A busy weekend around the golf world wrapped up with a familiar face holding on for the win at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open, a veteran golfer picking up the biggest prize of his career at the Turkish Airlines Open and a familiar face doubling down at the TOTO Japan Classic. The big boys weren’t in the mix in any of the events (on the male side of things) and that opened the door for some other lesser-known players to step up and shine. Here is a recap of the events from around the golf world this past weekend.
Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
PGA Tour
Rod Pampling seemingly came out of nowhere with birdies on four of the final six holes to win the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and end a 10-year PGA Tour title drought on Sunday. Pampling made gains on 13, 14 and 15 and then finished the event off in style with a 25-foot birdie putt on 18 to finish two strokes ahead of Brooks Koepka for the victory. It was Pampling’s first PGA wins since the 2006 Bay Hill Invitational and while he open the tournament by equaling a course record in the opening round his success seemed that much more unlikely after he shot a 71 in the third round. However, Pampling turned it on down the stretch and fired a 65 in the final round to finish at 20-under-par. Koepka also finished strong with a 67 in the final round and ended up two strokes back of Pampling at 18-under. Lucas Glover finished third at 17-under, followed by Francesco Molinari, Harris English and Geoff Ogilvy at 16-under. Next up for the PGA Tour is the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, which goes this week in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Top 10 Scores From The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
Rod Pampling -20
Brooks Koepka -18
Lucas Glover -17
Francesco Molinari -16
Harris English -16
Geoff Ogilvy -16
Keegan Bradley -15
Kyle Stanley -15
Pat Perez -15
Shawn Stefani -14
Turkish Airlines Open
European Tour
Thorbjorn Oleson celebrated the biggest victory of his career win he fired a 69 in the final round of the Turkish Airlines Open to pull out a three-stroke victory over David Horsey and Hao-tong Li. Oleson nearly threw away a seven-shot lead in the final round but he rallied with birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th hole to maintain a slight edge over Horsey and Li for the big win. Oleson took home nearly $1.2 million in prize money for claiming top spot and his first win since the 2015 Dunhill Links Championship represented the biggest payday of his career. Meanwhile, Bernd Wiesberger finished fourth at 15-under, followed by George Coetzee in fifth at 14-under. Next up for the European Tour is the Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player this week in South Africa.
Top 10 Scores From The Turkish Airlines Open
Thorbjorn Olesen -20
David Horsey -17
Hatong Li -17
Bernd Wiesberger -15
Geroge Coetzee -14
Joakim Lagergren -13
David Lipsky -13
Pablo Larrazabal -12
Nacho Elvira -11
Byeong Hun An -10
TOTO Japan Classic
LPGA Tour
Shanshan Feng continued her dominance on the LPTA Tour’s Asian swing when she secured his second victory in a row at the TOTO Japan Classic. Feng entered the final round with a three-stroke lead but barely held on after closing with a double-bogey six and finishing at 13-under. Feng finished one stroke ahead of Ha-Na Jang to take the final of six straight events in Asia for her sixth-career PGA Tour victory. No other golfer on the LPGA Tour has been hotter than Feng, who has finished no worse than fourth in each of her last seven events. So Yeon Ryu, Kotone Hori, Sun Ju Ahn and Soo-Yun Kang finished tied for third at 10-under. Meanwhile, world No. 1 Lydia Ko continued to struggle as she finished tied for 43rd at two-under, while world No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn finished tied for 10th at eight-under. Next up for the LPGA Tour is the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Invitational, which goes this week in Mexico City, Mexico.
Top 10 Scores From The TOTO Japan Classic
Shanshan Feng -13
Ha Na Jang -12
Kotone Hori -10
So Yeon Ryu -10
Sun-Ju Ahn -10
Soo-Yun Kang -10
Mi Hyang Lee -9
Pornanong Phatlum -9
Suzann Pettersen -9
Minjee Lee -8
