Korea’s 22-year-old sensation Soomin Lee rode a hot start to a 2-stroke lead at the Shenzhen International Sunday at Genzon Golf Course in China. Lee finished 16 strokes under par, largely because of opening rounds of 66 and 65. He was more down to earth with a 70 on Saturday and a 71 on Sunday, holding off The Netherlands’ Joost Luiten and South Africa’s Brandon Stone. Luiten made a run at Lee on Sunday with a 4-under 68, same as Stone. Australia’s Scott Hend and the US’ Bubba Watson each shot a closing round 66. Hend finished tied for fourth, Watson tied for eighth. It was sweet revenge for Lee, who had missed a shot at the Malaysian Open earlier this year when he faltered in the final three holes with a pair of double bogeys. It has taken Lee just six events to win his first title on the European Tour. … Continue reading Lee Shines at Shenzhen Open
Author: GolfBlogger Editor
Hoffman Grabs Win at Texas Open
Charley Hoffman fired in a birdie putt on No. 18, right after playing partner Patrick Reed had done likewise, to win the Valero Texas Open Sunday in San Antonio. Hofman led by one stroke entering Sunday’s final round, but Reed slipped ahead by a stroke when he birdied No. 3 while Hoffman bogeyed it. The pair were knotted from 7 to 11 after Reed bogeyed the former, and Hoffman took the lead back with a birdie at No. 11. Each man had one birdie over the next six holes and Reed put the pressure of a playoff on by sinking his own putt at No. 18. Chad Collins finished third at 10-under, also shooting a 69. Five players, including 2014 FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel,were tied for fourth at 9-under. It's the fourth win on the PGA Tour for Hoffman, and his first since the OHL Classic in 2014. It's the third time in four victories that he has won by a single stroke.
FedEx Cup / Race to Dubai Updates
FedEx Cup Standings The top two players in the FedEx Cup standings continue to be two from outside the US borders for the week of April 18, Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day. Scott leads the chase with 1,731 points through nine events. He’s won twice and finished in the top 10 four times. World No. 1 Day has also won twice and has four Top 10 finishes. He has 1,340 points, trailing Scott by 391 points. 2015 FedEx Cup Champion Jordan Spieth is currently sixth in the standings with 1,132 points through nine events. Day finished second behind Spieth a year ago. Winning the RBC Heritage Classic last Sunday moved South Africa’s Branden Grace into the top 20 of the standings at 19th with 790 points. Prior to the victory, his first on the PGA Tour, Grace was tied for 90th in the standings. The top 125 players in the final standings qualify for the four-tournament post-season challenge with elevated points and prize money. Race to Dubai Standings Masters champion Danny Willett maintained his comfortable lead in the Race to Dubai standings this week, with more than 2.74 million points, more than a million ahead of his closest competitor. Willett finished second in the Race to Dubai standings last year to eventual chmpion Rory McIlroy, who has won the title twice. McIlroy is currently fourth with 1.321 million points in five events. He is one of five players to have broken the 1-million point threshold, along with Louis Oosthuizen (1.548 million), Rafa Cabrera Bello (1.33 million), and Henrik Stenson (1.045 million). Willett’s lead will likely last a while unless one of those four other players wins the US Open in June. The top 60 players in total points qualify for the Final Series, a four-week series of tournaments with escalating prizes. Sweden’s David Lingmerth is currently the man on the hot seat at No. 60 with 132,767 points.
Willett’s Win Continues Euro Equality at Masters
Danny Willett's win at Augusta National last week might have been the first by a UK native in twenty years, but it continues a recent trend that has been seen just one other time in the eight-decade history of The Masters: Equality between the Americans and their foreign invaders. In the 10 years since 2007, … Continue reading Willett’s Win Continues Euro Equality at Masters
Day Retains No. 1 Status
Jason Day's Saturday collapse at the RBC Heritage took him out of contention for that crown, but he managed to retain his hold on the No. 1 ranking in the world. Day finished 23rd at Hilton Head, South Carolina. He is No. 1 for the fourth week in a row and the 10th week overall … Continue reading Day Retains No. 1 Status
Grace Scores First PGA Crown
South Africa's Branden Grace won for the first time on the PGA Tour, bookending rounds of 66 to win the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, South Carolina, by two strokes over Russell Knox and Luke Donald. Grace fired a 66-74-69-66 - 275 to finish 9-under. Not bad for a guy who missed the cut at … Continue reading Grace Scores First PGA Crown
Andrew Johnston Scores Valderrama Win
It's been a good month for UK golfers. One week after Danny Willett took home the green jacket at Augusta, Andrew Johnston scored the first European Tour victory of his seven-year professional career with a 1-stroke victory over The Netherlands' Joost Luiten at the Real Club Valderrama Open de Espana, hosted by the Sergio Garcia … Continue reading Andrew Johnston Scores Valderrama Win
7 Worst Collapses in Major History
There wasn't much enjoyable about watching Jordan Spieth's meltdown at the Masters Sunday afternoon, unless you're a big fan of Danny Willett. It was the first real showcase of Spieth being less than impenetrable in his quick ascension into golf's elite over the past three years, and will probably draw him more attention at the … Continue reading 7 Worst Collapses in Major History
Danny Willett Rises to No. 9
Masters champion Danny Willett cracked the Top 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time on Sunday, rising three spots from No. 12 to No. 9. Not bad for a guy who was barely inside the top 20 to start 2016. Jason Day retained the top spot in the rankings ahead of … Continue reading Danny Willett Rises to No. 9
Danny Willett Wins 2016 Masters Title
The due date of his son Zachariah - April 10, 2016 - meant one thing all those months ago to the UK's Danny Willett: He would have to skip the 2016 Masters. But when his wife gave birth early - 11 days to be exact - Willett decided to go ahead and travel across the … Continue reading Danny Willett Wins 2016 Masters Title