5-Minute World Tour

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Welcome to The Free Drop 5-Minute World Tour where we get you caught up on the weekend’s professional golf action in just five minutes.

PGA Tour: Theegala breaks through at Fortinet Championship

It was only a matter of time and now promising young talent Sahith Theegala is a winner on the PGA Tour after claiming a two-stroke victory over S.H. Kim in the Fortinet Championship.

Theegala began the final round two in front but stretched his lead to five by the end of the 14th hole. Though Kim birdied the 15th and 16th, Theegala too birdied the 16th. A closing bogey at the 18th mattered little as the 25-year-old claimed a maiden title in his 74th start on the PGA Tour.

DP World Tour: Fox earns fantastic BMW PGA win

After a rough few weeks for the All Blacks, Ryan Fox gave New Zealand sports fans something to cheer about with a one-shot victory over Aaron Rai and Tyrell Hatton in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Beginning the round three adrift of Ludvig Aberg, the long-hitting Kiwi shrugged off a triple-bogey 7 at the 3rd with an eye-popping six birdies on the inward half. Eight birdies in all in the round, a closing 5-under 67 and a fourth DP World Tour title.

Sunshine Tour: Barker rallies to win Vodacom Origins – Devonvale

Apocalyptic weather and a masterful performance from Pieter Moolman over the first 36 holes were the early-week headlines at The Vodacom Origins Of Golf event at Devonvale Golf Estate but in the final round it was all about Kyle Barker’s charge up the leaderboard toward a second Sunshine Tour title.

Moolman held an astonishing six-shot advantage on 10-under par after 36 holes with Barker beginning the final round seven shots behind. A front-nine of 6-under par 30 was a dream start for the ever-smiling Barker and although he parred in, he’d done enough to earn a spot in a playoff with Moolman.

A birdie at the first playoff hole put the seal on an unforgettable day for Barker and one likely best forgotten by Moolman.

Challenge Tour: Penge storms to Open De Portugal triumph

England’s Marco Penge earned a timely maiden victory on the Challenge Tour as he emerged a four-stroke victor over Julian Suri and Lorenzo Svalise in the Open De Portugal.

Penge overcame a one-shot deficit as he mixed four birdies with two bogeys on a day which saw 54-hole leader Andrew Wilson stumble to a four-over 76 which relegated him to a six-way tie for 4th.

With the win, Penge moves to 19th on the Road To Mallorca with the top-20 earning DP World Tour cards at season’s end.

Korn Ferry Tour: Murray wins Simmons Bank Open, secures PGA Tour card

Polarising American Grayson Murray had something to smile about on Sunday after claiming a three-stroke victory in the Simmons Bank Open and with it a PGA Tour card for 2024.

A final round which yielded seven birdies including four in the final five holes helped Murray put some distance between himself and a trio of golfers who shared second-spot on 14-under par.

This is Murray’s second win of the season and elevates him to 6th on the Korn Ferry Points list with the top-20 at the end of the regular season securing cards for the 2024 PGA Tour season.

PGA Tour Champions: Stricker wins… Again!

Steve Stricker has won yet again, capturing his sixth win of the PGA Tour Champions season with a one-stroke victory over KJ Choi in the Sanford International.

At this point it’s like shooting fish in a barrel but Stricker didn’t have it all his own way on Sunday and briefly shared the lead with Choi. An eagle-3 at the 12th preceded a birdie at the 15th which afforded the American the luxury of three-putting the final green and still winning by a stroke.

This is Stricker’s 17th win on the PGA Tour Champions and at just 56-years-old, Bernhard Langer’s record of 46 wins is certainly not out of the realms of possibility should Stricker continue to enjoy multi-win seasons in the years to come.

Fun Facts & Scary Stats

  1. Youth Movement: Rickie Fowler will be the second-oldest player on the United States 2023 Ryder Cup at 34-years-old.
  2. Models Of Consistency: Jin-Young Ko, Brooke Henderson and Minjee Lee are the only players to have won at least one LPGA title in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
  3. Maiden Titles: Sahith Theegala is the 12th first-time winner on the PGA Tour in the 2022/23 season.

Free Drop Player Pro-File

Get to know player-turned-commentator Tony Johnstone in less than 5 minutes. Click here to listen to Episode 3 of the Free Drop Player Pro-File series.