28 Oct 2024 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Six grab Champions finale spots
by Martin Blake
A whopping six Australians will join New Zealander Steve Alker in the finale of the PGA Champions in Phoenix next week after they played their way into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The Australian contingent will be double the number who made it into the tour championship in 2023 when Steve Stricker won the 36-player final. Australians will represent 16 percent of the field in the $US3 million climax to the seniors’ season at Phoenix Country Club from 7 November. This year’s group is headed by lefty Richard Green (ranked No. 6 in the standings) and the big finisher was Victorian Cam Percy, who shot a closing 68 in today’s Simmons Bank Championship, at one point moving into a share of the lead. Percy’s T5 finish lifted him from 40th in the standings and outside the qualifiers for the tour championship to No. 36, meaning that he will take the last remain spot in the Schwab Cup. Percy, who is in his first season on the Champions tour, was 7-under for the day standing on the 15th tee but an errant tee shot took away his chance of unseating Padraig Harrington at the top. Bogeys at the 15th, 16th and 17th saw the 50-year-old tumble a few spots. The most frustrated would be David Bransdon and Steve Allan, who finished 38th and 39th in the standings with only the top 36 graduating. Green, Percy and No. 2 ranked Alker will be joined in the Charles Schwab Cup from November 7 by Greg Chalmers (28), Mark Hensby (29), Rod Pampling (33) and Stuart Appleby (34). Elsewhere in the world it was another good week for the red hot Hannah Green, who finished strongly in the LPGA Tour’s Maybank Championship with a 65 to be tied-sixth behind Ruoning Yin of China. Green has won three times on the tour this year and last week was at an equal career-high No. 5 in the world rankings. Min Woo Lee’s T27 at the Zozo Championship on the PGA Tour did his quest for more world ranking points no harm and he is one of two Australians (with Adam Scott) to qualify for the next phase of the DP World Tour beginning in Abu Dhabi next week. David Micheluzzi was the best placed of the other Australians to reach the playoffs and his T22 finish in South Korea over the weekend left him at No. 73 in the rankings, just outside the 70 who automatically play in Abu Dhabi next week. It leaves him waiting on any last-minute withdrawals from the DP World Tour field in Abu Dhabi to earn a spot in the playoffs. Results PGA TOUR Zozo Championship Accordia Golf, Narashino Country Club, Japan 1 Nico Echavarria 64-64-65-67—260 $US1.53m T27 Min Woo Lee 69-69-69-65—272 $57,035 T65 Ryan Fox (NZ) 72-70-68-71—281 $15,725 LPGA Tour Maybank Championship Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club 1 Ruoning Yin 67-67-66-65—265 $US450,000 T6 Hannah Green 71-69-68-65—273 $81,887 T18 Gabriela Ruffels 69-66-71-71—277 $36,661 T46 Grace Kim 67-73-73-69—282 $11,869 T51 Hira Naveed 70-75-68-70—283 $9,916 Q-Series – Qualifying Stage Venice, Florida T1 Mimi Rhodes 70-71-68-65—274 Failed to advance to Final Stage T53 Caitlin Peirce (a) 71-73-72-70—286 T66 Su Oh 74-70-69-74—287 T80 Kelsey Bennett 73-73-73-69—288 T88 Amelia Garvey (NZ) 71-72-71-75—289 T111 Jess Whitting 74-74-74-70—292 T121 Lion Higo (a) 75-71-73-74—293 T128 Claire Shin (NZ) 74-70-77-73—294 T154 Maddison Hinson-Tolchard 74-78-76-69—297 T154 Jennifer Herbst 76-72-70-79—297 T166 Sarah Yamaki Branch 75-75-74-75—299 DP World Tour Genesis Championship Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, Incheon, South Korea 1 Byeong Hun An 67-66-71-67—271 €628,388.68 T14 Jason Scrivener 72-71-68-67—278 €49,208.38 T22 David Micheluzzi 70-68-71-70—279 €40,105.98 T22 Daniel Hillier (NZ) 68-71-68-72—279 €40,105.98 MC Haydn Barron 77-73—150 MC Sam Jones (NZ) 77-76—153 MC Tom Power Horan 79-75—154 Asian Tour International Series Thailand Thai Country Club, Bangkok 1 Lee Chieh-po 64-65-67-63—259 $US360,000 T7 Nick Voke (NZ) 67-66-67-64—264 $44,380 T7 Maverick Antcliff 63-64-69-68—264 $44,380 T12 Jed Morgan 63-68-67-67—265 $27,900 T19 Marcus Fraser 69-67-65-65—266 $21,800 T19 Kazuma Kobori (NZ) 67-65-67-67—266 $21,800 T19 Travis Smyth 65-67-66-68—266 $21,800 T31 Jack Thompson 69-67-66-66—268 $14,625 T39 Wade Ormsby 67-67-69-66—269 $12,060 T47 Ben Campbell (NZ) 65-70-68-68—271 $9,000 T54 Zach Murray 66-68-70-68—272 $7,300 T64 Aaron Wilkin 69-67-71-69—276 $5,400 T67 Andrew Dodt 67-69-70-73—279 $5,000 MC Todd Sinnott 69-68—137 MC Harrison Crowe 68-69—137 MC Sam Brazel 72-65—137 MC Kevin Yuan 69-68—137 MC Lachlan Barker 70-69—139 MC Scott Hend 74-66—140 MC Justin Warren 70-70—140 MC Danny Lee (NZ) 71-71—142 MC Douglas Klein 71-72—143 MC Deyen Lawson 76-71—147 Ladies European Tour Hero Women’s Open DLF Golf and Country Club, New Delhi 1 Liz Young 74-73-67-72—286 $US55,534.65 T2 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 72-73-72-70—287 $21,380.84 10 Kirsten Rudgeley 72-72-73-74—291 $8,515.31 PGA TOUR Champions Simmons Bank Championship Pleasant Valley Country Club, Massachusetts 1 Padraig Harrington 67-65-67 – 199 $US 365,000 T5 Cam Percy 69-66-68 – 203 $104,250 T12 Steve Allan 69-70-66 – 205 $45,425 T12 Steve Alker (NZ) 62-70-73 – 205 $45,425 T12 Rod Pampling 70-64-71 – 205 $45,425 T16 Richard Green 69-67-70 – 206 $37,950 T24 Michael Wright 73-66-71 – 210 $23,575 T26 Stuart Appleby 70-72-69 – 211 $18,716 T34 David Bransdon 74-69-69 – 212 $14,145 T34 Mark Hensby 70-71-71 – 212 $14,145 T50 Greg Chalmers 73-71-77 – 221 $6900 Legends Tour Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open San Domenico GC, Italy 1 Thomas Gogele 64-66-67—197 T18 Michael Long (NZ) 71-73-65—209 T40 Michael Campbell (NZ) 71-73-71—215
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