TELFER’S THOUGHTS 16.3.26

Eerie echoes of the unpleasantries which marred the closing holes of last year’s Ryder Cup in New York surfaced again, albeit not so menacingly, over the dramatic final holes of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Florida this past weekend. Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick, opponents in that Ryder Cup of 2025, were duelling for the Players title. While there was only friendliness between the two players, boos and jeers were nonetheless aimed fairly and squarely at the Englishman, especially after Young grabbed a share of Fitzpatrick’s lead with a birdie on the famous par 3 17th hole. Then came that unfortunate chorus, “USA USA USA”, as the masses made their way up the 18 th fairway. During a moment of silence, while waiting for Young to hit his ball off the tee, some perhaps religiously misguided soul screeched “God Bless America”. Maybe he thought things weren’t going so well for Team USA in the Middle East. In the end the lone cry seemed more comic than tragic.

Young appeared delightfully indifferent to the verbal sideshow as he unleashed a 375-yard drive(343 metres) up the 72nd hole, reputed to be the longest drive on this hole since the Shot Link telemetry was introduced at Sawgrass in 2003. It was also close to 20 metres longer than Rory McIlroy’s drive earlier in the day. It set up an easy par 4 for Young, while Fitzpatrick, after missing the fairway off the tee, could do no better than a bogey 5, leaving the quietly-spoken, likeable American the winner by 1 shot and US$4.5million richer.

Sadly Ryan Fox took no part in this high-profile event due to a kidney stone which laid him low the day before the tournament started. He was admitted to a local hospital where he had the stone lasered, for the most part a largely pain-free procedure, but it will be a week or so before he’s back to full fitness. He did message me to say he’s very hopeful he will be able to play in the year’s first Major which gets underway on 9 April at Augusta.

Also missing from any action over the past week were Daniel Hillier and Kazuma Kobori with the DP World Tour having a week’s break while its schedule shifts from Africa to Asia. Both Kiwis should be in the line up in Hainan, China for the Hainan Classic starting 19 March.

However the Kobori name was not entirely out of the golfing frame last week with Kazuma’s sister, Momoka Kobori, recording one of her best finishes on the Ladies European Tour which stopped Down Under to embrace the Australian Women’s Open at the Kooyonga course in Melbourne.

Like her younger brother, Momoka was a model of consistency, recording rounds of 73, 72, 71, and 68 to finish in a tie for 7th place and a cheque close on $NZ30,000. This high finish has seen her move above the other NZer on this tour, Amelia Garvey. Kobori now sits in 17th place on the Order of Merit, a couple of spots ahead of Garvey who also played in the Aussie Open finishing in a tie for 34th .

Both players will head for Hope Island in Queensland for the Australian PGA Championship. It’s the last of three tournaments in Australia which form part of an increasingly global look about this women’s Tour which, despite its title, reaches into most quarters of the golfing world, rather like the men’s DP World Tour.