Week 9 review; Week 10 look ahead
Max Kennedy. Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf
PGA Tour
Shane Lowry tied for 11th (66-68-70-67) in the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches to move up to 17th in the world — his highest world ranking for more than five years.
He closed with a four-under 67, gaining 1.9 shots on the greens having lost more than 4.4 shots to the field with the putter in the second and third rounds.
He's now 18th in the FedEx Cup standings with Seamus Power 88th after his missed cut at PGA National.
6. Rory McIlroy
18. Shane Lowry
88. Séamus Power
LPGA Tour
Leona Maguire tied for 21st (85-73-69-69), 11 strokes behind Lydia Ko in the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.
She's 23rd in the Race to CME Globe standings, 120th for strokes gained driving, 62nd for GIR and 22nd for putts per round.
Alps Tour
Hugh Foley tied for third in the New Giza Open to move up to 10th in the Alps Tour rankings after his first three events.
The Royal Dublin man closed with a three-under 69 for third (€2,485) with Spain’s Juan Salama Monsalve (69) on 14-under, three shots outside a playoff that saw Spain’s Javier Barcos (67) birdie the first playoff hole to beat new rankings leader Quentin Debove (67) of France and claim his first Alps Tour victory.
Castle’s Robert Moran closed with a bogey-free 67 to tie for 10th (€924.50) on 10-under and share 24th in the rankings.
Ronan Mullarney’s 70 left him tied for 19th (€648.25) on seven-under to sit fifth in the race for five HotelPlanner Tour cards.
Kinsale’s John Murphy shot 73 to tie for 23rd on six-under, leaving him 36th in the standings.
The Alps Tour returns in two weeks with two events in Tunisia.
Week 10 look ahead
PGA Tour
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry tee it up in the 72-man Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill ($20,000,000 /$4,000,000) where Scottie Scheffler defends and Open and US PGA champion Xander Schauffele returns to action after eight weeks off with a rib injury.
McIlroy has an excellent record in the event:
2024 T21 (-1)
2023 T2 (-8)
2022 T13 (+1)
2021 T10 (-3)
2020 T5 (E)
2019 T6 (-8)
2018 Win (-18)
2017 T4 (-9)
2016 T27 (-6)
2015 T11 (-11)
Lowry was 3rd behind Scottie Scheffler last year to end a poor run at Bay Hill:
2024 3 (-9)
2023 67 (+5)
2021 CUT (+5)
2019 CUT (+5)
2018 CUT (+3)
2015 CUT (+1)
Puerto Rico Open
Max Kennedy makes his PGA Tour debut at Grand Reserve Golf Club where world No 63 Thriston Lawrence is the top-ranked player in the field.
The Royal Dublin man earned his exemption by winning the General Hackler Championship last year. While he was due to play in the Myrtle Beach Classic last May, he deferred his start to play with the University of Louisville and takes the plunge this week.
Ladies European Tour
Following extensive consultation with all stakeholders, this week’s 2025 Australian WPGA Championship and Gold Coast Festival of Golf have been cancelled due to the impending impact of Cyclone Alfred.
After monitoring weather forecasts and following dialogue with the Queensland Government, Gold Coast City Council, Mulpha Group, Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, we have taken the unprecedented decision to cancel the tournament ahead of the first day’s play set to take place on Thursday.
With the predicted high rainfall, extreme winds and expected flooding, the decision has been made to ensure the safety of players, staff, fans and all stakeholders, which remains the priority.
It means no golf this week for Lauren Walsh, Anna Foster and Annabel Wilson, who are scheduled to play next week’s Australian Women's Classic Coffs Harbour Golf Club
DP World Tour
Joburg Open
There are no Irish in action in the €1 m Joburg Open at Houghton GC where John Parry and Romain Langasque are the only members of the world’s top 100 in the field.
Sunshine Ladies Tour
SuperSport Ladies Challenge
Olivia Mehaffey and Abigail O'Riordan tee it up at Gary Player Country Club.
Mehaffey lies 50th in the OOM after following her MC in the Joburg Ladies Open with a T44 finish in the Investec South African Open.GA Tour.
PGA Tour Champions
Cologuard Classic ($2,200,000 /$330,000)
Darren Clarke and Pádraig Harrington will tee it up atLa Paloma Country Club from Friday.
Harrington, who missed the cut in the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld on the PGA Tour in his last appearance on the other side of the Atlantic, finished T6 in his lone PGA Tour Champions appearance this season in the Trophy Hassan II last month.
Darren Clarke returns to action with two two top 15 finishes under his belt.
He was T15 in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in January and 3rd in the Chubb Classic last month.
