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PGA

Well, it was such a competitive first day of this year’s Australian PGA Championship where there were plenty of contenders in the mix at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Eagle Farm, Brisbane. 

The likes of Min Woo Lee, Jason Scrivener and John Lyras are all sharing top spot right now at six under 65. All three players kept up the consistency, especially on the front nine with plenty of pars, seven birdies and just one bogey.

Looking at outside the Top 3, Adam Scott may have been a bit inconsistent with back-to-back bogeys on Holes 4-5 on the front nine – but he wrapped his shift really well in Tied 4th right now even though the early wake-up alarm was stressful just like how Min-Woo flew straight here to Brisbane from Dubai two days ago – with three straight birdies between holes 16-18 at five under 66. 

Joining Scott is Anthony Quayle – who made some sensational shots here & there – especially when he nearly sinked a hole in one on the Par 3 at Hole 4 before Quayle scored an eagle from the bunker on a Par 5 at the 7th hole. Now he hopes to improve on the back nine going into Day 2 tomorrow; The same goes with Brad Kennedy and South Korea’s Jeungjun Wang.

Meanwhile, World No.3 Cam Smith is back following his breakthrough major win at the British Open in St. Andrews, Scotland a few months ago. He got away well with a 1st hole birdie followed by a couple more on Holes 6-7 & 9, but again Cam needs to bridge the consistency towards the back nine as he’s currently Tied 14th at three under 68.

And World No.55 Lucas Herbert endured a tough Day 1 on T91 at plus one 72. He may have fixed the 6th hole on Par 4 from just outside the putting green with a birdie  – but there’s still lots of work to do if he wants to continue his title hunt here going into this weekend’s final two rounds that could hopefully see him return to The Masters in Augusta, Georgia early next year. 

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Scottie Scheffler holds on to Masters lead to secure his first Major championship

Scottie Scheffler showed ice cold consistency on the final day of The Masters to win his first green jacket – proving just why he’s world No.1.

The American started the day on 10- under, three shots ahead of Australia’s Cameron Smith. It was the Queenslander who got off to a promising start with a pair of birdies on the first two holes. But after sinking a spectacular chip on the third, Scheffler never really looked back.

There was a hint of a rally when Smith birdied the 11th. But a score of six on the par three 12th effectively ended his chances. In the end he was overtaken by Rory McIlroy, himself chasing a Grand Slam of Major victories. The Northern Irishman hit an astonishing round of 64, his magical bunker shot on the 18th one of the day’s highlights.

The day, though, belonged to Scheffler, whose final round of 71 – including four birdies – was pure class.

Smith finished third on 5- under, tied with Ireland’s Shane Lowry. America’s Colin Morikawa finished fourth on 4- under.

Elsewhere, Australia’s Min Woo Lee ended the weekend 14th; Marc Leishman finished 31; Cameron Davis 46th. Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, tied 48th.

Tiger Woods, who dominated so many of this week’s headlines, finished on 13- over. Not quite the fairytale comeback fans hoped for, but the fact the five-time champion completed 72 holes was remarkable; just 14 months ago he underwent extensive emergency surgery to save his right leg following a car accident.

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Scottie Scheffler is still your leader after Round 3 (-9) when he may have been a bit off the pace today at -1, 71 shots. However, his improved 1st half spell from Thursday & Friday shows that Scheffler’s got it all to stay consistent & pull off in a bid to wear the green jacket tomorrow. His best finish here in Augusta was tied 18th last year, but he did improve in the other majors (8th in 2021 & 4th in 2020 at the PGA Championship, 8th in 2021 at the British Open & 7th at the 2021 US Open) as this could be Scheffler’s first major title.

When it comes to competitors who are also chasing the green jacket for the first time, it’s good to see Australia’s Cameron Smith rebound today like it was from Round 1 on Thursday with five birdies at -4, 68 shots. He’s only three shots behind Scheffler now in 2nd at -6, as all Smith can pray now is for the leader to be inconsistent before he can potentially be the 2nd Aussie after Adam Scott to win The Masters.

The same goes with South Korean Sungjae-Im in 3rd, who isn’t far behind Smith and Scheffler. Now he still needs to work on the first nine holes that would help him bridge the gap between 3rd and the Top 2. However, Im still has that strong edge when it comes to the back nine holes after he finished his Round 3 spell with five birdies at -1, 71 shots.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry is still in a position at tied 4th despite only collecting two birdies during the 1st half. South African Charl Schwartzel also endured the same consistency as Lowry, but we can’t forget his terrific brace with the eagle in the 10th hole. Both players credited Round 2 yesterday with the improved leaderboard positions as their turning point, as they hope to split Smith & Im before it’s a race against time to catch Scheffler.

Will we see another first-time winner tomorrow from either Scheffler or someone else like Smith, Im, or Lowry? Otherwise, can Schwartzel secure a fairytale 11-year reunion with the green jacket?

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There’s so much to reflect on the second day of this year’s Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta, GA. Aussie Cam Smith couldn’t kick on his opening day spell when he languished a lot of pars and a few bogeys in a total of +2, 74 shots, although he finished Day 2 well with two birdies at holes 15 & 18. There’s still two days left going into the weekend & make up some lost time, as he’s Tied 6th at a total of -2.

The same say for South Korea’s Sungjae Im, who lost the lead to Scottie Scheffler, following three birdies, five bogeys & a majority of pars at +2 (74 shots). But again, he’s still in the mix at Tied 2nd going into Day 3 tomorrow & hopefully be the first South Korean to wear the green jacket.

We also saw some of the improved competitors today alongside Im in the shared 2nd spot; Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Reigning champion Hideki Matsuyama from Japan & 2011 Masters winner South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel. Meanwhile, Harold Varner III & Kevin Na continued their impressive start with the same score as yesterday at -2 (71 shots), where they will look to break into the Top 5 zone & have an outside crack for the lead if things work out after Day 3.

Dustin Johnson’s struggles continue that was miles away from the promised start he produced in Round 1, with only one birdie collected in the 4th hole at +1, 73 shots. It will be interesting to see if he can regroup in the weekend spells of Rounds 3 & 4, as he currently sits in Tied 6th, total -2. Danny Willett & Joaquin Niemann also endured some inconsistencies that saw them fall down the leaderboard in Tied 10th. And Patrick Cantlay slipped outside the Top 10 from 7th to 19th alongside Tiger Woods, who did enough to make the cut at +2 today (74 shots).

Two rounds down, two to go with Scottie Schaeffler as your leader from Tied 3rd yesterday at -3 to -8. Whoever is leading after Day 3, we will see an exciting finish that will change everything on Sunday at the Augusta National Golf Club.

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