By Larry Canning
Often described as the Oscars of the golfing world by some of the most respected sporting icons in Mittagong like… Stevey Sartori who overcame a world class field to claim last week’s Wednesday Stableford at Highlands Golf Club, it’s the “The Larry’s” for 2025!!!
Lets kick off the evening with the “Larry” for having the made the most important cut all year – and the nominees are –
Rasmus Hojgaard had every right to be part of the 2025 Ryder Cup team and be abused by New York’s finest golfing fans but with one tournament to go, the Dane’s Lego house was showing signs of crumbling. He desperately needed to make the cut in the final qualifying event at The Belfrey and did so with a gutsy finish on Friday afternoon and then went on to enjoy a lovely week in New York with his family.
Jordan Gumberg sounds like a fictional character from “Friday the 13th”, and ironically his year on the DP World Tour was nothing short of a Horror Movie. With 11 missed cuts from his last 13 starts, Jord’s was sitting on 127th position on the points list and on the verge of a change of a career and auditioning for the role of a severed head in the upcoming “Friday the 23rd”. The American journeyman scraped through to the weekend then holed an 80 yard wedge on the 72nd hole to snatch back his job for 2026.
The final nominee is Rory Mcilroy who pulled off a miracle at Royal Melbourne by birdieing 3 of his last 4 holes late on Friday afternoon to scrape through to the weekend. There was a strong rumor in the media centre suggesting the Victorian Governments Chief Financial Officer, Charles Cashflow-Smyth was in the back of a limo on the way to the airport to negotiate a part refund.
To present the award please welcome the 2-time major winner who has missed more shaves than Gandalf the grey – John Daly.
And the winner is – Jordan Gumberg.
The next “Larry” is awarded to the owner of an unusual golf swing for 2025
The nominees are –
Ben Griffin won three times on the PGA tour with what I describe as a violent follow through which looks like he is one swing off losing the feeling from the waist down. I was lying on my lounge when he hit a drive at the Zurich Classic and found myself reacting to his swing by finishing up stretched across the coffee table yelling to Sandra for help.
Swedish star, Alex Noran was nominated more for his pre-shot routine than his swing. I’ve heard, as a young bloke, Alex did a lot of his practice on a busy range and one day nearly hit a family member practicing behind him with his follow through. From that day on his practice swing incorporates a twist left to check Nanna is safely out of danger of his through swing.
Jon Rahm is one of the world best players with two major cups and a bag of other trophies on his mantle but sometimes watching his golf club being swung is like trying to make out the look on Oscar Piastri’s face as he drives past the grandstand. Ive heard, when he’s being fitted for a driver, the technician must wear a hard hat.
Here to present the “Larry” for the unusual swing is Scottie Scheffler…. “Careful with that last step Scottie!!” And the winner is – Ben Griffin
Speaking of quick swings, the penultimate “Larry” is awarded to the fastest player on tour for 2025.
The nominations are –
Twice Aussie Open winner Matt Jones is the first name that comes up when we chat about quick players. I was reminded just how fast he is when I spotted him on the par three third at Royal Queensland beginning his swing before his caddy could actually get the club out of the bag! When Jonesy got to the top of his backswing the caddy quickly slapped a 6 iron in his hands before he began his downswing.
When LPGA Star Charlie Hull finished her third round at the Women’s Open this year, and was sitting in the scorer’s tent she passed her card to her playing partner to sign. Turned out she didn’t even know the players sitting next to her as her original playing partners were just putting out on the 17th.
Rickie Fowler is another name synonymous with quick pace of play but some may not be aware of his thoughtful and generous nature. In an PGA tournament this year, he actually offered his playing partner, Patrick Cantlay, who was still in his address position some of his sandwich and a sip from his large drink bottle as it had been quite some time since Patrick actually took his stance.
To present the award we’d like to welcome Kevin Na to the stage but he’s still in the car park. “Matt could you do the honors?” – The winner is Charlie Hull!!
As always, our final “Larry” goes to the player with the funkiest name –
The nominations are –
Wenyi Ding who clearly made the right decision to pursue a career in golf and give away his aspirations to be a panel beater.
Thailand’s Elphant Wu was riding high on the Asian PGA tour until the second half of the year when he suddenly came to a halt winding up a disappointing 20th on the OOM.
We all know just how raw talent just isn’t enough in the world of professional sport and despite being one of the most adored players on the Asian PGA Tour with physical gifts you could only dream of possessing, Thailand’s Prawn Ingkaphradite just couldn’t play out of his own shell.
It’s great to see Sam Bairstow comfortably maintaining his DP World Tour card for 2026. The Englishman was clearly in bad place a couple of years ago after that unfortunate incident at lords with Alex Carey. To present the “Larry” is one of our favourite former winners, Adri Arnus. The winner is – Charlie Hull!!
That’s it for the 2025 “Larrys”, good night and in the words of Charlie… hurry up and leave!!
