PGA Tour: Vilips aces finale but Scott misses playoff berth
Only three Australians, Jason Day, Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis, have progressed to the opening St Jude Championship.
For Davis, three birdies in his final 11 holes at the Wyndham Championship proved crucial as he finished 69th among the top 70 on the FedEx Cup rankings, knowing he was going to get a text message with good or bad news after he left the course.
'I've been on the cut line every year I feel like since I've been on tour, whether it's for the 50 or for this,' he said after his final round finished well before the standings were confirmed.
Cam Davis made it to the playoffs. Picture: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP
'It's too stressful to keep your eyes on it or try to follow too closely what's going on. I'm going to get a text message at the end of the day that tells me where I sit, and I'm flying to Nashville tonight and I'm either driving to Memphis from there or I'm flying home.'
Davis is indeed heading to Memphis for one more push despite feeling 'tired' after a long year of fighting for not much joy.
'I've pushed really hard for the last few months and it's not led to any better golf,' he said.
'I've had a couple of little bright moments, but you can probably count on one hand since April.'
Scott, however, can look forward to his return to Australia for the PGA and Open after falling outside the top 70 for the second time in three years.
The 2013 masters champ made 16 straight appearances in the post-season events but will be watching this year.
So too will Vilips despite a breakthrough victory earlier in the season that secured his playing card for the immediate future.
The young Australian left Sedgefield Country Club after adding a 10th ace to his resume and feeling like he 'definitely went above expectations' during his first season on tour, just his second year as a professional.
'You know, I think where I wanted to be I didn't get to, which was a little bit unfortunate,' he said.
'But I'm really happy with what I saw throughout the year. Had some highs and lows, experienced it all kind of my first season.
'But I'm just going to look at this season as a whole as a positive for sure, getting the win early and go out next year and try to improve on what I did next year.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Perth Now
17 minutes ago
- Perth Now
'Better than Bledisloe drought': Fox out to win for NZ
Throwing in a stinging trans-Tasman sledge for good measure, rugby-loving Ryan Fox is pledging to do his damndest to break New Zealand's 26-year Australian PGA Championship title drought. A two-time PGA Tour winner this year, Fox is the latest big name to join the field for the first Australian "major" of the summer at Royal Queensland Golf Club from November 27-30. The Canadian Open and Myrtle Beach Classic champion in 2025, Fox will return to Australia for the first time since 2022, joining fellow Kiwis Daniel Hillier and Kazuma Kobori as confirmed contenders for the Joe Kirkwood Cup. No Kiwi since the great Greg Turner in 1999 has won the Australian PGA Championship. But Fox, the son of All Blacks legend Grant Fox, reckons the drought is not half as bad as Australia's inability to claim the Bledisloe Cup since 2002. "So, yeah, 26 years. It's nearly as long as your Bledisloe drought," Fox told reporters on a teleconference on Tuesday. "I think that might be a bit more of a sore point for you guys than the Aussie PGA is for us, to be honest. "Hopefully we can change that this year and I'll certainly be giving it my best crack and I'm sure all the other Kiwis in the field will be doing the same. "We've got a strong Kiwi contingent that's going to play there this year." Now flying high after soaring to No.31 in the world, 38-year-old Fox credits two victories over the Australian summer a decade ago for being the making of his global career. He won the 2014 WA Open before roaring home with two eagles in the last three holes to edge out Cameron Smith and Matthew Millar four months later to secure his European Tour card. "I had a pretty good year in 2014 on the Aussie tour," he recalled. "Winning once is always nice, but doing it again is bit more reassuring, like it's not a fluke, and that paved the way. "I played pretty well in the New Zealand PGA straight afterwards and then, after signing with ISM, I ended up going over and getting some (secondary) Challenge (Tour) starts because of it. "And I'd literally never been to Europe at that point. "I played well in my first couple of Challenge events, managed to get a win there, and that started my career in Europe, basically. "Without those results early in 2015, I might not have got that opportunity to sign with a management company over there and get those starts and my career could have looked very, very different to what it is now. "So it's amazing what can happen in that respect. My time on the Aussie tour really set me up for success to be honest."

News.com.au
24 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Queensland trainer David Vandyke eyes Victorian Group 1 mission for the first time since Alligator Blood
David Vandyke will head back to the scene of Alligator Blood's first Group 1 triumph when he attacks the Empire Rose Stakes with exciting mare Philia during the Victorian spring carnival. Philia was an excitement machine during the Queensland winter carnival, winning four on the bounce and starting favourite for the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) where she endured a tough run and was beaten 2.5 lengths. Group 2 winner Philia has now returned to Vandyke's Sunshine Coast stable and the astute trainer will aim her at races in her sweet spot of 1600m-2000m. Vandyke and connections had been weighing up a potential mission to Sydney for the riches of the $10m Golden Eagle, but the decision was made that she will head to Melbourne. Mindful that Philia had a busy winter, Vandyke will give her a light spring campaign with the plan to then unleash her in some big races during the 2026 autumn. However, he has revealed that the $1m Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes over 1600m at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival is a key spring goal. Flemington was where Vandyke won the 2020 Group 1 Australian Guineas with Alligator Blood when he trained the now retired seven-time Group 1 winning superstar at the start of the galloper's magical career. Vandyke doesn't think he has had a Melbourne runner since the Alligator Blood adventure, but is looking forward to deploying frontrunning type Philia. 'I want to give her a fairly light spring, she was up a long time going into the winter carnival,' Vandyke said. 'We just hop on a plane at Brisbane Airport and she is there pretty quickly. 'Potentially, she will have one run and then into the Empire Rose. 'Sydney was certainly a consideration, but we ended up making the call to go to Melbourne.' Kerrin McEvoy developed a strong association with Philia during the winter carnival and was impressed at every step of her winter journey. Vandyke says Philia, now four, is back in his stable and had bulked up after a six-week break. 'She will have a couple of runs in spring and then we will look at giving her a good, strong autumn campaign,' he said. 'She has had a good six weeks off and she has come back a lot stronger. 'I will look at targeting races from a mile to 2000m for her. 'I don't think less than a mile is suitable for her and I don't know about more than 2000(m) at this point.' In early betting markets on TAB fixed odds, Fangirl is the $4.50 favourite for the Empire Rose Stakes and Philia is rated a $26 chance.

ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Port Adelaide great Travis Boak announces retirement from AFL
Port Adelaide great Travis Boak has announced he will retire at the end of the AFL season. A former captain of the club and three-time All-Australian, Boak sits seventh on the all-time V/AFL games list with 384. Drafted by the Power in 2006, Boak has played in the previous 19 AFL seasons, kicking 214 goals. Playing most of his career in the midfield, Boak was named an All-Australian in 2013, 2014 and 2020, and was runner-up in the 2020 Brownlow Medal. Boak was captain of the Power from 2013-2018. Boak debuted for the Power in 2007, playing 14 matches, including that year's grand final loss to Geelong. The Power has not made it to a grand final since 2007, but has played in four preliminary finals.