Global
growth has been the goal behind returning golf to the Olympics, but has
a game historically behind the times arrived, for once, ahead of
schedule?
On Sunday
alone, an Argentinian, Fabian Gomez won the Sony Open in Hawaii in a
play-off with Brandt Snedeker, and a Costa Rican, Paul Chaplet, won the
Latin American Amateur Championship to earn an invitation to the
Masters.
In the week
ahead, meanwhile, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates,
becomes the epicentre of golf, with Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy of
Northern Ireland, Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson of Sweden, Nos. 1, 3,
5 and 6 in the World Ranking, squaring off in the Abu Dhabi HSBC
Championship.
As Tiger Woods so famously put it nearly 20 years ago, Hello, World.
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Gomez
is a journeyman who has hit his stride at 37 years of age. The victory was the
second of his US PGA Tour career and second in his last 14 starts. He won
the FedEx St. Jude Classic last June.
He
became only the fourth Argentinian to win multiple events on the US PGA
Tour, joining Robert de Vicenzo, Jose Coceres and Angel Cabrera.
Gomez
won with a world-class performance on Sunday, shooting a final-round 62
that included seven birdies in a row on holes six through 12 and
birdies on the final two holes to get to 20-under par.
Snedeker,
playing a hole behind, had to get up and down for birdie from 60 feet
to send it to a playoff. On the second playoff hole, the 18th at Waialae
Country Club in Honolulu, Gomez had a two-putt birdie, and when
Snedeker missed his own birdie putt from about eight feet above the
hole, it was a win for the United Nations.
There
was more, too. Also in the top 10 were a South Korean, Si Woo Kim, who
finished fourth; a Brit, Greg Owen, who tied for fifth, and a Canadian,
Graham DeLaet, who tied for seventh.
Whatever
golf’s room for global growth, it has a rather sturdy and substantial
platform on which to build. It will be on display in the desert this
week, but not the California desert and the US PGA Tour’s CareerBuilder
Challenge. All eyes will be on Abu Dhabi. Times, indeed, have changed.
North-east Alliance tee times for Wednesday's meeting at venue still to be confirmed (NOT Royal Tarlair) 08:30 Cassie, Charlie/ Esson, Gary/ Campbell, Andrew/ Smith, Albert 08:39 Morrison, P/ Merchant, Manson/ Lamb, Robert 08:48 08:57 Mackay, David /Chalmers, Gavin/ Nicol, Kris . 09:06 Reid, Raymond /Booth, Doug/ Blackmore, Richard/ Dillon, Stephen 09:15 Brown, Mike /Brown, Raymond/ Davidson, Scott/ Lawrie, Donald 09:24 Rendall, Michael/ Roger, Leslie/ Roulston, Harry/ Ross, Stephen 09:33 Duff, John/ Ritchie, Brian 09:42 09:51 Stewart, Jim /Duncan, Lenny/ Beattie, William/ McGillivary, Keith 10:00 Forrest, Jackie /Lumsden, Ben/ Stewart, Norman 10:09 Scott, Jim /Skene, Bob/ Mackie, Scott/ Walker, Peter 10:18 1 Fleming, David Fowler, Les Gall, Alan Duncan, Mike10:27 Beveridge, Keil /Murray, Laura/ Hopwood, Joel 10:36 Allison, Stewart /Davidson, Richie/ Winton, Mike /Finnie, Stewart 10:45 Leslie, David /Homer, Gary/ Cheyne, Peter /Wright, Dick10:54 Morris, Jim/ Riley, Graeme . 11:03 Brown, David /Cochrane, Glen /Collie, Tommy / Tulloch, Robert 11:12 Skene, Willie / Duncan, Robbie / Clark, Alistair /Rogers, Mike 11:21 Lane, David / Thom, G / Murray, Jim /Bisset, David 11:30 Nelson, David /Graham, Alistair/ Parker, Nigel K 11:39 Nicolson, Brian/ Nicolson, John / Allan, Graham 11:48 Borthwick, John / Low, P / Middler, William 11:57 McKen, Ross / Duncan, Kevin /Paterson, Murray 12:06 12:15
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS Haydn
Porteous became the second South African in as many weeks to claim a
first win on The European Tour with a two-shot victory at the Joburg
Open today . The 21-year-old follows in the footsteps of Brandon Stone who won the
BMW South African Open last week and makes it three
South African wins out of five this season after Charl Schwartzel's
victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. A blemish-free 69 on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and
Kensington Golf Club ensured that Porteous finished on 18 under, two
shots clear of countryman Zander Lombard as both men earned themselves a
place at the Open Championship at Royal Troon. England's Anthony Wall finished in a share of third alongside Swede
Björn Åkesson, American Daniel Im and South African Justin Walters to
earn his place at the year's third Major Championship via this
tournament for the second consecutive season. Porteous' victory comes in just his 22nd European Tour event and
makes him the second youngest South African winner in European Tour
history after Schwartzel at the 2005 Alfred Dunhill Championship. He had missed both his cuts this season so far but has now earned a
European Tour exemption until the end of the 2017 season and will move
inside the top 250 in the Official World Golf Rankings. "Words can't describe how I feel right now, it's surreal to be
honest," he said following his victory. "I've been battling with my golf
for the last few months and hats off to (fitness coach) Garth Milne for
all the strategy and game-plan and gym. "When I get home and things start to calm down I'm going to have a
proper think about it. All the doors that are open because of winning
the Joburg Open, it's a dream come true." He added: "I started to hit a few fairways and a lot more greens and
gave myself some chances to make birdie, unfortunately the putts didn't
go in but I was keeping the pressure low and making sure I was going to
be making par. "To make a birdie on the 18th was the best feeling in the world. "I was just thinking 'no silly mistakes'. Go left side of the green
and hope the wind drags it to the right and then I hit probably the best
five iron I've hit all week and it landed just short of pin high and to
about 15-20 feet. A putt I could only dream of to win the Joburg Open." Porteous was full of praise for Lombard, who held a two-shot lead on
the front nine before three bogeys in six holes stalled his progress. "Zander and I have played golf more than I can count," he said.
"We've played from junior golf, from amateur golf all the way through to
professional golf. "Hats off to him, he proved himself under pressure and unfortunately
he made a bogey on 14 but you live and you learn and I've got good hope
for Zander." Lombard, Porteous and Wall came into the day sharing a two-shot lead
and the latter got off to the ideal start as he put his third shot on
the par five first to within six feet and holed out for birdie with
playing partner Im also making a gain. When Lombard put his tee shot left of the green on the second it
looked like a shaky start was in the offing but the 20 year old holed
his chip brilliantly to join Wall at 16 under with Porteous making his
par. Challenge Tour graduate Åkesson was making one of the big moves of
the morning and an impressive bunker shot handed him a birdie at the
sixth to add to gains at the first and second to move him to 14 under. Further birdies on the seventh and eighth meant he was in a share of
the lead but a clumsy first putt on the ninth led to a bogey, which
dropped Åkesson into the group at 15 under where he was joined by Wall,
who bogeyed the par three fifth. Daniel Im took advantage of the par five sixth to also move to 15 under and
Ross McGowan, who battled to a 73 on Saturday, made birdies on the sixth
and eighth to expand the group one off the lead to five players. They were soon two off the lead, however, as Lombard hit a brilliant
second shot into the sixth and two putts were enough to get him to 17
under as Porteous made it six straight pars. The par fives were proving a happy hunting ground for many of the
players and Lombard's two-shot lead was short lived with Wall and Im
both making birdies on the eighth. Porteous played an impressive bunker shot on the same hole to record
his first birdie of the day and get to 16 under while Lombard
three-putted for par with the lead staying at one. A second consecutive three-putt then dropped Lombard back into a
share and when he had to play left-handed from beside a tree on the
11th, another bogey saw him fall to 15 under.
Bogeys from Wall on the tenth and Im on the 11th saw them also drop
off the lead and when Åkesson drained a 15-footer for birdie on the
15th, he was out in front with Porteous. But a poor third shot on the par five last and three putts led to a
bogey as the 27 year old signed for a 68 and set the target at 15 under,
where he sat with Wall and Im, who had bogeyed the 14th but picked the
shot straight back up on the next. Porteous then made a birdie at the best possible time as he hit his
second on the 14th right over the pin and spun it back for a four-foot
gain and a two-shot lead. Lombard made it three bogeys in six holes as he three-putted the same
hole but he gained the shot straight back with a confidence-boosting
birdie on the next. Meanwhile, a birdie-birdie finish made it three gains in his last six
holes for Walters who signed for a 69 and joined Åkesson in the
clubhouse at 15 under. Porteous played a brilliant second into the last to effectively
secure victory and made a birdie with Lombard repeating the trick to
ensure his place at Troon next summer, a day before his 21st birthday. South Africa's Jacques Blaauw and Swede Johann Carlsson finished at 14
under, a shot clear of Ireland's Paul Dunne and two ahead of two-time
champion Richard Sterne, Alex Haindl and McGowan, who came home in 38 to
fall back. Paul Lawrie tied for 31st place on seven-under 280 with rounds of 69, 69, 72 and 70. He earned 7,569 euros. Scot Henry finished joint 59th on 285 and Craig Lee tied 69th on 290.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 287 (3x72, 1x71) prize money in Euros 269 Haydn Porteous (S Africa) 66 66 68 69 (153,809) 271 Zander Lombard (S Africa) 71 64 65 71 272 Bjorn Akesson (Sweden) 70 64 70 68, Daniel Im (USA) 69 68 65 70, Anthony Wall (England) 65 67 68 72, Justin Walters (S Africa) 65 69 69 69 (T3) (47,307 each) 273 Jacques Blaauw (S Africa) 66 69 67 71, Johann Carlsson (Sweden) 66 67 73 67 (T7) (26,249 each) 275 Ross McGowan (Englandf) 67 62 73 73, Richard Sterne (S Africa) 69 66 72 68 (T10) (17,532 each) SCOTS' SCORES 280 Paul Lawrie 69 69 72 70 (T31) (7,569) 285 Scott Henry 71 69 72 73 (T59) (2,960). 290 Craig Lee 71 69 76 74 (T69) (1,812)
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS Team Europe romped to an emphatic 18½-5½ victory over Asia to secure their first win in the EURASIA CUP at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia today. Captain Darren Clarke's men took the final day singles by the resounding margin of 9.5 to 2.5. As in previous days Ian Poulter again set the tone for Europe, beating Danny Chia 4 and 3 to put some early blue on the board and quell any hopes of an unlikely fightback from Asia. Once his fellow Englishmen Lee Westwood and Andy Sullivan had followed Poulter’s lead, beating Nicholas Fung (7 and 6) and Thongchai Jaidee (4 and 3) respectively, it was left to their compatriot Danny Willett to deliver the coup de grace. Willett’s 3 and 1 defeat of Byeonghun An ensured Europe would become the first side to lift the trophy after the inaugural event in 2014 ended in a 10-10 draw. Further victories for Matt Fitzpatrick, Chris Wood, Kristoffer Broberg, Victor Dubuisson and Søren Kjeldsen sealed a convincing win for Captain Darren Clarke’s side. Asia’s only points came courtesy of Anirban Lahiri and KT Kim, who beat Shane Lowry 2 and 1 and Bernd Wiesberger 3 and 2 respectively, whilst a birdie putt on the last hole by Jeunghun Wang ensured his match with Ross Fisher finished in a tie.
Key quotes
Darren Clarke: “The team have played fantastic this week. I’ve thrown a couple of my ideas at them and aside from that, the team bonding that they have had has been brilliant. What Lee and Poults have brought to the team room has been priceless. They have been very, very good. All the young kids have listened to them, they have all learnt from them. “So I think it’s been a hugely beneficial week. I always knew this was going to be a very strong team, and the way they have played this week, I have been very, very impressed.” Lee Westwood: “There are some young lads on this team who are going to be playing in The Ryder Cup later in the year. This has been a great experience for them, just feeding them into team golf gradually. So I’m sure they will benefit hugely from this week – there are nothing but positives to come out of it.” Ian Poulter: “Danny had nothing to lose so I had to come out and play strong, and that’s what I did today. I played pretty solid, holed some decent putts and obviously made it very difficult for him. “It’s always nice to play match play golf, whether it’s the start or the end. It’s nice to get that buzz out on the golf course too, get that nervous feeling going.” Søren Kjeldsen: “It’s just been so nice to be part of a team, and to have Darren and Poulter and Westwood every night standing up, explaining what the challenge is for tomorrow, and see the fire in their eyes. We have all seen it on TV for The Ryder Cup, and you wonder if it will mean the same for them in the EurAsia Cup, but you could really sense this week that it was massive for them as well, and I think that lifted all of us.” Shane Lowry: “It was obviously a shame that I lost today, but it’s still definitely been one of the best weeks of my career so far. I really enjoyed every minute of it. The lads have been great, and Darren has been great. The team room has been just the best craic ever. It’s one of these weeks which you’ll always remember.”
FINAL DAY SCOREBOARD SINGLES (Europe 9.5, Asia 2.5)
EUROPE ASIA Ian Poulter v Danny Chia 4 and 3. Danny Willett bt Byeong Hun An 3 and 1. Andy Sullivan bt Thongchai Jaidee 4 and 3. Matthew Fitzpatrick bt Kiradech Aphibarnrat 2 holes. Shane Lowry lost to Anirban Lahiri 2 and 1. Bernd Wiesberger lost to K T Kim 2 and 2. Lee Westwood bt Nicholas Fung 7 and 6. Ross Fisher halved with Jeung Hun Wang. Chris Wood bt S S P Chawrasia 1 hole. Kristoffer Broberg bt Shingo Katayama 5 and 4 Victor Dubuisson bt Wu Ashun 1 hole Soren Kjeldsen bt Prayad Marksaeng 3 and 2.
Blair
had a chance to take sole possession of the lead in the £4m tournament
at Waialea Country Club in Honolulu, but missed a birdie putt from
inside three feet at the 18th.
The
25-year-old goes into the final round in search of his first PGA Tour
title tied with seven-time tour winner Snedeker on 16-under par 194.
Midway leader Snedeker carded a bogey-free four-under-par 66. The
leaders were one stroke in front of American Kevin Kisner, who carded a
66 for 195. Kisner shook off a bogey at the par-three 17th, where his
five-iron ended up on the wrong side of a hospitality tent, to birdie
18. "When I hit it, I knew it was not what I was trying to do," he said of his five-iron at 17.
Brandt Snedeker navigates a course out of the rough at the eighth hole
"I
was thinking I could hit a cut shot and hold it up against the wind,
and it did not cut, obviously. I thought I killed somebody in the
stands." Nevertheless, with his birdie at the last he secured his spot in Sunday's final group. South
Korean Kim Si-Woo capped his round with a birdie at 17 and an eagle at
18 for a 65 that left him two off the pace on 196, two shots in front of
Argentina's Fabian Gomez, who carded a 65 for 198. Seven players remain tied on six under par, with a further 10 players within four shots of the 16-under lead.
Scotland’s Connor Syme is the 2016 men’s Australian Amateur champion.
The rising star from Drumoig Golf Centre, Fife, owned by his professional father, Stuart, said he couldn’t wait to get back to play this
year’s Emirates Australian Open after seeing off Sydney’s Travis Smyth
3 and 2 after an epic 34-hole battle in the final of the week-long championship at the Metropolitan Golf Club, Melbourne.
The two traded birdies for the best part of eight hours and, in the
final analysis, it was Syme’s steadiness and superior driving that held
sway.
He had birdie putts on 15 and 16 that would have ended the match, but both shaved the cup and left the match on Smyth’s putter.
The St Michael’s, Sydney player gave himself a 2m putt on the 16th to win the hole and push the match to a 35th, but it slid by and the Scot rejoiced. “I can’t believe it, to be honest. It’s been a great week and it hasn’t
quite sunk in yet but it’s absolutely fantastic,” Syme said.
“We both played some pretty fair golf and Travis is a great competitor,
so I’m very happy to have come out on the right side of it.
“I cannot wait to get back here for the Open – I love this place.”
Smyth played some miraculous shots to stay in touch after Syme extended his halfway 3-up lead to five with birdie on the 8th hole.
He birdied the par-4 12th from deep in the left trees, then went within centimetres of an ace on the 13th to keep in the hunt.
A birdie and win on the 14th hole narrowed the margin to three, but the New South Wales state team member ran out of holes. Syme is the third Scot to win the Australian title, following in the footsteps of Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay (2003) and Glasgow's Jack Doherty (2005
St
Andrews-born Stuart, who moved the Syme family from Dumfries in 2014 to take
over the running of the Golf Centre at Drumoig, said: “We are totally
thrilled for Connor, he really deserves this. He dedicates himself to
his dreams and he is just a pleasure
to help along his way.
“Drumoig
has been huge for his development as we have such a terrific facility
for him to use and he has taken advantage of that. But it’s a team
effort and his mum, Deborah, and sisters, Megan, Leah and Rachel, are as
important to him as I am as his father/coach. "We all stayed up all night and followed the scores online. He called us a
few seconds after winning and the celebrations were loud!”
Syme, meantime, will leap up
the world amateur world rankings from 146th spot this week and has put
down an early marker in the three-way fight to represent Scotland in the
World Amateur Team Championship later in the year in Mexico.
