Stinger GC lead LIV Golf Hong Kong, Burmester and Ancer tied at top of individual standings

Stinger GC lead LIV Golf Hong Kong, Burmester and Ancer tied at top of individual standings
Dean Burmester of Stinger GC shot a 7-under 63 and is tied for the lead following round one of LIV Golf Hong Kong. (LIV Golf)
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Updated 09 March 2024
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Stinger GC lead LIV Golf Hong Kong, Burmester and Ancer tied at top of individual standings

Stinger GC lead LIV Golf Hong Kong, Burmester and Ancer tied at top of individual standings
  • Top two each shot a 63 round with Bryson DeChambeau one stroke behind

HONG KONG: Disappointed in not winning last week’s team title in Jeddah after starting the final round with a seven-shot lead, Stinger GC entered LIV Golf Hong Kong determined to make amends.

So far so good through one round — although a persistent and familiar nemesis is lurking again.

Led by Dean Burmester’s 7-under 63, the Stingers grabbed the first-round lead at historic Hong Kong Golf Club with a team score of 16 under.

That is one shot better than Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, the team that rallied past the Stingers last Sunday in a scintillating record-tying final-round 20-under performance.

“It was obviously a tough pill to swallow,” Burmester said. “I saw Bryson in the locker room, and I used some language. But all in good spirits. I was like, damn, you guys are tough to beat ...

“We had a good week last week and the Crushers did something crazy on Sunday, but I see they’re right behind us again. Hopefully we can do something to them this week.”

Burmester and Fireballs GC’s Abraham Ancer share the individual lead, one stroke ahead of the six-man chasing pack that includes Burmester’s captain Louis Oosthuizen, Crushers’ Charles Howell III, Fireballs GC’s Eugenio Chacarra, 4Aces GC’s Harold Varner III, Ripper GC’s Matt Jones and Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer, whose 64 is his lowest score in a LIV Golf tournament. Another stroke back is DeChambeau and Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka.

The 54-player field, the most highly decorated to compete at Hong Kong Golf Club, provided the appreciative fans with plenty of impressive scoring on a jam-packed leaderboard. At one point, 12 players were tied for the lead at 5 under before Burmester and Ancer separated themselves with late birdies. A total of 44 players shot par or better.

“It’s crazy, right? Crazy,” said Howell, one of seven players to produce a bogey-free round. “Never thought that, how low the scores are with this golf course. It’s a testament to the strength of field and how good these guys really are.”

“I didn’t think there was going to be that many low numbers, but I don’t know, I guess it’s just playing perfect,” added Ancer, who was also bogey-free. “The greens are really good. There’s just a lot of guys that are playing really good at this time.”

Burmester almost did not play at all. He fell ill earlier in this week, and was nauseous on Tuesday, preventing him from practicing. Oosthuizen was also sick, but both managed to rebound.

Burmester said that it reminded him of the stomach bug he suffered last December at the South African Open, when he was throwing up on the course and nearly withdrew. He finished that week by winning the tournament.

“Seems to be every time I get ill, I seem to play OK,” Burmester said, “so that’s great news.”

Below are the standings and counting scores for Friday’s opening round of the team competition at LIV Golf Hong Kong. The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.

1.STINGER GC -16 (Burmester 63, Oosthuizen 64, Grace 67)

2. CRUSHERS GC -15 (Howell III 64, DeChambeau 65, Casey 66)

T3. FIREBALLS GC -12 (Ancer 63, Chacarra 64, Garcia 71)

T3. CLEEKS GC -12 (Kaymer 64, Bland 66, Meronk 68)

5. RIPPER GC -11 (Jones 64, Smith 67. Leishman 68)

6. 4ACES GC -10 (Varner III 64, Reed 67, Perez 69)

7. TORQUE GC -9 (Munoz 66, Niemann 67, Ortiz 68)

T8. SMASH GC -7 (Koepka 65, Gooch 69, McDowell 69)

T8. MAJESTICKS GC -7 (Stenson 66, Poulter 66, Horsfield 71)

T10. IRON HEADS GC -6 (Na 67, Vincent 67, Lee 70)

T10. LEGION XIII -6 (Rahm 67, Hatton 68, Vincent 69)

12. HYFLYERS GC -5 (Tringale 66, Ogletree 69, Steele 70)

13. RANGEGOATS GC -4 (Wolff 67, Watson 68, Pieters 71)


Joe Highsmith goes from making the cut to a PGA Tour winner at the Cognizant Classic

Joe Highsmith goes from making the cut to a PGA Tour winner at the Cognizant Classic
Updated 03 March 2025
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Joe Highsmith goes from making the cut to a PGA Tour winner at the Cognizant Classic

Joe Highsmith goes from making the cut to a PGA Tour winner at the Cognizant Classic
  • Highsmith rallied from a four-shot deficit Sunday with three straight birdies around the turn and a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th that all but clinched it
  • Highsmith, a 24-year-old lefty with a bucket hat and a broad smile, became the first player to make the cut on the number and win since Brandt Snedeker at Torrey Pines in 2016

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida: Two days after Joe Highsmith made a nervy par putt to make the cut, he won the Cognizant Classic with the lowest weekend ever at PGA National and is going to the Masters.

Highsmith rallied from a four-shot deficit Sunday with three straight birdies around the turn and a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th that all but clinched it, giving him another 6-under 64 to win his first PGA Tour title by two shots.

“Winning was the last thing on my mind,” Highsmith said. “It’s incredible to come out on top. I played probably the best round of my life.”

Highsmith had a little help from Jake Knapp, who opened the tournament with a 59 and held it together until one shot into the water and two more to get out.

Knapp, trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner in tournament history, had a one-shot lead when his wedge to the 11th came up short and into the water, with only half of the golf ball submerged. He tried to blast out and it trickled down the slope and back to the water. He tried again, this time the ball holding up in the rough.

“Didn’t hit any of them really hard enough, unfortunately,” Knapp said.

He wound up with a triple bogey and never caught up. Knapp didn’t make another birdie the rest of the way, closed with a 72 and tied for sixth along with Michael Kim (71), who played with him in the final group.

Jacob Bridgeman closed with a 64 and J.J. Spaun had a 66 to share second place.

“I was trying to make as many birdies as I could,” Bridgeman said. “I knew I had to do something kind of extraordinary today to catch the leaders, and I caught them, but they’re only on the ninth hole.”

His runner-up finish was enough to get him into the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week.

Highsmith, a 24-year-old lefty with a bucket hat and a broad smile, became the first player to make the cut on the number and win since Brandt Snedeker at Torrey Pines in 2016.

With so many players in the mix going into the final round, it was set up to be a wild finish, and five players had at least a share of the lead at one point.

Highsmith eliminated the drama in the final hour with a flawless round and an unforgettable weekend he played in 14-under 128. His big run started with a wedge to 3 feet on No. 9. He two-putted for birdie on the par-5 10th and rolled in an 18-foot birdie on No. 11.

He added a 15-foot birdie putt at the 13th to take control, and then sealed it with his birdie putt down the slope on the 17th.

Highsmith was all smiles coming off the 18th green with his caddie Joe LaCava IV, the son of the caddie who was on the bag for Masters champions Fred Couples in 1992 and Tiger Woods in 2019, and who now works for Patrick Cantlay.

Highsmith is the second first-time winner in as many weeks, following Brian Campbell winning the Mexico Open. He finished at 19-under 265 and picked up plenty of perks. Along with earning a place in the Masters and PGA Championship, Highsmith is in the remaining five signature events, starting next week at Bay Hill.

Jordan Spieth had four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn to get on the fringe of contention, only to play the final six holes in 1 over for a 68 to tie for ninth, his second top 10 in four starts since returning from wrist surgery last August.

Florida State junior Luke Clanton, who secured a PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University program by making the cut, shot 69 and tied for 18th.

Highsmith shot the lowest 72-hole score since the tournament moved to PGA National, which has held two PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup, in 2007. The course was overseeded, making the rough less daunting and the fairways softer.

“I get that the overseed was there and the wind was down, but it’s still a stressful golf course, and this was some of the best golf I’ve seen played relative to what I would have thought would have happened on a golf course in quite a while,” Spieth said. “It’s crazy good golf out there.”


Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history

Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history
Updated 28 February 2025
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Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history

Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history
  • Knapp finished one shot off the tour scoring record of 58, done by Jim Furyk in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship
  • There was barely any wind, which is rare for South Florida, and PGA National was largely defenseless in the morning session

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida: Jake Knapp knew he was on the verge of something special early on Thursday, with a run of five straight birdies to open his round at the Cognizant Classic.

In the end, he joined one of golf’s most elite clubs.

Knapp — the 99th-ranked player in the world — joined the PGA Tour’s sub-60 club on Thursday, shooting a bogey-free 59 in the opening round at PGA National. It was the 15th time that someone has broken 60 in a PGA Tour event.

“It’s just one of those days where everything was kind of clicking,” Knapp said.

Knapp finished one shot off the tour scoring record of 58, done by Jim Furyk in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship. Knapp became the 14th player to shoot a sub-60 round; Furyk is the only one to do it twice. The feat has become more frequent, with nine such rounds since 2016.

Knapp had a putt for eagle at the par-5 18th that would have tied Furyk’s mark of 58 — 18 feet, 8 inches was the measurement given by the PGA Tour. The putt didn’t have the speed and he tapped in for birdie.

And yes, he was thinking about 58 — especially after a long birdie putt at the 15th put him at 11 under for the round.

“I stepped up on the 16 tee and just kind of told my caddie, ‘Let’s play 2 under in the last three,’” Knapp said. “‘Let’s do what we’re supposed to do.’”

He had to settle for 59, if a 59 can ever actually be settled for.

“I thought I played well,” said Daniel Berger, who had a bogey-free round of 8-under 63, highlighted by a par on the par-5 10th — after his tee shot was lost in a tree and he played a provisional. “But then someone shot 59.”

Knapp’s 12-birdie round on the par-71 course also broke the previous Cognizant scoring record of 61, first done in 2012 by Brian Harman and matched in 2021 by Matt Jones. There are three rounds of 62 in tournament history — Tiger Woods in the final round in 2012 on his way to a tie for second, Brandon Hagy in the second round in 2021 and eventual winner Chris Kirk in the second round of the 2023 event.

There was barely any wind, which is rare for South Florida, and PGA National was largely defenseless in the morning session. The closest there was to any trouble was around the seventh hole, where Billy Horschel — a Florida Gator from his college days — used a club to poke at an actual alligator that was catching some sun near the green and got it to retreat back to its watery home.

Even wildlife didn’t deter scoring in Round 1. Berger, Russell Henley and Sami Valimaki all shot 63, Rickie Fowler was among those at 64, Jordan Spieth — continuing his comeback after wrist surgery — shot 65, and Horschel, Zach Johnson and Camilo Villegas were among those who opened with a 66.

For the day, the average score was 68.62, the lowest ever for a tournament round at PGA National.

And nobody had an easier time than Knapp, who finished no better than a tie for 17th in any of his first seven starts of 2025 — and then played his way into golf history at PGA National, a course that players have said has been less punitive in recent years. He needed to make only 98 feet of putts, a tribute to a day of excellent ball-striking.

“You still have to hit shots. You have to make putts,” Fowler said. “Yeah, 59 anywhere is hard to do. I don’t care if you go play from 6,500 yards. You still have to make putts. You still have to hit it close enough to have those opportunities. With this place, we’ve seen some low scores, guys get after it when the conditions are right. But obviously no one has shot 59 before out here.”

Knapp has one PGA Tour win, that coming at last year’s Mexico Open. He’s played the Cognizant only once before, tying for fourth last year after shooting three rounds of 68 or better and finishing at 13 under.

And this year, so far, he’s even better.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to him,” Horschel said. “He shot a 12-under-par 59 at PGA National, which no one ever thought.”

Horschel and Knapp crossed paths after the round, and Horschel — offering congratulations — told him he would have wagered “a lot of money ... like, a lot of money” on nobody ever shooting 59 at PGA National.

“I feel like I shot 4 over after seeing what you shot,” Horschel told Knapp as he walked away.

Knapp started Thursday with five straight birdies, that stretch highlighted by a 60-foot chip-in at the par-4 second hole. The birdies kept coming in bunches; three in a row on holes 9 through 11, three more coming on holes 13 through 15 — the last of those a big breaking putt from 31 feet, going across the green before dropping dead center into the cup.

Mike Stephens, Knapp’s caddie, said they were not afraid to talk about the chances that awaited on the final three holes.

“I think if anything, maybe your playing competitors try to give you a little distance or whatnot, but he likes to talk,” Stephens said. “So, we’d kind of go over things on the last couple (holes), to try to fill the time. Just to keep it the same. ... Just another day.”

Well, not quite. A 59 is not just another day.

“Whether I shot 89 or 59, I’m going to come back out and do my job tomorrow,” Knapp said.


Team UAE take first place in men’s team competition at GCC Golf Championship

Team UAE take first place in men’s team competition at GCC Golf Championship
Updated 27 February 2025
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Team UAE take first place in men’s team competition at GCC Golf Championship

Team UAE take first place in men’s team competition at GCC Golf Championship
  • UAE’s Ahmad Skaik, Qatar’s Daniel Sokolov, Jonathan Silvaraj from UAE are first, second, third in individual category
  • Team Oman top in under-18 competition

JEDDAH: Teams from the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain claimed first, second and third place, respectively, in the men’s team competition at the GCC Golf Championship that concluded in Jeddah amid an electrifying atmosphere on Thursday.
Following fierce competition among some of the region’s top golfers, the UAE’s Ahmad Skaik demonstrated exceptional skills to secure first place and claim the men’s individual championship. Qatar’s Daniel Sokolov finished in second place, while Jonathan Silvaraj from the UAE took third.
In the under-18 individual category, Kuwait’s Salem Al-Abkal was crowned champion after an outstanding performance. Oman’s Adam Al-Barwani secured second place, while Emirati Mohammed Thabet finished third.
Team Oman claimed first in the under-18 team competition, with Team Kuwait second and Team UAE third.
Noah Alireza, Saudi Golf Federation’s CEO, said that the event had marked a significant milestone in the development of golf in the Gulf region as he spoke during the closing ceremony of the championship, which was hosted at the Royal Greens Golf Club in Jeddah.
He praised the high technical level at the championship and extended his gratitude to all participating teams and players.
He added: “This championship is not just a sporting competition but a platform for strengthening the fraternal bonds between GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) nations and solidifying golf as a key sport in the region.”
It was announced that Oman would host the next edition of the championship and the tournament flag was officially handed over to the Omani delegation, marking the beginning of the countdown to the upcoming event.


Major winner McDowell leads LIV Golf line-up for International Series Macau

Major winner McDowell leads LIV Golf line-up for International Series Macau
Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland during the 2024 International Series Macau. (Graham Uden/Asian Tour)
Updated 25 February 2025
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Major winner McDowell leads LIV Golf line-up for International Series Macau

Major winner McDowell leads LIV Golf line-up for International Series Macau
  • Asian Tour event is at Macau Golf and Country Club from March 20-23

MACAU: The field for the International Series Macau presented by Wynn has been further strengthened with 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell confirmed for the tournament alongside several LIV Golf League stablemates.

The former Ryder Cup star will be joined by his Smash GC team-mate Jason Kokrak of America, as well as Indian star Anirban Lahiri, the Crushers GC player and seven-time winner on the Asian Tour, for the second of 10 elevated events on the schedule, which takes place at Macau Golf and Country Club from March 20-23.

The event forms part of the Open Qualifying Series, with the top three finishers securing a place in the field for this year’s fourth major at Royal Portrush. That news has enticed several up-and-coming youngsters from LIV Golf, with American Caleb Surratt, the Legion XIII player entering alongside Frederik Kjettrup, the Dane who signed for Cleeks GC after winning three times in his first season as a pro on the PGA Tour Americas.

American Peter Uihlein, the Range Goats GC star who won twice on the International Series last season, in England and Qatar, is also in the field as are Australian player Lucas Herbert, who finished third in Macau last year, and his Ripper GC team-mate Matt Jones.

LIV Golf wildcard Anthony Kim, the former Ryder Cup player, has also entered alongside Sam Horsfield of Majesticks GC, Branden Grace of Stinger GC and Torque GC’s Sebastian Munoz, further strengthening a field that already features two major champions, Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed of 4Aces GC, and defending champion John Catlin.

Rahul Singh, head of the International Series said: “With this year’s edition of International Series Macau presented by Wynn being confirmed as a qualifying event for The Open, we have taken things to the next level. The addition of this world-class talent demonstrates the appeal of our series, and the opportunity that it is offering to players.

“The International Series continues to offer a world-class stage for top players to compete at the highest level, and the presence of so many LIV golfers, and its status as a qualifier for The Open, highlights the growing significance of these tournaments.”


Saudi Arabia hosts 27th GCC Golf Championship in Jeddah

Saudi Arabia hosts 27th GCC Golf Championship in Jeddah
Updated 23 February 2025
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Saudi Arabia hosts 27th GCC Golf Championship in Jeddah

Saudi Arabia hosts 27th GCC Golf Championship in Jeddah
  • Teams from Kingdom, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman competing

JEDDAH: The 27th edition of the men’s GCC Golf Championship and the 16th edition of the youth event got underway on Sunday at the Royal Greens Golf Club in Jeddah, bringing together top players from across the Gulf nations.

Teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman are competing in the tournament.

The event highlights the rapid growth of golf in the region and serves as a testament to the Gulf’s increasing prominence on the international golfing stage.

This year’s championship coincides with Saudi Arabia’s Foundation Day celebrations, bringing together high-level sports competition and the Kingdom’s rich history and achievements.

The tournament’s opening ceremony, which was attended by key sports officials and representatives from the Gulf’s golf federations, featured traditional performances and a grand entrance parade, with each nation displaying its flag in a show of regional unity.

Abeer Al-Johani, the director of the Saudi Golf Federation, spoke of the importance of hosting the tournament during the national celebrations.

She said: “We are not only celebrating the launch of the GCC Golf Championship, but also reaffirming Saudi Arabia’s commitment to developing this sport both locally and internationally.

“Through nurturing young talent, hosting major tournaments, and fostering a golf culture among future generations, this event serves as more than just a sports competition — it is a platform for strengthening brotherhood and fostering fair competition among Gulf nations.”