Photo and article – Japan Golf Tour
Adam Scott carded a final round of one-over-par 71 in tough conditions at the Japan Open Golf Tournament to tie for sixth alongside American Chan Kim on two-over-par 282, 12 shots behind young gun Taiga Semikawa who survived a late scare to become the Championship’s only second amateur winner in its 87-year history.
Scott, the highest-ranked player in this week’s field at world number 32, finished fifth the last time he was in action in this event in 2019.
With another tied-seventh result coming from the 2015 edition, the 42-year-old Australian now has three top-10 finishes from a total of six Japan Open appearances since debuting in 2014.
Although disappointed for not being able to mount a serious title challenge, Scott is taking plenty of positives from what he described as a “great week and fantastic tournament”.
“I had a great week, it’s been a fantastic tournament but of course, when you don’t win, it’s all the frustrations, especially on a very difficult golf course,” said the 2013 Masters champion.
“I’m disappointed with my result, but I saw a lot of good things in my game. On this incredibly tough golf course, I think my standard of play was nearly very good.
“When you’re playing at the very top level like this, it’s a very fine line between 10th place and challenging for the win.
“There are positives to take, I feel good about my game.”
Even with the 31 victories he accomplished across the globe, Scott admitted that he simply could not conquer the Sanko Golf Club’s Japan Course.
But he relished the tough challenge, adding that a national Open should always be contested at the highest standard.
“It’s what I expected, that’s how national championships are meant to be, it’s supposed to be the biggest event in the country and should demand the most out of all the players,” he said.
Brad Kennedy 21st and Adam Bland 23rd were the next best of the Australians
The thrilling final day saw Semikawa hang tough to stave off a charging Kazuki Higa and secure a two-shot win over the latter.
Having built a comfortable six-shot lead over Higa heading into Sunday’s finale, it looked as if Semikawa was going to cruise to an effortless victory when he birdied the first two holes to race eight ahead.
But Semikawa flirted with danger after squandering four shots just before the turn, which included a triple bogey at the par-four ninth.
Another bogey dropped at the 17th saw Semikawa’s lead being trimmed to just two, but he held his nerve to save par at the last to sensationally seal his second JGTO victory on the trot.
It came just three weeks after he pulled off a stunning win at the Panasonic Open.
“Now that I have won twice, I’m going to raise the bar even higher and expect even more from myself,” said Semikawa.
“Winning the Panasonic Open and now the Japan Open has changed my perspectives and mindset.
“I want to build on this. My dream is to win all four majors.”
SCORES
Steve Alker claims 4th PGA Champions title of 2022
Steve Alker – file photo
Steve Alker has completed a great weekend for New Zealand golf by winning his fourth PGA Tour Champions event of 2022 and in doing so extending his already significant lead in money earnings in 2022.
With Lydia Ko winning in Korea and Ryan Fox finishing 4th in Mallorca and moving to second place on the DP World Tour money list, Alker’s win continues a remarkable run for New Zealand golf of late.
The victory at the Dominion Energy event in Virginia takes Alker’s earnings beyond US$3.2 million for the season and well ahead of the second placed Padraig Harrington.
Alker is now averaging US$154,000 per start in his 21 appearances to date in 2022 and there appears a lot more to come yet with still two lucrative events remaining on the schedule, one of which Alker won in 2021.
Alker made a relatively slow start to the event but moved into the lead with his second round 65 and although he was slow to get going again today he finished with three birdies in his last four holes to win by one over K.J. Choi.
“Fantastic, said Alker after his round. “It was kind of a dogfight down there at the end. I was trying not to look at the leaderboard, because there was so many guys just trying to win this golf tournament.
“So I was just pleased I made those clutch birdies on 15, 16, and especially 17, that was huge. So, yeah, just so glad to — and especially with Paddy and Jerry playing so well and I’m right there as well. So it was exciting and nerve-racking, everything, all those emotions, yeah.”
“I kind of struggled right in the front nine there, and just got it back. But, yeah, pretty important, especially to win the golf tournament, for sure,” he added referring to the importance of this win.
“It really changed when I made birdie on 10, because he bogeyed 10 as well, and all of a sudden, oh, I’m back to like tied for the lead that quickly. So that kind of changed my mindset a little bit. And then there was a couple
tough holes before we started on the shorter holes. So just get through those and then I try and sprint for the finish.”
Alker’s nearest pursuer on the money list, Padraig Harrington, lost ground to him when he finished tied for 3rd and is now some US$550,000 behind heading into the final two events of the season.
Rod Pampling finished as the best of the Australians when he tied for 8th and moved up two places to 18th in the Charl Schwab table.
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Fox moves to #2 on DP World Tour standings
Ryan Fox in action this week – photo DP World Tour Tour Getty Images
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox’s final round of 74 at the Mallorca Open this morning cost him the opportunity of a third European Tour title in 2022 but his share of 4th place has seen the 35 year old move to number 2 in the DP World Tour rankings behind only Rory McIlroy after moving past Matthew Fitzpatrick this weekend.
Fox began the final round in a share of the lead with Germany’s Yannik Paul but after a double bogey at his first hole of round four followed by two more dropped shots by the 6th hole, he was behind the eightball and although he moved back into contention when he birdied the 10th and 11th holes the damage had essentially been done.
It was however Fox’s 7th top five finish of the season and adds another €94500 to his already substantial earnings this season.
Fox now has DP World Tour earnings in the 2021/2022 season of more than €2.6 million.
Australia’s Scott Hend recorded his best finish of what has been a tough season for the Queenslander when sharing 11th place. Hend’s fellow Queenslander, Maverick Antcliff, was the only other Australian to make the cut and finished 70th.
The tournament was won by Yannik Paul who won for the first time in his short DP World Tour career.
RESULTS
Adam Scott 6th in Japan Open
Photo and article – Japan Golf Tour
Adam Scott carded a final round of one-over-par 71 in tough conditions at the Japan Open Golf Tournament to tie for sixth alongside American Chan Kim on two-over-par 282, 12 shots behind young gun Taiga Semikawa who survived a late scare to become the Championship’s only second amateur winner in its 87-year history.
Scott, the highest-ranked player in this week’s field at world number 32, finished fifth the last time he was in action in this event in 2019.
With another tied-seventh result coming from the 2015 edition, the 42-year-old Australian now has three top-10 finishes from a total of six Japan Open appearances since debuting in 2014.
Although disappointed for not being able to mount a serious title challenge, Scott is taking plenty of positives from what he described as a “great week and fantastic tournament”.
“I had a great week, it’s been a fantastic tournament but of course, when you don’t win, it’s all the frustrations, especially on a very difficult golf course,” said the 2013 Masters champion.
“I’m disappointed with my result, but I saw a lot of good things in my game. On this incredibly tough golf course, I think my standard of play was nearly very good.
“When you’re playing at the very top level like this, it’s a very fine line between 10th place and challenging for the win.
“There are positives to take, I feel good about my game.”
Even with the 31 victories he accomplished across the globe, Scott admitted that he simply could not conquer the Sanko Golf Club’s Japan Course.
But he relished the tough challenge, adding that a national Open should always be contested at the highest standard.
“It’s what I expected, that’s how national championships are meant to be, it’s supposed to be the biggest event in the country and should demand the most out of all the players,” he said.
Brad Kennedy 21st and Adam Bland 23rd were the next best of the Australians
The thrilling final day saw Semikawa hang tough to stave off a charging Kazuki Higa and secure a two-shot win over the latter.
Having built a comfortable six-shot lead over Higa heading into Sunday’s finale, it looked as if Semikawa was going to cruise to an effortless victory when he birdied the first two holes to race eight ahead.
But Semikawa flirted with danger after squandering four shots just before the turn, which included a triple bogey at the par-four ninth.
Another bogey dropped at the 17th saw Semikawa’s lead being trimmed to just two, but he held his nerve to save par at the last to sensationally seal his second JGTO victory on the trot.
It came just three weeks after he pulled off a stunning win at the Panasonic Open.
“Now that I have won twice, I’m going to raise the bar even higher and expect even more from myself,” said Semikawa.
“Winning the Panasonic Open and now the Japan Open has changed my perspectives and mindset.
“I want to build on this. My dream is to win all four majors.”
SCORES
Lydia Ko wins BMW Ladies Championship by four
Lydia Ko – photo LPGA / Getty Images
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko’s remarkable late season surge on the LPGA Tour continued today when she convincingly won the BMW Ladies Championship at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Korea.
Ko has now been inside the top 5 finishers in ten of her last 14 starts and today’s victory takes her to the top of the Race to the Globe rankings, number one in the Rolex Player of the Year rankings and number one in scoring average in 2022.
Ko’s four shot victory over American Andrea Lee was her second victory of 2022 and her 18th LPGA Tour title and adds another US$300,000 to her considerable earnings in her eight year professional career.
Ko began the final round one shot behind the brilliant Thai player Atthaya Thitikul but by the turn she had the lead, this time over Lee as the Thai golfer began to fade with three late bogeys before the turn.
Ko’s homeward nine of 31 however saw her extend the lead to four and, what was in the end, a comfortable victory.
Afterwards Ko talked about the importance of winning in her home of berth and what it meant to her.
“I think my background is something that I’m very proud of, something that really resembles me. I have these shoes that we collaborated with ECCO that shows who I am, which is a South Korean-born Kiwi, and I have the silver fern and the hibiscus flower.
“I feel so proud to be born in Korea. I think because of that I really wanted to win here. It’s not only just a place that I’m born, but a lot of my family is still here. This week my relatives are here, my direct family is here. And I wanted to win it for them as well. To be able to do that this year in front of a lot of them, it means a lot.
“I think this week more than ever I said I really, really want to win in Korea, and I think maybe that was a good mindset or I was hypnotizing myself to try to get it done, but that’s why it means so much to me.
“Every time I come back to Korea, even though I play under the New Zealand flag, so many people support me, so many people go (Korean). I think that is such a boost.
“Just to see all the high-fives and for them to, like, want it as much as I do, it’s such an unreal setting, and we don’t play in that many atmospheres like that. That’s why I just wanted to do it for them.
“Yes, this means so much to me because I’m born in South Korea, but I think it means so much more than that.”
Hannah Green in 10th place was the best of the Australians while Stephanie Kyriacou was the next best in 19th place.
Su Oh and Minjee Lee were further back, Lee struggling to find the form which saw her so dominant early in the season. lee does however still lead the money earnings in 2022 thanks to her victory in the rich US Women’s Open.
SCORES
Deyen Lawson holds on for first Australasian title
Lawson all smiles after his first Australasian Tour victory – photo PGA of Australia
Gold Coast based Victorian Deyen Lawson today won his first PGA Tour of Australasia title with a two shot win over his fellow Gold Coast based professional. Michael Sim. at the WA Open at the West Australian Golf Club.
Beginning the day with a massive eight shot lead, the 31 year old former Victorian would find out that even such a significant lead can be awkward, especially chasing a first victory, as, after extending it to nine early in the round, chinks began to appear in his armour over the closing nine holes.
Two bogeys and a double bogey and a late charge from the former PGA Tour player and leading amateur Sim saw the gap close to two as Lawson stood on the 18th tee. He managed to safely negotiate his way to a par and the two shot win.
The $45,000 winner’s cheque will be a significant boost for Lawson who has been a regular placegetter in Australasian events but until today has not broken through.
“It’s not easy. It never is. I’ve won some smaller events and it’s never easy,” said Lawson, a four-time runner-up on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
“Sometimes if you’re that far in front… you try not to have thoughts creep in, but I just kept pushing and pushing.
“Through nine I might have got nine shots ahead and then thought, Now just hang on. Which was not the right thing to do.
“In future I know that if I’ve ever got a good lead I need to just keep pushing until I finish. Really keep firing.
“I’ve seen too many times everywhere in the world, guys let big leads slip. Until it’s in, anything can happen.
“Even the three-and-a-half footer I had on 18, I only had to two-putt but I wanted to make sure I made it so it’s done.”
Sim who played the PGA Tour in 2010 after a stunning season in 2009 on the Korn Ferry Tour in which he won three times, has returned to tournament golf in recent years after taking time out to complete a bridging course with the PGA of Australia.
Sim is a brilliant player at best and his final round of 64 today put the upmost pressure on Lawson as he chased victory in what is effectively Sim’s home Open, Sim having spent much of his earlier life in WA. Sim has, though, won the event previously.
Queensland’s Chris Wood finished alone in third place while brilliant Sydney amateur Jeffrey Guab was 4th.
SCORES
Ryan Fox chasing third title in 2022
Ryan Fox – file photo courtesy of PGA of Australia
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox is well positioned for a third DP World Tour title, finding himself just one off the 36 hole lead held by England’s Dale Whitnell at the Mallorca Open in Palma, Mallorca.
Fox is currently in third place on the DP World Tour rankings behind only Rory McIlroy and Matthew Fitzpatrick and a win or high finish here would move him past Fitzpatrick in what has been a standout year for the 35 year old.
Working in Fox’s favour is that he is the only player (25th) inside the top 100 in the world who has made it to the weekend in the US$2 million event.
Fox’s round on day two was highlighted by a holed approach from 108 yards for eagle at what was his 12th hole but he was also bogey free adding five birdies as well for his round of 64.
“Felt pretty good yesterday actually. I left a lot of chances out there yesterday – three under was probably the worst score I could have had.
“I carried that on to today and holed a few more putts. To be honest I felt like I left a few out there on the greens as well, even though I holed a couple I felt like I had a lot of chances. And certainly nice to do that around here because it can come and bite you pretty quickly as well.
“There’s a lot of wedges if you drive it in play. So I think hitting it straight is important and obviously the par fives, especially for me, if I get it in play on the par fives I feel like there’s some birdie chances there.
“I had a great number on the third, I had 100 metres on the nose, a little bit downwind. The ball’s going a long way this week so it was just a full lob wedge and obviously it looked pretty good.
“I didn’t see it go in, it was sort of hidden by that bunker, but knew it was going to be pretty good in the air and it got a nice little cheer behind the green, which was nice. It was a nice little bonus on the scorecard there. I think it’s the second shot I’ve holed this year so it was nice to get one.”
Queensland’s Scott Hend was the next best of the Australasians when he finished the opening 36 holes in a share of 36th place, making one of only a few cuts in 2022.
Hend’s fellow Queenslander, Maverick Antcliff, also just made it to the weekend in a share of 64th place.
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Deyen Lawson takes command at WA Open
Deyen Lawson – photo PGA of Australia
Gold Coast based Victorian Deyen Lawson has taken a commanding lead at the WA Open, his opening rounds of 62 and 63 at the West Australian Golf Club sweeping him to a six-shot lead over local amateur Adam Brady and former West Australian but now also Gold Coast based Michael Sim.
Lawson has often contended in PGA Tour of Australasia events including four runner-up finishes but, to date, has never won so the next two days provide a tremendous opportunity for the 31 year old.
Lawson has played the DP World Tour and the European Challenge Tour in recent times and secured a European Tour card for 2019 but like so many others the continuity of his career was impacted by Covid.
Despite his lack of success in Europe Lawson suggested his time there has been crucial his developing his game and his approach to it.
“I’m just getting a bit older. I’ve been out here a little while now. I’ve been in Europe since 2018 and played with some of the best in the world. It’s not a coincidence why they’re the best in the world, the way they go about it.
“Nothing seems to faze them. They do get frustrated but you watch someone like Cam Smith and (Rory) McIlroy, it just looks like they’re having a bit of a stroll.
“They’re good players but the way they handle it is really impressive.”
Lawson’s round was highlighted by three eagles, one of which was holed from the fairway but he would also eagle two par 5’s to go with four birdies and even a double bogey at the par 3 16th could not stop an incredible display.
Brady is one of West Australia’s and Australia’s brighter amateur prospects and is looking to become one of several amateurs to have won this event over the last few years. Last year, local Hayden Hopewell defeated his fellow amateur Hadyn Barron while Zach Murray, Curtis Luck and Oliver Goss are others to have won this title before turning to the paid ranks.
“The heart will be racing I’m sure on the first tee but that’s why I play. I’m excited for it,” said Brady, who plays his golf out of The Vines Resort in the Swan Valley.
“My parents are in Spain so they won’t be here but I’m sure they’ll be cheering me on. Hopefully get some people out from the golf club to come and watch. That’d be great.”
Sim is no stranger to contention in PGA Tour of Australasia and other events having won both the Queensland Open and the Queensland PGA Championship but he has also won four times on the Korn Ferry Tour in the US so he enters the weekend as one of the most experienced and credentialed plays in the field and will be hard to hold out.
SCORES
Min Woo Lee records second consecutive top 3 finish in Europe
Min Woo Lee – file photo Getty Images / European Tour
Min Woo Lee’s second consecutive, third place DP World Tour finish at this week’s Andalucia Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters at the Real Cub Valderrama has improved his standing to 38th in the DP World Tour standings and has him well placed to make the leading 50 players who will play the end of season DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in mid-November.
Lee finished nine shots behind the runaway leader, the Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, but three shots behind the runner-up Joakim Lagergren and the €189,000 he earned and the 299 points to go with his third place have moved him from 62nd to 38th in the standings and with just three events remaining before the World Tour Championship he looks well placed to be in Dubai.
It appears Lee is currently not entered in the next two events in Mallorca and Portugal and so will need to rely on his current position being enough to get him to Dubai but the form he has found should see him as a likely participant and possible contender in Dubai given he finished a very creditable 16th there last year.
Lee’s final round of 70 saw him never closer than five shots from the eventual winner but after a run of indifferent form leading into last week’s tournament in Madrid, he has turned the corner.
The 24-year-old Perth golfer moves to 58th in the world ranking from 73rd two weeks ago.
For Otageui, it was his fourth victory on the DP World Tour and he moves to 95th in the world ranking from outside the top 150 last week.
The Spanish golfer, who played events on the LIV Tour earlier this year, is the first golfer to win on the European Tour as a LIV Tour player.
Maverick Antcliff was the only other Australian to make the weekend and produced his best finish of the year when sharing 21st.
Couples’ brilliant North Carolina win but another great finish for Alker
Steve Alker records 11th top 3 finish of 2022 – file photo PGA of America
New Zealander Steve Alker’s final round of 64 at the SAS Championship in North Carolina might have been overshadowed by the brilliance of Fred Couples’ round of 60 to win the event by six shots, but the runner-up finish by Alker was his 11th top three of the season and will take him further ahead in the Schwab Cup rankings.
Alker’s earnings on the PGA Tour Champions Tour in 2022 now total US$2.91 million and he moves further ahead of second placed Padraig Harrington (US$2.57 million).
The amazing round of 63 year old Couples resulted in his 14th PGA Tour Champions title but his first in five years and he did so by reeling off seven consecutive birdies to finish his round, in fact he played his last 14 holes in 12 under par after pars at his first four holes.
Couples had started with a double bogey at the opening hole this week but kicked into gear with a round of 68 that day, followed up with another 68 on Saturday and today blew the field apart with his amazing late run.
“My game can come and go and I’m done for the year,” said Couples.
“I heard someone just say a little while ago, that my game on the Champions Tour is trending in the right direction and I like where it’s going. So I’ve got next year to really bear down and play well. As you said, I haven’t won in five years. It seems like it. Everyone thinks we can win out here and today was my day.
“Expectations are a lot with me, and coming in here, I had Griff, Steve Flesch’s son, caddying for me and I just wanted to play well for him.
“I started with a double on the first hole, so we didn’t hit it off so well. But today was just an unreal day. As we were just talking a second ago, the putt I made on 10 was a huge boost because I knew 12 downwind would be something I could get and then I could get settled in again after making those five birdies.”
Alker also recovered from a slow start on Friday to work his way back into the tournament, following an opening round of 72 with rounds of 66 and 64 and although left in the wake of Couples it was yet another fine week for the 51 year old.
Alker had taken last week off and perhaps took time to kick into gear this week but once he did there was no stopping him.
“Yeah, it just got better as the week went on, swing started grooving,” he said. “Even this morning on the range and yesterday was good out on the course. Yeah, started hitting the yardages and putting nicely, so it’s all come together. So good timing for the Playoffs coming up, just got a lot of work to do. Another three events, it doesn’t sound like much, but there’s a lot of work to do yet.
On his extended lead in the Schwab Cup and with just three events remaining Alker said: “I’d rather be here (in front) than behind. I don’t know how much of a lead I’m going to have going in, but with double points and everything coming up, as much as I can is always good.”
SCORES
David Micheluzzi secures first Australasian Tour win in WAPGA
Micheluzzi with his WAPGA trophy – photo PGA of Australia
Victorian David Micheluzzi has today won his first PGA Tour of Australasia title with a three-shot victory over West Australian Ben Ferguson at the WAPGA Championship with another shot back to former Australian Amateur Champion Andrew Martin of Victoria and yet another West Australian Jarryd Felton.
The event was the first of the Australasian Tour’s summer of golf and the $45,000 Micheluzzi earned for his win sets him up well for the following five months of golf in this region.
Felton had taken a one-shot lead over Micheluzzi into the final round but on a gusty final day, Felton, a winner of three PGA Tour of Australasia events previously, dropped fours shot late in his round to open the door for Micheluzzi.
Four birdies in his last six holes enabled the 26-year-old Micheluzzi to break through for his first win but he had been one of the more consistent performers in PGA Tour of Australasia events, having recorded seven top tens in events including when 5th as an amateur behind Abraham Ancer at the 2018 Australian Open.
His amateur career which was completed in 2019, also included wins at the Master of the Amateurs, the Victorian Amateur and the Port Phillip Open so while the professional win has taken time, it has not been unexpected, and more victories are likely to follow.
“It’s now starting to sink in a little bit,” said the winner.
“It feels amazing. I knew I had to play good golf from 13 onwards because ‘Felts’ was three in front. I knew what the scores were and to hit that good of a golf shot into 13, hole the putt, hit a mint drive down 14 – hit a pretty average wedge shot but it was 40 feet and I holed a really good putt there.
“It’s weird winning a tournament. I haven’t won one in five years, and I think I’ve only won about five tournaments ever.
“Because I haven’t won much I had to watch people win and see what people do around the lead.
“With guys that are young who haven’t been in that situation before, after those two bogeys the head’s down and all that. My thing when I start to play a bit average, I get angry internally. I kind of show it a little bit but that frustration, I need to let it out.
“I just didn’t want it to be another sob story. What it could have been and all that. It woke me up a little bit.
“I didn’t think it would be like this but I’m so happy it went like this. I really got to see what I was like as a person.”
Felton still appeared the likely winner through eleven holes of today’s final round but four bogeys in his last six holes saw a seven shot swing between he and Micheluzzi and a share of 3rd was the best he could do.
Ferguson, too was chasing his first win in professional golf and having not made the weekend in eight of his last ten starts in events on development tours in Europe and Australasia, this was the 24 year old’s best finish in tournament golf by some way.
The PGA Tour of Australasia now heads to the West Australian Golf Club for the West Australian Open beginning on Thursday 20th October.
SCORES