10 Things you missed: Ryder Cup Updates, FedEx Cup changes and three maiden Tour victories
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10 Things you missed: The European Ryder Cup team gets closer to being finalised, the FedEx Cup is set for a shake up, DJ hits Jack Nicklaus’ old clubs and Jordan Spieth’s former roommate wins wire-to-wire on Web.Com Tour
Europe’s Top 8 Ryder Cup players confirmed
Thorbjorn Olesen stood firm at the Made in Denmark on Sunday, with neither Matt Fitzpatrick or Eddie Pepperell able to dislodge the Dane from the final qualification spot in the European Standings.
Olesen will become the fifth rookie in the 2018 Ryder Cup side, joining Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Noren, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari and Justin Rose as the first eight players to be confirmed.
The United States team confirmed their top eight a couple of weeks ago, which consists of: Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson.
Most of the wildcard picks are set to be made this week, with European Captain Thomas Bjorn announcing his four choices at 2pm on Wednesday, while Furyk will name his first three picks a day earlier at 10pm BST. He will then announce his final pick after the BMW Championships on Monday, September 10th.
Matt Wallace gave European Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjorn a lot to think about as he claimed his third title of the season at the Made in Denmark
Matt Wallace rallied with five birdies over his final six holes in Denmark on Sunday to make it in to a four-man playoff as he made a last-ditch bid for his place in the European Ryder Cup side.
Wallace, who won the Hero Indian Open in March and the BMW International Open in June, posted a final-round 67 at Silkeborg Ry Golf Club to get to 19-under-par with fellow Englishmen Lee Westwood, Jonathan Thompson and Steven Brown.
Both Brown and Wallace managed to get it to within six feet on the first playoff hole to make birdies and elimate Westwood and Thompson. At the next, Wallace once again put it close to make his second birdie in a row to take the title.
For Wallace the timing was perfect as he took himself out of consideration for the European Ryder Cup squad in to contention for a Wildcard spot, which he said would mean ‘everything’. If he doesn’t make it, Wallace will join Johan Edfors as the only player to win three times in a Ryder Cup year and not make the Team (which happened in 2006).
“I’ve stepped up to the mark and I’ve shown him exactly what I’m about,” Wallace said of Bjorn and his Ryder Cup chances. “If he doesn’t pick me then that’s absolutely fine but if he does, he knows he’s going to get exactly that in his team.
“I set myself positions where I have to do things and, more often than not, I get it done. I’m very fortunate to have done it when I needed to in a few tournaments now.
“When my back’s against the wall, I don’t shy away from pushing myself off there and trying to get the job done and I kept saying to myself at the end there, ‘you can make this, you have done everything to be able to make this putt’, and I did it. Super happy.”
Dustin Johnson took on Jack Nicklaus’ old clubs
Dustin Johnson hit Jack Nicklaus’ old 1 iron and Persimmon driver while with Nicklaus and Gary Player at the Bears Club last week, and it went probably as you’d expect… FAR.
DJ, who called the experience ‘some fun prep work’ for the Dell Technologies Championship, launched the persimmon driver 290 yards and the 1 Iron 232 yards.
Modest Golf’s Jack Singh Brar claimed his maiden European Challenge Tour title
Jack Singh Brar, who is one of Niall Horan’s Modest Golf athletes, moved up over 150 places in the official World golf rankings and took a step closer to earning his European Tour card following his first victory on the Challenge Tour on Sunday.
The 21-year-old Englishman began the day with a three shot advantage and eventually claimed his maiden title by the same margin with a final round three-under 67.
Brar, whose other professional victory came on the Alps Tour earlier this year, has been a consistent performer on the Challenge Tour, posting four top 10 and now a victory in 13 starts. And the win takes him a step closer to earning his European Tour card for 2019 as one of the top 15 finishers in the season-long rankings, moving him up to 11th.
“It’s never easy playing with the lead so I guess I just had to pick my times to be aggressive,” he said.
“It was quite an upbeat sort of round though, so I just had to manage myself and make really good decisions, and when I did get out of position, I got it up and down, which was key.
“At the start of the year I would have been happy to have been on the Challenge Tour for two years before making it to the European Tour,” he said. “Now, hopefully I’ve done it in one, so it’s a dream come true.”
The FedEx Cup points system is set for an overhaul in 2019, according to reports
Although yet to be confirmed by the PGA Tour, reports have indicated that starting from 2019 the FedEx Cup points system is set to be replaced by something more simple heading in to the final event of the year.
According to the Associated Press, the PGA Tour are finalising a revamp which would see a new scoring format for the Tour Championship in addition to the leading player from the regular season awarded a cash bonus.
At the moment, points are reset heading in to the final event so that all 30 players who qualified for the Tour Championship had a chance to mathmatically win the FedEx Cup- with any of the top five players being guaranteed the victory if they win at East Lake. It means that throughout the tournament predictions are constantly being adjusted with continuous TV projections of points during the four days of competiton.
The new proposed scoring format for the Tour Championship would see the leader beginning the tournament a 10-under-par, with the rest of the 30-man field staggered based on their position – likely to refocus the attention on the FedEx Cup rather than the attention being split between the title race and Tour Championship, as it was last year with Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas.
Jordan Spieth’s former roommate goes Wire-to-Wire on Web.Com
A few years ago, Kramer Hickok accepted an invite from fellow University of Texas Alum Jordan Spieth to live with him after he graduated to help him carve out his career as a professional golfer, rather than moving back in with his mum and dad.
He only recently moved after a few years of living with Spieth but on Sunday, Hickok completed his first wire to wire victory on the Web.Com Tour and is set to join his former roommate next season on the PGA Tour.
Hickok had already earned one of the 25 cards from the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list, but was looking to improve his PGA Tour status on Sunday. He followed up a course record-matching 63 on Thursday with a 67 on Friday and back-to-back 2-under 68s to finish three shots clear of Hunter Mahan and Matt Jones at Canterbury Golf Club and earn $180,000 to push his season total to $373,635.
”Wire-to-wire has been one of my goals,” said Hickok, who was the Canadian tour player of the year last season and has become the first Web.com player to accomplish the feat this year.
”Not only to win, but to face that pressure being on top of the leaderboard every single day and know that you can play to your best ability is one of the things that I wanted to come to in my practice and the mental work that I do. It’s been a long way coming. Earlier in the year, I kind of fell back when I had the lead and felt a little uncomfortable. I still did today, but it’s nice to be able to put up a good round.”
Below, both Spieth and Hickok talk about their relationship – with Hickok full of gratitude for Spieth’s genorostiy.
Marina Alex comes from six shots back to win first LPGA title
Marina Alex was trailing overnight leader Georgia Hall by six shots before the final round of the Cambia Portland Classic on Sunday, but by the turn she held the lead.
She had birdied five holes in a row to close out her front nine with a six-under par 30, moving to 18-under-par and holding a two shot lead over Hall, who struggled with two dropped shots and a birdie-free front nine of 38.
Alex made further gains at the 12th and 15th holes, and it was only on the final hole did she ask her caddie where the stood – having incredibly avoided looking at the leaderboard all day. It was nothing but good news for Alex, who held a four shot leading heading down the last.
It would be a final hole bogey, but the result would be the same as she won the title by four shots over Ricoh Women’s British Open Champion Hall to win her first LPGA Tour title after 124 events.
“I kind of just pretended all day that I was behind and that I needed to play catch-up,” Alex said. “I think it really helped me just play my best.”
Tony Romo makes it through first stage of Web.Com qualifying due to DQ
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo made it through the first stage of Web.Com Tour qualifying after initially missing our by a single shot.
Romo, 38, finished with a 2-over 74 at Lantana Golf Club on Friday and to end up in a tie for 37th, one shot outside of the top 36 and ties that made it through.
However, it transpired that another player was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard, moving Romo into the top 36 as one of 39 players to advance through the first stages in an attempt to gain a Web.Com Tour card.
Durant misses tap-in, ends up losing by one stroke…
Following in the footsteps of Jordan Spieth’s miss last week, Joe Durant went to tap in his gimmie-distance par-putt in to the cup on Sunday… only to see it lip out and end up further away than it started.
Durant had led the PGA Tour Champions’ Shaw Charity Classic until bogeys on the 13th and 15th had dropped him back in to a share of the lead with Scott McCarron. This unlikely miss on the par-four 17th set him two back as McCarron made his for birdie, and a final hole birdie still left him one shot shy of a playoff. Ouch!
The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR is available for digital download on Playstation 4, Xbox One X and Windows PC – and launches with a new publisher
The PGA Tour has returned to XBox and Playstation consoles , only this time there’s no EA Sports logo or picture of Rory on the front.
Developed by HB Studios, The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR marks the award-winning golf simulation franchise’s first release featuring the official PGA TOUR license, which will take players on a journey through Q-School, the Web.com Tour and a 32 tournament PGA Tour season with it’s latest ‘Career Mode’.
The game is available for digital download on the PlayStation®4, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, and Windows PC. Physical versions of the game will be available soon.
As it stands, the game will not feature licensed golfers so you can’t play as or against Tiger or Rory, but you can design your own courses and run tournaments online.
And in conjunction with the digital release, the games company 2K have today announced that they are partnering with HB Studios to publish The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR®.
The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR: About the game
➤ Improved ball physics, swing mechanics, swing feedback and other core gameplay mechanics;
➤ Unparalleled visual fidelity powered by award-winning and industry-leading SpeedTree® technology often used in top blockbuster games and films;
➤ Overhauled user interface delivering a fresh look and feel.
PGA TOUR Career Mode:
➤Players will embark on an authentic journey through Q-School and the Web.com Tour, earning the right to play in a 32-tournament PGA TOUR season;
➤ Season play includes beautifully precise replicas of PGA TOUR courses that are accurate down to one-meter of resolution of the real-life courses;
➤ Players will forge rivalries and land sponsorships en route to competing in the FedExCup Playoffs, with the ultimate goal of becoming a FedExCup Champion.
Finally, The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR will now include a robust online multiplayer system for matchmaking and private matches:
➤Players will compete on featured courses through matchmaking or choose from any available course for private matches;
➤ Go head to head to play as a team with friends in any one of six game formats, including the new additions of Skins and Alt-Shot.
