By Tony Webeck

Sydney’s Grace Kim has all but secured her promotion to the LPGA Tour in 2023 with her third top-five finish of the season at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Michigan.

Two back at the start of the final round at Battle Creek Country Club, four birdies kept the 21-year-old within two of the lead with just four holes to play.

A bogey at the par-5 15th would ultimately bring her chances of a second win this season to an end, a birdie at the par-4 17th helping to wrap up a tie for third two shots out of the playoff won by China’s Xiaowen Yin.

Victorious at the IOA Golf Classic in May, Kim was tied for fourth at the Ann Arbor's Road to the LPGA tournament. Her latest top-five finish solidifies her position in third place on the Race to the Card standings and puts her $24,000 clear of 10th.

The top 10 at season’s end will earn promotion to the LPGA Tour in 2023 and with just eight events remaining, Kim is one good finish shy of ensuring she will mix with the elite of women’s golf on a weekly basis next year.

After both made the cut in Michigan Gabriela Ruffels (T30) and Sarah Jane Smith (T38) are 13th and 14th respectively on the moneylist, Robyn Choi moving to 18th spot after finishing in 22nd position.

There was a significant jump too for Cam Davis at the penultimate event of the PGA TOUR season prior to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The defending champion at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Davis closed with a Sunday 67 and a share of 14th, 11 shots back of Tony Finau who won for the second straight week.

As a result of his finish – his fourth consecutive top-20 finish – Davis has moved up 10 places in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, greatly enhancing his chances of securing one of the 70 spots on offer for week two of the Playoffs.

Jason Day’s tie for 17th – his best result in three months – will guarantee he qualifies for week one of the Playoffs while Adam Scott bounced back from a 78 on day three with a round of seven-under 65 on Sunday, equal to the second-best round of the day.

With just the Wyndham Championship prior to the playoffs, Scott is 73rd in the FedEx Cup Eligibility Standings.

World No.2 Minjee Lee closed with a round of four-under 68 at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open to carry momentum into this week’s final major of the year, the AIG Women’s Open.

Three birdies in her opening six holes had Lee making a move, a move that stalled with a run of five straight pars.

She had two bogeys and three birdies in her final seven holes to end the week in a tie for 18th, now moving on to Muirfield for the final major of the year.

Results

LPGA Tour Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open Dundonald Links, Ayrshire, Scotland Winner Ayaka Furue      69-68-68-62—267           $US300,000 T5          Lydia Ko              65-65-71-71—272           $62,271 T18        Minjee Lee         67-72-71-68—278           $27,665 T34        Hannah Green   72-67-72-71—282           $12,082 MC        Stephanie Kyriacou         71-74—145 MC        Su Oh    74-73—147 MC        Whitney Hillier  74-76—150

PGA TOUR Rocket Mortgage Classic Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan Winner Tony Finau         64-66-65-67—262           $US1.512m T14        Cam Davis          68-73-65-67—273           $153,300 T17        Jason Day           69-70-69-66—274           $128,100 T37        Adam Scott        69-66-78-65—278           $36,540 MC        Aaron Baddeley 70-72—142 MC        Geoff Ogilvy       74-72—146 MC        Brett Drewitt     80-77—157 WD        Cameron Percy  73         

DP World Tour Hero Open Fairmont St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland Winner Sean Crocker     63-66-69-68—266           €297,500 T12        Daniel Hillier      66-70-68-69—273           €29,137.50 T22        Ryan Fox             68-70-71-67—276           €17,937.50 T41        Dimitrios Papadatos       66-71-71-70—278           €9,450 T49        Josh Geary         69-68-74-68—279           €6,850 MC        Zach Murray      68-71—139 MC        Scott Hend         70-70—140 MC        Jake McLeod      70-72—142 MC        Jarryd Felton      72-72—144 MC        Blake Windred  73-71—144 MC        Austin Bautista  72-75—147

Epson Tour FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship Battle Creek Country Club, Battle Creek, Michigan Winner Xiaowen Yin       67-68-68—203  $US30,000 Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff T3          Grace Kim           69-68-68—205  $10,898 22          Robyn Choi        72-69-68—209  $2,338 T23        Emily Mahar      73-69-68—210  $2,036 T30        Gabriela Ruffels 71-72-68—211  $1,555 T38        Sarah Jane Smith             71-70-71—212  $1,147 70          Soo Jin Lee         71-71-78—220  $575 MC        Amelia Garvey   73-73—146 MC        Julienne Soo      77-70—147 MC        Julianne Alvarez              76-71—147 MC        Hira Naveed       76-74—150

PGA TOUR Canada Sothebys International Realty Canada Ontario Open Woodington Lake (Legend Cse), Tottenham, Ontario Winner Noah Goodwin  64-68-68-67—267 MC        Cameron John   77-73—150 MC        Will Barnett       75-75—150

Legends Tour The JCB Championship JCB Golf & Country Club, Uttoxeter Winner Alex Cejka          69-66-70—205 T42        Michael Long     75-71-75—221 T42        Peter Fowler      72-71-78—221 T47        Richard Green   76-76-70—222 52          Michael Campbell           73-77-73—223 T53        Peter O’Malley  72-79-73—224

LIV Golf LIV Golf Invitational Bedminster Trump National, Bedminster, New Jersey Winner Henrik Stenson 64-69-69—202  $US4m T19        Matt Jones         72-73-69—214  $200,000 22          Travis Smyth      69-73-73—215  $172,000 46          Wade Ormsby   73-76-75—224  $124,000 48          Jediah Morgan  77-74-78—229  $120,000