TELFER’S THOUGHTS 18.5.26

The USPGA Championship is sometimes deemed, a little unfairly, the least prestigious of the four Major Championships. Sorry, this event is a Major Championship, full stop. The 100 top-ranked golfers in the world are automatically eligible to play this event. To my knowledge I’m not aware of any golfer ever who has turned down an invitation to play in the USPGA Championship.

Anyway, the last day of this year’s Championship produced drama worthy of any Major. The fact that 22 players were within 4 shots of the lead when the final round got underway at the renowned Aronimink course in Philadelphia was further proof of how significant this event is. Packed into that group of 22 were 7 past Major winners. That ominous fact didn’t bother 31-year-old Englishman Arun Rai. He produced a string of unforgettable shots over the last 10 holes to clear out from the chasing pack and win the Wanamaker Trophy with a 3-shot margin.

Perhaps his most spectacular shot was a 65-foot rolling twisting putt on the par 3 17th. . To shoot 65 on the last day of this event on a course that no golfer, including Rai, got to double figures under par further highlights how tough this course played over the 4 days.

Incidentally Rai becomes the first Englishman for 108 years to win this Major Championship title.

Our two leading male golfers, Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier, fronted up and both to their credit made the cut. Hillier got into the field because of his world ranking of 92. His experience of playing golf in America amounted to very little. For him to make the cut and finish in a tie for 26th not only earned him the best part of NZ$200,000 but he proved to himself that he can compete with the world’s best on the USPGA Tour. His 26th placing will also earn him important points on the DP World Tour’s Road To Dubal season finale. So a very productive week all round for Daniel.

Foxy finished in a creditable 37th place, completing the 4 rounds with a total of just 1 over par.

Final word here to Rory McIlroy who got off to the worst possible start with a 4-over 74 including 6 bogeys, 5 of those bogeys coming in the last 6 holes. But no-one bounces back better than Rory. From finishing the 1st round in 119th place, he got to within 1 shot of the lead during the final round, but couldn’t finish the job, settling for 7th place overall.

Meanwhile Lydia Ko finished in a tie for 8th place behind winner Lottie Woud, also from England, in the Kroger Queen City Championship in Ohio. After three rounds in the 60’s Lydia could do no better than an even par 71 on Day 4 to finish 7 shots adrift of the winner. It was Woud’s 2nd title on the USLGA Tour.