Rose wins Turkish Open, to return to world No. 1

SYDNEY, Australia – American golf fans are clearly tickled pink right now given the youth movement on the PGA TOUR. As Tiger Woods faced his injuries over the last four years, the likes of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas emerged into super-stardom, and the production line keeps churning out youthful stars. Last season on TOUR, 20-somethings Thomas (5 wins), Spieth (3), Xander Schauffele (2), Cody Gribble, Mac Hughes, Hudson Swafford, Rickie Fowler, Russell Henley, Wesley Bryan, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Kyle Stanley, Bryson DeChambeau and Grayson Murray all took home victories. Clearly, the future is bright in the good old U-S of A. In modern times, Australia has long had the next best representation of players on the PGA TOUR. Since Greg Norman blazed his way to the top in America, Australia has had a solid core of TOUR players bringing success down under. Ian Baker Finch, Wayne Grady, Steve Elkington helped lead in Norman’s time. Then others like Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby emerged. Soon after, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott and Aaron Baddeley were leading the charge. And then Jason Day took things by the throat. In all this time, you’d routinely find eight to 12 Australians at most TOUR events. But Day recently turned 30, officially taking him out of the “young gun” category. And as he, and others, age there is a real possibility other countries will come and take their mantle. South Korea’s and China’s numbers are strengthening. More English players tend to want to play both in Europe and the US. So who is ready to step up and become the next generation of Aussie stars? Cameron Smith is now the leader of the 20-something Australians. At 24 and with a Zurich Classic title (with Jonas Blixt) under his belt, he is paving the path. With two top-five finishes during the fall series, Smith appears set for another good year. But he’s the only Australian on TOUR under 30. Behind him, the hopes lie on the likes of former U.S. Amateur champion Curtis Luck, former U.S. Junior champion Min Woo Lee, highly touted teenager Ryan Ruffels, British amateur runner up Dylan Perry and the likes of Brett Coletta, Karl Vilips and Cameron Davis. They’ve shown plenty of talent, but have been unable to take the next step towards stardom. “We do have a lot of young talented players here that just haven’t blossomed yet and I think once they do, we will have a good stable of players on the PGA TOUR,â€� Day said after surveying the youngsters in the field at the Australian Open. And he’s counting on it for selfish reasons also. Day still remains driven to become Australia’s greatest ever golfer and the more competition coming through, the better. The 16-year-old Lee, the brother of LPGA winner Minjee, recently out drove Day at a junior clinic. The teenager joked Day might already be scared of him. With a laugh, Day admitted he might be. And talked of the plethora of kids on the range pounding the long ball out there. “Just the sound of the ball coming off, when I was a kid, you’d never really hear that too often and now you go down the range and you just hear every kid sounds like it’s going a very long way,â€� Day said. “When I hear that and look at that, I know that I’ve got to do a lot more to try and keep up or stay in front of them. That gives me extra motivation.â€� Luck had a shot at a TOUR card in the Web.com Finals this year, but was unable to convert. Ruffels has had multiple chances in TOUR events. but failed to garner enough non-member points to forge ahead. The 22-year-old Davis has played in one TOUR event and finished T15, contending throughout. He will attempt to breakthrough at Web.com Tour q-School final stage next month. “There’s me and at least another five or six guys that are really coming through strong at the moment,â€� Davis claims. “It’s really Golf Australia and all the state programs, the players are getting stronger and stronger. It’s just a matter of time before they step out into those waters and see how good they are, because the scores they’re shooting at amateur tournaments are awesome and they’re putting themselves up there in professional tournaments as well. “I don’t see why (Aussies) can’t (replicate the U.S. success),â€� he added. “I feel like their best golf will win tournaments over there.â€� Over the next season or two the others will slowly get their chances. Lee, Ruffels and Vilips are still teens and have time on their side. They all do really – except the standard has now been lifted thanks to the Americans. And of course, other international stars like Hideki Matsuyama and Jon Rahm. Vilips and Lee are already confident kids. Lee’s U.S. Junior win proved his pedigree as did his recent near miss at the Asia-Pacific Amateur. Vilips has been a standout in junior tournaments across the USA where he’s based. He is working with Spieth’s Australian coach Cameron McCormick. Day wants the young Aussies to back themselves. He famously came out saying he wanted to take down Woods in his early days and was handed some backlash. But he says you have to be confident to beat the best. “My biggest thing is if you have dreams and aspirations to do big things and do great things and you want to voice them, then go ahead and voice them,â€� Day, who is just the third Australian behind Norman and Scott to reach world No.1, said. “I’ve always been pretty honest with media and how I’ve been feeling, what I’ve wanted to achieve in my life, because to a certain degree, if I say it, then it kind of makes me accountable, and I need to work harder to try and achieve those goals.â€� The Australian Open has been a launching pad before. Norman was paired with Jack Nicklaus as a young man in the event with the Golden Bear telling him he should take his game to the USA. Aaron Baddeley went back-to-back in 1999-2000 to kick start his career. Perhaps the next wave of stars will emerge this weekend.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Tom Hoge maintained a share of the lead Friday at the Wyndham Championship, this time alongside Si Woo Kim, Talor Gooch and Billy Horschel. Hoge, tied for the first-round lead with Harold Varner III and Roger Sloan, kept in front with a steady 2-under 68 to get to 10 under par. RELATED: Leaderboard | Simpson, Todd feed off friendly energy | Projected FedExCup standings Hoge, whose best-ever TOUR finish was a second at A Military Tirbute at The Greenbrier this season, was asked what it would take for his first PGA TOUR win. “There’s a lot to that question,” he said. The answer could be as simple as regaining his first-round form when he had seven birdies, an eagle and one par. This time, Hoge was more up and down with five birdies and three bogeys. Kim, whose first TOUR victory came here in 2016 and made history a year later as the youngest-ever winner of THE PLAYERS Championship, shot a 65 to move up. Kim got it going on the front nine (his final nine) after starting with nine consecutive pars. He had six bogeys coming in, including the final two holes to move on top. Kim’s approach shots down the stretch were on target — his final five birdie putts were all from 12 feet or closer. He said the rough at Sedgefield Country Club was “more sticky and deep” this year. “It helps more to hit fairway, that’s really important,” Kim said. “That’s why I hit it more, try to focus on … the fairway.” Like Hoge, the 28-year-old Gooch is seeking his first TOUR victory. Like Kim, Gooch shot 65 to get into the foursome on top. It was the first time on TOUR Gooch, who opened with a 65, had multiple rounds that low in the same event. He had six birdies, including two of his final three holes, to move up. “Anytime you shoot 65, it does’t matter who, what, when, where, why, you’ve done some good,” he said. Horschel shot 64 and had birdies on four of last six holes, including a tricky 7-footer on his final one, the ninth, to join the lead group. Horschel won the 2014 FedExCup and said this time of year charges him up. “I like it when the pressure’s on and everyone’s looking at you and you need to step up and doing something special,” he said. The four were a stroke ahead of Harris English (67) , Varner (69), Andrew Landry (65), Doc Redman (64) and the Open champ Shane Lowry, who shot a 63 to tie for Friday’s low round with Jason Kokrak. Lowry did not get to defend his major when the tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic. He also entered the week at 131 in FedExCup points, outside of the upcoming Playoffs. After a bogey on his second hole, Lowry had six birdies and an eagle to move into contention. “Obviously, I’m outside the FedExCup number and out of Boston next week, so I need to keep playing some good golf and try and polish off a good week,” he said. Kokrak was in a group of seven one shot further back along with past Wyndham champ Webb Simpson, who shot his second straight 66. Those three strokes back included Patrick Reed (68), Paul Casey (66) and Tommy Fleetwood (64). A pair of major champions in the thick of last week’s PGA Championship in Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose did not make the cut. Koepka had a 70, including a triple-bogey 7 on the 10th hole, to finish at 2 over, 12 shots behind. Rose rallied to a 67 after an opening 73, but his even-par was not enough to continue. “Not physically tired, more mentally,” said Koepka, who’s played in sixth straight tournaments with the Playoffs ahead. “But I’ve got the weekend off.”

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