Scotland's Martin Laird held his nerve in a three-man playoff at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open to grab his first PGA Tour victory for over seven years. A birdie at the second extra hole saw off the challenge of Americans Austin Cook and Matthew Wolff earning Laird the $1.26m winner's cheque. Mexico's Abraham Ancer finished in outright fourth place on 20 under par after a closing 67.
Patrick Reed is hoping to extend his advantage at the top of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai after confirming his return to this week’s BMW PGA Championship, the third Rolex Series event of 2020. The American made his debut at Wentworth Club last year, sharing fourth position – one of seven top 20 finishes he recorded on the European Tour in 2019.
Shane Lowry will tee it up at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open for the first time since his career-defining Open Championship triumph, as Galgorm Castle Golf Club plays host to the island of Ireland’s national open from 24-27 September. The 33-year-old lifted the Claret Jug in front of his home fans last year following a six-stroke win over England’s Tommy Fleetwood at Royal Portrush Golf Club.
We've all been there. One day we play great golf, nailing the drives and holing putts from everywhere, and the next – well complete rubbish. This phenomenon, however, is not purely an affliction of the amateur golfer as demonstrated by Matt Every who shot the lights out in round one of the Arnold Palmer invitational with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 only to go out on Friday and shoot 83 and miss the cut!
David Feherty didn’t hold back in a recent interview for Sports Illustrated when asked about Patrick Reed. Feherty reckons that Reed should be known as "Captain Oblivious" given his response to the furore that has followed since his infamous rules infringement.
There was plenty of excitement at the last week’s events and plenty of great play. Here is GolfPunk’s pick of the best shots and we use the word ‘best’ in a rather loose way for one of them!
Erik van Rooyen celebrated his 30th birthday most spectacularly at the WGC-Mexico Championship as the South African tied the course record at Chapultepec Golf Club with a sizzling 62. That nine under par round moved van Rooyen to a ten under total and within a shot of Bryson DeChambeau’s lead.
It was inevitable that Patrick Reed, who is playing at the WGC event in Mexico City this week, was going to be asked about the latest comments from Bob Kostis and Brooks Koepka. Talking after Thursday’s first round he managed to dance around the question.
Surely the least contentious and well-deserved award for 2019 was Jon Rahm being voted the Seve Ballesteros Award as the 2019 European Tour Players' Player of the Year, after a spectacular campaign which included two Rolex Series titles, another victory on home soil and culminated in him being crowned the Race to Dubai Champion.
We’ve all been there in that bunker slashing away trying to get that damn ball up and out as you see your chances in the competition dissolve in front of your eyes. At the Genesis Invitational on Saturday Ryan Palmer had a similar horrific moment which made us amateurs feel not so bad. Tiger Woods also had his nightmare on the greens which included a four-putt!
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
2019 is behind of us but it was not a great display by some who let down our great game and so have been inducted into the GolfPunk Hall of Shame. So which five golfers find themselves with the unwanted invite?
