Greg Chalmers and Rod Pampling have endured painful near misses as fast-finishing Kiwi Steven Alker crashed the party in a wild climax to a thrilling 24 hours for Australian golf.
As rookie sensation Karl Vilips cherished a maiden PGA Tour victory in just his fourth start after superstar Minjee Lee finished runner-up in China, Pampling and Chalmers both let late final-round leads slip on the Champions Tour in Arizona.
The veteran pair had to settle for joint third-place showings behind the triumphant Alker after faltering down the stretch at the Cologuard Classic.
Chalmers especially will be bitterly disappointed after the two-time Australian Open champion was accused of going “AWOL with his irons” while hunting a rare wire-to-wire victory.
The WA left-hander surged two strokes clear of the field, with Pampling his closest pursuer in second spot, before suffering a spectacular swing meltdown on the back nine.
“He’s completely lost it physically,” said one US TV commentator.
“He’s got to go back to the fundamentals. He needs a magic word from the caddy. Something. He’s just got to get it together.”
Alas, he was unable to.
Chalmers bogeyed the 12th and 14th holes and had to scramble for a desperate par on No.17 after failing to find a green coming home until the last.
Rubbing salt into the wound, Chalmers narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie putt on 18 to finish one shot shy of the playoff as Alker and American Jason Caron and Alker were left to battle it out.
Caron and Alker both stormed home with final-round 66s to charge to 12 under for the tournament before the New Zealander prevailed with a birdie on the first extra hole.
Pampling had earlier overcome his own troubles, a dreaded mid-round shank, to seize the outright lead with a birdie on his penultimate hole on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
But he too came unstuck with a bogey at the last to also miss the playoff by a shot after posting a last-day four-under 67.
Despair for Chalmers and Pampling followed ecstasy for 23-year Vilips, who scored a three-shot victory at the Puerto Rico Open to join the great Seve Ballesteros as one of only 12 players to win on the PGA Tour in their first four starts.
Dual major champion Lee continued her return to form with an outright second behind Rio Takeda on Sunday night at the LPGA’s Blue Bay Classic in Hainan.
Former world No.1 Jason Day added to the Australian excitement when he surged to within two shots of the lead late in the final round of the PGA Tour’s Signature Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida.
A watery double-bogey at the 15th hole ultimately cruelled his chances as Day settled for a share of eighth place in a confidence booster ahead of next month’s Masters, the year’s first major championship at Augusta National.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/golf/aussie-golfers-pampling-chalmers-lose-out-to-a-kiwi-c-17986884
