3 Bann Lynch Golf players played in the St.Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew which concluded on Sunday at the TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

Cameron Percy of Australia (coached by Darren Cole) finished tied for 25th place at -3 for the week after rounds of 70, 68, 67 and 72. Percy finished 7 shots behind eventual winner Lee Westwood of England.

Mathew Goggin (coached by Dale Lynch) finished tied for 37th place at -1 after rounds of 69, 69, 69 and 72 at the par 70 layout.

Stuart Appleby (coached by Steve Bann) shot an excellent 3 under par 67 in the second round but failed to make the cut as a first round 75 left him with too much ground to make up.

It was a bizarre end to the tournament as American Robert Garrigus seemed to have the tournament wrapped up with a 3 shot lead coming to the final tee on Sunday. Unfortunately, the pressure of chasing his first PGA Tour win seemed to get the better of him as he yanked his tee shot left into the water. He proceeded to make a mess of the hole and had to hole a 3 footer just to make triple bogey and get into a playoff with Westwood and Robert Karlsson of Sweden.

Garrigus was the first to perish in the sudden death playoff, and Westwood and Karlsson matched each other’s shaky putting until the Englishman finally holed a 6 footer to grab the title on the 4th playoff hole.

The golf world’s attention now turns to the US Open being played this week at Pebble Beach. Bann Lynch Golf has 8 players competing in this year’s event. Watch this site for up to date coverage on all our players.

Thanks to Yarra Bend Golf for this article.

Cameron Percy & coach Darren Cole

Note: We previously reported that Cameron Percy had qualified for the US Open. He has in fact qualified for the British Open Championship. We apologize for this error.

Australia’s Cameron Percy has qualified for the 2010 Open Championship by defeating Charley Hoffman and Bubba Watson in a playoff at the qualifier in Texas.

Percy birdied the third playoff hole to defeat the American duo and grab the final spot available from the qualifying event being played at the Gleneagles Golf Club in Plano, Texas.

It will be Percy’s 2nd start in a major championship, having previously competed in the 2003 Open Championship where he missed the cut.

Having earned his PGA Tour card after a stellar 2009 season on the Nationwide Tour where he finished 8th on the money list, Percy is still finding his feet on the big stage with 5 of 12 cuts made this season and one top 25 finish to his name.

Playing in his second major should be a huge boost for the Aussie who is coached by Bann Lynch Golf coach and Yarra Bend Golf team member Darren Cole.

It has been a good week of qualifying for the Bann Lynch Golf/Yarra Bend Golf stable with Paul Sheehan (coached by Denis McDade) qualifying for the US Open Championship via the qualifying event in Japan.

Cameron Percy

Cameron Percy has had a memorable year by any standards. He finished 8th on the Nationwide Tour money list and won his card on the PGA Tour for next season. Percy has played solidly all year, but its a safe bet his latest round would have been one of the most memorable of his career.
After starting off the JB Were Australian Masters with a superb 5 under par 67 on Thursday, Percy immediately came into the media spotlight as one of the best Australian hopes for the week. Inevitably, with Tiger Woods’ presence creating an unprecedented amount of excitement in the tournament, questions began to be asked of Percy regarding a possible pairing with the great man over the weekend.
Questions that Percy couldn’t help but ask himself.
He admitted it was on his mind in his second round, when he shot a somewhat disappointing but respectable even par 72. Still, he was still in the hunt and needed a strong showing over the weekend to challenge for the title.

However, on the morning of the third round, Percy wasn’t feeling quite comfortable with his setup over the ball. This is where PGA Tour coaches really earn their money. Luckily for Percy, he had trusted coach Darren Cole on hand to have a look at his setup on the practice range and make a minor adjustment which immediately had him feeling a lot better about how he was striking the golf ball.
Percy shot 69 on Saturday and thanked “Coley” while being interviewed by Fox News later that day. He had something else to be happy about. As it turned out, he had his dream pairing with Tiger Woods for Sunday.
Percy couldn’t have had much sleep on Saturday night but he didn’t show too many nerves on what was probably one of the biggest days of his golfing career so far. The new PGA Tour member (he earned his card through the Nationwide Tour this year) kept it together beautifully to shoot an even par 72 to finish the tournament on -8 and earn a tied-6th position.

All of us at IIG would like to congratulate Cameron Percy and his coach Darren Cole on a wonderful and memorable week.

IIG players Cameron Percy and Roger Tambellini have secured what millions of golfers around the world can only dream of- a gig on the PGA Tour next season.

The pair were part of the top 25 players on the money list at season’s end on the Nationwide Tour who gain promotion to “the big dance” next year.

Cameron Percy

For Percy, who works with Darren Cole and trains at the IIG, it is vindication of a decision he made in consultation with his family and support team:

“Last year, my advisors and I thought about what would benefit me the most, Q-school or the Nationwide Tour. We decided that a year’s worth of experience and traveling outweighs trying to catch lightning in a bottle during the one week of Q-School and going to the PGA TOUR unprepared. The most important thing to me is not making sure I get to the PGA TOUR, but making sure that when I get there that I am going to stay there. I feel this prepared me for doing exactly that.”

Percy notched 7 top ten finishes on the Nationwide Tour this season with a highlight being a T-5th finish at the Nationwide Tour Championship. The 35 year old from Victoria, Australia finished 8th on the money list.

Roger Tambellini

For Roger Tambellini, who works with IIG co-director Dale Lynch, this year was a great learning experience in terms of understanding strategy and the importance of a positive mindset on the golf course:

“The Nationwide Tour is full of talent and aggressive players. This year I learned how to practice, and how much, so that when I step onto the first tee I am looking for birdies. Everyone says the Nationwide Tour is just like the PGA TOUR but on a smaller scale and that statement couldn’t be more true.”

That aggressive attitude paid handsome dividends for Tambellini this season, no more so than when he won the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. He notched 4 other top ten finishes to end up 9th on the Nationwide Tour money list.

All of us here at IIG would like to congratulate Cameron and Roger, also their coaches Darren and Dale respectively, on a great achievement. Best of luck next year!