Leishman feels right at home in South Korea tournament
Marc Leishman goes into the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges after winning his fourth title on the PGA Tour last week in Kuala Lumpur.
The tournament on Jeju Island, South Korea, the largest island off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, is also where he lost in a playoff last year to Justin Thomas.
And the country itself? It’s where he feels right at home enjoying the Korean culture and meeting old friends.
Leishman played some tournaments on the Korean tour 12 years ago when he was in the formative stages of his career, and he hasn’t forgotten the friends and memories.
“The KPGA (Tour) was a very good experience. It was the first tour I had ever been on and I was very excited to be up here,” Leishman said. “I met a lot of friends, a lot of Korean golfers that I’m still friends with now. It taught me a lot, playing on the Korean Tour.
“Traveling in a foreign country by myself, that teaches you things very quickly. I’ve got a lot of good memories from 2006 when I played.”
Leishman won the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last Sunday by five strokes, closing with a 7-under 65 to match Thomas’ 2015 tournament record of 26-under 262.
Thomas will be back as defending champion at Jeju Island, while Brooks Koepka plays his first event since being voted PGA Tour player of the year. Koepka also will be in Shanghai next week for the HSBC Champions, the third tournament in three weeks on the PGA Tour’s Asian swing.
The CJ Cup also includes Adam Scott, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama and Ian Poulter, who are making their 2018-19 season debuts, as well as FedEx Cup leader Kevin Tway, who won the season-opening Safeway Classic at Silverado.
PADRAIG’S TURN >> Padraig Harrington has taken part in nine of the last 10 Ryder Cups. His next appearance most likely will be as the captain.
Lee Westwood told Sky Sports last week that he was withdrawing from any consideration as captain in 2020 at Whistling Straits, which would seem to clear the way for Harrington to lead Europe next time, and Westwood to be captain in Italy in 2022.
Thomas Bjorn, who led Europe to a romp in Paris, sees plenty of upside with Harrington.
“He has a great relationship with the players on the PGA Tour for all the years he’s played there. He’s a past PGA champion, which helps in the relationship with the PGA of America, and Ireland does have a special relationship with the Americans,” Bjorn said. “So there’s a lot of things that plays into his hands to being a captain in America.”
Steve Stricker is considered a heavy favorite to be U.S. captain in his home state of Wisconsin. MILLER TIME >> Johnny Miller always felt like he had more in common with Tiger Woods than Jack Nicklaus when it came to stretching leads.
“Some guys like the last shot,” Miller said during an interview at the Tour Championship. “I didn’t like the last shot. When I had a two-shot lead, I wanted a five-shot lead because there was no pressure. I was good for the wrong reasons. Whereas Nicklaus, it wasn’t thrilling to him unless it was one shot. He said after the ‘75 Masters, ‘I want you guys to know how much fun you made it for me.’ ”
Miller was a great closer. When he had at least a share of the lead going into the final round, he converted that into victories 74 percent of the time, which Miller said was the highest percentage of anybody “until Tiger.”
Woods is at 93 percent. Miller, analyst for NBC, is retiring after three decades calling the shots for the network. His last tournament will be the Phoenix Open, the perfect exit for a Hall of Fame player once known as the “Desert Fox” for winning six times in Arizona. Miller was so good for so long that it was easy for younger generations to forget about that other career he had.
And to think that was nearly his only career in golf.
LAURA DAVIES WINS SENIOR LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP >> Laura Davies won the Senior LPGA Championship at chilly and windy French Lick (Indiana) Resort to sweep the two senior major events of the year.
Davies birdied the final hole for a 2-under 70 and a four-stroke victory over Helen Alfredsson and Silvia Cavalleri. The 55-yearold Englishwoman won the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open in July at Chicago Golf Club. In March in Phoenix, she tied for second in the LPGA Tour’s Founders Cup. Davies led wire-to-wire, finishing at 8-under 208 on The Pete Dye Course.
Alfredsson also shot 70, and Cavalleri had a 71. Michele Redman was fourth at 1 under after a 73. Brandie Burton, two strokes behind Davies after a second-round 66, shot 77 to finish fifth at 1 over.
Juli Inkster followed an 80 with a 73 to tie for 12th at 6 over.