Pure Silk Championship. Three-Way Tie at Half-Way.

There is three-way tie at the top of the Pure Silk Championship leaderboard after 36 holes at  Kingsmill Resort, Jennifer Song, Jacqui Concolino, both from the USA share the honor with Bronte Law, England.

Bronte, Jennifer and Jacqui / getty

Bronte, -3 under 68 today, Jennifer, also -3 under 68 and Jacqui with -4 under 67 share the top spot on the Pure Silk Championship leaderboard, by just one shot at -9 under for the tournament.

Bronte is in a fighting mood, carding six birdies and three bogeys;

“It was a battle, seemed to feel like every time I would make a birdie and try and build on it, I would have an unforced error couple holes later and make bogey and be back to where I started.”

“Mistakes happen, I’m just going to try to minimize that for the rest of the tournament.”

“I’m creating enough chances to where I can keep shooting some low scores.”

Jennifer was happy with her scrambling round;

“Overall, very happy with my round, I managed to make great scrambles here and there and just made a couple birdies coming in.”

“Very happy about my round.”

Jacqui partnerd Jennifer today, and they are good friends;

“Jennifer and I are good friends, we were just talking about it in the tent.”

“We fed off each other. She made a birdie, I made a birdie. She was making birdies on top of me.”

“I had a rocky start. I started with a bogey on the first hole and managed to come back with a birdie on my third.”

“Just while I was just struggling, Jacqui was having a birdie fest so I was just like, Wow, I need to keep up with her.”

South African Women’s Open. Two Ladies Tied at the Top.

Lina Boqvist from Sweden and Sarah Schober, Austria, were the only ladies to score sub par rounds, and lead the South African Women’s Open, played in strong winds at Westlake Golf Club.

Lina / getty

Lina has five weeks away from her home in Sweden, but can still trust her putting;

“It’s been a long stretch away from home. I really want to finish well because I love this event.”

“I finished strong here last year and I really want to do the same.”

“My putting is really good right now and I feel like I can trust it, so hopefully it continues to get better through the rest of the week.”

Sarah mentioned the strong winds, and also said she putted well, needing only 26 for her round;

“Conditions were really tough out there, off the tee it’s quite narrow and the holes that play into the wind can be very long.”

“I think I made some really good decisions; that and some great was putting was the key to shooting 71.”

“I had only 26 putts today. I didn’t hit many greens but I made some great up-and-downs at most of them to save par and keep the round going.”

Sharing second place at even par were  Lee-Anne Pace from South Africa, Silvia Banon, Spain, and Julia Engstrom, Sweden.

South African Open. Louis In Control.

Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa, is in control of the South African Open, and will take a three shot advantage into the final round tomorrow at Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg.

          Louis / Getty

Louis had a third round -4 under par 67 to lead the South African Open by three shots after 54 holes with a -14 under par total, playing the Firethorn Course;

“It was tough again but I played well.”

“I hit a few bad drives where I was left, but on twelve I fixed it quickly and then rolled the putter nicely today.”

“I’ve been putting well for a long time now. Yesterday I couldn’t make anything and today the makeable ones went in.”

“Eighteen more holes of good golf and I just need to take one shot at a time.”

Sharing second place those three shots back at -11 under are Charl  Schwartzel, South Africa, +1 over par 72 today, Madalitso Muthiya, Zambia, even par 71, and Matt Wallace of England with -3 under par 68.

Madalitso suffered a double hit penalty of one stroke, using a wood to putt from off the green. The irony is that next month that rule will change to no penalty for a double hit;

“I’ve double-hit it before but not with a wood, I didn’t event see that there was a hole in front of my ball, I was so fixated on trying to make the shot.”

“I guess things like that happen and you just have to take it in your stride and put it behind you.”

Matt spoke about the tough windy conditions;

“I’ve given away so many shots this week, silly errors, not hitting the greens and stuff like that, I guess that just comes with the little bit of rustiness after two weeks off.”

“It’s tough out there, it’s windy, and I just said to Glen, if we can go tomorrow and make it stress-free and give myself as many chances as possible, we’ll be right up there.”

 

QBE Shootout. Three Teams Tied at the Top.

There are three teams tied at the top of the QBE Shootout leaderboard after day 1 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples Florida. Bryson DeChambeau/Kevin Na, Graeme McDowell/Emiliano Grillo and Patton Kizzire/Brian Harman all fired opening rounds of -13 under par 59 in the scramble format.

Bryson DeChambeau / getty

G-Mac and Emiliano threw in a bogey on their round, while the other two teams went round bogey free.

Fourth place is shared by another three teams, two shots back at -11 under par, with rounds of 61. Tony Finau/Lexi Thompson, Luke List/Charles Howell 111 and Gary Woodland/Charlie Hoffman, all of these teams were bogey free today.

The twelve teams will continue battle tomorrow with a modified alternate shot format, and the final round on Sunday will be fourball format.

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.