After returning to the DP World Tour following his creditable showing at the USPGA Championship a few weeks back, Kiwi golfer Daniel Hillier I’m sure is more determined and confident than ever he can gain his playing card for the USPGA Tour in 2027. Last week in Austria Hillier took another step towards fulfilling that goal with a 7th placing at the Austrian Open. What was especially significant here was his move now into the top 10 on the DP World Tour‘s Order of Merit, or the Race to Dubai as it’s officially known. At season’s end the top ten place-getters on that Road to Dubai all receive playing cards for next year’s PGA Tour, the world’s leading and richest golf tour. Hillier was the personification of sub-par consistency at the Kitzbuhel Club - four rounds in the 60’s which saw him knit together two 65’s over the weekend. He recorded only 1 bogey in those closing 36 holes and finished the tournament as the leading player with the highest number of greens reached in regulation. And to add a little lustre to that impressive stat, he also emerged from the week as the longest driver in the field. He averaged 324 yards off the tee, with his longest drive measuring a staggering 363 yards. Perhaps his mate Ryan Fox has been slipping him a few tips on how to smash a golf ball. Of course now that he’s got himself into that all-important DP World Tour’s top 10, his task is to stay there for the next five months until the season ends in November. That won’t be easy. Essentially every player on that DP World Tour, somewhere between 200-300, is focused on winning one of those highly sought-after ten cards. Hillier came close to edging his way into that top 10 last year only to stumble slightly in the closing tournaments and miss out by a couple of spots. However his fellow Kiwi on the DP World Tour, Kazuma Kobori, has more pressing problems after another missed cut last week in Austria. He’s now missed the cut two weeks running, but hardly because of poor golf. In both of these last two tournaments he’s shot rounds of 69 and 71. I can’t imagine Kobori or his team are unduly worried about events of the past fortnight. Yes he slipped down the Race to Dubai standings and currently stands in 75th place on the DP World Tour, but remains comfortably inside the do or die number of 115. He must finish inside that figure to retain his playing card for next year. Not having any of those sort of worries is Steve Alker on the USPGA Seniors Tour after another successful week, this time in Morocco at the Trophy Hassan 11. Alker tied the low round of the final 18 holes in Rabat to finish in second place in this US$2.5million tournament to ensure another healthy pay cheque. It was his 4th top 10 finish of the year and he lies in 4th place on the Seniors Tour Order of Merit. The winner here for the first time on the Seniors Tour was the 52-year-old Australian Scott Hend, a regular face of many years at the NZ Open. This breakthrough win for Hend guarantees him full exemption on the Seniors Tour through until the end of 2027.

In the wake of the rigorous challenges of a Major Championship many of the world’s leading golfers give themselves a week off afterwards, some even more. The USPGA Tour, mindful of these demands, usually then schedules a tournament without quite so many of the mental and physical challenges associated with getting through four rounds of a Major. At the year’s second Major, the USPGA Championship in Philadelphia at the Aronimink course last week, no-one managed to get to 10 under for their week’s work. The winner, 38-year-old Englishman Arun Rai, won by 3 shots and finished the week at 9 under. From there the Tour moved to Texas for the CJ Cup, in honour of Byron Nelson, winner of five Major Championships. However, Nelson is probably best remembered for his remarkable achievement in 1945 when he won, believe it or not, 11, yes 11, PGA tournaments in a row, a record that not surprisingly still stands after 75 years. Not even Tiger Woods at his peak could get near that consecutive winning streak of Nelson’s. This year’s winner was former US Open champion Wyndham Clark. His winning score of 30 under par for his 72 holes contrasts rather vividly with Rai’s 9 under a week ago in the PGA Championship. Clark, mind you, had to play easily his best golf of the year to win here in Texas. His final round of 60 comprised of 9 birdies, an eagle and just 7 pars. He caught and overtook the 3rd round leader, South Korean Kim Si Woo, who had shot a 2nd round of 60 as well. As mentioned, many leading lights including Ryan Fox had the week off. All in all it was a very low- key week for NZ’s leading golfers. The US Women’s Tour had the week off and Daniel Hillier and Kazuma Kobori both missed the cut in Antwerp at the Soudal Open. It was a peculiar week indeed for Hillier. Firstly, making a rapid departure from Philadelphia where he’d played 4 rounds at the USPGA Championship. Then he got off to a remarkable start at the Soudal Open, reeling off 4 birdies from his first holes and led the field, albeit briefly. Not sure what happened next, perhaps it was a case of jet lag and the toll of having played in a Major Championship many thousands of kilometres away a few days earlier. Two double bogeys and a couple of bogeys saw him tumble quickly down the leaderboard. Day 2 was only marginally better and after 36 holes he languished in 130th place, missing the cut by 6 shots. Kobori fared slightly better with rounds of 69 and 71 to miss the cut 1 shot. The winner, South African Richard Sterne, recorded his first win on this Tour in 13 years. Away from PGA Golf, LIV Golf got some headlines when it announced last week a 10-tournament schedule for 2027. Whether it ever sees the light of day is another matter. Their financial backer, to date the Saudi Arabian quasi government entity PIF (Public Investment Fund), is ending its financial support at the end of this year. LIV Golf accepts that in order to continue along the lines it has to date, it must find in the vicinity of US$300million. A very tall order. It’s estimated the Saudis have tipped in excess of US$5billion into LIV Golf to date. Is it any wonder then that they’ve said ‘enough is enough’?

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.

Visit Us For Golf Club Repairs, Fittings and Coaching at JK's World Of Golf, Auckland. Email us info@jksworldofgolf.co.nz or Call 0800 557 6853. COACHING Have your very own coaching session in a private bay with one of our pros - Scott Lowery, and Richard Lee. Bookings are made directly through the coaches - see below for more details. Richard (RLee) started playing golf at the age of 12 and quickly grew to love the game. As an amateur he represented Auckland and New Zealand before going on the win the New Zealand Amateur Championship defeating Michael Campbell in the final. In 1994 he turned pro joining the NZPGA and spent the next 22 years playing abroad on the Australasian, Japanese and Asian Tours. He has also competed in over 50 European Tour events. Career highlights: - 2003 Vanuatu Open champion - 2005 Thailand Open champion - 2007 World Cup team member Royal Melbourne course record 62 (-10) - 2 time winner of New Zealand order of merit - First New Zealander to shoot 59 in a tournament Now with a young family Richard has taken a step back from professional golf and has joined the team at JK’s World of Golf where he plans to teach people this wonderful game. Check out his website for bookings WWW.RLEEGOLf.NZ Richard Lee rleegolf@gmail.com Scott works full time at JK's World of Golf, which is very handy when getting fitted and choosing equipment and clubs. To book a lesson with Scott, get in touch or ask when you next have a hit at the range. TESTIMONIAL 'Scott Lowery is a practical and professional teacher. His humour and unending patience combined with his ability to explain things have definitely helped lift my game. I took up golf later than most and am no natural athlete, but with Scott's expert help and guidance my scores have come down and my enjoyment of the game has risen'. - Lyn Scott Lowery 027 273 2606 scott.l@xtra.co.nz

Visit Us At Our Driving Range, And Pro Golf Shop, Plus Get Golf Club Repairs, Fittings and Coaching at JK's World Of Golf, Auckland. Email us info@jksworldofgolf.co.nz or Call 0800 557 6853. ABOUT Welcome to JK's World of Golf! Discover affordable fun for the entire family or group at our golf shop and driving range. We offer quality products at reasonable prices, with honest advice from our knowledgeable staff. Enjoy a healthy pastime with us, where everyone is welcome to improve their game and enjoy the sport. Visit us today for a fantastic golfing experience! SHOP DRIVING RANGE

JK's World of Golf Terms And Conditions - Privacy & Terms PRIVACY & TERMS JK'S PRIVACY POLICY To use some of the services on this website, JK's World of Golf will request personal information from you. Some of the personal information could include, but not be limited to, your name, company or organisation name, e-mail address, website address, or telephone number. JK's World of Golf will only contact you when you have requested contact and provided your contact details. Personal information collected for these purposes may be stored by us in our system, or in third party systems and/or products used by us. We will never give, lease, sell or otherwise disclose the Customer's information supplied to us by any means to any third party without your consent. You have the right under the Privacy Act 2020 to access any personal information held about you by JK's World of Golf and to correct or delete such information. JK's World of Golf collects domain information as part of its analysis of the use of this website. This allows us to gather broad demographic information only, such as what country you are from or what ISP you use. Your computer's IP address does not provide any personal details. We use this information to improve this website, and this information is collected automatically and requires no action on your part. Some pages on this website use "cookies," which are small files that the website places on your hard drive for identification purposes. These files are used for website registration and customisation so the next time you visit us the website can recall your previous selections. You should note that cookies cannot read data on your hard drive. Your web browser may allow you to be notified when you are receiving a cookie, giving you the choice to accept it or not. By not accepting cookies, some pages may not fully function and you may not be able to access certain information on this website. Breach of privacy If you believe that yours or someone else's privacy has been breached and has caused (or is likely to cause) serious harm, please contact us using the contact information below and provide details of the incident so that we can investigate it and report it to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals as soon as possible. Contact details info@jksworldofgolf.co.nz 0800 557 4653 JK'S TERMS Terms and Conditions 1. By using our website and purchasing products from us, you agree to the following terms and conditions. Please read them carefully. 2. Products 2.1. We try to display our products as accurately as possible but cannot guarantee your screen's display. 2.2. Product availability and prices may change without notice. 3. Orders and Payments 3.1. Orders are subject to availability and confirmation of the order price. 3.2. We may limit or cancel quantities purchased per person or per order. 3.3. Provide accurate and complete information for your purchase 3.4. Your payment is secure we use Stripe, and we accept Visa and Mastercard and we do not store credit card details. We also accept NZ bank transfers. 3.5. All pricing is displayed in New Zealand Dollars 4. Shipping and Delivery - see more here 4.1. We aim to dispatch orders promptly, subject to availability. Shipping is free within New Zealand. 4.2. Delivery times are estimates and we are not responsible for delays 4.3. The courier service we use will not deliver to post office boxes. Smaller items may be sent in an envelope by post but this may delay delivery and we will not be able to give tracking details. 4.4. Products that are in stock are shipped as soon as possible. When in stock, North Island orders are delivered in 1-2 working days, South Island orders are delivered in 2-3 working days. There is occasional delays when products need to be ordered in. 5. Returns and Refunds 5.1. See our Returns Policy for details. 6. Privacy 6.1. Your personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy (SEE ABOVE) 7. Intellectual Property 7.1. Content on this site is owned by JK’s World of Golf and/or our suppliers and is protected by copyright laws. 8. Limitation of Liability 8.1. We do not guarantee that our service will be uninterrupted or error-free. 8.2. JK’s World of Golf is not liable for any damages resulting from your use of our site or products. 9. Changes to Terms and Conditions 9.1. We may update these terms from time to time. Check this page for updates.