Latest news with #Vilips
West Australian
7 days ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Karl Vilips: Hole-in-one joy for West Aussie at Wyndham Championship
WA rookie Karl Vilips has scored his first hole-in-one on the US PGA Tour to cap off a consistent tournament as American Cameron Young broke through for his first title at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina. Vilips scored his ace with a 179-yard shot on the third hole using an eight iron. His final-day 67 followed earlier rounds of 67, 67 and 69 for a four-round total of 270, 10 under for the tournament, leaving him in a tie for 19th place. Vilips was the leading Australian at Greensboro, but finished a distant 12 shots behind first-time PGA winner Young. The American shot a two-under-par 68 in the final round and wasn't challenged on his way to his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday (local time). 'It's the end of my fourth season and I've had my chances -never quite like this,' Young said. 'I wasn't going to let it get away from me.' Young strung together five consecutive early birdies and cruised to a six-stroke triumph at 22-under 258 at Sedgefield Country Club, where he matched the tournament scoring record. The American, who began the day with a five-stroke advantage, became the 1000th different winner in the history of the PGA Tour. He had previously been a seven-time runner-up. After tapping in the final putt, Young hugged his caddie and began to walk off the green. 'Where do I go?' he said. 'I've never done this before.' Mac Meissner posted 66 to finish runner-up at 16 under. Mark Hubbard (63) and Sweden's Alex Noren (64) tied for third place at 15 under. Amateur Jackson Koivun (67), a junior golfer at Auburn University, Chris Kirk (68) and defending champion Aaron Rai (68) of England shared fifth place at 14 under. Playing not far from the Wake Forest campus where he went to college, Young was in control for most of the tournament. After a bogey on the first hole on Sunday, Young put together his string of birdies for what became a nine-stroke advantage. He then had pars on nine consecutive holes before bogeys on the par-3 16th and par-4 17th. He barely missed a birdie attempt on the last hole. The final margin marked the third-largest winning spread on the tour this year. He became the tour's 12th first-time winner of the season. 'I've been waiting for this for a while,' he said. Denny McCarthy matched Hubbard's 63 for the best score on Sunday and ended up at 12 under, tied for 11th place. Of the other Australians in the field, Cam Davis finished in a tie for 44th place at four under, a shot ahead of Adam Scott (tied for 55th), with Aaron Baddeley tied for 72nd spot at two over. The tournament marks the final regular-season event on the tour, with golfers needing to finish in the top 70 of the season standings to advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs beginning on Thursday.
West Australian
7 days ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Ace a trump card for Aussie as Young bags first PGA win
Australian rookie Karl Vilips has scored his first hole-in-one on the US PGA Tour to cap off a consistent tournament as American Cameron Young broke through for his first title at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina. Vilips scored his ace with a 179-yard shot on the third hole using an eight iron. His final-day 67 followed earlier rounds of 67, 67 and 69 for a four-round total of 270, 10 under for the tournament, leaving him in a tie for 19th place. Vilips was the leading Australian at Greensboro, but finished a distant 12 shots behind first-time PGA winner Young. The American shot a two-under-par 68 in the final round and wasn't challenged on his way to his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday (local time). "It's the end of my fourth season and I've had my chances -never quite like this," Young said. "I wasn't going to let it get away from me." Young strung together five consecutive early birdies and cruised to a six-stroke triumph at 22-under 258 at Sedgefield Country Club, where he matched the tournament scoring record. The American, who began the day with a five-stroke advantage, became the 1000th different winner in the history of the PGA Tour. He had previously been a seven-time runner-up. After tapping in the final putt, Young hugged his caddie and began to walk off the green. "Where do I go?" he said. "I've never done this before." Mac Meissner posted 66 to finish runner-up at 16 under. Mark Hubbard (63) and Sweden's Alex Noren (64) tied for third place at 15 under. Amateur Jackson Koivun (67), a junior golfer at Auburn University, Chris Kirk (68) and defending champion Aaron Rai (68) of England shared fifth place at 14 under. Playing not far from the Wake Forest campus where he went to college, Young was in control for most of the tournament. After a bogey on the first hole on Sunday, Young put together his string of birdies for what became a nine-stroke advantage. He then had pars on nine consecutive holes before bogeys on the par-3 16th and par-4 17th. He barely missed a birdie attempt on the last hole. The final margin marked the third-largest winning spread on the tour this year. He became the tour's 12th first-time winner of the season. "I've been waiting for this for a while," he said. Denny McCarthy matched Hubbard's 63 for the best score on Sunday and ended up at 12 under, tied for 11th place. Of the other Australians in the field, Cam Davis finished in a tie for 44th place at four under, a shot ahead of Adam Scott (tied for 55th), with Aaron Baddeley tied for 72nd spot at two over. The tournament marks the final regular-season event on the tour, with golfers needing to finish in the top 70 of the season standings to advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs beginning on Thursday.
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Ace a trump card for Aussie as Young bags first PGA win
Australian rookie Karl Vilips has scored his first hole-in-one on the US PGA Tour to cap off a consistent tournament as American Cameron Young broke through for his first title at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina. Vilips scored his ace with a 179-yard shot on the third hole using an eight iron. His final-day 67 followed earlier rounds of 67, 67 and 69 for a four-round total of 270, 10 under for the tournament, leaving him in a tie for 19th place. Vilips was the leading Australian at Greensboro, but finished a distant 12 shots behind first-time PGA winner Young. The American shot a two-under-par 68 in the final round and wasn't challenged on his way to his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday (local time). "It's the end of my fourth season and I've had my chances -never quite like this," Young said. "I wasn't going to let it get away from me." Young strung together five consecutive early birdies and cruised to a six-stroke triumph at 22-under 258 at Sedgefield Country Club, where he matched the tournament scoring record. The American, who began the day with a five-stroke advantage, became the 1000th different winner in the history of the PGA Tour. He had previously been a seven-time runner-up. After tapping in the final putt, Young hugged his caddie and began to walk off the green. "Where do I go?" he said. "I've never done this before." Mac Meissner posted 66 to finish runner-up at 16 under. Mark Hubbard (63) and Sweden's Alex Noren (64) tied for third place at 15 under. Amateur Jackson Koivun (67), a junior golfer at Auburn University, Chris Kirk (68) and defending champion Aaron Rai (68) of England shared fifth place at 14 under. Playing not far from the Wake Forest campus where he went to college, Young was in control for most of the tournament. After a bogey on the first hole on Sunday, Young put together his string of birdies for what became a nine-stroke advantage. He then had pars on nine consecutive holes before bogeys on the par-3 16th and par-4 17th. He barely missed a birdie attempt on the last hole. The final margin marked the third-largest winning spread on the tour this year. He became the tour's 12th first-time winner of the season. "I've been waiting for this for a while," he said. Denny McCarthy matched Hubbard's 63 for the best score on Sunday and ended up at 12 under, tied for 11th place. Of the other Australians in the field, Cam Davis finished in a tie for 44th place at four under, a shot ahead of Adam Scott (tied for 55th), with Aaron Baddeley tied for 72nd spot at two over. The tournament marks the final regular-season event on the tour, with golfers needing to finish in the top 70 of the season standings to advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs beginning on Thursday.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Why not?': Vilips has eye of Tiger in Players debut
He'd be defying history and a world-class field in just his fifth PGA Tour event. But does Australian bolter Karl Vilips think he can win The Players Championship? "Why not?" The 23-year-old won his spot at TPC Sawgrass for the unofficial fifth major after claiming the Puerto Rico Open last weekend in just his fourth Tour start. Tiger Woods chose the fellow Stanford graduate as the first to wear his Sun Day Red clothing brand. And the 15-time major champion was quick to send a text and leave a voicemail when his call went unanswered in the chaotic minutes after that breakout triumph. "Pretty surreal; you can only dream about it as a kid," Vilips said. "I got that voicemail and the message to say he's very proud of me; it was an awesome feeling." Victory earnt Vilips a start at the Florida layout he became familiar with after moving from Perth to the city as an 11-year-old. But he's never seen the Stadium Course quite like this. "It's crazy; I've never seen the greens this fast and the rough this long," he said. "But in the end it's all the same; just got to hit the fairway and the green out here." Only one man - New Zealand's Craig Perks in 2002 - has conquered the Players Championhip in their event debut over the last four decades. But the confident Australian is giving himself a chance. "The realistic goal would be a good, top-20 finish," he said. "If I play really well, not let the nerves and everything get to me. "But definitely, why not? "I've got to beat a lot of great players and play much better golf than I did last week, but I've obviously thought about it." Former champions Adam Scott (2004) and Jason Day (2016), as well as Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis will join their younger compatriot as world No.1 Scottie Scheffler goes for a third-straight title. "You can't fake it around this place," Scheffler said. "I think there's a lot of genius in the way the golf course is designed. "It doesn't suit one type of player," he said. "It's not a horses-for-courses-type place. It's just the guys that are playing the best are going to be on the leaderboard on Sunday." Scheffler has a chance to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time winners of The Players Championship. But Nicklaus won his three before it moved to the TPC Sawgrass in 1982. The Masters champion is still waiting to hit his stride after sitting out all of January with a hand injury. But he has been on an amazing run, a nine-win season in 2025 building such a big rankings lead that he is assured of remaining on top for two straight years. No one except Woods has done that. "Scottie is the closest thing to Tiger I think any of us have seen," Wyndham Clark said. "He not only is the No. 1 player in the world, he embraces it, and he shows up every week and almost wins or is in contention or does win. It's very impressive." - with The AP With AP
Reuters
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
'Koala' Karl Vilips looking to back up PGA breakthrough at Players
March 13 (Reuters) - Karl Vilips celebrated his breakthrough win on the U.S. PGA tour with a couple of hours playing Super Smash Bros. but it was back to business on Wednesday as he started his preparations for the Players Championship. The 23-year-old Australian earned a last-minute invite to the "fifth major" at TPC Sawgrass with last weekend's victory at the Puerto Rico Open in only his fourth start on the tour. A couple of congratulatory messages from Tiger Woods, whose apparel brand he promotes, confirmed Vilips had arrived among golf's elite and he was still getting his head around it. "Pretty surreal," he said. "I mean, it's something you can only dream about as a kid. I got that voicemail, and then the message, which for him to say that he was very proud of me was just an awesome feeling." Although only ninth months into his professional career, Vilips' long-standing social media presence means he has been well-known as "Koala Karl" to golf fans on the internet for nearly a decade. The Australian nickname is no longer reflected in his accent after 12 years in America, including four playing golf at Stanford University, but Vilips is proud of his country's heritage in the sport. Jakarta-born Vilips, who won gold for Australia at the 2018 Youth Olympics, said major winners like Adam Scott and Jason Day had been a big influence on him growing up. "They were the best in the country, representing Australia well," he added. "And I want to fill their shoes someday. I've been able to keep in touch with Jason a little bit and it's been great. So definitely guys I look up to and people that I want to be like." Both Scott (2004) and Day (2016) won the Players Championship but Vilips thinks it unlikely he will join them this week, with a top-20 finish his "realistic goal". He was not entirely ruling out a victory at a course close to his Jacksonville home, though. "I would be pretty surprised," he said. "I've got to beat a lot of great players, I've got to play unbelievable golf. I think I would need to play much better golf than I did last week, just because this course is a little bit harder. "But I've obviously thought about it, winning the Players here. That would be unbelievable."
