Another five-tournament week makes a writer feel spoiled. So much to talk about this first weekend of May. The European Tour continued its three-week stay in the Canary Islands off Africa, while the PGA Tour Champions nearly turned into a sponge in Texas. The LPGA Tour went overseas to Singapore, while the Korn Ferry tour touched down in Alabama. Finally, the PGA Tour dipped its toe in Florida’s gulf coast, at the fabled Copperhead course at Innisbrook.
Take a breath and dive on into this week’s action as we offer another edition of Tour Rundown on GolfWRX.Com.
PGA Tour: Valspar Classic gets some side Burns action
Sam Burns was that stellar college standout who got hosed by the USGA. They do it every fifteen years or so. Dude was a lock for the Walker Cup squad, until he wasn’t fitted for a kit. Can’t explain it, but the kid didn’t let it get him down. On Sunday, Burns stared down major champion Keegan Bradley and claimed his first PGA Tour event at the Valspar. Burns had been oh-so-close in California, finishing one stroke shy of the Genesis Invitational playoff ‘twixt Finau and Homa, and this time around, he secured his hold on victory with gutty play.
Burns’ card wasn’t clean on Sunday. He had three bogeys, including one at the last. By then, the outcome was decided, and his winning margin was reduced from four to three. Bradley was one of those also hosed by the USGA, when the decision to disallow the anchored putter came down half a decade ago. He had struggled since his breakout years in 2011-12, and the loss of his belly putter put a nail in his tire. Bradley won again in 2018, but has not found the podium’s top spot since then.
The leaders were each three-under par on the day when they reached the final six holes. Bradley lost his ability to make birdie, and tripped over a double and a bogey coming home. Burns wasn’t perfect, but he did balance his bogies and birdies, and won by three strokes.
LPGA Tour: Women’s World Championship sails off with Hyo Joo
XiYu Lin has the best profile picture for golfers on twitter (is that a manhole cover?), and she almost snared an important professional title this weekend in Singapore. The birdie machine (6-7-7 over three rounds) stopped churning them out on Sunday (just two) and Janet from The Good Place settled in a third-place tie with Patty T and Inbee Park. Actually, that sounds like a fun talk show: Xi, PT, and Inbee. I’m going to put out some feelers and get back to you.
Oh, right, the golf. On day four in Singapore, Hannah Green surged just enough with a minus-three 69, after consecutive rounds of 66, to move ahead of our talk show/podcast/dinnertime theater trio to 16 deep and what looked like a second big win in her career (she did win the 2019 PGA Championship, before all this viral craziness.) What absolutely gutted the talented Aussie was her finish: bogey and bogey. After a ripping eagle two a the 14th, along with three more birdies, the Ozzie came in for the kill, but tripped and stumbled coming home. Although second-place money from a bank spends well, it’s titles that drive these golfers.
Back to #KoreaStrong, aka Hyo Joo Kim. Her Sunday scorecard looks for all the world like a Numbers Are Nifty tease: four pars, two birdies, par, two birdies, par, two birdies, three pars. Move the birdie at six to the fourth, and you’d have the most balanced, binary thing ever. No one was stopping the Hyo Joo Express on day four in Singapore. Her two pars at 17 and 18 must have felt like birdies 9 and 10 on the day, after Green’s derailment. The win was her first since 2016 on the LPGA Tour, and first since 2020 on any circuit.
European Tour: Tenerife Open to Burmester
If it begins with a “T” consider “DB.” Feeling the rhyme today. Dean Burmester began the week on Tenerife (aka paradise) with 63, and closed it with 62. Them’s some numbers! His win on Tenerife was his second on the European Tour, following a 2017 win at the Tshwane Open. Burmester began round four with a one-shot deficit to Kalle Samooja and Nicolai Von Dellinghausen (don’t even get me started!), but quickly swiped right toward birdies, and won going away by five.
#BirdiesForBurmester at one and two were followed by three more at five through seven. NVD had two birds and two bogies, and gave back five strokes to the South African. Samooja remained near the lead when he turned in three-under par, but his back-nine 37 submerged him in a third-place tie that he desired not at all. In contrast, NVD went out with a pair of bogies and birdies each, but came home in minus-three, including eagle at the last. His tenacity bumped him one stroke ahead of the third-place tie, into solo second.
A snazzy little note to close out the Burmester report: he birdied the 1st and the 18th all four days. Both par five holes, it’s true, but that’s a heck of a way to start and finish each round. Raise a toast to this week’s winner, and look ahead to 72 more holes on Tenerife at the Canaryd Islands Championship next week, at the Golf Costa Adeje layout.
Korn Ferry Tour: RWB was bound to win at the Huntsville Championship
What happens when France, Chile, and the USA go into a playoff? Red, White and Blue is your winner, no matter how it shakes out. Billy Kennerly of the state shot 63 on Sunday, and reached 15-under 265 in regulation. A bit later, Mito Pereira of South America’s Thinland posted 66 for the same number, and France’s Paul Barjon signed for a 69 for … you guessed it, 265. All three made par at the 18th in regulation, and that was where they headed for the three-wayoff to decide the winner in sudden death.
Each had four the first time through, with Kennerly lipping out for the win, so they returned to the tee a second time. Barjon and Pereira repeated, but Kennerly was unable to match and dropped away with a bogey. For giggles, the golfers moved to the par-five tenth hole and sparks flew. Pereira made a stellar birdie … and lost to Barjon’s eagle! What makes those numbers that much more curious is that all three playoff participants had played the hole in five in regulation. Pars on a long hole certainly don’t predict low numbers in a playoff.
Barjon began the day with a three-stroke lead, but gave back most of it with a double bogey at the first. He was plus-two through nine, but came back to the clubhouse in minus-three. Brandon Wu and Cameron Young were in the mix after three rounds, but neither could break 70 on day four, and both fell away from the challenge. The KFT moves to Tennessee for the next fortnight, beginning in south Nashville, then moving east to Knoxville.
PGA Tour Champions: Insperity Invitational is Weir’s first win in 14 years
Harder to type that figure or read it? Hard to believe it had been 14 years since Mike Weir sipped champagne at the Fry’s Electronic Open. The irresistible search for distance led to injury, and Weir slipped forever into the one-major-seven-other-wins category. Last May, Weir turned 50 and embraced the PGA Tour Champions as an opportunity to contend once again. This week, he and his fellow competitors waited out a Friday rainout and played 36 holes on the weekend to decide a champion at the Insperity Invitational near Houston.
Running neck and neck all week with the pride of Canada was old nemesis John Daly. Seemingly reborn with his son’s rise in the junior ranks, Daly drained a curling putt for eagle at the 13th, to assume a two-shot lead. Moments later, Weir nearly dunked his approach for albatross at the same hole, and converted his three-feet putt for a matching eagle. Daly arrived at 18 first, found the fairway off the tee, and caught a gust of wind on his approach into the green. Helpless, he watched his ball drop shy of the putting surface, into the fronting water. His double-bogey six created the final, two-shot margin of victory for Weir, who reached the green in regulation and took two putts for the win.
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19th Hole2 weeks ago
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Bucky Lasek
May 3, 2021 at 11:10 am
Hosed by the usga over the anchor ban? Guy needs to be “hosed” again with another version of the anchor ban
Hunter
May 3, 2021 at 12:49 pm
Exactly. The original anchor ban didn’t go far enough.