19 Aug 2021 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Herbert joins Korn Ferry Tour Finals frenzy
by PGA of Australia
By Tony Webeck
The lure of a PGA Tour card has enticed Victorian Lucas Herbert to contest the three-tournament Korn Ferry Tour Finals starting in Boise, Idaho this week.
Currently No.52 in the world, Herbert is the third-highest ranked player in the field for the Albertsons Boise Open behind only South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Scotland’s Robert Macintyre.
Recording his second European Tour victory last month at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Herbert’s status in Europe is safe through until the end of the 2023 season, providing the scheduling freedom to chase a regular place on the PGA Tour.
The 25-year-old has already spent the majority of 2021 in the US, featuring in six regular Tour events, two World Golf Championships along with the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
With top-20 finishes at The Memorial and the Travelers Championship Herbert is eligible to contest the Korn Ferry Tour Finals by virtue of accruing the equivalent FedEx Cup points of those who finished 126-200 on the points list.
Joining Herbert this week are former PGA Tour winners Greg Chalmers (winner of the 2005 Boise Open) and Aaron Baddeley along with Curtis Luck, Rhein Gibson and Brett Drewitt.
While the others are seeking to snare one of the 25 Tour cards awarded to the highest finishers in the three-event finals points race, Drewitt is seeking to improve the status of the PGA Tour promotion he earned on Sunday.
Drewitt finished 24th on the points list at the end of the regular season to earn a return to the PGA Tour and is now chasing a first-place finish in the finals that brings with it a start at next season’s PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
A strong contingent of eight Aussies will tee it up in the year’s final major, the AIG Women’s Open, from Thursday afternoon AEST at Carnoustie Golf Links and there are six Australians who have qualified for the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, The Northern Trust at Liberty National.
With the top 70 in the FedEx Cup to advance to the BMW Championship both Jason Day (No.110) and Adam Scott (No.82) need a good result to extend their seasons, both bolstered by having won this event in 2015 and 2013 respectively.
Matt Jones (No.39), Cam Davis (No.36) and Marc Leishman (No.33) all have work to do to play their way into the top-30 who will contest the Tour Championship but Cameron Smith (No.16) is well positioned to make a charge towards the $US15 million awarded to the FedEx Cup champion.
The Japan Golf Tour resumes after their summer hiatus at the Sega Sammy Cup this week, four Aussies are in Prague for the D+D Real Czech Masters and the first stage of LPGA Tour Qualifying School commences in California where amateurs Grace Kim, Emily Mahar, Kirsty Hodgkins and rookies Doey Choi and Stephanie Bunque will seek to play their way onto a main tour.
Round 1 tee times AEST
LPGA Tour
AIG Women’s Open
Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie, Scotland
3.41pm Kirsten Rudgeley (a), Lee-Anne Pace, Luna Sobron Galmes
4.25pm Hannah Green, Amy Olson, Moriya Jutanugarn
4.36pm Minjee Lee, So Yeon Ryu, Atthaya Thitikul
4.58pm Lydia Ko, Ayaka Furue, Jennifer Kupcho
6.53pm Su Oh, Brittany Lincicome, Alice Hewson
7.26pm Steph Kyriacou, Kristen Gillman, Ursula Wikstrom
11.33pm Katherine Kirk, Lucie Malchirand, Maha Haddioui
12.17am Sarah Kemp, Manon de Roey, Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras
12.28am Whitney Hillier, Marissa Steen, Prima Thammaraks
Defending champion: Sophia Popov
Past Aussie winners: Corinne Dibnah (1988), Karen Lunn (1993), Karrie Webb, 1995, 1997, 2002)
Top Aussie prediction: Hannah Green
TV schedule: Live 8pm-3am Thursday, Friday; Live 10.30pm-4am Saturday; Live 10pm-4am Sunday on Fox Sports 505
PGA TOUR
The Northern Trust
Liberty National GC, Jersey City, New Jersey
10.04pm Marc Leishman, Charley Hoffman, KH Lee
10.04pm* Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka
10.59pm Jason Day, Pat Perez, Matthew NeSmith
2am* Adam Scott, Harry Higgs, Wyndham Clark
2.33am* Matt Jones, Lucas Glover, Sergio Garcia
2.44am* Cam Davis, Brian Harman, Carlos Ortiz
Defending champion: Dustin Johnson
Past Aussie winners: Bruce Crampton (1970), David Graham (1976), Wayne Grady (1989), Adam Scott (2013), Jason Day (2015)
Top Aussie prediction: Adam Scott
TV schedule: Live 4am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8.30am Sunday; Live 2am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 503
European Tour
D+D Real Czech Masters
Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic
5.58pm Jake McLeod, Hugo Leon, Taehee Lee
5.58pm* Deyen Lawson, Matyas Zapletal, Ajeetesh Sandhu
6.20pm* Josh Geary, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, Pavol Mach
9.10pm Maverick Antcliff, Louis De Jager, Dave Coupland
9.43pm Ryan Fox, Sam Horsfield, Johannes Veerman
9.43pm* Bryden Macpherson, Philip Eriksson, Liam Robinson
Defending champion: Thomas Pieters (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Bryden Macpherson
TV schedule: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 10.30pm-2am Saturday; Live 9pm-1.30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503
Japan Golf Tour
Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup
The North Country Golf Club, Hokkaido
8.55am* Dylan Perry, Ryuichi Oiwa, Kunihiro Kamii
9.20am David Bransdon, Tadahiro Takayama, Taiko Nishiyama
9.30am Andrew Evans, Hirotaro Naito, Fumihiro Ebine
12.25pm* Scott Strange, Riki Kawamoto (a), Takuya Higa
12.30pm Todd Sinnott, Taisei Shimizu, Daisuke Yasumoto
12.50pm Anthony Quayle, Toshinori Muto, Taihei Sato
Defending champion: Ryo Ishikawa (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Brad Kennedy (2018)
Top Aussie prediction: Dylan Perry
Korn Ferry Tour
Albertsons Boise Open
Hillcrest CC, Boise, Idaho
12.36am Brett Drewitt, Tom Lewis, Bronson Burgoon
12.47am Rhein Gibson, Jimmy Stanger, Josh Teater
12.58am* Aaron Baddeley, Charlie Saxon, Wes Roach
1.20am Curtis Luck, Stephen Franken, Matthias Schwab
1.20am* Greg Chalmers, Patrick Fishburn, William McGirt
4.30am* Danny Lee, Ollie Schniederjans, Braden Thornberry
4.41am* Lucas Herbert, Callum Tarren, Vince India
Defending champion: Stephen Jaeger
Past Aussie winners: Greg Chalmers (2005)
Top Aussie prediction: Lucas Herbert
TV schedule: Live 8am-10am Friday, Saturday; Live 9am-11am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503
Challenge Tour
Round 2 tee times
Sydbank Esbjerg Challenge
Esbjerg Golfklub, Esbjerg, Denmark
5.30pm Blake Windred, Jarand Ekeland Arnoy, Franck Daux
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Blake Windred
Champions Tour
Boeing Classic
The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, Washington
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker, Robert Allenby, Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie, Rod Pampling, John Senden
Defending champion: Brandt Jobe (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: David McKenzie
TV schedule: 12pm-1.30pm Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 7am-8am Sunday on Fox Sports 507; Live 7am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 505
LPGA Qualifying School
Rancho Mirage, California
12.15am Wenyung Keh (Shadow Ridge)
12.15am* Julianne Alvarez (Shadow Ridge)
12.35am* Amelia Garvey (Dinah Shore)
12.55am Laura Hoskin (Pete Dye)
12.55am* Munchin Keh (Pete Dye)
1.25am* Stephanie Bunque (Pete Dye)
1.35am* Doey Choi (Dinah Shore)
4.50am Emily Mahar (a) (Shadow Ridge)
5.20am Kirsty Hodgkins (a) (Shadow Ridge)
5.20am* Jess Whitting (Dinah Shore)
5.40am* Grace Kim (a) (Dinah Shore)
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