Aussies on Tour is a regular roundup of how Australia’s top men and women golfers are performing on the world’s golf tours and is provided by Golf Australia, the PGA of Australia and the WPGA.
Adam Scott’s brilliant week was unable to deliver a victory as the Queenslander finished in a tie for fifth at The CJ Cup in Las Vegas, while Min Woo Lee finished runner-up and became a Guinness World Record holder in Spain.
Scott entered the final round three shots back and needed to replicate his Friday heroics – where he shot 63 which included an eight-under par closing holes – to mount a serious challenge for the title.
Unfortunately, his three-under par Sunday round was his worst of the week and it left him four shots shy of Rory McIlory – who claimed his 20th career title – and Scott admitted that he did not take all his chances.
“It was a great week. I mean, I played a lot of good golf. Anytime you reach 20 under par, there’s not too much going wrong, but going for the win today, I simply just did not have a good day on the greens,” Scott said.
“I played well, I gave myself all the opportunities and I didn’t make any of them and that was the difference. I think I played well enough to contend, but just left it all on the greens today.”
Cameron Smith also played some excellent golf in his first tournament of the new PGA Tour season to finish one shot behind Scott in a tie for ninth.
“I can’t say my prep was too good the last four or five weeks, but the game progressively felt better and better,” Smith said.
“The course got trickier and trickier and I was able to be there in contention, I guess, come Saturday, Sunday.
“It’s a good start to the season. It was good to make a ton of birdies, good to see some putts drop. And I’ve got another two or three weeks off now, so I’ll be back working on the game and hopefully have a better run at it in Houston.
“I think my short game probably wasn’t up to scratch. I think it’s not a technique issue, it’s just some touch stuff, having so much time at home. I’ll be sure to work on that.”
In Europe, Min Woo Lee has moved to number six on the European Tour rankings courtesy of his runner-up finish in the Andalucia Masters in Spain.
The 23-year-old finished three shots behind Ryder Cup player Matthew Fitzpatrick to put himself in with a chance of winning the season-ending Dubai World Championship, with its $US9 million prize pool.
Lee also achieved an incredible feat this week – breaking the Guinness World Record for the fastest hole of golf by a team of four.
The West Australian was quick to update his Instagram bio to: “2 x European Tour Winner, Guinness World Record Holder” after he knocked in the putt that clinched the world record.
In New York, Gabriela Ruffels performed well in the individual event of the Aramco Team Series – that was won by England’s Charley Hull – to record a top 20 finish.
Steph Kyriacou’s team finished in a tie for sixth in the team event – where Jessica Korda’s team and Sophia Popov’s team shared victory.
On the Champions Tour, Stuart Appleby continued his impressive form since joining the tour last month to place tied twelfth only four shots behind winner Lee Janzen.
Results
PGA Tour
The CJ Cup
The Summit Club, Las Vegas, Nevada
Winner Rory McIlroy 68-67-62-66-263
T5 Adam Scott 68-63-67-69-267
T9 Cameron Smith 66-67-67-68-268
T38 Marc Leishman 70-69-70-64-273
T38 Matt Jones 70-69-66-68-273
T64 Jason Day 73-70-72-65-280
T64 Cam Davis 68-69-74-69-280
European Tour
Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters
Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
Winner Matthew Fitzpatrick 71-68-70-69-278 €489,750
T2 Min Woo Lee 73-71-67-70-281 €249,687.50
T4 Ryan Fox 70-69-74-69-282 €93,328.57
58 Jason Scrivener 73-68-77-76-294 €9,768.75
MC Scott Hend 78-74-152
MC Michael Campbell 80-83-163
Japan Golf Tour
Japan Open Golf Championship
Biwako Country Club, Shiga
Winner Shaun Norris 67-64-64-70-265 ¥42,000,000
T21 Todd Sinnott 68-68-70-73-279 ¥1,795,500
MC David Bransdon 70-73-125
Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series – New York
Glen Oaks Club, Old Westbury, New York
Individual competition:
Winner Charley Hull 69-70-65-204
T20 Gabriela Ruffels 69-71-76-216
T45 Whitney Hillier 76-75-71-222
T51 Stephanie Kyriacou 75-73-75-223
Team competition:
Winners Team J. Korda and Team Popov -41
T6 Team Kyriacou -34
T10 Team Pederson (Hillier) -33
28 Team Ruffels -17
Challenge Tour
Empordà Challenge
Empordà Golf, Girona, Spain
Winner Julien Brun 65-65-67-69-266 €32,000
47 Blake Windred 70-67-72-69-278 €900
MC Daniel Hillier 71-69-140
MC Josh Geary 69-73-142
MC Dimitrios Papadatos 68-74-142
Champions Tour
SAS Championship
Prestonwood CC, Cary, North Carolina
Winner Lee Janzen 67-70-67-204 (won in a playoff)
T12 Stuart Appleby 68-70-70-208
T16 Steven Alker 69-70-70-209
T34 John Senden 70-72-72-214
T39 Rod Pampling 72-71-72-215
T46 Stephen Leaney 72-72-72-216
T46 David McKenzie 72-72-72-216
T67 Robert Allenby 78-69-73-220