28 Aug 2023 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Jones pipped in epic playoff
by Martin Blake
Australian Matt Jones fell short in an epic playoff at the Asian Tour’s St Andrews Bay Championship in Scotland today, and had to be content to be part of a record-breaking tete-a-tete with Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra.
Jones, who was seeking his first tournament win since 2021, fell at the 10th hole of a sudden-death playoff with Chacarra when he missed a par putt from almost two metres, the 23-year-old Spaniard having two-putted for a birdie.
It was the longest playoff in Asian Tour history, beating the seven-hole playoff between Charlie Wi, Kang Wook-soon and Simon Yates in South Korea in 2001.
The all-time record for a professional event is believed to be from the Japan Tour in 1965 when Peter Thomson, the legendary five-time Open champion, defeated Graham Marsh, Brian Jones and Shozo Miyamoto in 14 holes.
On the PGA Tour, the record is an 11-hole playoff between Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum at the 1949 Motor City Open in Detroit, where the players ultimately agreed to share the honours.
The Jones-Chacarra playoff lasted two hours, eight minutes, both players having birdied the par-5 18th at Fairmont St Andrews to reach the playoff, Jones shooting 69 and Chacarra 67.
They both made birdies at the first five playoff holes and Jones chipped in to get himself out of trouble on the third of the playoff holes.
“I threw away a golf tournament with the way I putted during the tournament, and in the playoff,” he said later. “I putted pretty awful all week. I missed a lot of short ones. My speed was terrible, but I hit some nice shots. It is always good to get into contention, but I am done now, I am tired.”
It was a strong week for Australians across the globe not least in Scotland, where Andrew Dodt (68 today) was only a shot off the playoff in a tie for third, and Wade Ormsby also inside the top 10.
Jason Day had a quiet week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on the PGA TOUR, but his 28th-place finish earned him more than $US 500,000 as well as a slew of exemptions for next season as reward for his best performance in some years, including a guaranteed spot in the field for the 2024 Masters tournament in Augusta, the Open Championship and the US Open.
Norway’s Viktor Hovland easily won the $US18 million first prize for the Fedex Cup champion with Australian Shay Knight on his bag also enjoying the biggest week of his career as a caddie.
On the LPGA Tour, Hannah Green made a run on the final day of the CPKC Women’s Open in Vancouver, ultimately finishing tied-fourth to continue her consistent season.
Playing on a sponsor’s invitation Gabi Ruffels threatened to finish inside the top 10 but a two-shot penalty she called on herself before the final round – and a double bogey at the 18th hole – pushed her back to tied-19th.
Ruffels reportededly called the penalty on herself because she believed that she touched sand in a bunker with her club during the third round, although no one else saw the incident.
Epson Tour players Hira Naveed and Robyn Choi both finished tied-fifth in Idaho keeping themselves in the running for LPGA Tour elevation in 2024. Results
PGA TOUR Tour Championship, East Lakes, Atlanta • 1 – Viktor Hovland 68-64-66-63 – 261 $US 18,000,000 • 28 Jason Day 67-70-74-73 – 284 $520,000
LPGA Tour CPKC Women’s Open, Vancouver, Canada • 1 Megan Khang 71-66-68-74 - 279 $US375,000
• T4 Hannah Green 70-71-72-69 – 282 $117,506 • T19 Gabriela Ruffels 70-74-71-73 – 288 $29,218 • T22 Karis Davidson 74-72-70-73 – 289 $23,005 • T22 Minjee Lee 75-73-69-72 – 289 $23,005 • 71 Lydia Ko (NZ) 72-74-82-73 – 301 $x • MC Grace Kim 75-74 – 149 • MC Su Oh 74-76 – 150 • MC Stephanie Kyriacou 78-74 – 152
DP World Tour D+D Real Czech Masters, Czech Republic • 1 Todd Clements 65-69-69-63 – 266 €315,082 • MC Blake Windred 74-72 – 146 • DQ Jason Scrivener
Japan Golf Tour Sansan KBC Augusta Tournament, Fukuoka • 1 Young-Han Song 68-64-70-69 – 271 ¥20,000,000 • T35 Anthony Quayle 74-67-71-70 – 282 ¥510,000 • T41 Brad Kennedy 71-68-73-71 – 283 ¥370,000 • T72 Adam Bland 70-72-75-74 – 291 ¥219,000 • MC Andrew Evans 74-69 – 143 • MC Dylan Perry 72-73 – 145
Asian Tour St Andrews Bay Championship, St Andrews, Scotland • 1 Eugenio Chacarra 68-66-68-67 – 269 (playoff) $US360,000 • 2 Matt Jones 69-65-66-69 – 269 $220,000 • T3 Andrew Dodt 66-68-68-68 – 270 $113,000 • T8 Wade Ormsby 69-68-67-69 – 273 $37,950 • T23 Zach Murray 70-71-67-69 – 277 $19,400 • T38 Travis Smyth 71-70-72-67 – 280 $12,800 • T41 Terry Pilkidaris 71-70-72-68 – 281 $11,500 • T45 Jack Thompson 72-67-74-69 – 282 $10,325 • T45 Kevin Yuan 73-67-73-69 – 282 $10,325 • MC Nick Voke (NZ) 73-69 – 142 • MC Josh Younger 73-69 – 142 • MC Ben Campbell (NZ) 72-70 – 142 • MC Scott Hend 71-71 – 142 • MC Marcus Fraser 71-71 – 142 • MC Todd Sinnott 71-74 – 145 • MC Tom Power Horan 74-74 – 148 • MC Jed Morgan 73-78 – 151 • MC Harrison Gilbert-Wong 75-76 – 151 • MC Douglas Klein 77-78 – 155 • RTD John Lyras
Korn Ferry Tour Albertsons Boise Open, Idaho • 1 Chan Kim 66-62-64-64 – 256 $US 270,000 • T43 Dimi Papadatos 64-70-69-68 – 271 $6,843 • MC Brett Drewitt 68-70 – 138 • MC Rhein Gibson 72-69 – 141
US Women’s Senior Open Championship Waverley Country Club, Portland, Oregon • 1 Trish Johnson 73-72-67-72 – 284 $US180,000 • T29 Sue Wooster 71-77-74-78 – 300 (amateur) Epson Tour Circling Raven Championship, Idaho • 1 Yue Ren 68-71-64 – 203 (playoff) $US30,000 • T5 Robyn Choi 72-66-68 – 206 (prize payout N/A) • T5 Hira Naveed 70-70-66 – 206 • T47 Amelia Garvey (NZ) 72-72-71 – 215 LET Access Series Ahlsell Final At Elisefarm, Sweden • 1 Avani Prashanth 72-71-67 – 210 * (amateur) • T12 Kristalle Blum 76-68-73 – 217 $1,120 • T29 Wenyung Keh (NZ) 71-75-75 – 221 $560 • T36 Amy Walsh 73-75-75 – 223 $464 • T47 Kelsey Bennett 70-77-78 – 225 $296 • MC Stefanie Hall 74-78 – 152
PGA TOUR Canada Manitoba Open, Winnipeg • 1 Hayden Springer 66-65-70-66 – 267 (Payout n/a) • T51 Jack Trent 69-71-75-71 – 286 • MC Jason Hong 72-75 – 147
PGA TOUR Champions The Ally Challenge, Grand Blanc, Michigan • 1 Vijay Singh 66-68-68 – 202 $US330,000 • T13 Richard Green 70-67-71 – 208 $41,800 • T16 Mark Hensby 70-71-68 – 209 $33,132 • T16 Rod Pampling 68-75-66 – 209 $33,132 • T23 Steven Alker (NZ) 68-75-68 – 211 $21,089 • T30 Stuart Appleby 69-71-72 – 212 $15,547 • T55 David McKenzie 71-72-75 – 218 $4,620
Legends Tour Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, Aberdeenshire, Scotland • 1 Peter Baker 69-66-69-72 – 276 (Prize payout N/A) • T3 Michael Campbell (NZ) 69-71-71-75 – 286 • T40 Michael Long (NZ) 71-75-74-78 – 298 • T49 Peter Fowler 72-75-76-77 – 300 • T60 Jason Norris 74-78-72-80 – 304 • MC Andre Stolz 79-73-79 – 231
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