21 Aug 2023 | Professional golf |

Aussies on Tour: Day grabs Tour Champs spot

by Martin Blake

Jason Day BMW image
Jason Day has had his best season since 2018. Photo: Getty

Jason Day’s steady climb back to the top of world golf will continue when he tees it up this week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta for the first time in five years.

Day played his way into the 30-man field in Atlanta this week as the only Australian, despite finishing in the bottom echelon of the BMW Championship outside Chicago today.

The 35-year-old Queenslander last made it all the way to the Tour Championship in 2018 when Tiger Woods secured a famous victory.

He has made an impressive climb back to prominence in 2023 including a victory at the Byron Nelson tournament in May, rising into the top 25 players in the world rankings.

Day struggled to a tied-40th finish at the BMW Championship near Chicago today in a 50-player field, but it was enough to keep him inside the top 30 on the Fedex Cup rankings at No. 25.

Not so lucky was Cam Davis, the other Australian in the BMW field, who needed to finish top-six but ended up tied-40th and missed out on the Tour Championship.

Day now knows as a result of reaching the finale in Atlanta that he will be in the field for the Masters in 2024, and he gets a two-year exemption on the Tour.

But will have to give shots up under the handicap system in place for the Tour Championship since 2019.

No. 1 ranked Scottie Scheffler starts out at 10-under par this week while Day will begin at 1-under par, nine shots back before he strikes a ball.

No Australian has ever won the Fedex Cup.

It was a quiet weekend for Australians overseas but Matt Jones managed a good weekend in England finishing tied-fourth at the International Series. Terry Pilkidaris, Travis Smyth and Jack Thompson all finished inside the top 15.

Kristalle Blum logged another top-10 finish on the LET Access Series in Europe. Results

PGA TOUR BMW Championship, Illinois • 1 Viktor Hovland 69-68-65-61 – 263 $US 3.6 million • T40 Cam Davis 73-66-72-72 – 283 $100,000 • T45 Jason Day 69-74-74-70 – 287 $78,000 DP World Tour ISPS HANDA World Invitational, Northern Ireland • 1 Daniel Brown 64-66-67-69 – 266 $US255,000 • MC Jordan Zunic 69-75-72 – 277 • MC Connor McKinney 71-72 – 143 • MC Ryan Ruffels 73-72 – 145 • MC Blake Windred 72-75 – 147 LPGA Tour/Ladies European Tour ISPS HANDA World Invitational, Northern Ireland • 1 Alexa Pano 76-70-69-66 – 281 $US225,000 • T34 Karis Davidson 69-76-75-73 – 293 $9,975 • T34 Su Oh 72-75-72-74 – 293 $9,975 • MC Sarah Kemp 75-75-73 – 223 • MC Sarah Jane Smith 74-74-76 – 226

Asian Tour International Series, England • 1 Andy Ogletree 72-65-67-64 – 268 $US 360,000 • T4 Matt Jones 69-70-67-71 – 277 $76,400 • 11 Terry Pilkidaris 70-72-70-68 – 280 $34,900 • T12 Travis Smyth 71-68-71-71 – 281 $29,850 • T12 Jack Thompson 70-67-72-72 – 281 $29,850 • T22 Douglas Klein 72-72 -70-70 – 284 $19,400 • T22 Zach Murray 69-74-70-71 – 284 $19,400 • T31 Wade Ormsby 70-73-71-72 – 286 $15,033 • T48 Josh Younger 72-72-72-73 – 289 $8,628 • T48 Todd Sinnott 75-70-73-71 – 289 $8,628 • T55 Jed Morgan 72-72-71-75 – 290 $7,100 • T55 Ben Campbell (NZ) 70-73-74-73 – 290 $7,100 • T65 Danny Lee (NZ) 72-71-74-77 – 294 $5,400 • MC John Lyras 76-70 – 146 • MC Brendan Jones 74-73 – 147 • MC Tom Power Horan 73-75 – 148 • MC Marcus Fraser 78-71 – 149 • MC Nick Voke (NZ) 77-72 – 149 • MC Scott Hend 78-71 – 149 • MC Kevin Yuan 74-75 – 149 • MC Jack Murdoch 76-73 – 149 • MC Andrew Dodt 77-75 – 152 • MC Harrison Gilbert-Wong 78-77 – 155

Korn Ferry Tour Magnit Championship, New Jersey • 1 Chan Kim 70-66-68-64 – 268 $US180,000 • T23 Curtis Luck 71-70-70-70 – 281 $8,516 • MC Rhein Gibson 70-74 – 144 • MC Brett Drewitt 71-73 – 144 • WD Dimi Papadatos

PGA Champions Shaw Charity Classic, Calgary • 1 Ken Duke 66-64-66 – 196 $US 360,000 • T12 Richard Green 68-70-64 – 202 $47,400 • T21 Mark Hensby 71-69-65 – 205 $26,000 • T21 Steve Alker (NZ) 71-64-70 – 205 $26,000 • T47 David McKenzie 70-67-72 – 209 $6,864 • T70 Stuart Appleby 72-67-74 – 213 $1,968

Epson Tour Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic, Oregon • 1 Xiaowen Yin 66-66 – 132 (Prize payout N/A)* • T9 Hira Naveed 71-68 – 139 • T13 Amelia Garvey (NZ) 76-64 – 140 • T35 Robyn Choi 71-72 – 143 • T45 Jennifer Herbst (a) 74-70 – 144 • T53 Sarah Yamaki Branch 72-73 – 145 • MC Jess Whiting 78-72 – 150 *Final round cancelled due to poor air quality

LET Access Series PGA Championship, Gothenburg, Sweden • 1 Chiara Tamburlini 70-66-68 – 204 $US6,400 • T8 Kristalle Blum 71-74-71 – 212 $1,120 • T10 Munchin Keh (NZ) 74-72-71 – 215 $825 • T42 Kelsey Bennett 74-75-75 – 224 $280 • T54 Amy Walsh 71-74-81 – 226 $182 • T54 Hanee Song (NZ) 76-74-76 – 226 $182 • MC Wenyung Keh (NZ) 76-77 – 153 • MC Stefanie Hall 77-77 – 154

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