The CJ Cup. Justin Wins in a Play-Off

Justin Thomas, USA,  wins The CJ Cup in a play-off against Marc Leishman of Australia on Jeju Island, South Korea.

Justin Thomas / getty

What a strange week it was, Justin started with a -9 under par 63, and finished the tournament on the same number, to get into the play-off. Marc carded a final round-2 under 70 for his -9 under tournament total. The win continues Justin’s phenomenal winning form.

Justin won The CJ Cup at the second play-off hole, the par five 18th, after Marc had sent his second shot into the water hazard.

Cameron Smith, Australia, finished in third position at -8 under, just missing his birdie putt on the last hole to get into the play-off, finishing with a final round -2 under 70.

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The CJ Cup. Two Tied at the Top.

There are two players tied at the top of The CJ Cup leaderboard on Jeju Island in South Korea. Justin Thomas and Scott Brown, both from the USA share the honor, on a difficult windy day.

Justin hanging on / getty

Justin had the -9 under par score for the first round, and still has the same number after 54 holes, posting -2 under par 70 today, to share the lead at The CJ Cup with Scott, who was -1 under par 71 in the third round.

Anirban Lahiri, India, -3 under 69 today, and Marc Leishman, Australia, -1 under 71 are tied in third place at -7 under par for the tournament.

In fifth position are Whee Kim, South Korea, even par 72 today, Cameron Smith, Australia, +1 over par 73, and Lucas Glover, USA, +2 over 74.

To say it was a difficult day would be a huge understatement, only ten players were under par for their rounds today.

The same conditions are predicted for the final round tomorrow, so I guess just about anything could happen. It should be fun to watch.

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The CJ Cup. Luke List Leads.

Luke List, USA, leads The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges after two rounds on Jeju Island, South Korea.

Luke List / getty

Luke carded a bogey free second round -5 under par 67 to top The CJ Cup leaderboard after two rounds at -9 under par.

Sharing second place at -8 under par are Lucas Glover, USA, -5 under 67 today and Scott Brown, also from the USA, -2 under 70 on the day.

Yesterdays runaway leader Justin Thomas was in reverse today +2 over par 74, he was joined in third position by Cameron Smith, Australia, both players at -7 under par.

Tomorrow will be a very interesting day, will Justin recover? who will be the stand out player on moving day?

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THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Justin Jumps Ahead.

Justin Thomas, from USA, jumps ahead in the first round of the THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Jeju Island in South Korea.

Justin Thomas / getty

Justin shot -9 under par 63 to jump ahead of the field in the THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES tournament in South Korea, and will take a three shot advantage into the second round. Before his round Justin predicted;

“It’s not very difficult in terms of how wide the fairways are, and with the course being pretty soft we’ll be able to have a lot of control over what we are doing.”

Five players are tied in second place at -6 under par, with rounds of 66, from the USA, Patrick Reed, Chez Reavie, who was bogey free, and Scott Brown, they are joined by Gavin Green, Malaysia and Marc Leishman from Australia.

They are followed by a posse of players at -5 under par, this is going to be a low scoring tournament, so expect another exciting day tomorrow.

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Italian Open. Two Tied at the Top.

There are now just two players tied at the top of the Italian Open leaderboard after day 2 at Golf Club Milano in Monza, Italy. Marcus Fraser, Australia, shares the honor with Matt Wallace from England.

Marcus Fraser / getty

Marcus shot his lowest ever European Tour score, -9 under par 62, to join Matt, -6 under 65 today, at the top of the Italian Open leaderboard after the second round.

Marcus took his putting performance to a new level;

“To come and do that today, I’m pretty proud of myself and it’s quite reassuring that I still can play golf.”

“I felt like I’ve putted well and scrambled well this week.”

“Today I took it to a new level with the putter. I felt like I putted well yesterday and I probably out-did it today.”

Matt Wallace / getty

Matt enjoyed the good weather today;

“When I won in Portugal, I backed up a ten under with a seven under. It’s not that rare, I have done it before.

“Yeah, I just played good golf out there today and it’s perfect weather for us to shoot low.”

Tied in third place, two shots back at -11 under par, are two of yesterdays six leaders, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thailand, and Jamie Donaldson, Wales, both carded -4 under 67.

Kiradech did not have a good day with his putter;

“I was still hitting a lot of great quality shots today. The putter didn’t work as well as yesterday.”

Jamie also suffered from a cooler putter;

“I played well again. The putter wasn’t quite as warm today as it was yesterday.” 

Local favorite, defending champion, and another of the first round leaders, Francesco Molinari is alone in fifth place, a -3 under today giving him a -10 under total;

“It wasn’t easy but everyone was obviously willing me to do well and I tried to stay calm and stay in my own bubble. I did that pretty well.”

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CIMB Classic. Cameron Smith Leads.

 

Cameron Smith of Australia leads the CIMB Classic in Malaysia.

Cameron Smith / getty

Cameron carded a -8 under par 64 at TPC Kuala Lumpur to top the CIMB Classic leaderboard by one shot on day 1, saying the putting was easy;

“The putting was easy actually.”

Keegan Bradley, Xander Schauffele, both from the USA and Poom Saksansin of Thailand were tied for second place at -7 under par following their opening rounds of 65.

Xander was playing well after taking advice from the defending champion here Justin Thomas;

“The rough has been up apparently compared to last year, that’s what Justin told me.”

“I pretty much tried to copy everything that he did because I figured he’s a good guy to imitate out here.”

Justin made  five birdies coupled three bogeys, to sign for a -2 under 70, and has some work to do if he wants to retain his title.

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New Zealand Women’s Open. Monday Win For Brooke Henderson

 

Brooke Henderson of Canada cruised to a Monday win at the New Zealand Women’s Open at Windross Farm Golf Course.

Brooke Henderson / photosport

Brooke carded a final round -3 under 69 to win the New Zealand Women’s Open with a -17 under par total, giving her a five shot winning margin;

“That is the toughest conditions I have played in terms of winds, rain and delays; and how long it took to play a round of golf.”

“I feel mentally drained by it but running on adrenaline to know this trophy is mine.” 

Jing Yan of China claimed second place with a last round -1 under 71, and a total of -12 under par.

Hee Young Park, South Korea was in third position, she signed for a final round -3 under 69 to have third place to herself at -11 under par.

Belen Mozo of Spain finished in a tie for fifth alongside fellow countrywoman Beatriz Recari and  Su Oh, Australia, with tournament host Lydia Ko tied for 22nd place at -5 under par.

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