Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Svensson falls just short of playoffs
Sloan posts season-best finish at Wyndham Championship; Wyatt Brook cherishes Willingdon Cup win; Lauren Kim knocked out in Round of 16 at U.S. Women’s Amateur; Ames repeats at Boeing Classic
By: Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(August 12, 2024) - A spirited playoff push by Surrey’s Adam Svensson fell just short at the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship. Svensson entered the final regular-season event at No. 82 on the FedEx Cup points list and needed to move inside the top 70 to qualify for the lucrative three-event playoffs.
He came close with a tie for seventh finish that moved him to 75th, just short of where he needed to get. Fellow British Columbians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, both of Abbotsford, had no such worries about making the playoffs.
Hadwin entered the week 37th on the points list and after tying for 28th at the Wyndham that’s exactly where he remained. Hadwin is set up well for the playoffs, which begin with this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.
He is a virtual lock to remain inside the top 50 after that event and that will make him exempt for all of the lucrative 2025 Signature events. Taylor has some work to do. He missed the cut by one shot at the Wyndam and fell two spots to 52nd on the points list.
He has to move up at least two spots at the St. Jude to clinch his spot into next year’s Signature events and to also qualify for the second playoff event, the BMW Championship in Castle Pines, Colo.
Svensson closed with a one-under 69 in Sunday’s final round to finish at 12-under par. That was six shots behind winner Aaron Rai of England. Svensson made $249,245. Hadwin shot an even-par 70 in the final round and finished at nine-under par. He made $56,485.
SEASON-BEST: Merritt’s Roger Sloan had his best finish of the season at the Wyndham, a tie for 12th that earned him $144,965. That moved Sloan up 15 spots to No. 175 on the points list. The upcoming fall events will give him an opportunity to move inside the top 125 to remain fully exempt for 2025. There is also a conditional category for players who finish between 126th and 150th.
A BIG DEAL: Wyatt Brook knows that for some members of his generation, the Willingdon Cup is not revered quite the way it once was. But the 25-year-old Heffley Creek resident made it clear that being part of B.C.’s Willingdon Cup-winning team at last week’s Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship in Saskatoon was a very big deal for him.
“I feel like for some it means a little less than it did 15 or 20 years ago,” Brook said after he and his teammates, Cooper Humphreys of Vernon and James Fahy of Vancouver, won the Willingdon Cup inter-provincial team competition. “Some of the older players I have talked to, they talk like it is the Stanley Cup. That’s where I am getting the joy of seeing my name going on it. To join that class of guys is great.”
Team B.C. won the 36-hole Willingdon Cup competition with a score of nine-under par. That was four shots clear of Team Ontario. B.C. last won the Willingdon Cup in 2015. “I was celebrating pretty hard,” Brook said. “To qualify for the team and to be on the team that won it, honestly, it has been kind of a dream summer for me.”
Brook qualified to play for Team B.C. by finishing third at last month’s B.C. Amateur Championship at Ledgview Golf Club in Abbotsford. He followed that up by winning the B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship the following week at Golden Golf Club. Brook, a longtime member at Rivershore Golf Links in Kamloops, tied for 34th in Saskatoon.
BEST OF B.C.: Humphreys, the two-time B.C. Amateur champion, was the top British Columbian at the Canadian Amateur. He finished solo seventh at seven-under par. That was eight shots back of winner Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island, Fla. Richmond’s Mackenzie Bickell also cracked the top 10, tying for eighth at six-under par.
AMATEUR HOUR: Surrey’s Lauren Kim and Anna Huang of Vancouver both made it to match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Huang won her Round of 64 match before being eliminated in the Round of 32. Kim made it all the way to the Round of 16, where she lost a heart-breaker on the 20th hole. Rianne Malixi of the Philippines defeated American Asterisk Talley 3&2 in the 36-hole final.
The 17-year-old Malixi has a B.C. connection. She is coached by former Victoria pro Rick Gibson, who is a long-time resident of the Philippines. Malixi also won last month’s U.S. Junior Girls Championship, where she also beat Talley in the final. “Rianne is a force to be reckoned with,” Gibson recently told The Daily Tribune, an English language newspaper in the Philippines. “Her dedication and passion for the game are unmatched.”
TEAM BC: B.C. Junior Boys champion Austin Krahn of Christina Lake, Ryan Vest of Vernon and Manpreet Lalh of Nanaimo will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at this week’s Canadian Junior Boys Championship at Innisfail Golf Club. Alex Zhang of Richmond will defend the championship he won last year at North Bay Golf & Country Club.
LAKEPOINT HAT TRICK: Vancouver’s Ilirian Zalli won his third straight Lakepoint Golf Club Charity Pro-Am in Charlie Lake. Zalli shot two rounds of 65 and his 14-under total beat the field by seven shots. He earned $5,000 for the win. Rudy Caparas of Lynwood, Wash., was second at seven-under and made $3,200. Keith Ng of Richmond and Nigel Sinnott of Chilliwack shared third place at five-under par and each took home $2,250.
BACK ON COURSE: The PGA Tour Americas circuit resumes after a one-week break at this week’s Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open in Waskesiu Lake. British Columbians in the field include Chris Crisologo of Richmond, A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver, Lawren Rowe of Victoria and Justin Towill of Kelowna.
REPEAT WINNER: Part-time Vancouver resident Stephen Ames won the PGA Champions’ Boeing Classic in Seattle for the second straight year. Ames birdied four of his final seven holes to close with a five-under 67. His 54-hole total of 11-under par was one shot better than Ernie Els, Steve Alker and Robert Karlsson. The PGA Champions circuit makes its annual visit to Calgary this week for the Rogers Charity Classic.