01뱅크 오브 유타 챔피언십 톱5 달성하며 쾌조의 흐름 지속
벤 제임스가 최근의 뜨거운 경기력을 다시 한번 입증했다. 제임스는 뱅크 오브 유타 챔피언십에서 치열한 순위 싸움 끝에 톱5 성적을 거두며 상승세를 이어갔다.
대회 기간 내내 안정적인 흐름을 유지한 제임스는 주요 순간마다 집중력을 발휘하며 상위권 자리를 지켜냈다. 이로써 그는 최근 출전한 대회들에서 보여준 호조를 더욱 견고히 다졌다.
뱅크 오브 유타 챔피언십에서 톱5라는 값진 성과를 추가한 벤 제임스는 향후 이어질 투어 일정에서도 강력한 경쟁력을 보여줄 것으로 기대를 모으고 있다.
02Original (English) — PGA TOUR
Ben James has been one of, if not the most consistent golfer on the PGA Tour as the calendar began to turn from summer to fall. His tidy run of results continued Sunday at the Bank of Utah Championship.
James shot a final-round 4-under 67 and finished tied for fifth. It marked his fourth top-5 finish in his last six starts and his third in a row after finishing third at the Wyndham Championship and runner-up at the Biltmore Championship Asheville.
James, who shot a Saturday 64 to find himself firmly in the mix for his first Tour title, had a bit of a stalled start – his first birdie of the day didn’t come until the par-5 7th. He added another on the very next hole and added two more on Nos. 10 and 14. There were plenty of other opportunities as he tried to chase down eventual winner Austin Smotherman – he had three birdie tries of 8 feet or less on the back nine - but instead he’ll walk away with a fine finish, but no trophy.
“It was a good day. Hit it nice. Can't really be mad at 4-under. I wish I made some more putts. I hit a lot of (really) good ones. Definitely really frustrated, played great. Man, three of them were halfway in the hole. Really proud how I stayed pretty level-headed even though I was really, really frustrated,” James said. “I didn't let the ‘last’ shot bother me. I kept on focusing on the next shot and doing the best I can with the next shot, which I'm really proud of.
“It was something where I was really teetering throughout the day with frustration and emotion. I was definitely really happy how I handled myself not having my best stuff today and keeping it a nice round of golf.”
James ended up four shots back of Smotherman’s winning total and was tied for fifth alongside veteran Kevin Streelman.
It has certainly been a summer of learning for the University of Virginia superstar after earning his PGA Tour card via his finish atop the PGA Tour University rankings earlier this year. He made his professional debut at the RBC Canadian Open, where he shot 63 on Friday to sniff the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend. James has missed just one cut this season (the 3M Open) and has six top-25s in his 10 starts – including a T23 at the U.S. Open.
James said the key to his recent success has been his ball striking and how consistent he’s felt his effort has been tee to green.
“I noticed I've been hole high a lot, which is really important. So my distance control has been really nice lately,” James explained. “I've been hitting it really nice. I think I hit (all) 14 fairways today, hit a lot of greens again… I think my longest putt for par was five feet. Pretty as stress-free of a final round as it could be, even though I was definitely a little emotional after those missed putts.”
James will take next week off as the PGA Tour heads to Japan for the Baycurrent Classic before, he said, he’ll play the rest of the events on the schedule through the fall.
And he’s as eager as ever for his consistency to continue.