Category: Golf

JOHANNESBURG — Dan Bradbury completed a wire-to-wire victory at the Joburg Open on Sunday to win his first European tour title at Houghton Golf Club.

The Englishman’s 4-under 67 final round proved to be more than enough as his closest challenger, Sami Valimaki of Finland, dropped a further two shots back to finish three behind overall.

Bradbury, who only turned professional in the summer, was playing in just his third tournament on the European tour.

“It’s just a lot of pressure taken off your back — that’s nice — but it hasn’t sunk in yet and I don’t think it will for a while,” Bradbury said. “I knew I was playing good enough. It turned out that way in the end.”

He started his final round with a flourish, just missing out on an eagle, and added five birdies without dropping a shot thereafter until his lone bogey of the day at the last to finish with a 21-under 263.

Bradbury’s maiden victory also secures a place at the British Open.

Two other South Africans — Christiaan Bezuidenhout (66) and Daniel van Tonder (68) — finished another shot back in a tie for third.

The Joburg Open is the first tournament of the European tour’s 2023 season, with two more events in South Africa in December.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods and 13-year-old son Charlie are returning to the PNC Championship with hopes of doing one better than last year.

The 20-team field is for winners of majors or the Players Championship and a child or parent. This will be the third time Woods plays. A year ago, he and Charlie finished 1 shot behind John Daly and his son.

The 36-hole event, televised by NBC, is Dec. 17-18 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando.

“We have been looking forward to this week all year,” Woods said. “This is such a special opportunity as a dad to get to compete with my son against so many golfing greats and their family members. It is going to be a very special week and I know that Charlie and I will have a blast.”

Woods has not competed since he missed the cut in the British Open at St. Andrews in July. He is playing next week in his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, a 72-hole event against a 20-man field of the world’s top players.

He also has a made-for-TV exhibition on Dec. 10 with Rory McIlroy as his partner against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

That will be seven rounds in 18 days.

Thomas and Spieth also will be at the PNC Championship with their fathers. Thomas and his father, longtime club professional Mike Thomas, won in 2020.

Annika Sorenstam is playing again, this time with her son, Will. The PNC field also includes Nelly Korda and her father, Petr, a former Australian Open tennis champion.

LONDON — European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald appointed Nicolas Colsaerts as his third vice captain on Tuesday for next year’s event in Rome.

The Belgian golfer, who turned 40 last week, joins Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and Edoardo Molinari of Italy as vice captains for the European team.

Colsaerts helped Europe win the 2012 Ryder Cup and has three tournament victories on the European tour.

“My first reaction when Luke asked me was sheer joy,” Colsaerts said in a statement. “Every time I hear the words ‘Ryder Cup,’ it takes me back to the edition I played in, how proud I was to wear the European colors and be part of such an unbelievable event.”

Bjorn and Molinari were both appointed by Henrik Stenson, who was stripped of the role as Europe’s captain after joining the Saudi-backed LIV Golf breakaway series.

Donald kept both Bjorn and Molinari after replacing Stenson and said the choice of Colsaerts as his third vice captain had “been on my mind for a couple of months now.”

“I played in the team with him in 2012 and you could just see how much it meant to him,” Donald said. “He understands what it means to represent the European crest and what it means to be part of the Ryder Cup setup. When I asked him, he literally had goosebumps.”

The 2023 Ryder Cup will be played at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome from Sept. 26-Oct. 1.

Adam Svensson handled the cold air and the heat of contention as if he had been there before, closing with a 6-under 64 to win the RSM Classic on Sunday at Sea Island for his first PGA Tour victory.

Svensson, a 28-year-old Canadian, was locked in a four-way tie for the lead on the closing stretch of the Seaside course when he poured in an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and then hit a tee shot to 10 feet on the par-3 17th for a birdie that gave him a cushion.

Brian Harman (65) and Sahith Theegala (66) were in the group ahead of him and missed birdie chances from about 25 feet on the closing hole.

Callum Tarren of England (64) was the first to post at 17-under par and was hopeful of a playoff. Svensson capped off his bogey-free final round with a par for a two-shot win.

He finished at 19-under 263 and played the tougher Seaside course in 20 under the final three rounds. His tournament began with a 73 on the Plantation, which put him in a tie for 108th.

His first job was to make the cut. He wound up winning the trophy, becoming the first golfer to open with a 73 or worse and win a PGA Tour event since Jon Rahm (75) at the BMW Championship in 2020.

Svensson is starting his third full year on the PGA Tour and gets a two-year exemption, along with trips to the Masters and the PGA Championship. He has never played a major.

“To be honest, it’s not even real right now,” Svensson said when he finished. “I’m so happy. I put so much work in. To win on the PGA Tour means everything to me. … I just kept believing in myself, and here I am.”

Theegala recovered from a double bogey on the par-5 seventh hole when he was in trouble left off the tee and then hit a chip that came back to him from behind the green. He made five birdies over the final 11 holes.

Harman got in the game late, hitting a fairway metal on the par-5 15th hole that was inches away from rolling in and setting up a short eagle. He birdied the 16th to share the lead but had to settle for pars on the final two holes.

Patrick Rodgers and Ben Martin, who shared the 54-hole lead, couldn’t keep up. Rodgers didn’t make his first birdie until the 13th hole and closed with a 70 to tie for 10th, while Martin shot a 72.

Cole Hammer, who graduated from Texas in May and was playing on a sponsor exemption, shot a 65 to tie for fifth, which gets him into the Sony Open.

The PGA Tour now takes a six-week break in the final wraparound season before resuming with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua the first week of January.

By winning, Svensson was the last man to qualify for that field, the first elevated event that will have a $15 million purse.

Svensson won $1,458,000, more than he won in either of his two previous seasons on the PGA Tour. He is the second Canadian to win this season, joining Mackenzie Hughes, who won in Mississippi.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NAPLES, Fla. — Leona Maguire of Ireland had four straight birdies around the turn and added a pair of birdies late for a 9-under 63, allowing her to catch Lydia Ko in the CME Group Tour Championship and set up a duel for the richest prize in women’s golf.

At stake on Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club is $2 million to the winner.

Maguire, one of 11 first-time winners on the LPGA Tour this year, is too far back in the points race to win LPGA player of the year, though $2 million in a single day would make up for that. That would be nearly twice what Maguire has made in 23 previous events.

Ko had a 5-shot lead to start the third round — 7 shots ahead of Maguire — and made a mixture of birdies and bogeys that stalled her round. She fell a shot behind Maguire until chipping to tap-in range on the par-5 17th. She finished with a 70.

They were at 15-under 201 in what shaped up as a two-player race for the $2 million.

No one else was closer than 5 shots to them. Former U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 had a 68 and Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland had a 69. They were at 206.

The forecast for Sunday was for rain and 20 mph (32 kph) gusts.

“Nothing I’m not used to from Ireland,” Maguire said when she finished her round. “We’ll see where Lydia gets at the end of the day, but ultimately just go out and play as well as I possibly can, and especially if there’s bad weather, that’s all you can control. Looking forward to one last walk of the season tomorrow.”

Brooke Henderson kept her slim hopes alive for player of the year. The Canadian, who had to withdraw last week with a back injury, had two eagles in her round of 65 and was at 9-under 207.

Henderson will have to win the CME Group Tour Championship and have Ko finish third or worse to win player of the year.

“If I could have another day like this tomorrow, that would be really nice,” she said.

Ko came into the week with a one-point advantage over Minjee Lee for player of the year. Lee, the Australian who won the U.S. Women’s Open and leads the LPGA money list, has fallen 9 shots behind and is all but certain to be eliminated.

Ko is a lock to win the Vare Trophy for having the lowest scoring average. A victory would send her season earnings to over $4.3 million.

Nelly Korda, who won last week at Pelican Golf Club, had to birdie her last three holes for a 73 that left her 9 shots out of the lead.

NAPLES, Fla. — Lydia Ko began her quest for the largest prize in women’s golf history by hitting a tree and making bogey on a par 5. The rest of Thursday in the CME Group Tour Championship couldn’t have gone better.

Ko responded with eight birdies, including four in a row late in the round at Tiburon Golf Club, that sent her to a 7-under 65 and a one-shot lead in the LPGA Tour season finale.

So much is at stake this week, even beyond the $2 million prize to the winner.

Ko has a one-point lead in the race for LPGA Tour player of the year. She would appear to be a lock to win the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. Both are worth a point in her bid to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

“If I’m holding the trophy, holding all the trophies or no trophy … I just want to have a good week,” Ko said. “These opportunities don’t come along very often. I want to try to grab it when it’s there.”

It’s all right in front of Ko, who has two wins in what she considers her most consistent year on the LPGA Tour.

And right behind are plenty of challengers.

Danielle Kang and Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand were at 66, Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland and Hyo Joo Kim of South Korea were at 67 and the group at 68 included Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson.

Korda missed four months earlier this year because of surgery for a blood clot in her left arm. She finally is back to full strength, and her victory last week up the coast at Pelican Golf Club allowed her to return to No. 1 in the women’s world ranking.

Henderson had to withdraw last week with back pain, and the Canadian wasn’t even sure she would be able to play. But she made an adjustment in her swing, and it allowed her to get around Tiburon with a respectable 68.

Henderson has an outside shot at player of the year, though she would have to win and have Ko and Minjee Lee finish third or worse.

Lee, who already has set an LPGA Tour record with $3.7 million in earnings this season, opened with a 71. Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand, the 19-year-old who reached No. 1 in the world until Korda took it back, had a 73.

Ko could only laugh at her start of the tournament by hitting a tree.

“It’s almost like I had two tee shots,” she said. “Even though I bogeyed a par 5, I knew plenty of holes were going to play downwind. I tried not to get too frustrated. The first four holes into the wind are a beast. I knew if I could hang on and be patient, there would be a lot of opportunities.

“I was able to grab a lot of them on the back nine.”

And that started with a par. She was quick on a chip from just off the 13th green and watched it run some 12 feet by the hole. Ko made the par putt, and she was off and running, making four straight birdies. It helped that two were par 5s.

Korda gave up an easy birdie chance on the par-5 17th when she drove it so long she had only 159 yards left. But she came up well short and failed to get up-and-down. That was a product of what she referred to as getting fooled too often by the end.

Korda had a chance at all the awards last year until Jin Young Ko beat her, making it the third straight year the South Korean star had won at Tiburon.

Making it four in a row will be difficult. Jin Young Ko opened with a 72 as she continues to deal with an ailing left wrist.

World No. 1 golfer Rory McIlroy said Tuesday that one thing has to happen before the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf circuit can work together: LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman has to step down.

McIlroy, speaking to reporters ahead of this week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, said the sides won’t come to a compromise until Norman, a two-time Open Championship winner, is no longer the public face of the new circuit being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“There’s a few things that I would like to see on the LIV side that needs to happen,” McIlroy said. “I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left. He’s made his mark, but I think now is the right time to sort of say, ‘Look, you’ve got this thing off the ground, but no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.'”

Last week, Majed Al Sorour, CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation and leader of Saudi Golf, denied a published report in the Telegraph of London that Norman was being forced out. The Telegraph reported that LIV Golf was pursuing Taco Bell CEO Mark King to replace Norman. King was previously the CEO of TaylorMade and president of Adidas in North America.

The Telegraph reported that King attended several LIV Golf events in its inaugural season and met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

“Greg Norman is our CEO and Commissioner,” Al Sorour said in a statement last week. “Any suggestion that changes are being made to Greg’s title or role is patently false.”

In February, a Sports Resolutions UK panel will decide whether the DP World Tour can punish its members who competed in LIV Golf events, including Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and others.

LIV Golf and a handful of its players filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, in which LIV Golf claims the PGA Tour illegally suspended players for competing in LIV Golf tournaments and is wielding its monopoly power to squash competition. The PGA Tour filed a countersuit, claiming LIV Golf has interfered with existing contracts it had with its members.

“It’s obviously been a very contentious year in golf,” McIlroy said. “And I’ve said this: The best thing in golf is to have all the best players playing together, and what’s happening right now, that’s not happening. So I fear for the game when that’s going on.

“It’s contentious because there’s lawsuits going on and people suing people; it’s very, very messy. So again, if all that stuff can be sorted out one way or the other, then you can get to the stage where there’s forgiveness and people can have dialogue and come to some sort of common ground or compromise. But while all this is happening, it’s very hard to do that.”

Adelaide has won the race to host the first LIV Golf tournament in Australia, with international stars including Cameron Smith teeing up at The Grange GC in April next year.

The Adelaide course has been chosen by the Greg Norman-led breakaway league to host the three-day tournament from April 21-23 as part of a 14-stop global schedule.

Norman said in a statement there was “massive potential” for Australia to play a role in the Saudi-backed league which also features major winners Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.

The PGA Tour does not play top-tier tournaments in Australia, with big names only lured by the Presidents Cup which was last contested in Melbourne in 2019.

“Passion for sport is at the core of Australian culture, and LIV Golf is proud to bring its global league to a country deserving of the world’s top competition,” said Norman, LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner.

“This is an opportunity to grow the game with generations of Australians while connecting them with star players like Cameron Smith who are building a new platform for golf around the globe.

“There is massive potential for Australia to play a bigger role in this great sport, and I couldn’t be more excited to showcase Adelaide for our league’s debut year.”

The Grange has hosted major professional events including the West Lakes Classic, where Norman claimed his first professional victory in 1976.

The Victorian government reportedly knocked back an approach from LIV, preferring to side with the PGA in the golfing battleground.

Open Championship winner Smith, fellow LIV rebel Marc Leishman, as well as Adam Scott and Cameron Davis will return home this month for a series of tournaments starting with the Australian PGA in Brisbane.

The event is co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour (formerly European tour) and LIV defectors are allowed to play.

PHOENIX — Steven Alker began his PGA Tour Champions career as a Monday qualifier, the goal every week right in front of him: post top-10 finishes to keep playing.

Alker kept pulling it off until a win secured his full card. His path to winning the Charles Schwab Cup is just as clear.

Alker, the PGA Tour Champions points leader, shot his second straight bogey-free round at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Friday, a 7-under 64 that gave him a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington.

“I know what I’ve got to do. The numbers are all there,” Alker said. “It’s kind of black and white. I just try and put myself in position to win a golf tournament. That’s big for me.”

Alker made seven birdies at Phoenix Country Club to reach 13 under through two rounds, keeping him comfortably in front of the only player who can overtake him for the Schwab Cup. Harrington also shot 64 and was 12 under, but he needs to win and have Alker finish outside the top five to win the PGA Tour Champions season championship.

“It seems that the Schwab Cup could be a bit of a long shot at this stage, but I’m very much in the tournament, and that’s what we’re going to focus on now,” Harrington said.

Retief Goosen shot 64 and was tied for third at 10 under with Brian Gay, who shot 65.

Bernhard Langer closed with a bogey on the reachable par-5 18th to shoot 69. He’s at six back at 7 under in his bid to match Hale Irwin‘s record of 45 senior tour wins.

Alker had to make a 15-foot par putt on No. 17 to preserve a bogey-free 65 to tie for the lead in the opening round, but spent most of a balmy Friday afternoon in the desert hitting fairways and greens.

The 51-year-old opened the second round with consecutive birdies and added two more to turn in 4-under 32. Alker rolled in a birdie putt on the short par-4 11th and another on No. 15 after squeezing his tee shot on the par 3 between a tight pin and a bunker.

He added another birdie on the par-4 17th, but pulled his tee shot into the left rough on the par-5 18th. Alker hit his second shot over a strand of trees to the fairway and his third to 30 feet, but left the birdie putt short.

A disappointing finish, but Alker has some wiggle room headed into the weekend in his bid to go from PGA Tour journeyman to champion of the over-50 circuit.

“The course dried out a little bit today, played the ball down, so that was good and greens were rolling fantastic,” Alker said. “Putted nice. When you shoot 7 under, you normally putt pretty good.”

Harrington shot an opening 66 and reeled off four birdies in five holes to start his second round. The three-time major champion from Ireland added two more birdies before a three-putt bogey on the 15th.

Harrington birdied No. 17 and reached No. 18 in two, but left a a 30-foot eagle putt short, tapping in for birdie.

“I started as well as I could and I still can’t get away from him. Steve is doing a great job,” Harrington said. “I’m trying to mind my own business most of the time doing my thing out there and I’ve got another 36 holes to do that.”

Langer had two birdies and a bogey on the front nine, then birdied the par-4 11th. The 65-year-old German caught a tough break when his tee shot left on the par-4 12th left him with an awkward stance, leading to bogey.

Langer dropped in consecutive birdies on Nos. 13 and 14, but bogeyed No. 18 after an errant tee shot and a chunky pitch.

Tiger Woods will return to competitive golf for the first time in nearly five months when he tees it up in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on Dec. 1-4, he announced on his Twitter account Wednesday.

Woods, 46, hasn’t played since missing the cut at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews on July 15. The 15-time major champion made just three starts this past season; he was 47th at the Masters in April and withdrew after 54 holes at the PGA Championship in May.

The Hero World Challenge, which benefits Woods’ foundation, will be played in Albany, outside Nassau. The 20-man field also includes Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. Norway’s Viktor Hovland is the defending champion.

Woods announced Wednesday that Kevin Kisner and Tommy Fleetwood would round out the field.

Woods is still recovering from serious injuries he suffered in a car wreck outside Los Angeles in February 2021. He said doctors nearly amputated his right leg because of his injuries.

Woods announced Monday that he will be playing in The Match at Pelican Golf Club outside Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 10. He’ll team up with Rory McIlroy in a 12-hole match against Spieth and Thomas under the lights.

Woods is also expected to play with his son, Charlie, in the PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida, on Dec. 17-18. He hasn’t yet officially announced that he’ll play in that event.