PGA Tour rookie Jake Knapp fought nerves, emotions, and his worst round of the tournament on Sunday, playing well enough to hold off Sami Valimaki and win the Mexico Open at Vidanta by two shots. In his fifth-ever PGA TOUR start, he changed his life, shooting an even-par round on Sunday to finish at 19-under and capture the title.
News for the 8 Eligible Official World Golf Ranking Tournaments
PGA Tour - Mexico Open at Vidanta
PGA Tour rookie Jake Knapp fought nerves, emotions, and his worst round of the tournament on Sunday, playing well enough to hold off Sami Valimaki and win the Mexico Open at Vidanta by two shots. A three-time winner on PGA Tour Americas, Knapp played in 58 Korn Ferry Tour events between 2020 and 2023 without a victory. In his fifth-ever PGA TOUR start, he changed his life, shooting an even-par round on Sunday to finish at 19-under and capture the title.
It was anything but "Knapp time" early in the round. Going off at +4000 pre-tournament at BetMGM Sportsbook, Knapp held a four-shot lead going into Sunday and was now trading at -400 to win it outright. This is a guy who was basically leading the entire field in everything involving ball striking: Off-the-Tee, Approach, Driving Distance, Driving Accuracy, Greens in Regulation. You name it, Knapp was owning it.
Knapp seemed to calm down a bit despite still missing fairways and greens. Through 14 holes he was back out to a two-shot lead and was able to get the horse to the barn from there. In Sunday's final round, Knapp hit only nine of 18 greens and only two of 13 fairways. His scrambling wasn't anything special for the first three days but it saved him on Sunday, as he was able to get up and down on seven of nine occasions. Knapp became the third first-time winner on TOUR this season, and at +4000 he is now the shortest-priced player (pre-tournament) to win through eight events this year.
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Total Points 31.1148
World Number 101 - 52
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DP World Tour - Magical Kenya Open
Darius van Driel claimed his maiden DP World Tour title in wire-to-wire fashion with a closing 67 at the Magical Kenya Open presented by absa. An opening 66 set the tone and the Dutchman made just four bogeys all week in a 14 under total, finishing two ahead of England's Joe Dean and Spaniard Nacho Elvira.
Qualifying School graduate Dean - who just last week was working as a delivery driver - had 12 feet for eagle on the last to pile the pressure on Van Driel but had to settle for a birdie and a beautiful chip on the last from the leader set up a closing gain and an ultimately comfortable win.
It was a nip-and-tuck afternoon at Muthaiga Golf Club, with a four-way tie for the lead around the turn before Van Driel eagled the tenth to take control. The 34-year-old's golfing journey has been a remarkable one, with him giving up the game for a number of years after breaking his hand in a banana boat accident, but he decided to turn professional after finishing second at the 2015 Alps Tour Q-School.
He won the Order of Merit in his maiden season and then graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2019, the same season he lost in the final of the Belgian Knockout to Guido Migliozzi on the DP World Tour. Another runner-up finish came at the 2021 Porsche European Open and while he lost his card last season, he regained it at the Qualifying School and is now a winner in his 112th appearance.
The win - the first in 2,198 days for a Dutch player on the DP World Tour - moves Van Driel up to sixth on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and eighth on the International Swing. "It means a lot... it's a dream come true," said an emotional Van Driel.
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Total Points 12.2732
World Number 366 - 216
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Asian Tour - International Series Oman
Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz upstaged Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann to record a convincing victory in the US$2million International Series Oman today – the first of this year’s International Series events. Ortiz, joint leader at the start of day with Oosthuizen and with a host of big-name players breathing down his neck, showed no fear and shot a seven-under-par 65 to top the leaderboard on 19-under.
He beat one of the pre-event favourites Oosthuizen by four, after the South African carded a 69 at Al Mouj Golf, here on the magical Muscat coastline, when the wind was up. Niemann fired a 67 to take third place outright, one stroke further back, in the Asian Tour’s second event of the season.
Ortiz brilliantly broke away from the pack with seven birdies in nine holes starting from the sixth. At the turn he had a two-shot lead thanks to birdies on six, seven and nine and left the field trailing in his wake with an eye-catching one-man show making birdies on 10, 11, 13 and 14.
He was able to stroll down the 18th with a four-shot lead over Oosthuizen. Incredibly, Ortiz started the week with a double bogey on his opening hole on Thursday but after that he did not drop a stroke over the next 71 holes.
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Points Won - 15.3059
Multi Win Bonus Points - 4
Total Points - 19.3059
World Number 1286 - 237
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Sunshine Tour & Challenge Tour - Nelson Mandela Bay Championship
Björn Åkesson completed a sensational return to professional golf by securing a maiden Challenge Tour victory at the NMB Championship after the tournament was reduced to 54 holes. The Swede posted a four under par round of 68 to reach 18 under par and win by one-shot ahead of two-time Challenge Tour winner Lee Slattery at Humewood Golf Club.
The 35-year-old retired in 2017 after losing his DP World Tour playing rights and falling out of love with the game, however he returned to the Challenge Tour this year after a stellar 2023 which saw him earn promotion by topping the Nordic Golf League Order of Merit.
“It feels amazing right now,” he said. “This win has given me so much confidence and belief in my golf game after not playing at this level for such a long time. “I lost my DP World Tour card in 2016 and I wasn’t enjoying my golf anymore,” he said. “I decided to quit and go into coaching for a few years and after that I felt like I wanted to try and compete again. “I graduated from the Nordic Golf League last season and I’m really looking forward to this year on the Challenge Tour.”
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Points Won - 5.4907
Multi Win Bonus Points - 3.84353
Total Points - 9.33423
World Number 693 - 333
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ProGolf Tour - Golf Mad Open
Straightforward victory for Michael Hirmer! The German pulls away from the competition at the Golf Mad Open 2024 on the challenging course at Lykia Links Golf Club and cel-ebrates a commanding start-to-finish triumph. His lead over Belgian Yente van Doren was five strokes at the end. In sunny and calm conditions on the Turkish Riviera, the 26-year-old from the Golf Club am Reichswald near Nuremberg posted rounds of 65, 70 and 71 strokes and secured his fourth title on the Pro Golf Tour.
The 2015 German champion led the tournament from the start after a convincing opening round and entered the third and final round with a three-shot lead. Although his final round began with a bogey on the first hole, an eagle on the following par 5 lowered his pulse and widened the gap to his rivals. It was a curious story: "I miscalculated my sec-ond shot into the green by 18 metres," revealed the Schwandorf native, who was sur-prised to find his ball in the semi-rough 25 metres from the flag. However, the subsequent chip landed in the hole. "That was my kick-start to the round."
For the full story follow the link below:
https://www.progolftour.de/press-detail/fourth-tour-victory-hirmer-leaves-no-room-for-doubt
Total Points - 0.4936
World Number 1146 - 1074
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Nordic Golf League - GolfStar Winter Series - Forest
Christofer Rahm takes home the victory in GolfStar Winter Series Forest. After a birdie on the last hole, Christofer and Matias Honkala were both 11 under pairs in the competition. On the first playoff hole (hole 18), they both were left with just over 1.5 meters from the stick. Christofer walked away with birdie and Matias with a par, giving Christofer his first victory on the Nordic Golf League.
For the full story follow the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/svenskaproffstourerna
https://danish.golf/ecco-tour/livescore/#/competition/4329167/results
Total Points - 1.3322
World Number 1588 - 1142
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Professional Golf Tour of India - Dream Valley Group presents Vooty Masters
Bengaluru-based teenager Shaurya Binu joined the winner’s circle on the PGTI after a dominant final round display of eight-under 64 at the INR 1 crore Dream Valley Group presents Vooty Masters 2024 played at the Vooty Golf County in Vikarabad.
Nineteen-year-old Shaurya (66-66-70-64), tied 10th in Kolkata last week, totaled 22-under 266 at Vooty to register an emphatic eight-shot triumph and pick up the winning cheque worth Rs. 15 lakh that moved him from 10th to first position in the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking.
Binu, playing only his second season as a professional, emerged wire-to-wire winner having led the field in all four rounds. His last round of 64 was the day’s best score.
Karan Pratap Singh (73-66-68-67) struck a 67 on Saturday to rise three spots and finish runner-up at 14-under 274.
Shaurya Binu, the overnight leader by three shots, seemed at ease from the outset in round four despite the pressures of staring at a maiden title. This was evident from the fact that he powered ahead with four birdies on the first seven holes to open a substantial six-shot lead that put his nearest rivals on the backfoot early on.
For the full story follow the link below:
https://pgtofindia.com/news/2547
Total Points - 0.7885
World Number 1935 - 1440
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Alps Tour Golf - Ein Bay Open
France’s Aymeric Laussot wins his first title on the Alps Tour at the season-opening event, the 2024 Ein Bay Open, with a total score of 14 under-par. He shot a final round of 5 under-par, 67 that included 1 eagle, 6 birdies,1 bogey, and 1 double bogey. Laussot turned professional in May 2023 after he graduated from college. Edoardo R Lipparelli from Italy concluded the tournament in 2nd place only 1 stroke back. In 3rd place at 12 under-par, Luca Galliano from Switzerland with a fabulous final round of 9 under-par, 63.
After his victory, Aymeric was very happy. “I’m proud of the way I fought today even though in today’s final round I put a bogey and double bogey on the card. You know it’s my first Alps Tour event for me. The past couple of years have been tough for me, but I kept working, and I knew my time was going to come at some point. I’m just very proud of the process with my coaches, Greg Buisson, Antoine Schwartz, and Kenny Lesager. I have a very solid team around me, and we had some goals for this week which weren’t based on the result, but it was to commit and enjoy, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Laussot was in the field this week on an invite, “I want to take the time to thank the French Federation which gave me the opportunity to come play this week, I wouldn’t be participating if it wasn’t for them.” When asked about plans for the season, he added, “Obviously, after the win today, my plans for the season are changing. I will focus on playing the whole season on the Alps Tour and hopefully, a couple of Challenge Tour events if I get in. Now the main goal has become to end the season in the top 5 and earn my full playing status on the higher tour for next year.”
For the full story follow the link below:
https://alpstourgolf.com/#/news/10610
Total Points - 0.6831
World Number 2298 - 1594
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