29 Jul 2024 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Green, Vilips, Smith fall just short
by Patrick Taylor
Australians Richard Green and Karl Vilips have both narrowly missed out on maiden victories on their respective tours, while Cam Smith finished second in the latest LIV Golf event.
For Green it was another agonising seniors major close call as the Victorian finished runner-up for the second time this year, this time at the Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex.
Trailing Korea’s K.J Choi by one shot heading into the final round, Green was well poised to claim his first PGA Champions Tour title, but Choi produced a 5-under-par burst across five holes on the back nine to secure the win by two shots.
While not recording a victory, Green’s performance in majors this year has been incredible, with results of T14, 2, 3, T17, and 2, banking some serious money including a US$275,069 payday on the weekend
Green’s second at Carnoustie moves him to fourth on the season-long Charles Schwab Cup standings, and first on the Staysure Tour’s MCB Road to Mauritius.
While Green is in the latter phase of his career, young Australian Karl Vilips recorded his best finish as a professional in just his fifth start.
Runner-up on the Korn Ferry Tour’s NV5 Invitational in Illinois earned Vilips a cool US$90,000, a start in next week’s Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health, and propels him to 44th on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour points list.
After missing the cut at The Open Championship, Smith was back in business at the LIV event in England, eventually finishing T2, one shot behind former world No.1 Jon Rahm.
His Ripper GC team also finished second, three shots behind Rahm’s Legion XIII, despite missing Marc Leishman who had to undergo surgery on his appendix, giving Wade Ormsby his chance as a replacement.
“The game has felt like it's going in the right direction for a long time. It's frustrating not to get a win by just a few shitty holes in there, and that's it, Smith said.
“It was good to stick in there, good to hit some good shots down the stretch with some pressure on.”
On the LPGA Tour, Hannah Green challenged early before finishing T14 at Canadian Open ahead of next week’s Olympic tournament.
PGA TOUR
3M Open
TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota
1 Jhonattan Vegas (VE) 68-66-63-70—267 US$1,458,000
T19 Cam Davis 68-69-65-72—274 US US$99,549
T53 Aaron Baddeley 70-69-67-74—280 US$18,981
PGA TOUR Champions
The Senior Open Championship
Carnoustie Golf Club, Carnoustie, Scotland
1 K.J Choi (KOR) 69-69-70-70—278 US$447,800
2 Richard Green 69-72-68-71—280 US$275,069
T5 Steven Alker (NZ) 71-73-71-71—286 US$68,212
T17 Greg Chalmers 72-75-70-74—291 US$32,441
T37 John Senden 74-76-72-75—297 $15,748
T47 Michael Long (NZ) 74-77-75-73—299 US$12,494
T52 Rod Pampling 73-77-75-76—301 US$9,428
T52 Scott Hend 70,77,75,79—301 US$9,428
T52 Michael Campbell (NZ) 75,73,73,80—301 US$9,428
T60 Jason Norris 74,77,76,76—303 US$6,588
T64 Michael Wright 77,74,77,76—304 US$5,512
T68 David McKenzie 74-77-78-76—305 US$4,619
T72 Peter Fowler 75-74-80-77—306 US$3,990
MC Peter O’Malley 72-81
MC Vijay Singh (FIJI) 78-77
MC Steve Allan 76-79
MC Stuart Appleby 81-75
WD Mark Hensby
CPKC Women’s Open
Earl Grey Golf Club, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1 Lauren Coughlin (USA) 68-70-66-71—275 US$390,000
T8 Lydia Ko (NZ) 70-71-72-69—282
T14 Hannah Green 69-70-71-74—284
T19 Hira Naveed 71-73-68-73—285
T37 Minjee Lee 69-77-68-74—288
T39 Sarah Kemp 72-74-71-72—289
T59 Robyn Choi 74-71-73-77—295
MC Gabriela Ruffels 78-71
MC Grace Kim 73-77
MC Stephanie Kyriacou 76-81
LIV Golf
LIV Golf UK
JCB Golf and Country Club, Rocester, England
1 Jon Rahm (ESP) 63-70-67—200 US$4,000,000
T2 Cam Smith 66-66-69—201 US$1,583,334
T20 Lucas Herbert 69-72-67—208 US$225,000
T24 Matt Jones 69-73-67—209 US$195,000
50 Danny Lee (NZ) 73-71-74—218 US$60,000
WD Marc Leishman
Korn Ferry Tour
NV5 Invitational
The Glen Club, Glenview, Illinois
1 Thomas Rosenmueller (GER) 66-64-63-66—259 US$180,000
2 Karl Vilips 65-67-66-63—261 US$90,000
T36 Curtis Luck 65-65-70-69—269 US$5,054
T53 Rhein Gibson 70-61-72-68—271 US$4,180
T60 Kazuma Kobori (NZ) 72-64-68-68—272 US$4,060
MC Danny List 68-70
MC Brett Drewitt 68-72
MC Dimi Papadatos 73-70
Challenge Tour
Black Desert NI Open
Galgorm Castle Golf Club, Northern Ireland
1 Conor Purcell (IRE) 66-65-65-71—267 €47,387.60
T21 Thomas Power Horan 69-69-67-73—278 €2,909,89
MC Hayden Hopewell 70-85
WD Connor McKinney
PGA TOUR Americas
Commissionaires Ottawa Open
Eagle Creek Golf Club, Ottawa, Ontario
1 Barend Botha (RSA) 63-65-67-67—262
T10 Grant Booth 66-67-67-67—267
MC Charlie Hillier (NZ) 72-72
MC Harry Hillier (NZ) 73-78
Sunshine Tour
SunBet Challenge
Wild Coast Sun Country Club, Port Edward, South Africa
1 Jaco Ahlers (RSA) 64-64-69—197
MC Austin Bautista 69-74
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