Welcome to the Free Drop 5-Minute World Tour, where we get you caught up on the week that was in professional golf.
Amateur Golf
SA Premier IPT: WP earn 3rd title in a row
Photo credit: GolfRSA
Western Province extended their dominance at the SA Premier Interprovincial by winning their third title in a row, winning by a single log-point over North West.
The nucleus of the WP side has remained largely intact for the past three years with 5 of the 8 players having played in all three winning teams, while WP legend Werner Theart served as Manager for the third consecutive year too.
That collective experience served WP well over the opening three days as they engineered wins over Boland (7.5-4.5), Gauteng North (7-5) and Southern Cape (6.5-5.5).
A loss to North West 5.5-6.5 set up a thrilling final day with WP, North West and Central Gauteng all having a mathematical chance of victory.
WP laid down an early marker with a 4-0 foursomes win over Central while North West trounced Boland 2.5-1.5. Henru Walters & Andries Van Der Vyver delivered a comprehensive 6&5 win for WP whilst Cole Cruickshank combined with captain Andrew Georgiou for a 2&1 win and rookies Nicholas Schrieder and Nicolas Van Der Vyver won 2-up. Westlake duo of Shaun Le Roux and Pietie Loubser meanwhile ran out 3&2 victors.
WP certainly needed the buffer they’d built up as they fell to a 2.5-5.5 defeat in the afternoon singles. Walters (5&4) and Schrieder (1Up) were the only Province players to register victories while Cruickshank earned a half-point.
North West fell to a 3.5-4.5 defeat to Boland in the afternoon as WP tightened their grip on the trophy.
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Professional Golf
PGA Tour: Fitzpatrick beats Scheffler in RBC Heritage playoff
Photo credit: Golf Digest/X
Matt Fitzpatrick birdied the first hole of sudden-death to beat Scottie Scheffler and win the RBC Heritage for a second time in four years.
Three shots to the good after 54 holes, Fitzpatrick’s Sunday was a quiet one as he made two birdies and a bogey. Crucially, the bogey came at the 72nd hole after he failed to get up and down for par having missed the green right.
Scheffler birdied the 15th and 16th meanwhile in a round of 4-under 67 as he and Fitzpatrick ended regulation tied on 18-under.
In the playoff, Scheffler hit a poor approach with a 6-iron that left him some 37 yards short of the hole.
Fitzpatrick on the other hand hit a fantastic 4-iron from 204 to within 15-feet before converting the birdie for his 4th PGA Tour victory.
LPGA Tour: Green wins 3rd LA Championship title
Photo credit: LPGA/X
Hannah Green won the LA Championship for the third time in four years, turning what was a six-shot deficit on the 11th hole into a remarkable victory at the first playoff hole over Sei Young Kim and Jin Hee Im.
Kim held a two-shot 54-hole advantage, a margin which increased to three with nine to play. A chip-in eagle at 11 left Green six behind but the Australian responded with a birdie at 11 before four in a row from the 13th.
Im holed a 60-footer for eagle at 16 and when Kim dropped at 17, the trio were all tied up.
Green broke the deadlock in the playoff after a birdie-3 which was set up by a terrific wedge shot. Im meanwhile saw a 35-footer come up short as Australia’s Green won her 8th LPGA title.
LIV Golf Tour: Rahm cruises to LIV Mexico victory Â
Photo credit: LIV Golf/Facebook
Jon Rahm cruised to a six-shot victory at LIV Golf Mexico, capping off a dominant display with a 7-under 64.
The Spaniard was in fine form throughout the week as he followed up an opening round 65 with back-to-back 67s. He made a flying start to the final round, picking up birdies at the 2nd, 4th and 5th to go along with an eagle-2 at the 3rd.
Rahm capped off a superb display with birdies at the 12th and 16th to eclipse David Puig who closed with a 66.
Sunshine Tour: Simpson overcomes stumble, surges to season-opening win
Photo credit: Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour
Sam Simpson overcame a rocky start to the final round of the Mediclinic Invitational, watching a 5-shot advantage turn to a one-stroke deficit in the blink of an eye before rallying to shoot a 1-under 70 and win by three shots from Simon Du Plooy and Austin Bautista.
Holding a five-shot lead over Travis Procter through 54 holes, Simpson carded a disastrous double-bogey 7 at the opening hole while Procter made an eagle to blow the tournament wide open. At the 2nd, Procter chipped in for birdie and when Simpson dropped at the 3rd, a number of players were brought in to the title frame.
Six bogeys and just one birdie between the 4th and 15th scuppered Procter’s title chances, however. To his credit, he rallied with birdies at the final three holes for a round of 70 and a share of 5th.
Simpson meanwhile bounced back with birdies at the 4th and 6th before an eagle-3 at 11. A bogey at 14 canceled out a birdie the hole before but four closing pars helped the Royal Cape member keep Du Plooy (66) and Bautista (68) at bay.
Sunshine Ladies Tour: Laisne wins Joburg Ladies Open after marathon playoff
Photo credit: Sunshine Ladies Tour/X
Agathe Laisne birdied the fifth extra hole to defeat Kirsten Rudgeley and win the Joburg Ladies Open.
The pair ended regulation play tied with Casandra Alexander on 19-under par. During regulation play, dangerous weather forced the suspension of play with Alexander working on an 8-under par round and the par-5 18th remaining. When play resumed, she made bogey to fall back to 19-under, a total matched by Laisne and Rudgeley after a 4-under 69 and 6-under 67 respectively.
Alexander was the first to bow out of the playoff when she made a bogey at the first extra hole. Laisne and Rudgeley parred the first playoff hole before trading birdies at the 2nd and 4th, either side of a bogey at the 3rd additional hole.
In the end, the difference proved to be a clutch birdie-2 by the Frenchwoman at the 5th playoff hole.
Korn Ferry Tour: Menante wins Tulum Championship by 5Â
Photo credit: Korn Ferry Tour/X
Dylan Menante won his first Korn Ferry Tour title by six shots after a 9-under 63 helped him eclipse overnight leader Blades Brown.
Menante played fantastically well in the final round, collecting four birdies on the front-9 and an additional 5 on the second-nine, punctuated by birdies at the 16th and 17th holes.
This enabled Menante to storm past Brown who was in prime position to collect his maiden title through 54 holes. It was not to be, however, as he book-ended his tournament with rounds of 2-under 70 to finish well off the pace.
PGA Tour Champions: Cink wins Senior PGA in spectacular fashionÂ
Photo credit: PGA Tour Champions/X
Stewart Cink produced a remarkable 9-under 63 in the final round of the Senior PGA Championship to emerge a six-stroke victor over Ben Crane.
The former Open champion began the day a shot shy of surprise leader Keith Horne. After a birdie at the 4th, Cink followed an eagle-3 at the 7th with birdies at the 8th, 9th and 11th holes.
Far from done, he added further red numbers at the 13th, 14th and 17th to complete a wonderful victory.
Horne struggled to a 3-over 75 to share 5th while Crane earned a runner-up finish courtesy of a final round 4-under 68.
Fun Facts & Scary Stats
- Scottie Scheffler has more appearances in the final group on Sunday (27) than any other player on the PGA Tour since 2020. Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele have the next most with 16. (Credit: PGA Tour)Â
- Scottie Scheffler is the first player since Greg Norman in 1986 to finish runner-up at the Masters and then runner-up the following week (Credit: Justin Ray Golf).
- Simon Du Plooy had missed 9 of his previous 10 cuts prior to his runner-up finish at the Mediclinic Invitational.