Aaron Baddeley – file photo Bruce Young

Aaron Baddeley, playing on sponsor’s exemption at this week’s Sony Open, has finished in a share of 7^th place in the event at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu and as a result will assure himself of a start in next week’s American Express event in La Quinta.

Baddeley who was an alternate for next week’s event, earns the right to play by finishing inside the top ten this week and continues his push to regain the PGA Tour playing rights he has owned since first playing the PGA Tour in 2003.

Interestingly, it was in one of his first PGA Tour events as a cardholder, that he finished runner-up after a playoff to Ernie Els in this very event in 2003 so the Sony Open, or its equivalent, continues to be very good to him.

Baddeley is playing with limited status this season having lost his playing rights last year. He does gain entry into some events via a past champion category on occasions but the opportunity to get to play next week courtesy of his fine effort this week is a bonus for him.

Baddeley finished tied for 7^th and will earn a cheque close to US$250,000.

“My goal this week was just to get a little bit better every day, and I did that,” said the 41 year old two time Australian Open Champion. “Ball hitting was pretty spot on today. I can honestly say I think I hit one shot offline today. I haven’t done that in forever.”

Baddeley expressed after this final round of 65 just how difficult it is playing without guaranteed status on the PGA Tour.

“It’s definitely hard. It’s probably harder on my family I would say than it is on me because it’s like, oh, you try and make plans and then you either get an invite or you’re top 10 or you Monday qualify or you don’t Monday qualify and you get back home.”

Baddeley was also asked how he would assess his career to date.

“I mean, if I was going to be honest, I’d say disappointing. Sort of coming out if I was 18, 19, 20, if you said I’d only won four times and hadn’t won a major at 41, I would have said — I would not have agreed with you.

“But I can honestly say I feel like my best golf is in front of me, just with how simplified Mike has made my game, and to be able to come into a week like this not really hitting it very well to then having one of my best ball-striking rounds ever, that’s pretty cool.

“It’s nice to know that it doesn’t need to be perfect to start a week to have a good week.”

Adam Scott was also in line for a top ten before a bogey at the 17^th and then failing to birdie the last saw him finish in a share of 21st place. Consecutive weekend rounds of 67 followed a round of 66 on Friday and saw Scott improve over the final 54 holes but his faltering finish proved costly.

“It was fairly solid stuff without anything really happening for me,” said Scott. “I liked some of the things that I worked on throughout the week and felt like it’s in a good spot going forward, that’s for sure. Probably just need some practice. I haven’t really practiced since before December.

“I tried to take a bit of a break and came to Kapalua underdone, and I think I’m just starting to get warmed up now.

“But I like — I can take some good stuff out of these two weeks with where the game is at and kind of a theme for the year going forward maybe.”

The event was won by two time Presidents Cup player, Si Woo Kim, whose final round of 64 earned him a one shot victory over Hayden Buckley and completed the Korean’s fourth PGA Tour title but his first since the American Express event in early 2021.

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Kazuma Kobori and Mizuki Hashimoto – with their trophies – photo Golf Australia

New Zealand sensation Kazuma Kobori has today become just the third New Zealander since World War 11 to win the Australian Men’s Amateur Championship, the 21-year-old edging clear of a congested final round leaderboard to win by two shots following a final round of 66 at the New South Wales Golf Club.

He joins Michael Campbell 1992 and Tae Koh (2014) as New Zealanders to win the title in that period.

Kobori, whose sister Momoka is making her mark in the professional ranks after a successful collegiate career at Pepperdine University, won the New Zealand PGA Championship four years ago at the age of just 17^, and adds this significant title to his impressive resumé.

Kobori took a three way share of the lead into the final round along with Japan’s Taishi Moto and Ireland’s Robert Moran but with Moran only able to record a round of 79 on day four and Moto unable to match the brilliance of his eight birdie final round with the consistency needed to stay in the fight, Kobori edged clear when he birdied the 16^th to Moto’s bogey and the cushion had been established.

Kobori won by two over Moto and England’s Arron Edwards Hill.

In the women’s championship, Japan’s Mizuki Hashimoto held off spirited final round challenges from her fellow countrywoman, Saki Baba and Queensland’s Justice Bosio to win by just one shot over the latter pair.

Hashimoto was also the Women’s Asia Pacific Champion in 2021.

Bosio, from Caboolture on the Sunshine Coast, finished runner-up for the second consecutive year, having been defeated by New Zealand’s Fiona Xu twelve months ago.

SCORES

Jon Rahm – file photo

A stunning final round of 63 has seen Jon Rahm come from seven shots off the 54 hole lead and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions by two over long-time leader, Collin Morikawa with a further two shots back to Tom Hoge and Max Homa.

After being twice runner-up in five previous starts in the event at Kapalua on Maui, it was perhaps justice for the still only 28 year old Spaniard who will remain in 5th place in the World Ranking despite the win.

To add further lustre to his win, Rahm was forced to overcome a bogey at his very first hole before unleashing five birdies in his next eight holes to turn in 32 and then added four birdies and an eagle on the way home to sweep past a faltering Morikawa who had led or co-led from his opening 64.

Morikawa still led with five holes to go but bogeys at the 14^th 15^th and 16^th and Rahm’s brilliant finish which included an eagle from ten feet at the 16^th saw the lead change and although Morikawa birdied the last it was all a case of too little too late.

“You never want to see somebody have a bad day down the stretch,” said Rahm. “But I feel like with that lead he had I needed to play really good and he needed to make a couple mistakes.

“Obviously everything turned with that run on 12, 13, 14 and making that eagle putt on 15. At that point I got in the thick of things and never did I think that going into my third shot on 17 I was going to have a one-shot lead.

“That’s when I had to change a bit of the mindset of chasing and needing birdies to, All right, let’s get this up-and-down, hopefully birdie 18 and give ourselves the best chance.

“Last year, I feel like I played an amazing tournament, I could have won it. To come back this year and shoot a very low score again, I mean, I’m what, 60-under par in these last two tournaments? (Laughing.) It would have been tough to shoot that low twice and not win it. So I’m glad I had the chance and I’m glad I did it.”

Rahm was referring to the 33 under par he recorded 12 months ago only to lose to Cameron Smith.

Morikawa was burned by the demise and said as much when asked his thoughts after the round.

“Sadness. I don’t know. It sucks,” he said. “You work so hard and you give yourself these opportunities and just bad timing on bad shots and kind of added up really quickly.

Don’t know what I’m going to learn from this week, but it just didn’t seem like it was that far off. It really wasn’t. Yeah, it sucks.”

Adam Scott was the only Australian in the field and finished in 29^th place amongst the field of 38 who finished the event.

The PGA Tour now moves to Honolulu for the traditional follow up to the Tournament of Champions where Scott will be joined by fellow Australians Aaron Baddeley, Cam Davis, Harrison Endycott and New Zealander Danny Lee.

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Adam Scott plays his 8th Tournament of Champions – photo PGA of Australia

The PGA Tour begins its 2023 calendar schedule this week with the now traditional staging of the Sentry Tournament of Champions for winners and those otherwise eligible from performances in the previous calendar year, but twelve months on from Cameron Smith’s first of five titles in 2022 things have changed for the once Holy Grail of professional golf.

Players such as Smith and Joaquin Niemann who would have qualified to play at Kapalua have left to join LIV Golf and the world number one, Rory McIlroy, has made the decision to give the event a miss despite it being one of the now 13 ‘elevated’ events the PGA Tour promotes to attract the best players into events where prizemoney begins at US$15 million and in some cases reaches US$20 million per event.

Clearly, this has been a reaction to the money on offer for players who have switched to LIV but in order to play the events, players, as members of the PGA Tour, must commit to all but one and in the case of McIlroy he has decided to extend his Xmas / New Year break and begin later in the season as he has done regularly.

39 winners or those otherwise eligible from the 2022 year are in the field including last year’s runner-up Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay (4^th last year) and world number 2 Scottie Scheffler who did not play in 2022 as it was not until Phoenix in February that his amazing run began.

Adam Scott is the only Australasian in the field, the 42 year old earning the right to play not because of winning in 2022, but having made the Tour Championship he benefits from a newly introduced category.

Scott has only seven previous starts in the event for two top tens, often preferring to start his season later in the year but he does come off a runner-up finish at the Australian Open and as Australia’s flag carrier this week his progress will be watched with interest.

Tee Times

 

 

 

 

Kirsten Rudgeley – great boost to her professional aspirations – photo WATC

A former winner of and runner-up at the US Women’s Amateur Championship, Gabi Ruffels, and Perth’s, Kirsten Rudgeley, have emerged as the two Australians to gain the all important Category 12 status for the 2023 Ladies European Tour following the completion of their 90 hole qualifying school in La Manga in Spain.

Both players finished with a fifth and final round of 68 to finish 8th and 9th respectively and open the door for what should be a full season on the Ladies European Tour.

Rudgeley’s bounce-back from a potentially damaging 4th round of 75 was crucial as she pursued full status and the former runner-up at the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship now has the key ingredient of an early professional career, namely somewhere to play.

The London born but Perth raised golfer, this year played the Augusta National Women’s Championship and in 2021 qualified to play the AIG Women’s Open so she has considerable experience behind her as she sets out on a professional career.

Ruffels has played the LPGA Tour’s secondary series the Futures Tour in 2022 and finished 15th overall but needing to be inside the top ten to earn the right to play the LPGA Tour, she fell short and so the decision to head to Europe where she is expected to feature prominently given her excellent pedigree and background.

New Zealand’s Weyung Keh and Hanee Song finished an agonising one shot out of Category 12 status but will have the chance to play with Category 18 status which should gain them both sufficient starts to make their mark if good enough.