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Dear Guest,
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Monday, 23 January, 2017
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Fox to the fore in Abu Dhabi
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The quartet of Ryan Fox, Danny Lee, Steven Alker and Tom Wilkinson have all turned in a good week’s work in the latest European and PGA Tour events. All four made the cut and advanced their Tour standings, with Fox recording an excellent Top 20 finish in a strong field.
Ryan Fox can be very happy with his first tournament as a full European Tour member. Amongst others, the star-studded Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship featured Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Rickie Fowler, Alexander Noren and Thomas Bjorn. Ryan anchored his performance with a bogey free 69 in Round 3, and finished T19 on -8 alongside European Ryder Cup team member Rafa Cabrera Bello, to bank $NZ 43,400 for his efforts. Tommy Fleetwood took out his first Tour victory for four years, edging Dustin Johnson by a single shot. |
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Careerbuilder Challenge: PGA Tour
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The PGA was back on Californian soil this week with the three course Pro-Am formatted Careerbuilder challenge. Danny Lee was right in the mix after a 67 and a 64 in the first two rounds, to be only one shot off the pace, but had a very expensive weekend blowing out to a 76 in Round 3. Round 4 looked to be going the same way before a late eagle and birdie in the last three holes pulled Danny up to a T41 finish. Meanwhile Tim Wilkinson and Steven Alker played solidly throughout to both finish T25 on -10. That improves Wilkinson’s FedEx standing to 95#, with Alker also up to 103#. Winner Hudson Swafford took the major prize with a -20 finish, a shot ahead of Canadian Hadwin, who lit up the tournament with an astonishing 59 in Round 3. While 59s are becoming almost routine on the Tour these days, this one took place on the par 72 La Quinta Country Club course, and featured 13 birdies including four twos on the par 3s. Looks like the chances of someone going even lower than 59 could be quite high this year……. |
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New Zealand Pro-Am Circuit
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The local circuit continues this week with the Duke of Marlborough Pro-Am at Napier today, followed by the Tommy’s Paraparaumu Beach Pro-Am on Wednesday, and the $15,000 Spark Business Pro-Am at Martinborough on Thursday. The players will be hoping the wild weather of late calms down somewhat, as they hit the bottom of the North Island. After three tournaments in the Race to the NZ PGA Championship, Grant Moorhead and Ben Guilford are the two front runners to claim the two starting spots available, but with four tournaments in total this week, there is plenty of scope for others to make their challenge. You can follow results at www.pga.org.nz |
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