The meat of the season may be well digested at this stage but, for Séamus Power and Tom McKibbin, their continuing quests to make full use of what remains on the table sees them going solo on either side of the Atlantic.
Power – aiming to improve his PGA Tour order of merit ranking – is the lone Irishman in the field for the Shriners Open in Las Vegas while McKibbin, edging ever close to securing one of 10 PGA Tour cards via the DP World Tour pathway route, is competing in the Andalucia Masters in Spain where Jon Rahm is the headline act.
With successive back-to-back tied-11th placed finishes, in the Sandersons Farms and the Black Desert Open, Power has moved to 52nd in the updated FedEx Cup Fall standings. He needs to break into the top-50 at the conclusion of the late-season series to claim spots in next year’s Genesis and Pebble Beach megabucks signature events.
McKibbin’s tied-27th finish behind Dan Bradbury in the French Open saw him move to 14th on the Race to Dubai standings and into eighth place on those PGA Tour 2025 card standings.
Three Irish players gain full status on Ladies European Tour next year
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Two-time Olympic champion Kellie Harrington named Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year 2024
PGA decision to pay US Ryder Cup players a fatal blow for the competition’s old ethos
Conor Purcell is also moving closer to securing his full tour card for next season, the Dubliner currently lying in 12th on the Challenge Tour standings. Purcell, Gary Hurley and Jonathan Caldwell are in the field for this week’s Hangzhan Open, the final regular season event before the Rolex Grand Final in Mallorca on October 31st-November 3rd.
Jerry Kelly’s special win
Jerry Kelly usurped Pádraig Harrington in turning over a three-shot deficit in the final round of the SAS Championship on the Champions Tour ... and claimed there was a greater force at play in enabling him to claim victory.
The American name-checked Jon Trasamar, who was married to the golfer’s niece Allie and who died after suffering with melanoma.
“We just had a memorial service for Jon Trasamar, Trazzy, last Saturday. That, I can’t tell you ... he was playing through me today. I don’t know even know what to say. He came to me last night and I’ll never forget it, it’s a gift from God. I just played for him as much as I could today, that is it. That’s why it happened,” said Kelly.
He expanded: “They were married for just over a year and he developed melanoma and we lost him within a year. So it’s been a tough go. We all miss him so much, but we’re all here living to support Allie now. We love her like a daughter ... this is definitely my favourite win. I mean, there’s no question. It just means so much more. It’s pretty incredible.”
Kelly shot a closing 67 to Harrington’s 71 (his putt to force a playoff on the last lipped out) in the tournament in North Carolina, the last of the regular season events berfore the Charles Schwab Cup three tournament playoffs.
Word of mouth
“It’s really hard to win golf tournaments. [Just] Keep telling yourself that and all you can do is really put yourself in contention and see what happens. You learn a lot from those. People always say learning how to win. I think it’s like learning how to just play in contention and get yourself there more often. Winning sometimes just seems like it kind of happens, especially lately” – Matt McCarty who won in just his second start on the PGA Tour having earned his full card on claiming a third win on the Korn Ferry Tour. His win in the Black Desert Open was his fourth victory of the year, three on the KFT and now on the main US circuit.
By the numbers
315,000 – That’s the amount in US dollars that Ruoning Yin picked up for winning in her home tournament, the Buick LPGA Shanghai. It gave the 22-year-old Chinese golfer a fourth career win on the LPGA Tour.
On this day ... 15th October 1995
You could say that Des Smyth – who co-designed the course along with Declan Branigan – knew the Seapoint Links like the back of his hand, and he certainly utilised such local knowledge in annexing the Glen Dimplex International Matchplay, an unofficial tournament on the European Tour, to add to his curriculum vitae.
The links was only in its infancy when it hosted the event, which attracted Ryder Cup players Paul Broadhurst, Peter Baker and Eamonn Darcy. Then novel competition featured group stages followed by head-to-head knockout.
Smyth won all three matches in his group and, ultimately, faced Paul McGinley in the final, where he claimed victory on the 18th. McGinley, of course, would later have Smyth as one of his Europe Ryder Cup vice-captains almost two decades later at Gleneagles in 2014.
X-Twitter Twaddle
Starting my 2025 in one of my favorite cities! – Rory McIlroy announcing he will defend his Hero Dubai Desert Classic title next season. McIlroy is on a break until the season-ending back-to-back Rolex series events in the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Championship and the DP World Tour Championship finale to the Race to Dubai rankings.
Did we just become best friends? Meet Paddy ... – Shane Lowry introducing his new family dog to his social media followers. Wonder what Pádraig Harrington thinks of the cuddly one’s name?
Great to be back at Le Golf National in Paris for first time since the Ryder Cup! What a venue! It coped with all Mother Nature could throw its way this week. Lovely support for the fans too. Many thx! Won’t leave it so long next time! jR – Justin Rose embracing the challenge of the French Open venue, where his compatriot Dan Bradbury came away with a second DP World Tour career win.
Know the Rules
Q: A player finds her ball lying next to a half-eaten apple in a bunker. She decides to move the apple, but in doing so accidentally causes her ball to move. She places her ball back on its original spot and plays it from there. What is the ruling?
A: The player gets one penalty stroke for causing the ball to move: such a situation comes under clarification of a loose impediment and Rule 15.11b in the Rules of Golf – Fruit that is detached from its tree or bush is a loose impediment, even if the fruit is from a bush or tree not found on the course. The player gets one penalty stroke for causing their ball to move while removing a loose impediment.
In the bag
Dan Bradbury – FedEx French Open
Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees)
3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees)
Utility Iron: Ping I Crossover (3)
4-9 iron: Ping Blueprint Forged S
Pitching wedge: Ping Blueprint Forged S
50, 56 and 60-degree wedges: Ping S159
Putter: Ping PLD Oslo Proto
Ball: Titleist Pro V1 X (2023)
