TELFER’S THOUGHTS 2.2.26

All eyes were on one player at the Farmers Insurance in San Diego, the latest event on the USPGA Tour.

In the end Brooks Koepka didn’t even come close to winning in this his comeback appearance on the US Tour after leaving LIV Golf just before Christmas. His form was way short of the commanding figure he cut when winning his five Majors before leaving for the big dollars of LIV Golf.

However the 35-year-old American showed glimpses of his former self when he put together a much-needed 4 under par 68 on Day 2 which enabled him to just make the cut and play the weekend. He said afterwards he’s never been comfortable on the San Diego poa annua greens.

Inevitably, given his past record, public expectations are high that he can recapture the sort of form that had him the Number One ranked golfer in the world. His recent form on the LIV Tour has been patchy at best. However, now that he’s back in the cut and thrust of weekly golf on the PGA Tour, his game will improve, I have no doubt about that. Koepka thrives on regular competition. That’s one of the chief reasons he made the switch back to the PGA. Playing one largely insignificant tournament a month in a different part of the world just didn’t fire his competitive juices. Having the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy lurking around when he plays now will surely see his stocks rise. Hundreds gathered around his final green at San Diego, watching him putt out for a tie of 56th place. But typical Koepka, when asked when he will play next, he said, “Arizona this coming week. I just love the chaos”.

Meanwhile Justin Rose continued his good form from 2025 and proved to be a runaway winner in this latest PGA Tour event in San Diego. It was virtually a done deal after Rose’s opening round of 62, 10 under par. He never really relinquished that big lead over the next three days. His 6-shot lead midway through the tournament was the largest 2 nd round lead by any golfer since 2008. Not bad for a 45-year-old. With his win in San Diego by 7 shots he moves up to 4th on the world rankings. He was the first golfer for 71 years to go wire to wire, for this his 13th tour victory on the US Tour.

Kiwis in various parts of the world came to the fore over the past weekend. Daniel Hillier once again came close to entering the winner’s circle on the DP World Tour, this time at the Bahrain Championship. A final round of 66, 6 under par, left him just 1 shot short of making a play-off with three other golfers including Patrick Reed, winner last week in Dubai. The Kiwi did however have the satisfaction of shooting the lowest round of the day. His driving over the four rounds ranked second, as well he was third in Greens in Regulation, second most accurate off the tee and inside the top 10 in putting. He’s now had 3 top 5 finishes in his last four events and as one of the English television

commentators observed, “this man is a walking bank”. This latest performance has lifted his earnings on this tour to E520,000. That’s in excess of NZ$1 million dollars and it’s only the first week of February. His ranking on the Race to Dubai also got a little bump, moving up to 5th place.

Lydia Ko looked likely to be among the big dollars as well in her first appearance in 2026 on the LPGA Tour in Florida. But it wasn’t to be. Playing on her home course in the Tournament of Champions which was reduced to a 54-hole tournament because bad weather washed out Saturday’s play, Lydia was up there near the top of the leaderboard through the first two rounds. Unfortunately a horror back nine on Day 3 took her out of contention. Three bogeys and a double bogey saw her card 40 on the back nine and left her 7 shots adrift of the eventual winner Nelly Korda. Lydia shot 74 on the last day. However her 4th place in this her first up appearance for 2026 is nonetheless a very encouraging start to the year. In April, Lydia turns 30 and for some years now she’s indicated she doesn’t envisage herself playing competitive golf beyond 30, so this may well be her last year on tour.

Closer to home it was a great week for the young Kiwi pro Jimmy Zheng who finished 2nd at the Webex Players Series event in Australia, picking up a cheque in the vicinity of $30,000. Not bad for a 21-year-old who only turned pro last May after winning the Australian PGA Tour Qualifying School event. Jimmy shot a final round 65 to finish only 1 shot behind the winner, Haydn Barron.