The European Tour took last week off in preparation for the King’s Cup but there was still plenty of action for golf fantasy enthusiasts to remain entertained over the weekend. The drought of home representatives competing for a title at the national event continued at the RBC Canadian Open over the weekend with a Venezuelan rallying in the final round to clinch an unlikely PGA Tour victory. Meanwhile, it was the United States team that saved its best for last at the UL International Crown as they delivered in a major way to win a rare team event on the LPGA Tour on Sunday. Here is a recap of the events from around the golf world this past weekend.
RBC Canadian Open
PGA Tour
Jhonattan Vegas began the final round of the RBC Canadian Open five shots back of the overnight leader Brandt Snedeker but birdied the final three holes at the Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Ontario, Canada to pull out a one-stroke victory. Vegas closed with an eight-under-par 64 to finish at 12-under, narrowly beating out Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Martin Laird, who tied for second at 11-under. Meanwhile, the 2013 Canadian Open winner Snedeker managed a 71 to tie for fifth at 10-under with Alex Cejka, Ricky Barnes and Steve Wheatcroft.
Youngster Jared du Toit posting the best score among the home favorites this weekend at nine-under as the only Canadian to finish in the top-40. What is more impressive here is that he is just an amateur. He looked like he might have a serious shot at contending for the tournament win after the first round where he shot a 67. However, he could maintain that level and fell back a little. The 21-year-old appears to have a very bright future ahead of him considering this was his first ever PGA Tour event. The next closest Canadian to him was Adam Hadwin, who finished in a tie for 49th place with a score of -1. A lot of people playing golf fantasy were disappointed with David Hearn, who has arguably been the best Canadian on the PGA Tour this year. He didn’t even make the cut. No Canadian has won the country’s national championship since 1954.
Vegas’ win was his first of the season, fifth top-10 finish and it earned him a spot in the PGA Championship, which begins on Thursday at the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey.
Top 10 Scores From The RBC Canadian Open
Jhonattan Vegas -12
Jon Rahm -11
Martin Laird -11
Dustin Johnson -11
Ricky Barnes -10
Alex Cejka -10
Steve Wheatcraft -10
Brandt Snedeker -10
Geoff Ogilvy -9
Ben Crane -9
UL International Crown
LPGA Tour
We start our golf fantasy recap of the LPGA with Christie Kerr. She delivered when it mattered the most over the weekend as she held on for a 3-and-2 victory over Melissa Reid on Sunday to deliver the United States team a title in the UL International Crown. Kerr and company were shut out in the first session of the rare LPGA Tour team event on Thursday but they showed progressive improvement throughout the weekend and stole the show when it mattered the most. Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller closed out wins before Kerr wrapped up the event with the clinching victory with Lexi Thompson rounding out the group. Lewis, Kerr and Thompson were part of the U.S. team that finished a disappointing sixth at the event in 2014, as they failed to make it to the final day at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland. However, it was a much different story at this year’s tournament att he Merit Club with the United States quickly turning things around following a slow start. The Americans took home the silver trophy and each individual player in the group took home $100K. South Korea, which was the top seeded team heading in to the event finished second while Taiwan and England finished tied for third. Next up on the LPGA Tour is the RICOH Women’s British Open, which takes place this week at the Woborn Golf Club in Buckingham, New England beginning on Thursday.
Final Scoreboard From The UL International Open
USA 13
South Korea 12
England 11
Taiwan 11
Japan 8
China 6
Thailand 4
Australia 3
