DP World Tour : Soudal Open Tee Times Leaderboard
Costly bogey's at the 17th and 18th have cost Aaron Cockerill his place on the weekend at this weeks Soudal Open in Belgium.
At -4 for the event standing on the par5 17th he drove it into the trees and had to chip out, then he did the same on the 18th both resulting in bogey's.
His 69 71 -2 has fallen just below the -3 cut line.
Next week is the Austrian Alpine Open, where at Category 18, he is listed in the field.
more to follow...
Bryan Angus
PGA Tour : CJ Cup Byron Nelson Tee Times Leaderboard
We haven't had much great news to tell you about Canadian stalwart Mac Hughes, two years ago a top 60 PGA Tour player, whose owgr has plummeted to #142 and his Fed Ex points outside the top 100 who hold their cards, to #133.
At the recent Truist Championship on Quail Hollow where he has a home he T52, however after 71 75 73 he must have found something with a Sunday 66. He has MC in 4 of his 6 2026 outings and fired his caddy.
This week at the CJ Cup (Korean conglomerate money holding company in Seoul) he leads the Canadian contingent with a -6 65 T11 after 18 holes at revamped, very wet, TPC Craig Ranch one of the Tour's easiest tests, Scheffler put on a clinic last year -31 winning by 8 shots to give you some idea. This year he is T16 -5 66 so far in his title defence.
Mac Hughes T11 65 -6
AJ Ewart T16 66 -5
Taylor Pendrith T32 67 -4
Ben Silverman T47 68 -3
Adam Svensson T47 68 -3
Adam Hadwin T136 75 +4
The scores are low as usual here, the food apparently is 1st class !.
The leader at -9 62, American Taylor Moore
T2 Brooks Koepka -8 63 (just 25 putts), Swede Jesper Svensson -8 63.
T4 Seven Players 64 -7
WEATHER : The field is playing preferred lies after heavy rain, conditions 31*f are hot, humid and benign in McKinney Texas..
There is 60% chance of overnight rain.
For full scoring, Friday tee times click on my links above
Bryan Angus
DP World Tour : Soudal Open Tee Times Leaderboard
Round 1 at this version of the Soudal Open is winding down with the clubhouse leader, big hitting South African, Zander Lombard in front - 8 63.
Zander Lombard (DPWT photo)
20 players earn DP World Tour playing rights for 2026
Canada's Aaron Cockerill who finished T2 to Lombard at the 2026 Q School to keep their DP World Tour cards is in the late wave, playing off the 10th with 2 birdies, a bogey for 35, then the same combo coming in with 2 birdies and a bogey at the 7th after a bad lie in the greenside bunker, 34 for -2 69 T50
Closing edit 26/05/21 2pm EST
Zander Lombard took advantage of calm early conditions to post an -8 63 and hold a one‑shot lead after the opening round of the Soudal Open at Rinkven International Golf Club.
The South African admitted that he has struggled to put together four rounds lately, but arrived in Belgium looking to build on a promising start at Real Club de Golf El Prat two weeks ago.
A fast opening stretch allowed him to set the early target as the second event of the European Swing got under way, rolling in birdie putts from 19 and 17 feet at the second and third, adding further gains at five and six and holing from 30 feet at the ninth to make the turn in 30.
“Yeah, it was really cool starting this morning," he said following his round.
"Perfect weather conditions, no breeze, greens were rolling tremendously. So it was fun to post a score early in the week and see what it has in store."
But I felt like I've really controlled the ball well, and even when I did miss, I missed it well to give myself chances to, to save par. So all in all, it was a smart round of golf with two bonus extra shots.
The 31-year-old regained his DP World Tour card for this season with victory at DP World Tour Qualifying School following a well-documented return from injury.
While he had a promising start to his 2026 campaign with a top five in Mauritius, his best so far this year has been T33.
Recent winner Yurav Premlall was the third South African to have a breakthrough maiden win on Tour this season at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, following in the footsteps of Jayden Schaper and Casey Jarvis, who both have recorded their first and second wins in the past few months.
Asked about their recent success, Lombard explained they all feed off each other.
“I don't know. Maybe, I think we all feed off each other. I think we definitely, there's good camaraderie out there and we all, we all mate, so definitely when one wins, the next definitely wants to follow up.”
Lombard leads fellow South African Richard Sterne and Dane Jacob Skov Olesen by a shot, with Olesen setting the early pace before being overtaken by Lombard and matched by a bogey-free -7 64 from Sterne.
Sterne, who has missed his last three cuts in a row on the DP World Tour, was pleased to see hard work paying off as he hopes to keep himself in contention over the next three days.
"It’s about time I did something half decent in a round of golf," he said afterwards.
"I’m pretty pleased. I've been working hard and it’s nice to see some progress. It’s pretty tight on some holes, and it's a course you need to position yourself well off the tee, and then it gives you opportunities. I was fortunate, the one or two bad tee shots, I had good up and downs, and the putter saved me once or twice, but overall, my ball striking was good, and that's something that has been letting me down.
Tom Vaillant sits in fourth place -5, with a group of 11 players a further shot back at -4 that includes fellow Frenchman Martin Couvra, who delighted the crowds by holing out for eagle at the 14th.
The biggest highlight of the day belonged to Eddie Pepperell, making his 300th start on the DP World Tour this week, who made a hole in one on the 15th on his way to an opening -2 69.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
Bryan Angus
PGA Tour : CJ Cup Byron Nelson Tee Times Leaderboard
As I wrote yesterday about the Rank and File returning to action in Belgium. the same can be said this week on the PGA Tour as it swings down into Texas for a fortnight, this week they are the the Byron Nelson on TPC Craig Ranch.
However I will remind you before the week begins, while all the top players are off now until Jack's $20,000,000 Memorial in 3 weeks, Scott Scheffler who lives in Texas is in the field, on the course he grew up playing.
In 2025, he had no competition, virtually putting on a clinic for his fans, tying the PGA Tour scoring record for a 72 hole stroke play event, -31 253 eight shots clear of the rest, worth $1, 728, 000 from the $10m purse.
So more of the same is expected from the media here, to get his winning ways back on track, although this year he has be beaten by Matt Fitzpatrick, Cam Young, Aaron Rai in recent events, either with a poor putting display, or an inconsistent driver, or some questionable iron play.
Now for the rest.
There are six Canadians in play excluding Nick Taylor who was in the penultimate pairing at the PGA Championship last week, playing well and right in contention, until the wheels came off on his back nine of 40. Corey Conners and Sudarshan Yellamaraju are also off.
8.11am Ben Silverman #278 owgr Fed Ex points #167
8.11am Mac Hughes #142 owgr Fed Ex #133
9.28am Adam Hadwin #256 owgr Fed Ex #176
1.10pm Adam Svensson #408 owgr Fed Ex #156
1.54pm Taylor Pendrith #82 owgr Fed Ex #89
3.00pm AJ Ewart #223 owgr Fed Ex #93
You can see from this list how only Taylor Pendrith and AJ Ewart are in the Fed Ex top 100 who will have PGA Tour status in 2027.
Adam Hadwin, here on a sponsor's exemption is on the Korn Ferry Tour this year.
Bryan Angus
DP World Tour : Soudal Open Tee Times Leaderboard
After the drama of last week's PGA Championship won in spectacular fashion by DP World Tour veteran Aaron Rai and the ultra rich $20,000,000 signature events leading up to it for the top players it is time for :
The heart and soul of the DP World Tour, the rank and file return to action for the Soudal Open in Belgium with a regular $2,750,000 total purse which is almost $1,000,000 less then Rai won for winning last week !!
Canada's Aaron Cockerill is still trying to kick start his year with owgr #494, and a Race to Dubai #144 he is moving the wrong way, like many of the 156 here, all looking to improve their status week to week, to get comfortably inside the top 100 to start, then go from there.
One good top 20 finish can do wonders, Aaron has had promising starts but needs to put 4 rounds together on a regular basis to succeed on this or any tour.
Group 51 10th tee 1435 Aaron Cockerill, Davis Bryant USA, Richard Stern, RSA
more to follow..
Bryan Angus
The Wanamaker Trophy weighs 34 pounds - luckily Aaron Rai doesn't have to lift it alone.
To watch Rai put together the back nine of 31 that made him a Major winner at the US PGA Championship, you could have been forgiven for thinking he was something of a lone wolf.
That steely determination and laser focus does not look to lend itself to much interaction with others but to observe the man without a club in his hand is a different story.
ROOTS
EDIT>>> To understand Aaron's background and why an Englishman is dark skinned, his mother Dalvir's family emigrated to England from Kenya when she was 14. His father Amrik was born in England from Indian parents.
The family story is set in Wolverhampton. For Canadians think of culturally dominated Brampton, Ontario. Indian, Pakistani, Muslims etc have migrated mainly for jobs to this area.
Wolverhampton was part of the Industrial revolution, a wool manufacturing hub, smack in the middle of England, on the West Midlands just north of Birmingham, 2.5 hours NW of London.
It is here Aaron was first given a set of toy plastic golf clubs at four, in the middle of soccer mad Wolverhampton, golf was not the normal activity of an Indian kid.
WIFE
After Rai rolled in the par putt which effectively sealed his status as a Major champion, one of the first people he went to was wife Gaurika Bishnoi.
Bishnoi is a professional golfer in her own right who has been previously ranked as India's top female player and Rai is delighted to have both her personal support and professional observations.
"She's been incredible," he said at the press conference following his victory. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn't be here without her. Both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I'm sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game.
"She's a professional golfer herself. So her mindset, her advice, her thoughts, whether it's technique or the way I'm holding myself is absolutely invaluable. She encompasses so many different sides in her opinions.
"We even had a conversation yesterday for probably 30 minutes in the car just before we got back to the hotel, just speaking a little bit about today. Again, some of the things that she mentioned in the conversations were really with me today.
"Yeah, I really wouldn't be here without her."
That means Bishnoi has now been directly involved in two Rai wins since they were wed last summer, with her caddying for him at the Masters Par Three Contest, a competition she could have perhaps won on her own.
While Gaurika is a relatively new member of Team Rai, parents Amrik and Dalvir have been there from the beginning, providing the support and making the sacrifices for which parents of athletes are often known.
Amrik is a common feature at events in which Rai is playing and while he was not at Aronimink on Sunday, his presence is always there in Aaron.
"It's probably hard for me to really express everything that I feel towards them," said Aaron. "I think I'll get way too emotional to speak.
"Yeah, starting with my dad, he was with me every day that I went to practise from the age or four to five years old. He actually quit his job and started to focus on my golf from a really young age.
"I used to read a lot about golf. He used to obviously be really active in everything he did with me around the game.
"My mum has been absolutely incredible as well. She works extremely long hours to just provide for the house really, especially with my dad also not working as much. So she did a lot of things and her support has been phenomenal.
"Obviously, I would love to share this with them. It would be amazing if they were here. I can't put into words how much they've done in terms of the support, in terms of the care, in terms of love. Again, I wouldn't be here without them at all."
COACHES
It was then 20 years ago that coaches Andrew Proudman and Piers Ward came on board and they were joined around 15 years ago by physio Andrew Caldwell.
They have been there for Rai's journey through EuroPro Tour, HotelPlanner Tour, DP World Tour, Rolex Series champion, PGA TOUR champion and now Major champion and as ever, Rai does not make light of their impact.
"They've been phenomenal," he said. "Andrew Proudman and Piers Ward are the two guys involved with Me and My Golf. I've known Andrew since I was four years old. He used to work at the pro shop on the driving range me and my dad used to go to. I was four, he was 18, so I was there before he turned professional.
"I met Piers when I was eight, nine years old. So we grew up in the same city. They started to coach me very soon after that. I was probably ten years old. When I call them my coaches, I almost feel disrespectful calling them just my coaches. They've been so much more to me than that from a young age, also as a teenager, and also on this journey as a professional golfer. They've been my mentors, my big brothers. They've almost been like family to me.
"They just go above and beyond for me in every single way. They've played a huge part in this trophy and a huge part in my development as a golfer."
That Rai is not only willing but eager to give credit where it is due in a sport that is, perhaps more than any other, an individual pursuit says a lot about the man.
A man for whom it seems nobody has a bad word.
RORY
“He’s just such a good guy," says Rory McIlroy. "Hard worker, humble, just an absolute gentleman.”
LIFE LESSONS
And the credit for that? Of course Rai will take none himself.
"I think a lot of that has come from upbringing: my mum, my dad, my siblings," he said. "Golf was always a very big part of my life from a very young age, but my mum and my siblings were very fast to continue to reinforce the importance of just being a good person and trying to do the right things away from golf.
"And that was consistent from a very young age, from the age of five, six years old. I think as I've continued to develop as a junior, as an amateur, as a professional, golf in itself is an extremely humbling game.
"There's so much hard work and discipline that goes into acquiring the skills to become better, but you also realise that nothing is ever given in this game at any point, whether it's a tournament, whether it's a practice round, whether it's even away from a tournament week. All of these things have to be done diligently and require focus.
"It's very humbling as well.
So I think you put all of that together, the game requires the focus and attention, but the humility just goes hand in hand with the game and my upbringing as well."
Rai's life is about to change. In 31 almost perfect blows of a golf ball on the back nine at Aronimink he has gone from a golfing star to a golfing superstar and a star in the world of all sport.
But much like he handled that back nine, it's hard to see him getting carried away. The man who now rubs shoulders with golfing royalty in Florida is still the boy from Wolverhampton.
And that may bode well for more Major success.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
PGA Championship : Aronimink GC Leaderboard Results
Aaron Rai won his first Major title at the US PGA Championship with a back-nine masterclass in composure that blew the field away at Aronimink Golf Club.
He entered the final day two shots off the lead and at +1 through eight holes of his round, there was little sign of the brilliance to come.
An eagle on the ninth then helped set in motion a back nine of 31 where he simply did not put a foot wrong.
His 68-foot putt for birdie on the 17th will be the most remembered of his 65 blows that got him to -9 and handed him a three-shot victory over Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley.
With victory, Rai becomes just the 14th non-American to lift the Wanamaker Trophy and the first Englishman since 1919 when ‘Long’ Jim Barnes won the second ever US PGA Championship three years after also winning the inaugural contest.
The win is Rai’s fourth on the DP World Tour and first since he won a second Rolex Series title at November’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
His only win so far in 2026 was at the Masters Par Three Tournament alongside wife Gaurika but Major glory now moves him up to 5th on the Race to Dubai Rankings.
"It's been a bit of a frustrating season," said Rai, who has struggled with back and neck injuries in 2026. "So to be stood here is definitely outside of my wildest imagination.
"But I think just really good consistency over the last few weeks in terms of practice, body's been feeling great, and really enjoyed the course this week and continued to hold the rounds together as the week went on. Phenomenal to be stood here.
"It definitely feels like a journey. Everyone playing in the field this week has a great journey to be able to share, and I'm no exception to that.
"So much goes into it from being a junior golfer to developing the game to have aspirations of turning professional. Then you realise once you turn professional how good some of these guys are and how strong the level of professional golf is, not just on the PGA TOUR, the DP World Tour, and all the feeders that go into it.
"So, yeah, it's a really long journey to even get to compete at Major Championships at events like the PGA. Yeah, to be stood here, it still hasn't sunk in for sure. Amazing journey."
Rai looked serene in making routine pars at the 14th and 15th but Schmid got up and down from the sand for a birdie on the 13th to get within one as the leader came to the potentially pivotal par-five 16th.
Showing nerves of steel, Rai hit a perfect tee shot and then put his second to 17 feet for another potential eagle 3, getting down in two for another birdie and to restore his two-shot lead.
None of the others in contention late on Sunday except for an inspired Rahm were matching his shotmaking.
That advantage was three as Schmid bogeyed the 15th and then Rai produced a Major moment for the ages, holing from 68 feet on the 17th to take a four-shot advantage up the last and suddenly all the tension of the last 71 holes was gone.
With his win : * $3,690,000, 1st Major, 15th owgr, 5th Race to Dubai, lifetime entry into US PGA Championship, 5 year exception into all the majors, 2nd Englishman to win PGA Championship.
Rahm T2, would birdie the 16th in a -2 68 to trim the advantage -6 and Smalley T2– who had earlier bogeyed the eighth and birdied the ninth, finished eagle-bogey-birdie to sign for a 70 -6 both won $1,804,000
Early in the day, American Justin Thomas carded a closing -5 65 to finish T4 four shots off the lead -5 alongside Schmid and Swede Ludvig Åberg, one clear of Rory McIlroy T7 -4, Xander Schauffele -4 and Cameron Smith -4
Earlier in the day, Kurt Kitayama equalled the lowest final round in Major history with a bogey free 30/33, 63 that got him into T10 at -3 alongside Chris Gotterup, Patrick Reed and Justin Rose.
EDIT>>>>> Canada's Nick Taylor was in the penultimate pairing with Rahm, holding his nation's hopes of being just the 2nd male after Mike Weir to win a major.
He continued his steady play at -5 until he rescued a wayward drive with a bogey at the 10th, then the wheels came off with 5 bogey's in his last 6 holes for 40 and a closing 74 T26 E. $125,523
His fellow countrymen Taylor Pendrith 71 T44 +2 $50,348 and Corey Conners 72 T55 +3. $34,186.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
