Weekly Wrap - Week 23

LPGA

Tournament: US Women’s Open

Dates: 4 – 7 June

Course: The Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA

Purse: USD $12.5M

Ozzies in the field: Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Grace Kim, Steph Kyriacou, Karis Davidson, Sarah Hammett (a), Lydia Ko (NZ)

Nelly Korda wins her second major of the year and proves yet again, that she is the best female golfer on the planet. Korda started the tournament with an uncharacteristic two over par 73 and for many golfers this would have been the signal that it was not the week to shine. Korda, however struck back with consecutive rounds of four under 67 and started the last round in the final as joint leader and in the final group of the day.

There was no shortage of competition for Korda at the top of the leaderboard with Charlie Hull, In Gee Chun and Gabi Lopez all making charges with Hull and Lopez posting final scores of seven under before Korda had finished. Korda, herself at seven under, then drained a ten foot birdie putt on 17 to take the outright lead and only needed to par the 18th to take the title. However as we all know winning golf tournaments is not easy and as Korda lined up her 2 ½ foot par putt to clinch the victory we all thought it was a formality. The golf ball had other ideas and gave Korda and all her fans a bit of a heart attack as it looked perilously close to brushing past the outside of the hole but eventually fell in after a half a lap of the lip of the cup.

The win is Korda's fourth major and cements her as one of women golfs greats. She is now just 2 points shy of qualifying for the Hall of Fame. Korda continues to be the salvation for the LPGA. She gives the American market the hero they need to sell tickets and get eyeballs on the game.

Best of the Ozzies were Grace Kim and Karis Davidson who finished T22. Davidson was the last player in the field after Celine Boutier won last week getting her into the field in the winner’s category and opening up a spot for first alternate Davidson.

1st Nelly Korda – USD $2.5M

T22 Karis Davidson - $133,545

T22 Grace Kim - $133,545

T28 Minjee Lee - $94,989

T28 Hannah Green - $94,989

MC Lydia Ko (NZ)

MC Steph Kyriacou

MC Sarah Hammett (a)

LETAS

Tournament: Arkea Montauban Ladies Open

Dates: 5-7 June

Course: Golf de Montauban

Purse: €50,000

Ozzies in the field: Belinda Ji, Kristalle Blum, Amy Walsh, Hannah Reeves, Munchin Keh (NZ)

A great week for Ozzie Kristalle Blum who had a bogey free three under final round to record her best finish on the LETAS Tour at outright second. That finish earns Blum 320 OOM points and moves her into seventh position.

Frenchwomen Lauren Holmey carded a four under final round to take her first professional victory. The win also moves her into first position on the OOM.

1st Lauren Holmey -€8,000

2nd Krystal Blum - €5,300

T16 Belinda Ji - €830

T42 Amy Walsh - €403

MC Munchin Keh (NZ)

MC Hannah Reeves

PGA Tour

Tournament: The Memorial presented by Workday

Dates: 4-7 June

Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, OH

Purse: USD $20.0M

Ozzies in the field: Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Ryan Fox (NZ)

JT Poston went into the final round with a three shot lead but by the 13th hole he was three over for the day and had surrendered that lead. Three birdies in his closing five holes including on the 18th saw him finish equal with Ryan Gerard and the pair headed into a sudden death playoff. Poston got the job done on the second playoff hole after Gerard missed his par putt leaving Poston with four feet for the win and the USD $4.0M pay cheque.

The win also gained Poston entry to next week’s US Open and meant he did not have to go to final 36 hole qualifying the next day, something for which his caddie was very grateful. That entry is courtesy of Poston’s OWGR which climbs into the top 60, the cutoff for the US Open. The win also got Poston entry to The Open at Royal Birkdale.

Best of the Ozzies was Adam Scott at T12.

1st J.T, Poston – USD $4.0M

T12 Adam Scott - $401,800

T27 Ryan Fox (NZ) - $157,500

MC Jason Day

MC Min Woo Lee

Korn Ferry Tour

Tournament: BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNEX

Dates: 4-7 June

Course: Thornblade Club, Greer, SC

Purse: USD $1.0M

Ozzies in the field: Rhein Gibson, Aaron Baddeley

Ben Kohles claimed his fifth Korn Ferry Tour victory winning by four shots over Logan McAllister. Kohles led by six hots going into the final day. Three bogeys early in his round would have made Kohles uncomfortable but he righted the ship with three birdies after that which saw him hang on to win comfortably.

1st Ben Kohles – USD $180,000

MC Rhein Gibson

MC Aaron Baddeley

PGA Champions Tour

Tournament: Senior Family Insurance Championship

Dates: 5-7 June

Course: TP Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Purse: USD $3.0M

Ozzies in the field: Steve Allan, Steve Alker (NZ), Stuart Appleby, David Bransdon, Greg Chalmers, Richard Green, Mark Hensby, Rod Pampling, Percy Cameron, Michael Wright, Scott Hend (3rd Alt)

In this teams format with a first round of best ball, second round of Foursomes (alternate shot) and the final round of best ball, the duo of Darren Clarke and Ben Crane came out on top over the pair of Kenny Perry and George McNeill. The Ozzie team of Greg Chalmers and Cam Percy were right in the hunt all tournament but even a closing round of 66 left them two shots shy of the winning total and in third place.

1st Darren Clark & Ben Crane – USD $600,000

T3 Cameron Percy & Greg Chalmers - $262,000

T5 Richard Green & Mark Hensby - $131,600

T10 Bernhard Langer & Steven Alker (NZ) - $84,000

T17 Steve Allen & David Bransdon - $40,600

T27 Michael Wright & Stuart Appleby - $12,000

T32 Chad Campbell & Rod Pampling - $7,500

DP World Tour

Tournament: KLM Open

Dates: 4-7 June

Course: The International, Amsterdam

Purse: USD $2.75M

Ozzies in the field: Jason Scrivener, David Micheluzzie, Ryan Peake, Anthony Quayle, Connor McKinney, Jack Buchanan, Dan Hillier (NZ), Kazuma Kobori (NZ)

Eugenio Chacarra claimed his second DP World Tour title with a birdie on his final hole to beat Oliver Lindell by a single shot. Chacarra is incredibly open about his desire to move to the PGA Tour and this win takes him to sixth on the OOM and third of those not already with status on the PGA Tour.

Best of the Ozzies was Ryan Peake who finished T32. Peake has had a bad run of form up until now so hopefully this is a turning point for the West Australian.

1st Eugenio Chacarra - €402,463

T14 Dan Hillier (NZ) - €32,095

T28 Kazuma Kobori (NZ) - €21,424

T32 Ryan Peake - €17,913

T58 Jason Scrivener - €7,220

MC Anthony Quayle

MC Jack Buchanan

MC Connor McKinney

RETD David Micheluzzi

Hotel Planner Tour

Tournament: Swiss Challenge

Dates: 4-7 June

Course: Golf Sempach, Lucerne, Switzerland

Purse: €300,000

Ozzies in the field: Dimi Papadatos, Hayden Hopewell, Haydn Barron, Quinnton Croker, Daniel Gale, Sam Jones (NZ)

Another good tournament for Haydn Barron finishing T9 as Matthew Southgate notched up his first win on the HotelPlanner Tour. Southgate obliterated the field with a closing round 62 to win by eight shots.

1st Matthew Southgate - €48,000

T9 Haydn Barron - €6,375

T28 Sam Jones (NZ) – 2,490

T55 Dimi Papadatos - €1,065

MC Daniel Gale

MC Hayden Hopewell

MC Quinnton Croker

Asian Tour

Tournament: am green IGPL Bharath Classic

Dates: 4-7 June

Course: Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort

Purse: USD $500,000

Ozzies in the field: Kevin Yuan, Jed Morgan, Justin Warren, Nick Voke (NZ), Harrison Crowe, Will Florimo, Jack Thompson, Travis Smyth, Brett Rankin, Jack Buchanan, Maverick Antcliff, Daniel Ieremia (NZ)

Charlie Lindh from Sweden ran out a comfortable winner with a closing 64 to finish four shots clear of his nearest rivals. Another good tournament for big lefty Will Florimo who finished T15.

1st Charlie Lindh – USD $90,000

T9 Will Florimo - $6,208

T21 Nick Voke (NZ) $5,075

T21 Harrison Crowe - $5,075

T27 Justin Warren - $4,093

T35 Jed Morgan - $3,450

T56 Kevin Yuan - $1,750

MC Brett Rankin

MC Jack Thompson

MC Maverick Antcliff

MC Denzel Ieremia

Japanese Tour

Tournament: BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup

Dates: 4-7 June

Course: Shishido Hills Country Club West Course

Purse: ¥150,000,000

Ozzies in the field: Michael Hendry (NZ)

Hiroshi Iwata claimed the win at the first playoff hole over Naoyuki Kataoka and Taiochi Kho.

1st Hiroshi Iwata - ¥30,000,000

WD Michael Hendry (NZ) (back injury)

JLPGA

Tournament: Yonex Ladies Golf Tournament

Dates: 5-7 June

Course: Yonex CC, Niigata

Purse: ¥90,000,000

Ozzies in the field: Lion Higo

Rin Yoshida recorded a win by two shots.

1st Rin Yoshida - ¥16,200,000

MC Lion Higo

KLPGA

Tournament: Celltrion Queens Masters

Dates: 5-7 June

Course: Seongmunan

Purse: ₩1,500,000,000

Ozzies in the field: Claire Shin

Ozzie Claire Shin made her first cut of the season finishing T61. For the record Kyorim Seo took out the win.

1st Kyorim Seo – KRW270,000,000

T61 Claire Shin – 6,225,000

Sunshine Tour

Tournament: Waterfall City Tournament of Champions

Dates: 4-7 June

Course: Royal Johannesburg

Purse: R500,000

Ozzies in the field: Austin Batista

In this mixed event featuring the winners from the Sunshine Tour and the Sunshine Ladies Tour it was Caitlyn Macnab who took the prize finishing one shot ahead of Luis Carrera. Macnab holed an eight foot eagle putt on the final hole to snatch the win.

1st Caitlyn Macnab – R1,000,000

T16 Austin Batista

LIV Golf

Tournament: Liv Andalucía

Dates: 4-7 June

Course: Real Club, Valderrama

Purse: $$$$$$$

Ozzies in the field: Ripper GC: Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, Elvis Smylie

Tyrell Hatton completed his second win on the LIV Golf Tour winning at the famed Valderrama course. Hatton held off teammate Jon Rahm to win by two shots. Joaquin Niemann claimed The Open qualifying spot as the highest placed player, not already exempt, on the LIV OOM at the conclusion of this tournament.

Hatton and Rahm’s Legion XIII took out the team prize.