Ogletree leads LIV Golf UK as Smash and Legion share team lead

Ogletree leads LIV Golf UK as Smash and Legion share team lead
Andy Ogletree of HyFlyers GC leads LIV Golf UK by 2 shots after the second round of play. (Supplied)
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Updated 28 July 2024
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Ogletree leads LIV Golf UK as Smash and Legion share team lead

Ogletree leads LIV Golf UK as Smash and Legion share team lead
  • Shooting a bogey-free 6-under 65, Ogletree is at 12 under and will take a 2-shot lead entering Sunday’s final round

ROCESTER: Two years ago, American Andy Ogletree was part of the inaugural LIV Golf field in London. It did not go well. Fighting through lingering hip and back injuries from the previous year, he finished last and was left scrambling for playing opportunities.

This week, Ogletree is again playing at a LIV Golf event in England, and again he is bouncing back from injury. But this time, his position on the leaderboard is distinctly different.

Shooting a bogey-free 6-under 65, Ogletree is at 12 under and will take a two-shot lead as he enters Sunday’s final round of LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf and Country Club. On the team side, Smash GC and Legion XIII share a four-shot lead over Ogletree’s HyFlyers GC, Stinger GC and Torque GC.

Not only is Ogletree seeking his first LIV Golf title and the biggest victory of his career, but he also hopes to complete an amazing story of redemption.

“Complete the journey,” said Ogletree, who joined Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers after earning a LIV Golf spot this season as the 2023 International Series champion.

“It’s been a crazy road. I don’t know exactly what it will mean. We’ll see. But for now, just focus on tomorrow, focus on taking care of the things that I can control, and we’ll go from there.”

Ogletree, forced to adjust his swing this season to compensate for an injured left wrist, cannot afford to look too far ahead — his closest pursuers are two of LIV Golf’s top players.

Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith is hoping to take a LIV Golf title in England for the second consecutive season, having won last year’s London event at Centurion Club. Legion XIII star Tyrrell Hatton recently won his first LIV Golf title in Nashville and has been one of the league’s most consistent players since he joined.

Smith and Hatton are each at 10 under, but neither seemed completely pleased with their second round 5-under 66s.

Smith appeared to be separating from the pack after his eighth birdie of the day left him leading by two. But an errant drive at the 16th hole followed by a water ball at the island-green 17th produced consecutive bogeys.

“Probably the most disappointing 5-under I think I’ve ever had,” said the three-time LIV Golf winner. “Was feeling really nice until a couple of loose swings.”

Hatton, like Ogletree, was bogey-free on his round and striking it well from tee to green, as he missed just two greens in regulation. But his putter didn’t heat up until his final 10 holes.

“Played some really nice golf and just felt like I was putting to thin air,” he said afterwards. “Didn't feel like there was actually a hole out there. It took until the 10th hole for a putt to drop.”

Smith and Hatton will play in the final group on Sunday with Ogletree, but there are seven other players within five shots of the lead. These include Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm and Crushers GC’s Paul Casey, who are tied for fourth; 2023 Individual Champion Talor Gooch, tied for sixth with Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen; and Gooch’s Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka, who is tied for eighth with the RangeGoats duo of Matthew Wolff and Peter Uihlein.

It will be a big task for Ogletree to hold them all off, but given the journey he’s taken to reach this point he is ready for the challenge. He currently lies 38th in points but a win would move him inside the top 24 Lock Zone with just two regular-season tournaments remaining.

“I think I’ll be nervous, but I’ll look forward to that,” he said. “I’ll run towards that pressure and embrace it, and I think everyone is going to be nervous coming down the stretch. Whatever happens, I’ll accept it and learn from it and move on.”

Standings and counting scores for Saturday’s second round:

The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.

T1. SMASH GC -21 (Gooch 66, Koepka 68, Kokrak 69; Rd. 2 score: -10)

T1. LEGION XIII -21 (Hatton 66, Surratt 68, Rahm 70; Rd. 2 score: -9)

T3. TORQUE GC -17 (Niemann 67, Ortiz 67, Munoz 68; Rd. 2 score: -11)

T3. STINGER GC -17 (Oosthuizen 67, Schwartzel 67, Grace 70; Rd. 2 score: -9)

T3. HYFLYERS GC -17 (Ogletree 65, Tringale 70, Mickelson 72; Rd. 2 score: -6)

T6. CRUSHERS GC -16 (DeChambeau 65, Casey 66, Catlin 71; Rd. 2 score: -11)

T6. FIREBALLS GC -16 (Puig 68, Chacarra 70, Garcia 70; Rd. 2 score: -5)

T8. RANGEGOATS GC -15 (Uihlein 67, Wolff 68, Watson 72; Rd. 2 score: -6)

T9. CLEEKS GC -13 (Bland 68, Samooja 68, Meronk 69; Rd. 2 score: -8)

T9. RIPPER GC -13 (Smith 66, Ormsby 71, Herbert 72; Rd. 2 score: -4)

T11. MAJESTICKS GC -10 (Poulter 68, Stenson 69, Horsfield 70; Rd. 2 score: -6)

T12. IRON HEADS GC -8 (Vincent 66, Kozuma 69, Na 70; Rd. 2 score: -8)

T12. 4ACES GC -8 (Reed 68, Perez 69, Johnson 69; Rd. 2 score: -7)


American sweep! Team USA win all 5 matches in opening session of Presidents Cup

American sweep! Team USA win all 5 matches in opening session of Presidents Cup
Updated 27 September 2024
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American sweep! Team USA win all 5 matches in opening session of Presidents Cup

American sweep! Team USA win all 5 matches in opening session of Presidents Cup
  • It was the third time they shut out the Internationals on the first day, and the first time since 2000
  • International captain Mike Weir had a plan for the opening two days and he didn’t see anything on the course to make any changes for the foursomes matches on Friday

MONTREAL: The Presidents Cup matches were close. The score after the opening session was not.

The Americans clung to a 1-up lead in all five matches Thursday when they delivered shot after shot, putt after putt, until this already lopsided series took a familiar turn.

US 5, International 0.

The Americans swept the first day of fourballs matches at Royal Montreal behind a feisty Scottie Scheffler, late heroics from Xander Schauffele and plenty of help from the putting-challenged International team.

It was the third time they shut out the Internationals on the first day, and the first time since 2000. The Americans went on to an 11-point victory that year.

“We’re excited with our start — high fives, celebrate — and we’re going to keep the pressure on,” US captain Jim Furyk said.

International captain Mike Weir had a plan for the opening two days and he didn’t see anything on the course to make any changes for the foursomes matches on Friday. Adam Scott has never been on a winning team since his debut in 2003, and he wasn’t about to lose hope.

“The best news is there’s tomorrow for us. It’s not over,” Scott said. “We’re going to have to come out, fight really hard, find that gear, win a session and get going in the right direction. The score line looks rough. But I don’t think there was that much difference in it today.”

Three matches reached the 18th green. One ended on No. 17. The shortest match was Scheffler and Russell Henley getting the last word in a 3-and-2 win over Tom Kim and Sungjae Im.

Scheffler and Henley never trailed in what was the spiciest match of an otherwise flat day, the Canadian crowd mostly silent after Mackenzie Hughes, who sat out the first session, chugged a beer on the opening tee to get them going.

Scheffler and Kim are good friends who play plenty of money games in Dallas. On the par-3 seventh hole, the 22-year-old Kim holed a putt from just inside 30 feet and did a pirouette on the green, screaming, “Let’s Go!”

Scheffler matched the birdie from about the same length, and the world’s No. 1 player turned toward Kim and screamed, “What was that?”

It got testy on the next hole when Kim made another long birdie, celebrated wildly and then he and Im walked over to the ninth tee without even watching Scheffler putt.

“It’s the same thing I would have done at home if he had made a putt ... and he celebrated like that. So it’s all in good fun. We enjoy competing against each other,” Scheffler said. “That’s what it’s like out here. It’s fun to compete and fun to represent our country, and at the end of the match you take your hat off and shake hands.

“We’re friends after, we’re not friends during, I guess.”

The Internationals never looked like they would win the session. They weren’t expecting a shutout, either.

Taylor Pendrith, one of two Canadians in the lineup, made birdie on the 12th as he and Christiaan Bezuidenhout squared their match against Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark.

Schauffele and Tony Finau missed 3-foot par putts on the 16th and their opening match against Jason Day and Byeong Hun An was all square.

It could have gone either way. But it only got worse for the Internationals.

Bezuidenhout missed three 7-foot putts in a span of four holes that kept his side from squaring the match. Scott missed a pair of putts from the 12-foot range.

The Americans delivered the goods.

Schauffele atoned for his short miss by hitting his tee shot to 7 feet to a back pin on the par-3 17th for a birdie, and then hit his approach to 3 feet on the 18th to close out the match.

“Tony got the party started on the front nine and he had my back all day,” Schauffele said. “I figured it was my time to have his back.”

Bradley, the Ryder Cup captain for next year who has gone 10 years since his last cup competition, holed a 35-foot putt on the 13th and secured a 1-up win over Scott and Min Woo Lee with a 10-foot putt. Emotions were pouring from him.

“It was 10 years of pent-up energy of not playing these,” Bradley said. “I just had such a blast out there today.”

Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala rallied from a 1-down deficit through 11 holes when Morikawa birdied the 12th and 14th holes. Theegala secured it with an approach to just inside 3 feet. He made the putt, the first time all day he retrieved his golf ball from the cup.

In the anchor match, Patrick Cantlay was relentless as ever and Sam Burns made a 10-foot birdie on the 13th hole that put them 2 up, and Corey Conners and Hideki Matsuyama could never cut into the lead.

The Americans also swept the opening session in 1994. This was the eighth time in the last nine Presidents Cups they had a lead after the first day.

Friday has five foursomes matches. Furyk is keeping two teams together, including Scheffler and Henley, with Cantlay and Schauffele looking to build on their foursomes record.

“The last couple road games have been close,” Cantlay said. “I think it’s a huge statement. I think we need to build on that tomorrow.”


Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change

Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change
Updated 24 September 2024
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Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change

Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change
  • The Presidents Cup starts at Royal Montreal, the oldest golf club in North America and site of another US romp in the Presidents Cup in 2007
  • The Americans have won nine in a row since the 2003 tie, and the only International victory was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia

MONTREAL: Golf has never seen a rivalry as lopsided as the Presidents Cup, so heavily weighted toward the Americans it can barely be considered a rivalry.

Adam Scott needs no reminder.

He was a 23-year-old making his Presidents Cup debut in 2003, right in the middle of the action in South Africa, urging for a Tiger Woods-Ernie Els playoff to continue in the dark if it meant the International team not getting a share of the trophy. It ended in a tie. They shared the gold trophy.

But for Scott and the Internationals, it’s been all downhill — more like plunging off a cliff — ever since then.

The Americans have won nine in a row since that tie, and the only International victory was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia.

What makes Scott think this will be any different?

“I think our team is deeper than we’ve seen for a while, as far as the world ranking goes — not that it’s the be all and end all, but it’s something,” Scott said. “I feel like we’re putting together a formidable side, and 18-hole match play and some momentum, we can get right in it.”

He has said that before. He just hasn’t done that before.

The Presidents Cup starts Thursday at Royal Montreal, the oldest golf club in North America and site of another US romp in the Presidents Cup in 2007. The only consolation for Canada that year was Mike Weir taking down Woods, even though the outcome had been decided.

Weir is now the International captain and hopeful Canada has more to cheer.

That starts with being in front of a home crowd.

“We know what they can do,” Xander Schauffele said Monday as both teams played nine holes at Royal Montreal in cool weather and occasional rain. “And they’re on home soil.”

That certainly doesn’t hurt the cause, as the last two times illustrated. The International team, led by Els at Royal Melbourne in 2019, had the Americans on the ropes and was leading 10-8 going into the last day, only for the Americans to rally in singles and win.

Before that was South Korea in 2015. The Internationals thought they had it won until Chris Kirk made a 15-foot putt and Anirban Lahiri missed from 4 feet. With a chance for at least a tie, Sangmoon Bae in the final match duffed a chip on the final hole.

Close, but no trophy. That’s been the case since 1998.

In America, it’s been no contest. The US built an 8-2 lead after two sessions the last time, at Quail Hollow in North Carolina in 2022, against an International team that lost two key players, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, who joined the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League.

And then there was Liberty National in 2017, such a shellacking that the Americans had a chance to win the cup before even getting to the 12 singles matches on the final day.

Schauffele, playing in his third Presidents Cup, believes the home crowd matters, especially if US players fall behind early.

“If you start out shaky, the fans can make a big difference. You can be made to feel like you’re playing worse than you really are,” Schauffele said.

Most of the Americans haven’t played since the Tour Championship three weeks ago — Max Homa missed the cut at the Procore Championship in Napa, California, while Presidents Cup rookie Sahith Theegala tied for seventh.

But they arrived on the weekend, a few days earlier than normal, to get acquainted with Royal Montreal. The International team spend two days in Montreal after the Tour Championship.

“I know they’re putting a lot into it to kind of make it feel like as much of a home game as possible for us, and we’re counting on the Canadian fans for that,” Scott said. “But we’re all going to have to do our job and win some points to get them on our side.”

As for the little things, Weir points to a big starting point in 2019 when Els had a logo — it’s more like a shield — as a symbol of an International side that is starting to feel more like a team. This team has players from six countries. Three of them are Canadian, all of whom Weir chose with his captain’s picks.

“You can just see it. You feel it. The guys are more comfortable with one another,” Weir said. “And I think that’s a big factor for our team.”

Scott, Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day are the only players who have competed in at least three Presidents Cups. For the rest of the players, the losing streak is only what they hear.

“We do know the past, and we want to change that,” Weir said. “And we’re doing all the little things behind the scenes to help to change that.”


Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style

Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style
Updated 23 September 2024
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Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style

Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style
  • Former teen phenom Ko’s victory was her third LPGA title of 2024

OS ANGELES, United States: Lydia Ko continued her late-season surge on Sunday, firing a sensational nine-under par 63 to win the US LPGA Queen City Championship by five strokes on the heels of her Olympic and British Open triumphs.
New Zealand’s Ko started the day two shots behind Thailand’s Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul, but she seized control with an eagle at the 11th and powered to victory with a 23-under par total of 265.
She had seven birdies and no bogeys at TPC River’s Bend near Cincinnati, Ohio, where Jeeno started strong with a birdie and an eagle on the front nine but just couldn’t keep pace coming in.
“It has been pretty surreal,” Ko said of the last two months, which saw her complete her collection of Olympic medals — and secure her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame — with her Olympic triumph in Paris.
She followed that with her first major title in eight years at the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews.
“After having three weeks off (I was) not entirely sure what it was going to be like,” she said. “To have a round like this to cap off a win is pretty special.”
Ko drained a 15-foot birdie putt at the 10th to pull level with Jeeno, and made another 15-footer for eagle at the 11th to take a two-shot lead as the Thai player was unable to capitalize on the par-five.
Jeeno pulled back a stroke with a long birdie at the par-three 12th, but there was another two-shot swing at the 13th, where Ko’s superb second shot left her an eight-footer for birdie as Jeeno missed the green on the way to a bogey.
Ko got up and down for birdie at the 15th and punctuated the win with a birdie at the par-five 18th.
Jeeno carded a two-under par 70, but her pursuit of a fourth LPGA title — her first in an individual stroke play event since 2022 — was further doomed by bogeys at the 15th and 17th.
Her 18-under par total of 270 gave her solo second ahead of South Korean Ryu Hae-ran, who carded a five-under 67 for 271.
Former teen phenom Ko’s victory was her third LPGA title of 2024. She also won the Tournament of Champions to start the year.
Her 22 titles are seven more than any other active LPGA player and the 27-year-old said her resurgent season has her reconsidering her career goals.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to do the career Grand Slam, but I just thought that would be so out there,” said Ko, who needs the US Open and Women’s PGA Championship to complete her collection of major titles.
“But, you know, I feel like I’ve already been part of this fairytale, so why not?”


South Africa’s Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City Championship lead

South Africa’s Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City Championship lead
Updated 20 September 2024
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South Africa’s Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City Championship lead

South Africa’s Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City Championship lead
  • Buhai said her form had been solid, and after two weeks off she was ready to attack the Arnold Palmer-designed TPC River’s Bend course
  • With her two-putt birdie at 18 she had a one-stroke lead over Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and China’s Liu Yan

LOS ANGELES: Ashleigh Buhai carded eight birdies in a 7-under par 65 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the LPGA Queen City Championship as she vies to finish strong in an injury-disrupted year.

“There has been a few things happened to me this year — back injuries, broken toe,” said the South African, who played the Paris Olympics with a piece of one shoe cut away because of her toe injury.

But Buhai, whose two LPGA victories include a major title at the 2022 Women’s British Open, said her form had been solid, and after two weeks off she was ready to attack the Arnold Palmer-designed TPC River’s Bend course, which is hosting the tournament for the first time.

“I think I was smart with when I could attack,” said Buhai, who had four birdies on the front nine and four on the back.

With her two-putt birdie at 18 she had a one-stroke lead over Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and China’s Liu Yan.

Eight players shared fourth on 67, a group that included world No. 1 Nelly Korda and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, the Paris Olympics champion.

“There were a few pins out there where you had to still try to be aggressive, and the greens got a little firm and ran through, but I then made some good up and downs to keep me in it,” Buhai said.

“I hit it great, putted well — that tends to add up to what it did.”

Liu, who has missed the cut in her last seven starts and is searching for a first top-10 of the year, started on the 10th and had two eagles — at the 18th and at the eighth — in her 66.

“Today my driver was very good,” said Liu, who played her last two holes in 3-under.


Topgolf to open three driving range entertainment venues in Kingdom

Topgolf to open three driving range entertainment venues in Kingdom
Updated 19 September 2024
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Topgolf to open three driving range entertainment venues in Kingdom

Topgolf to open three driving range entertainment venues in Kingdom
  • Move part of partnership deal with Golf Saudi
  • Company will also sponsor Kingdom’s professional golfers

RIYADH: Topgolf Callaway Brands is set to open three driving range entertainment venues in the Kingdom under a partnership deal with Golf Saudi.
The facilities will open in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province, with the possibility of more to follow in the future, according to a press statement.
Golf Saudi CEO Noah Alireza said: “Our partnership marks a pivotal moment for golf in Saudi Arabia. Our golf infrastructure has been rapidly evolving and this multi-brand deal with Topgolf Callaway Brands will accelerate the game we love across the whole ecosystem.
“We are confident that we’ve found the right long-term partner to leverage the fast developing sports and golf canvas in Saudi Arabia and to co-innovate to help shape the future of golf in Saudi and beyond.
“This partnership ladders back to Golf Saudi’s role in achieving the goals of Vision 2030,” Alireza said.
“We are driven by improving the lives and opportunities of all Saudis and expats living in the country. Opening Topgolf will not only get thousands of people into playing golf and enjoying the health and wellness benefits that come with that, but it will also bring hundreds of new jobs to young Saudis, which is another part of our ambitions of building a far-reaching and sustainable golf ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.”
As well as the entertainment venues, under the deal Golf Saudi will become the official distributor of Topgolf Callaway Brands equipment and clothing in the Kingdom.
Callaway Golf will also sponsor the country’s professional golfers and provide clothing for the men’s, women’s and junior national teams.