24 Jul 2023 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Day one of four top-five finishes
by Tony Webeck
Jason Day’s runner-up result at The Open Championship was just one of four top-five finishes logged by Aussies around the world.
Day shot 2-under 69 in the final round at Royal Liverpool Golf Club to earn a tie for second six shots back of American Brian Harman and tied with Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka and Tom Kim.
In the process, the 2015 US PGA champion became just the ninth player in the history of men’s championship golf to finish second in all four majors, joining an illustrious group that includes Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson, Greg Norman, Louis Oosthuizen, Craig Wood and Dustin Johnson.
Injury-free for the first time in many years, Day is projected to move to No.21 in the Official World Golf Rankings, his highest position in almost four years to the day.
A winner at the AT&T Byron Nelson two months ago, the 35-year-old again has the belief that he can add to his major tally.
“Obviously you want to win every week, but the majors are the ones that you want to win,” said a drenched Day after a rain-soaked final round.
“People ask how many tournaments you’ve got, but they always look at how many major championships you’ve got, as well.
“At some point I’m going to get off one and get my second one.”
Another who has shown a penchant for majors early in her career is Gabi Ruffels.
Ruffels solidified her place at the top of the Epson Tour’s Race For The Card standings with a third-place finish at the Twin Bridges Championship in New York, finishing just one shot outside of the playoff won by American Jenny Bae, her second win in just three starts.
Queensland’s Robyn Choi shot the equal-best round of the day -5-under 66 - in the final round to finish tied for fifth, her third top-10 finish in her past four starts to climb to No.18 in the season-long points race.
The Australasian presence was strong, too, on the LET Access Series.
A tie for third at the Trust Golf Links Series at Ramside Hall Golf Club in England is Stephanie Bunque’s best international result as Kelsey Bennett and New Zealand’s Hanee Song earned a share of sixth, four shots from the winner Lianna Bailey.
LPGA Tour Veteran Sarah Kemp teamed up with Canadian Alena Sharp to shoot 60 in the final round and finish eighth at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, Karis Davidson and Daniel Darquea three shots further back in a tie for 13th.
Results
The Open Championship Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, England 1 Brian Harman 67-65-69-70—271 €2,692,272 T2 Jason Day 72-67-69-69—277 €973,368.51 T33 Adam Scott 72-73-71-69—285 €75,484.58 T33 Cameron Smith 72-72-68-73—285 €75,484.58 T41 Min Woo Lee 71-68-72-75—286 €52,701.22 T52 Ryan Fox (NZ) 78-67-69-74—288 €38,978.12 MC Lucas Herbert 71-76—147 MC Travis Smyth 78-72—150 MC Daniel Hillier (NZ) 78-73—151 MC Haydn Barron 74-77—151 MC David Micheluzzi 77-75—152 MC Connor McKinney 76-77—153 MC Harrison Crowe (a) 76-80—156
PGA TOUR Barracuda Championship Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood), Truckee, California 1 Akshay Bhatia (+6)-(+8)-(+17)-(+9)—40 $US684,000 Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff T28 Jason Scrivener (+8)-(+6)-(+7)-(+9)—30 $27,170 MC Aaron Baddeley (+5)-(+5)—10 MC Harrison Endycott (+7)-(-2)—5 MC Geoff Ogilvy (+6)-(-2)—4
LPGA Tour Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational Midland Country Club, Midland, Michigan 1 C. Knight/E. Szokol 69-61-62-65—257 $US326,872 ea 8 S. Kemp/A. Sharp 69-64-71-60—264 $38,404 ea T13 K. Davidson/D. Darquea 71-66-68-62—267 $22,777 ea T26 H. Green/S. Oh 71-66-72-62—271 $8,580 ea MC S.J. Smith/L. Ridderstrom 69-69—138
LET Access Series Trust Golf Links Series Ramside Hall Ramside Hall GC, England 1 Lianna Bailey 71-67-75—213 €6,400 T3 Stephanie Bunque 70-72-73—215 €2,270 T6 Kelsey Bennett 70-74-73—217 €1,240 T6 Hanee Song (NZ) 72-72-73—217 €1,240 T11 Wenyung Keh (NZ) 70-76-73—219 €766.67 T25 Kristalle Blum 73-75-76—224 €505.33 MC Amy Walsh 76-77—153 MC Stefanie Hall 79-74—153 MC Munchin Keh (NZ) 75-78—153
Korn Ferry Tour Price Cutter Charity Championship Highland Springs Country Club, Springfield, Missouri 1 Pierceson Coody 63-68-65-67—263 $US180,000 T32 Curtis Luck 68-69-64-71—272 $6,350 T67 Rhein Gibson 68-66-71-75—280 $3,930 T74 Dimi Papadatos 71-67-71-74—283 $3,800 MC Brett Drewitt 70-71—141 MC Steven Bowditch 77-87—164
Ladies European Tour La Sella Open La Sella Golf, Spain 1 Nuria Iturrioz 68-70-67—205 €150,000 Won in sudden death playoff T35 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 69-71-76—216 €7,550 T46 Kirsten Rudgeley 71-75-72—218 €4,728.57
Challenge Tour Big Green Egg German Challenge Wittelsbacher Golfclub, Neuburg an der Donau, Germany 1 Francesco Laporta 69-70-70-72—281 €40,000 MC Jordan Zunic 72-75—147 MC Hayden Hopewell 77-78—155
PGA TOUR CANADA Commissionaires Ottawa Open Eagle Creek Golf Club, Dunrobin, Ontario 1 Stuart Macdonald 70-67-63-65—265 Won on the fourth hole of sudden death playoff T35 Jason Hong 72-68-65-71—276 MC Jack Trent 70-73—143 MC Cory Crawford 71-72—143
Epson Tour Twin Bridges Championship Pinehaven Country Club, Guilderland, New York 1 Jenny Bae 65-69-73—207 $US30,000 Won on the fifth hole of sudden death playoff 3 Gabriela Ruffels 69-69-70—208 $13,711 T5 Robyn Choi 69-75-66—210 $7,838 T13 Amelia Garvey (NZ) 69-72-72—213 $3,329 T13 Cassie Porter 67-74-72—213 $3,329 T26 Hira Naveed 69-70-76—215 $1,915
Join our newsletter
Get weekly updates on news, golf tips and access to partner promotions.