The Sunday prior to the Masters Tournament is national finals of the Drive, Chip & Put competition, and in its short history it has become a must-watch tradition for golf fans. The 80 competitors range in age from 7 to 15, and all qualified by winning sub-regional and regional competitions.
Each competitor hits two drives (with the best one counting towards their ranking), two chips (with the cumulative distance from the hole counting towards their ranking), and two putts (on the 18th green of Augusta National Golf Club with the cumulative distance from the hole counting towards their ranking).ย Each competitor is awarded points based on their rank in each discipline, 10 points for first, down to 1 point for 10th, and the one with the most points over the 3 events is the winner.
Division
Winner
Points (D-C-P)
Boys 7-9
Hudson Knapp
22 (7-6-9)
Girls 7-9
Autumn Solesbee
26 (7-10-9)
Boys 10-11
Bentley Coon
24.5 (10-9-5.5)
Girls 10-11
Kylie Chung
18 (5-3-10)
Boys 12-13
Michael Jorski
21 (3-8-10)*
Girls 12-13
Jenna Kim
26 (9-9-8)
Boys 14-15
Jaden Dumdumaya
29 (10-9-10)
Girls 14-15
Mia Hammond
28 (9-9-10)
* indicates playoff
Here is Jaden Dumdumaya clinching the win for the 14-15 year old boys:
There are lots of great stories among the competitors, girls 7-9 year old winner Autumn Solesbee being one of the best
Iโm not crying, youโre crying! LOVE the father-daughter moment between Autumn Solesbee & her dad after she won the Girls 7-9 @DriveChipPutt at Augusta National. She was adopted 2 years ago, her dad introduced her to golf & it was a way she bonded w/ her family. #DriveChipandPuttpic.twitter.com/DK5XWY0zqW
— Amanda Blumenherst (@blumenherstFry) April 3, 2022
Leona Maguire became the first LPGA winner from Ireland with her victory at the LPGA Drive On Championship in Fort Meyers FL. Maguire was 18-under for the week (it was a 54-hole event), and held off Lexi Thompson to win by three.
Thompson hit what could be the shot of tournament, holing her approach on 10th for an eagle.
Billy Murray being walk-interviewed by Amanda Balionis during the 3rd round of the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
One of the more interesting things about the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am played at the Monterey Penninsula is the celebrities who put their golf games on display.ย Seeing them out of their element and instead playing golf and interacting with the golf fans is something that makes this tournament on of the better ones to watch.
If you’re wondering who is there this year, here is a list of the “celebrities”, from ATTPBGolf.com:
Josh Allen
Canelo รlvarez
Bret Baier
Mookie Betts
Don Cheadle
Kira K. Dixon
Josh Duhamel
Scott Eastwood
Larry Fitzgerald
Colt Ford
Andy Garcia
Macklemore
Mia Hamm
Thomas Keller
Charles Kelley
Michael Peรฑa
Bill Murray
Lukas Nelson
Chris OโDonnell
Jake Owen
ScHoolboy Q
Ben Rector
Alfonso Ribeiro
Ray Romano
Darius Rucker
Alex Smith
Clay Walker
Steve Young
Bills’ QB Josh Allen being walk-interviewed by Amanda Balionis during the 3rd round of the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
Lydia Ko shot a final round 3-under to win the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio by a shot over Danielle Kang. Kang had a one-shot lead partway through the final nine, but Ko regained the lead with a birdie on 15 and held on the rest of the way. She clinched the victory with a great up and down from the bunker on 18.
This was Ko’s 17th win, and she is only 24.
The top point earner for the LPGA Golf Pool this week was Andrew Corner, with 51 points.
Danielle Kang shot a final round 4-under 68 to win the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions by three shots over Brooke Henderson.ย Kang had the low round of the day in what appeared to be miserable playing conditions at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, outside of Orlando Florida.
For the LPGA Golf Pool, the top point earner was Victoria Coward with 44 pts.
Golfers scoring points:
Points for Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions
Notoriously slow player, Kevin Na, and Grayson Murray, typically a field-filler on the PGA Tour, are trading insults on Twitter like a couple of juveniles.
Joaquin Niemann literally raced around the course for the final round at the Tour Championship.ย Playing as a single, Niemann and his caddie, as well as the standard bearers, ran from shot to shot, green to tee, and everywhere in between to play the final round in under two hours.ย In case you are wondering, he shot a 72.
🥵 The look on Garyโs face says it all in this picture. 😂 Good thing I had my @avocados today 🥑🥑 Fun to finish in record time and appreciate the walking scorer and standard bearers keeping up! Thanks for all the cheers out there! pic.twitter.com/GbYKiTbtm1