Viktor Hovland handled the toughest stretch at Muirfield Village and delivered three clutch putts at the end to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday in a playoff over Denny McCarthy on Sunday.
News for the 12 Eligible Official World Golf Ranking Tournaments
PGA Tour - the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday
Viktor Hovland handled the toughest stretch at Muirfield Village and delivered three clutch putts at the end to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday in a playoff over Denny McCarthy on Sunday.
Hovland closed with a 2-under 70 on another brutal test on a course baked all week by sun, forcing the playoff with a 30-foot birdie on the 17th -- the only one on that hole in the final round -- and saving par from behind the 18th green.
Back to the 18th in the playoff, Hovland barely got onto the front of the green, some 60 feet away from the back pin, and two-putted by holing a 7-foot par putt.
It was his fourth PGA TOUR victory and first on the U.S. mainland, this one with a $3.6 million winner's check and a handshake from host Jack Nicklaus. The Norwegian's previous wins were in Mexico twice and Puerto Rico.
Hovland, who moves to No. 5 in the Official World Golf, didn't feel as though he did anything special. He has had better weeks striking the ball. His lowest round all week was 69. But he was the only player to break par in all four rounds.
“I played smart. I played my game. And I came up clutch this time,” Hovland said.
For the full story follow the link below:
Points Won - 64.71583
World Number 7 - 5
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Japan Golf Tour - BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup
Kanaya dedicates BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup win to cancer battling mother. An emotional Takumi Kanaya ended his two-year title drought on the JGTO with a two-shot victory at the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup and dedicated his win to his mother, who has been battling breast cancer for the last 10 months.
Kanaya held his nerve to close with an even-par 71, which was enough for him to secure his first JGTO victory since the Token Homemate Cup in April 2021. The 25-year-old made two birdies, including a crucial one on the par-four 17th, to offset a pair of late bogeys on 13 and 15. In doing so, he fended off the stiff challenges from South Korea's Song Young-han (71), Keita Nakajima (70), Hiroshi Iwata (68) and Yuki Inamori (69), to eventually win by two shots.
“My mother is battling breast cancer and this win is for her. Hopefully, it’ll go some way towards helping her with her recovery. It will make her happy.
“I was really looking forward to a win this week and I’m really happy I managed to do it. It has been a long week with the multiple weather delays. I knew I had to play really aggressively to stand a chance of winning. And I’m pleased I managed to win by two shots this week,” said Kanaya.
For the full story follow the link below:
https://www.jgto.org/en/news/31502
Points Won - 6.63854
World Number 136 - 122
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DP World Tour - Porsche European Open
Tom McKibbin claimed his maiden DP World Tour win at the 2023 Porsche European Open. The Northern Irish rookie held off home favourites Maximilian Kieffer and Marcel Siem with a final round of 70 to finish nine under par, two shots clear as France's Julien Guerrier also shared second place at Green Eagle Golf Courses.
It was only McKibbin's 26th start on the DP World Tour after graduating from the 2022 European Challenge Tour and he joined Darren Clarke in 2001 as only the second Northern Irish winner of this event.
He said: “It probably won’t sink in until tomorrow but to have my dad here, to win in front of him is pretty amazing.
“It was a great day, nice to go out and put a really, really nice round together.
For the full story follow the link below:
Points Won - 18.09949
World Number 335 - 162
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Korn Ferry Tour - UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH
Jorge Fernández Valdés sunk a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to secure his first Korn Ferry Tour victory over Trent Phillips and win the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH at Raleigh Country Club.
A native of Cordoba, Argentina, Fernández Valdés turned professional in 2012 and played on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica for two seasons before earning status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2014. He returned to PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in 2016 where he remained until regaining conditional status this season by finishing No. 3 in the 2022 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Totalplay Cup standings.
“It was a long journey to get here,” Fernández Valdés said. “It's been like 10 years of professional golf and I can't believe it, I can win out here. It's really tough, there's so many good players and every week it's hard to beat everybody, so I’m really happy with this.”
The 30-year-old Argentine entered the day two strokes behind 54-hole leader and Raleigh native Grayson Murray, but after sinking a long eagle putt on the par-4 ninth hole, he found himself back near the top of the leaderboard. Two more birdies on the back nine at the par-5 12th and par-3 14th, as well as a bogey at the par-4 16th, put Fernández Valdés at 13-under par, forcing the playoff with Phillips, who was already in the clubhouse at 13-under following his four-straight birdies on Nos. 13-16.
Fernández Valdés and Phillips headed back to the difficult par-4 18th, which ranked third toughest all week relative to par. After a drive that faded slightly right and missed the fairway, Fernández Valdés reached the green on his second shot and set himself up for what was a bit of a redemption putt, lying in a similar place to the one he had just missed 20 minutes earlier to clinch what would have been a win in regulation.
For the full story follow the link below:
Points Won - 13.72792
World Number 627 - 283
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KPGA Korean Tour - The 13th Descente Korea Match Play
The 13th Descente Korea Match Play was won by Jaekyeong Lee winning his final match against Yongjun Bae with an impressive 7&5.
For the full Leader board follow the links below:
https://www.owgr.com/events/the-13th-descente-korea-match-play-10002
Points Won - 3.54426
World Number 544 - 440
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PGA Tour Latinoamerica - Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship presentado por Volvo
“This is crazy, surreal,” is how Myles Creighton described the whirlwind of the past two weeks in Colombia, which he ended with a one-shot victory at the Inter Rapidísimo Golf Championship presented by Volvo on Sunday. Trailing by four strokes at the start of the day, the 27-year-old from Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada, carded a 4-under 68 in the final round to secure the tournament title, at 19-under 269, at El Rincón de Cajicá Golf Club, outside the capital city of Bogota.
With the win, his first in 28 career PGA TOUR Latinoamérica starts, Creighton charged all the way to the top of the Totalplay Cup standings with only two tournaments left to play in the 2022-23 season. He had entered the week ranked 16th in the season-long race that will determine which players move to the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour.
Once again in contention, Austin Hitt walked away with runner-up honors for the second consecutive week. The 25-year-old from Longwood, Florida, posted a 69 on the final day to finish at 17-under. He moved to sixth in the Totalplay Cup standings.
“I can’t believe it. If you would have told me that I was going to win one tournament this year on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, this probably would have been the last one I would have thought I would have won,” admitted Creighton, who shot 76-75 to miss the cut here a year ago. “I just didn’t play well here last year and just with all the things that have been going on the last two weeks.”
For the full story follow the link below:
Points Won - 3.00734
World Number 731 - 581
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Sunshine Tour - SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City
Otto wins SunBet Challenge in playoff, with his putter finally starting to fire, Hennie Otto began the final round of the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City with a birdie and just continued in that vein before making par at the first playoff hole to win the title at Gary Player Country Club on Friday.
Otto began the third and final day three shots off the lead, and apart from his three at the par-four first hole, he enjoyed the ideal start to his pursuit of his 14th Sunshine Tour title by collecting four more birdies between the sixth and 10th holes.
A veteran campaigner like Otto was not going to be overawed by the occasion either, as a trio of other contenders – Hayden Griffiths, Jovan Rebula and Martin Rohwer – also jostled fiercely for the top spot. On a windy day on one of the toughest courses in South Africa, Otto came home in one-under 35, for a final round of 67, thanks to another birdie on the par-five 14th.
A bogey on the par-three 16th was his only blemish, but the 46-year-old Otto showed the stuff of champions as he parred the testing last two holes to finish on six-under-par for the tournament, joining Griffiths in a playoff.
The 29-year-old Griffiths had shot a tremendous 66, also with just one bogey, to join Otto in the playoff, a clutch birdie on the par-three 16th sealing his place.
Unfortunately, Griffiths hit his drive on the first playoff hole, the famous ninth at Gary Player Country Club with its island green, way left into the bushes and had to hack out. With Otto just off the fairway on the right, the Johannesburg-based Griffiths had to go for the green with his third, pulled it left and landed in the water.
That left Otto with the routine task of laying up, finding the green and two-putting for the win.
For the full story follow the link below:
https://sunshinetour.com/otto-wins-sunbet-challenge-in-playoff
Points Won - 1.94971
World Number 690 - 629
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Challenge Tour - D+D Real Czech Challenge
Andrea Pavan made it back-to-back titles for Italy on the European Challenge Tour as he came through a fierce final-round battle to win the D+D Real Czech Challenge. A week after Matteo Manassero returned to the winner’s circle in Denmark, overnight leader Pavan carded a three-under-par 69 to finish at 18 under and one stroke ahead of South African Casey Jarvis.
The victory represents his fifth Challenge Tour title – first in almost a decade – and ends a near four-year wait since he won in Germany at the BMW International Open on the DP World Tour. It is also his second professional win in the Czech Republic after he won the first of his two DP World Tour titles at the D+D Real Czech Masters in 2018.
"It is amazing, said Pavan, who later dedicated his triumph to the support of his wife during the presentation ceremony.
"It was a battle today, I didn't have the best of starts. I knew a three-shot lead wasn't much on this course."
For the full story follow the link below:
Points Won - 4.66632
World Number 898 - 639
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Nordic Golf League - UNICEF Championship
Björn Åkesson took first victory in 13 years at the UNICEF Championship. In 2016, Björn Åkesson decided to stop his golf career. He had then played 67 tournaments in the Europa Tour at the top level and the Challenge Tour. He started a coach career in Malmö, where he lives, and slowly the golf and game joy came again. After the pandemic, he again took the golf bag on the professional tours, and in 2021 he ended up number 8 on Road to Europe. In 2022 he had five starts on the Challenge Tour, and this year he got off to a good start on the ECCO Tour and Nordic League.
Prior to this week's UNICEF Championship at Lübker Golf & Spa Resort, he was in the top 10 on the Road to Europe rankings after five top 10 rankings since its inception in February in Spain. Åkesson won his latest victory in 2010, but at the UNICEF Championship it succeeded again.
Åkesson started the final round after the leading Peter Launer Bæk, and the first four holes offered two birdies and two bogeys for the 34-year-old Swede. The first nine holes he went into a battle under pairs, and hole 10 gave another birdie, and Åkesson came to four under together and then led with a blow to several persecutors. A three-put on hole 14 cost a bogey, but four pairs on the last four were enough to keep the pursuers at a distance and secure his first victory in 13 years.
For the full story follow the link below:
https://eccotour.org/bjorn-aakesson-tog-foerste-sejr-i-13-aar-ved-unicef-championship/
Points Won - 0.90644
World Number 914 - 835
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Alps Tour Golf - Open de la Mirabelle d'Or
The Dutch Kiet Van der Weele alongside, France’s Nicolas Aparicio, England’s Jack Floydd and France’s Theo Brizard all concluded their final round at Golf Domaine de la Grange aux Ormes tied for the lead, therefore taking part in the four-way sudden-death playoff thanks to their final score of 5 under-par. Tied for 5th place, 1 shot back at 4 under-par France’s Augustin Hole and Ireland’s Ronan Mullarney.
After 2 holes of sudden-death playoff, Netherland’s Kiet Van der Weele only 22 years old, captured his 3rd win of the season at the 2023 Open de La Mirabelle d’Or in just 6 starts. In addition to winning his 3rd event of the season and the second back-to-back, he guaranteed himself a Challenge Tour category 12 card for the remainder of this season as well as the 2024 season. He previously won the 2023 Alps de Las Castillas and last week’s 2023 Memorial Giorgio Bordoni presented by Aon.
After he finished his round, his first reactions were, “It feels like a dream, I always imagined it but do it is another thing. I’m extremely happy! It’s a great feeling to be in this position and to see all the hard work coming out. I’m honestly still speechless and I think I’ll be that way for a while.”
When asked how he approached the final round, Van der Weele added: “I knew the course was playing tricky today as the wind was picking up and the pins were tricky and tucked. I knew the other players weren’t going to go very low with the conditions so I knew if I stayed patient and focused on my strategy I couldn’t be to much out of it and I’m very glad it worked.”
For the full story follow the link below:
https://alpstourgolf.com/#/news/10351
Points Won - 0.75270
World Number 1292 - 1148
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ProGolf Tour - Riedhof Open
Seven birdies, eleven pars and not a single bogey! Thanks to a brilliant performance at the conclusion of the Riedhof Open 2023, Tadeas Tetak secured his first title on the Pro Golf Tour at the Munich-Riedhof Golf Club. In his sixth start in his first full season, the Slovakian, who led the Big Green Egg German Challenge at Wittelsbacher GC last year after a spectacular 64 on day one, immediately achieved a major triumph.
The graduate of the University of Central Florida, who has lived in the Sunshine State since 2008, started the final day one stroke behind the leading duo of Pedro Lencart (Portugal) and the German amateur Martin Obtmeier. However, with six birdies on the first 13 holes, he quickly built up a cushion on his competitors and then set a pace that his fellow contenders could not keep up with in what were once again fantastic conditions in the south of Munich. In the end, rounds of 69, 69 and 65 gave him his first professional title at the first edition of the tournament.
With a total of 13 under par, he ended up four strokes ahead of Kristof Ulenaers (Belgium) and Andoni Etchenique (France). The latter takes the lead in the Order of Merit with another top result. Fourth place was shared by Lencart, Alessandro Noseda (Switzerland) and Clement Guichard (France). Obtmeier and Christian Bräunig were the best Germans to finish the home event in seventh place.
Tetak, who turned professional last summer, has already shown this year that he is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to titles. He consistently placed in the top 20 in his first four tournaments in Ain Sukhna, Egypt, including a first top result of T6 at the Little Venice Red Sea Open 2023. Last year, he made it into the prize money four times in eight starts on the Challenge Tour.
For the full story follow the link below:
https://www.progolftour.de/press-detail/final-65-tetak-triumphal-in-dream-conditions
Points Won - 0.51993
World Number 1951 - 1629
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China Tour - Zhengzhou Open
The Zhengzhou Open was played at Henan St Andrews (Zhengzhou) Golf Club where Xuewen Luo won his second professional championship by clear margin as he finished his final round 8 under par. Xuewen Luo came from behind to take the win, with a total winning score was 18 under par (72,67,67,64) winning by 3 shots clear of Huilin Zhang claiming the prize of￥90,000.
For the full Leader board follow the link below:
http://competitions.cgagolf.org.cn/en/golf/gamestation_results.do?id=152
https://www.owgr.com/events/zhengzhou-open-10001
Points Won - 0.41645
World Number 1819 - 1645
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