oisin keniry, r&A via getty images
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Chun-Wei Wu shines at Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific.
The R&A
Chun-Wei Wu savours Amateur Asia-Pacific
Chinese Taipei’s Chun-Wei Wu survived a tense final round to pull off the biggest upset in Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship history in Pattaya, Thailand.
A modest 264th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the 19-year-old endured moments of high stress before completing a wire-to-wire success at Siam Country Club’s Waterside Course, upstaging a star-studded lineup.
Struggling to find the free-wheeling form she displayed over the first three days, Wu closed with a nervous even-par 72 to secure a victory that will catapult her into the global spotlight in 2024.
Four shots clear of the field following the opening 54 holes – during which she dropped only one stroke – Wu wobbled with four bogeys on a final day rollercoaster ride.
Digging deep
With her lead reduced to a single stroke after 14 holes of the final round, Wu displayed her mettle, digging deep to make crucial birdies at the 15th and 17th, where she began celebrating even before her 28-footer reached its intended target.
“Incredible! This is the first time I’ve won a big tournament,” said Wu, whose 72-hole aggregate of 18-under-par 270 was two strokes clear of runner-up Hyosong Lee, a 15-year-old Korean.
Thailand’s Achiraya Sriwong was a further stroke back in third after a 66, the best round of the final day, and fellow Thai Pimpisa Rubrong in fourth on 14-under 274. Rianne Mikhaela Malixi of the Philippines and Korean Minsol Kim ended joint fifth on 13-under.
As well as bettering the previous best WAAP winning total of 272 set by Mizuki Hashimoto at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in 2021, Wu is only the second champion to lead on all four days, following Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul in Singapore in 2018. Earlier in the week, Wu also set championship records for best 36-hole score (132), best middle 36-hole score (131) and best 54-hole score (198).
Major opportunities
In addition to winning the Rae-Vadee T. Suwan Champion’s Medal, Wu will be rewarded with starts in three major championships in 2024: the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews, the Amundi Evian Championship in France and the Chevron Championship in the United States.
Furthermore, she’ll receive invitations to a number of other elite tournaments including the Hana Financial Group Championship, ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, the 121st Women’s Amateur Championship and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Thailand’s Eila Galitsky ended her reign as champion with a 70 to finish in a share of 26th place on 4-under 284 – three shots behind Japan’s Mizuki Hashimoto, the 2021 champion, who ended tied 14th.
This week’s starting lineup consisted of 90 players representing 22 countries and territories. Among them were 10 of the top-50 and 21 of the top-100 in the latest WAGR standings.
In the first five editions of the WAAP, players from Thailand (Thitikul and Galitsky), Japan (Yuka Yasuda and Hashimoto) and Chinese Taipei (Ting-hsuan Huang) held aloft the trophy.
The WAAP championship was developed by the R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation to inspire future generations of female golfers. The R&A is supported by championship event partners that share its commitment to developing golf in the Asia-Pacific. The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship is proudly supported by Hana Financial Group, ISPS Handa, Nippon Kabaya Ohayo Holdings, Puma, Samsung, Singha, Ricoh and Rolex.
For more information on the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific, visit the championship website at www.randa.org/WAAP.
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The R&A
LIV GOLF
Jon Rahm was tied for the lead Sunday until bogeys on 17 and 18 took him out of individual contention.
Manuel Velasquez, Getty Images
Niemann hangs on; Rahm’s team wins
Jon Rahm came up frustratingly short in his LIV Golf debut on Sunday, but as a team captain he should take some measure of solace from the tour’s 2024 season opener: His team won.
With a bogey-bogey finish, Rahm squandered a chance to make a playoff with eventual winner Joaquín Niemann over Sergio García at Mayakoba Resort’s El Camaleón Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, but his newly formed Legion XIII team won by four strokes.
“I’m very disappointed in myself,” said Rahm, the reigning Masters champion and world No. 3-ranked golfer whose defection from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf in early December sent shock waves through the game. “The only time I hit it in the hazard all week was on 17. But I’m very proud of my team.”
“We came in and we made an impact. I think everybody knows we’re a force to be reckoned with.”
Jon Rahm
Caleb Surratt, who was making his professional debut after leaving college at Tennessee, joined Tyrrell Hatton and Kieran Vincent in helping the Rahm-led Legion XIII post a 24-under team score and hold off Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers.
“This team was just assembled Sunday or Monday,” Rahm said. “We came in and we made an impact. I think everybody knows we’re a force to be reckoned with.”
Niemann, of Chile, won in near darkness with a birdie putt from the apron on the fourth playoff hole after the pair traded a series of pars in the longest playoff in LIV Golf’s three-year history.
“It was awesome,” Niemann said after a fifth consecutive playing of the 489-yard, par-4 18th hole in little more than an hour. “I want to win majors, but I’ve got to get in first.”
Niemann raced to a five-shot lead in the first round with a blistering 12-under 59. It proved to be anything but easy from there as he played his last 36 holes in even par to fall into a playoff with García at 12-under 201.
Niemann, at age 25, is LIV’s youngest team captain as leader of Torque GC. His 59 was only the second sub-60 score in LIV’s 23-event history, after DeChambeau shot 12-under 58 in the final round en route to winning last year at Greenbrier in West Virginia.
After signing for a 1-under 70 in on Saturday, Niemann was later assessed a two-stroke penalty for taking an improper drop from a cart path on the par-5 13th hole in violation of Rule 14.7a “Playing from Wrong Place.” It changed his par to a double bogey and trimmed his 36-hole lead from four to only two shots over Rahm and South African Dean Burmester.
García fired a final-round 5-under 66 to post 12-under – the same number Niemann and Rahm were sitting on through 16 holes Sunday – and had to sit and wait for the final group to finish to see if his total would hold up for a win or playoff.
After three consecutive birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 15 gained him a share of the lead, Rahm faltered. He tugged his drive on the 17th hole left and into the hazard and made bogey. His drive on 18 found a fairway bunker and scuttled his chances to catch the leaders as he made another bogey and tied for third with Burmester at 10-under.
After a clutch birdie at 16 reclaimed his own share of the lead, Niemann gave himself good birdie looks at 17 and 18 but failed to bury either one.
Niemann won $4 million from the $25 million purse, with the winning Legion XIII team collecting $4 million.
LIV introduced some changes to its format for 2024, foremost that the field has expanded to 54 players: 13 four-man teams plus two “wild cards.” Also, the top three scores count in the team standings for the first two rounds, but all four scores count in the final round of the 54-hole events.
LIV returns to action this week when the tour visits Las Vegas. LIV intends to complete play at Las Vegas Country Club, a former PGA Tour and LPGA host site, on Saturday to make room for Super Bowl XLIII at nearby Allegiant Stadium.
Steve Harmon and Scott Michaux
Sound check
This being the rowdiest week in professional golf – the WM Phoenix Open loudly and proudly embraces that distinction – it is a raucous reminder of golf’s sometimes reluctant embrace of something Ben Hogan never imagined.
It’s not just driving distances that have steadily crept up over the years. So has the game’s decibel level.
Silence may be golden, but it’s become harder to find on golf courses these days.
There are still plenty of places where music on the course is treated like wine from a box and there is a soothing sensibility to communing with nature, interrupted only occasionally by a playing companion’s muttered curse after skulling a 7-iron.
Part of the game’s enduring romance is the quiet that comes with it.
Or did.
Both things can be true: music works for some players; silence works for others. Phoenix works one week a year.
Before LIV adopted its “Golf, but louder” mantra, portable speakers already had made their way into golf carts, thanks to the USB ports built into the modern machinery and the magic of cellphones.
LIV, having seen what Phoenix has created, decided to turn it up rather than turn it down because it’s trying to sell more than golf. Don’t expect that to come to the PGA Tour if the proposed merger ever happens, but Phoenix is a one-week excursion into a different world.
Golf tournaments have figured out they need to be about more than the golf. They are entertainment venues, some louder than others, but every event has its party spot (except, of course, the Masters, where decorum remains sacrosanct and “Quiet, please, Tiger Woods now driving” means something).
Purists may think music on the course is heresy, but a soft soundtrack can be nice on the course, provided everyone in the group agrees to the volume level and the playlist.
Could a Spotify-sponsored tournament be in our future?
Both things can be true: music works for some players; silence works for others. Phoenix works one week a year.
There are still few things better than a nice golf walk with friends, chatting about whatever, free from the ringing of cellphones and, if you’re fortunate, the not-so-distant hum of traffic passing by.
It’s a place where – for a few minutes, anyway – you can be alone with your thoughts.
There’s no escaping that noise.
Ron Green Jr.
Top: The rowdy par-3 16th stands out as the toast of the Phoenix Open.
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PHOTOGRAPHER, COMPANY
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LIV GOLF MAYAKOBA
EL CAMALEóN GC; PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO
joaquIn niemann
12-under 201; birdies 4th playoff hole
Feb. 5, 2024
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Pictured: Thailand's Eila Galitsky, the defending champion at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship, fades from a share of the first-round lead to a tie for 26th at Siam Country Club in Pattaya, Thailand.
OISIN KENIRY, R&A via GETTY IMAGES
PICTURE THIS
BABY ON BOARD
A vervet monkey carries her baby across the fairway during the final round of the SDC Open, co-sanctioned by the Sunshine and Challenge tours, at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa in Bela-Bela, Limpopo, South Africa. Rhys Enoch of Wales won the tournament.
(JOHAN RYNNERS, GETTY IMAGES)
PICTURE THIS
BABY ON BOARD
A vervet monkey carries her baby across the fairway during the final round of the SDC Open, co-sanctioned by the Sunshine and Challenge tours, at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa in Bela-Bela, Limpopo, South Africa. Rhys Enoch of Wales won the tournament.
(JOHAN RYNNERS, GETTY IMAGES)
PGA TOUR
Neither impending rain nor wind nor long-sleeved shirt could prevent Wyndham Clark from firing a course-record 60.
Ezra Shaw, Getty Images
Clark takes place in Pebble Beach lore
Wyndham Clark had enough to celebrate late Saturday afternoon after doing what no one had done before – shooting a course-record 12-under-par 60 at water-logged Pebble Beach – but he didn't know at the time that it would be enough to win.
When a massive storm blew into California's Monterey Peninsula early Sunday and was forecast to continue into Monday, PGA Tour officials decided Sunday evening to take the rare step of declaring the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to be complete after 54 holes, securing Clark's third PGA Tour victory.
"The storm affecting the Monterey Peninsula throughout the day
Sunday is forecast to continue into the early hours of Monday with very strong
winds. Although conditions are forecast to improve through the morning
Monday, after consultation with Monterey County emergency authorities, who have
implemented a Shelter in Place order until early tomorrow morning for the
greater Pebble Beach community, and out of an abundance of caution for the
safety of all constituents, there will be no play on Monday. Therefore,
in accordance with the PGA Tour Regulations the tournament results will be
final through the conclusion of 54 holes,” the tour said in a statement.
Clark finished at 17-under-par 199, one stroke better than Sweden's Ludvig Åberg and two ahead of France's Matthieu Pavon, who won one week earlier down the coast at Torrey Pines.
When Clark began his third round on Saturday morning, he was six strokes behind the leaders. By day’s end, he had done something no player had ever done at Pebble Beach: shoot 12-under-par. He missed a 26-foot putt on the famous oceanside par-5 finishing hole for 59.
Clark did it knowing the approaching storm, which brought near hurricane-force winds and heavy rain on Sunday, could shorten the tournament to 54 holes.
“With everyone saying how bad the weather’s going to be, all right, well, you’ve got to have that mentality that today’s the last day, so try to go for broke. With that said, that’s very rare that we have 54 holes, so I wasn’t banking on that, and I’m still not banking on it,” Clark said Saturday afternoon.
Clark’s 60 (accomplished using lift, clean and place rules) broke the course-record 61 set by Texas Tech's Hurly Long in the 2017 Carmel Cup college event.
Two things stood out about Clark’s round: He made 190 feet of putts over the 18 holes (that’s an average of more than 10 feet per hole), and he made a bogey at the par-3 12th where he holed a 25-foot bogey putt after hitting his tee shot into a bunker.
It was, in the most charmed ways, one of those days.
With eagles on both front-nine par-5s, Clark stood 10-under through 11 holes and, given the soft conditions, almost anything seemed possible. Standing over a putt for 59 on one of the most famous courses in the world, Clark knew the opportunity he had.
“Honestly, I think anyone that has ever shot 59 or gets into that kind of zone, you don’t really think about score, you’re just so focused on the next shot. I really didn’t think about it until I got to 18 tee box and when I did, I thought, Oh, my gosh, it would have been really nice to have one of those last two because then I only have to birdie 18,” said Clark, who earned $3.6 million from the $20 million "signature event."
“Once I hit the fairway on 18, I knew I was going to have a chance to hopefully try to shoot that special number. I gave it my best shot. Unfortunately, I left some putts short. I’m super happy with my round. Anytime you shoot 12 under anywhere you’ve got to be happy.”
“A lot of big changes, but when you’re in a spot where I was mentally in putting, you kind of needed a change.”
Wyndham Clark
Here’s the kicker to Clark’s story: Since winning the U.S. Open last year, his game has gone flat, particularly his putting.
Early in the week at Pebble Beach, Clark had nine different putters, searching for one that would bring back the magic.
“I brought these putters and we resolved to changing no line on the putter,” Clark said. “I went a little bit shorter, and I went from being conventional to cross-hand. A lot of big changes, but when you’re in a spot where I was mentally in putting, you kind of needed a change, just something totally different so you couldn’t complain or have those same feels that I had in previous tournaments.”
Rain or no rain, Clark found what had been missing.
Ron Green Jr.
