The Monday Mulligan: the week that was in golf …
- themondaymulligan
- Nov 24
- 7 min read
As tournaments start to wrap up for the season in various parts of the world, the Australian summer of golf is just heating up as we hit a stretch of excellent tournaments finishing with the Crown Australian Open. Elsewhere we had a Finnish winner for the first time on the PGA Tour, as well as a LIV Golf rookie in Josele Ballester securing his first professional win. All that and much more below in this weeks recap.
The 2025 Queensland PGA Championship took place at Nudgee Golf Club in Brisbane on the newly renovated “Kurrai” course. Victorian Cameron John secured a dramatic victory, carding a six-under 66 in the final round to finish at 17-under (271), two strokes clear of amateur Billy Dowling. John’s win was sealed by a remarkable long-iron shot on the par-5 15th: from a muddy lie, he hit a 6-iron through the trees to about 12 feet, then converted the putt for eagle. He followed that with a birdie on 16 while overnight leader Zach Murray bogeyed, giving John a sudden four-stroke swing. He closed with pars on 17 and 18 to cap off a strong back-nine finish. Billy Dowling (15-under) also impressed, firing a closing 66 to claim solo second as an amateur. Zach Murray, who had led heading into Sunday, faltered down the stretch, scoring 70 to finish third at 14-under. For John, this marks his second title on the PGA Tour of Australasia (his first was at The National in 2024). The win gives him strong momentum heading into the upcoming Australian majors, including the BMW Australian PGA Championship. Overall, the tournament was defined by John’s composure under pressure, a clutch iron shot, and a late swing that overturned the leaders to snatch the title.
Victorian Cameron John fires up down the stretch to win the QLD PGA Championship
(photo courtesy of: https://golf.com.au/)
The 2025 RSM Classic, held at Sea Island Golf Club in Georgia, served as the season-ending event on the PGA Tour, with high drama as many players vied to secure their status for 2026. Finland’s Sami Valimaki claimed his first PGA Tour victory in dramatic fashion, closing with a 4-under 66 to finish at 23-under (259). He became the first Finnish man ever to win on the PGA Tour. Valimaki showed nerves of steel down the stretch. On the 16th hole he struck a delicate putt from just off the green to save par. He birdied the par-5 15th, which gave him a crucial lead, then steadied himself over the closing holes despite gusty wind. Max McGreevy made a late surge with a bogey-free 63, including a clutch 30-foot birdie on the 18th to finish one shot behind at 22-under. Ricky Castillo closed with a 62, finishing third at 21-under, but fell just short of securing his full PGA Tour card for 2026. The stakes were especially high: this was the final tournament of the fall, and only the top 100 in the FedExCup standings earned full Tour cards for 2026. With the win, Valimaki earned 500 FedExCup points, a two-year PGA Tour exemption, and invitations to marquee events next season. Overall, the 2025 RSM Classic was defined by Valimaki’s breakthrough, McGreevy’s late-round heroics, and the high-pressure drama of professionals playing for their future on tour.
Best of the Aussies was Harrison Endycott who put together four good, under-par rounds to finish in a tie for 34rd with a score of 14-under.
Sami Valimaki wins RSM Classic, first Finnish winner on the PGA Tour
(photo courtesy of: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/)
The 2025 CME Group Tour Championship wrapped up the LPGA season in style at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida. World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand claimed her second consecutive CME Group Tour Championship title, closing with a 4-under 68 to finish at 26-under (262), four shots ahead of fellow Thai Pajaree Anannarukarn. Thitikul came into the final round with a comfortable six-shot lead over Nelly Korda and managed the pressure beautifully. She extended her lead with birdies on the back nine, fending off a mid-round charge from Anannarukarn, who had narrowed the margin early but faltered down the stretch. Off the course, the win gave Thitikul the biggest payday in women’s golf, US$4 million from the $11 million purse. She also secured two of the LPGA’s most coveted season awards: Rolex Player of the Year and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. In doing so, she set a new LPGA single-season scoring average record at 68.681, just edging out Annika Sörenstam’s 2002 mark. It was a dominant finish to a stellar season for Thitikul, she not only defended the season finale but ended the year with three tournament wins, leading the money list and rewriting parts of LPGA history.
Best of the Aussies were Steph Kyriacou and Minjee Lee who both fought hard to finish at T13 together with a score of 12-under.
Jeeno Thitikul Wins CME Group Tour Championship for Second Consecutive Year
(photo courtesy of: www.lpga.com)
The 2025 PIF Saudi International, held at Riyadh Golf Club, concluded with a breakthrough victory for Josele Ballester, who claimed his first professional title. Ballester carded a bogey-free final round 65 to finish at 22-under (262), securing a three-shot win over American Caleb Surratt. Surratt, who led much of the tournament, closed with a 69 to finish second at 19-under, while Dean Burmester of South Africa made a push but ended up third at 17-under. Richard Bland carded a final-round 68 to take solo fourth at 16-under. The tournament, part of the Asian Tour’s International Series, boasted a $5 million prize fund. A few storylines stood out: Anthony Kim, returning to competitive golf after a long hiatus, put together a stellar second round, a bogey-free 64 with seven birdies, moving into contention at 11-under. Meanwhile, Burmester surged into a share of the lead earlier in the week with a flawless 64, crediting newfound driving distance for his performance. More broadly, Ballester’s win underscores his rapid rise, just months into his professional career and already performing at the highest levels. Golf Saudi described the victory as a “dream come true” for the 22-year-old Spaniard. Overall, the 2025 PIF Saudi International delivered high drama: young talent breaking through, big checks on the line, and a closing round that showed poise under pressure.
Best of the Aussies was Lucas Herbert who fired up on Sunday to shoot a 64 and launch himself into T5 with a final score of 14-under.
Fireballs GC's Josele Ballester registers big breakthrough victory at PIF Saudi International
(photo courtesy of: https://thegolfnewsnet.com/)
Up Ahead
The Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia backs it up again this week as they head just down the road to Royal Queensland Golf Club where a star-studded field will compete in the BMW Australian PGA Championship. Elvis Smylie is our defending champion after he won this event last year, launching what became a very successful rookie year on the DP World Tour. With a prize pool of $AUD 2.5 million, this remains a co-sanctioned event with the DP World Tour which has seen good results in attracting world-renowned golfers into the field and as a warm-up for the Australian Open early next month. Meanwhile, this week our professional women on the WPGA Tour of Australasia resume their qualifiers for the Women’s NSW Open which will be played at the end of February next year.
The Asian Tour also backs it up this week, albeit not with an International Series event. The field will head to India for the Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat which is being played at the Kensville Golf Resort. The event has a prize pool of $USD 500,000 and has joined the schedule as a co-sanctioned event between the Asian Tour and the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL). After the recent success the DP World Tour had during their visit to India, it will be interesting to see what sort of reception the Asian Tour receives and how the game continues to grow in that part of the world.
The Ladies European Tour have finished their short break and land in Spain for their final event of the year, the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana presented by OYSHO. Carlota Ciganda is our previous winner and this event carries a purse worth €700,000.
The PGA Tour has a week off before they head to Albany for the Hero World Challenge in early December. Whilst the LPGA season may have ended, many of the professional women on that tour are competing in the Grant Thornton Invitational in a couple of weeks in Naples. As a co-sanctioned event, players will pair up to compete for a share in the $USD 2 million purse where Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit were our winners from last year.
The DP World Tour joins the Liv Golf League in being done for the year. Updates on those leagues will only be included following any significant news which the everyday punter should be aware of and have some talking points for the office environment come Monday. In other news, the Internet Invitational drew a fair audience across the online golf community over the past few weeks. Whilst it is an influencer campaign and is designed to attract views, it seemed a little over the top with the constant pursuit of controversy and won’t be everyone’s cup of tee. That being said, if you want to sound informed at the water cooler in the office, it would be worth catching some of the highlights and lowlights from that event.
That’s it for this week, I hope it covered what you were 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 capturing the highs and lows across the world of golf.
That’s it for now, stay safe and play well!
Play well,
TMM
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