Fitzpatrick & Kim win Playoffs

Winners Circle

PGA Tour - RBC Heritage

Matt Fitzpatrick wins the plaid jacket on the third playoff hole where he hit his approach to just a foot and tapped in for birdie. Fitzpatrick shot a third round 63, with a eagle hole out on the par 4 3rd, to gain a one shot lead heading into Sunday. Fitzpatrick was able to make birdies in the closing stretch and outlasted Spieth in the playoff.

Jordan Spieth almost defended his title at Harbour Town Golf Links. He made a clutch birdie on the par 5 15th to regain the lead and made an up-and-down par on 18 to match Fitzpatrick to make the playoff. On the first playoff hole it looked to be Spieth’s to win after a solid approach to 13 feet but the birdie chance just missed.

Xander Schauffele nearly birdied his last 4 holes to grab a share of the lead but missed a 10 footer on 18.

Sahith Theegala had another top 10 finish with a great Sunday 65. Only a matter of time before Theegala wins one of these.

LPGA Tour - Lotte Championship

Grace Kim emerged from the playoff as the winner of the Lotte Championship. She birdied her last two holes of regulation to get into the playoff and then made a clutch up and down for birdie to win it. Kim only needed three starts on LPGA tour to become a winner.

Yu Liu had a bogey-free 64 to storm to the top of the leaderboard early in the day and waited for the overnight leaders to play the back nine. The 8 under by Liu was the best round of the day by 3 shots. She had to wait over an hour for the playoff to begin.

Yu Jin Sung held the 54 hole lead by 1 stroke over three players. For Sung, it was a strong showing who was in the field as a sponsor invite and a win would give her the option to become a LPGA Tour member.

Linnea Strom narrowly missed a birdie putt at the last to make the playoff and finished in a tie for fourth.

Thai player, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, had another strong finish with a T6. The LPGA rookie has played in two LPGA events and finished T6 and solo 2nd. Pretty good start!

Georgia Hall also had another great finish with a tie for sixth. Hall, the 10th ranked player in the world, was coming off two second-place finishes in a row and having an extremely strong start to the year.

Asian Tour - International Series Vietnam

Kieran Vincent won for the first time on the Asian Tour. Vincent grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie on 14. The Zimbabwean golfer had a bogey-free 66 on Sunday and made a birdie on 18 to win by one. His previous best finish this year was a Tie for 22nd at the International Series Qatar. Kieran joins his brother Scott Vincent as winners of International Series events.

Kevin Yuan had a chance on 18 to tie Vincent with a birdie putt that just missed. The 26 year old from Sydney closed with a 4 under to finish tie for second. Yuan played solid throughout the week and the result is his best finish of the year after a tie for 5th finish at the International Series Thailand.

Anirban Lahiri had the lead for a short while on Sunday but a par on the par-5 17th and closing par weren’t enough to get Lahiri into a playoff. The Tie for second is Lahiri’s best finish since the start of the year at the Saudi International and will head to LIV Adelaide with some confidence.

Takumi Kanaya held a 3 shot lead to start the day but after a 3-putt bogey on the 12th hole, Kanaya lost his lead. Although the finishing holes at KN Golf Links provided some birdie looks, Kanaya was unable to close the gap and finished tied for fourth.

Jazz Janewattananond shot a second round 62 to race to the top of the leaderboard on Friday and finished T10. The 62 was the low round of the tournament by 2 strokes.

Japan LPGA - KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open

Akie Iwai won in Japan for the first time this year. All she needed on Sunday was an even par 72 to win by 1.

Korea LPGA - Hankookilbo Championship

Joo Mi Lee wins the second Korea LPGA event of the year with a final round 68.

Sunshine Tour - Players Championship

Kyle Barker won in commanding fashion with a final round 62 to win by 5 shots over Peter Karmis in South Africa.

Shoutout to Casey Jarvis for a 59 in round 3! And Jarvis is only 19 years old!! The round included 2 eagles and a streak of 7 birdies. Jarvis finished the tournament in a tie for third.

Korn Ferry Tour - Veritex Bank Championship

Spencer Levin had a bogey-free 63 to win the Veritex Bank Championship by 2. For Levin the win was a change in form with the early season where he had 3 missed cuts in 4 starts for 2023.

Brett Drewitt lit up the Texas Rangers Golf Club with rounds of 64, 66, 65 over the first three rounds. His early 5 shot lead disappeared by the last 5 holes where he was tied with Spencer Levin. With four other top 10 finishes this year, Drewitt moves to second place for the 2023 Korn Ferry points standings.

Japan Golf Tour - Kansai Open Golf Championship

Taiga Semikawa held a 3 shot lead going into Sunday after shooting a 3rd round 64 and never looked back. He finished with a 4 shot victory over Takahiro Hataji to win the second event of the Japan Golf Tour season.