Telfer's Thoughts

Our big three - Ryan Fox, Lydia Ko and Steve Alker - were all in the thick of it on their respective tours over the past seven days.

None made it into the winner’s circle, but all should be well pleased with the quality of their golf. Steve Alker got closest to the big prize, finishing runner-up in the Kaulig Championship, which also doubles as a Major Championship, at the famous Firestone Country Club. It would have been Steve’s second Champions Major title if he had prevailed. As it was, he took the eventual winner, Miguel Angel Jimenez, to the second hole of sudden death before losing out to a 15-foot putt from the Spaniard, the undoubted star of the Champions Tour in 2025. His win today was his fourth of the

year so far.

Alker will get the chance to turn the tables on the in-form Spaniard later this week when the next Champions Major gets underway – the US Senior Open.

Meanwhile in the latest Women’s Major, the 2025 USPGA Championship, it was the Australian, Minjee Lee, who handled the tough conditions best at the Fields Ranch course in San Francisco. Lee picked up her third Major title to sit equal with Lydia Ko, both having three Major titles to their credit.

The tough windy conditions in San Fransico certainly took its toll on the field. Only Minjee Lee and two others managed to break par for the 4 rounds. The Australian held a 4-shot lead going into the last round, but she too struggled in the high winds. All up Lee registered 5 bogeys in her final round, yet her 2 over par 74 was good enough to see her finish 3 shots clear of the field. She clearly was the deserved winner.

Lydia Ko chances of winning here largely disappeared on the first day. After 18 holes she was in 58th place after a 3 over par 75, and in danger of missing the cut. To her credit Lydia probably played as well as anyone over the last 3 days, playing the last 54 holes in just 2 over par which saw her climb to a very respectable 12 th place by the end of the 4 th round. She may not have played her best golf in this Major but I think it’s fair to say any course that sees Lydia Ko clock up 16 bogeys, as she did here over the 4 rounds, must rank as arguably the hardest course in all of women’s golf.

The world’s best male golfers also had a tough week at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, the latest Signature event on the USPGA Tour. Only the top 70 golfers on the FedEx Cup list were eligible to play here and that included Ryan Fox. I can only imagine how exhausted, mentally and physically, Foxy must be feeling now. He’s played in 5 of the last 6 weeks. His schedule has included two Majors, the Canadian Open and two Signature events. He made the cut in all 5, won 2 of those tournaments and has set himself up for the next 2-3 years on the American PGA Tour. On top of

that, he’s won somewhere in the vicinity of NZ$6-7 million.

In this latest event he finished in a tie for 17 th , winning US$252,000 or close to half a million Kiwi. I suspect and hope, for his sake, he takes this week off and gives his body a rest before his next big challenge, the Open Championship, across the other side of the Atlantic coming up in July.

He’s in such great form I’m sure, privately anyway, he rightly thinks he can realistically contest for Major titles.

His run of form and results over the last 6 weeks, I would suggest, is unsurpassed in the annals of NZ golf. Sir Bob Charles, whose golf was marked by an undeniable beacon of consistency and whose ability to compete week after week was renowned, didn’t compete against the fields which have the depth there is now in the USPGA Tour.