Official World Golf Ranking News
Stone jumps to World No.110 & Ranking roundup
July 18, 2018
European Tour – Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open
South Africa's Brandon Stone equalled the lowest round in European Tour history to win the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open jumping from 371 to World No.110.
The 25-year-old became the 18th player to shoot 60 on the European Tour – Darren Clarke has done it twice – and the fourth to do so on a Sunday on their way to lifting the trophy.
Stone's scintillating ten under par effort was almost one better though – he missed from seven feet on the last for what would have been the first 59 in European Tour history.
He carded eight birdies and an eagle in his first 16 holes at Gullane and needed to play the last two in one under par to break the magical 60 barrier.
A clubhouse target of 20 under par never looked like being matched as Stone recorded his third European Tour title, and also claimed one of three places in the field at next week's Open Championship.
The others went to runner-up Eddie Pepperell, who raced to the turn in 30 and briefly led by two shots before Stone's barrage of birdies saw him overhauled, and Sweden's Jens Dantorp.
A closing 64 saw England's Pepperell finish on 16 under, with overnight leader Dantorp carding a 68 to finish alongside South Africa's Trevor Immelman (65) and American Luke List (64) on 15 under.
List already had a spot in the field at Carnoustie, and Dantorp pipped 2008 Masters Tournament champion Immelman by virtue of his higher position in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Stone began the final round three shots off the lead but covered the front nine in 31 and picked up birdies on the tenth, 12th, 14th and 15th before holing a curling eagle putt from 30 feet on the par-five 16th to set up his shot at history.
“It's incredible,” Stone said. “If I'm going to be brutally honest, I had no idea what my score was until I walked on to the 18th green.
Asian Tour - Bank BRI Indonesia Open
Justin Harding of South Africa put an exclamation point on the closely contested final day, as he carded a one-under-par 71 to win his maiden Asian Tour title at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open on Sunday moving to
The 32-year-old, who missed only three greens-in-regulation before the final round, uncharacteristically dropped two shots on holes seven and eight. However, he bounced back when it mattered with two birdies before emerging victorious with an 18-under-par 270 total at the Pondok Indah Golf Course.
Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent transferred the pressure to Harding early in the round after firing three consecutive birdies on the second, third and fourth hole. But he lost the advantage after dropping three shots at the sixth, ninth and 10th. He eventually ended the week in second place, his fifth top-10 finish this year.
Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat and United States’ Sihwan Kim shared third place after carding 68 and 69 respectively. Gaganjeet Bhullar of India is one shot behind the duo, in lone fifth place.
Johannes Veerman (66), who led the tournament after the opening round, ended his tournament with a flourish. He grabbed a share of sixth place, along with India’s Udayan Mane and Thailand’s Natipong Srithong.
PGA Tour – John Deere Classic
Michael Kim shot a final-round 66 on Sunday to win the John Deere Classic by a record-setting eight strokes. Kim, who turned 25 on Saturday, finished at 27-under 257 to break Steve Stricker's tournament record from 2010 by one shot.
Kim also qualified for next week's Open at Carnoustie -- an unexpected bonus for a player who had missed five of his last six cuts before his breakthrough in the Quad Cities.
Kim also made 30 birdies for the week, a season high on TOUR in 2018.
"To be able to finish out in style like this, it means a lot," Kim said. "To be sitting here with a trophy, I'm at a loss for words."
Bronson Burgoon, Francesco Molinari, Joel Dahmen and Sam Ryder all finished at 19 under.
Kim took all the drama out of the final round with birdies on his first three holes and secured the largest margin of victory during the tournament's stay at the course, which began in 2000. J.P. Hayes (2002) and Vijay Singh (2003) won the event by four strokes.
Kim, who had previously had just one top-10 finish in 84 career starts -- a third at the Safeway Open two years ago -- entered play with a five-shot lead. It was the biggest edge for a third-round leader at the John Deere Classic since Stricker's six-stroke advantage eight years ago.
Kim, a former star at Cal who had struggled to find his footing as a pro, made it obvious from his first swing that he wasn't about to let anyone catch him.
Kim knocked in a 13-foot birdie putt on the opening hole, and then holed two more from 15 and 24 feet to give him seven straight birdies dating back to the end of Saturday's round -- and a seven-shot lead.
Web.com Tour – Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank
Utah – After taking the first-round lead at the Web.com Tour’s Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank, Tour rookie Cameron Champ said his goal for the week was simply to put together two solid rounds of play. Recently plagued by second-round stagnation, Champ wanted to break through in the Beehive State and begin putting himself in a good place to earn his first Tour title. The 23-year-old went on to follow up his opening-round 10-under 61 with rounds of 64-67-68–260 to finish the week at 24-under and earn his first Tour win, besting Steven Ihm by one stroke.
“It feels amazing,” he said after the win. “Coming down the stretch, just knowing where I was, knowing where I stood and what I needed to do, just to be able to do it under pressures that I’ve never felt before … It just felt great to finish.”
Champ, who held both the first- and second-round lead, came out of the gates firing Sunday at Oakridge Country Club, making birdie on four holes on the front nine to reclaim the lead over a leaderboard that was quickly closing in around him. The former Texas A&M University star seemed to be coasting to victory until an errant tee shot on No. 12 led him to his first bogey of the day.
