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Welcome to the Free Drop 5-Minute World Tour, where we get you caught up on the week that was in professional golf.
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Amateur Golf
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WP Winter League Team Championship: Cruickshank earns emphatic victory
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Cole Cruickshank earned an emphatic four-shot victory in the Western Province Winter League Team Championship after superb rounds of 8-under 64 and 69 at Strand Golf Club.
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Beginning on Strand's 6th hole, Cruickshank picked up early momentum with birdies at 8 and 12. Another followed at 16 but the best was yet to come. An eagle-3 at the 2nd preceded three birdies in a row to close out a great round.
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Holding a three-stroke advantage as he started the afternoon round, the Royal Cape member overcame a sluggish start. Dropping three shots in his first four holes, Cruickshank collected birdies at the 10th and 16th.
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He executed another superb finish by collecting a birdie-3 at the 1st and another eagle-3 at the 2nd before capping off a wonderful day's golf with a birdie at the 5th.
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Strand's Nicolas van der Vyver finished 2nd on 7-under after rounds of 68 and 69.
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Professional Golf
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PGA Tour: Henley rallies to snatch Schwab Challenge title
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Birdies at his final three holes helped Russell Henley draw level with Eric Cole. A birdie at the first extra-hole confirmed that Henley had successfully pried the Charles Schwab Challenge away from Eric Cole at Colonial, denying Cole a maiden Tour title.
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Cole played brilliantly in the early part of the week. A 3-under 67 in round one was followed by a 68 and 63 which earned him a one-stroke lead - his first ever 54-hole advantage on Tour.
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His final round was topsy-turvy. Birdies at his first two holes were undone by a drop at 4 and a double-bogey at 9.
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He'd make only one birdie coming in on a level-par day.
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Henley's day was just as strange: An eagle-3 at the 1st and a birdie at 2 preceded three drops in a row from the 3rd. Another at 9 left him at 1-over for the day.
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A birdie at 11 pulled his score back to even-par before the terrific finish of 2-3-3.
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A brilliant approach to 5-feet in the playoff set up a third 3 in as many holes while Cole's bid from a similar distance stayed agonisingly above ground as Henley captured his sixth title.
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LPGA Tour: Boutier wins ShopRite LPGA
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Celine Boutier overturned a four-stroke deficit by carding a 5-under 66 to win the ShopRite LPGA by a stroke from Arpichaya Yoobol at Seaview Golf Course.
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Boutier book-ended the three-round event with rounds of 66, either side of a 72. Having birdied two of her first three holes in the final round, she combatted a drop at the 7th with three birdies in a row from the 8th.
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Further red numbers followed at the 10th and 14th as the Frenchwoman eclipsed Yoobol who closed with a 66 as well.
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Overnight leader Soo Bin Joo struggled to a 2-over final round to fall into a share of 4th-place.
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DP World Tour: Maiden title for Kaneko in Austria
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Photo credit: DP World Tour/X
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Kota Kaneko broke through for the first time on the DP World Tour with a two-stroke win in the Austria Open at Golfclub Kitzbuhel-Schwarzsee-Reith.
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The Japanese player was a model of consistency in the early part of the week, carding three successive 5-under 65s to open a slender one-shot advantage over Ricardo Gouveia.
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The final round brought five birdies in all - one on the front-nine and four on the back. None of Kaneko's birdies was more crucial than the chip-in at 16 which put the Japanese into the solo-lead with two to play.
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Kaneko's aggregate ensured he held off a chasing pack which saw various challenger's unable to sustain early momentum. Bernd Wiesberger birdied three holes in a row from the 6th in a front-nine of 4-under 32 before a level-par back-nine meant he shared 4th
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Runner-up Ricardo Gouveia also stalled with a level-par inward-half. that featured seven straight pars to close. Fellow runner-up Davis Bryant enjoyed a productive second-nine of 4-under 30 but his title aspirations were ultimately thwarted by a closing bogey.
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LIV Golf Tour: Niemann beats Gooch in Korea playoff
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Joaquin Niemann birdied the first extra hole against Talor Gooch to win LIV Golf Korea at Asiad Country Club.
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The pair finished regulation play tied on 12-under par after both shooting 3-under 67 in the final round. Niemann made four birdies in a five-hole stretch from the 5th on Sunday while Gooch mixed five birdies with two bogeys in his round.
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The pair headed down the par-4 18th in the playoff and although Gooch made a par, a laser-like approach from Niemann set up a birdie and his 8th LIV Golf title.
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Korn Ferry Tour: Ortiz wins UNC Health Championship
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Photo credit: Korn Ferry Tour/X
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Alvaro Ortiz birdied the first hole of sudden-death to defeat Ross Steelman and win the UNC Health Championship at Raleigh Country Club.
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The pair ended regulation tied on 10-under par with Ortiz carding a 2-over 72 (including three birdies in his final five holes) and Steelman a 4-under 66.
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In the playoff, Steelman faced a birdie bid from 40-feet which ran 8-feet past the hole and he was unable to make the return.
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There were no such issues for Ortiz who converted his birdie putt from 6-feet to land the title.
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HotelPlanner Tour: Van Velzen earns maiden victory
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Photo credit: HotelPlanner Tour/X
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Ryan Van Velzen landed a maiden HotelPlanner Tour title when he won the Challenge de Espana by two shots at Isla Canela Links.
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The South African set the tone for a successful week with a 7-under 64 in round one. A level-par second round was but a minor setback as the 24-year-old breathed new life into his challenge with a third round 63 that helped him to a one-stroke advantage.
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In the final round, the opening-nine was a mixed bag for Van Velzen as three birdies were undermined by as many bogeys. A blemish-free inward-nine which featured birdies at the 13th and 15th saw Van Velzen sign for a 69 and victory over Dan Erickson (70) and Wil Besseling who closed with a 69 of his own.
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Fun Facts & Scary Stats
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- Joaquin Niemann has won more LIV Golf titles (8) than any other player.
- In just 2 hours and 16 minutes, Russell Henley went from a 0.9% chance of victory to the winner's circle (Credit: Data Golf).
- In 2021, Alvaro and Carlos Ortiz became the first Latin American brothers to play in the US Open.
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