The Monday Mulligan: the week that was in golf …
- themondaymulligan
- Apr 21
- 6 min read
Another great week of golf with some big storylines including Justin Thomas getting back in the winner’s circle, as well as a rookie winner in Ingrid Lindblad on the LPGA Tour. Golf in China is looking strong on the back of Ahun Wu’s win, whilst Garrick Higgo took out the alternate PGA Tour event in the Dominican Republic. All that and much more, so read on…
The RBC Heritage was witness to a star-studded field where many of the big names featured atop the leaderboard. There were plenty of previous winners in the mix, with four of them on the first page of the leaderboard after Rd 1. It was good to see Gary Woodland back and playing some good golf, hopefully we continue to see him rise back to his Major-winning best. Thomas and Scheffler showed their class early, whilst there were promising glimpses from Speith further back in the field. But it was the Justin Thomas who took control of proceedings and a 2-shot lead into the weekend. Byeong Hun An was the big mover on Saturday as he was 7-under through 14 holes, eventually finishing with an 8-under (63) for his round. Sunday became very interesting very quickly as we saw 4 names atop the leaderboard after just 3 holes: Novak, Thomas, McNealy and S.W. Kim. The lead changed hands across the four of them on a few occasions, before it was just Novak and Thomas left standing on 17-under after the 72nd hole. Novak had an 8-footer to win on the 18th however couldn’t seal the deal. Justin Thomas then stepped up to show his class and drained a 21-footer in the playoff, his longest putt to win and his first win in almost three years. Third place was shared by the quartet Berger, Hughes, Harman and McNealy, who all finished 3 shots further back on 14-under. Best of the Aussies was Cam Davis who finished in T13 at 10-under.
Justin Thomas is back in the winner’s circle after the RBC Heritage
(photo courtesy of: usmagazine.com)
South African Garrick Higgo was on standby to capture the win at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic after a stunning collapse by American Joel Dahmen. Dahmen was the leader after all three of the early rounds and looked poised to capture his second tour victory at the same event where he secured his first back in 2021. That was, until he closed with three consecutive bogeys to shoot a Sunday 76 and hand the Championship over to Higgo. The 25-year old Higgo still had to work for it in what were challenging conditions on Sunday. The South African fired an even par 72 in his final round, which was enough to hold on as the challenges struggled around him. The win is an important one for Higgo as it secures him a 2-year exemption on the tour. Just one shot back, second place was shared by Dahmen, Mitchell, Tosti, Paul and Thorbjornsen. Best of the Aussies was Aaron Baddeley, who shot a disappointing final round 3-over (75) to finish in T26.
Garrick Higgo wins in the Dominican Republic
(photo courtesy of: www.pgatour.com)
It was another International winner on the LPGA Tour this week, as Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad won the JM Eagle LA Championship in just her third start on the LPGA Tour. Firing a Sunday 4-under (68) to finish the tournament at 21-under, it was a solid showing from the 25-year old Swede who laid down the challenge and had a share of the lead when she finished her 72nd hole. It was a crushing bogey from fellow rookie Akie Iwai on her last hole which left her one short and avoided a playoff for Lindblad. Lindblad shot 5 birdies in her final round, before scoring par on the final seven holes which showed a lot of composure for a rookie. Iwai finished in solo-second, closely followed by a tie for third by Coughlin, Henseleit and Yamashite. Of note, 7 nations were represented in the top 10 which just goes to show how well the LPGA Tour is showcasing golf from around the world. Best of the Aussies was Min Jee Lee who finished in T7, closely followed by Hannah Green in T9. Good to see some solid results for the both of them as we head into the Women’s Major season.
Ingrid Lindblad wins in just her third start on the LPGA Tour
(Photo courtesy of www.lpga.com)
It was local hero Ashun Wu who secured his fifth win on the DP World Tour at the Volvo China Open in Shanghai. His win is his second Volvo China Open title and came off the back of an excellent final round of 65 on Sunday. The 39-year old was in the mix but not a front runner through his front nine, before lighting it up down the stretch with a stunning five birdies. That launched him ahead of a chasing pack which at one point saw five names atop the leaderboard being Smith, Ding, Chacarra, Zecheng Dou and Paul. Wu closed things out and finished at 14-under, one ahead of Jordan Smith. Yannik Paul was another shot back at 12-under and finished in solo third. Best of the Aussies was Elvis Smylie who finished at T15 on 6-under, a solid showing by the young gun.
Ashun Wu secures his second Volvo China Open title.
(photo courtesy of: www.europeantour.com)
Up Ahead
The Liv Golf League is off to Mexico City this week, competing at the Club de Golf Chapultepec. The local boys Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer will be hoping to fire up their season with a win on home turf. It should be an intriguing event as we see who polished their game up over the short break as well as how those who were in the field at the Masters bounce back.
The PGA Tour field heads to Louisiana this weekend for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans where McIlroy and Lowry are the defending Champs. This is one of the more unique tournaments in the PGA Tour Schedule as players team up to compete for the $9.2 Million purse and 400 Fedex Cup points.
The LPGA Tour finally gets into its Major season as they compete for the Chevron Championship which is played at The Club at Carlton Woods, Jack Nicklaus Signature Course. Nelly Korda is the defending Champion and will be hoping to back up a strong showing last week where she looks to be getting back to some of her form from 2024. As a Major, the star-studded field will play for a purse of $7.9 Million and 650 Points in the Race to CME Globe. This one is always a lot of fun to watch so if you get a moment through the week, I’d highly encourage you to keep an eye on it.
The DP World Tour stays in China this week where they will finish off the ‘Asian swing’ on Hainan Island. The tournament is hosted at the Blackstone Course at the Mission Hills Resort Haikou. Local Ashun Wu will be hoping to back up his win at last weekends Volvo China Open and give his home crowd something to cheer.
The LET has some time off before resuming on the 9th of May for the Aramco Korea Championship. Prior to that there will be U.S Women’s Open PQ in Italy.
The Asian Tour doesn’t tee it up again until the first weekend of May at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open to be played at the Namseoul Country Club in Korea. The International Series also has an extended break until mid-May when the Caledonian Club in Japan will play host.
That’s it for this week, I hope it covered what you are after and if not, feel free to get in touch and offer some suggestions so we can improve the blog here at The Monday Mulligan. We are stoked to be back and covering what we love across the world of golf.
That’s it for now, stay safe and play well!
Play well,
TMM
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