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Matt Cleary
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Cleary: If LIV Golf so wows Adelaide, why's it so 'meh' on TV?
The tourism industry loves it, the South Australian premier loves it, and the sports fans of Australia have voted with their feet. For the last two years the good burghers of the World Golf Awards have declared LIV Adelaide the best tournament in the world. It's passing odd, then, that LIV Golf remains a bit of a dud on television.
12 Feb 2025
PGA Personal Lesson: Six-Ball Putting Drill To Hone Feel For Speed
Tom Corker, Head of Instruction at Kingston Heath, demonstrates this very nice distance control putting drill to practise at any time, but particularly before your round or if you’re playing a golf course that’s unfamiliar.
12 Feb 2025
Cleary: LIV Adelaide and the power of people
On a mild April afternoon in 2022, day three of LIV Adelaide at The Grange, the enigmatic, cosmopolitan final group of Talor Gooch, Pat Perez and Charl Schwartzel were followed down the 18th fairway by what looked like everybody on the property. It was a triumph for organisers. Greg Norman was vindicated. Because LIV Golf had arrived.
10 Feb 2025
Leishman, Herbert, Jones in line for Oakmont start after U.S Open grants LIV Golf exemption
The USGA has created an exemption category for LIV Golf players to compete in the U.S. Open, making the tournament the first of golf's four majors to introduce a formal pathway for golfers on the Saudi-backed circuit, it said on Wednesday.
7 Feb 2025
Cleary: Medal Day? You need one for turning up
Golf is meant to be fun, right? Well, Medal Day, with the course setup at its hardest and every stroke counted, is not - much more often than not - fun. Indeed it can be like a four-day hike on the Kokoda Track without the sense of accomplishment, according to Matt Cleary.
3 Feb 2025
19 Holes With... Damien Fleming
To say Damien Fleming has the golf bug would be to infer that the zombies in Shaun of the Dead had a touch of the flu ... as Golf Australia magazine discovered over an enjoyable hit at Yarra Yarra GC.
23 Jan 2025
PGA Personal Lesson: Stop Hitting It Fat (and Thin)
PGA of Australia member and head teaching professional at Commonwealth Golf Club, Marcus Hakkinen, has a simple and effective drill for improving the quality of your ball-striking and eliminating the dreaded fat chunk
16 Jan 2025
Cleary: Tomorrow's Golf League starts today, and almost anything goes
Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL), the hybrid "real" and digital golf experience contested by teams in a tech-infused warehouse in Florida will kick off imminently, and, maybe, it will enamour Generation Next. Senior Writer Matt Cleary remains a tad sceptical, you could say.
8 Jan 2025
19 Holes With ... Clint Newton
The Jack Newton Celebrity Classic is a three-day golf tournament come Christmas party which for 45 years has raised millions for the late and great Jack Newton’s twin passions, diabetes research and junior golf. Following the man’s passing in 2022, the legacy is being carried forward by his son, Clint, among others in the Newton family. And Clint has a few tales to tell – and a legacy to create – of his own, as Matt Cleary found over 18 holes and a couple of beers at Shortees Golf complex in Sydney’s Terrey Hills.
12 Dec 2024
PGA Personal Lesson: the lost art of chipping with 5-iron
If you catch vision of Open Championships from the '60s and '70s, you'll see players of the day chipping onto greens with 4- and 5-irons. Chris Hynes, Head Teaching Professional at Sanctuary Lakes, calls it a lost art. And wants to bring it back. And, given its low margin for error and consistent results, particularly in the wind, you may wonder why you'd ever reach for lob-wedge again.
11 Dec 2024
Cleary: February beckons for standalone Australian Opens
Running the men's and women's Australian Opens concurrently has benefits for sponsors, television and fans. But, overall, interpreting the greater hive-mind of sports-loving Australians, it feels like the time has come to pull the pin on a bold experiment. And, with a blank slate and nothing set in stone contractually, our governing bodies should climax Australia's "Summer of Golf" in February with four world-class tournaments.
9 Dec 2024
We flocked to see them in our Summer of Golf, but are the Rippers Australia's golf team?
In the film Master And Commander, Russell Crowe says of HMS Surprise, “Though we be on the far side of the world, this ship is our home. This ship, is England.” At Royal Queensland and Kingston Heath, Ripper GC merchandise was about. But whether captain Cam Smith and his team is "Australia", floating around the world, taking prizes, representative of we the greater Australian sports-watching punterati, remains to be seen.
2 Dec 2024
Kingston Heath, Jiyai Shin, and the shot from Neptune's moon
The last group of the 2024 Australian Women’s Open sported three major champions and promised a three-horse war. Yet it was blown open early when Jiyai Shin conjured a shot from the stars.
1 Dec 2024
Final Round Tee-Times - Women's Australian Open
The shoot-out is on at Kingston Heath on championship Sunday of this women's Australian Open, as Korean star Jiyai Shin goes head-to-head with Aussie superstar Hannah Green and reigning two-time Australian Open champion Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa. Strap yourself in and ...
30 Nov 2024
In pursuit of a dream, Smith has one of those rounds
Matt Cleary followed Cameron Smith in round three of the Australian Open at Kingston Heath and empathised with his golf game more than he'd like.
30 Nov 2024
Fortune favours the bold in wild Friday at Australian Open
It was all happening, everywhere, all at once, in a wild round two of the Australian Open, as our man on the ground, Matt Cleary, reports.
29 Nov 2024
Sandbelt softness upsets purists but fans thrilled by shot-making
Cameron Smith did not, as they say, miss 'em, in his critique of the softness of the greens for this year's Australian Open, and legions on Sandbelt purists could but nod along. Yet the crowds were out with the sun at Kingston Heath and Victoria, and they were thrilled by world class shot-making.
28 Nov 2024
Higgs vows to keep shirt on at Kingston Heath; but hole-in-one at 15 may test resolve
Harry Higgs has vowed to keep his shirt on at this Australian Open, even if he wins a BMW on Kingston Heath's famous par-3 15th, a hole he rates as “one of the coolest I’ve ever seen”.
27 Nov 2024
Cleary: Sky's the limit for Elvis but the tale of Jed Morgan is cautionary
Elvis Smylie has won the 2024 PGA Championship in super-impressive fashion, holding off his "elders" Cam Smith and Marc Leishman over the closing holes at Royal Queensland. But a tale of another 22-year-old "Next Big Thing" is cautionary.
25 Nov 2024
Judgement Day: Jason Day's last-round tilt at Joe Kirkwood
Jason Day began his tilt at the Joe Kirkwood Cup 40 minutes before and four shots behind tournament leaders Cam Smith and Elvis Smylie. Our man Matt Cleary walked the fairways with Day to see if the Queenslander would catch fire in the Brisbane heat.
24 Nov 2024
If the game is for the fans, let them follow the players
Matt Cleary joined the multitudes following the marquee group of Smith, Day and Lee at Royal Queensland for the PGA Championship, and wasn't able to, well, see very much. And he has a plan to return the game to the fans.
23 Nov 2024
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