What you missed: Rory and Lexi’s wins, Day’s new caddie, a 57, and MBE’s for Hall and Brown
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What you missed: From Rory’s record-breaking triump and Lexi’s eagle finish for victory to Jason Day’s new caddie, MBE’s for Hall and Brown and the college golfer that shot a 57!
Rory McIlroy set a new record with a seven-shot victory at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday for his second PGA Tour title of the year, while Lexi Thompson eagled her 72nd hole to edge out last week’s Women’s U.S Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 by a shot.
But it wasn’t just a good outing for the winners, as Portrush native Graeme McDowell secured his qualifying spot for the Open at his home course next month with a top 10 in Canada.
Off the course, Georgia Hall and Ken Brown have both been awarded MBE’s in the Queen’s birthday honours list, while Charl Schwartzel’s chance at competiting for a fifth time in the Presidents Cup looks in jeopardy as he is sidelined for the rest of the season with a wrist injury.
Elsewhere, one college golfer shattered Webb Simpson’s record with an astonishing 15-under 57, and Jason Day is set to have a familiar face on the bag for this week’s U.S Open.
Click on the links below to jump to each story.
• Rory’s record setting win in Canada
• Gmac secures Open homecoming at Portrush
• Lexi Thompson’s final hole eagle to win
• Thailand win thrilling GolfSixes final against England
• Queen’s honours for Georgia Hall & Ken Brown
• Steve Williams to caddie for Jason Day
• Charl Schwartzel out for rest of the season with wrist injury
• College golfer shoots 57!!
• Teen DQ’d after going to bathroom in U.S Open qualifier
Rory McIlroy’s record setting RBC Candian Open win
Rory McIlroy claimed his second PGA Tour title of the year at the RBC Candian Open on Sunday with a final round 61 to break the tournament record by five shots.
The World No.4 missed his first cut of 2019 at Memorial but recaptured the form he’s shown all year with nine birdies, an eagle and two bogeys on Sunday on his first trip to Hamilton Golf and Country Club, finishing on 22-under-par for the week and seven shots clear of second place.
But what is staggering, is that it could have been so much better. In his first appearance at this event McIlroy was standing on the 18th tee at 10-under for his round and in need of a birdie for a 59 – a score few can boast about posting.
He ended up in the greenside bunker with his approach shot to the last, and needed to hole out for an extra record in the books. He gave his shot a good go, but went on to miss his putt for 60 after Webb Simpson holed a chip of his own to share second place with Shane Lowry.
“I had a chance to shoot 59. Sorry for being disappointed up here,” said McIlroy. “I played 17 wonderful holes. I was 10-under through 17 holes and I shot 4-under on the back nine with two bogeys, so that was pretty good too.
“I think by the time I got to the 14th tee I wasn’t really thinking of winning the tournament. I was thinking of trying to shoot 59. I had to reassess my goals a little bit in the middle of that back nine.
“This is what I feel I can do. I’ve been able to do it before. It was nice to get back to that feeling. It’s been a while since I won by a few shots. I think it’s going back to Quail Hollow in Charlotte in 2015. Won by seven there.”
Going home: Gmac secures Open spot in hometown with lengthy par-putt at RBC Canadian Open
Graeme McDowell stole a huge amount of the spotlight in the lead up to Rory McIlroy’s victory at the RBC Canadian Open for one particular reason: If he could finish inside the top 10, he had a chance of qualifying for The Open Championship in July.
This year, the Open is being played in McDowell’s hometown of Royal Portrush – at the famous course he knows exceptionally well, and his brother works at.
It was something that had played on his mind all year, and he got the job done on Sunday – holing a 29 foot par-putt on the last to secure his place with a final round two-under 68 to finish tied 8th with Danny Willett and Henrik Stenson.
“I think I had reasonable belief in myself that I was going to be able to take care of it one of these weeks. Obviously as the pressure started to build, it was going to be more difficult as it went along,” said McDowell.
“Obviously very proud to have got one of the Open Championship spots and get that little monkey off my back and let me go and play some golf the next few weeks.”
Lexi Thompson eagles final hole to WIN LPGA ShopRite
Lexi Thompson made sure she finished her round in style with a 72nd hole eagle to deny US Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 a second straight victory on Tour.
Thompson, who has now won in each of the last seven seasons on the LPGA Tour, was two shots behind after the 15th but rallied with a birdie on 16 and a final hole eagle to set the clubhouse lead at 12-under-par with a three-under 67.
Meanwhile Lee6, who had three dropped shots in a row from the 13th, also made a birdie at 16, but couldn’t match Thompson’s eagle on the last and ended up one shot short.
“It was a long day,” Thompson said. “It was just a matter of trusting my shots out there and really committing to my lines and just keeping it below the wind, but I knew there was going to be holes that were going to play really tough and I could possibly bogey, but I knew at the same time that there were birdie holes out there, so I just tried to stay patient.”
The win, said Thompson, meant a lot to her as it was the place where she made her LPGA Tour debut as a teenager.
“It means the world to me to get this win here. I made my pro debut here in 2010 coming into the tournament with a NASCAR, and it was so many great memories, making my pro debut here. I didn’t play great the first year I was here. Haven’t had too many successes here, honestly, and to come out this year, I knew I was playing well coming into the event, and I always know that it can get very windy out there, so it’s all a matter of just controlling your ball flight, really playing for the bounce-out, and being calm on those greens because even though it’s that windy, it can affect putts, as well. Just to get this win here, there’s a lot of great memories, not only 2010 but now 2019.”
Thailand beat England to win GolfSixes
After Thongchai Jaidee aced the final hole in Thailand’s group stages match against defending champions Ireland, it was evident the Thai side would be ones to watch. He and partner Phacara Khongwatmai proved to be just that, displacing Scotland in the quarter finals 3-1 and Spain in the semi-finals.
It left them in a head-to-head with English pair Tom Lewis and Paul Waring, who had defeated both Sweden and Italy on their way to the final.
Thailand went ahead at the first after Waring failed to find the green with his second, but England drew level at the third after Lewis almost had an ace of his own at the par-three.
From there, it looked like the match would go in England’s favour: Jaidee needed a par save on five to keep the match level, and Waring set-up a five-footer for birdie to take the match on the last. But a miss from Lewis sent the match to a play-off, and he missed another putt inside seven feet for the win at the next, which forced the final to a nearest the pin competition. At the final hole, a brilliant shot from Khongwatmai to six feet secured the victory.
Tiger Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams is coming out of retirement to caddie for Jason Day at the U.S Open
Steve Williams – who was on the bag of Tiger Woods for 13 of his 15 major titles – is set to come out of retirement to caddie for Jason Day at the U.S Open at Pebble Beach this week.
According to Golf Channel, Day and Williams were spotted together at Pebble on Saturday, and the former World No.1 later confirmed the pairing for the third major of the year.
Williams, who also caddied for Adam Scott during his 2013 Masters victory, retired from caddying in 2017 but will now be hoping to add another major accolade to his name with the World No.16. And it’s a place he knows well. After all, Willams helped Woods to his record breaking U.S Open victory here in 2000 – when he won by 15 strokes.
Day, who has had longtime friend Luke Reardon on the bag since 2017, refused to comment on whether the move to have Williams as his caddie could be a permanent one, but Williams has stepped up for the likes of Danielle Kang, Ryan Fox and others, for one off tournaments in the past year.
Searching for his first victory since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, Jason Day is coming in to this major with a mixed bag of results this season, though he did finish T5 at the Masters and was T4 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year.
Georgia Hall and Ken Brown make Queen’s Honours List
Georgia Hall, the 2018 Women’s British Open champion, and Ken Brown, a multiple European Tour winner, Ryder Cup player and broadcaster, have both been awarded MBE’s in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
“I am unbelievably honoured to be receiving an MBE,” said Hall, 23, who gripped the nation when she won her first major title at Royal Lytham last year.
“It has been so hard for me to keep this amazing news a secret from everyone, so I am really happy to be able to talk about it now. It’s a huge boost for my confidence ahead of a busy summer of tournaments and I think it’s so awesome for women’s golf to be recognised in this way. Sixteen years ago, I picked up a club and fell in love with the game and just loved hitting the ball again and again. I must say that still hasn’t changed!”
Brown, who is a well-known figure on TV and radio, played in five Ryder Cups and won six European Tour titles, was equally pleased with his award.
“What a big surprise, and an amazing honour, to receive the MBE in the Birthday Honours. Massive thank you for all your messages and everyone’s kindness over the years.”
Charl Schwartzel to miss rest of season with injury
Charl Schwartzel is set to miss the rest of the reason with a ‘frustrating’ wrist injury that he needs to give time to heal.
The South African, who won the Masters in 2011, has had one top 10 and seven missed cuts this year, and has not played since the RBC Heritage in April.
College golfer shoots a 57! in amateur competition
Forget about Rory McIlroy’s run for a near-59, college golfer Alex Ross went two better. Ross, who is a student at Davidson’s college, shot an unbelievable 15-under-par round during his first round at the Dogwood Invitational on Thursday.
Speaking to Golf Channel afterwards, Ross said, “My phone is a mess right now, I can’t even comprehend what’s going on. … I’m still kind of in shock right now.”
Breaking the previous course record of 60 – set by former champion Webb Simpson – Ross began his round with a chip in eagle on 10 (his first), with 13 other birdies – including on seven of his final 10.
Teen DQ’d for bathroom break at U.S Open sectional
Another week, another rules issue hits the headlines.
According to Golfweek, 16-year-old Skylar Fox was disqualified during one of last week’s U.S Open sectional qualifying events at Woodmont County Golf Club after failing to return his scorecard ‘promptly’ after his round.
Fox was six-over after round one, and according to the teenager, had begun to suffer a severe headache and ran to his car afterwards to get medicine and use the bathroom. By the time he came back, his father and coach were arguing with an official about the DQ and the transparency of the wording.
“The kid had to go to the bathroom,” said Joe Fox, Skyler’s father. “He said he couldn’t wait. What do you do? You gotta go, you gotta go, unfortunately. … It wasn’t like he was winning the thing. So, would it have really killed you to let him finish?”
“They told me I was disqualified because I didn’t get to the scoring table in time, which made no sense,” said Skylar. “I was pretty upset. I mean, there was a good chance I wasn’t going to make it . I was going to have to shoot really low. But I wanted to go out there and put a respectable score up.”
But according to Golfweek, the USGA told them he ‘went to lunch’, while Craig Winter, USGA Senior Director of Rules of Golf and Amateur Status, said there was no mention of a headache. He said if there had been, it may have played out differently.
“That would have changed the calculus of what this whole situation looked like significantly,” Winter said, referring to Fox’s statement that he went to retrieve medicine for a headache. “It’s well established in the rule that players, should they become suddenly ill, have time to figure out, recuperate, see if they can continue. And that’s no different if you just started your round or you’re returning to scoring.”
