Scott enters Race to Dubai in third with home soil win
Adam Scott of Australia celebrates victory with the Kirkwood Cup during day four of the PGA Championships at RACV Royal Pines in Gold Coast, Australia, on Sunday. Agence France-Presse
The former Masters champion carded a final round 69 to win by two strokes but was pushed all the way by the New Zealander, who finished alone in second after closing his fourth round with back to back bogeys.
Hendry had taken the outright lead around the turn after a brilliant burst of scoring but the momentum swung Scott’s way when he followed up a birdie on the 14th with a magnificent eagle at the 15th to move two shots clear. The lead would remain the same after 18 holes with Scott capturing his 11th European Tour title and first in his homeland in 2,266 days.
“I’m pretty stoked, actually, I kind of grinded it out this week and I feel like I outsmarted the golf course a little bit, which feels good, and it was good enough to beat everyone,” said Scott, who picks up 335 Race to Dubai points with his triumph.
“It’s been a long time between wins for me and maybe only once or twice did the thought cross my mind that I’ll never win again. It feels very good to win here, especially to finish the year off kind of winning at home.”
The Australian trio of Wade Ormsby, Min Woo Lee and Nick Flanagan finished a shot further back to share third place in the Gold Coast and pick up 87.8 points apiece. All three players enter the Race to Dubai in 13th spot after their first event of the season.
South African Bryce Easton was one of five players in tenth spot as he pocketed 34.8 points to jump up to 25th from 68th after three events played.
The top 50 players in the Race to Dubai Rankings will contest the season-ending US$8 million DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai from Nov.19-22, 2020 where $3 million will be up for grabs for the winner, making it the richest first prize in world tournament golf.
Meanwhile, IMG announced on Monday that 17-year-old Korean golfer Yaeeun Hong has signed with the company for worldwide management to represent all commercial activity.
Hong recently turned professional after finishing T4 at the LPGA Qualifying Tournament Stage 2 in October, where she earnt full Symetra Tour status, but was unable to compete at the LPGA Final Stage Q Series due to age regulations.
Hong joins IMG after an impressive amateur career which included victory at the 2019 Australian Amateur Championship following two wins in Korea. Later in the season, Hong went on to finish fourth at the prestigious Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship in Japan, having led through 36 holes.
Representing Korea for the last two years, Hong captured a bronze medal at the 2018 World Amateur Team Championship and competed in as many as 14 professional tournaments worldwide before joining the Symetra Tour for the upcoming season.
Commenting on the announcement, Hong said, “I am extremely excited to sign with IMG and take great pride in being able to join so many other top athletes on their roster. IMG is a global leader in sports and to have them behind me to manage my career through their worldwide network means a lot to me. My goal is to play golf on the LPGA Tour and I will do my best to be a role model to the young juniors in Korea who want to follow my footsteps.”
Top 10 Race to Dubai Rankings after the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open:
1 Pablo LARRAZÁBAL ESP 460.
2 Rasmus HØJGAARD DEN 347.9
3 Adam SCOTT AUS 335.
4 Joel SJOHOLM SWE 323.6
5 Renato PARATORE ITA 206.
6 Antoine ROZNER FRA 193.0
7 Will BESSELING NED 141.7
7 Charl SCHWARTZEL RSA 141.7
7 Branden GRACE RSA 141.7
10 Johannes VEERMAN USA 124.2
