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.

Omega European Masters. Two Tied At The Top.

Renato Paratore, Italy, and Sean Crocker of the USA, are tied at the top of the Omega European Masters leaderboard after 54 holes at  Crans-sur-Sierre golf club, Switzerland.

Renato

Renato, -1 under 69 today, and Sean with -6 under 64 share top spot on the Omega European Masters leaderboard with -10 under par totals, and a one shot advantage over the field.

Renato enjoyed his golf today, and the support of the crowd;

“Today I enjoyed it a lot, I made a lot of good saves and the crowd was also amazing.”

“Over the last few holes I holed a bunker shot and had some up-and-downs to finish with a good one under.”

“We play to enjoy it and to entertain the crowds, so it was good, there were lots of Italians and a good support.”

“I didn’t play my best golf today, but in these tough conditions I managed to shoot one under, which for today was a really good score, normally maybe not that good.”

Sean is looking for his maiden European Tour title;

“It was one of those rounds where I didn’t really know what was going on, it just kind of went that way.”

“I bogeyed the first hole, got a bit aggressive and banged driver down two, had about 64 yards to the pin and had an easy birdie there. Kind of got the momentum going from there.”

“It was kind of tough out there, wind swirling, I just had to play my own golf and stay away from the leaderboard.”

“I’ll just play my game, whatever happens tomorrow it’s just one of those things. If I win, I don’t, it doesn’t matter to me, I just want to go and play some golf.”

Three players share third position at -9 under; Ross McGowan, and Matthew Jordan, both from England and Jorge Campillo of Spain, all had -3 under 69, third rounds.

WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Play-Off Win For Abraham Ancer.

Abraham Ancer of Mexico claimed his maiden PGA Tour title, the WGC St. Jude Invitational, defeating Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan at the second extra hole at TPC Southwind in Tennessee.

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Abraham, -2 under 68 for his final round, Sam, -6 under 64, and Hideki, -7 under 63, were all tied at the top of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational leaderboard with -16 under par totals.

Abraham, who was born in the USA in Texas, but has dual nationality, and prefers to play for Mexico, he won with a birdie at the second extra hole, the par four 18th;

“This is surreal, I felt I left so many shots out there on the back nine, but you never know.”

“I went right at it and the shot played perfectly in my mind and it came out just how I pictured it.”

Harris English, who was cruising towards the title on the front nine, until he was officially warned for slow play. That seemed to unsettled Harris who then went on to card three double bogeys on the back nine;

“Yeah, we were warned on the front nine to pick up the pace, kind of got behind, felt like we were running pretty much the whole round and never really caught up.”

“You definitely start the day in one rhythm and then you kind of get out of that having to walk faster, having to do everything a little faster because you don’t want to get a bad time.”

“It was tough, the wind was swirling obviously coming down the stretch, there was some very important shots in there and it was tough.”

“But I’ve got to learn to slow down, go through my routine and not really worry about being put on the clock.”

Harris finished one shot out of the play-off at -15 under with a +3 over par 73 final round, alone in fourth place.

US PGA Tour rule Rule 5.6 penalty for undue delay/ slow play is one stroke penalty for the first and general penalty for the second offence and Disqualification for the third offence unless modified by the committee.

Seems it is not good enough to be a good golfer, you have to be a runner too, apart from that Harris was in the last group, so they would not have been holding anyone up.

RBC Heritage. 4-Way Tie at the Top.

There is a four-way tie at the top of the RBC Heritage tournament after 54 holes at the Harbour Town Golf Links, on Hilton Head Island. Webb Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton, Abraham Ancer and Ryan Palmer all share the honor at -15 under par.

Webb / getty

Webb carded a third round-3 under 68, Tyrrell, -8 under 63, Abraham -6 under 65 and Ryan -5 under 66, to all be tied at the top of the RBC Heritage leaderboard at -15 under.

Webb knows he will need a better round tomorrow if he wants to win;

“It’s not like I’ve got a three- or four-shot lead and could shoot a couple under.”

“It’s going to take a good one.”

Tyrrell said he had had plenty of time to get ready for the tournament;

“I think we’ve all had enough notice to try and get ready to play tournaments again.”

“So it’s not massively surprising to see guys playing as well as they are, and hopefully the guys at home are enjoying it, watching on TV.”

Abraham thought the soft greens were responsible for the tight bunching at the top of the leaderboard,; there are 21 players separated by just three shots;

“I think the fields have been extremely strong, everybody out here was just eager to come out and play.”

“The greens are a little bit soft, especially this week, and the ball isn’t really rolling out as much as you’re used to on the greens and on the fairways. That’s yielding a little bit more birdies, for sure.”

Joining Tyrrell on -8 under for the day were, Carlos Ortiz, Daniel Berger, and Joel Dahmen, these three are one shot back at -14 under. The other -8 under 63 players today are Joaquin Niemann and Chris Stroud, who are in the group of eight players at -13 under for the tournament.

 

South African Open. Charl Schwartzel Has 36 Hole Lead.

Charl Schwartzel, South Africa, has the 36 hole lead in the South African Open, being played at the two courses at Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg.

          Charl / getty

Charl carded a second round -8 under par 63 on the easier Bushwillow Course, to top the South African Open leaderboard at -12 under par, a one shot lead heading into the weekend;

“The drive on 17 was probably one of my worst tee-shots for the week, I figured if I could walk off with four or five, it would be good.”

“I managed to hit a really good little third shot there. They don’t happen very often.”

“I still can’t figure out why I’m not getting the performances I need, even after that round.”

“I’ve had a few tournaments where I’ve played well like this, so I’m not going to talk too much yet.”

Madalitso Muthiya, of Zambia, has second place to himself at -11 under par, a second round -3 under par 68 on the longer Firethorn Course, keeping him in touch of the leader;

“I was pleased that I managed to bounce back after the blemish.”

“I am very happy that I was able to hang in there and not let that distract me in terms of finishing off the round.”

“I am pleased with where I am. I think I have taken the right steps to play good golf and the next thing for me is to play good golf again. I think everything else will just take care of itself.”

Three players are then tied in third place at -10 under par. Zander Lombard, South Africa, -3 under 68 on Firethorn, Kurt Kitayama, USA, -2 under 69, Bushwillow, and Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa, with -1 under 70 on Bushwillow.

 

South African Open. Louis Oosthuizen Leads.

Louis Oosthuizen leads his home event the South African Open with an opening round of -9 under par 62 on the shorter of the two course being used this week the Bushwillow Course.

          Louis / getty

Louis fired a bogey free  -9 under 62 to lead the South African Open by just one shot, on home soil, where he has never won, but he does have a Claret Jug;

“Any time, anywhere, nine under is always going to feel nice.”

“It was one of those rounds where you don’t really look at any scoreboard or your card, you just play.”

“I drove it really well and gave myself good opportunities to hit it close and I’m putting nicely, so it was just birdie after birdie.”

“There’s a long way to go. I’ve got one of the courses out of the way so now I just focus on the main course for the week and it feels like a new tournament starting tomorrow for me.”

Two players share second place at -8 under, last weeks winner Kurt Kitayama, USA, also bogey free, playing the longer Firethorn Course and Madalitso Muthiya from Zambia, another bogey free round on the Bushwillow Course.

Kurt decided to only play nine holes on the Pro-Am on Wednesday;

“Last week in Mauritius was mentally very draining, trying to stay calm and hold that lead for the entire last round.”

“It definitely took a toll coming into this week.”

“I felt tired during the pro-am and decided to play only nine holes on Wednesday because I just wanted to rest up.”

“I played Firethorn in the pro-am so tomorrow when I play Bushwillow we’ll see if resting helped me. But I think that mentally just getting the rest is the most important thing.”

Madalitso missed the cut last week, and hoping for better things here;

“I did get the feeling a good performance was looming.”

“I played exceptionally well in Mauritius and missed the cut by one.”

“I looked at that and learnt from those errors and just built on the positive things I did last week.”

Hero World Challenge. Jon Rahm Wins.

Jon Rahm of Spain wins the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas.

      Jon and Trophy / getty

Jon won the Hero World Challenge by a whopping four shots, with a final round -7 under par 65 giving him a tournament total of -20 under;

“Arguably the best ball-striking day I’m ever going to have, even better than Friday.”

“That Sunday with Tiger is still the most emotionally, most important moment of my golf career, it means so much to play against Tiger.”

“A couple months later, to win his event, it’s really special.”

In second place at -16 under was Tony Finau, USA, his last round -4 under 69 giving him that place on his own.

Justin Rose, England, was third at -15 under, he also carded -7 under 65 for his last round, but that final birdie on 18  by Tony denied Justin from returning to the number slot in the World Rankings;

“It’s not a huge goal for me, but when you have these opportunities you want to take them.”

“Obviously anytime you get to No. 1 you want to stay there, it’s a nice feeling.”

Tiger did not suffer the ignominy of finishing in last place, just one step up from the bottom;

“Overall, it was a long week, but one that I hope the players enjoyed.”

Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open. Kurt Kitayama with Maiden Tour Win.

Kurt Kitayama, USA, claimed his maiden European Tour victory, the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open at Four Seasons Golf Club in Mauritius.

            Kurt the Champion / getty

Kurt carded -4 under 68 in the final round to clinch the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open trophy, his first European Tour win, with a -20 under total for a two shot winning margin;

 “I’m just so proud, really happy.”

“It’s an unbelievable moment for me, I’m just so happy I was able to pull it off.”

“There were definitely some nerves around the first tee-shot. Going birdie-eagle-birdie helped to calm things down for the rest of the day.”

“I was aware a little bit of what was going on, I kept one eye on the scoreboard.” 

“I just tried to stay calm and take it one shot at a time. It was important on 13, to get back with another birdie. I just tried to stay patient.”

“This whole year has been, well, what a great year. I still have two more events but to win on one of the last events of the year is just great.”

“It’s been really exciting, being able to travel all over the globe and I’m going to continue to travel more. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Tied in second place at -18 under were, Seenappa Chikkarangappa, India,  and Matthieu Pavon from France, both players with last rounds of -5 under 67.

Seenappa was happy with his second place finish;

“It was a fantastic round today, I’ve played to a solid finish today, which was much needed. I’m very happy with it.”

Matthieu really enjoyed his week in Mauritius;

“It was a fantastic week, I played really well and I enjoyed the week.”

Cam Smith Retains His Aussie PGA Championship Title.

Cameron Smith retains his Australian PGA Championship title with a two shot victory at Royal Pines Resort in Queensland.

             Cam Smith / getty

 Cam shot a final round -2 under par 70 to post a Australian PGA Championship winning total of -16 under par, a two shot victory margin;

“I was expecting Leish to come out and give it a good crack today.”

“It’s always hard going up against a mate and trying to win a golf tournament. I’ve been in this situation before and I’ve had it happen to me as well.”

“I’m sure we’ll have a beer over Christmas or when I see him next and we’ll be back to being mates.”

“I’ve definitely improved a lot over the last year. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and I’ve just stuck to my process goals.”

“I would love to get into the top 20 by the end of this year, it’s definitely the next goal.”

“I think that’s the next big step for myself, to get in there and get myself in a lot of situations where I can win golf tournaments.”

Marc Leishman was second, -3 under 69 today for a tournament total of -14 under par;

“I think Cam made birdies when he had to so all credit to him.”

“I’m obviously disappointed I didn’t get it over the line but glad that I gave it a run there and made it pretty interesting.”

Tied in third place were Ross McGowan, England, with a course record -9 under par 63, and Matthew Millar, with his last round -4 under 68, for -11 under par totals.

Hero World Challenge. Three-Way Tie at the Top after 54 Holes.

There is a three-way tie at the top of the Hero World Challenge leaderboard after 54 holes at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. Tony Finau, USA, Henrik Stenson, Sweden and Jon Rahm from Spain, all share a two shot advantage for tomorrow;s final round.

Tony swinging well

Tony, -5 under 67 today, Henrik, -3 under 69 and Jon, -3 under for his round, all share the top spot on the Hero World Challenge leaderboard at -13 under par.

Gary Woodland is alone in fourth place at -11 under, following his third round -5 under 67.

Tiger signed for an even par round of 72, sending him down to last place on the leaderboard with a tournament total of -2 under par.