Aussies on Tour: Day wins Tour Champs – PGA of Australia

Day played in the 30-man field in Atlanta this week as the only Australian, despite finishing in the bottom tier of the BMW Championship outside Chicago today.

The 35-year-old Queenslander last reached the Tour Championship in 2018 when Tiger Woods secured a famous victory.

He has made an impressive climb back to prominence in 2023, including winning the Byron Nelson tournament in May, climbing into the top 25 of the world rankings. Day struggled to finish 40th at the BMW Championship near Chicago today in a field of 50, but it was enough to keep him inside the top 30 of the Fedex Cup standings at No. 25.

Not so lucky was Cam Davies, the other Australian in the BMW field, who should have finished in the top six, but ended up tied for 40th and missed out on the Tour Championship.

Day now knows, as a result of the final in Atlanta, that he will be in the field for the Masters in 2024 and gets a two-year exemption from the Tour.

But he will have to do away with the handicap system that has been in place for the Tour Championship since 2019.
No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler starts at 10-under par this week, while Day will start at 1-under, nine shots back before hitting a ball.

No Australian has ever won the Fedex Cup.

It was a quiet weekend for Australians overseas, but Matt Jones managed a good weekend in England, finishing tied for fourth in the International Series. Terry Pilkidaris, Travis Smyth and Jack Thompson finished in the top 15.

Kristalle Blum scored another top-10 in the LET Access series in Europe.

PHOTO: Jason Day held his own in the top 30 to play in Atlanta this week. Image: Getty

Results

PGA TOUR
BMW Championship, Illinois
• 1 Viktor Hovland 69-68-65-61 – 263 US$3.6M
• T40 Cam Davis 73-66-72-72 – 283 $100,000
• T45 Jason Day 69-74-74-70 – 287 $78,000

DP World Tour
ISPS HANDA World Invitational, Northern Ireland
• 1 Daniel Brown 64-66-67-69 – 266 $255,000
• MC Jordan Zunic 69-75-72 – 277
• MC Connor McKinney 71-72 – 143
• MC Ryan Ruffels 73-72 – 145
• MC Blake Windred 72-75 – 147

LPGA Tour/Women’s European Tour
ISPS HANDA World Invitational, Northern Ireland
• 1 Alexa Pano 76-70-69-66 – 281 $225,000
• T34 Karis Davidson 69-76-75-73 – 293 $9,975
• T34 On Oh 72-75-72-74 – 293 $9,975
• MC Sarah Kemp 75-75-73 – 223
• MC Sarah Jane Smith 74-74-76 – 226

Asian tour
International Series, England
• 1 Andy Ogletree 72-65-67-64 – $268 $360,000
• T4 Matt Jones 69-70-67-71 – 277 $76,400
• 11 Terry Pilkidaris 70-72-70-68 – 280 $34,900
• T12 Travis Smyth 71-68-71-71 – 281 $29,850
• T12 Jack Thompson 70-67-72-72 – 281 $29,850
• T22 Douglas Klein 72-72 -70-70 – 284 $19,400
• T22 Zach Murray 69-74-70-71 – 284 $19,400
• T31 Wade Ormsby 70-73-71-72 – 286 $15,033
• T48 Josh Younger 72-72-72-73 – 289 $8,628
• T48 Todd Sinnott 75-70-73-71 – 289 $8,628
• T55 Jed Morgan 72-72-71-75 – 290 $7,100
• T55 Ben Campbell (NZ) 70-73-74-73 – 290 $7,100
• T65 Danny Lee (NZ) 72-71-74-77 – 294 $5,400
• MC John Lear 76-70 – 146
• MC Brendan Jones 74-73 – 147
• MC Tom Power Horan 73-75 – 148
• MC Marcus Fraser 78-71 – 149
• MC Nick Voke (NZ) 77-72 – 149
• MC Scott Hend 78-71 – 149
• MC Kevin Yuan 74-75 – 149
• MC Jack Murdoch 76-73 – 149
• MC Andrew Dodt 77-75 – 152
• MC Harrison Gilbert-Wong 78-77 – 155

Korn Ferry Excursion
Magnit Championship, New Jersey
• 1 Chan Kim 70-66-68-64 – 268 $180,000
• T23 Curtis Luck 71-70-70-70 – 281 $8,516
• MC Rhein Gibson 70-74 – 144
• MC Brett Drewitt 71-73 – 144
• WD Dimi Papadatos

PGA Champions
Shaw Charity Classic, Calgary
• 1 Ken Duke 66-64-66 – 196 $360,000
• T12 Richard Green 68-70-64 – 202 $47,400
• T21 Mark Hensby 71-69-65 – 205 $26,000
• T21 Steve Alker (NZ) 71-64-70 – 205 $26,000
• T47 David McKenzie 70-67-72 – 209 $6,864
• T70 Stuart Appleby 72-67-74 – 213 $1,968

Epson Tour
Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic, Oregon
• 1 Xiaowen Yin 66-66 – 132 (Prize Payout N/A)*
• T9 Hira Naveed 71-68-139
• T13 Amelia Garvey (NZ) 76-64 – 140
• T35 Robyn Choi 71-72 – 143
• T45 Jennifer Herbst (a) 74-70 – 144
• T53 Sarah Yamaki Branch 72-73 – 145
• MC Jess Whiting 78-72 – 150
*Final round canceled due to poor air quality

LET Access Series
PGA Championship, Gothenburg, Sweden
• 1 Chiara Tamburlini 70-66-68 – 204 $6,400
• T8 Crystals Blum 71-74-71 – 212 $1,120
• T10 Munchin Keh (NZ) 74-72-71 – 215 $825
• T42 Kelsey Bennett 74-75-75 – 224 $280
• T54 Amy Walsh 71-74-81 – 226 $182
• T54 Hanee Song (NZ) 76-74-76 – 226 $182
• MC Wenyung Keh (NZ) 76-77 – 153
• MC Stefanie Hall 77-77 – 154