The return of Golf to the Olympics is now complete and the women showed the world how global their tour is if the men didn’t do the same for theirs. Inbee Park of South Korea entered the final round with a 2 stroke lead and was never challenged extending her 2 shot lead to an uncatchable -5 under round to total a -16 under par victory to clinch the first ever Gold Medal awarded in Women’s golf in the Olympics. The drama occurred for the next 2 awarded medals and Lydia Ko posted an -11 under to clinch the Silver with a clutch birdie putt on the 18th hole. Meanwhile, China’s Shanshan Feng posted a -10 under to claim the Bronze over the USA’s Stacy Lewis and Japan’s Haru Nomura. Lewis and Nomura both missed makeable birdie putts on 18 that would have forced a playoff with Feng for the Bronze medal. Gerina Piller and Lexi Thompson represented the USA well although neither challenged for a medal. Piller showed an Olympic sized Heart in post round comments that displayed the emotion that the guys could not. Thompson shot a final round 66 to finish tied for 18th and Piller scored a final round 74 to tie for 11th while Lewis posted a final round 66 to finish tied for 4th. The women get back to work this week at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open at Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The men returned from their Olympic experience with one more tournament before the PGA Playoffs begin next week at The Barclay’s at Bethpage Black on Long Island. The Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina saw another cruise control win, this time a first time for Si Woo Kim who posted a 5 shot win over Luke Donald as the struggle to make the playoffs takes full effect. Hideki Matsuyama and Brandt Snedeker finished tied for 3rd, 6 shots back of the South Korean who posted a second round 60 and never looked back. Not only is the race on to qualify for the top 125 spots for the playoffs but to qualify for the Ryder Cup squad that Captain Davis Love 3rd has to sort out and select the final 3 players after the top 9 secure their spots. Good Luck Captain Love.
The 116th U S Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan featured a match play final between Brad Dalke and Australia’s Curtis Luck. Luck played great over the day’s final 32 holes and posted a 6&4 victory over Dalke who are both eligible to play in the 2017 Masters and US Open tournaments next year. The University of Oklahoma sophomore who turned 19 on Friday played well throughout the tournament in advancing to the finals but Luck won eight consecutive holes in the afternoon session to put the match out of reach. Luck became the third Australian to claim the Havemeyer trophy, the Gold Medal and a likely invitation to The Open Championship next July.
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Locally, the MGA Father and Son championship was played at Plymouth Country Club and the senior division title was claimed by Mark and Michael Souliotis of Haverhill Country Club with a -5 under 64. The junior division title was won by Paul and Kyle Puchol playing out of Olde Barnstable Fairgrounds with a -2 under 67 on the second and final day of the tournament.
Finally, Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth, Massachusetts is the host this week for the 96th edition of the NEPGA Section Championship. The field features 165 of New England’s top golfers taking on the Nicklaus and Jones courses with the final round on Wednesday on the Nicklaus course. Defending champion Rich Berberian Jr, PGA who plays out of Windham Country Club in New Hampshire will be looking for his third consecutive win.
