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A look back from the final round of the 2022 British Open Golf as Cameron Smith ends a 29-year wait for an Australian to lift the claret jug trophy since Greg Norman in 1993

by Admin

The 150th edition of the British Open returned to the home of golf at St. Andrews, Scotland. Sixth-ranked player in the world and Australian native Cameron Smith entered the final round with a shot at winning the championship, but clearly it was Rory McIlroy who was the favorite, entering Sunday with the lead.

After two birdies on the front nine, Smith was still in the mix, while McIlroy was merely average as his putter failed him. Smith went on a run starting the back nine with five straight birdies, and by the late in the round pulled ahead. A birdie on the 18th sealed the deal for Smith, who at –20 took down Cameron Young by a stroke and McIlroy by two.

Smith became just the fifth Australian to win the British Open, joining Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Greg Norman and Ian Baker-Finch and the third to win it at St. Andrews. Now ranked second in the world, the 28-year-old Smith has six PGA Tour wins and his third this season, including the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Players Championship. While Smith is the cream of the crop from Australia, there were several others that made their mark at the British Open.

Lucas Herbert, Anthony Quayle and Adam Scott all finished tied for 15th at 10-under par. Min Woo Lee finished tied for 21st at 9-under, while Brad Kennedy and Jason Scrivener both performed admirably and finished at 4-under. Scott, at age 42, has 31 professional wins and 14 on the PGA Tour.

Herbert, Quayle, and Lee are all in their 20s and have some professional wins. It’s just a matter of time before they win some events on the PGA Tour.

Although the majors are over for 2022, there is still some great golf left on the season schedule. The 3M Open is this week, followed by the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the Wyndham Championship.

The season conclude with the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which features three events: FedEx St. Jude Classic, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship which will be held at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia August 25-28.

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Scottie Scheffler holds on to Masters lead to secure his first Major championship

by Admin

Scottie Scheffler holds on to Masters lead to secure his first Major championship

Scottie Scheffler showed ice cold consistency on the final day of The Masters to win his first green jacket – proving just why he’s world No.1.

The American started the day on 10- under, three shots ahead of Australia’s Cameron Smith. It was the Queenslander who got off to a promising start with a pair of birdies on the first two holes. But after sinking a spectacular chip on the third, Scheffler never really looked back.

There was a hint of a rally when Smith birdied the 11th. But a score of six on the par three 12th effectively ended his chances. In the end he was overtaken by Rory McIlroy, himself chasing a Grand Slam of Major victories. The Northern Irishman hit an astonishing round of 64, his magical bunker shot on the 18th one of the day’s highlights.

The day, though, belonged to Scheffler, whose final round of 71 – including four birdies – was pure class.

Smith finished third on 5- under, tied with Ireland’s Shane Lowry. America’s Colin Morikawa finished fourth on 4- under.

Elsewhere, Australia’s Min Woo Lee ended the weekend 14th; Marc Leishman finished 31; Cameron Davis 46th. Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, tied 48th.

Tiger Woods, who dominated so many of this week’s headlines, finished on 13- over. Not quite the fairytale comeback fans hoped for, but the fact the five-time champion completed 72 holes was remarkable; just 14 months ago he underwent extensive emergency surgery to save his right leg following a car accident.

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Scottie Scheffler leads after Day 2 of the 2022 Masters Golf at Augusta National Golf Course

by Sports Benches

There’s so much to reflect on the second day of this year’s Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta, GA. Aussie Cam Smith couldn’t kick on his opening day spell when he languished a lot of pars and a few bogeys in a total of +2, 74 shots, although he finished Day 2 well with two birdies at holes 15 & 18. There’s still two days left going into the weekend & make up some lost time, as he’s Tied 6th at a total of -2.

The same say for South Korea’s Sungjae Im, who lost the lead to Scottie Scheffler, following three birdies, five bogeys & a majority of pars at +2 (74 shots). But again, he’s still in the mix at Tied 2nd going into Day 3 tomorrow & hopefully be the first South Korean to wear the green jacket.

We also saw some of the improved competitors today alongside Im in the shared 2nd spot; Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Reigning champion Hideki Matsuyama from Japan & 2011 Masters winner South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel. Meanwhile, Harold Varner III & Kevin Na continued their impressive start with the same score as yesterday at -2 (71 shots), where they will look to break into the Top 5 zone & have an outside crack for the lead if things work out after Day 3.

Dustin Johnson’s struggles continue that was miles away from the promised start he produced in Round 1, with only one birdie collected in the 4th hole at +1, 73 shots. It will be interesting to see if he can regroup in the weekend spells of Rounds 3 & 4, as he currently sits in Tied 6th, total -2. Danny Willett & Joaquin Niemann also endured some inconsistencies that saw them fall down the leaderboard in Tied 10th. And Patrick Cantlay slipped outside the Top 10 from 7th to 19th alongside Tiger Woods, who did enough to make the cut at +2 today (74 shots).

Two rounds down, two to go with Scottie Schaeffler as your leader from Tied 3rd yesterday at -3 to -8. Whoever is leading after Day 3, we will see an exciting finish that will change everything on Sunday at the Augusta National Golf Club.

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2022 The Masters Day 1 Review, Aussie Cam Smith not far in 2nd behind leader Sunjae Im of South Korea

by Sports Benches

It’s good to see an Australian in Cameron Smith doing so well, who is currently in 2nd after the 1st Day of the 2022 Masters in Augusta, GA. He may fired off poorly when Smith shot six in the first hole through Par 4, but he gradually improved as it goes where he racked up three eagles & four birdies at -4 (68 shots).

At the end of the day, the leader you’re looking at is Sunjae Im from South Korea; he was very consistent with plenty of 3s & 4s that earned him a whopping six birdies apart from the three bogeys at -5 (67 shots).

Then there are also a lot of 3rd place runners catching right up to Smith and Im’s radar, with Dustin Johnson, Scottie Scheffler, Danny Willett & Joaquin Niemann all tied at -3 (69 shots).

Johnson fired off well where he sniffed around Smith & Im earlier on for the lead. Although his form may have dipped going into the 2nd half spell that began to slip away from joint 1st with Smith & Im, there’s still room for improvement to catch up tomorrow if he wants to regain the lead & try to snatch that green jacket for the second time. Meanwhile, Willett, Scheffler & Niemann always kept their eye within the Top 3, having never been out of shape throughout the opening day as they look to hold back Johnson & split this front-row battle of Smith & Im on Day 2 tomorrow.

Jason Kokrak & Corey Conners sat comfortably outside the Top 6 throughout the opening day alongside Patrick Cantlay, who improved lately with four birdies in the 2nd half spell. And we also can’t forget the return of Tiger Woods after a freak accident earlier last year; he shot a lot of pars alongside three birdies in joint 10th at -1 (71 shots).

It will be interesting to see which two runner-ups from the 2020 Masters Tournaments will be up in front by the end of Day 2 tomorrow at Augusta National Golf Course.

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2021 PGA Championship Review

by Admin

The PGA Championship this past week will certainly go down in history as being one of the best majors the sport has ever seen. With Phil Mickelson becoming the oldest player to ever win a major at the age of 50, and others showing off their talents, this was certainly a historic event. Since the tournament Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau have caught some media attention for their interaction which only makes the tournament more fun. Today we will be taking a look at everything that you need to know about what went down this weekend!

Mickelson has always been a fan favorite, but prior to winning this tournament it had been quite some time until he had been in the running for a major championship on sunday. It had been eight years since his last major victory and two years from his last PGA Tour win in general. It is safe to say that not many people predicted this outcome before it had all begun. This is the second time that Mickelson had won the PGA Championship and earned the Wanamaker trophy.

In the end, he won with a total score of six under par, shooting one over in the last round. Due to shifting winds all day, those that teed off later in the day were at much more of a disadvantage. Others were able to put up scores of three under par for the final day which left two Irishmen tied for fourth, Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington. Besides that Brooks Koepka gave Mickelson his hardest time all week long, which still shocked people after the fact.

Koepka had been battling a knee injury going into the tournament which caused him to stand with a very goofy stance whenever he was going to line up putts. This knee injury also caused him to miss the cut at the Masters just about a month ago. With his previous poor performance and this injury, it is safe to say that expectations were low for him going into this week. However, you can never doubt Koepka when it comes to the Majors as his track record for these events is insane! Finishing in the top ten time and time again, if not winning the tournament, Koepka is one of the best golfers when it comes to the Majors, besides Tiger Woods of course.

Following the tournament Koepka and DeChambeau have gone viral for a clip of Koepka’s post round interview on Sunday. Koepka is in the middle of answering a question until DeChambeau walks by, at which point Koepka loses his train of thought and drops the f bomb, rolls his eyes, and is visibly upset/disgusted. The whole golf world is still trying to figure out if DeChambeau said anything or if simply walking by was enough to make Koepka mad. Either way it will certainly be interesting to see Koepka answer questions about this interaction later on.

No matter what, Phil Mickelson was the star of the show this weekend and rightfully so. Taking one away from father time, it has only further cemented his stardom.

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