Reed pushes Rory to 3rd Dubai Desert Classic title .. final results, Rory's new schedule

 DP World Tour; Hero Dubai Desert Classic Results

Rory McIlroy won his first Rolex Series title with a third victory at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic after a dramatic final day at Emirates Golf Club.

The World Number One has a CV to rival the greats of the game, with four Major Championships, four Harry Vardon Trophies and three FedEx Cups to his name but he arrived in the UAE still missing a triumph in one of the DP World Tour's prestige events.

He put that right in fine fashion on a Monday finish over the Majlis Course, birdieing the 17th and 18th in a 68 to finish at 19 under, one clear of American Patrick Reed. The 2nd Rolex Series $9,000,000 purse paid Rory $1,534,303. Reed won $993,000 for 2nd place. You'd wonder why he needs even more money on the LIV.

Reed's 65 made for a thrilling finish as the duo went toe-to-toe over the back nine but it was McIlroy who emerged the victor to move to second in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

Australian Lucas Herbert - the 2020 winner of this event - finished third at 16 under, a shot clear of England's Callum Shinkwin and two ahead of Frenchman Julien Brun.

It is the first time McIlroy has won his first event of the year and takes his tally of DP World Tour wins to 15 at the scene of his first, which came 13 years and 363 days ago.

The Northern Irishman joins Ernie Els as a three-time winner at Emirates Golf Club and extends his remarkable run of form which saw him record nine top tens in ten events last season, with a worst finish of 12th en route to being crowned Europe's Number One.

Rounds of 66-70-65 had seen McIlroy enter the final day of a weather-affected tournament with a three-shot lead and while he was overtaken by Reed at one point, he holed a 14-footer on the last after laying up to make the perfect start to his season.

"It means a lot," said McIlroy. "It's actually funny, (caddie) Harry said to me, 'finally we get a gold bib'. Obviously I haven't won one of these big ones before

"It was a battle all day. Honestly it's been a battle all week. I really feel like I haven't had my best all week but I just managed my game so well and played really smart.

"I feel like I showed a lot of mental strength out there today, something to really build on for the rest of the year.

"There's been a ton of positives this week but also been some things that I need to learn from and I need to try to improve on. 

"I'm going to enjoy this. This is probably sweeter than it should be or needs to be but I feel like I've still got some stuff to work on. It's a great start to the year and a really good foundation to work from."

Reed started the day four shots off the lead but crept towards the top of the leaderboard as McIlroy began his final round with eight pars.

The 32-year-old hit a smart approach into the second and then got up and down to take advantage of the par-five third before holing a bunker shot at the sixth.

McIlroy broke his run after a stunning second brought a birdie from seven feet at the ninth but ahead at the tenth, Reed was inches from an albatross and rolled home his eagle putt to share the lead.

The 2009 and 2015 champion hit back with two putts from 60 feet on the same hole but Reed put his tee shot to six feet on the 11th and then played a beautiful chip from the rough on the par-five 13th to edge ahead.

A two-putt birdie on the 13th put McIlroy back in a share but the 33-year-old missed the green at the 15th and failed to get up and down, handing the advantage back to Reed.

A ragged tee-shot on the 16th led to a Reed bogey and when McIlroy drove to the fringe at the 17th and got down in two, he was in control.

But there was drama to come as Reed made a two-putt birdie at the last and McIlroy almost found water off the tee, laying up and playing an excellent wedge shot to set up his big finish.

Herbert birdied the 17th and 18th to go with five other gains and a single bogey in a 66, while Shinkwin did the same in a 69 and Brun signed for a 68.

Belgian Thomas Pieters and England's Ian Poulter were at 13 under, one ahead of Swedish pair Marcus Kinhult and Henrik Stenson, England's Richard Bland, Spaniard Angel Hidalgo and American Johannes Veerman.

EDIT: Rory's New Schedule 

After the two $9,000,000 Rolex Series events the DP World Tour regular schedule events take over with one more this week in the UAE before Singapore, Thailand and India in February.

Rory has to play the Waste Management Phoenix Open (Feb 9-12) a designated event which he did not play last year so that will be his next event.

Rory's schedule last year saw him appear next at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera (Feb 16-19) where he T10, then he played the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Mar 2-5) T13, then the Players (Mar 9-12) T33. They are all mandatory designated events this year.

He has to play the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play (Mar 22,26) as well, which he did not play last year.

He did play the Valero Texas Open the week before the Masters last year where he missed the cut but my guess is he would skip that this year with his heavier schedule to rest and prepare for Augusta (April 6-9)

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Leaders all falter, brilliant Homa takes advantage winning Farmer Insurance... final results..

 PGA Tour: Farmers Insurance Open final results here 

"Play 'til the final whistle!" " It ain't over til its over" "That's why we play 4 rounds "

You know all the sporting phraseology, and it all applied at this years version of the Farmer Insurance Open.

Right from the get go Jon Rahm, the best golfer in the world right now made a bogey 5 at the first, but he's been recovering from that for the last 6 months.

But then a drive into the "unknown" at the par 4 5th, lead to a pulled 2nd into the thick rough 50 yards from the pin, 3 hacks like we mortals to get to the green, a 6 footer for a double bogey 6. Another bogey at the 7th, out in 39 and he was suddenly out of contention after his last bogey on the 10th.  

+2 74 was his final which should have been good news for his playing partners leader Sam Ryder and Tony Finau.

Not so. Ryder was E through 10 holes, but a double at the 15th and a bogey at 17 finished his chances after being so steady, at times brilliant through 3 rounds. Finau went out in 38 and never got back in with his 73.

So who was going to step into the vacancy at the top for the title ?

Max Homa holds the trophy after winning the Farmers Insurance Open 

Keegan Bradley put in a great round of 66 but was just too far back, and that left Max Homa 68 70 71 -7 through 3 rounds.. or 5 behind Ryder when play began.

He put on a shot making clinic, sunk more than enough curling putts for a 66 and at -13 won it by 2 shots. 

PRIZE MONEY: It was his 6th Tour win, 4th in California worth $1,566,000 out of the $8.7 prize fund.

Canadians: Adam Hadwin 70 74 70 76 +2 T44 worth $25,578 Taylor Pendrith 69 72 75 77 +5 T60 worth $19,488. 

Bryan Angus 

Rory takes charge at Hero Dubai Desert Classic.. full scoreboard

 DP World Tour: Hero Dubai Desert Classic...Leaderboard

No its not over,, this is Sunday, but it's a just finished round 3 at the weather delayed Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Rory is the top story as he has been so often on this Emirates course with 2 previous wins and a hatful of top 10's.

Four straight birdies, and you knew today would be special. Out in 31. Four more on the back looking at a -9 63 with a birdie at the par 5 18th to go. 

The 279 yd second shot as regulars know, one of the most famous risk/reward shots in golf, and one that cost him the tournament last year was at hand. This time his only blemish of the day found it's "watery grave" as the late great Ben Wright would say, resulting in a bogey 6.

His brilliant -7 65, -15 is the lead by 3 shots over Callum Shinkwin 67 and rookie sensation Dan Bradbury who won for the first time, earlier in South Africa and has been on the leaderboards ever since, 68, both Englishmen at -12

Next come 7 players at -11, and 7 more at -10 including names like last week's winner Victor Perez, Ian Poulter, Ryan Fox, Patrick Reed, and veteran Richard Bland who lost in a playoff here to Victor Hovland a few years ago.

So before Rory "'takes care of unfinished business" here as he declared in his pre tournament presser, we are reminded what happened late yesterday at Torrey Pines where leaders Jon Rahm 74, Sam Ryder 75 and Tony Finau 73 all faltered on their final 18's opening the door to the chasing pack and Max Homa who was 6 back, with some brilliant shot making was the lucky recipient.

Bryan Angus 

Hadwin, Pendrith scores, Rahm goes for 3 in a row, Farmers Insurance final round scoring

 PGA Tour : Farmer Insurance Saturday scoreboard here

The big story is Jon Rahm looking for his 3rd straight PGA Tour win and his 3rd at Torrey Pines.

First, the two Canadians will not be part of that story but here is theirs. 

Remember the Farmers finishes on a Saturday to clear the TV decks for the NFC and AFC Championship games on Sunday.

Adam Hadwin made the cut on the number and added a Friday -2 70 good for a T32 heading into today's final round 10 shots off the lead.

Taylor Pendrith who like Adam, made that clutch birdie on his final hole to join him on the number at E posted a Friday E 72 and is T49th for his last round today.

Now the big story. Jon Rahm has won the last 2 PGA Tour events he's played in and at 73 67 66 -10 he shoots for his 3rd and remember his pedigree includes his first Tour win here in 2017 and the US Open in 2021, formidable to say the least.

He's in the final pairing with 11 year veteran Sam Ryder 64 68 72 -12 who has accrued 15 top 10's in a very solid pro career that is just missing a win. He's 2 shots clear.

Then watch out for Tony Finau, playing the best golf of his life who is the 3rd member of the final pairing 73 71 64 -8.

If I were betting a horse race I'd be tempted to put a flutter on brilliant South Korean Sungjae Im 68 74 67 -7 who has been all over the leaderboards this year.

Bryan Angus 

Aaron Cockerill misses another cut, packed 36 hole leaderboard Hero Dubai Desert... full leaderboard

 DP World Tour: Hero Dubai Desert Classic Leaderboard

Thomas Pieters produced fireworks late in his second round as he shot seven birdies on the back nine to share the lead at the halfway stage of the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

The Belgian suffered the disappointment of missing the cut at last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as his title defence fell flat.

But he has responded brilliantly at Emirates Golf Club this week, leading after the weather-affected first day before finishing his second round with a flourish on day three to sit alongside amateur Michael Thorbjornsen and Richard Bland on ten under par at the midway point.

There are 21 players within 3 shots of the lead, as the event heads for a Monday finish.

Englishman Bland, who had made three birdies in the first four holes of his second round before play was suspended due to fading light on Friday, carded three more birdies and a solitary bogey in his remaining 14 holes on Saturday morning to sign for a second straight 67.

Pieters began the day on five under but carded three bogeys and just the one birdie on the front nine to appear in danger of missing the cut for the second week in succession.

But he turned things around on the back nine in the afternoon, as birdies at the tenth, 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th earned him a share of the lead.

And American Thorbjornsen joined the pair at the summit late in his round after carding an eagle, seven birdies an one bogey in his 64.

Swede Marcus Kinhult, Scotland's Connor Syme and Spaniard Adri Arnaus sat one shot off the lead on nine under, with World Number One Rory McIlroy among those another stroke back.

Pieters converted a series of lengthy putts in the closing stages of his second round, including three from more than ten feet as he made four successive birdies from the 13th.

The 2016 Ryder Cup star's ball-striking was also impressive on day three as he almost holed his tee-shot at the short 11th.

But he credited his putting with bailing him out during a round of two halves.

He said: "The front nine was a bit scruffy. I made two bogeys with a wedge. Coming off nine I was not in a good head space.

"And then I shoot 30 on the back. I don't know how, but my putting seemed to work.

"I've still got some stuff to do on the range because my driving is pretty poor.

"The driving doesn't feel very good, so we'll have to fix that. But all the rest is in good shape.

Thorbjornsen, currently second in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, started at the tenth tee on Saturday and made five birdies in his first six holes before chipping in for a brilliant eagle at the long 18th.

He gave a shot back at the first but birdies on the second and sixth saw him join Bland and Pieters at the top.

Thorbjornsen said: "It feels good. Didn't have the best round yesterday and the day before, felt like I missed a lot of putts out there. Thought I had a pretty good game plan but just stuck to it today. I actually made some putts.

Bland is happy with his relatively stress-free progress so far.

He said: "The only dropped shot was at the sixth this morning where I kind of misjudged the temperature and chipped to three feet and missed. So other than that, it's been pretty stress-free, which is nice.

EDIT:

Canada's Aaron Cockerill suffered another missed cut as he continues his journey as a fully carded member on the DP World Tour in Dubai.

After an opening +1 73 and the cut falling at -2, he needed -3 69 today to get into the lucrative weekend at this 2nd straight $9,000,000 Rolex Series event.

He started well on the 10th tee with a bogey free, 3 birdie 34 to sit right on the number at -2.

However the birdies stalled after the turn with 8 pars and a crucial bogey 4 at the par 3 4th to finish with a -2 70 -1 total to miss the cut by a shot. He is currently 51st on the DP World Ranking.

Next week it's the Ras Al Khaimah Championship still in the UAE but I do not see him listed in the field. Then the Tour is off to Singapore, Thailand and India in February. 

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Windless Monday finish for weather delayed Hero Dubai Desert Classic... latest scoreboard

 DP World Tour  Hero Dubai Desert Classic..

• Leaderboard

Richard Bland and Ian Poulter were tied at the top of the leaderboard when the second round of the weather-disrupted 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic was suspended due to fading light on Friday.

An entertaining second day at Emirates Golf Club saw many of Thursday's starters return to complete their rounds in the morning before the second wave kicked off their campaigns.

The second round then got under way on Friday evening, with Englishmen Bland and Poulter reaching eight under par before the daylight ran out.

Angel Hidalgo was their nearest challenger on seven under, with Louis de Jager another shot further back alongside Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed, who will start their second rounds on Saturday.

The tournament will now conclude on Monday, with the second round finishing on Saturday before the third and fourth rounds take place on Sunday and Monday respectively.

More than six hours were lost due to wet weather at Emirates Golf Club on day one, and after another delay of two hours on Friday, McIlroy finished his first round with a flourish.

He went birdie-eagle-birdie from the seventh to sign for an opening 66 and share the early clubhouse lead with Reed.

The highlight of his round was a hole-out eagle from the desert at the eighth, and he said: "All I was thinking about was catching it clean. My tendency out of those lies is to hit it a little bit heavy. 

"As soon as I struck it, I knew it came out really nicely and it was right down the pin. Anything inside of 20 feet, I would have been happy with, so that was certainly a bonus."

Reed, who finished his 66 with an eagle on the 18th, said: "I'm obviously really happy with the way I played. I felt like last week wasn't really a reflection of all the hard work I've been doing in the off-season. It was more getting rusty on playing tournament golf.

"So to come out this week and feel like I was able to put everything together and to have my mind right on game planning and course management was definitely a plus."

The second wave then got under way, with Swedish amateur Ludvig Aberg firing a 65 after recovering from a bogey at the first with eight birdies.

That saw the 23-year-old, who tops the World Amateur Golf Rankings, lead the way alongside Poulter at the end of the first round, but with round two commencing on Friday evening, it was not long before the leaderboard changed again.

Bland, who had shot a bogey-free 67 in his first round, opened the second with three successive birdies to move to eight under, with Poulter birdieing the long third to join him.

Spaniard Hidalgo finished his first-round 66 with his only bogey but bounced back immediately with birdies on the first and third to climb to eight under before dropping a shot at the fourth.

After round one, he said: "It was amazing. I didn't start hitting the ball so good but yeah, the birdie I made on the 18th gave me a lot of confidence and I started playing so good on the back nine."

After it was announced the tournament would be played over 72 holes, with the final round taking place on Monday, Mike Stewart, DP World Tour tournament director for this event, said: "This is one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour and we clearly want to make every effort possible to get to 72 holes at one of our biggest championships."

EDIT:

Canadian Aaron Cockerill never hit a ball apart from the practice tee all day and at +1 73 he is away back T93.The cut is projected -1. He is off #10 at Noon Saturday..

The weather for Dubai shows no rain for Saturday/ Sunday/ Monday with the breeze picking up in the afternoons. Ideal

Two LIV jumpers Richard Bland who plays well here and British hero Ian Poulter who flushed all his incredible reputation and career for even more money than he already has down the toilet, with a mansion in Florida and nine vintage cars never mind a wife and kids to support is awaiting a judges decision to ban him and all greedy LIV jumpers from the very tour on which he is a hero...lead at -8 after just 4 holes of round 2.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Ryan Fox awarded the DP World Tour, Seve Ballesteros trophy by his peers

 Ryan Fox has won the 2022 Seve Ballesteros Award after being voted Player of the Year for last season by his fellow professionals on the DP World Tour.

Ryan Fox is pictured alongside Javier (left) and Carmen Ballesteros (right)

The 36-year-old becomes the first New Zealander to win the prestigious award since Michael Campbell received the honour in 2005, and it comes after an outstanding season during which he won twice and finished in a career-best second place on the DP World Tour Rankings presented by Rolex.

Fox polled 50% of the votes cast in total by the DP World Tour members, with DP World Tour Rankings winner Rory McIlroy taking second place ahead of the 2022 U.S. Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick in third.

The Kiwi was presented with the trophy by one of Seve’s sons Javier and his daughter Carmen, both of whom travelled to this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour – a tournament won by Seve himself in 1992 – to officially welcome Fox to the illustrious list of winners.

Fox started 2022 in fine style, picking up his second DP World Tour title at the Ras al Khaimah Classic in February before an emotional victory at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St Andrews in October.

The 2016 Challenge Tour graduate dedicated his victory at the Home of Golf to the late cricketing great Shane Warne, whom he paired up with in the popular Pro-Am format on numerous occasions, including finishing runners-up together in the 2021 contest.

In addition to his pair of victories, Fox showed remarkable consistency to notch up four second place finishes - at the Soudal Open, Dutch Open, Horizon Irish Open and the Nedbank Golf Challenge - as well as a further four top tens.

In addition to his pair of victories, Fox showed remarkable consistency to notch up four second place finishes - at the Soudal Open, Dutch Open, Horizon Irish Open and the Nedbank Golf Challenge - as well as a further four top tens.

His excellent form led to a meteoric rise up the Official World Golf Ranking as he climbed from outside the top 200 into the world’s top 50 for the first time, peaking at a career-best 23rd after his victory at the Old Course.

The Player of the Year Award, named after the legendary Seve Ballesteros, last year amalgamated with the former Golfer of the Year award to become one singular honour voted for by the players, helping further commemorate the Spaniard’s incredible legacy.

Fox said: “It's probably not something that I expected ever in my career. I would like to say it's something I dreamed of, but you look at those names on the trophy and I probably don't count myself as one of those. That is pretty cool, and to have Javier and Carmen come out and present it made it even more special.

"Last year I thought I had a chance but a few other guys played pretty well, Rory, Matt, Jon Rahm, especially at the end of the year. So when Keith Pelley told me I was pretty shocked and obviously pretty chuffed as well. To have your peers vote for you makes it that extra bit special.

"Obviously Dunhill Links was a big highlight for me last year, to win around the Home of Golf, it doesn't really get any better. I shared the experience with Shane Warne for the previous four or five Dunhills that I played, and it was a bit sad without him there last year. To honour him that way made it even more special.

"Seve is such an icon of golf, and I'm a bit of a golf nut. I knew the history of Seve but probably didn't quite understand then, growing up in New Zealand, quite the influence he had over here. It's cool to hear the stories from some of the older guys that played with him, but to have my name on the Seve Ballesteros Award, it's kind of surreal. It's pretty cool to be part of a little bit of history in that regard.

Javier Ballesteros said: “Well, I'm very happy that Ryan got the award. I think it's important that Ryan got it with two wins, and of course he played a full season on the DP World Tour. It left me very happy, considering he's a fantastic guy as well.

"For me, it's very important and we are very proud to have our father's name on this award. It's a prize that is given by the players and to have his name on the award, it's a very good way to keep his legacy alive."

europeantour.com

Hadwin, Pendrith make the cut..Sam Ryder leads Farmers Insurance Open.. full scoreboard

 PGA Tour: Farmers Insurance Open full scoreboard here

First of all Sam Ryder a 33 year old journeyman  from Florida with no wins yet on the PGA Tour, ranked #283 in the world has had 2 great rounds 64 68 -12 and leads the pack after 36 holes by 3 shots.

Adam Hadwin playing the North Course had 3 bogey's the rest pars, but crucially a birdie 3 on the 18th for +2 74, but coupled with is -2 70 on Wednesday it was good enough to make the cut on the number at E.

Taylor Pendrith had a similar story, after opening with -3 69 he was struggling along at +2 playing the back nine first on the South Course, and with 3 more bogey's coming in he was flirting with an early weekend. However he made a birdie 4 at the par 5 6th and came down the 605 yard par 5 9th needing a birdie to make the cut.

He drove it into the fairway bunker, left his 3rd 120yds to the pin. I'd say his shot of the day was the resulting wedge to 8 feet and the putt he made for the birdie 4.

Once again 69,75 was just enough to make the cut on the number E.

Adam Svensson 74 72 +2 is out as is a struggling Michael Gligic 77 74 +7 which is 19 shots off the lead after just 36 holes.

Hadwin and Pendrith are paired together later today off #10 at 1030 local or 1.13pm EST.  The last 36 holes are all on the South Course.

You can check all the scores by clicking here

Bryan Angus

McIlroy shares clubhouse lead after more rain at Hero Dubai Desert Classic..Live scoreboard

 DP World Tour: Hero Dubai Desert Classic Leaderboard

Rory McIlroy finished his first round with a flourish on Friday morning to share the early clubhouse lead at the weather-affected 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

McIlroy had three holes to complete when he returned to the course at 10.00 on Friday after more wet weather caused a further two-hour delay.

But the two-time winner of this event did not let the disruption affect him, as he went birdie-eagle-birdie from the seventh to sign for a 66 and reach six under par.

He sits alongside Patrick Reed at the top of the leaderboard after the American closed his round with an eagle on the 18th. 

With the second wave only starting their first rounds on Friday, there is still plenty of time for the co-leaders to be caught at the summit.

Last week's winner Victor Perez, Thomas Pieters and Adri Arnaus were McIlroy and Reed's nearest challengers on five under after the first wave concluded their rounds.

Northern Irishman McIlroy made four birdies and two bogeys in his first 15 holes on Thursday before leaving himself a four-foot birdie chance after playing his tee-shot at the seventh moments before the hooter sounded.

He began day two by tapping in that putt before sending his tee-shot at the eighth into the desert.

The World Number One produced a shot-of-the-day contender from the sand, holing his wedge shot for an extraordinary eagle.

McIlroy then closed his round with a birdie from four feet to head into the clubhouse on six under.

Reed joined him on that mark after he also produced late fireworks, rolling in his 15-foot eagle putt at the last.

Playing in his first event of the year, McIlroy admitted his fabulous finish was a "bonus" after he had struggled on Thursday.

He said: "I struggled out there most of yesterday. I thought I did well to be under par by the end of the day. I fought back after some very sloppy, rusty golf over the first sort of 14 holes.

"And then today I came out and I don't really know if anything clicked, because I don't think I hit enough shots to know, but it was definitely needed.

"I would have been happy with anything around 70 the way I played, and then to come in and shoot 66 is quite the bonus."

Speaking about his eagle on the eighth, McIlroy added: "I wouldn't say I'm the best fairway bunker player in the world. The desert is a little nicer, it's a little more packed down, so you get some better lies.

"All I was thinking about was catching it clean. My tendency out of those lies is to hit it a little bit heavy. 

"As soon as I struck it, I knew it came out really nicely and it was right down the pin. 

"Anything inside of 20 feet I would have been happy with, so that was certainly a bonus."

EDIT:

Rain of all things in the desert has been playing havoc with scheduling so far, 8 hours lost so they are playing catch up today, it's likely some will have to return Saturday morning before the cut is made. Right now with round 2 in progress its projected at -1.

Click on my link above for live scoring.

After an opening +1 73 it will be another day of making the cut for Canada's Aaron Cockerill. He was at -1 when his round was suspended after the 12th. He came back out this morning with 2 bogey's in his final 6 holes to come in with +1 38. 

His tee time locally 11.10am off #10. He is currently 90th.  

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Round 2 in progress Farmers Insurance Open... full scoreboard.. Canadian scores

 PGA Tour : Farmers Insurance Open leaderboard here

Yet another sunny day at Torrey Pines, the north and south courses an immaculate green beside the vast blue waters of the Pacific Ocean lapping the shores of San Diego.

John Rahm is the headliner with 4 wins in his last 6 outings opened +1 73 (SC), and world #1 Rory McIlroy beginning his year as usual at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour.

The four Canadians had mixed results on Wednesday. Play is underway as I write in round 2 where the cut is projected at -1.

With the leaders in with -8 64's, Taylor Pendrith had a -3 69 a nice start to build on. (NC)

Adam Hadwin was all pars 36 holes 1-9 then made 3 birdies and 1 bogey 10-18 34 for -2 70 (SC)

Adam Svensson had 2 bogey's 1-9 +2 38 then a birdie and a bogey 10-18 E36 +2 74 (NC)

Michael Gligic (NC) spent time over the Christmas holidays with his coach Sean Foley has got off to a slow start this season with 2 missed cuts.

He has opened with +5 77 so will need a great round today or it will be 3 in a row.

Bryan Angus

Ben Silverman wins in the Bahamas on the Korn Ferry Tour... final results

 Korn Ferry Tour : Bahamas Great Abaco Classic : final results here.

Ben Silverman took a big step towards regaining his PGA Tour card with a clutch playoff win in the Bahamas.

He lead by two shots after 3 rounds and began round 4 with -5 front nine. Heading into the back nine with a 5 shot lead he looked in great shape but he stalled with a bogey at 11 and a killer double at the last for 70 when he had the tournament won 

Hard charging American Cody Blick made his birdie at the 18th to tie Silverman on -15 to force a playoff

He returned the favour on the 18th when Blick made a double leaving Ben to make a par for the title. His first since the Price Cutter Championship in 2017 as I mentioned yesterday.

He was understandably jubilant after the round. " Emotionally I'm very proud of myself, even if I had finished 2nd it was a phenomenal week, the trophy makes it that much sweeter.

I''m going to celebrate with my wife, family, all of our team when I get home. it's very special "

With Brooke Henderson winning the Hilton Grand Vacations TOC, and Mike Weir finishing 2nd at the Mitsubishi Electric on the Senior Circuit, Nick Taylor fighting back for a T8 in Hawaii, and now Silverman, Canadian golfers have been shining over the last 2 weeks.

Bryan Angus 

Weather delays first round Hero Dubai Desert Classic.. full leaderboard

 DP World Tour : Hero Dubai Desert Classic Leaderboard

Thomas Pieters was the man to catch at the top of the leaderboard when the first round of the weather-affected Hero Dubai Desert Classic was suspended due to fading light on Thursday evening.

Heavy overnight rain meant all tee times were delayed by six hours and five minutes on day one, with play finally getting under way at 13.15 local time.

Only the first wave of starters teed off on Thursday - with the other half of the field having to wait until Friday - and just 12 players managed to complete their first rounds before the daylight ran out.  

Belgian Pieters suffered the disappointment of missing the cut at last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as his title defence fell flat.

But he bounced back brilliantly at the second Rolex Series event of the season at Emirates Golf Club, carding six birdies and a single bogey in his first 15 holes to get to five under par.

England's Daniel Gavins had sat alongside Pieters when the hooter sounded but opted to finish up at the 18th in near-darkness and surrendered a bogey to join the large group on four under.

Gavins and countrymen Oliver Wilson and Matthew Jordan signed for 68s to set the early clubhouse target, while last week's winner Victor Perez, Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Reed were also on four under with a few holes remaining.

Nicolas Colsaerts, Ryan Fox, Fabrizio Zanotti and Matt Wallace were another shot back with holes still to complete.

Play will restart at 08.00 local time on Friday morning, while the second wave will start their first rounds from 08.20.

Pieters started at the tenth tee on Thursday and produced a good up-and-down from a bunker at the short 11th to keep his card clean.

He holed a monster birdie putt at the 14th but gave the shot straight back on the par-three 15th.

A hat-trick of birdies at the 17th, 18th and first got Pieters' round back on track and he moved to five under with two more gains at the third and fourth.

Pieters had a nine-foot birdie attempt from the edge of the sixth green after the hooter had sounded but had to settle for a par there.

He has vowed not to change much when he comes back to finish off his first round, saying: "I'll try to do the same thing. 

"I'm finishing on the seventh, eighth and ninth - tough holes. If I can finish with three pars, I'll have a very nice opening round."

New Zealander Fox almost made a miracle hole-in-one at the par-three seventh moments before the hooter sounded but his ball evaded the hole by a matter of inches.

Gavins made six birdies and two bogeys on Thursday and was pleased with his performance on the greens.

He said: "I feel pretty good. Struggled quite a lot off the tee today, which is a bit frustrating, but my putting kind of held me. I holed quite a lot of nice putts to keep me going. Disappointed with the tee-shots but I'll sort that."

EDIT :   Canada's Aaron Cockerill playing in his first Dubai Desert Classic made it through the 12th hole. He started well with 2 birdies in his first 3 holes, but gave them all back with bogey's at 5,6 and 7. However he recovered with a birdie at the 9th out in E 35. He added another birdie at the 10th, pars at 11,12 before the horn sounded ending play due to darkness.

He like most of the field returns to finish Friday morning.

World #1 Rory Mcllroy is at -2 through15 holes.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Thursday TEE Times Hero Dubai Desert Classic...Rory McIroy the headliner..

 DP World Tour : Hero Dubai Desert Classic Tee Times

Rory McIlroy insists he has "unfinished business" at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic as he bids to banish the memory of last year's near-miss when he gets his 2023 campaign under way this week.

Emirates Golf Club has been a happy hunting ground for the Northern Irishman, who won this event in 2009 and 2015, but the way he finished his final round 12 months ago left a sour taste.

McIlroy had been firmly in contention on the back nine before finding the water at the 18th to surrender a bogey there and miss out on a play-off by one shot.

And even though the World Number One bounced back from that disappointment to top the season-long Rankings, lifting the Harry Vardon Trophy on his last visit to Dubai in November, he is keen to erase the memory altogether with a strong performance in his first event of the year.

He said: "It's really nice to be back. I've had a lot of great memories here and success over the years at the Emirates but feel like I have a little bit of unfinished business with how the tournament ended for me last year here.

"It wasn't quite the way I wanted to finish it off. But I went on from that week and played really well and had a great year.

"It's been nice to try to take a little bit of time away, and try to sort of distance myself from the game of golf for at least a month or two, and sort of recharge and reset and try to start 2023 with renewed optimism and a sort of full tank and ready to go.

"I'm sure there will be a little bit of rust to start the week but hopefully I can shake that off. I've got a great record here, so I have great confidence in that."

As well as his two victories, McIlroy has seven other top-ten finishes to his name in this event and he revealed he feels comfortable there.

Speaking ahead of the second Rolex Series event of the season, he added: "I first played this tournament in 2006. So I've been coming here for a long time, 17 years. I've got a level of comfort here.

"I like starting my year here. I have a lot of friends. I called this place home for four years.

"I like it. I get great support here with the crowds that come out.

"You play competitively around a golf course for such a long time, it just feels automatic, where you hit your tee shots, where you remember certain things about certain shots and different putts and all those things play into it.

"Yeah, just a real level of comfort.

edit**** He is off the 10th tee at 740am local with Ryan Fox and Tommy Fleetwood

Canadian Aaron Cockerill is on the 1st tee at 820am with Julien Guerrier of France and Scotland's Connor Syme. Aaron missed the cut last week in Abu Dhabi.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

TEE Times Farmers Insurance Open... 4 Canadians

 PGA Tour : Farmers Insurance Open Thursday tee times here 

There are 4 Canadians at Torrey Pines hugging the Pacific Ocean near San Diego this week. The tougher South Course and the Norths..

Adam Hadwin is on the 10th tee (SC) 10.10am local with veterans Jason Dufner and Ben Crane.

Michael Gligic also on the 10th (SC) at 1050am with Joseph Bramlett and Patrick Welch

Adam Svensson 10th tee (NC) 920am with Luke List and Jason Day

Taylor Pendrith 1st tee 1020am (NC) with Jhonattan Davis and Charlie Hoffman

Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Si Woo Kim, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffelle, Hideki Matsuyama are amongst the top players mixed in with a lot of guys who are on the fringe these days like Ben Crane, Jason Dufner and Bill Haas.

World #1 Rory McIlroy opens his 2023 season on the DP World Tour this week in Dubai at the Emirates where he plays so well. It's the 2nd in the Rolex Series with a whopping $9,000,000 purse.

It would be hard for Rory to duplicate 2022 where he won it all as Player of the Year on both tours, but he is right on top of his game.

Bryan Angus 

Canada's Ben Silverman leads Korn Ferry event in Bahamas ... live scoreboard

 Korn Ferry Tour:  Bahamas Great Abaco Classic full scoreboard here

Canadian pro Ben Silverman from Thornhill, Ontario resides in Florida is playing the Korn Ferry Tour this year and in today's final round he leads their event, the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic by 2 strokes.

With rounds of 71 65 67 -13 Silverman went out in -5 on Tuesday he made a bogey and a birdie on his back nine for the -5 67.

He plays the final round today at 11.15 with veteran Puerto Rican Rafael Campos 70 70 65 -11 and American Tom Whitney 72 65 70 -9.

Roger Sloan is T51 after a Tuesday 73.

Ben is 35 now and lives in West Palm Beach with wife Morgan and their 2 sons

FYI he turned pro in 2010, joined the Canadian Tour in 2014, After winning the Price Cutter Charity on the old Web.com Tour in 2017 he qualified for the PGA Tour in 2018. He then qualified again in 2019 via the Web.com Championship final where he was 3rd.

He has been up and down through various tours and I follow him playing a lot of one day Florida tournaments where he has won if memory serves me over 30 times. 

So a big day for the Silverman family today, I'll let you know how he gets on. 

Bryan Angus

 

Rahm wins the American Express, Hadwin top 20.. final results

 PGA Tour: American Express final results here 

Consider this, Jon Rahm came into this week with 8 top 10 finishes in 9 world wide starts including 3 wins in his last 5 starts, the most recent the 2 weeks before at the Sentry TOC.

Jon Rahm holds the winner's trophy after winning the American Express 

On Sunday he made it 4 wins, beating a tremendously cool performance by American rookie Davis Thompson playing in only his 7th PGA Tour event, by a single shot over 4 rounds. He should move to world #1 from #4 this week.

Rahm shot 64 64 65 68 -27 for the win and it was worth $1.44m of the $8m purse. Interesting to note Victor Perez of France won slightly more at  the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the DP World Tour Rolex Series and when was the last time we could say that.

Thank you LIV Series !!

Meanwhile Adam Hadwin had another top 20 finish at this event where he has been 2nd twice and shot a 59. 

He went out on fire -5 31, but ran out of steam on an even par back nine (birdie,bogey) but his -5 67 put him at -20, 268 T18th worth $110,000. (68 69 64 67)

He now drives down the coast to San Diego at Torrey Pines for this week's Farmers Insurance.

Bryan Angus 

Brooke Henderson, sets Canadian record of 13 wins at LPGA Tournament of Champions.... final results

 LPGA Tour : Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions final results here.

In the end Taylor Made who have just made Brooke Henderson an even richer young lady got a great payback as their latest star who just posted 67 66 69 70 to win the LPGA opener TOC at Lake Nona in South Orlando sponsored by Hilton Grand Vacations by 4 shots at -16

Despite the LPGA unusual start to their season with a month off then a trip to Thailand, Singapore and China, this is a nice start for Brooke who spent the off season re-habbing her back..

 "It was difficult conditions today, very windy, not so many birdies on the card but I was happy with my ball striking and how we managed to adjust to the distance control. I enjoy playing in the wind, I feel like many of my wins have come in windy conditions"

Winning the Canadian Open

Sweden's Maja Stark -12 was 2nd with England's Charlie Hull. 

This a great entertainment week for the pros to start their LPGA season, with celebritaters galore, party's and concerts great good and friends..

Not sure how much of a partier Brooke is, but I suspect she has good reason tonight.

Bryan Angus

Solid Saturday's for Weir and Hadwin... full results

 PGA Tour Champions : Mitsubishi Electric Championship... final results here.

When you shoot 68 60 65 -23 in a 54 hole tournament you're not going to lose very often and such was the case this week for Steve Stricker who destroyed par 72 at the newly renovated Hualalai GC. Jack Nicklaus designed this resort course and in 2020 all the grass was dug up and replaced with paspalum.

They might have been better replacing it with lava rocks !

Mike Weir was no slouch either 66 67 66 -17 in a four way T2 with Darren Clarke, Steve Alker and Ken Tanikawa.

Stephen Ames 70 65 74 -7 T26

Only 5 players shot over par, one of them former world #1 David Duval was last at +10.

PGA Tour: American Express full scoreboard here

It was a good Saturday for Adam Hadwin, no bogey's and 8 birdies for -8 64, He made 4 on the front nine, then 4 in a row coming in for his best score of the week 68 69 64 and at -17 he is T15 which is 8 shots out of the lead.

He moved up 30 spots while sadly Michael Gligic, Taylor Pendrith and Nick Taylor all missed the cut which fell at a ridiculous -9.

Jon Rahm 64 64 65 -23 who is playing the best golf of his life and surprise rookie Davis Thompson 62 64 67 -23 begin Sunday 4 shots clear of the field in a final pairing pgatour.com has dubbed "Davis vs Goliath"

Bryan Angus

Victor Perez pips the pack to win in Abu Dhabi.. final results

 DP World Tour : Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Results

Victor Perez produced late fireworks in the final round of the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to overcome a high-class chasing pack and win his maiden Rolex Series title in dramatic fashion.

Victor Perez of France 

The Frenchman held a narrow one-shot lead in the closing stages on Sunday afternoon before holing out from a bunker at the 17th for a birdie to stretch his advantage to two.

And even though he ran into trouble at the 18th, a bogey there was enough to secure a one-shot win as he closed with a 66 to finish the tournament on 18 under par worth nearly $1.6m US dollars.

Min Woo Lee needed an eagle at the last to force a play-off and came agonisingly close to getting it as his approach finished two feet from the cup.

The Australian finished in a tie for second alongside Sebastian Söderberg on 17 under, while 51-year-old Pádraig Harrington was another shot back in fourth place on a record-breaking day at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.

Early starter Sami Välimäki shot a course-record 62 with a bogey-free round that consisted of an eagle and eight birdies.

We also saw two players make a hole-in-one, with Dan Bradbury winning a new Genesis G70 Shooting Brake 2.0 Sport at the 17th and Tyrrell Hatton taking advantage of the par-three 13th with a pitching wedge.

Perez got off to a stunning start on day four, reeling off six birdies in the first 11 holes to reach the summit before dropping his first shot of the day at the 14th.

That opened the door for the chasing pack, with Lee joining him at the top of the leaderboard, but Perez bounced back with a 13-foot birdie at the 15th before pitching his tricky bunker shot at the 17th on to the green and spinning it in for a miracle birdie.

He found a bunker off the 18th tee before getting into more trouble but managed to escape with a bogey there to win by one for his third DP World Tour title.

In his post-round interview, Perez said: "I got off to a good start, and I was just focusing on me and trying to do the best I can because I knew you can't control what everybody else is doing, and I was just trying to plod along.

"But Seb (Söderberg) played fantastic and was right there and never gave me an opening. I'm delighted to finish on top. It was a crazy finish, but I feel like I'm used to that now. Hopefully I can make it a little easier for the next one."

Speaking about his phenomenal bunker shot at the 17th, Perez added: "It wasn't actually as difficult as a bunker shot because it was downhill to the hole, flat at the hole and into the wind.

"So I was basically trying to fly it all the way to the hole, and if I hit it a little bit heavy it was maybe going to release.

"But in the back of my mind, I'm just thinking Seb is going to make a two and it's three and a half from where I am, pretty much.

"Hopefully I make a three and maybe I make a four and then we are tied with the last hole to go. It came up maybe a little skinny, I'm not going to lie, and spun back and the fortune of the ball going in which is probably the greatest shot I've ever hit."

The victory means Perez tops the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, while it gives his Ryder Cup chances a huge boost.

He said: "It's a great year ahead. There's a lot of big things coming up. I've had a really good off-season. I've worked really hard."

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)