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.
History happened at the Jonsson Workwear Open on the DP World Tour when Italian Matteo Manassero recorded 66 in the final round to win in three strokes, and this earned him his very first victory on the said tour after eleven years.
After losing his card back in 2018, Manassero is finally back on tour for the first time in five years. He concluded the tournament on 26 under par, with three shots ahead of other players tied for second place.
Manassero’s long wait
Manassero won the BMW PGA Championship in 2013 before going on a hiatus from the sport for five years. Despite this, he still holds the record for being the youngest champion in the DP World Tour history, which he won in 2010 at the age of 17.
“It has been a crazy journey but in the last few years I knew I was getting back on track,” Manassero said.
“Golf is such a difficult game, I am just so happy to be here now. I played well today, but the guys behind were playing some incredible golf, and every time I looked at the leaderboard it was a new name with more birdies,” he added.
At the Japan Classic, Rio Takeda won against American Marina Alex in a six-hole sudden-death play-off to secure her first LPGA tour title.
Due to the unexpected weather on the day of the competition, the play was shortened to 54 regulation holes. The 21-year-old athlete forced a play-off by birdieing the 18th hole, leaving them at 15 under.
The first play-off hole was birdied by both players, and they both found par on the following four holes. However, on the par-five 18th hole, Takeda made a birdie to seal her win and defeat Alex, who could only manage par.
Takeda has earned a tour card as a result of the play-off victory, which was one of the longest in LPGA history. With this, the athlete said: “I was planning to take Q School in December and now I can skip that and go and play next year on the LPGA tour, which is exciting for me now.”
In a social media post, Takeda also stated (translated): “It’s been a long time until the playoffs, but I think we won the championship thanks to everyone who supported us until the end 😆”
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.”
Golfer Robert MacIntyre and his father wept for joy when he won the RBC Canadian Open, his first PGA Tour title, with his dad serving as his caddie.
MacIntyre, 27, who is without a regular caddie, brought in his father at the last minute when he couldn’t find anyone else.
His father, Dougie, the head greenkeeper at Glencruitten Golf Club in Oban, Scotland, said: “It’s unbelievable. I’m a grasscutter, not a caddie.”.
‘I wanted to win for my dad’
“I’m crying with joy, but I’m laughing because I didn’t think it was possible,” said MacIntyre, a first-time PGA Tour victor on his 45th start.
MacIntyre’s $1.69 million prize money is the biggest financial win by a Scottish golfer at a single event — and enough to fulfil his wish to pay off his parent’s mortgage.
The winner recalled: “I was going down the last and my dad’s trying to tell me to stay focused and swing smooth because [on Saturday] I got a little bit too fast, but in my head I wasn’t listening to him.
“I wanted to win this for my dad. This is the guy who has taught me the game of golf and I just can’t believe I have done this with him on the bag.
“This is just everything for me and family, my girlfriend, my team.”
MacIntyre recovered from a shaky start to win by one on 16 under par at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ontario on Sunday (June 10).
The 27-year-old hit a closing two-under-par 68 to finish ahead of American Ben Griffin with Frenchman Victor Perez a further stroke back and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy on 13 under along with South Korea’s Tom Kim.
MacIntyre is the first Scottish player to win on the PGA Tour since Martin Laird in 2020. His victory secures his place at the US Open, which starts on June 13 at Pinehurst in North Carolina.
Winning his first ATP 500-level title, No. 7 seed Jack Draper defeated Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-5 in the final match of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria.
In a social media post, the athlete expressed: “ATP 500 🏆…Thank you @erstebankopen for an incredible week 😀 #2”
In the second set of the game, Draper was behind as Khachanov rallied to win five straight plays to overcome a 4-0 lead. However, Draper regained control of the match by tying it to 5-5, breaking his opponent’s serve in the 11th game, and coming back from a 15-40 position in the 12th game.
Furthermore, Draper struck 30 winners to Khachanov’s 16, in addition to being exemplary on the net where he also won 14 of 16 points to Khacanov’s 8 of 14.
Twenty-two-year-old Draper’s prior victory on the tour was at Stuttgart, Germany, last June. His opponent, Khachanov, was hoping for his second championship this month after his victory in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
