Maverick Antcliff claimed his third China Tour title of the year and denied Bryden Macpherson in the process as the Aussies finished 1-2 at the Beijing Open at Fragrant Hills International Golf Club.

Maverick Antcliff claimed his third China Tour title of the year and denied Bryden Macpherson in the process as the Aussies finished 1-2 at the Beijing Open at Fragrant Hills International Golf Club.

Winner of the opening two events of the season, Antcliff took control of the Beijing Open with a bogey-free 7-under 65 in the second round and closed it out in emphatic fashion, a 5-under 67 carrying him to a comfortable four-shot win.

Bogeys at the 14th and 16th holes narrowed marginally what was a commanding lead, an eagle at the par-5 third and birdies at the fourth, eighth and nine holes contributing to an outward nine of 31 that all but sealed the result.

To demonstrate Antcliff’s dominance on the China Tour in 2019 his ￥449,050 in prize money (approx. $93,000) that sees him lead the Order of Merit is three times the prize money won by the player in second position.

While Antcliff was able to revel in the glow of another win, Macpherson claimed his third top-10 finish of the year to move up to ninth on the moneylist.

Two eagles in his opening round of 5-under 67 put Macpherson in a strong position from the outset and he did his best to apply pressure on Sunday, catching fire late with an eagle and three birdies in his closing six holes to finish tied second alongside  Guowu Zhou, Cheng Jin and Andreas Gronkvist.

Weekend rounds of 67-68 pushed Kade McBride up into a tie for sixth with Kiwis Kieran Muir and Fraser Wilkin finishing tied for 31st and tied for 38th respectively.

On the Japan Golf Tour the final round had to be cancelled due to bad weather, Kiwi Michael Hendry the best of the Australasian contingent in a tie for 22nd as Rikuya Hoshino claimed the Dunlop SRIXON Fukushima Open.

New South Welshman David Bransdon was a shot behind Hendry in a tie for 29th that moves him up to 53rd on the Order of Merit with Japan rookie Dylan Perry the only other Aussie to make the cut.

China Tour

Japan Golf  Tour