Matsuyama’s electric final-round 62 to surge past the field and win at the Riviera in Los Angeles planted him back in the world top-20.

The 2021 Masters winner from Japan, once as high as No.2 in the official world golf ranking (OWGR), entered last week at No.55.

He hadn’t won a tournament since January 2022 and has struggled with a neck and back injury since Bay Hill in March that year.

With his final score of 17-under-par 267 at Riviera Country Club, Matsuyama rocketed 35 places up the board to sit in the top-20 for the first time in nearly a year.

His ninth PGA Tour win broke the record for Asian-born players he had previously shared with South Korea’s K.J. Choi.

The modest Matsuyama was surprised by his victory.

He started the final round six shots off the pace but ended the day breaking, by one shot, the Riviera record for best closing round by a winner, set by Doug Tewell in 1986.

“I was not feeling comfortable with my ball-striking. I was thinking, ‘Hey, I’m going to have a couple missed shots (on Sunday),'” Matsuyama told reporters via interpreter.

“But maybe that worked out.”

The top-five in the OWGR remained the same on Monday, with Scottie Scheffler at No.1, followed by Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele.

Former World No.1 Jason Day remains the highest-ranked Australian golfer, at 19th, with Min Woo Lee (42), Cam Smith (44) and Adam Scott (48) also in the top-50.

Matsuyama’s electric final-round 62 to surge past the field and win at the Riviera in Los Angeles planted him back in the world top-20.

The 2021 Masters winner from Japan, once as high as No.2 in the official world golf ranking (OWGR), entered last week at No.55.

He hadn’t won a tournament since January 2022 and has struggled with a neck and back injury since Bay Hill in March that year.

With his final score of 17-under-par 267 at Riviera Country Club, Matsuyama rocketed 35 places up the board to sit in the top-20 for the first time in nearly a year.

His ninth PGA Tour win broke the record for Asian-born players he had previously shared with South Korea’s K.J. Choi.

The modest Matsuyama was surprised by his victory.

He started the final round six shots off the pace but ended the day breaking, by one shot, the Riviera record for best closing round by a winner, set by Doug Tewell in 1986.

“I was not feeling comfortable with my ball-striking. I was thinking, ‘Hey, I’m going to have a couple missed shots (on Sunday),'” Matsuyama told reporters via interpreter.

“But maybe that worked out.”

The top-five in the OWGR remained the same on Monday, with Scottie Scheffler at No.1, followed by Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele.

Former World No.1 Jason Day remains the highest-ranked Australian golfer, at 19th, with Min Woo Lee (42), Cam Smith (44) and Adam Scott (48) also in the top-50.

HOLYWOOD hotshot Rory McIlroy has revealed what a future world golf tour may look like.

34-year-old McIlroy has been vocal about the fractured landscape in golf since the emergence of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

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But the PGA Tour star outlined his vision when speaking at the conclusion of The Genesis Invitational.

It remains to be seen if the proposed merger between PGA Tour and LIV will be finalised after SSG invested $3billion in the PGA Tour, leaving any potential deal with PIF in limbo.

Speaking after his final round at Riveira in Los Angeles on Sunday, the four-time major winner once again gave his vision of what a potential and unified tour may look like.

McIlroy says he doesn’t know how long these lucrative $20m ‘Signature’ events will run for but believes the format and prize fund may be the way forward.

WORLD VISION

He said: “I think for these [Signature] really big events, and the ones that carry a lot of meaning and history – Riviera, Memorial, Bay Hill, those sort of events—yeah.

“I think this week’s worked pretty well. It would be great to have a couple extra guys still playing over the weekend but overall, I think it’s worked pretty well so far.”

The PGA have nine ‘Signature’ tournaments on their 2024 calendar with massive sums of cash up for grabs.

Northern Ireland’s McIlroy reckons some adjustments need to be made as he reckons the PGA Tour must look at a global tour model.

He added: “I think it’s all pie in the sky stuff. I think there has to be a component of the southern hemisphere – Australia, South Africa.

“There obviously has to be a component of the far east, whether that be Korea, Japan, China.

“Obviously the Middle East as well. We’ve been going to the Middle East for a long time but obviously Dubai, Saudi, and then sort of working our way from east to west, and then back into the United States for the sort of spring, summertime.

“I don’t think it will look too dissimilar to what it is right now, but maybe the front end of the year and the back end of the year might look a little different.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

“I don’t think we need to blow everything up, but there definitely needs to be some tweaks, I think.

“The way I look at it, it would be like Champions League in European football.

“It sort of sits above the rest of the leagues and then all those leagues sort of feed up into that and the best of the best play against each other in the Champions League is the way I would think about it.”

We’re less than two months away from the first men’s major championship of the year, and the race to qualify via the Official World Golf Ranking is heating up.

One way to play into the 2024 Masters field is to secure a spot inside the top 50 of the OWGR the week before the event at Augusta National, April 11-14. PGA Tour players have seven more events to earn points, while the DP World Tour has five events on its schedule before the Masters. LIV Golf players, however, are running out of time.

This week, 21 of the 54 current players in the league led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund have entered the Asian Tour’s first International Series event of the year in Oman. The International Series consists of 10 events – funded by LIV Golf – that offer significantly less prize money than LIV events. So why play? Under the Asian Tour wing, International Series events dish out OWGR points.

LIV Golf hasn’t been granted OWGR points despite numerous attempts (remember the MENA Tour alliance?), which has caused its players to plummet in the rankings over the last two years. Patrick Reed is 100th, Bryson DeChambeau is 169th and Dustin Johnson is 238th, to name a few.

Of the 21 LIV players in the Oman field, just three are currently inside the top 100: Lucas Herbert (80), Joaquin Niemann (81) and Dean Burmester (95).

“I think I have a different mindset for this year,” said Niemann after he won LIV’s season opener in Mexico earlier this month. “It kind of hurt me a little bit not being in the majors and I think also helped me to get motivation to kind of earn my spot back into the majors.”

Both Niemann and Burmester played their way into the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon via their Open Qualifying Series wins at the end of 2023, but a trip down Magnolia Lane may be out of reach. LIV has three events in the next seven weeks leading up to the Masters – Jeddah (March 1-3), Hong Kong (March 8-10) and Miami (April 5-7) – which makes any sort of top-50 push for the Masters not necessarily impossible, but certainly improbable.

The U.S. Open and Open Championship feature top 60 and top 50 exemptions, respectively, and while the PGA Championship doesn’t explicitly grant exemptions based on the OWGR, special exemptions are often given to players inside the top 100 to those who aren’t qualified through a set category.

Long story short, this week’s event in Oman is just the start of what will be a busy year for LIV players not already qualified for the majors.

LIV players in International Series Oman field

Player	Current OWGR Ranking
Lucas Herbert	80
Joaquin Niemann	81
Dean Burmester	95
Louis Oosthuizen	137
David Puig	141
Mito Pereira	154
Abraham Ancer	165
Anirban Lahiri	309
Charl Schwartzel	329
Matt Jones	395
Eugenio Chacarra	411
Scott Vincent	413
Kieran Vincent	422
Sebastian Munoz	428
Jinichiro Kozuma	522
Peter Uihlein	629
Danny Lee	643
Branden Grace	715
Matthew Wolff	1,113
Carlos Ortiz	1,286
Hudson Swafford	1,786

Clarksville, TN – Coming off a match-play victory to start the spring campaign, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s golf team is back in action when it tees off at the World Golf Village Collegiate, Monday and Tuesday at the King & Bear Golf Course at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida.

In a tournament hosted by Atlantic Sun Conference rival Eastern Kentucky, the Governors also will be joined by conference foes Bellarmine, Jacksonville State, and Stetson in the Sunshine State. Belmont, Eastern Illinois, Florida A&M, IUPUI, Lindenwood, Morehead State, North Carolina A&T, Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne, Southern Indiana, Stetson, UT Martin, and Youngstown State round out the 18-team, 108-player field.

Austin Peay State University’s first spring tournament is being played at the King & Bear Golf Course, the only course in the world co-designed by “The King” Arnold Palmer and “The Golden Bear” Jack Nicklaus.

After winning his match at the Battle of the Border to open the spring, Reece Britt leads the Governors off the first tee. Britt has played in four tournaments for the APSU Govs this season, carding a team-best 71.92 stroke average and 11 counting scores in 12 rounds played. Britt is also tied for the team lead with three rounds in the 60s this season and ranks second on the team with seven rounds at even or under par.  

Jakob Falk Schollert, who has appeared in all five tournaments this season, is next in line with a 72.86 scoring average and 14 counting scores in 14 rounds played. Falk Schollert has also posted a pair of rounds in the 60s and five rounds at even or under par this season.

With a 72.93 scoring average this season, Logan Spurrier tees off third for Austin Peay State University. Spurrier has played in all five tournaments for the Govs this season with 10 counting scores in 14 rounds played; he has also carded five rounds at even or under par and two rounds in the 60s.

Making his first appearance in the lineup for the APSU Govs this season is Payne Elkins. Elkins carded a 72.80 scoring average and three rounds at even or under par during the fall slate.

Finally, Daniel Love will be the final Governor to tee it up at the World Golf Collegiate. Love has played in all five tournaments for Austin Peay State University this season and carded a 74.50 scoring average. In addition, Love has recorded six counting scores in 14 rounds played with a pair of rounds at even or under par.

Austin Peay State University will be paired with Jacksonville State, Purdue Fort Wayne, and UT Martin for the first two rounds of the World Golf Village Collegiate, which begins with a shotgun start, Monday. GolfStat will have live scoring and updates for the event.

For news and results, follow the Austin Peay State University men’s golf team on X and Instagram (@GovsMGO) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.

THIS is the world’s most luxurious mining camp where workers enjoy drinks at rooftop bars and play virtual golf.

Built by Australia’s biggest mining company BHP, the Mula Mula village is a $150million lavish recreational facility exclusively for the workers.

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The mining camp, which opened in 2021, is the flashiest the company has ever built – offering world-class living facilities to its Fly-in, Fly-out (FIFO) workers.

Pictures appear to show the world-class amenities of the facility which has 2500 rooms, fully-equipped kitchens with cooking masterclasses and a three-storey cafeteria attached with big lawns.

There is even a CrossFit gym, a 3000-book library and wide-spread lounge areas for workers to relax between their shifts.

Miners can take a dip in the Olympic-sized swimming pool, play squash at the dedicated court with colleagues – and even enjoy virtual indoor golf.

For outdoor activities, the company has built a football pitch, a cricket ground and tennis and basketball courts.

They have come a long way and in terms of the workforce and mental health issues it has been a big boost

Poulia JamiesonFIFO worker

Workers can be seen casually hanging out with colleagues and having drinks at the lavish rooftop pubs built for them.

Each staff is offered a resort-style private accommodation with en-suite bathrooms, air conditioning, and a high-speed internet connection.

Situated just 75miles from the nearest city centre, the concept of the lavish facility, according to the company, is to make the workers feel at home.

Poulia Jamieson, a FIFO worker at the camp, said she had never felt more at home on a mine site – and helped even out the transition left her home for the residential job.

“They have come a long way and in terms of the workforce and mental health issues it has been a big boost,” she added.

BHP boss Edgar Basto said the company was happy to raise the bar on the mining camp as it was a healthy step for its workforce.

While FIFO workers can get paid up to £100,000 for such jobs, they often have to work in remote areas where they could feel disconnected from home and social lives

Project manager Simon Thomas said: “What we look to do is generate a sense of connection [for staff] to what would be their normal life.”

Meanwhile, a woman revealed she earns £80,000 per year in a FIFO job – and shared the exclusive perks she receives on top of it.

Another FIFO worker offered a glimpse of her job where she makes £10,000 every month without any experience.

And a backpacker revealed he made £36,000 in just four months – and explained how anyone can earn up to £2,500 each week.

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