RORY MCILROY BACK TO WORLD NUMBER ONE WITH VICTORY AT WGC-BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL
Week 31

Rory McIlroy returns to the World Number One spot with his first WGC win at Firestone. Geoff Ogilvy is back to World Number 126 and into the PGA Championship with win at the Barracuda Championship. Satoshi Kodaira wins the Dunlop SRIXON Fukushima Open Golf Tournament on the Japan Golf Tour and climbs to 200th in the World.

4TH AUGUST 2014 | 12:30 PM

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational


A fortnight after holding off Sergio Garcia to win The Open Championship, Rory McIlroy overhauled his Ryder Cup team-mate to claim his first World Golf Championships event on Sunday - and with it reclaimed top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.


McIlroy turned a three shot deficit into a two shot lead within the space of five holes in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, before Garcia battled back to leave the pair tied heading into the back nine at Firestone Country Club.


Garcia had played the same back nine in just 27 shots in his second round of 61, but it was McIlroy who came out on top two days later in a tense duel, the 25 year old carding a closing 66 to finish 15 under par.


With Adam Scott finishing outside the top five McIlroy reclaims the World Number One spot he last held in March 2013.


PGA Tour - Barracuda Championship


Geoff Ogilvy won his first PGA Tour event in four years as he claimed victory at the Barracuda Championship in Reno. 


Ogilvy claimed 14 points in his final round in Nevada to finish on 49, five points ahead of nearest challenger Justin Hicks in a modified Stableford format.


Under the system, players receive eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, nothing for a par, minus-one for a bogey and minus-three for a double bogey or worse.


Australian Ogilvy has three WGC titles to his name, as well as a US Open, but has endured a barren few years and had seen his world ranking drop to 216. This win takes him to World Number 126.


Japan Golf Tour  - Dunlop SRIXON Fukushima Open Golf Tournament 


Satoshi Kodaira won the Dunlop SRIXON Fukushima Open Golf Tournament on the Japan Golf Tour and climbs to 200th in the World. Kodaira’s final round of 68 for a 16-under-par total gave him victory by two strokes over 5 players tied for second place including third round leader Ryutaro Nagano who closed with a 73.


Web.com – Stonebrae Classic


Tony Finau fired a 4-under-par 66 Sunday and pulled away from the field to win the Web.com Tour’s Stonebrae Classic by three strokes over Argentina’s Fabian Gomez, rookie Daniel Berger and Zack Sucher, winner of last week’s Midwest Classic.


Finau used a combination of power and control to set a tournament record with his 22-under score of 258, which also tied the second-lowest 72-hole score in Tour history.


The big-hitting Tour rookie from Utah collected a first-place check for $108,000 and vaulted from No. 24 to No. 8 on the money list. With only three events remaining in the regular season, Finau also stamped his ticket to the PGA TOUR for the upcoming 2014-15 campaign and moves up from 496th to 274th in the OWGR.


European Challenge Tour – Azerbaijan Golf Challenge Open

German sensation Moritz Lampert earned instant promotion to The European Tour after securing his third Challenge Tour title of the season with a superb display in the Azerbaijan Golf Challenge Open. 

Lampert started the final day in Quba five shots behind the overnight leader Benjamin Hebert, but blitzed through the field with a closing round of 66 to win by two strokes from Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera. 

Remarkably, Lampert was three over par for his fist nine holes on the opening day at The National Azerbaijan Golf Club, but made an incredible 16 birdies and four eagles over his next 63 holes to finish the week on 16 under par. 

The victory was Lampert’s third in the space of ten weeks, following wins in Austria and Spain, and confirmed the 22 year old’s status as one of the hottest young prospects in the game and into the World’s Top 150.

Sunshine Tour - Vodacom Origins of Golf presented by Samsung

Keith Horne pointed out before he started that experience includes bad memories, but his experience worked in his favour at St Francis Links as he marched to a convincing three-stroke victory on Friday in the R600,000 Vodacom Origins of Golf presented by Samsung, moving from World Number 406 to 334th .

PGA Tour Canada - ATB Financial Classic

Washington’s Brock Mackenzie ran away from the field with a final round 6-under 66 at Sirocco Golf Club on Sunday to capture the ATB Financial Classic, his second career PGA TOUR Canada win.

The 33-year old set the 72-hole scoring record for the PGA TOUR Canada era at 27-under 261 and moved to No. 3 on the Order of Merit, in position to earn Web.com Tour status at the end of the season.

“To be able to play this way, I’m so happy with myself that I was able to execute and do what I did,” said Mackenzie, who won by four shots over Order of Merit leader Joel Dahmen of Clarkston, Washington and Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Stephen Carney. “Winning out here provides a huge step for next year. The perks of winning and what comes with that is even more special.”

Mackenzie began the day with a two-shot lead over Milford, Iowa’s Brady Schnell, who carded a 59 on Friday, and Carney, but pulled away with a stead opening nine of 4-under 32. Despite some low scores from his chasers, including a 64 from Dahmen, Mackenzie pulled away from the field and didn’t let any of his pursuers have a chance to catch him.

Mackenzie is the new World Number 589.

Asian Development Tour - Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship

Local hero Lin Wen-tang cruised to a six-shot victory when he closed with a four-under-par 68 to win the Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship on Sunday for the second time in his career.

Lin, who won the event in 2010, shot five birdies against one bogey for a winning total of 21-under-par 267 in the US$110,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Lin moves up in the World Ranking from 563rd to 420th .


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