In one of the smallest contingents in the history of the Memorial Tournament, just two Australians will tee it up at Jack Nicklaus’ prestigious event at Muirfield Village in Ohio.
Local Columbus resident Jason Day and fellow Aussie Cameron Davis will be the only two flying the flag when the $US20 million signature event begins late tonight (AEST). On LIV Golf, Australians Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones and Marc Leishman will line up for the Ripper GC team at LIV Golf Houston.
The men have just completed US Open final qualifying earlier this week, where Davis was the only Australian to snare one of the last avenues into Pinehurst from any site across the USA. Davis defeated Adam Scott in a sudden-death playoff at the Springfield, Ohio, site for the fourth and last spot from there. Only two LIV golfers qualified, Dean Burmester and David Puig, from 17 who entered while Leishman and Herbert were close but did not get over the line.
Day played the Memorial pro-am with NFL icon Peyton Manning on Wednesday and sported a bold pair of shorts from his new clothing sponsor Malbon, turning heads with the design in what was the latest round of publicity the LA clothing company received for dressing Day in adventurous outfits.
A far stronger Australian contingent will be seen on the LPGA Tour as the women play the ShopRite Classic, their third regular tournament in New Jersey after leaving the Garden State for last week’s US Women’s Open in Pennsylvania, where Minjee Lee held the lead on the final day only to crumble on the back nine. Karrie Webb will tee it up at the ShopRite Classic this week alongside fellow Australians Hannah Green, Grace Kim, Steph Kyriacou, Sarah Kemp, Hira Naveed, Karis Davidson, and Robyn Choi.
On the Epson Tour, one tier down from the LPGA, Perth’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, a Karrie Webb Scholarship holder, will make her professional debut at the tournament in Michigan, playing for a $US200,000 prize purse. The 22-year-old, who grew up playing at Gosnells Golf Club, has graduated in Exercise Science from the golf super-school of Oklahoma State University where she won a Big 10 title last year.
AUSTRALIAN TEE-TIMES AROUND THE TOURS IN AEST (courtesy of Australian Golf Media)
PGA TOUR
Memorial Tournament
Dublin, Ohio
1.35am Cam Davis
5.10am Jason Day
Defending champion: Viktor Hovland
Past Aussie winners: Greg Norman (1990, 1995), David Graham (1980)
Prizemoney: $US20 million
TV times: 4am-8am Fox Sports and Kayo Sports
LPGA TOUR
Shoprite Classic
Galloway, New Jersey
Australasians competing: Karrie Webb, Hannah Green, Grace Kim, Steph Kyriacou, Sarah Kemp, Hira Naveed, Karis Davidson, Robyn Choi
Defending champion: Ashleigh Buhai
Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2013)
Prizemoney: $US1.75 million
TV times: nil
DP WORLD TOUR/LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
Scandinavian Mixed
Vasatorp Golf Club, Sweden
Daniel Hillier (NZ) 12.30am
Jason Scrivener 1.20am
Defending champion: Dale Whitnall
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prizemoney: $US2 million
TV times: 9pm-2am Fox Sports and Kayo Sports
EPSON TOUR
FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship
Battle Creek Country Club, Michigan
Australasians competing: Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Amelia Garvey (NZ), Cassie Porter, Fiona Xu (NZ), Su Oh, Amy Chu, Soo Jin Lee
Defending champion: Siyun Liu
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prizemoney: $US200,000
JAPAN GOLF TOUR
BMW Tour Championship
Shishido Hills Country Club, Ibaraki
9.44am Brad Kennedy
11.28am Anthony Quayle
12.42pm Michael Hendry
Defending champion: Takumi Kanaya
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prizemoney: ¥150 million
CHALLENGE TOUR
Challenge de Cadiz
Cadiz, Spain
4.10pm Connor McKinney
4.10pm* Hayden Hopewell
4.50pm Andrew Martin
9.10pm Tom Power Horan
Defending champion: Sam Hutsby
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prizemoney: €270,000
KORN FERRY TOUR
BMW Charity Pro-Am
Thornblade Club, South Carolina
9.40pm Rhein Gibson
2.50am Dimi Papadatos
2.50am* Brett Drewitt
Defending champion: Adrian Dumont de Chassart
Past Aussie winners: Rhein Gibson (2019), Rod Pampling (2015), Nick Flanagan (2007, 2012), Michael Sim (2009)
Prizemoney: $US1 million
KOREAN PGA TOUR
KPGA Championship
Seoul, South Korea
Australasians competing: Matthew Griffin, Jun-Seok Lee, Richard Lee (NZ), Won Joon Lee
Defending champion: Seungbing Choi
Past Aussie winners: Matthew Griffin (2014)
Prizemoney: 1.5 million Korean Won
