Beyond the PGA Tour, the news of men’s golf takes us this week to the already completed tournaments of the Asian Tour and the DP World Tour. On the one hand, Patrick Reed has achieved a resounding victory at the Link Hong Kong Open, which is his first victory in almost four years and the first of his record in Asia. On the other hand, Australian Elvis Smylie resisted pressure from his local idol and hero, Cam Smith, to win the BMW Australia PGA Championship.
Reed had a long way to go after his 59 (unofficial) in the third round that allowed him to start Sunday with a three-stroke advantage, an advantage that he managed to maintain. The American closed the tournament with a card of 66 to finish ahead of New Zealander Ben Campbell, who was also the defending champion. What’s more, the Masters winner made four birdies in a row -from 3 to 6-, which allowed him to open a six-stroke gap. The Texan will continue competing on the Asian Tour in the two events that close the season, the Qatar International Series and the PIF Saudi International. Highlight the great performance of the Spanish Eugenio López-Chacarra in this tournament, who certified a magnificent result: fourteenth. The Madrid native had a spectacular weekend, with rounds of 62 and 66.
Classification
Elvis Smylie’s victory in Australia has something else behind it. The 22-year-old was awarded the Cameron Smith Scholarship in 2019 and it turns out he has beaten his mentor in the tournament. In fact, he was playing the last round with Smith himself -and Marc Leishman-, who has also won the event played at Royal Queensland Golf Club three times. The fact is that Elvis handled the pressure well and arrived three ahead on the second nine holes on Sunday, while the winner of the 150 British Open made three birdies and four bogeys in the first section of the course. The son of the four-time Grand Slam doubles champion, Liz Smylie, showed calmness in the decisive stretch, with several decisive par putts to sign an impeccable 67, with 14 under par in his total. “This is incredible, I’ve played with Cam and Leish, the guys I admired,” Smylie described after beating them. The best Spaniard on the other side of the world was Ángel Ayora, who debuted his circuit card with an incredible sixth place that invites us to be optimistic about what is to come.
BMW Australia PGA Rating
