Karl Vilips: Hole-in-one joy for West Aussie at Wyndham Championship
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.
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West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
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The Advertiser
7 hours ago
- The Advertiser
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The Advertiser
11 hours ago
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State's best hill climbers head to Ringwood Park for shot at Aussie titles
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A quality field is expected for the event at Ringwood Park, on Italia Road, Balickera, 12km north of Raymond Terrace, including former Australian champion Dean Tighe, from Queensland, who will arrive back in Australia with four days to spare after racing in the UK. Tighe, who is on track to reclaim the NSW and Australian titles this season, holds the fastest lap record at the Ringwood Park track which is rated by many as Australia's most challenging track. Other drivers who will be pushing for class and overall honours at the final round include Kempsey's Dave Morrow who has shown a liking for the Ringwood Park track with podium finishes there on previous visits. Morrow is coming off a victory in the Formula Libre 750-1300cc class at round six at Tamworth. Heddon Greta's Tim Blake in his Subaru Impreza WRX and Peter Akers (Subaru Impreza,) finished first and second respectively in the Sedan type cars at the 2025 Queensland Hillclimb Championship. Round seven of the NSW Championships at Ringwood Park, follows the first two rounds at Bahurst, round three at Wollongong, round four at Kempsey, round five at Grafton and round six at Tamworth. The opening two rounds of the NSW Hillclimb Championships on Mt Panorama on March 5-6 were downgraded to Multi Club events due to the floods along the eastern seaboard. However, Tighe managed to get there and set the fastest times on both days of the Bathurst Light Car Club run event. He followed that up with wins at Huntley at Wollongong, Grafton and Kempsey. This weekend's event is hosted by MG Car Club Newcastle, and will finalise overall victory and category wins and subsequent spots at the Australian Hillclimb Championship which will be held at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia. Racing driver and instructor Cody McKay, who used the Ringwood Park track to train drivers said it was one of the most challenging and rewarding tracks in Australia. 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"Some of the talented drivers can pretty much do the whole course sideways. "This is a driver's track. It's a real driver's experience. There of all theses ups and downs at the top, and you're going well over 100 kilometres an hour on some sections. So you've really got to be a talented driver Practice is on Saturday, racing on Sunday from 9am with Food and Drinks will be available from the canteen. Racing begins at 9am. Some of Australia's best hill climbers will be heading to Ringwood Park Motorsport Complex on August 9 for the final round of the NSW Hillclimb Championships and spots at the upcoming Australian titles. A quality field is expected for the event at Ringwood Park, on Italia Road, Balickera, 12km north of Raymond Terrace, including former Australian champion Dean Tighe, from Queensland, who will arrive back in Australia with four days to spare after racing in the UK. Tighe, who is on track to reclaim the NSW and Australian titles this season, holds the fastest lap record at the Ringwood Park track which is rated by many as Australia's most challenging track. Other drivers who will be pushing for class and overall honours at the final round include Kempsey's Dave Morrow who has shown a liking for the Ringwood Park track with podium finishes there on previous visits. Morrow is coming off a victory in the Formula Libre 750-1300cc class at round six at Tamworth. Heddon Greta's Tim Blake in his Subaru Impreza WRX and Peter Akers (Subaru Impreza,) finished first and second respectively in the Sedan type cars at the 2025 Queensland Hillclimb Championship. Round seven of the NSW Championships at Ringwood Park, follows the first two rounds at Bahurst, round three at Wollongong, round four at Kempsey, round five at Grafton and round six at Tamworth. The opening two rounds of the NSW Hillclimb Championships on Mt Panorama on March 5-6 were downgraded to Multi Club events due to the floods along the eastern seaboard. However, Tighe managed to get there and set the fastest times on both days of the Bathurst Light Car Club run event. He followed that up with wins at Huntley at Wollongong, Grafton and Kempsey. This weekend's event is hosted by MG Car Club Newcastle, and will finalise overall victory and category wins and subsequent spots at the Australian Hillclimb Championship which will be held at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia. Racing driver and instructor Cody McKay, who used the Ringwood Park track to train drivers said it was one of the most challenging and rewarding tracks in Australia. McKay, who has had wins and podiums at the Bathurst 6 Hour and also the Aussie Racing Car Championship, said Ringwood Park hosted the Australian Championship in 2023. While he will not be competing, he said this is an event for all motorsports fans and it will provide plenty of exciting highlights. "This would have to be Australia's most challenging track. If you can get this track right, you're right to go to Bathurst, and you're right to go to the street circuits. "We really teach our students to do well here if they can nail it they have success on all sorts of other tracks. "The intricacies and the technicalities of what's needed to learn how to race here really translates onto the bigger tracks. "This is really technical. You've got to learn your brakes, your steering. There also a lot of undulations, and it's pretty high speed as well. So if something goes wrong, it can really go wrong "The spectators love it as well. "Some of the talented drivers can pretty much do the whole course sideways. "This is a driver's track. It's a real driver's experience. There of all theses ups and downs at the top, and you're going well over 100 kilometres an hour on some sections. So you've really got to be a talented driver Practice is on Saturday, racing on Sunday from 9am with Food and Drinks will be available from the canteen. Racing begins at 9am.
