The USA team may have recorded a comprehensive 17 – 11 victory in the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National in Minnesota, but the astonishing quality of the golf produced by both sides will be the lasting memory most of us will take away from the event. That will include arguably the most outstanding match of all: today’s singles between Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.
Sergio shot 63 – it could easily have been 61 – and still had to grind in an eight footer on the last to get out with a half. Mickelson had 10 birdies including a 20 footer on the last, and still couldn’t win. In the end, a halved match was a fair and fitting result: neither man deserved to lose. Rory McIlroy was five under after eight holes of his match with Patrick Reed, and only all square at that point. He fought to the end and Reed had to birdie the last to win one up. It was typical of Reed’s play throughout the Cup, especially on Sunday afternoon when he shepherded Jordan Spieth through the last nine holes to cement a crucial 3 point lead for the USA going into the final day.
Chris Wood had the formidable task of dealing with Dustin Johnson, and took to it with four birdies in the first five holes – hardly the sign of a man overawed by the occasion. Although he was beaten in the end, it was only by the narrowest of margins, with Johnson producing a string of clutch putts on almost every hole to win one up.
All of this took place against the cauldron of a fired-up local crowd, baying for victory and at times taking this to the extreme in terms of parochial support. It was a far cry from your normal cookie cutter four round PGA Tour event, let alone the formalities of a Major Championship. But this is the Ryder Cup, the equivalent of the Super Bowl or Grand Final of golf, with an audience to match. It’s the one opportunity golf gets every two years to showcase itself to a non-traditional audience, and long may it continue.
Tickets and hospitality packages for Paris 2018 are now on sale……
Barson breaks through
Taranaki professional Dominic Barson has been one of the most consistent performers on the PGA of New Zealand’s Pro-Am circuit, and he finally broke through for his maiden Charles Tour Victory in the Augusta Funds Taranaki Open, presented by Pipe Tech. His four round total of 270 (-18) included a 2nd round 64, and a closing 65 to win by four shots from Christchurch’s Shaun Jones, who clearly benefited from his recent visit to Scotland to have a crack at European Q-School qualifying.
This was probably the strongest Taranaki Open field ever, featuring 11 former Charles Tour winners and four previous Taranaki Open winners, making victory all the sweeter for the 43 year old Barson. Congratulations Dominic, on an outstanding performance!
Fox hunts successfully in Kazakhstan
A closing round of 72 after consecutive 66s saw Ryan Fox finish T4 on -13 in the Kazakhstan Open in Almaty, the richest tournament on the regular European Challenge Tour circuit. Ryan pocketed just on $NZ 40,000 for his efforts, and climbs to 3rd on the Road to Oman OOM with total earnings of around $200,000. There are four more tournaments before the concluding Grand Final in Oman, but it looks like Ryan is well placed to become our first European Tour Card holder for some years in 2017.
European Q School
Also potentially in the hunt for a European Card is Mathew Perry, who finished a creditable T3 on -7 in Stage One qualifying in France last week. Mathew now moves to Stage Two Qualifying in Spain in a month’s time, and if he gets through that, the final Stage: a marathon 108 holes the following week at PGA Catalunya, also in Spain.
Lydia still 1#
Ariya Jutanugarn continued to narrow the gap between her and Lydia Ko, with a 6th placing in the Reignwood Classic in Beijing, but Lydia still remains on top going into this week’s event – the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship – as the defending champion.