Issue 192 - 19th July 2016

GOLF BADDS SECURES FUTURE WITH BARBASOL PLAYOFF WIN Lydia Ko bags 4th title of the year in MARATHON playoff ISSUE 192 | 19TH JULY 2016 GRINDER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP Stenson creates golfing history with Open Championship victory Baddeley adds to Australia’s ‘winning’ era Mickelson’s lip-out robs him of lowest Major round WORLD CUP OF GOLF TICKETS GO ON SALE GOLF COURSES MAY SAVE KING ISLAND TOURISM Research SHOWS SOLID future for Aussie golf industry SCRATCH VS PRO GOLFER? JUST THE FACTS TOP WORLD GOLF RANKINGS LPGA TOUR IMAGE: CALLAWAY GOLF SIX-TIME MAJOR CHAMP FALDO CALLS IT GOLFING PERFECTION * PGA TOUR ADVERTISING ENQUIRES Golf Grinder Weekly reaches over 81,000 Australian golfers every Tuesday. If you’d like to be part of Australia’s most popular online golf magazine, please contact us on the details below to discuss your advertising needs. The classic Open duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson was just what we wanted and needed. We witnessed four hours of astonishing drama that showed the game of golf at its magical best. Neither faulted, rather they traded birdies and produced one of the best last rounds in a major. Mickelson closed with a 65 - usually enough to win a major - but Stenson elevated the target mark to a 63 with an incredible 10 birdies in a record-equalling 8-under-par-63 to finish with an historic 72-hole total of 20-under to become the first Scandinavian man ever to win a major championship. Yes, there really is another major as soon as next week as a result of the rescheduling for golf's re-introduction to the Olympics and it feels ludicrous there is such a short time between two of the year's most significant events. But at least at Baltusrol we will see the leading players doing battle again with our own Jason Day defending his PGA Championship title against the world's best. Something you won't see in Rio. When Aaron Baddeley secured on Sunday his first win on the PGA Tour in five years the joy was obvious. He started the 2015–16 season playing out of the Past Champions category and the win gives the Aussie a two year exemption and start at next year's Masters. FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK www.golfgrinder.com ADVERTISING CONTACT Steven Scott info@golfgrinder.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Anthony Powter anthonypowter@golfgrinder.com COPYRIGHT All rights are reserved to the publisher, Tycoon Ventures Pty Limited, ACN 147 466 724. Except where credited or related to advertising, copyright in all images in this publication is vested with Snapeture Sports Pty Limited, ACN 120 350 521. No part of the publication covered by the publisher’s and/or owner’s copyright may be reproduced or copied by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical, including information retrieval systems, photocopying and recording) without the prior written permission of the publisher. DISCLAIMER The opinions and information in this publication are those of the writers unless otherwise sourced and are provided by way of information only and must not be relied upon. Tycoon Ventures Pty Limited does not invite any person to act on or rely upon the information in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any acts or reliance and excludes all liability for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a consequence of such an act or reliance. AARON BADDELEY IS OVERCOME WITH EXCITEMENT FOLLOWING HIS WIN AT THE BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP (CREDIT: PGA TOUR) PUBLISHER Tycoon Ventures Pty Ltd ACN - 147 466 724 IMAGES Snapeture Sports anthonypowter@golfgrinder.com CORRESPONDENTS Bernie McGuire (Europe) Michael Court Luke Elvy Paul Prendergast Trefor Clayton Stenson'S HISTORIC Open victory Final Round HIGHLIGHTS start at 5:11 Henrik Stenson - What's In The Bag Callaway XR 16 Driver (9º) Callaway Diablo Octane Tour Fairway Wood (13*) Callaway Legacy Black Irons (2-PW) Callaway MD3 Milled Wedges (52º, 58º) Titleist Pro V1 Odyssey White Hot XG #7H Putter WORDS: BERNIE MCGUIRE In a contest to mirror the famed ‘Duel in the Sun’ at Turnberry in 1977 Stenson went 36-holes with American Phil Mickelson to finally become a Major Champion with an equally historic 20-under par winning tally. “This will take a while to sink in, I am still getting my bearings,” said Stenson at the presentation ceremony. “It seems like it was not going to be anyone else but the two of us. I am delighted to come out on top. Thank you very much for a great fight. The Swede came into round four with a one-shot advantage over his American rival but the duo were tied at the top of the leader board with five holes to play as they went blow-for-blow in an enthralling contest. A birdie on the par three 14th moved Stenson ahead and when he drained a remarkable 50-foot effort on the next, the pair were separated by two shots for the first time all day. A brilliant up-and-down followed to maintain the gap and Stenson birdied the last to finish at 20 under with a 63 and beat Mickelson by three shots. Stenson had finished second behind Mickelson at Muirfield in 2013 but the circumstances were very different here as the pair played together in the final group on Saturday and Sunday to produce a duel of the highest quality and drama. As well as becoming Sweden’s first Major champion, Stenson broke a host of records with the lowest total to par in Open history and the lowest ever final round by a winner. His 63 – a total matched by Mickelson on Thursday – equalled the lowest round in Major history and his 264 aggregate score is the lowest ever in a Major Championship. He also moved level with Robert Karlsson on 11 European Tour wins, the most ever by a Swede, and adds Major glory to his 2013 Race to Dubai and FedEx Cup titles. Jason Day headed the Aussie field at the close of play with a final round even-par 71 leaving him in equal 22nd. A frustrated Day alluded to the difficult conditions he battled all week in his post-round comments. "It depends on what wave (teetimes) you were on, but that's one thing that I've learned over the years is that the weather can have a big impact obviously how you play that week. Me, I said it yesterday, me, myself, Rory and Jordan were kind of on the bad side." "So it's just if you call it unlucky, it may be unlucky, but you've got to embrace it and try to play good." "I've got Canada next week. I'm pumped to get back to some 90° weather. The greens are going to be very quick, so once I get in tonight, I'll have a good rest and get into that," said Day. Matt Jones was next best at T39 and 4-over with Adam Scott another shot back at T43. "Feeling close every day. Three fair rounds this week and one ordinary one kind of made for an average tournament," said Scott. Marc Leishman (T53), Scott Hend (T72) and Greg Chalmers (81) rounded out the Down Under field. Sweden’s Henrik Stenson created Swedish golfing history in ending a 42-Majors winning drought to capture the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon. POS +/- NAME R1 1 -20 Henrik Stenson 68 2 -17 Phil Mickelson 63 3 -6 J.B. Holmes 70 R2 R3 R4 65 68 63 69 70 65 70 69 69 4 -5 Steve Stricker 67 75 68 69 T5 -4 Rory McIlroy 69 71 73 67 T5 -4 Tyrrell Hatton 70 71 71 68 T5 -4 Sergio Garcia 68 70 73 69 8 -3 Andrew Johnston 69 69 70 73 T9 -2 Dustin Johnson 71 69 72 70 T9 -2 Soren Kjeldsen 67 68 75 72 T9 -2 Bill Haas 68 70 69 75 T12 -1 Matthew Southgate 71 71 72 69 T12 -1 Andy Sullivan 67 76 71 69 T12 -1 Emiliano Grillo 69 72 72 70 T12 -1 Gary Woodland 69 73 71 70 T12 -1 Zach Johnson 67 70 75 71 T12 -1 Patrick Reed 66 74 71 72 T18 Ev Miguel Angel Jimenez 71 72 70 71 T18 Ev Keegan Bradley 67 68 76 73 T18 Ev Charl Schwartzel 72 66 73 73 T18 Ev Tony Finau 67 71 72 74 T22 +1 Lee Westwood 71 73 73 68 T22 +1 Jason Dufner 71 71 74 69 T22 +1 David Howell 74 70 71 70 T22 +1 Justin Rose 68 77 70 70 DATE: Jul 14 - Jul 17 2016 COURSE: Royal Troon Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland PRIZEMONEY: US$9,300,000 POS +/- NAME R1 T22 +1 Jason Day (AUS) 73 T22 +1 Thongchai Jaidee 71 T22 +1 Brandt Snedeker 73 R2 R3 R4 70 71 71 74 69 71 73 68 71 T22 +1 Kevin Na 70 69 73 73 T30 +2 Jordan Spieth 71 75 72 68 T30 +2 Russell Knox 72 70 75 69 T30 +2 Darren Clarke 71 72 73 70 T30 +2 Ryan Palmer 72 73 71 70 T30 +2 Thomas Pieters 68 76 70 72 T30 +2 Haydn Porteous 70 76 68 72 T36 +3 Padraig Harrington 70 72 73 72 T36 +3 Martin Kaymer 66 73 74 74 T36 +3 Francesco Molinari 69 71 73 74 T39 +4 Bubba Watson 70 76 72 70 T39 +4 Matt Jones (AUS) 69 73 75 71 T39 +4 Rafa Cabrera Bello 68 71 75 74 T39 +4 Webb Simpson 70 72 71 75 T43 +5 Adam Scott (AUS) 69 73 76 71 T43 +5 Luke Donald 73 72 72 72 T43 +5 Jim Herman 70 70 72 77 T46 +6 Harris English 73 73 73 71 T46 +6 Richard Sterne 68 74 76 72 T46 +6 Rickie Fowler 69 72 76 73 T46 +6 Ryan Moore 70 73 74 73 T46 +6 Alex Noren 70 72 73 75 T46 +6 Nicolas Colsaerts 72 73 70 75 T46 +6 Matt Kuchar 71 68 75 76 T53 +7 Danny Willett 71 75 74 71 T53 +7 Kevin Chappell 71 75 73 72 T53 +7 K.T. Kim 70 71 77 73 T53 +7 Marc Leishman (AUS) 74 69 75 73 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP POS +/- NAME R1 T53 +7 Justin Thomas 67 58 +8 Ryan Evans 71 T59 +9 Daniel Summerhays 71 R2 R3 R4 77 74 73 75 74 72 73 77 72 T59 +9 Jon Rahm 74 71 73 75 T59 +9 Jim Furyk 74 72 72 75 T59 +9 Byeong-Hun An 70 70 76 77 T63 +10 Mark O'Meara 71 72 78 73 T63 +10 Paul Lawrie 72 74 74 74 T63 +10 Graeme McDowell 75 71 72 76 T66 +11 Zander Lombard 69 76 74 76 T66 +11 Harold Varner III 71 72 75 77 T68 +12 Marco Dawson 72 73 77 74 T68 +12 Patton Kizzire 76 70 75 75 T68 +12 James Hahn 74 72 74 76 T68 +12 Anirban Lahiri 69 72 76 79 T72 +13 Scott Hend (AUS) 71 73 77 76 T72 +13 Yuta Ikeda 68 74 78 77 T72 +13 Branden Grace 70 74 76 77 T72 +13 Jamie Donaldson 69 73 76 79 76 +14 Kevin Kisner 70 72 80 76 77 +15 Charley Hoffman 71 73 78 77 78 +17 Colin Montgomerie 71 75 79 76 T79 +18 Kodai Ichihara 69 77 78 78 T79 +18 Soomin Lee 68 77 75 82 81 +21 Greg Chalmers (AUS) 72 71 77 85 Baddeley, 35, shot five-under 66 and Kim carded a sizzling 63 in the final round as tournament leader Jhonattan Vegas faded as the pair finished at 18-under. When Baddeley saw his 24-foot birdie putt turn in toward the cup in a sudden-death format after he and Kim had both parred the par-four 18th twice and the par-three 17th before returning to 18th, he raised his arms in relief after his 134th start since his last win. "It's been tough at times, but this year has been really good, I've played really well," said a relieved Baddley following the win. "I felt I had a good chance today even though I was starting three back. I felt so good, I was driving the ball as good as I've ever driven it." The Aussie secured a two-year exemption and a spot in next week's PGA Championship, but not the Masters. It was Baddeley's fourth PGA Tour title but the first since the 2011 Northern Trust Open and he has been playing only on limited tour status as a past champion this season. As a teenager Baddeley was seen as one of the most promising talents in world golf. He was the youngest player ever to represent Australia in the Eisenhower Trophy and in 1999 at 18 won the Holden Australian Open as an amateur and retained his title in 2000, by which time he had turned professional. In 2005 following a number of years on and off the PGA Tour he moved back up the rankings to 78th and in 2006 he won his first PGA Tour title at the Verizon Heritage. Baddeley won his second PGA Tour tournament in early 2007 and reached the top 50 of the world rankings. By September, he had entered the top-20. His career high ranking was 17th in 2008. After a lull in form over the following few seasons, which had Baddeley finishing in the lower reaches of the top-125 on the money list, he returned to the winner's circle when he secured the 2011 Northern Trust Open in California. He started the 2015–16 season playing out of the Past Champions category after finishing 157th in the FedEx Cup and failing to regain a PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour Finals. "I think you could tell by my reaction how much it meant to me," said Baddeley, who described last year as the worst of his career. "It's been a long time between drinks," he added. Baddeley and Kim finished one shot clear of American Michael Johnson. Stuart Appleby was the next best Aussie finishing in a tie for 11th, with Jarrod Lyle finishing in a tie for 62nd position. Rhein Gibson, John Senden, Cameron Smith, Robert Allenby and Cameron Percy missed the cut. The PGA Tour heads north to Ontario for the US$5,900,000 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club where Jason Day kicked off his amazing run of wins with four victories coming in just two months including his first major at the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Aaron Baddeley has broken a five year winless drought on the PGA Tour securing the Barbasol Championship on Sunday in a playoff over South Korea's Si Woo Kim at Robert Trent Jones Trail's Grand National course in Opelika, Alabama. Badds secures future with playoff win at Barbasol WORDS: ANTHONY POWTER POS +/- NAME R1 T54 -7 Kelly Kraft 70 T54 -7 Scott Pinckney 71 T54 -7 Omar Uresti 68 R2 R3 R4 65 72 70 69 67 70 68 72 69 T54 -7 Kyle Stanley 73 66 71 67 61 -6 Chad Collins 70 70 70 68 T62 -5 Martin Laird 66 72 70 71 T62 -5 Hiroshi Iwata 67 70 71 71 T62 -5 Jason Bohn 70 68 70 71 T62 -5 Jarrod Lyle (AUS) 67 70 71 71 T62 -5 Spencer Levin 67 69 72 71 T62 -5 Troy Matteson 68 70 71 70 T62 -5 Greg Owen 70 70 69 70 T62 -5 Dicky Pride 71 69 69 70 T70 -2 D.H. Lee 70 66 72 74 T70 -2 Billy Mayfair 71 69 69 73 72 -1 Bobby Wyatt 69 71 70 73 MDF -2 Zac Blair 70 70 71 -- MDF -2 Tyrone Van Aswegen 69 71 71 -- MDF -2 D.A. Points 71 69 71 -- MDF -1 Lucas Lee 66 72 74 -- MDF -1 Angel Cabrera 65 71 76 -- MDF -1 Wes Roach 72 68 72 -- MDF Ev Matt Dobyns 67 73 73 -- MDF +1 Derek Ernst 71 69 74 -- MDF +3 Josh Broadaway 72 68 76 -- MDF +3 Matt Bettencourt 66 74 76 -- POS +/- NAME R1 1 -18 Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 70 2 -18 Si Woo Kim 70 3 -17 Michael Johnson 67 R2 R3 R4 66 64 66 68 65 63 65 70 65 T4 -15 Richard H. Lee 68 68 68 65 T4 -15 Michael Thompson 72 64 68 65 T4 -15 Andres Gonzales 68 65 69 67 T4 -15 Jhonattan Vegas 65 60 72 72 T8 -14 Graham DeLaet 71 69 67 63 T8 -14 Brian Harman 68 67 68 67 T8 -14 Sam Saunders 68 69 65 68 T11 -13 Brendon de Jonge 68 68 69 66 T11 -13 Boo Weekley 70 67 68 66 T11 -13 Morgan Hoffmann 70 67 66 68 T11 -13 Robert Garrigus 68 69 72 62 T11 -13 Chesson Hadley 67 66 69 69 T11 -13 Roberto Castro 67 66 69 69 T11 -13 Stuart Appleby (AUS) 67 69 66 69 T11 -13 Michael Kim 66 68 68 69 T11 -13 David Toms 67 66 67 71 T20 -12 Ben Martin 69 69 69 65 T20 -12 Cameron Tringale 68 71 68 65 T20 -12 John Merrick 69 70 68 65 T20 -12 Luke List 70 66 69 67 T20 -12 David Hearn 68 68 69 67 T20 -12 Luke Guthrie 68 68 69 67 POS +/- NAME R1 T20 -12 Steve Wheatcroft 69 T20 -12 Troy Merritt 67 T20 -12 Ryan Armour 69 R2 R3 R4 69 67 67 70 68 67 65 70 68 T20 -12 Darron Stiles 71 66 67 68 T20 -12 K.J. Choi 72 67 70 63 T31 -11 Tyler Aldridge 69 69 69 66 T31 -11 Bud Cauley 68 71 68 66 T31 -11 Andres Romero 71 69 67 66 T31 -11 Shawn Stefani 66 72 70 65 T35 -10 Ricky Barnes 71 69 66 68 T35 -10 Alex Prugh 68 68 70 68 T35 -10 Thomas Aiken 70 70 67 67 T35 -10 Will MacKenzie 70 68 70 66 T35 -10 Kyle Reifers 68 65 71 70 T35 -10 Chad Campbell 71 66 67 70 T35 -10 Derek Fathauer 72 68 68 66 T35 -10 Tom Gillis 68 72 68 66 T35 -10 Steve Marino 68 70 71 65 T44 -9 Brett Stegmaier 69 68 69 69 T44 -9 Ben Crane 66 69 69 71 T44 -9 John Rollins 71 67 71 66 T47 -8 Henrik Norlander 68 71 67 70 T47 -8 Robby Shelton 69 68 70 69 T47 -8 Chris Stroud 72 66 68 70 T47 -8 Blayne Barber 66 69 70 71 T47 -8 D.J. Trahan 68 69 71 68 T47 -8 Hudson Swafford 68 63 72 73 T47 -8 Tom Hoge 70 68 71 67 T54 -7 Will Wilcox 73 64 70 70 T54 -7 Tim Herron 70 63 72 72 T54 -7 Bronson Burgoon 69 70 68 70 DATE: Jul 14 - Jul 17 2016 COURSE: RTJ Trail (Grand National), Auburn/Opelika, AL PRIZEMONEY: $3,500,000 Barbasol C'SHIP The trio tied at 4-under par 270 after 72 holes and battled it out down the 18th hole four more times before Ko finally broke the deadlock with a birdie putt from 8-feet. “It's always good to come back to a place where you've well played,” said Ko, who won her 14th LPGA title and also won this event two years ago. “The fans have been super supportive every year I come here, and Judd and the sponsors were nice enough to give me a sponsor's invite when I was an amateur.” “To be able to win this tournament again in two years is I think going to make it a little bit more special.” Jutanugarn had a golden opportunity to win the title – which would have also been her 4th of the year - on the second playoff hole but missed from six feet for birdie, before Ko did the same on their third attempt to extend the playoff by another hole. Korean Hyo Joo Kim had her chances to win in the final round but stumbled to a two over 73 to finish alone in fourth place a shot out of the playoff. American Stacy Lewis took out fifth place a shot further back at 11-under. Queenslander Katherine Kirk had one of her best results in recent times, tying for 21st place at 5-under par, while Sarah Jane Smith tied for 53rd at two-over. The second UL International Crown teams event will take place this week with 32 players representing 8 countries competing for the title at Chicago’s Merit Club. Australia is seeded 4th and will field its strongest team, headed by Minjee Lee, Karrie Webb, Rebecca Artis and Smith. Spain are the defending champions from the inaugural event in 2015. Lydia Ko bags 4th title of the year in playoff WORDS: PAUL PRENDERGAST / IMAGE: CALLAWAY GOLF World number one Lydia Ko bounced back from the disappointment of last week’s Women’s U.S. Open final round fade out in the best possible style by defeating Mirim Lee and Ariya Jutanugarn to pick up her fourth win of the season at the Marathon Classic in Ohio. Baddeley adds to Australia’s ‘winning’ era WORDS: PAUL PRENDERGAST / IMAGE: BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP 35-year old Baddeley holed a snake of a putt on the 4th playoff hole, just like he always seemed to do with monotonous regularity, to take out the Barbasol Classic and resurrect a career that had been starting to flicker over the past few years. Baddeley was the second Australian inside a month to win on the PGA TOUR, the second to do so in an opposite field event to a WGC or major championship and the second to rise from the ashes and secure their future for at least the next two years. Baddeley and Chalmers, both dual Australian Open champions, are just the latest Aussies to win around the world in what is becoming an era in our history to appreciate and savour. When Adam Scott won the first Masters Tournament for himself and for Australia in April 2013, we talked up long and hard how the ‘Adam Scott Effect’ might have a spinoff to his fellow professionals. Jason Day’s rise over the past two years has been nothing short of phenomenal having won 9 times since January 2014, including his first major championship, two WGC events and a Players Championship. He is the world’s number one player and will defend two important titles, the Canadian Open and the PGA Championship, over the next fortnight. The torch bearer in Scott hasn’t done too badly himself, with four more PGA TOUR titles to his credit since becoming a Masters champion. Two of those came in back-to-back weeks earlier this season on the Florida swing wielding his new short putter as well as anyone. Adding to the victory list in the US is Steve Bowditch (twice), John Senden, Matt Jones, Geoff Ogilvy, Greg Chalmers and now Baddeley, while on the European Tour we’ve had winners in Brett Rumford (twice), Andrew Dodt, Marcus Fraser, Marc Leishman and Scott Hend (twice) over the same period. Not since the days of Greg Norman have we seen so many acceptance speeches featuring Australian accents but the difference these days is that we have so many more players doing the winning that at any other time. It’s an era in Australian men’s golf that we should be acknowledging a lot more that we are for what it is: one of the best of our time. It’s been five years since he last savoured victory on the PGA TOUR and in doing so again this week, Aaron Baddeley gave us a reminder of how it used to be after he burst onto the scene as a precocious teenager nearly 17 years ago, winning the Australian Open as a 19-year old amateur. WORDS; MICHAEL COURT / IMAGE: CALLAWAY GOLF FALDO CALLS IT GOLFING PERFECTION Sir Nick Faldo was drooling as he described the showdown at Royal Troon on Sunday between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson as "golf perfection". The six-time major champion, these days a leading golf commentator for a US network, said he has never seen golf perfection that could match the 63 that Stenson put together to hold off Mickelson and secure his first major championship. “For them to match each other like that, that was links perfection,” said Faldo. “[I’ve] never seen anything like that. The only good thing is, he [Mickelson] didn’t lose it." “You’re going to lose majors, but Phil will look back and say, ‘I did everything I could’." “There’s no discredit in that at all. He’s not going to be scarred by that loss." “One man won it. The other man didn’t lose.” Certainly Faldo had a very valid point: Mickelson finished with a four-round total of 267, which would have matched the lowest 72-hole score in British Open history. The only problem was, Stenson did better than that, posting a new record low score for the Open Championship of 20-under-par 264, thanks to four stunning rounds of 68-65-68-63 for a three-shot victory. The put it into perspective, the third placegetter, American J.B. Holmes was a further 11 shots behind ‘Lefty’ after a creditable effort. Faldo, like many others, compared it to the famous ‘Duel In The Sun’ between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry in 1977. Faldo was a young lion playing in just his second British Open that week. “This is another duel like Jack and Tom,” said Faldo said. “But (Stenson and Mickelson) took it up a couple of notches with the scoring." “That was crazy, wasn’t it? The treat that they gave us today...that golf was incredible.” WORDS: BERNIE MCGUIRE An agonising horseshoe lip-out putt robbed Phil Mickelson of the lowest round in Major Championship history. Mickelson’s lip-out PUTT robs him of lowest Major round Mickelson was millimetres from becoming the first player in the Majors to shoot a round of 62 before putting out for an eight under par 63 on the opening day of the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon. The 2013 Open winner had birdied the 16th and 17th holes and when Mickelson put his approach at the last to some 18 feet all eyes were on the five-time Major to see if he would birdie the last and break a run of 27 players to have shot 63 including Rory McIlroy at the 2010 Open Championship. Mickelson got a big break down the last when his drive landed just to the left of the first left hand side bunker. The American’s putt then looked for all the world as if it was going to find the bottom of the cup but the ball agonisingly broke right and lipped round the back of the hole. Mickelson’s caddy ‘Bones’, who was holding the flagstick, was so taken back by the near miss he fell backwards onto the green in disbelief. “It was one of the best rounds that I’ve played but then nothing will match that final round at Muirfield,” he said. “That putt on 18 was an opportunity to do something historical. I knew it, and with a foot to go I thought I had done it. I saw that the ball rolling right in the centre." "I went to go get it, I had a surge of adrenaline that I just had shot 62, and then I had the heartbreak that I didn’t and watched that ball lip out. It was, wow, that stings." “It really stings to have a chance. It’s such a rare opportunity to do something historic like that and if I had just hit at weak flail-off and never had chance and left it short, so be it." "But this ball was hunting right in the centre and didn’t go in. It was just heartbreaking.” Mickelson’s remarkable round did make history as it set a new course record at Troon, which was then equalled by Sunday's winner, Henrik Stenson. Mickelson and Stenson became just the 26th and 27th players to fire a 63 in a Major with Greg Norman and Vijay Singh having done it twice. Stenson went on to win the 2016 Open Championship by three strokes over Phil Mickelson in a thrilling final round duel at Royal Troon. Tournament officials have announced that tickets can be purchased for the World Cup of Golf when the event returns to Australia for the tournament's 58th edition at Kingston Heath Golf Club on 23-27, November 2016, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Ticket options range from practice round tickets ($30), single-day competitive round tickets starting at $60 and two-day weekend tickets ($95). Additional options include a full-week pass, upgraded tickets in the MacKenzie Club and other options. Ticket buyers are reminded that children under 16 are admitted to the event free of charge when accompanied by a ticketed adult. To purchase tickets or find more information on ticket options, fans can go to www.worldcupofgolf.com. The World Cup of Golf will return to team play (two-man teams) from 28 different countries as one of the most historic global events in the game having been played 57 times in 25 countries and will carry an $8 million (US) purse with the first-place team splitting $2.56 million. WORLD CUP TICKETS GO ON SALE There's a renewed spring in the step of residents of King Island - that little dot in Bass Straight halfway between Tasmania and Victoria - and it all comes down to one thing – golf. GOLF MAY SAVE KING ISLAND TOURISM When King Island lost its abattoirs a couple of years ago, residents feared the worst. Even when a couple of golfers passed through, marvelled at the expanse of land available and suggested they could build a couple of world-class golf courses, the locals were not quite convinced. According to reports the year-round resident numbers were beginning to dip below the 1,500 mark and even tourist numbers were beginning to taper off. Now it appears that things are beginning to turn around. According to the Tourism President of Jim Benn, golf, or two new courses which will be fully operational by the end of the year, could change the lay of the land significantly. Cape Wickham Links opened late last year and already ranks as high as 24th in the world and third in Australia after only a few months of full play. Likewise the Ocean Dunes course, which already has 15 holes in play and is due to open in September, threatens to be equally as impressive. “A couple of years ago King Island was in the doldrums and people were feeling pretty glum when we lost our abattoir,” said Benn. “A couple of golfers came over and said they were going to develop a couple of courses and we said, ‘that’s wonderful, but we'll believe it when we see it’. “The golf courses said when they started up they needed at least 8,000 rounds a year to be viable. “But going on the experience of the courses in northern Tasmania (Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm) they expected that they would probably end up running about 20,000 rounds a year per course." “That's going to increase our tourist numbers from about 6,000 to around 25,000 visitors annually.” WORDS: MICHAEL COURT / IMAGE: CAPE WICKHAM WORDS: MICHAEL COURT Research SHOWS SOLID future for Aussie golf industry If you are losing sleep over the future of the golf industry in this country, you aren’t the only one. Indeed it seems the Australian Golf Industry Council (AGIC) is making steady ground in doing something about it. Some serious research by the AGIC of the 2.1m Australians who have picked up a golf club to practice or play in the past 12 months has helped complete the most in-depth analysis of the industry in Australia for more than 10 years. It provides fresh insight into the golf landscape in Australia and what needs to be done to grow the game. Five major themes emerged that must take shape for the golf industry to thrive. Leadership: From this point forward golf’s participation strategy, planning and program management will have strong leadership from the National Sporting Organisation (Golf Australia), with clear ownership and dedicated resources to enable the sport to step up to the challenge; Focus: The limited investment available requires the sport to be crystal-clear about its participation objectives in order to establish its next move; these objectives will therefore be clearly aligned with golf’s overall strategic and marketing objectives and will underpin the sport’s next participation plan; Enabling success: The enablers of success highlighted in the report remain critically important. They must be tackled or they will significantly hinder the sport’s efforts in the participation area. As such, planning and delivering programs of work to address them will be high on the agenda. For example, helping the wider golf community to understand the challenge the sport is facing and how it will need to evolve in order to flourish; Building on what we have: Any ideas and/or programs of work commissioned to capitalise on the priority opportunities will ‘seek first to understand’, building upon the best existing initiatives, programs and marketing - for example, Swing Fit in the health and fitness area and the best introductory programs in each state. Supporting clubs and facilities: Flexible membership models currently seem poorly understood but will be integral to the commercial success of clubs and facilities. As such, as part of a continued commitment to building capability and supporting clubs and facilities with their business models, they will work towards providing great tools, training and coaching. Briefly, the data collected is expected to enable the golf industry to understand and engage current and potential participants in order to grow participation and ensure the continued relevance of the sport to future generations. South African Olympic golf team captain and immortal Gary Player has again weighed in with his unfiltered views on the growing number of high profile withdrawals from next month’s Olympic Games in Brazil. Speaking to the Golf Channel from the Open Championship at Royal Troon, Player didn’t mince words as he put his own perspective on the supposed health risks that have seen a host of players make themselves unavailable from the men’s competition. "I'm bitterly disappointed," said Player, "In America today, their plus-minus combined with car accidents and guns, 100,000 people killed a year, and you're going to go and play in a golf tournament where Zika is the great word.” “I think there's a greater chance of that happening to you in America than getting Zika." "I was just in Zambia, where you have Malaria, and it didn't concern me at all.” Among the top players missing from the Olympic Games, citing Zika fears or a range of other personal issues, include Jason Day, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama. "I'm really amazed," he added. "I just hope that it doesn't hurt golf. I hope we stay in the Olympics. I do believe we should have it for amateurs and not for professionals." Player’s South African team has also been heavily affected with Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, and Charl Schwartzel all opting to sit out the Games. Lining up in their place will be world No. 67 Jaco Van Zyl and No. 92 Brandon Stone. "It's the biggest sporting event in the world, and I would have given anything to have a gold medal," Player said. “Although our three best players have withdrawn, I'm going to be very positive about us doing well." Gary Player rips Olympic withdrawals WORDS: PAUL PRENDERGAST / IMAGE: CALLAWAY GOLF WORDS: MICHAEL COURT Winning major awards is almost becoming “old hat” for the world’s No 1 woman golfer Lydia Ko these days. Yet New Zealand’s ‘pocket-rocket’ has done it again after being named alongside Jordan Spieth as the greatest golfers of the year in the 2016 ESPY awards in the US. Ko almost went one step further when she was the only female nominee in the Best International Athlete category. Sadly, golf lost out to soccer in that category when Portugal's football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo took out that award. WORDS: MICHAEL COURT / IMAGE: LPGA KO, SPIETH NAMED AS BEST GOLFERS AT ESPY AWARDS While there has been some conjecture about whether or not golf will remain an Olympic sport for long after it makes a return next month following a 112 year ‘hiatus’, four Aussies are ready to make the most of their opportunity. Scott Hend, Marcus Fraser, Minjee Lee and Su Oh will become the first Australians to represent their country as ‘golf’ Olympians. And don’t be fooled into thinking our chances are “shot” with the withdrawal of the likes of Jason Day, Adam Scott and the like due to the danger of the Zika virus in Rio either. These four are genuine medal chances, with the two young ladies, in particular, in vintage form and expected to relish their shot at gold. Golf begins on August 11, which is day six of the Games and either Hend or Fraser will be the first to tee off with some of the best professionals in the world. The chase for a gold medal will be via a 72-hole strokeplay format consisting of 60 players. And Fraser can’t wait: “It’s great to be part of the Olympic team heading to Rio,” he said. “To play in the Olympics is a dream come true, obviously with golf being back for the first time in over 100 years it is pretty amazing and it’s going to be a great week and I can’t wait to represent our great country.” Lee, the exciting Perth talent who won her second LPGA Tour tournament in April in just her second year as a professional, is ranked No.14 in the world rankings and thrilled to be heading to Rio: “I can’t wait to represent Australia in the Olympics and think it is the highest honour that you can ever have,” said the 20-year-old. Lee and Oh were also part of the Australian team that won the World Amateur Championship in 2014. The 60 women will tee off on Day 12 of the Games (August 17) to start their 72-hole competition. AUSSIE OLYMPIANS NAMED WORDS; MICHAEL COURT / IMAGE: TOPGOLF As if Movie World on the Gold Coast wasn’t a big enough attraction. Now this massive entertainment precinct is set to be invaded by golfers as well following the revelation that leading US-based entertainment company Topgolf will open its first Australian venue there by the end of next year. The new $35m attraction will feature golf games for all ages and skill levels along with a chef-driven menu, drinks, big-screen TVs and music held in climate-controlled suites. And when it opens in the middle of 2017, Village Roadshows, who have acquired the exclusive rights to bring Topgolf to Australia, expects up to 500,000 people to walk through the doors in their first year. Spread over about six hectares, Topgolf will share the area with a nearby nine-storey hotel and lakeside precinct boasting bars and restaurants, also in the development stages. According to Village Roadshows CEO of theme parks, Tim Fischer, the Gold Coast has been missing something like the Topgolf concept, which will open until late in the evenings. “I’ve just been at the opening of the Las Vegas Topgolf and while it’s a much larger market there I see similarities in terms of loyal tourists and the market,” he said. "It’s been wildly successful in the US, and I acknowledge that Australians aren’t Americans...but fun is fun." “The thing I want to place emphasis on is that there are other aspects like food, social interaction, having a beer, and I’ll just say now we will have the best hamburgers.” The Topgolf in Las Vegas that Fischer was referring to features 108 hitting bays, six flashing multi-coloured targets, bars, large TV’s beaming whatever is happening in sport, a concert venue, a Callaway Golf fitting studio, two pools and a fully-stocked pro shop, spread across four levels. US-BASED TOPGOLF COMING TO GOLD COAST SCRATCH VS PRO GOLFER? THE FACTS Ask anyone with a hint of romance in their body and they’ll agree...a beach view or a golf course view are as close to Heaven as you are likely to get on this earth. There is a quiet boom in golf course living taking shape around Sydney with several developers taking the opportunity to build properties with golf course views. Strathfield Golf Club, New Brighton Golf Club and Camden Lakeside are just three of the golf course locations offering homes to the discerning buyer. Marchese Partners have just completed a collection of luxury Torrens-title townhouses at Strathfield Golf Club. Now Mirvac are releasing 22 new homes on its Brighton Lakes boutique development which is a joint venture with new Brighton Golf Club, which will include 300 new architect-designed houses and apartments close to the site which flanks the Georges River at Moorebank. South-west of there, Japanese housing giant Sekisui House is developing The Hermitage in the south-western suburb of Gledswood Hills, using part of the site of Camden golf course with streets following some of the original fairways. Those lucky enough to buy into these golf course estates are already raving about the “sea change” in their life style. With precious little land available beside the sea around Sydney, maybe more of the 91 courses in the metropolitan area will look seriously at finding a few more “spare” fairways to put some cash into their ever-decreasing coffers. WORDS: MICHAEL COURT GOLF COURSE HOUSING RISES Every club has a few “scratch” markers who repeatedly hit the ball like they should be on tour but, seriously, how would they really go? The answer is, not as good as they think they would. As a matter of fact a survey carried out by the experts at Golfwrx.com indicates a difference of about 5.5 shots, on average, between the pro and the scratch amateur marker. I don’t know how about you but the first part of my game I always analyse is my putting. So it’s interesting to note that the survey, which used data from 8,360 rounds from zero handicap golfers against 14,557 rounds recorded by the US PGA Tour professionals in 2015, indicated that ‘Mr Zero’ three-putted 38 per cent more times than the ‘Tour’ average. And it seems the pros have about 0.9 per cent more one-putts during their rounds than the scratch golfers. Actually that is not unlike the difference right across the board, with the biggest difference seemingly in tee shots. The breakdown of strokes shows that the driving category is worth maybe two shots a round to the professionals. No doubt the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Gary Woodland help that stat a fair bit for the pros. But Golfwrx.com suggests even players like Open champion Zach Johnson hit it a lot further than you might think – and certainly further than your club’s scratch marker. And while the final stat states there’s 5.5 stroke difference between ‘Mr Scratch’ and PGA Tour players, let’s not forget the immeasurable effect of the added pressure and stress of playing in a Tour event. If you don’t believe me, try playing in a pro-am alongside one of your heroes...and see how you go. WORDS: MICHAEL COURT / IMAGE: ANTHONY POWTER OK, even us middle markers can “talk” a good game but how would we rate beside the tour pros if we had to count all the statistics that go towards our rounds each week? ODYSSEY X-ACT TANK CHIPPERS Built to get you up and down The X-Act Tank Chipper is a new short-game option that utilises Odyssey's Tank weighting philosophy to help ensure a smoother swing, promoting more consistent contact. It’s designed to function like an Approach Putter, providing an easy-to-hit option that plays perfectly between a putter and a wedge for those tricky shots around the greens. The Hi-Def Marxman Alignment System significantly increases accuracy while the soft polymer insert and hybrid-like sole design help get the ball out of trouble and rolling right to the hole. the back delivers a premium look with amazing feel. Retail Date (AU): Available Now Pricing: AUD$219.99 TW LW NAME AVG 34 33 Kevin Na 3.192 35 36 Andy Sullivan 3.1678 36 38 Thongchai Jaidee 3.0079 TOTAL EVENTS 165.99 52 164.72 52 156.41 52 37 39 Lee Westwood 3.0005 147.03 49 38 34 Daniel Berger 2.9906 155.51 52 39 37 Justin Thomas 2.9856 155.25 52 40 44 Emiliano Grillo 2.9769 154.8 52 41 42 Charley Hoffman 2.8854 150.04 52 42 50 Soren Kjeldsen 2.8784 149.68 52 43 40 Danny Lee 2.877 149.61 52 44 41 K.T. Kim 2.858 145.76 51 45 43 Matthew Fitzpatrick 2.8049 145.86 52 46 45 Marc Leishman (AUS) 2.7842 141.99 51 47 46 William McGirt 2.7738 144.24 52 48 49 Alex Noren 2.6897 107.59 40 49 47 Jimmy Walker 2.6716 138.92 52 50 48 David Lingmerth 2.6216 136.32 52 51 52 Martin Kaymer 2.4885 129.4 52 52 55 Jason Dufner 2.4318 116.73 48 53 58 Gary Woodland 2.4228 118.72 49 54 51 Bernd Wiesberger 2.4207 125.88 52 55 68 Tyrrell Hatton 2.413 125.48 52 56 54 Harris English 2.3998 124.79 52 57 56 Francesco Molinari 2.3387 121.61 52 58 53 Kiradech Aphibarnrat 2.3277 121.04 52 59 57 Ryan Moore 2.2867 100.61 44 60 59 James Hahn 2.245 116.74 52 61 60 Smylie Kaufman 2.1377 96.19 45 62 62 Anirban Lahiri 2.1307 110.8 52 63 66 Thomas Pieters 2.0974 104.87 50 64 61 Chris Kirk 2.0964 109.01 52 65 63 Billy Horschel 2.0737 105.76 51 66 64 Thorbjorn Olesen 2.069 107.59 52 TW LW NAME AVG 1 1 Jason Day (AUS) 13.2368 2 2 Dustin Johnson 11.2899 3 3 Jordan Spieth 10.859 TOTAL EVENTS 542.71 41 451.6 40 564.67 52 4 4 Rory McIlroy 9.3918 413.24 44 5 6 Henrik Stenson 8.8776 435 49 6 5 Bubba Watson 7.0978 326.5 46 7 7 Rickie Fowler 6.5617 334.65 51 8 8 Adam Scott (AUS) 6.403 281.73 44 9 9 Danny Willett 6.2297 317.72 51 10 12 Sergio Garcia 5.575 256.45 46 11 11 Justin Rose 5.3669 268.34 50 12 10 Branden Grace 5.3254 276.92 52 13 19 Phil Mickelson 5.1621 221.97 43 14 13 Patrick Reed 5.0002 260.01 52 15 14 Louis Oosthuizen 4.5461 213.67 47 16 24 J.B. Holmes 4.4671 209.95 47 17 15 Matt Kuchar 4.2979 223.49 52 18 16 Brooks Koepka 4.1334 214.93 52 19 17 Hideki Matsuyama 4.1258 214.54 52 20 18 Zach Johnson 4.0819 208.17 51 21 21 Charl Schwartzel 3.8245 198.87 52 22 20 Jim Furyk 3.7612 150.45 40 23 23 Brandt Snedeker 3.7131 193.08 52 24 22 Chris Wood 3.6466 171.39 47 25 26 Russell Knox 3.5009 182.05 52 26 25 Scott Piercy 3.4505 179.42 52 27 28 Rafael Cabrera Bello 3.415 177.58 52 28 27 Shane Lowry 3.3971 173.25 51 29 29 Paul Casey 3.2982 161.61 49 30 30 Kevin Kisner 3.2873 170.94 52 31 31 Byeong Hun An 3.274 170.25 52 32 35 Bill Haas 3.2396 168.46 52 33 32 Kevin Chappell 3.2107 166.96 52 TW LW NAME AVG 67 65 Joost Luiten 2.0654 68 70 Webb Simpson 2.0422 69 67 Jaco Van Zyl 2.0274 TOTAL EVENTS 107.4 52 93.94 46 89.21 44 70 71 Ryan Palmer 2.0186 96.89 48 71 69 Hideto Tanihara 1.9715 98.58 50 72 74 Graeme McDowell 1.9433 101.05 52 73 73 Fabian Gomez 1.9229 99.99 52 74 76 Jeunghun Wang 1.9175 99.71 52 75 72 Robert Streb 1.9134 99.5 52 76 75 Brendan Steele 1.9091 95.46 50 77 83 Tony Finau 1.8913 98.35 52 78 77 Patton Kizzire 1.8903 88.84 47 79 78 Victor Dubuisson 1.8718 86.1 46 80 82 Jim Herman 1.8717 97.33 52 81 79 Jamie Donaldson 1.8613 96.79 52 82 81 Scott Hend (AUS) 1.8442 95.9 52 83 84 Matt Jones (AUS) 1.8123 94.24 52 84 80 Rikard Karlberg 1.8043 88.41 49 85 85 Luke Donald 1.7976 93.48 52 86 167 Steve Stricker 1.7372 69.49 40 87 87 Daniel Summerhays 1.7107 88.96 52 88 86 Marcus Fraser (AUS) 1.7011 79.95 47 89 104 Andrew Johnston 1.6883 84.41 50 90 88 Charles Howell III 1.6651 86.59 52 91 89 Jamie Lovemark 1.6555 86.09 52 92 90 Soomin Lee 1.6548 74.47 45 93 91 Ian Poulter 1.628 76.51 47 94 92 Brandon Stone 1.6063 83.53 52 95 93 Yuta Ikeda 1.6057 83.5 52 96 95 Jon Curran 1.5876 82.56 52 97 94 Colt Knost 1.5796 82.14 52 T98 97 Ross Fisher 1.5117 75.59 50 T98 96 Russell Henley 1.5117 75.59 50 www.golfgrinder.com WORLD GOLF RANKINGS | 17TH JULY 2016 www.golfgrinder.com DEMO DAYS | JULY 2016 DATE TIME VENUE TYPE 5th 2:30PM-5:00PM HEADLAND GOLF CLUB FIT 7th 8:00AM-4:00PM WYNNUM GOLF CLUB FIT* 8th 11:00AM-4:00PM SHEPPARTON GOLF CLUB FIT* 8th 1:00PM-5:00PM BRISBANE GOLF CLUB FIT* 9th 8:00AM-12:00PM KEPERRA COUNTRY GOLF CLUB FIT* 9th 10:00AM-2:00PM MOOROOPNA GOLF CLUB FIT* 9th 2:30PM-4:30PM PINE RIVERS GOLF CLUB DEMO 13th 9:00AM-12:30PM OXLEY GOLF CLUB FIT* 13th 4:00PM-7:00PM ALBERT PARK DRIVING RANGE DEMO 14th 3:00PM-7:00PM MAROOCHY RIVER GOLF CENTRE DEMO 14th 4:00PM-7:00PM YARRA BEND GOLF COURSE DEMO 15th 10:00AM-2:00PM NORTHERN GOLF CLUB FIT* 15th 2:00PM-4:30PM COOLANGATTA-TWEED HEADS FIT* 21st 9:00AM-1:00PM SOUTHPORT GOLF CLUB FIT* 21st 3:00PM-7:00PM GOLF CITY DRIVING RANGE FIT* 21st 3:00PM-6:00PM DRUMMOND GOLF UNDERWOOD FIT* 21st 4:00PM-7:00PM DRUMMOND GOLF NORTHMEAD DEMO 22nd 10:00AM-2:00PM LATROBE GOLF CLUB FIT* 22nd 1:00PM-5:00PM VIRGINIA GOLF CLUB FIT* 23rd 9:30AM-1:00PM GAINSBOROUGH GREENS FIT* 23rd 10:00AM-2:00PM THE DUNES GOLF CLUB FIT* * Appointment Required Callaway Golf's latest path in insert innovation has led to a deeper exploration of sound and feel. #007 Odyssey'S Milled Collection RSX putters The result is the Odyssey Milled Collection RSX, which is milled from 1025 carbon steel, with Callaway's best-selling #7 shape, a progressive V-Line Fang mallet, and the #001, a new take on the classic #1 shape. The feedback from Callaway staffer and five-time major winner, Phil Mickelson, was that when he hits a 5-foot putt, he wants it to look, feel and sound like a 5-foot putt. By engineering Callaway's sound chamber technology into these putters, they’ve delivered a crisp sound at impact, which ensures great feedback that matches up perfectly with the speed and roll off the face. They’ve also coupled this feature with the patented Metal-X roll technology, bringing roll and sound together, as indicated by the RSX name for “roll and sound experiment”. The shaft on the all-new Milled Collection RSX putters is black powder-coated to help reduce glare and provide a unique, contemporary look The premium looks is extended further by the black genuine Cabretta leather Grip Master grip and red baseball stitch down the back delivers a premium look with amazing feel. Retail Date (AU): June 30, 2016 Available Head Shapes: #001, #7, V-Line Fang Pricing: AUD$549.99 V-Line Fang DEMO DAYS | JULY 2016 * Appointment Required QUEENSLAND 1st 13:00-16:00 ROYAL QUEENSLAND GOLF CLUB MEM ONLY 12th 17:30-19:30 VICTORIA PARK GOLF COMPLEX DEMO* 14th 13:00-16:00 DRUMMOND WOOLLOONGABBA FIT* 15th 13:00-16:00 GOLF GURUS FIT* 15th 14:00-16:30 COOLANGATTA TWEED HEADS GOLF CLUB DEMO 20th 15:00-18:00 PARKWOOD INTERNATIONAL FIT* 21st 13:00-16:30 SURFERS PARADISE GOLF CLUB FIT 29th 13:00-16:00 VIRGINIA GOLF CLUB FIT 29th 13:00-16:30 PALM MEADOWS RANGE DEMO www.golfgrinder.com DATE TIME VENUE TYPE NEW SOUTH WALES/ACT 1st 12:00-16:00 CESSNOCK GOLF FIT* 6th 08:00-12:00 NEWCASTLE GOLF CLUB MEM ONLY* 7th 16:00-19:00 DRUMMOND GOLF NORTHMEAD DEMO* 8th 10:00-15:00 ELANORA COUNTRY CLUB MEM ONLY* 15th 12:00-16:00 MORISSET COUNTRY CLUB FIT* 21st 16:00-19:00 MOORE PARK GOLF CLUB DEMO 22nd 08:00-12:00 PYMBLE GOLF CLUB MEM ONLY* 28th 14:00-18:00 PITTWATER GOLF CENTRE FIT* SOUTH AUSTRALIA/NT 28th 16:00-19:00 WEST BEACH DRIVING RANGE FIT* 2ND 16:00-19:00 DRUMMOND GOLF DARLINGTON FIT* 2ND 16:00-19:00 DRUMMOND GOLF DARLINGTON FIT*