Lydia Ko, without a victory this season on the LPGA, birdied the penultimate hole at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., to send her and teammate Jason Day to a one-stroke victory in the latest iteration of mixed-team golf. The Down Under duo—Ko is from New Zealand and Day from Australia—combined to post 26-under 266 after a best-ball 66 to edge the Canadian pair of Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners.

Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom and Ludvig Aberg were another stroke behind after a sterling 60.

Although there have been male-female pairings recently in other events, including the QBE Shootout and PNC Championship, the Grant Thornton Invitational is the first pure mixed format since the 1999 JCPenney Classic.

The women, keyed up by the opportunity to show how well their games compare to their male counterparts, brought their A-games to the tournament, which featured three formats—scramble, alternate shot and modified best ball—highlighted by Ko’s second shot into the par-5 17th hole from 208 yards with a fairway metal.

“That looks so good,” Day said as the ball sailed towards the pin.

“As soon as it came off the club face, I was like, ‘I think it’s good, please be good,’ and it was heading right towards the pin,” said Ko, who with Day began the final round with a two-stroke lead after an impressive 66 in alternate shot on Saturday. “I don’t think I could have hit that shot 100 times and it would turn out better.”

The ball checked up 10 feet behind the hole, and Ko two-putted for the go-ahead birdie. Ko, 26, also did the honors of closing it out on the par-four home hole, two-putting for par from 30 feet, though Day, after missing the green, chipped to three feet that also could have won it. Each a former world No. 1, Ko and Day split $1 million of the $4 million purse.

“It was kind of weird because it felt like the most stress-free win because I knew Lydia was going to step up in the end, which was fantastic,” said Day, 36, who won his 13th PGA Tour title earlier this year at the AT&T Byron Nelson. “It was a fun week. Having the two tours join this week was a fun way to finish the year. I’m hoping we get to do it for a very long time.”

Madelene Sagstrom thinks the LPGA players more than held their own on the stage with their PGA Tour peers. Douglas P. DeFelice

Aberg, the rookie sensation who was solid in his Ryder Cup debut during Europe’s victory in Italy and then won his first PGA Tour title at the RSM Classic last month, gushed that “I was a passenger at times [Saturday],” during foursomes play. He also was a happy spectator when Sagstrom snaked in a long double-breaking eagle putt on 17 that forged a momentary three-way tie for the lead.

“It’s been a very big week for us, for women’s golf this week, and showing how good we are with you guys,” Sagstrom said. “I feel like on every team we all contributed equal ways.”

They sure contributed their share of fireworks. Another example: Lexi Thompson’s ace at the par-3 16th hole on Saturday that put her and Rickie Fowler in the thick of things before dropping to T-6 on Sunday.

Mutual gushing was the order of the day through 54 holes. Each side had a lot to appreciate about the other. The women got to witness the power the men unleashed with their drivers. The men saw just how well the women scored with overall skill and tenacity.

“I think it’s really cool to marry the tours together,” Tony Finau said. “They’re seeing shots that they haven’t seen with us, and vice versa. We’re seeing shots that we haven’t seen, and we only get to watch these guys on TV, they only get to watch us on TV.”

Ko underscored perfectly what it meant to be paired with Day when she told her caddie she wanted to hang back at the men’s tee on the final hole to watch Day hit one more drive. Afterwards, she joked about the natural regional rivalry between Kiwis and Aussies, “but that was not there this week.”

The hope among LPGA officials is that the Grant Thornton remains an annual event that also opens up other joint ventures with the PGA Tour. Douglas P. DeFelice

What was there was a showcase of pure enjoyment of the game along with excellence. You know what that’s good for? Anyone? We’ll let Ko spell out it for you.

“This week I think every player that’s here, whether it’s the PGA Tour player or LPGA player, I think we’re here for more than just the prize money and winning. It’s about the growth of the game,” she said. “It’s great that we got to win on top of that, but I think with the help of Grant Thornton, this is, I think, a start for so many more exciting things to come, and I’m excited to be a part of this partnership.”

“It will be interesting to see kind of the after-effects going into next year, but I think one of the things is seeing the guys and the gals tee it up together and have fun and us just enjoying being out there together,” Fowler agreed.

Megan Khang, who teamed with Denny McCarthy to finish T-4, also was thinking ahead. “I feel like this is a great … step in the right direction,” she said. “I feel like people are going to get a taste of this event, see how fun it is and how engaging it is of how many families come out, boys, girls. They just see these players on both levels competing and having fun and showing up and putting up some good scores. I think it’s great for not only golf, but for the future of golf.”

Main image: Cliff Hawkins

The post Amid the tense debate over pro golf’s future, the LPGA/PGA Tour’s mixed event offers a lesson: Don’t forget about the golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
The QBE Shootout will become a mixed-team format of PGA Tour and LPGA players in 2023, according to a report from the AP’s Doug Ferguson.

The Shootout, an unofficial money event on the PGA Tour that returns this week at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., currently features 12 two-player teams competing in scramble, alternate-shot and best-ball formats across 54 holes. The event has occasionally featured women in the field, including this year with Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson. However, a uniform mixed-team format has not been seen on the PGA Tour and LPGA since 1999 with the former JC Penney Classic.

According to Ferguson, the PGA Tour had been working on converting the former World Cup of Golf into a mixed-team event, but progress was slowed when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived.

The news comes after the Australian Open successfully held its men’s and women’s competitions simultaneously this past weekend, with Adrian Meronk and Ashleigh Buhai winning the historic tournament.

Along with Korda and Thompson this week’s QBE field features Max Homa, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala, Billy Horschel, Harris English and Kevin Kisner.

You may also like:
Get the December 2022 edition of Golf Digest Middle East FREE here!
Al Mouj in Oman added to Asian Tour International Series
Newsmakers of the Year countdown — 25 to 23
Scott Vincent earns LIV Golf 2023 ticket
Scottie chips in on OWGR situation
Sergio fires back at Tiger and Rory
LIV Golf unveils three new venues for 2023
Lee Westwood’s son to make pro debut
Seventh Saudi Open set to get rolling
Ernie Els targets silverware in Indonesia
Sibling rivalry at Australian open
Tiger: I would never take a cart on PGA Tour
Tiger Woods: Greg has to go
OWGR is flawed, says Tiger
LIV Golf reveal their World Cup XI

The post Report: PGA Tour, LPGA planning to turn QBE Shootout into a mixed-team event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

And yet for as good as that first putt, that’s how bad Lexi’s second was, the one that will be remembered in the weeks and months to come as the LPGA closes shop for 2017. Somehow the 22-year-old American sensation pushed it, the ball rolling right of the cup. A two-foot putt that never had a chance of falling into the hole.

How? How could that happen? Thompson lives near Naples, and had several members of her family and friends out behind the 18th green supporting her. Cristie Kerr, her Solheim Cup teammate, was watching besides Thompson’s dad, Scott, and mom, Judy, who doctors told recently that she was all clear after summer treatments for cancer.

Thompson was poised for a storybook finish to a roller-coaster season. Not only was she set to win the LPGA season finale, but also take Player of the Year honors. She had already clinched the $1 million season-long Race to the CME Globe prize, and she was guaranteed the Vare Trophy for low scoring average throughout the year even if she three-putted. She’d also likely move into the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Rankings. And the memory of the debacle at the ANA Inspiration would be pushed farther from view.

But because of the missed two-footer, instead of Ariya Jutanugarn needing to birdie the final two holes (something only one player had done all day) to get into a playoff with Thompson at 15 under, she could now win with them. And sure enough, the 2016 LPGA player of the year did the statistically improbable, making an impressive, downhill 15-foot putt on 18. It was Jutanugarn who won at 15 under, Thompson not even having the chance to try and fight back for the title in a playoff.

Thompson’s missed two-foot par putt on the final hole at Tiburon G.C. likely cost her winning Rolex Player of the Year honors. (Getty Images)

To her credit, Lexi did all the right things afterward. She accepted the $1 million box of cash—an awful nice consolation—for winning the Race to CME Globe, as well as the Vare Trophy with a scoring average of 69.114. It was the lowest scoring average in LPGA history.

Then came the hard part: After shaking hands and accepting her awards, Thompson met with the media. Of course, it wasn’t the first time Thompson she’d done this in the wake of a disappointing finish. Back in April at the ANA, the first major of the year, Thompson incurred a four-shot penalty on Sunday for misplacing her ball on a green the previous day. The incident was brought to the rules committee by a viewer who watched a replay and called the infraction in. The penalty cost Thompson the lead on the back nine Sunday, yet she clawed her way back to tie So Yeon Ryu after 72 holes, only to fall in a playoff.

During that press conference, and the one that she gave a few weeks later when she play in her first LPGA event afterward, Thompson cried. And understandably so. It was an unfair moment, the title should’ve been hers, but it was taken away. Though no one called in to take the CME Group Tour Championship from her, the missed two-footer had that same odd feeling, like it shouldn’t have happened.

How many thousands of two-footers has Thompson made throughout her life? How is it fair that she happens to miss one on the 18th hole of the final event of the season.

It’s not fair. And Thompson could’ve been tearful again, and frustrated.

But she wasn’t. Instead, she was accepting.

“It wasn’t the way I wanted to end it,” said Thompson, who most people will forget shot a five-under 67 in the final round to get into position to win in the first place. “I don’t really know what happened there. Yeah, it just happens. I guess it’s golf. I guess we all go through situations we don’t like sometimes.”

When asked if the pressure of the moment got to her, Thompson recoiled. “No. Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about it,” she said. “I putted great the whole day and did my routine; I read it. I mean, it wasn’t obviously a very long putt. I guess maybe just a little bit of adrenaline. I didn’t look at a leader board actually the whole day. That’s just the way I am. I just try to stay relaxed and just focus on my game because that’s all I can control. Yeah, I guess it’s just golf. You know, crazy things happen like that. I’ll move on.”

Thompson was believable in that moment, because she has proven that she has the ability to move on. She did it in May when she won the Kingsmill Championship, the second event she played in after the ANA loss.

“I’m not going to lie and say some things didn’t get me really down, and I struggled, but I had to keep on moving on, keep on practicing, keep on training,” Thompson said, “because I knew I had the talent and I had to show that.”

Where Thompson can take solace is that while there were disappointing on-course moments this season, there were moments of success, too. She won twice, finished runner-up six times, was part of the winning U.S. Solheim Cup team and has the lowest scoring average of any woman ever. She finished the season No. 3 on the Rolex Rankings. She’s ranked No.1 on the tour in greens in regulation and sand saves. She averaged 274 yards off the tee this year. By all of those measures, the 2017 season was a successful one. She developed a lot as a player.

More importantly, she grew a lot as a person.

The struggles at the ANA forced Thompson to mature in 2017, as did the situation with her mother and the death this summer of her grandmother. Having to cope with struggles like those off the course gives you perspective. Like it or not, it hardens you.

As Thompson’s caddie, Alpine has seen her maturation in life permeate her on-course demeanor. “She’s taken the lows, and she’s learned from them,” he said. “She’s rode the highs, and she’s played some great golf this year. At the end of the day, we look back and this is going to be one of those little things in her career.”

This too is believable. Instead of wallowing in the disappointment of a missed putt, Thompson talked more about how happy she is about her game and how much she’s improved in 2017. She was quick to discuss how much work she’s going to do in the off season to continue making more progress.

“It didn’t stop me,” said Thompson of not winning the ANA Inspiration. “And this won’t either.”

Indeed, Thompson’s missed two-footer will be remembered by many for a long time. But just how long Thompson chooses to remember it, however, will determine how quickly she moves past this disappointment and gets better because of it.

The post Lexi Thompson’s 2017 will be remembered for its highs—and lows—and how she came to grips with both appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
As if the 2017 season wasn’t already eventful enough for Lexi Thompson, it became even more so—frustratingly—on Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club.

Facing a par putt from two feet to potentially lock up the LPGA’s CME Globe Tour Championship title—and with it every major LPGA honor available—the 22-year-old American star inexplicably pushed the putt right. Her lone bogey of the day left her with a five-under 67 for the day to finish 14 under for the championship. More importantly, it opened the door for Ariya Jutanuguarn, who made birdie on the 18th to pass Thompson and win the LPGA season finale with a 15-under 273 total.

While the runner-up finish still allowed Thompson to claim the season-long Race to the Globe title (and it’s accompanying $1 million bonus) and the Vare Trophy for season-long low stroke average (69.144, lowest in LPGA history), she needed victory to grab Rolex Player of the Year honors, jump to the top of the LPGA money list and move into the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Rankings. When all the points were tabulated, Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu wound up sharing POY honors, a first in LPGA history, while Thompson finished tied for third with Shanshan Feng. And Park finished first on the money list with $2.3 million.

Thompson had been playing masterful golf on Sunday, quickly jumping past the foursome of players (including Jutanugarn) who held a one-stroke advantage on her entering the final round in Naples, Fla., with birdies on three of her first six holes. She continued to hang on to the lead on the back nine at Tiburon. When her second shot on the par-5 17th missed the green left, she easily got up and down for a birdie to get to 15 under.

Thompson hit the 18th fairway off the tee and saw her approach shot settle 60 feet from the hole. A great lag on her birdie try seemed to be enough as playing partner Jessica Korda could do no better than par the hole to finish at 14 under. But then Thompson missed her par attempt.

“I wasn’t even thinking about it. I putted great the whole day,” Thompson said. “I did my routine, I read it. It wasn’t obviously a very long putt. I guess maybe just a little bit of adrenaline. … I guess it’s just golf. Crazy things happen like that. I’ll move on.”

Jutanugarn started the day among the quartet holding the lead, but got off to an ignominious start when she topped her opening drive on the par-5 first hole en route to a bogey 6. But the 21-year-old, who won player of the year honors in 2016, rebounded and stayed close the rest of the afternoon making birdies on the 13th, 14th and 17th holes. After Thompson, two groups ahead of her, made the bogey on the 18th hole, Jutanugarn hit the fairway off the tee and knocked her approach shot to 20 feet. Showing few nerves, Jutanugarn holed the downhill slider to avoid a playoff with Thompson and Korda, grab her seventh career LPGA win and second of 2017.

“This week to be honest I had no expectations at all,” said Jutanugarn, who came into the week with three missed cuts and just one top-20 in her last eight starts. “I really wasn’t thinking about the outcome any more at all. I really thought only about the things I could control. And I have so much fun this week.”

Jutanugarn closed birdie-birdie to claim the title in the LPGA season finale, her seventh career title. (Photo by Sam Greenwood)

Thompson, of course, is familiar with harrowing finishes in big events, the four-stroke penalty she received at the ANA Inspiration that cost her the year’s first major title becoming an iconic moment of the 2017 season. Her ability to bounce back from that disappointment—she who two tournaments with eight top-five finishes in 20 starts this season—was one of the more impressive storylines in golf this year. It was made all the more impressive by the fact she did it while also handling the off-course issue of her mother, Judy, battling cancer.

The missed putt might be even more challenging to overcome as it was a mistake of Thompson’s own volition, but it’s one that perhaps no player on the LPGA Tour is better able to handle.

The post Ariya Jutanugarn takes LPGA season finale after Lexi Thompson misses short par putt on the 18th hole appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
It has not exactly been a smooth season for Michelle Wie, who in a bid at some redemption will enter the final round of the last event of the 2017 LPGA season tied for the lead.

Wie shot a six-under-par 66 in the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Saturday to finish 54 holes at 10-under-par 206 and be tied with Ariya Jutanugarn, Suzann Pettersen and Kim Kaufman.

The first half of the season, leading up to the U.S. Women’s Open, Wie finished in the top 15 seven times, in stark contrast to the year before, when she failed to finish in the top 15 once and missed eight cuts. Momentum was on her side in 2017.

But then neck issues caused her to drop out of the U.S. Women’s Open this year. Two weeks later, she was back playing in the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open, and finished T-3 in the Ricoh Women’s British Open a week later.

Back on the trajectory with which she began the season, Wie was primed to win for the first time since her 2014 U.S. Women’s Open triumph at Pinehurst No. 2. But three weeks after the Women’s British, Wie withdrew again after three rounds of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, going to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. The surgery was successful, but it meant six weeks of bedrest for Wie.

She said she got a little stir crazy taking those six weeks off, and that you can thank for her new blonde hair color and short haircut. After about three days in bed she said she decided to dye her hair, and then a couple weeks later had her mom cut it short with the kitchen scissors.

“I kind of went crazy after being in bed for that long,” Wie said, laughing. “It’s not good for me.”

Sam Greenwood

But what clearly is good for her is being back on the course. Though it took a little time for Wie to get back to the level of play she had before the surgery, she’s feeling better about her game since coming back in mid-October.

“I really did struggle for a bit just really trying to get my feel back, but every week was an improvement,” Wie said. “Every week, I felt like I got a little part of my game back. From last week, I felt pretty good. I’m just excited to end the season on a good note. I just want to go out there and try to play the best I can. I wish there were a couple more tournaments after this, like three or four more. But I’m just excited that I’m out here playing again.”

While positive energy comes with being excited to be playing again, it’s still the last tournament of the season. And Wie, like many players, is feeling the effects that come at the end of a long, travel-heavy schedule. Just one week ago, Wie was playing in China at the Blue Bay LPGA event.

Sam Greenwood

“I’ve been sitting as much as I can,” said Wie of her recovery techniques. “Last week I was laying down on the golf course. Today you might catch me sitting down any chance I get. Stacy was playing behind me yesterday, and I just sat down in the middle of the fairway, sat down on the green. I kept waiving at them. Basically, I’m just a hermit crab this week. I’m just sleeping as much as I can and not leaving my room, just really trying to keep my energy levels up.”

Clearly it’s working. She’ll be playing in the final group with Kaufman and Jutanugarn on Sunday.

It’s hard not to look at Wie sharing the lead and wonder if this could be her breakthrough. She has threatened before, with six top five finishes in the first half of the season before her surgery.

And here on the eve of the final round of the tour championship she is close again.

“Obviously there is a lot of pressure just wanting to do it,” said Wie on the prospect of winning. “For me, how I’m looking at it, I’m just happy to be here. I’m just extremely grateful that I’m healthy, I’m here playing. Just grateful, and that’s what the mindset I’m going to go into tomorrow with.”

The post Michelle Wie is part of a four-way tie for the lead at LPGA CME Group Tour Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington

Lexi Thompson enters this week’s LPGA season finale, the CME Globe Tour Championship, the leader in the year-long CME Race to the CME Globe points standings. She also arrives at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., without one of the burdens she’s carried much of 2017.

Thompson told Golf Digest’s Tim Rosaforte that her mother, Judy, recently received a clean bill of health from doctors after going through treatment this summer for uterine cancer.

“We got the news about a few months ago,” Thompson said during her Tuesday press conference at Tiburon.“ She went through all the radiation treatments and has been cleared. It’s great to have her here, along with a lot of other family members that will be coming throughout the week.”

The post Good news on her mom’s cancer battle lets Lexi Thompson play LPGA finale with clear mind appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.