Foxy triumphs at Wenworth

Ryan Fox, the son of famous New Zealand rugby union player Grant Fox, made history by winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in London. He became the first Kiwi to win the prestigious event, and also secured his first Rolex Series title and a PGA Tour card for 2024. Fox overcame a shaky start that included a triple-bogey on the third hole and stormed back with a brilliant back-nine performance. He birdied six of his last nine holes, including a clutch putt on the 18th to finish at 18 under par, one shot ahead of England's Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai.

Fox's victory was also a tribute to his late father-in-law, who passed away in June after a short battle with cancer. Fox said he was immensely proud to add to the history at Wentworth, where his compatriot Michael Campbell won the World Match Play Championship in 2005. Among the other notable finishers were world number three Jon Rahm, who came fourth at 16 under, and world number two Rory McIlroy, who tied for ninth at 13 under after a closing 65. Aussies Adam Scott (T9) and Min Woo Lee (T12) grinded out decent scores but left too much to do in the final round to be true contenders.

As mentioned in our last issue, all members of the European Ryder Cup Team competed at Wentworth, and most of them put in very strong performances. Ludvig Aberg led going into the final round (fading to finish T10) whilst the big names of Hatton, Rahm, Hovland, Fleetwood and McIlroy all finished inside the Top 7. Captain Luke Donald certainly would have liked what he saw this past week as he heads towards Marco Simon, Rome in a little over a week.

Theegala gets his maiden W

Sahith Theegala is your winner of the Fortinet Championship, after holding off the likes of Justin Thomas (5th) and Australia's Cam Davis (3rd) in wine country (Napa, CA). Theegala shot a final-round 68 to win by two strokes at 21 under par and the win was his first on the PGA Tour in 74 starts. He celebrated the victory with over 40 family and friends who came to watch him. Theegala started the day with a two-shot lead and quickly extended it with three birdies in his first five holes. He then survived some sloppy moments on the back nine, including a bogey on the 18th hole that cut his lead to two, but in the end, his first W was never really in doubt.

Thomas, who was looking for a morale-boosting performance after a disappointing season, was trying to catch a spark ahead of the Ryder Cup. He played solidly across the first 3 rounds but carded an up and down round of 72 on Sunday. Will this be enough momentum for him as he heads to Rome? Davis, one of 7 Aussies in the field (only 3 made the cut), had a solid week. Playing in the final group on Sunday with Theegala, Davis finished in outright 3rd at 17 under par. The other notable US Ryder Cup team member, Max Homa, posted a final round 69 to finish in a tie for 7th.

The 19th hole with…

This week, The Shank Show had the pleasure of playing a round at the Bulka Course, Nudgee Golf Club with Assistant Professional, Stuart Irving. Nudgee Golf Club boast 2 courses (Bulka and Kurai) across 36 holes and will again host the Queensland PGA Championship this year from 2 to 5 November 2023. After the round, we shared a beer and a chat with Stuey:

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The Shank Show: Stuart, tell us the best thing about Nudgee Golf Course.

Stuart: So the best thing about Nudgee Golf Course is that we've recently redeveloped the facility, so we've got two world class 18-hole courses. One of the tracks, the Kurai Course, is our championship course and it's a challenging layout. It's firm, it's fast and aesthetically, it's good to look at. The other course (Bulka) is more of a modern style links layout. It’s a little bit easier and friendlier with a bit less undulation on the greens. But the upkeep is just phenomenal. It's a primo golf facility and great to be a part of the club.

The Shank Show: You're the Assistant Pro here at Nudgee. What's the best thing about being an Assistant Pro?

Stuart: The best thing about being Assistant Pro is I get to work in golf, which I love. The interaction with the members is great. It's always good banter, people are here to play golf, enjoy their time. Being an assistant professional, I have a knowledge base that allows me to help them with their golfing journey and ignite their passion for the game, which I certainly have.

The Shank Show: One of your goals and ambitions is to get a tour card somewhere. Tell us about how difficult that actually is.

Stuart: Yeah, definitely. I’m finding it extremely difficult. I'm not one of the longest hitters. All the young guys (I'm a little bit older) that are looking to get a tour card hit the ball a mile. So it makes it harder to compete with that type of distance. It's a hard grind to find a tour that's suitable for me. You've really got to be committed to your game to make any tour - on top of your fitness and nutrition, on top of your mental game, and on top of your physical and technical game. You also need the financial resources to be able to travel and take time off to compete in tournaments. It's a difficult slog and you need to be elite to get there.

The Shank Show: You talked about some of those elite young guys. What's their view on the LIV Golf Tour? Is that an alternate path for them or are they still very much focused on making it at either Europe or America?

Stuart: Yeah, the younger generation of players that I did my traineeship and time with are still very much focused on making the PGA Tour in America or the DP World Tour in Europe. This is mainly because there are more spots available on those tours. However, they're still quite positive on the LIV Tour because it brings big tournaments and elite golfers out to Oz, which we crave. And it does open up another pathway, with very big prize money. But only having 48 spots available makes it a challenge to get on initially like Jed Morgan has done.

The Shank Show: In terms of your average club golfer, let's say handicap 10 to 25, what's the number one recommendation or tip that you can give?

Stuart: That’s the majority of the guys here at Nudgee. The key I find with all these players is focusing on the quality of your ball strike and contact. Look for centre contact and striking the ball first. If you can get your strike consistent, then your scores will come down. And improving your short game is the quickest way to drop shots off your handicap quickly.

The Shank Show: And what should they focus on to improve that centre strike?

Stuart: On the range, there are little drills you can do. I like to use a lot of constraint drills. So tees either side of the ball, or lines down where you’ve got to make contact after the ball and your divot starts after the line. But when you're out on course, don't have too many swing thoughts or be overly technical. Pick one or two things to focus on and try to simplify your approach when on course.

The Shank Show: And for those golfers that are wanting to improve their games, there’s opportunity out here at Nudgee to get some coaching?

Stuart: Yeah, definitely. So, at Nudgee, we have a number of great coaches including myself, Dave Lawrence, Gary Warburton, and Chris Duke. We're all PGA qualified professionals with our coaching accreditation, and we cater for all levels from the average amateur right through to elite and professional golfers. We try to make the game fun and find ways to get you playing better golf.

The Shank Show: Stewie. Thanks for your time.

Stuart: Thank you, mate. Appreciate it.

Schedule for the Week

LIV Golf returns this week with LIV Chicago being played at Rich Harvest Farms Golf Course, and we’ll see if Smithy can defend his title from last year. This is the 12th of 14 events on the LIV schedule this year with only Jeddah and Miami left . The PGAT takes a break this week to prepare for the Ryder Cup, whilst the DPWT moves on to the Cazoo Open in France. Finally, a big week in Women’s golf as the Solheim Cup is held over the weekend.

Your golfing schedule for the week, and how to watch is below:

• LIV: LIV Golf Chicago - Rich Harvest Farms (Sugar Grove, Il), $25m purse, Saturday 23/9 to Monday 25/9 - Coverage on 7+, starts 3am Saturday.

• DPWT: Cazoo Open - Le Golf National (France), €3m purse, Thursday 21/9 to Sunday 24/9 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 9.30pm Thursday.

• LPGA/LET: Solheim Cup - Finca Cortesin, Andalucia (Spain), Friday 22/9 to Monday 25/9 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 4pm Friday.

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Thanks again for your support and readership. We’ll be back next week with our debrief of LIV Golf Chicago and a preview of the Ryder Cup, but we leave you with some more outrageous footage of Donald Trump on the golf course - his definition of a “gimme” explains so much of why he claims to be a low single figure handicapper 😲😲😳😳