Cambia Portland Classic. J.Y. Ko Wins The 54 Hole Tournament.

Jin Young Ko of South Korea wins the Cambia Portland Classic, reduce to 54 holes due to to bad weather at Oregon Golf Club.

J.Y. carded final Sunday third bogey free round -3 under par 69, to win the Cambia Portland Classic by four shots at -11 under par;

“I really wanted to play yesterday, but we couldn’t play.”

“I tried to make a bogey-free round today, and I made it.”

“I had a lot of missed shots and I had a lot of missed chipping or something, so I had to make great par saves, but I made it.”

“This course was really amazing, perfectly clearing, and fairways and greens are really perfect, I can’t wait to play for next year.”

Tied in second place at -7 under par, were Lucky Lee6, South Korea, and Sue Oh from Australia, both signed for rounds of -3 under 69 today.

Sue was happy with her result;

“I played with kind of a slow start and hung in there and just I holed a really good par putt on 6 and then I kind of got the round going a little bit and then stiffed one on 7.”

“I hit it pretty good today after that. A few more putts drop then I would have been closer, but still pretty happy with how I played this whole week.”

Cambia Portland Classic. Three-Way Tie At The Top.

Carlota Ciganda, Spain, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Thailand, and Gemma Dryburgh from Scotland are tied at the top of the Cambia Portland Classic leaderboard at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Oregon.

Pajaree Anannarukarn

All three ladies carded first rounds of -4 under par 68 to lead the Cambia Portland Classic by one shot.

Pajaree said she needs to concentrate more;

“I definitely learned a lot from today. I miss some fairways out there. I try to probably be more focused and concentrate on my tee shots.”

“Hopefully will hit some better drive tomorrow and give myself some really good opportunities out there.”

Carlota is fresh from the Solheim Cup victory;

“I only played here on Tuesday, no Pro-Am, so I think it was nice to have the day off yesterday as well. No golf on the course.”

“I feel good. Trying to take that momentum from the Solheim and have that here, hit good shots, and try my best.”

Gemma had a hole-out Eagle on the 7th hole;

“Just hit a little gap wedge. Hit it pretty perfect.”

“Actually I thought it was going long when I saw it on the green, but it just landed perfectly just short of the pin and rolled right in like a little putt, so it was perfect.”

Six ladies are then tied in fourth spot at -3 under after rounds of 69;  Jin Young Ko, Mi Jung Hur, and Jenny Shin from South Korea, Sue Oh, Australia, Paula Reto, South Africa, and Perrine Delacour from France.

BMW PGA Championship. Laporta Leads.

Francesco Laporta of Italy leads the BMW PGA Championship after 54 holes at Wentworth Golf Club in England.

Francesco had a third round -3 under par 69 to lead the BMW PGA Championship by one shot at -14 under par;

“The crowd is amazing and I’m just looking forward to playing tomorrow and seeing all the crowds.”

“It will be tough, it will be tough, but I like to be under pressure. This is what we play for.”

Laurie Canter of England holds second place at -13 under after his third round -2 under par 70.

Four players are then tied in third spot at -12 under par, Billy Horschel, USA, -3 under 69 today, Jamie Donaldson, Wales, also -3 under 69, Adam Scott, Australia, -2 under 70, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Africa with -4 under 68.

Billy would love to win here;

“There’s tournaments as pros that we want to win, the Players, the Majors, maybe a few others but as an American, you don’t usually say a tournament on the European Tour.”

“To win the BMW PGA Championship would be equal to me as a Players Championship.” 

“When I first came over two years ago, I fell in love with the golf course, which I knew I would.” 

“The fans have been great to me. The support has been great this year, even knowing I have support for West Ham.”

“It’s become one of those tournaments after two years ago that I wanted to win and so to get that victory tomorrow, if it happens, would be tremendous.”

BMW PGA Championship. Two Tie at the Top.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thailand, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa share the BMW PGA Championship lead after the first round at Wentworth Golf Club in England.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Christiaan, bogey free today and Kiradech both carded opening rounds of -8 under par 64 to lead the BMW PGA Championship by one stroke.

Kiradech has missed lots of golf, some due to Covid restrictions, and some personal injury;

“I’ve had a really hard time the last two years, playing with the injury, hurting my right knee after The Masters and then when Covid hit I had to go back to my country and was stuck in the country for eight months.”

” I couldn’t play much golf.”

“I just want to come up here and enjoy every single minute that I spend on the European Tour, every time I come back it just feels like home.”

“I feel comfortable over here, I see some friends, see my coaches. It’s a lovely golf course. I enjoy it every time I come back to Wentworth.”

Christiaan had a good day with the putter;

“Everything with my game feels better than a year ago, but I’m not getting the scores or the results and stuff.”

“I just keep on doing the right things, keep on doing the same things that have obviously been working over the last year.”

“I drove the ball lovely today, so I just kept it in play. Gave myself a chance, and the putter was good.”

Major champion Adam Scott of Australia is in third position following his first round -7 under 65;

“A lot of really good, solid stuff. Generally it was fairways and greens. There wasn’t too much squirrely stuff, although a couple of wedges coming in could have been better.”

“Then on 15, I got out of jail and made an incredible three. Nice to get the break and take advantage of it. I definitely thought the first ball was out of bounds but it must have clouded around in the trees and dropped down.”

Another Major champion, Justin Rose is tied in fourth spot with Laurie Cantor and Masahiro Kawamura of Japan, all with -5 under 67.

Justin refers to Wentworth as his home course, and had his agent on the bag;

“He was brilliant. He turned up this morning, he kept up on the golf course and he shut up.”

“It was great, he did everything perfectly today. I could have had many different choices and options for caddies but I think someone you just know really well makes it more comfortable out there for sure.”

Italian Open. Min Woo Lee Leads By Two.

Min Woo Lee of Australia leads the Italian Open by two shots at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.

Min Woo has the first 36 hole lead of his career, carding a second round -3 under par 68 to top the Italian Open leaderboard at -10 under par.

Min Woo was happy with his round but is not sure about in the incoming wet weather;

“Very solid. I made nice putts coming down the stretch.”

“I’m happy to be in the lead with two rounds to go.”

“I’m not sure how it’ll play wet, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Four players are tied in second place at -8 under par; Mikko Korhonen, Finland, -5 under 66 today, Johannes Veerman, USA, -4 under 67, with Adri Arnaus, Spain and Tommy Fleetwood from England, both carding -4 under 67.

Tommy enjoyed being in the company of Ryder Cup partner and close friend Francesco Molinari, they played together in the 2018 Ryder Cup, gaining the name ‘Moliwood’

Tommy said;

“It’s impossible to not enjoy playing golf in Italy with this man.”

 “It’s always nice.” 

“It doesn’t make that much of a difference but at the same time, it is nice to play with someone you are very comfortable with and it’s always nice to see each other, and then we have ten hours together over the first two days to talk and play.” 

“Like I say, there is probably not another golfer out here that I feel as comfortable with playing so that does add to the ease of playing tournament golf.”

 

 

 

 

Italian Open. Three Tied at the Top.

Henrik Stenson, Sweden, Kalle Samooja, Finland and Min Woo Lee from Australia lead the Italian Open after the first round at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.

Henrik, bogey free today, Kalle and Min Woo all carded opening rounds of -7 under par 64 to top the Italian Open leaderboard on day one.

Henrik rolled in some good putts, in his quest for a wild card pick for the European Ryder Cup Team;

“Once again I think I played a good round of golf.” 

“I don’t want to make any mistakes in terms of missing fairways and greens, but the few times I did I managed to keep a clean card and made some lovely putts to keep it tidy, so very happy with that.”

“More than anything I feel like I am in a good frame of mind to play golf and to try and get the best score out of my game.”

“There is still more to wish for, but we’ve got to take the positives and keep on working on the rest.”

Min Woo was also happy with his round;

“It was really good. I hit it really good off the tee, didn’t really give myself position to make bogey.”

“I made one but other than that I played solid and made my up-and-downs when I needed to.”

Kalle enjoyed his early morning stroll around the course, playing good golf;

“There was some good golf today. Comparing to last week, I was really struggling with everything and today I wasn’t struggling with anything, so it was a nice morning walk.”

“I was missing everything last week with the putter and the driver. I had a few good practice days, and this course seems nice, and the greens are pure.”

“You need to play some good golf here, hit some good shots to go low and that’s what I managed to do today.”

Another three players are tied in fourth place at -6 under following opening rounds of 65; Edoardo Molinari, Italy, Eddie Pepperell, England, and Scott Hend of Australia.

The Northern Trust. Play-Off Win For Tony Finau.

Tony Finau defeated Cam Smith of Australia, in a play-off to win The Northern Trust title at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey.

Tony, -6 under par 65 today, and Cam with -4 under 67, were tied at the top of The Northern Trust leaderboard with -20 under par tournament totals. Tony won with a par at the first extra hole, the par four 18th, when Cam fired his tee shot way out of bounds to the right.

Tony has contested 142 events in five years since his breakthrough victory on the PGA;

“I feel like it’s been a long time coming but I also feel like you have to earn everything out here.”

“Nothing’s given to you and I was able to earn this win, and you know, hopefully the future continues to be bright.”

“I’m playing some great golf. We’ve got two big tournaments in front of me, so I’m going to enjoy this one. I’m playing great golf. I feel like I can go on a run, so why not continue right on to next week.”

“This one took everything I had because I knew I had to get to 20 under. I was chasing down the best player in the world. Jon is a good friend but I know what type of game he has, and he’s not going to let up on a lead.”

“So I knew I was going to have to catch him and eventually pass him, and Cam was playing well. I gave it everything I had. I hit a great putt on 17 I thought was going to go in, it would have been nice to have a little cushion on 18 tee.”

“But this is cool. I’ve been thinking about that walk up 18 for a long time. It’s been years. It’s nice to finally have that and now put this second win behind me.”

Jon Rahm, the World #1 from Spain, who looked like winning for most of the week, crashed out, carding bogey’s at 15 and then 18 to finish with a -2 under 69 and third place alone at -18 under par;

“I haven’t been able to digest it.”

“My son put a smile on my face so at least I’m not in a terrible mood.”

The Northern Open Set For A Monday finish, With Jon Rahm & Cam Smith Tied at the Top

Cam Smith, Australia, set a new course record of -11 under par 60 to share the top spot on the Northern Trust leaderboard with World #1 Jon Rahm at Liberty National Golf Club. They will have to wait until Monday to tee off in the final round due to a huge storm heading towards New Jersey for Sunday.

Jon Rahm

Jon, from Spain, with -4 under par 67 today was caught at the top of the Northern Trust leaderboard by record breaking Cam with his -11 under par 60.

Cam had a 12ft putt on the last hole to sign for a 59;

“Just didn’t do it.”

“Jon is playing some pretty good golf at the minute, so we’ve got to try to catch up.”

Jon was bogey free for the tournament, until the 13th hole where he had to sign for double bogey 7 on the par five, and followed that with a bogey at the par four 16th, he needed that birdie on seventeen to catch Cam at the top of the leaderboard. With the final round already postponed he did not want to be behind;

“I didn’t want to leave it up to chance.”

“If COVID quarantine has taught us anything, it’s what to do the whole day cooped up in a room.”

He thought his approach shot to the 13th was good;

“It was a little higher than I expected it and seems like the wind might have picked up a little bit.”

“It looked like about this short from covering, so it’s one of those things that happen in golf.”

Erik Van Rooyen from South Africa, who wears the ankle stranglers pants, is in third place, one shot back at -15 under par, he had a -9 under 62 today.

Justin Thomas, -4 under 67 today, and Tony Finau with -3 under 68 share fourth position at -14 under par.

 

Wyndham Championship. Kevin Kisner Wins In A Six-Way Play-Off.

Kevin Kisner lifted the Wyndham Championship trophy after a six-way sudden death play-off against  Adam Scott, Roger Sloan, Kevin Na, Si Woo Kim and Branden Grace at Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina.

Kevin Kisner, Kevin Na, Brandon Grace, South Africa, and Roger Sloan of Canada all carded -4 under 66 for their final rounds, Si Woo Kim, South Korea, -6 under 64 and Adam Scott of Australia, -5 under 65, all topped the Wyndham Championship leaderboard with -15 under par totals.

Kevin Kisner won with a birdie at the second extra hole, the par four 2nd hole, his first play-off win from five previous attempts;

“My first playoff win, to be standing here is pretty sweet.”

Overnight leader  Russell Henley, had a three foot par putt to make it a seven-man playoff, but he failed, signing for a last round +1 over par 71 for T7 at -14 under;

“I really felt like I hit both those putts on 18 how I wanted to.”

“I feel like I hit the second putt right where I was looking and it broke.”

 “I knew I had to shoot under par today, so just disappointed. It stings pretty bad.”

Justin Rose finished with a three putt bogey, ending the week T10 and narrowly missed out on breaking into the top-125 in the FedExCup standings, with -3 under par 67, failing to qualify for the Playoffs for the first time in his PGA Tour career;

“You just need to have a little bit of a bigger picture and a bit of perspective going on.”

“So for me, for example, if I want to get back to playing some of the best golf that I’ve played and to compete with the best players in the world again and sort of compete in major championships, you need to be free.” 

WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Harris English Going For Wire To Wire Win.

Harris is aiming at being the first wire to wire winner this season and currently leads the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational by two shots going into the final round at TPC Southwind in Memphis Tennessee.

Harris carded a bogey free third round -5 under par 65 to lead the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational by two strokes at -18 under par, and is looking to become the first three time winner this season;

“I love playing with pressure, I think it helps me focus. It’s a privilege to be in this spot. You have to take challenges on.”

“There’s a lot of good players behind me and my goal is just stick to my strategy and execute and whatever happens, happens.” 

Cameron Smith, Australia, -5 under par  65 and Bryson DeChambeau with -7 under par 63 were tied in second place at -16 under par.

Bryson lost a fair bit of weight from his Covid infection, but has come back strongly;

“It was beautiful to be able to score really well. I didn’t feel like my ball-striking was perfect, but I got it around really well and I was very pleased with it.”

“It was awesome being able to strike it that close to the hole all day. I didn’t feel as comfortable as I would have liked with the swing, but the results were there so I was very pleased with the results.”

“And honestly, if I can do that again tomorrow, I give myself a great chance to win.”

Ian Poulter is still pressing his Ryder Cup claims, another good round today of -3 under 67 puts him T5 at -13 under par.