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Tour Rundown: Reed, Hur, Hoag, and more
Playoffs? Let’s talk about the playoffs. They began on the PGA Tour in New Jersey, and will commence next week on the Korn-Ferry Tour. We bade farewell to the British Isles at the Ladies Scottish Open, then saw timely, tremendous performances on the European Challenge and Mackenzie tours, and also at the US Women’s Amateur. Tour Rundown sources golf a bit differently this week, but trust us: every shot counted and every winner smiled.
Patrick Reed jumps in front of FedEx Cup playoffs at Northern Trust
I have this need to see Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau pair up at the Presidents Cup in December. Before we had a winner on Sunday, we had a combusted internet divided between bile for Reed and rancor for DeChambeau. Who knew golf could elicit such vitriol? Reed opened Sunday with a 2-stroke edge on Mexico’s Abraham Ancer. Neither golfer distinguished himself on the outward nine, combining for 5 bogies by the turn. Jon Rahm jumped up to -16, the number that would win for Reed, midway through the homeward half, but faded away quickly, with back-to-back bogies at 14 and 15. Rahm tied for 3rd with Harold Varner III. Behind them, Reed and Ancer found their games, each playing the back nine in 2-under par. Ancer needed birdie at the last to tie Reed, but could not convert from 43 feet away.
In the newfangled FedEx Cup playoff structure, Brooks Koepka preserved his regular-season margin, but just barely. Reed vaulted Jenn Suhr-style over 48 golfers, moving from 50th to 2nd. Just behind him are Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar and Jon Rahm, who moved from 10th to 5th. The playoffs move to Chicago this week, to storied Medinah Number 3.
Mi Jung Hur wins Scottish Open by 4 from 6
Mi Jung Hur (once known as MJ) spaces out her LPGA Tour wins. Every 5 years or so, to be precise. She first won in 2009, then paused until 2014 to secure another victory. Her 3rd title came this weekend, at the Renaissance Club in Gullane, at the Ladies Scottish Open. Hur was the class of the field on Sunday, her 66 tied only by Scotland’s Kylie Henry, who improved 15 shots from her Saturday 81. The Jutanugarn sisters (Moriya and Ariya) were in the mix, but could not close the gap. Moriya had the overnight lead on Saturday, but followed a 1st-hole birdie with double bogey-bogey on her subsequent two. Her 71 was not nearly enough to catch Hur. Moriya tied for 2nd spot, 4 back of the winner.
Tied for runner-up was Six. That’s right, 6. Jeongeun Lee6, winner of the 2019 US Open, was considered the player to beat at the dawn of the day. Weather and a cold putter kept her from challenging the champion. Lee6 was unable to secure her 2nd victory of the season, but she did move from 6th (ha ha) to 2nd in the Race to CME Globe points standing, albeit a good way behind Jin Young Ko.
Bo Hoag and 24 others earn PGA Tour cards for 2019-2020 in Portland
I’m a ’70s kid, so I can’t help thinking about Sorrell Booke’s Boss Hog character on Dukes of Hazzard whenever I see Bo Hoag’s name. Probably has little to do with a cantankerous southern kingmaker, a fictitious one at that, so let’s move on. Bo Hoag is 31 years old, and has been chasing the dream since leaving The Ohio State University in 2011. On Sunday, the dream came true. Hoag won the Portland Open over local favorite Scott Harrington, a Portland native. With the victory, Hoag jumped from 31st to 7th on The 25 money list, securing playing privileges on the game’s biggest stage next season.
Hoag played a stellar round, posting 6 birdies against 0 bogies for 65. A gutsy putt for 4 at the par-5 closer gave him a critical, 3-shot lead over Harrington, who stood in the fairway behind him. The Portlander also capped his round with birdie, but hopes of a tie with eagle had vanished. 3rd place went to Norway’s Kristoffer Ventura, already a Korn Ferry Tour winner this season. In 4th and 5th spots, Chris Naegel and Vince India made valiant runs to get inside the top 75 for the playoffs, but came up shy of their goal. Over the next three weeks, golfers will vye for 25 more PGA Tour cards at the playoffs. Two seasons ago, Keith Mitchell missed out on a regular-season card on the-then Web.Com Tour, earned one in the playoffs, and was a PGA Tour winner in 2019. Yep, dreams are there for the dreamers.
Buckley wins in playoff on Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada in Alberta
The Mackenzie Tour doesn’t have playoffs, but it does give super-sweet hockey sweaters to the 5 golfers that graduate to the Korn Ferry Tour. Hayden Buckley made his case for a jersey with a 1st-hole, playoff win over Sam Fidone. Entering the final day in 1st place, Buckley played his worst golf of the week. He had a 5-shot lead on the 4th tee, but that margin dissipated over time. 70 strokes gave Fidone a chance at the win, and he almost stole the cup. Birdie at 15, paired with Buckley’s 3rd bogey of the day, gave the lead to Fidone. His subsequent bogey at 16 tied them once more, and on to extra holes they went. Buckley made par in overtime at the 18th, and Fidone’s bogey made him the runner-up.
Buckley sits in the 5th spot on the tour’s Order of Merit, with 3 tournaments remaining on the schedule. The leading 3 golfers (Paul Barjoh, Jake Knapp and Lorens Chan) sit comfortably atop the OOM, and can anticipate promotions to the penultimate stage for next season. Taylor Pendrith and Buckley have a bit more work to do during the final 3 events, to secure their elevation to the KFT. Stay tuned this week in Manitoba.
Australia has its 1st US Women’s amateur champion in Gabriela Ruffels
Oh, that we might all be as fortunate as driven as Gabriela Ruffels. 3 years ago, she gave up a love of tennis for a passion for golf. Her dedication, guts and natural ability translated to an electric finish for the 2019 US Women’s Am. Ruffels and Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland did battle through 36 holes of the final match at Old Waverly golf club in Mississippi. The first 18 holes was a story of spurts. Ruffels won the 8th through 11th holes to take a 3-hole advantage. Valenzuela came right back, winning 4 holes from 12-16 to retake the lead. A birdie for Ruffels at the 18th sent them all square to lunch.
The day’s 2nd 18 holes saw less fireworks, albeit the same number of lead changes. Valenzuela held an advantage for 3 holes, until Ruffels tied her at the 25th. Back and forth again, until Ruffels made birdies at the 33rd and 35th holes to jump ahead. With everything on the line, both competitors stuffed their approach shots close at the 36th hole. Ruffels putted first, drained her birdie, and lifted the winner’s tower. For Valenzuela, 2019 was her 2nd runner-up finish in the tournament.
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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips
SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”
“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”
Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.
According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”
CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.
“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.
Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history
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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar
Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.
It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.
PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place
The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.
This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.
With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.
360° and in!
A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024
DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four
It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.
It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.
.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024
PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella
Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.
64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.
.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024
PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win
Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.
The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.
Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063
8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024
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Morning 9: Pendrith’s maiden Tour win | Morikawa back with former coach | Brooks victorious
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