Telfer's Thoughts

A near miss for Ryan Fox and another highly productive week for Lydia Ko. Our two top golfers showed their class, world class, against the world’s best in both men’s and women’s golf, respectively, over the past seven days.

For Ryan Fox it was a near thing as he edged his way ever closer to his maiden win on the USPGA Tour, but alas in the end it wasn’t to be.

Starting the last day in the final group at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, which in itself was a first for Ryan, his conceding 5 shots to overnight leader Min Woo Lee meant it was always going to be a tough task to overhaul the dashing Australian who continued with his hot form throughout that last round. The world’s two top players, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, both mounted strong challenges as they tried to run down Lee, who, like Fox, was looking for his first win on the American Tour. But the Aussie was having none of it, repelling the world’s best with a solid patient round. He

was certainly in no hurry. One hole, the 8th , saw Lee and his caddie spend what seemed like an eternity pondering their options after his tee shot strayed into some bushes. All told, this final trio took 31 minutes to play this hole alone. Lee would probably argue the wait was worth it, because in the end he scrambled a par and kept his 2-shot lead. His steadiness in the end also paid off as he had to repel Scheffler who fired a final round 62, McIlroy snapping at his heels as well with a 66, not to mention Gary Woodland who got into the action big time, also with an 8 under 62 which saw him

finish in second place.

However, the Aussie had to bring his best out on this 8th hole after his approach from 140 meters shot through the green and finished close to 20 meters from the pin. If he didn’t get up and down he was in a three-way tie with Scheffler and Woodland. The plucky Aussie was up for it, putting from off the green rather than chipping. The ball stopped just centimeters from the hole. The tap in gave the 26-year-old his maiden PGA Tour win.

Moments after his win he took a call from his sister Minjee, one of the superstars of women’s golf. Also on hand were Min Woo’s parents from Australia, making for a very emotional time after that long, tough grind out on this municipal course.

Meanwhile, Ryan Fox was left to ponder what might have been. He hung tough for the front nine -2 birdies and a solitary bogey left him still in the hunt but needing to replicate what he did the day before when he shot 31 on the back nine. That possibility sadly went out the window rather quickly after he bogeyed both 10 and 11, and another bogey on 16 took him right out of the picture. He did birdie the 18th for a 1 over 71 and in a tie for 15th place for which he earned US$121,000, close to NZ$200,000, but Foxy is probably regretting that it wasn’t more than that.

He now has one final chance of getting into next month’s Masters if he can win this week at the Texas Open, in San Antonio, a three-hour drive from Houston.

Across the other side of the USA in Arizona, Lydia Ko came home in a tie for 6th place at the Ford Championship. It may not have been vintage Ko, but four rounds in the 60’s and finishing just 4 shots behind the winner suggests strongly, with the Women’s first Major of the year just a month away and two wins already to her name this year, Lydia might be looking forward to that tournament.