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Billy Dowling just missed his dream of making the cut as a 15-year-old but a week of fresh belief and friendships made him a winner at the Isuzu Queensland Open.
The teen from Surfers Paradise Golf Club did something at Pelican Waters that went way beyond his impressive 72-73 effort to miss the cut by two strokes.
He had seasoned pros three times his age, like fellow Queenslander Michaael Wright, doffing their caps to him.
He had 2017 Northern Territory PGA champion Travis Smyth retweeting Dowling’s cool story with the tag “How good is this.”
Golf has captured Dowling and his 13-year-old caddie Archie Ward but their fun this week should coax more youngsters into thinking how cool is this game.
“I was so close to making the cut and that’s a really good feeling,” Dowling said on Saturday morning.
“It’s been a really great experience to be out here with all these big people and just knowing I can compete with all these big names.”
Dowling came oh-so-close to making the one-under-par cut line.
He was on the number when he teed off at 7.30am (AEST) on Saturday to finish the final three holes of his second round. Par-Par-Par would have been enough.
He hit a perfect drive with dew still glistening on the fairway of the 485m par five he faced first up. A sure second shot and a wedge to 5m gave him a birdie look straight away.
“It broke a little right and rolled out more than I thought. I was shaking on the three-footer I left myself on the way back,” Dowling said.
“I pushed it right and missed.”
It was a rare blemish because his masterful short game has been a feature this week. When Dowling’s approach on the next skewed right and cannoned off a tree, it looked all over. His chip ran by the pin and just off the green. He binned the 3.5m putt for par. Clutch.
He still needed a birdie down the tough last, the 417m ninth, to make the cut.
His five wood approach flew right and plugged in the wall of the bunker. That was it and a bogey left him with a 73.
“I’m proud of myself,” Dowling said.
“Definitely I’ll be back to give it a crack next year…for a better result.”
He might even need a razor by the time next year’s tournament rolls around and he’s in Year 12 at Helensvale State High.
You have to love golf stories like that of Billy Dowling and all it does for young dreamers everywhere.
The third round got underway at 9.35am am (AEST) under clear skies.
Co-leaders Chris Wood (68-68), Bryden Macpherson (72-64) and Blake Windred (67-69) are off at 11.15am.
The trio are at eight-under as are veterans Michael Wright (67-69) and Peter Wilson (71-65), off at 11.05am after finishing par-par to finish off their second rounds earlier on Saturday.
Bryden Macpherson’s hot 64 has thrown him into a potential weekend shootout with touring housemate Chris Wood for the Isuzu Queensland Open title.
Macpherson grabbed two eagles on par fives to bankroll his eight-under-par round on a hectic Friday at Pelican Waters Golf Club outside Caloundra.
Some players in the field were trying to clear 27 holes in the day to make up for the big rain interruption when the course was hit by a wild squall on Thursday.
Victorian Macpherson’s 72-64 start has got him to eight-under-par which was matched by Queenslander Wood (68-68).
The pair will in the mix going into Saturday but they had completed their second rounds before first round leaders Michael Wright, Andrew Martin, Blake Windred and David Bransdon had got rolling after their 67s.
Macpherson’s first eagle on his third hole, the par five 12th, augured well for a positive day.
“I hit a nice drive and three wood to about 35 feet but I hit the putt way too hard. I was lucky that one went in because it hit the hole with a lot of speed,” Macpherson said.
A fine chip dropped in the front of the hole for another eagle three holes from home.
Winning the Moonah Links Classic last month has given Macpherson extra confidence and calmness.
“Obviously, it boosts the confidence to see some results from what you feel you can do,” Macpherson said.
The compact shotmaker is less of the hyper-intense silo he once was when trying to parlay his dream start as an amateur at the 2012 Masters at Augusta into a full-blown career in the US.
“I’ve moved on from the pure competitive nature of just playing golf and that being my entire existence,” Macpherson, 30, said.
“I’m done with the stresses when playing and worrying about my game when I leave the golf course…those were my 20s.
“I’m just enjoying playing golf as a member of the tour in Australia now.”
His marriage to American wife Christina last year has been part of the mellowing process although you still feel Macpherson would treat a game of Monopoly like an AFL grand final.
The home barista is a double espresso sort of guy and always will be.
Chinese teenager Guxin Chen (69-68), lone American Derek Ackerman (68-69) and NSW golfer Dale Williamson (68-69) posted seven-under early for 36 holes.
Pelican Waters member Shae Wools-Cobb made a strong move to six-under with his 67 on Friday while NT PGA champion Aaron Pike shot 66 to reach the same mark.
Macpherson, Wood, Brett Rankin and Tim Hart are sharing a house just two minutes from Pelican Waters this week.
“We can let off some steam together, eat and have a drink and not talk too much golf,” Macpherson said.
Hart could also have been in contention. He was six-under through 11 holes in his second round before a double bogey-double bogey finish flattened his round into a tame two-under 70.
Contending for his state Open has always been an ambition for Wood.
“I played 22 holes on the day, chipped and putted well, was steady and stayed in the round when I had to,” said Wood, a Wynnum Golf Club member.
“It’s nice to play a course you know pretty well and this is a trophy I’ve always wanted to win being in my home state.”
Golf’s youth brigade have set another eye-popping standard through 15-year-old Billy Dowling and his even young caddie Alfie Ward at the Isuzu Queensland Open.
Dowling compiled a fine par round of 72 in Thursday’s opening round with sound course tips from 13-year-old Alfie, a Pelican Waters member who plays off a one handicap.
Dowling is no long bomber at just 48kg and regards himself as “probably the shortest hitter out here.”
What he does have is a gun short game.
He also struck the near-perfect six iron 150m on the par three 15th thanks to Alfie’s advice on club selection.
“Alfie and I were talking about five or six iron. I took six iron and it was on line all the way,” Billy said.
“I thought it was going in and it finished up less than a foot from the hole so it was really good.
“Thanks to Alfie. A hot dog for the caddie is about right.”
Dowling was chomping into his own, with sauce, post round to boast his energy levels.
Dowling is from Helensvale State High, the same school that produced US Open tennis champion Sam Stosur and 2012 London Olympics hurdling gold medallist Sally Pearson.
At Surfers Paradise Golf Club, he plays off a handicap of +4.3 and credits long-time coach Nancy Harvey for his improvements.
Alfie was wondering about the 15th, the $100,000 hole-in-one prize and how close they were to more than a hotdog.
The cash is only up for grabs from sponsor Palm Lake Resort for an ace on Saturday or Sunday when the hole is stretched beyond 160m.
The youngsters knew each other from junior events so when Billy qualified on Monday it was quickly organised that he stay with the Wards near the course.
Dowling was sitting in the top half of the 132-strong field with players still to finish their opening rounds.
In some respects, Cameron Davis is the Aussie on the PGA TOUR that no one saw coming.
Certainly not at the speed at which he arrived.
His amateur career was one that few can match.
The 2014 Victorian Amateur champion, Davis won the Australian Amateur title in 2015 and in 2016 was the individual winner at the Eisenhower Trophy that the Australian team won by 19 strokes in Mexico.
Those within the inner sanctum of Australian golf knew Davis had game but when he chased down Jason Day to clinch the 2017 Australian Open from six strokes back the 22-year-old entered a new stratosphere.
Six months later he’d won on the Korn Ferry Tour; seven months after that he was playing his first event as a member of the PGA TOUR.
GOLFTV to stream ‘Every Shot Live’ from the PGA TOUR at THE PLAYERS Championship
As he prepares to take on TPC Sawgrass for the first time at THE PLAYERS Championship this week – another opportunity to elevate his game in elite company – Davis revealed the moment when he felt like he belonged.
“Just being on the range and hitting balls next to everyone is enough to feel like I have what it takes,” said Davis, who has been drawn to play with Charley Hoffman and Rory Sabbatini the opening two rounds.
“I feel like I’m comfortable enough out here to not be as worried about making cuts anymore.
“I’m just comfortable now, where I feel like my good golf is good enough. It’s just about playing really good golf on the right week and if two guys play even better then that’s OK.
“I feel like that good golf is good enough to win tournaments.”
Davis’s best chance at a breakthrough PGA TOUR win came back in January when he was in the hunt until the very end of The American Express ultimately won by Si Woo Kim, the 2017 PLAYERS champion.
Now 26 years of age, Davis knows that being in contention is another step forward in adding his name to the list of Australian winners on the PGA TOUR.
“The more you’re up there, the more comfortable it gets,” Davis said.
“I know I’ve had really good results from a long way back on Sunday. That’s how I’ve won the
professional tournaments that I’ve won, coming from a long way back on Sunday and just going for it.
“The difference would be I haven’t experienced being in the lead going into Sunday. I would love to have that experience and soon but I feel like I’m able to put it all in its place a lot better now.
“When I stand on the tee on Sunday if I’m in contention, I’m figuring out what works for me better, which is more to not worry about what everyone else is doing and just kind of be as present as I possibly can in my own little bubble.
“The better I do that, the better I play.”
As for the raft of young Aussies to have joined the professional ranks in recent times, Davis encouraged them to work their way through each stage on the journey towards joining the PGA TOUR.
“If you did really well (as an amateur) you might have the option of those seven PGA TOUR starts,” said Davis, who had to return to the Korn Ferry Tour playoffs in 2019 to retain his status on the main tour.
“It’s great to take a few of those but I feel like it’s better to keep on working up through the stages.
“I like starting at the bottom and then just pushing as hard as you can.
“For me the best plan of attack was just to get over into the PGA TOUR cycle, get to the Mackenzie Tour and work my way up and just experience golf over here.
“It is a different style of golf so I’m really happy I did it that way.”
Davis is one of seven Australians who will contest THE PLAYERS Championship in Florida while there are just three Aussies in action as the European Tour resumes with the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in Doha.
GOLFTV to stream ‘Every Shot Live’ from the PGA TOUR at THE PLAYERS Championship
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR
THE PLAYERS Championship
TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Cse), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
11.51pm Cameron Smith, Dylan Frittelli, Keegan Bradley
4.16am Cameron Percy, Brian Harman, Bernd Wiesberger
5.11am Adam Scott, Daniel Berger, Shane Lowry
5.11am* Marc Leishman, Robert Streb, Justin Rose
5.33am Jason Day, Jason Kokrak, Francesco Molinari
5.44am Cameron Davis, Charley Hoffman, Rory Sabbatini
5.55am Matt Jones, Maverick McNealy, Will Zalatoris
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Greg Norman (1994), Adam Scott (2004), Jason Day (2016)
Top Aussie prediction: Adam Scott
TV schedule: Live 4am-10am Friday, Saturday; Live 5am-10am Sunday; Live 4am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 503.
European Tour
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Education City GC, Doha, Qatar
2.35pm* Wade Ormsby, Marcus Kinhult, Adri Arnaus
3.35pm Maverick Antcliff, Adrien Saddier, Lars Van Meijel
7.30pm* Scott Hend, Nino Bertasio, Shergo Al Kurdi
Defending champion: Jorge Campillo
Past Aussie winners: Adam Scott (2002, 2008)
Top Aussie prediction: Wade Ormsby
TV schedule: Live 7.30pm-12.30am Thursday, Friday; Live 8pm-12.30am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503.
* Starting from 10th tee
If facing Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass torture test for the first time at 46 years of age wasn’t enough, Victorian Cameron Percy has revealed the debilitating after-affects of contracting COVID-19 that continue to plague him.
Seven Australians will tee it up at THE PLAYERS from Friday morning, Percy and Cameron Davis pitting their skills against one of golf’s most exacting tests for the first time at very different times of their careers.
As Davis continues to establish his PGA TOUR credentials, Percy is realising a lifelong dream that he concedes looked unlikely to come to fruition.
Yet last Friday he was told that providing the winner of last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational was already exempt, he was in.
Twelve months after the TOUR was forced to shut down as the spread of the pandemic was felt globally, Percy understands better than most the affect the virus can have physically.
“I actually got COVID in December, which sucked, and I’m still struggling with that,” Percy revealed.
“That was in December, so that’s what, nearly three, four months now.
“The symptoms weren’t that bad. I just lost all my strength, and fatigue and stuff like that.
“I’ve lost a lot of distance and stuff.”
Currently 95th in the FedEx Cup points list with two top-10s this season, Percy’s long-awaited arrival at TPC Sawgrass has attracted the attention of fellow Aussies very accustomed to an annual date at Ponte Vedra Beach.
Fellow Victorian Marc Leishman was surprised to hear of Percy’s debut as the pair shared range time earlier in the week and Percy himself admits at times appeared out of reach.
“Just with a few injuries here and there and age, I’m like, well, maybe that’s one event I’m not going to play,” Percy said.
“When you write down your goals when you’re younger than this, you think, yeah, I’ll be there, but it took a long time.
“I didn’t know I was in the field until Friday night. I knew I was in, but I wasn’t guaranteed I was in, so it was sort of like, oh, we’ll see, we’ll see. As long as a non-exempt player didn’t win last week, I was in.”
Hailed for its ability to reward a wide range of playing styles and with a honour board with a mix of Hall of Famers and unheralded champions, Percy believes his experience may make it worth the wait.
Bombers aren’t disproportionately advantaged at TPC Sawgrass and Percy intends to use a razor-sharp iron game honed on the Melbourne Sandbelt to make it a Stadium Course debut to savour.
“I’m playing pretty good right now. I’m driving it straight, which helps,” said Percy, who was tied for seventh two starts back at the Puerto Rico Open.
“With the wind getting up, it’s going to be pretty important.
“I think Jim Furyk has come second quite a few times here and KJ Choi and this and that. Obviously distance doesn’t mean a lot here.
“Obviously keeping the ball in play means a lot and hitting quality iron shots. That’s my game. And the par-5s, I can reach all the par-5s, so there’s no disadvantage there.”
Anthony Quayle is so eager to recreate the winning vibes of last year’s Isuzu Queensland Open that he’s coaxed his caddie-coach to walk Thursday’s opening round with a dodgy back.
Veteran coach Ken Berndt isn’t even required to carry Quayle’s bag. Quayle will do the wheeling as long as “KB” is walking beside him.
“KB was such an important part of my win last year with the way he helped compose me on the final holes,” Quayle said.
“He wants to be out there, bad back and all, but I’ll look after the bag. He might not last the four rounds so he’s just going to walk with me.”
Being back at Pelican Waters Golf Club, outside Caloundra, has flooded Quayle’s senses with positivity.
It was the scene of his first professional win and the first time he’d closed the deal in a play-off after six near-miss top three finishes earlier in his career.
He’ll get the chance to post a solid first round score before the traditional afternoon winds get up at Pelican Waters because he’s off at 7.20am (AEST) with Australian women’s amateur champion Grace Kim and Victorian Matt Griffin.
“As soon as I drive through the gates I get some of the good vibes of last year,” Quayle said with a smile.
“It reminds you of the form you were in, the way you were hitting the ball and what you were thinking about.
“I’m pretty excited and hope to defend this week.”
Quayle missed the cut at The Players Series Sydney last week when his driver misbehaved so he’s spent time with Berndt to iron out that kink.
“I haven’t played that well over the past few weeks but I’ve done some good work with my coach so I’m excited to put that to the test,” Quayle said.
“We’ve addressed the driving to make it more of the asset it normally is rather than a hindrance.
“If you drive it well around this course you can score really well but three eagles back-to-back-to-back…I’m not sure I’ll ever see that again.”
Quayle was referencing the astonishing four-eagle 61 of Andrew Martin when the journeyman pro won in startling style at Bonnie Doon last Sunday.
Quayle dug deeper on all he learnt on that tense Sunday last year when he led by three strokes, tripped with a double bogey and had to make a clutch par from the bunker, just to make the play-off, when he was on a downslope with a root behind the ball.
“KB told me I could still win it from here (after the double-bogey). We set a new strategy and the next few holes were a better stretch than I played anywhere else in the tournament,” Quayle said.
“It proved you can always find more if you dig down and don’t ever count yourself out.”
Quayle won on 15-under-par last year, from South Australia’s Jack Thompson, but figures the field will go lower this week.
“You could still trick up the course with pin placements on slopes and behind bunkers but, from what I’ve seen, I’m predicting closer to 20-under this week,” Quayle said.
The course’s condition has been transformed over the past five weeks through the hard work of greens staff and volunteers.
“We’ve come out of COVID and the willingness of all to help get the course up to a high level for a tournament has been tremendous,” Pelican Waters Golf Operations Manager Dale Williamson said.
“We’ve had mower men volunteers, members helping clear undergrowth and tidy paths…the effort has made a huge difference.”
Jed Morgan, last year’s Australian Amateur champion, said the tournament was wide open when asked if he was in-form.
“I don’t think of golf that way…you make form. That’s my thinking anyway,” said Morgan, who is one of a host of top amateurs in the field.
All the themes to find the Isuzu Queensland Open winner this week have been enacted since a tournament of rich history was rebooted in 2013.
The tournament has been a wonderful kick-start as the first victory in a professional tournament for Brett Coletta (2016) and defending champion Anthony Quayle (2020).
This week, think Deyen Lawson, Dylan Perry, James Marchesani, Sunshine Coast local Shae Wools-Cobb, Players Series Sydney runner-up Charlie Dann or any number of hungry young golfers.
Coletta reinforced how good the pathways are to polish the skills of our best young players in Australia by winning as an amateur.
This week, think Louis Dobbelaar, Jed Morgan or the bang that Caloundra‘s own amateur Chris Crabtree could make around his home course.
Holding aloft the T.B. Hunter Cup was a drought-breaker for the seasoned David Bransdon (2015) at Brookwater.
This week, think Scott Strange, Steven Jeffress or even Bransdon again because he showed his liking for Pelican Waters with a course record 63 in last year’s opening round.
Or methodical Adam Blyth. The 2016 NSW Open champion had to get through Monday pre-qualifying to win his start for Thursday.
Winning a home state Open was something to celebrate for Gatton product Andrew Dodt (2014) just as Quayle felt that way because his golfing home is on the Gold Coast even though he is Northern Territory born.
This week, think Jake McLeod, before he heads back to the European Tour, Wools-Cobb, Brett Rankin and a host of other local hopes who are the most comfortable on Queensland’s grainy greens.
For Jordan Zunic (2018) and Michael Sim (2017) their Queensland Open successes revived just how good they both are after bigger victories early in their careers.
This week, think ageless 1983 Australian Open champion Peter Fowler. He’s 61 and will still show some younger partners how to play the game even if winning this week may be beyond him.
Nick Cullen flew that rare flag as a leftie to win an Australian tournament in 2013.
This week, think Adam Bland or exciting rookie Elvis Smylie.
Smylie is just 18 and starting his pro journey after switching from the amateur ranks to play The Players Series Sydney last week.
Smylie’s quality was there for all to see at Bonnie Doon where he finished in a tie for third at 15-under-par after rounds of 68-67-69-65.
As an amateur, he finished in a tie for 24th at the Queensland Open last year with a closing round of 68 to show his liking for Pelican Waters.
The nines at Pelican Waters have been flipped this week so the tough par four closing hole will play as the ninth.
“There were a lot of positives to take out of that week at Bonnie Doon…and I think mum and dad enjoyed me shouting lunch for a change on the Sunday,” Smylie said with a smile.
“I was also proud of the way I handled things with the bit of hype around me turning pro.”
His $7350 cheque definitely won’t be his last from golf.
Smylie did not suddenly feel weighed down on course just because he was playing for money.
“Nothing was different. It felt exactly the same to me, I just didn’t have that (a) next to my name,” Smylie said.
“I knew I’d been ready to turn pro for a couple of months and that was just the next step.”
Smylie had six birdies on the final day and felt he did everything in his power to be in the finish.
“I did everything in my control but four eagles in the final round was absolutely ridiculous (from winner Andrew Martin) as great golf,” Smylie said.
Who will have a one-off giant week at Pelican Waters or will steady good form be the pointer?
How will Smylie go in the Queensland Open lottery to find a winner?
Here’s an insider tip. At the beginning of last week, he joined Dobbelaar, the rest of the Queensland Academy of Sport squad and European Tour pro Maverick Antcliff for a round at the course.
Smylie shot 63 to head them all. The kid can play and what a pulse he’d give the Queensland Open if he made a charge.
A teenager from Southport chasing his first pro win in his home state Open, a leftie…all great themes.
Shae Wools-Cobb owes the Isuzu Queensland Open his best golf after over-complicating his home course advantage at Pelican Waters during last year’s tournament.
Wools-Cobb, 25, will tee off in Thursday’s opening round at Pelican Waters with confidence from the highest finish of his formative professional career.
The young Sunshine Coast golfer from Mudjimba, just up the highway from Pelican Waters, finished tied third last Sunday in The Players Series Sydney where he produced one of his hottest rounds as a pro.
His seven-under-par 64 to open the tournament was just the reinforcement he needed to show all the work he is putting in with coach Grant Field is paying off.
When the COVID-19 pandemic stopped Australian tournament golf in its tracks a year ago, Wools-Cobb hit the practice range when he was restricted to a single four-round tournament in 11 months.
He’s also a member at Maroochy River Golf Club but works with Field at Pelican Waters, beside Caloundra, on the same practice range where PGA Tour star Cameron Smith tunes up when in town.
“I’m usually known for being a really good putter who has to hole a lot to keep in tournaments,” Wools-Cobb said.
“I hit all 18 greens in that 64 and just feel I’ve been hitting the ball a lot more solid since the resumption (of tournaments) in January.”
Those who know Wools-Cobb will always tell you he is a super hard marker on his own game. When he sighs that he’s hit a ball thin but straight it’s often an eight-out-of-10 shot on the eye. He’s chasing the perfection that all golfers do.
Wools-Cobb went to Maroochydore State High and plays regular Saturday and Sunday competitions at Pelican Waters so this really is a home game this week.
He never capitalised on that head start with a poor 73-78 flop to miss the cut at the same course last year.
“I have high hopes this week and I’ve definitely learnt a lot from last year when it felt weird playing a tournament on a course I play all the time,” Woos-Cobb said.
“I’m super-aggressive when I play in a normal Saturday or Sunday comp but shied away from that in the tournament and came unstuck being too conservative.”
Where he’d normally fade a big driver down the tough par four 18 to leave a seven iron approach, he took three wood and left himself a much longer iron for an approach shot. He bogeyed the hole both days.
The nines have been flipped this year so the 18th will play as the ninth.
“The Queensland Open is where I made my debut as a professional in 2018 so it’s always really special to play it,” the former top amateur said.
“I remember those early days as a pro and all the tension in my short game.
“It all just clicked with my good finish (15th) at the Australian Open in 2019 and I’ve just carried on from that with better golf.”
Gold Coast golfer Jordan O’Brien flew the flag proudly for International Women’s Day with a stunning 67 on Monday to qualify for the Isuzu Queensland Open.
Birdies will always beat biceps because the petite 56kg amateur grabbed eight at Pelican Waters Golf Club to leave a host of male pros and amateurs in her wake.
Despite regularly giving up 30-40m off the tee to her three male playing partners, she rode her own excellent driving and short game to the biggest moment of her career.
The Royal Pines member played the course off the same tees as the men albeit from the forward markers in operation for pre-qualifying day.
“I just went out and tried my absolute best. I wasn’t really expecting it to be honest so the feeling is incredible. I’m stoked,” O’Brien, 24, said.
“My coach (Ali Orchard) had told me ‘see it, feel it, trust it, you’ve only got something to gain today’ and I kept repeating that in my head.”
O’Brien grabbed one of just 12 prized spots from pre-qualifying at Pelican Waters where 100 players teed up.
Melbourne’s Brad Kivimets, from Victoria Golf Club, led the way by firing 10 birdies in a superb nine-under-par 63 in his first full round on the course.
At Virginia Golf Club, Allesandro Noseda, with his four-under 67, led the qualifiers which included 2016 NSW Open champion Adam Blyth (70) and gun Emerald Lakes amateur Kai Komulainen (70).
O’Brien said the 2018 effort of now-pro Becky Kay to create history as the first female to qualify for the Queensland Open was inspiring.
“Absolutely it is when you see other girls able to do it,” O’Brien said of how powerful role models are across all women’s sports in Australia.
“Just the feeling of being able to compete with the men off the same tees increases your confidence majorly.
“The game is moving in that direction to include women. To have spots available at this tournament is awesome and also what they are doing with the WPGA and the new Athena event.”
Isuzu Queensland Open organisers had already taken the progressive step of inviting five top female players directly into Thursday’s field…Kay, Steph Kyriacou, Karis Davidson, Sarah Wilson and Grace Kim.
Kivimets, 26, who works casually on the ground staff at Royal Melbourne, got a surprise that pre-qualifying used the forward tees.
“It was my first proper round on the course. Absolutely no complaints…I had quite a few wedges into greens and felt comfortable with the grain on the greens which is very different to Melbourne,” Kivimets said.
It was validation of how he spent the strict lockdown months in Victoria last year.
“I set up a net in the front yard, got a little home gym sorted out and even put a putting mat in the spare room so I didn’t waste the time,” he said.
For Caloundra amateur Chris Crabtree (67), there was pressure of a different sort…qualifying just 10 minutes from home so friends and family have a personal interest in Thursday’s first round.
Billy Dowling (68), a 16-year-old amateur from the Surfers Paradise Golf Club, got through while 13-year-old Pelican Waters prodigy Alfie Ward (75) will be back to try again.
Brisbane’s Chris Somerfield (68) birdied the opening two holes of a play-off to grab his qualifying spot at Pelican Waters.
QUALIFIERS
(At Pelican Waters GC, par 72): 63: Brad Kivimets, 66: Sam Slater (a), 67: Chris Crabtree (a), Jordan O’Brien (a), Blaike Perkins (a), 68: Taylor Barr (a), Justin Morley (a), Travis Robbie (a), Conor Whitelock (a), Billy Dowling (a), Andrew Park (a),
(At Virginia GC, par 71): 67: Alessandro Noseda, 68: Sam Howse (a), 69: Jack Munro, 70: Adam Blyth, James Douris, Ben Wharton, Nicklaus Rogers, Jamie Pitt (a), Guxin Chen (a), Kai Komulainen (a)
Jason Day has accepted that there are areas of him game that need tightening up if he is to break a winless drought that is now stretching close to three years.
Positioned just outside the top 10 heading into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Day’s Sunday started to come unstuck at the hole that champion Bryson DeChambeau made his own this week, the par-5 sixth.
As DeChambeau had the Florida fans roaring with his cross-lake tee shot that on Sunday finished just 88 yards short of the hole at the 565-yard par 5, Day found the water with his driver on his way to a double-bogey.
Four bogeys on the back nine added up to a final round of 7-over 79 and a tie for 31st, still the best finish of any of the Aussies at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, but with recognition that he has work to do before he returns to the winner’s circle.
“It feels really close to playing some good golf, but I feel like I got a lot of work to do before I can really believe that I can kind of win out here again,” Day said.
“And I’m not saying that in a negative way at all, I just feel like there’s a few areas of my game that just need to be tightened up and it’s not that far away.
“I don’t have any issues with my body so there’s no excuses in regards to that. I can go out and work as hard as I can. I can putt as long as I want to, which is great.
“Overall, I think it’s been moving in the right direction, which has been a plus.
“I’ve just got to focus on what I’ve been doing great and just try and tighten up the areas that I need to tighten up and then get back to winning. That’s all I can focus on.”
The 2016 champion at Bay Hill, Day returns to another tournament venue where he has had success this week, TPC Sawgrass for the THE PLAYERS Championship a year on from when the TOUR was forced to shut down due to the looming threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kind of a whirlwind year to be honest. It’s kind of crazy that it’s already been a year. But also it feels
like it’s been a long year as well,” Day said, the TOUR suspending the season prior to the second round of THE PLAYERS last year.
“I think everyone is excited to get back to the PLAYERS Championship next week. I think everyone’s just excited to get back and play it again and I heard it’s in tremendous condition.
“I’m excited to get back.”
Coming on the back of her best LPGA Tour finish on US soil, Sarah Kemp was once again the pick of the Aussie girls at the LPGA Drive On Championship, recording her best round of the week in the final round to finish tied for 34th.
After a strong start Katherine Kirk struggled on Sunday, starting with three straight bogeys on her way to a 5-over 77.
PGA TOUR
Arnold Palmer Invitational
Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida
T31 Jason Day 70-72-68-79—289
T49 Danny Lee 73-71-71-77—292
MC Matt Jones 76-72—148
MC Cameron Davis 76-72—148
MC Cameron Percy 72-76—148
MC Marc Leishman 74-75—149
LPGA Tour
LPGA Drive On Championship
Golden Ocala Golf Club, Ocala, Florida
T8 Lydia Ko 69-72-72-71—284 $US30,463
T34 Sarah Kemp 72-72-74-71—289 $8,499
T48 Katherine Kirk 69-72-73-77—291 $5,469
MC Sarah Jane Smith 77-78—15
