia this week, the US$5 million Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by Public Investment Fund, at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in the KAEC in Saudi now at the halfway stage.
Despite the fact the Ladies European Tour event is playing for their biggest purse and for similar funding to that on offer by LIV Golf, there appears no protesting by those who have found the involvement by Saudi money in the men’s game so distasteful.
India’s Aditi Ashok has the lead by two over New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and American Lilia Vu. Ashok’s final nine of 29 included a final hole eagle to complete a stunning finish to her round.
Recently married, Ko was asked about her mindset now that she is no longer a single woman.
“I think for me, especially at the end of last year as I was getting closer to the D-Day of getting married,” said Ko.
“I was like, man, I literally have found my best friend. I’m going to get married to the person I love the most and everything else was going to be a bonus.
“So I think that mindset really helped when I was playing, because no matter if I shot 85, 75, 65, or 55, I knew that the man of my dreams was going to be there and support me. I think that was such a like easier mindset to go out there and play and just focus on my game and just have fun and not let golf dictate who I am and how I perceive myself.
“So it’s kind of the mindset right now. I think I’m very grateful about the things that have happened in the last few months on and off the golf course, so I’m trying to ride the good rhythm. It’s been so long since CME. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be. Playing really solid yesterday helped with the nerves, and I’m excited for a fun maybe just as breezy weekend.”
Ko won this event or its equivalent in 2021.
Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou, the only other Australasian to make the weekend is tied for 29th at 3 under and 10 from the lead.
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Travis Smyth in line for another big cheque
Travis Smyth – file photo Asian Tour
Wollongong’s Travis Smyth sits in a share of 3rd place and just three from the 36 hole leader at the halfway mark of the Asian Tour’s US$2.5 million International Series event at the Doha Golf Club in Qatar.
The leader Suradit Yongcharoenchai is at 5 under in the windy conditions that have prevailed over the opening two days with only seven players under par heading into the weekend.
Smyth, a winner of events on both the Asian and Australasian Tours, finished runner-up in an International Series event in England early last year securing him starts in several LIV Golf events, during a period where he earned over A$1 million in a very short space of time.
Just three weeks ago Smyth finished 6th in an International event in Saudi Arabia where he earned another US$140,000 so his involvement with these type of events is proving to be very lucrative.
“It’s like the best feeling ever, finishing Friday midday, just sitting back relaxing, watching the carnage unfold,” said Smyth referring to the strong winds sweeping the Peter Harrradine layout. “Yeah, brutal conditions, I’m super stoked to be under par.
“I mean, it’s so strange, I’ve never seen anywhere like it where it’s windy all the way through the night, all the way through the morning. It’s like it’s the exact same basically the last two days,” he added.
Sydney’s John Lyras, who recently secured his Asian Tour playing card by finishing runner-up at the Asian Tour School, is in share of 8th place this week and five shots from the leader.
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Grace Kim continues women’s form in TPS events
Grace Kim – photo Australian Golf Media
The two TPS Series mixed gender events events on the PGA Tour of Australasia to date in 2023 have been won by women and today, Sydney’s Grace Kim set up the possibility of a 3rd when she added a second consecutive round of 64 to lead the TPS Series Sydney event at Bonnie Doon by two heading into the weekend.
With Min Yoon and Sarah Jane Smith winning the first two TPS events in Victoria earlier in the year, Kim has opened the door for the prospect of a clean sweep for the ladies in the four TPS events on the schedule. Another such event will be played in the Hunter Valley next week.
22 year old Kim leads over Canberra’s Brendan Jones who last year finished runner-up in this event, and NSW golfer’s Daniel Gale and amateur Jeffrey Guan.
Fifteen birdies and one bogey over the opening 36 holes have the 2021 Australian Women’s Amateur Champion and recent LPGA Tour graduate, Kim, chasing a first prize of A$45,000 in the low scoring event where it needed 3 under par to make the weekend field.
Gale finished 8th at last week’s Vic Open and last November was runner-up at the Queensland PGA Championship, Jones has been one of the most successful foreigners in Japan over the last twenty years and Guan is generally considered one of Australian golf’s most exciting young amateurs.
Robyn Choi adds another prong to the women’s chances in the event, the Queenslander at 9 under, three from the lead and tied for 5th with the improving Tom Power Horan and recent Queensland PGA Champion, Aaron Wilkin.
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Adam Scott chasing third Riviera title as Tiger Woods returns
Two time champion Adam Scott and tournament host and now participant Tiger Woods – photo Getty Images
The Genesis Invitational, or its equivalent, has always held a lot of interest with golf fans worldwide, to a large degree because of the quality of the Riviera Country Club’s traditional layout in Los Angeles and the field it has regularly attracted.
In 2023 the event takes on even greater interest for several reasons. Firstly, the reappearance of Tiger Woods to play a regular PGA Tour event for the first time in more than two years, and as one of the now 17 designated events on the PGA Tour, the event carries a total purse of US$20 million with US$3.6 million to the winner.
Woods will play his first actual PGA Tour event since the 2022 Open Championship but this will be his first non-major PGA Tour event in over two years. It was just after this week’s event two years ago that Woods, who had been acting as host only that year, was involved in a car crash which nearly took his life.
Woods’ ongoing schedule in the weeks ahead, including the Masters, will depend on just how he manages the rigours of 72 hole tournament golf once again but that he is back playing in a tournament he will also host, has the golfing world abuzz.
In twelve previous attempts at the Riviera Country Club Woods has yet to win but he has been runner-up on two occasions albeit many years ago. Just to have him back playing is a treat for the game and how he performs will be a bonus.
Australians have performed well in this event over the years. Adam Scott has been a two-time winner, although one of those was over 36 holes in a rain shortened event on his debut in 2005.
Scott’s second win came in 2020 but Robert Allenby and Aaron Baddeley have also won the event when known under a different name.
Scott has also been twice runner-up and finished 4th in 2022.
“I love coming back to Riviera,” said Scott. “It’s my favorite stop on tour every year and good feelings for me around this place, especially out on the golf course. It was nice to play this morning even though it was an incredibly challenging morning, it was nice to be back on the track in a place I’m very familiar with and looking to kind of get my season going here this week.”
The Riviera Country Club has also experienced other Australian success as it was here in 1995 when Steve Elkington won his major title at the PGA Championship.
With so many of the PGA Tour’s leading players obligated to participate in these events, where prizemoney has been raised so significantly, then this week promises yet another battle between the leading players including Scott Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and the like.
An indication of just how this elevated prizemoney has impacted on the purse breakdowns was when Jason Day earned US$800,000 for finishing 5th last week in another designated event in Phoenix.
Scott will be joined by fellow Australians Jason Day, Lucas Herbert and Cameron Davis with New Zealander Danny Lee also in the field.
Will the New Zealand Open uncover another rising star?
Tom Kim finished 4th in the last New Zealand Open – now number 15 in the world – photo Asian Tour – article NZ Open
The New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport is back-in-play early next month and Tournament Director Michael Glading is hedging his bets on the young guns who are set to tee it up at Queenstown’s Millbrook Resort between March 2 – 5.
“In 2020 I predicted big things for Tom Kim who led the field for the first three rounds as a 17-year-old, and this year I suggest that spectators make sure they watch Riki Kawamoto. I believe that he too will go on to play at a much higher level in the near future. Riki is one of the most exciting young players in the field this year. He is only 21 years old and last year was statistically the longest hitting player on the Japan Tour, so he’s clearly one to watch in 2023.
“With other young players like Australians Jack Thompson (who won the Asian Tour Qualifying School earlier this year), John Lyras, David Micheluzzi and Elvis Smylie, joined by our own Daniel Hillier (who earned his DP World Tour card after a fantastic 2022), I believe we will once again be watching some of the future superstars in world golf in Queenstown. Young Americans Andy Ogletree (winner of the 2019 US Amateur) and Turk Pettit (2021 NCAA Champion) are also in the mix.”
It’s not all about the up-and-coming players in attendance, as there will be a strong contingent of experienced professionals in the field. They include 2022 Senior PGA Champion Steven Alker, defending champion Brad Kennedy, Scott Hend, Brendan Jones, Wade Ormsby and our own former champion and recent Vic Open winner, Michael Hendry.
“It’s great to have Brad Kennedy back in Queenstown, as he’s been waiting since 2020 to have the chance to win his third New Zealand Open title, a feat only eight players have managed in the 101 previous championships,” says Glading.
“Jason Scrivener is another excellent Australian player who has had so many excellent performances on the DP World Tour, including a runner-up finish at the recent Australian PGA Championship. Scrivener is currently ranked 11th on the DP World Tour.
“Bio Kim will be amongst the favourites come tournament week. He is the number 2 player on the Asian Tour and has previously competed on the PGA Tour.
“Japan’s Mikumu Horikawa returns for his fifth visit and is one of the real stars in Japan, having won four times on tour with career earnings of over $4.6 million NZD. Watch out also for Yuto Katsuragawa, who sits well inside the world’s top 150 players following an incredible year in 2022.”
The 102nd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport will take place between March 2 – 5, 2023 at Millbrook Resort near Queenstown.
Rhein Gibson wins second Korn Ferry Tour title
Rhein Gibson – photo Getty Images
Australian Rhein Gibson has today won his second career Korn Ferry Tour event with a four shot win over American Kevin Dougherty at the Astara Golf Championship in Bogota, Colombia.
Gibson’s final round of 64, was highlighted by two eagles over the closing nine including one at the last to come from one off the 54 hole pace and edge clear of Dougherty over the closing stages after being locked in a battle with him over the front nine.
Having missed two of his first three cuts this season, Gibson’s win will now move him to 3rd on the Korn Ferry Tour’s points table and have him in the running for a potential return to the PGA Tour later in the year, the top 30 now earning PGA Tour cards for 2024.
The win will also improve the former Lismore golfer from outside the top 1600 in the world ranking to just inside the top 500.
“Pretty surreal really,” said Gibson. “Last year was a tough year, not gonna lie. I knew I was playing well and played well last week in Panama, kind of continued that into this week.
“I love coming here, I love the place. Just kind of things went my way and I played well and made some putts. Yeah, to think I come away champion is kind of crazy.”
Gibson had made the decision not to go back to Korn Ferry Tour School late last year and instead rely on past champion status to gain starts and it has paid off almost immediately.
“Yeah, it was definitely a conversation I had to have with my wife. I wasn’t sure how much more golf I was going to do. Decided not to go to Q-School, thought I’d take a chance on past champion status. Worked my butt off this fall and this wintertime, kind of got my game in shape.
“I’ve got Scott Couch to thank for that, out of Canada, he’s been helping me a lot. Yeah, the game felt good coming here. I love the place. I knew I could contend and a good round yesterday kind of put me in contention. To go out and do what I did today was just insane.”
Not only was it a good week for Gibson, his fellow NSW golfer, Brett Drewitt, another former PGA Tour player, finished 3rd this week and just one shot out of second place.
For Drewitt, it follows a 4th and 8th place in earlier events this season and will see him in 8th place in the rankings.
West Australian Curtis Luck also had a solid week when he finished 19th which follows a 14th place last week heralding a slow but steady return to form for the former US Amateur Champion.
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Hendry and Shin Claim Vic Open titles
Ji Yai Shin and Mike Hendry – enjoying their Vic Open spoils
New Zealander Mike Hendry and Korean Ji Yai Shin are the respective winners of the Men’s and Women’s Vic Opens played at the 13th Beach golf facility on the Bellarine Peninsula over the last few days.
Hendry, whose last win was at the 2017 New Zealand Open, controlled the event throughout the final 54 holes, his second round of 62 taking him to a two shot lead heading into the weekend before extending that lead to four over the final 36 holes and winning by that margin over Victorian David Micheluzzi.
“It’s been a while. The last time I won on the Aussie Tour was the 2017 New Zealand Open so it was nice to get across the line again,” Hendry said.
“It’s just nice to be feeling fit and proving to myself that I’ve still got it.”
Hendry has played the Japan Tour over the last ten years or so but has lost full status there and this win has proven timely given that it will move him to 8th on the PGA Tour of Australasia’s points table. With the leading three at the end of the season in late March earning DP World Tour status he has the chance with the lucrative New Zealand Open coming up in three weeks to jump into that group.
Micheluzzi has taken the lead on the Order of Merit following a series of top tens in recent months in addition to his win at the WAPGA Championship.
Shin, a two time winner of the Women’s British Open and a former winner of the Australian Women’s Open, overcame a two shot deficit behind Queensland’s Cassie Porter heading into the final round but by the turn Shin was five ahead and although the margin close to just one when Shin bogeyed the 10th and 11th holes, and Porter birdied both, Porter dropped four shots on the way in from that point.
In the end it was recent LPGA Tour graduate Grace Kim and Thailand’s Pavarisa Yoktuan who would eventually finish in a share of second place, albeit five shots from Shin.
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WOMEN’S SCORES
Impressive PGA Tour Champions debut for Richard Green
Richard Green – file photo
Australia’s Richard Green, on debut as a card holder on the PGA Tour Champions, has finished an impressive 3rd behind Canadian Stephen Ames at the Trophy Hassan 11 event at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam course in Rabat in Morocco.
Green’s final round of 70 was the second best of the final day and will secure a cheque for US$110,000 to get his PGA Tour Champions career underway.
Interestingly he finished behind Ames and Green’s fellow Australian Mark Hensby who is playing without full status on the PGA Tour Champions but who has earned US$176,000 for his runner-up finish, albeit five shots behind Ames, although at one stage today the margin was just one.
Green led the qualifiers at the most recent PGA Tour Champions Tour School after winning the First Stage of qualifying so it appears he is on course for a very successful career at this level.
“It feels awesome,” said Green. “It feels like a long career and maybe some deserved results around this course. I came here for a long time with the European Tour and played. Never really played that well, but had some tough days and I feel like this week has been a bit of a reward for patience.
“It’s confidence building. I tend to build confidence in my game through results, not necessarily hitting balls on the range. Get a certain amount of confidence out of that, but the results are what really elevate my belief in myself. Just keep rolling it, like hopefully riding the crest of the wave, that’s the plan.”
Hensby was also delighted with his best finish on the PGA Tour Champions in eleven starts. He did finish 3rd at the US Senior Open last year and earned a bigger cheque but this is a very satisfying way to start the year as he builds his way to full status and many more starts.
Courtesy of his finish Hensby is guaranteed a start in next week’s Chubb Classic in Florida.
“Yeah, good. I mean, not being in contention in a long, long time, so obviously I felt like I handled myself pretty well. But no, next week should be hopefully getting to the same boat and have a chance to win again.
Hensby, a former Presidents Cup player and winner on both the PGA and European Tours, took the punt on a costly trip to Morocco and it has paid off.
“Yeah. I mean, this was a very personal decision and it’s just, it’s one of those things that no doubt. I mean, you know, to make whatever I made today, I’d have to work two years to make what I made today. I love golf, I enjoy it and I enjoyed today a lot even though I didn’t win. Being under the pressure that’s what you practice for. That was fun, that was fun.”
Ames has now been a winner of three events on the Champions Tour since joining it six years ago. The former winner of and runner-up in the Players Championship and three other PGA Tour titles during his lengthy career is now 58 but the manner in which he led from go to whoa in this event and won by five suggests more is in store.
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