The best golfers in the world for both the men and women were in action across Asia over the weekend with the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions taking place in Shanghai, China while the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia took place in Kuala Lumpur. The Asian contingent seemed to benefit from the relative home course advantage with Hideki Matsuyama and Shanshan Feng delivering victories. Here is a recap of the events from around the golf world this past weekend.
World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions
PGA Tour
Hideki Matsuyama delivered a flawless performance in the final round of the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions to become the first Japanese player to win the event on Sunday. The 24-year-old fired a 66 in Shanghai on Sunday to finish at 23-under-par for the tournament, which was good enough to finish seven strokes ahead of Henrik Stenson and Daniel Berger for top spot. Matsuyama has clearly been on fire over the past month with a win at the Japan Open and another victory at the HSBC Champions. Meanwhile, the runner-up finish was enough for Stenson to move to first in the Race to Dubai overall standings.
World No. 3 Rory McIlroy and Bill Haas finished tied for fourth at 15-under, followed by Rickie Fowler, Ross Fisher and Francesco Molinari at 14-under. Next up for the men on the PGA Tour this week is the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open while the European Tour will head to Turkey for the Turkish Airlines Open. There has been a lot of talk about the conditions surrounding the Turkish Airlines Open after it was announced that Rory McIlroy will not compete in this year’s event due to security concerns, so it will be very interesting to see how the field shapes out and how the officials on the European Tour respond. Keep an eye on the news throughout the week and come back for our weekly event and fantasy preview on Wednesday.
Top 10 Scores From The World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions
Hideki Matsuyama -23
Daniel Berger -16
Henrik Stenson -16
Bill Haas -15
Rory McIlroy -15
Ross Fisher -14
Rickie Fowler -14
Francesco Molinari -14
Sergio Garcia -12
Russell Know -12
Emiliano Grillo -11
Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia
LPGA Tour
Shanshan Feng was solid from start to finish at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia where she finished at 17-under-par to record a three-stroke victory over Suzann Pettersen. The Chinese star spoke about the importance of how comfortable she felt playing close to home and how big of difference it made in her overall performance. Feng followed up a 64 in the third round with a 67 on the final day and she looked more confident than she has in a very long time taking care of business over the weekend. Feng has finished fourth or better in each of her last six events, which have coincided with the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing. Meanwhile, Pettersen finished second at 14-under, followed by Amy Yang and Anna Nordqvist in third place at 12-under.
It was an off week for the top two players in the world with Lydia Ko finishing tied for 12th at 8-under, while Ariya Jutanugarn finished tied for 43rd at 1-over. Canadian Brooke M. Henderson, who has been such a steady golfer, had one of her worst results of 2016 as she finished in a tie for 63rd with a +9. It was so bad that little known Canadians, Alena Sharp and Maude-Aimee Leblanc, actually finished above her. Sharp finished with a +5 while Leblanc posted a +1.
Feng took full advantage of the situation with the top two players struggling and earned another big victory. Next up for the LPGA is the Toto Japan Classic beginning on Friday.
The best result by an American was the -10 by Kim Kaufman, who tied for seventh with another American, Danielle Kang. Paula Creamer was right behind them in a tie for ninth at -9. Jessica Korda finished in 12th place with a -8.
Top 10 Scores From The Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia
Shanshan Feng -17
Suzann Pettersen -14
Amy Yang -12
Anna Nordqvist -12
So Yeon Ryu -11
Azahara Munoz -11
Kim Kaufman -10
Danielle Kang -10
Carlota Ciganda -9
Paula Creamer -9
Mi Jung Hur -9
