Aussie golfers looking for luck in Vegas

Updated October 03, 2012 13:16:30

Nine-time US PGA Tour winner Stuart Appleby headlines a handful of Australian golfers who have just four weeks to reclaim their jobs next year.

The US PGA Tour 'fall series' begins aptly in Las Vegas this week where countless golfers gamble with their future, trying to get inside the top 125 on the money list and stamp their ticket back on tour next year.

Players ranked 126 to 150 get conditional status on tour.

Appleby, a mainstay on the tour since 1996, needs to find some of the old magic or he will be forced to use his final 'get out of jail free' card to return.

Appleby is 161st on this year's money list with $US338,964 earnings, his lowest mark since his rookie year in 1996.

He is $US248,872 behind the current 125th spot and $US51,095 behind 150th, which may not seem like much but the final four events have downsized purses.

While a win in any event brings a two-year exemption, to make up the current gap Appleby will likely need a top three finish or two to three top 10s in the next month.

Should the 41-year-old Victorian fail in his bid to get inside either mark, he could use a one-time exemption for being inside the top 50 in career money earners on tour - he is 19th.

After a poor 2009, Appleby used a similar exemption for being inside the top 25 of career earnings, leaving him with only one Hail Mary to burn.

Other Aussies battling for survival include Rod Pampling (126th), Nick O'Hern (140th), Nathan Green (164th), Gavin Coles (175th) and Mathew Goggin (201st).

Pampling is the most likely to succeed, starting the series just US$1,078 behind 125th.

Unlike the others he can force his way inside the mark just by making a few cuts and padding his numbers.

"When you look at the money list I am very close to the 125 guy and there is a bit of a gap just a few spots away so we have some wiggle room," said Pampling, pointing to a $US85,000 gap between himself and 128th.

"I just have to play decent good golf and I will be fine.

"It's not the position you want to be in but it's not the worst either.

"I know I have to still get it done and play good golf but I know I have been playing well this year and everything still feels good so I'm not putting myself under any pressure at this stage.

"The guys behind me are the ones who have to play extremely well."

Jason Day and Robert Allenby will also tee up at TPC Summerlin in Vegas despite already securing cards for 2013.

Meanwhile 2013 International President's Cup captain Nick Price announced fellow Zimbabwean's Mark McNulty and Tony Johnstone plus Japan's Shigeki Maruyama as his captain's assistants a year out from the biennial team event against the USA to be held at Muirfield Village in Ohio.

Australians Adam Scott (1st), Jason Day (4th), John Senden (6th), Geoff Ogilvy (8th) and Aaron Baddeley (10th) are currently inside the top 10 automatic qualifying positions, albeit an age away from the selection deadline.

Price will also be called upon to make two captains picks with Greg Chalmers (12th), Marcus Fraser (16th) and Marc Leishman (17th) also in the mix at this very early stage.

AAP

Tags: sport, golf, united-states, australia

First posted October 03, 2012 13:16:30

View the original article here

Featured Las Vegas Golf Courses

Las Vegas Golf Courses Designed By Golf's Biggest Names

Na hits Vegas jackpot with first PGA title

Updated October 03, 2011 11:16:41

Kevin Na kept his cool with a red-hot putter to hold off fellow American Nick Watney and claim his first PGA Tour title with an emotional two-shot victory at the Las Vegas Open.

South Korea-born Na rolled in a 43-footer to birdie the par-3 17th before parring the last for a 6-under-par 65 and a 23-under total of 261 at the TPC Summerlin.

The 28-year-old, who had been winless in his previous 210 PGA Tour starts, threw both arms skywards in celebration before removing his cap and embracing his caddie.

"Oh wow," a tearful Na said greenside after being told he had finally triumphed in his 211th career start.

"I went through a lot. I'd have nightmares finishing second.

"I used to tell my mother 'as hard as I work, when I am going to get my first win?'

"People said they believed in me more than I think I believe in myself, especially Kenny my caddie.

"Every time he was there for me and he believed in me."

Nick O'Hern and Steven Bowditch were the best of the Australians, nine shots behind Na, with a stroke further back to Rod Pampling and Nathan Green.

Tied for the lead overnight with Watney, Na was briefly caught at the top by his playing partner with four holes to play before he tightened his grip on the title with birdies at 15, 16, and 17.

World number 11 Watney, bidding to become the PGA Tour's first three-times champion this year, had to settle for second place after closing with a four-birdie 67.

Americans Tommy Gainey and Paul Goydos both signed off with 68s to share third place at 18-under.

For most of the final round, however, the tournament came down to an effective head-to-head between Na and Watney, the two overnight leaders.

Na made a red-hot start, birdies at the first and second holes putting him two strokes clear at 19-under.

Though Las Vegas resident Watney cut that deficit to one with a long-range birdie putt at the third, Na restored his two-shot cushion by sinking a 20-footer from just off the green at the par-4 fourth.

Na made his first mistake of the day with a bogey at the sixth, after missing the fairway to the left off the tee, and dropped back into a tie for the lead with American Tim Herron at 19-under.

Herron, a four-times winner on the PGA Tour whose most recent victory came at the 2006 Colonial Invitational, had birdied four of the first seven holes before losing momentum over the closing stretch on his way to a 69 and joint-fifth.

Na, however, immediately bounced back with a birdie at the seventh before picking up another shot at the par-5 ninth after reaching the green in two and two-putting.

Two ahead at the turn, Na was briefly caught by Watney when he bogeyed the par-3 14th after failing to get up and down from a buried lie in a greenside bunker.

The long-hitting Watney had rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-5 13th to get to 20-under overall.

Once again though, Na regained control, sinking a three-footer to birdie the driveable par-4 15th before following up with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 16th to lead Watney by one.

He never relinquished his grip as he finished birdie-par to triumph by two strokes.

Reuters

Tags: golf, sport, united-states

First posted October 03, 2011 11:16:41

View the original article here

Vegas makes early inroads in Vegas

Updated September 30, 2011 13:26:42

Venezuelan rookie Jhonattan Vegas lived up to his glitzy surname by charging into a tie for the lead in the opening round of the Las Vegas Open.

Ever-smiling and pumping his right fist whenever he sank a birdie putt, the powerful 27-year-old from Maturin fired a sparkling 8-under-par 63 on a sweltering day at the TPC Summerlin.

Vegas, who won his first PGA Tour title at the Bob Hope Classic in January, racked up 10 birdies and two bogeys to end the round level with American journeyman William McGirt, a fellow rookie.

Australian Nathan Green and South Korean Charlie Wi opened with 64s while Germany's Alex Cejka, American Nick Watney and Australian Rod Pampling were among a group of 11 knotted on 65.

"It was a great round," a beaming Vegas said after surging to the top of the leaderboard in the first of four Fall Series events on the PGA Tour.

"I feel like I'm hitting the ball absolutely great, which is something fun to do, but the main thing was I made a lot of putts today.

"There are lots of birdie holes out here that you can take advantage of ... and that's kind of what I did today.

"I put myself in great position pretty much all day long."

Reuters

Tags: golf, sport, united-states

First posted September 30, 2011 13:26:42

View the original article here

Las Vegas Golf Stores