By Evin Priest – US PGA Tour editor Cameron Smith has spent the past 12 months quietly cementing his status as the next big thing in Australian golf. The softly spoken 24-year-old from Brisbane notched his maiden US PGA Tour victory at the Zurich Classic in May last year, and added to his professional trophy Read more…
Marquee names headed home early include Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Casey.
Fortunately for the viewers at home, there’s plenty of do-or-die matches that will provide plenty of drama and remove most of the confusing scenarios. The main event of course being Jordan Spieth (2-0) vs Patrick Reed (2-0).
With the (very little) power vested in golf writer Evin Priest, Australian Golf Digest’s man-on-the-ground hands out his best and worst awards from covering the 2017 US PGA Tour season. Buckle up for Australian golf media’s night of nights.
In a year to remember for Australian sporting Cameron Smiths, the 24-year-old Queenslander punctuated his maiden win on the US PGA Tour earlier this year to claim the Joe Kirkwood Cup and continue his ascent up the world rankings.
He is the man being credited with unleashing the “scary potential” hiding within 25-year-old Jordan Zunic and now Nick O’Hern has revealed just what his new pupil must do to claim the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Sunday.
With the opportunity to assume the mantle of Australia’s No.1-ranked male golfer by claiming the Joe Kirkwood Cup on Sunday, Leishman’s position at the top of the leaderboard alongside Adam Bland after 36 holes is to be expected but Pete Senior’s spot just inside the top 10 is a shock to all but his fellow professionals.
The crowd came to see Jason Day make his first appearance at the Emirates Australian Open in four years, but it was a 22-year-old rookie who stole the first-round lead at The Australian Golf Club.