At the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane, local athlete Elvis Smylie defeated the former British Open champion Cameron Smith to win the Australian PGA Championship.
The 22-year-old Queenslander finished the tournament at 14-under, making a four-under-par 67. Moreover, Australian Smith finished two shots behind on 12-uner with a final score of 69, while fellow countrymen Marc Leishman (69) and Anthony Quayle (63) were one shot behind him.
After his win, the athlete said: “It’s a dream come true… I won’t forget this day playing with Cam and (Marc Leishman).”
He added: “They’re guys I’ve looked up to since I was a kid and to be in their presence and to have the chance to compete against them for a title, I’ve learned so much. I’m so grateful and so honored right now.”
Smylie’s athletic performance
Smylie got off to a great start, making consecutive birdies to climb to 12-under. However, he really took control at the sixth hole, where he made his lead over Smith to two shots after the three-time champion bogeyed the same hole.
The Australian only picked up one shot after four birdies and three bogeys, falling three shots behind, while Smylie had gained four shots by the time they reached the turn. Smylie remained firm despite becoming unstable off the tee, making a 30-foot putt to save par at the 12th.
Smith had chipped in at the 17th to decrease Smylie’s advantage to two strokes and intensify the pressure heading down the last moments of the game. Several feet after Smylie made his attempt, Smith was unable to hole his shot from the sand.
Smylie stated: “My short game was great, I definitely saved myself in that department… I was pretty average off the tee but golf is a game of imperfection and today was a sign of that.”
Following a thrilling three-man playoff at Wentworth, Billy Horschel defeated Rory McIlroy and Thriston Lawrence to win the BMW PGA Championship and earn a $1.53 million winner’s cheque.
After his victory, the athlete said: “I am thrilled, excited for the way I played. At the same time, I am a little disappointed. Rory is a really good friend of mine, he is a generational talent and he has been so close this year…I feel for him but I am also excited… There was a lot of luck on my side to get this victory today. I will give my all on every shot and grind it out and that is what I did today.”
He added: “That is what you have to do when you are not firing on all cylinders.”
Highlights of the match
After trailing three strokes at the end of the third round, McIlroy had to play catch-up the entire day. However, on the seventeenth hole, he made up ground with an incredible eagle putt from more than 46 feet away, taking the lead.
Lawrence was waiting to see how McIlroy and Horschel would do when he had the opportunity to finish with a birdie, but his putt on the 18th green dropped painfully short, leaving him at 20-under.
On the par-five 18th hole, McIlroy escaped a bullet when his approach found the rough close to the sea. He set himself up for a birdie by chipping it over the water, but could only manage a par.
Horschel nearly lost the playoff with a birdie on the 18th hole, forcing a three-way playoff in which he even chipped the ball out of a bunker to remain in the running. Horschel was devastated to miss the opportunity to win the championship with an eagle.
All three players ended at 20 under par overall. In the first playoff at the event in eleven years, Lawrence lost the first round after bogeying the 18th hole and reaching the water. Horschel and McIlroy then squared off for the championship.
After taking home the trophy in 2014, McIlroy was hoping to win it again, and he once again made a birdie on the 18th hole. However, Horschel held his composure and made history by becoming the first American to win the event twice.
In preparation for defending his US PGA Championship title, American Brooks Koepka won the LIV Singapore event. Koepka finished on 15 under, two strokes ahead of Australia’s Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith, after scoring a final-round 68 at three under par.
Koepka said. “It’s all starting to come around. I’ve put in a lot of work and I like the way things are trending… I just need to go back next week and make sure everything continues, do the right stuff and go from there.”
To become the first golfer to win four titles in the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf League, Koepka led by three shots into the final round. He finished with four birdies and one bogey.
Koepka’s consistency
After the successes of his plays, he admitted, “I just played very consistently and happy with the way I played all week… I made a couple of clutch putts today and the ball-striking was solid. I didn’t really think I made too many mistakes. And that’s a great feeling when it kind of feels easy.”
Tyrrell Hatton of England shot 66 to finish at 11 under, while Jon Rahm of Spain was two strokes behind with a 67 to finish at nine under. Adrian Otaegui of Spain also prevailed in the China Open on the DP World Tour due to an outstanding 65-stroke final round.
Additionally, Otaegui recorded seven birdies to set a clubhouse target of eighteen under par. He began the final round five strokes behind leader Sebastian Soderberg.
It proved to be sufficient for victory as Soderberg, who went to the 18th level alongside Otaegui only to hit a double bogey, finished on 16 under, while Guido Migliozzi finished second on 17 under. Paul Waring of England also shot a final-round 69 to tie for 16 under.
At Pinehurst No. 2, Bryson DeChambeau emerged victorious from the US Open for the second time, extending Rory Mcllroy’s agonizing ten-year wait for a fifth major championship by at least one more round.
One of just twelve players from the rebel LIV Golf series in the 156-player field, the 30-year-old American frittered away a three-shot overnight lead before mounting a dramatic comeback from two strokes behind. He held his composure in a match of intense psychological competition that left McIlroy regretting a string of unforced errors in the closing minutes.
Over the final three holes, McIlroy missed two easy putts from inside three feet, including one from 26 inches for par on the 72nd, which left DeChambeau with just a four-stroke requirement to win the championship.
With his win, DeChambeau declared: “I still can’t believe that up-and-down… Probably the best shot of my life.”
In the history of the US Open, he became the fifth player, aged 30 or under, to win the tournament multiple times. He now stands with Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, and Brooks Koepka as members of these elite athletes.
Highlights of the game
Despite early misfortune and several poor breaks, DeChambeau recovered to save pars from drives that found a fairway divot on the first and a bunker on the second. After a bogey on the fourth, his advantage dropped to one, but McIlroy immediately regained the lead when, in the aftermath of what seemed to be a highlight-reel approach wedge shot that trailed all the way down the hill and into the native sandy region, he was fortunate to save bogey.
The clouds that provided cover from the 90F (32C) temperatures broke by the time McIlroy made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 9th hole, moving him into sole possession of second place at five under and one shot behind DeChambeau’s lead. The leaders continued playing despite the changes in weather conditions.
On the 10th hole, McIlroy eventually tied the score when DeChambeau curled in his biggest putt of the week from 27 feet for a second consecutive birdie, sending the crowd around the green into a commotion. With a well-placed pitch near following a mishit fairway shot and a birdie putt, DeChambeau surged ahead on the tenth hole, On the 11th green, McIlroy lined up a birdie putt and heard the applause from behind him. However, he missed by inches and was still one stroke behind the leader.
Shortly after DeChambeau made a stunning par save on the 11th hole, McIlroy made another difficult putt to reach seven-under and reclaim the lead on the 12th. Mcllroy struck a shot off the 13th tee that sailed into the pine straw to the right of the fairway. On number 13, DeChambeau came dangerously close to missing an eagle putt while taking his time clearing a drive into the natural area. He then cleared for birdie to go within striking distance of the lead. The leaders were tied at seven under par when McIlroy made a stroke on the 16th hole.
On the 72nd hole, McIlroy chipped and ran to within three feet after hitting a driver into the bushes. After that, he had to make a putt from 26 inches to maintain his lead, but he missed two more during the final three holes, thus giving the title to DeChambeau, who had to make a par from a debatable lie to win it all. DeChambeau hit it four yards from the pin.
The entire match was thrilling. At the end, DeChambeau remarked: “Rory is one of the best to ever play. Being able to fight against a great like that is pretty special… For him to miss that putt, I’d never wish it on anybody. It just happened to play out that way.”
American golfer Matt McCarty won his first PGA Tour title at the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Utah, guaranteeing him a spot at the Masters and PGA Championship the following year.
With his three-shot victory over Stephan Jaeger of Germany, the 26-year-old left-hander athlete earned a two-year exemption. This was also McCarty’s first season on the tour.
After achieving a four-under-par 67 shot to finish on 23 under, the athlete declared: “It’s been an unbelievable last few months… It was a lot of fun (and a) pretty surreal moment.”
In a social media post, McCarty declared: “First trophy on TOUR 🏆”
The athlete secured his tour spot this year after winning three times on the development Korn Ferry Tour.
Highlights of the match
McCarty had a two-stroke lead over Jaeger, Joe Highsmith, Kevin Steelman, and Harris English as the match entered the final round. The final had been reduced to one with five holes remaining.
An eagle two on the par-four secured victory for McCarty, as he made two more birdies and a bogey before celebrating his success with his caddie and family.
Ensuring his spot at this month’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, Ewen Ferguson won the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany by a total of two strokes.
After finishing the final round at four under par (68), the 28-year-old athlete secured his third DP World Tour victory and his first since 2022. This put him at 18 under overall. Moreover, Ferguson’s countryman Connor Syme shared fourth place on 14 under with England’s Matthew Southgate, rounding out the top five.
Ferguson is the first Scottish golfer to win a DP World Tour event since Robert MacIntyre’s triumph at the Italian Open in 2022. Only two Scots, Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie, have won the Munich event in the past.
On qualifying at the Open Championship
Ferguson played in the Hoylake Open Championship the previous year and qualified for the Race to Dubai this year as one of the top five players who is not otherwise exempt. The Open this year is held on the shore of Ayrshire from July 18–21.
With this success, the athlete declared: “I honestly can’t believe it… The last four holes I felt like I was in a dream, I just didn’t think this was actually happening. It was crazy.”
“The exemption with this is so much weight off my shoulders. I’m so happy. Teeing it up in Troon, the Open Championship is a tournament that everyone wants to play in and I feel like I could do well there and the Scottish Open next week too… It’s such exciting times for me.” he added.
