Vernon-Sexton Finck will play the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort from Thursday by virtue of his wire-to-wire win at the PGA Professionals Championship at Hamilton Island in November, just the third time he has played in the event.

Homesickness would ultimately persuade Sexton-Finck that he was not suited to life as a touring professional but if fate had not intervened when it did 15 years ago his career path could have been very different.

Drawn to play with fellow West Australian product Michael Sim and Yarrawonga’s Adam Burdett on Thursday, Sexton-Finck has not played more than one tournament attracting World Ranking points in a single year since 2005 when his career trajectory was violently shunted off course.

“I finished 22nd at Q School and got my Asian Tour card, flew home back to Perth and on the way back home from the airport I got mangled in a bad car accident with a stolen police car,” Sexton-Finck recalled.

“I was the font-left passenger which copped the brunt of the impact. They ran a red light, we were going through the green (light) on our way home… Basically the left half of my body was completely destroyed.

“My first event was the Myanmar Open – I can’t remember how many weeks it was after the accident – but I wasn’t ready to play. Emotionally I wasn’t ready to play and physically as well.

“I played the first five events but it was a tough start to my career. That didn’t give me a taste of missing home but it wasn’t ideal.”

In 2006 Sexton-Finck continued to pursue a life on tour by travelling with James Nitties and playing mini tours throughout America, a three-month stint again in 2008 convincing him that he would be far happier pursuing employment within golf back in Perth.

“Halfway through 2009 I was playing the Spalding Park Open, a $50,000 pro-am in WA, and that’s when I said, ‘I’m done’,” said Sexton-Finck.

“That’s when I rang the state manager, Troy O’Hern, about starting a traineeship and I’ve never looked back.

“The biggest thing that stopped me playing was just that I got homesick.

“I missed home a lot, missed my family and friends.

“I wanted to stay in golf but my decision in the end was based on the fact that I wanted to be at home.”

He began a traineeship under Ritchie Smith at Melville Glades in 2010 and had barely graduated when approached with an offer to become the Head Professional at Nedlands Golf Club.

“I found myself as a head pro seven days after completing my traineeship. I don’t know if it’s a world record but it’s got to be close,” he said.

“I’ll never forget it. I got a phone call on January the fifth and on the seventh I’d signed the contract and started my new position as head professional at Nedlands Golf Club.

“That’s where I was for 18 months and then I moved on to the West Australian Golf Club as Head Professional there.”

A $2 million renovation of the clubhouse provided Sexton-Finck with the opportunity to move into more of a teaching role, a role he has only recently relinquished after selling his share of the business to his former business partner.

It’s provided a couple of months to concentrate on practising and playing, an investment of time that reaped rewards at the PGA Professionals Championship at Hamilton Island.

A four-stroke lead prior to the final round was reduced to one by the end of the third round yet his 5-over 76 and 2-over par total was enough to hold off defending champion and former tour player Scott Laycock by a single shot.

At this stage Sexton-Finck is unsure what 2020 will hold but knows one thing for certain; the touring life is not for him.

“It would be nice for the first six months but I’ve got a couple of kids as well so I would miss home again and that would affect your performance,” admitted Sexton-Finck, who missed the cut at Royal Pines in 2015 with rounds of 77-75 and was tied for 49th at Coolum in 2007.

“I’m sure there are a lot of guys out there who miss home but it affected me and I just wanted to be grounded which is why I went down the club role.

“That was the biggest crunch for me. It wasn’t about me not feeling like I was good enough or the stresses of golf for a living, it was purely that I missed home.”