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Brad Kennedy holds a four-shot lead at the #QLDPGA with much of round two still to be completed at a rain-soaked City Golf Club in Toowoomba.
Despite the typical Queensland bathing the regional course during the morning’s action, rain again forced the suspension of play by the afternoon.
Kennedy was 20 minutes away from taking to the tee for round two before the downfall forced the players from the field for three hours.
Yet the interruption made little impact on the 45-year-old, who went on to shoot 3-under thru 12 to push out to a 12-under the card total.
It follows his course record-equalling 9-under 61 yesterday.
“It was pretty tricky out there, but I’m feeling good and in control. It’s early days into my season so I’m not expecting a lot,” the Japan Tour player said.
It took until the seventh hole for Kennedy to extend his overnight advantage. He followed that effort up on nine and secured consecutive birdies.
“I’m just trying to match my intention with every shot. The green was soft and the rain made it challenging to judge distances, but I remained calm and got myself into a good rhythm,” he said.
“You just have to go with it. I’m looking forward to playing another six holes tomorrow before commencing round 3.”
New South Welshman Callan O’Reilly hasn’t given up hope of reining in the runaway leader after a second consecutive round of 4-under 66 elevated him into second position.
O’Reilly and veteran David Bransdon were the ones to make up the most ground on Kennedy at the top of the leaderboard.
Former Canadian Open winner Nathan Green fired the best of the completed morning rounds with a 6-under 64 that was highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 17th while Queenslander Matthew Guyatt will take home a fond memory of his own having aced the 113-metre par-3 eighth.
Based at Toronto Country Club near Newcastle where Green also calls home, O’Reilly had to bounce back after making double-bogey at the par-4 first – his 10th hole for the day – but is confident that with less errors he has the weaponry to give Kennedy a run for his money.
“Today I showed that if I can keep the errors out of my game I’ve got a low number in me,” explained O’Reilly, who was 3-under at the turn and picked up birdies at two, five and seven to be 8-under at the halfway point of the tournament.
“We’re obviously up against it a bit trying to chase down Brad but he’s still got 54 holes to play and I’ve only got 36.
“I had one little glitch on the first where I made a bit of an error and made double-bogey there but pretty happy that I clawed it back. I made a birdie straight after it and played a solid back nine after that.
“I’ll just keep chipping away and see if I can catch up.”
Rain has again forced play to be suspended at the #QLDPGA.
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) February 14, 2020
Updates at https://t.co/usFfht4qR5 pic.twitter.com/LAmiTOBpfn
A regular on the Japan Golf Tour, there was just the one blemish on Bransdon’s scorecard, a bogey at the 403-metre par-4 ninth the only sour note in his 65 that featured six birdies and saw him join O’Reilly at 8-under, one shot behind Kennedy.
With challenging conditions and lengthier rough at City Golf Club than in years prior, former NZ Open champion Dimitrios Papadatos doesn’t expect scoring to be as low as it has been in past championships in Toowoomba.
Daniel Nisbet triumphed by six shots with a four-round total of 24-under 12 months ago but after moving into a tie for fourth at 7-under with a 2-under round of 68 on Friday morning, Papadatos remains in the hunt.
“It’s definitely more difficult than in recent years because of the rough being up and being soft out there it’s playing a little longer,” said Papadatos, who after starting on the back nine registered three birdies on the front to get back under par.
“The scoring is usually pretty low around here but this year it’s a bit different.
“You’ve just got to hang in there and keep giving yourself opportunities. I made a birdie on the second and got a bit of momentum back and kept going from there.”
The hottest round of Friday morning belongs to Austin Bautista, the Bankstown product reeling off seven birdies in just 12 holes to finish 7-under.
Round 2 will resume at 6:45am (AEST) with a two-tee round 3 start likely to commence from 10am.
Two Major winners and a golfer who won the “fifth” Major will add significantly to the 101st New Zealand Open presented by SKY Sport in Queenstown later this month.
US Open winners Michael Campbell and Geoff Ogilvy have confirmed their start, along with the remarkable KJ Choi, who won The Players Championship, who will also return for a third straight year.
The 101st New Zealand Open, which has attracted 156 professionals from 18 countries, will be staged at Millbrook Resort and The Hills from 27 February to 1 March.
Campbell, who headed Tiger Woods by two shots at Pinehurst in 2005 to secure a place in golfing history, returned to the game last year and to the 100th New Zealand Open.
The 2000 New Zealand Open champion has joined the European Seniors Staysure Tour, with a best performance a share of second place in the PGA Seniors Championship last year.
With a year of more regular competition under his belt, Campbell has returned to Millbrook Resort, from his base in Spain, and will undoubtedly be a little more ‘match fit’ than he was a year ago.
Tournament Director Michael Glading welcomed the return of former New Zealand Open winner Campbell, recognising the large part that Manuka Doctor has played in making this happen.
“Manuka Doctor are a significant sponsor of the New Zealand Open, and also give great support to Michael, so for us this is a match made in heaven. We are just delighted to have Michael return to play in our event again” said Glading.
Geoff Ogilvy, who won 12 times as a professional including eight on the PGA Tour, and claimed the US Open crown in 2006, reaching #4 in the world rankings.
While he played in the New Zealand Open as a young professional, he ventured back last year for his first-ever visit to Queenstown after closing a long chapter of golfing life based in the US to return with his family to Melbourne.
He has spent much of the year settling his family into life in Australia, taking up the cudgels as an assistant to Ernie Els for the Presidents Cup and playing fleetingly.
But he saw enough of the golf courses at Millbrook Resort and The Hills, and the spectacular surrounds of Queenstown to return.
“I had a really good time last year and am really looking forward to coming back” said Ogilvy.
Choi, Asia’s most successful golfer, is returning to the New Zealand Open for a third straight year, and will reunite with Ogilvy, with the pair both serving as assistants in the Presidents Cup.
He has won 29 times over 25 years as a professional and claimed a top-20 finish last year.
“I have greatly enjoyed my last two visits to the New Zealand Open and I cannot say enough about the presentation of the courses at Millbrook Resort and The Hills,” said Choi.
“I played quite well last year, and I feel if my game is at its best then I can be very competitive at Millbrook Resort, which will be the host course this time.”
The 101st New Zealand Open, who carries a prize purse of $1.4million, is a co-sanctioned event with the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour, and in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
Victorian Brett Coletta has played just two events since last September’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship where he narrowly missed obtaining a 2020 PGA TOUR card. Ahead of this week’s LECOM Suncoast Classic in Florida, he talked to Tony Webeck about the toll 2019 took and how he picked himself up to go again.
I came so close to getting my PGA TOUR card last year and it took it out of me, mentally and emotionally.
I’m quite an emotional person but I was able to get over that disappointment quite quickly.
You get those feelings straight away when you just miss but I was lucky that I had my dad Mick and my sister Milly with me at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Indiana.
That was the time of Hurricane Dorian which closed the airport in Orlando for 48 hours so we weren’t able to go back to the house straight away. We made a trip out of it, going from where we were in Evansville up to Chicago, across to San Diego and then dipped home from there.
If I was on my own those feelings of disappointment would have been a little more raw but I had family with me so that made the transition a little easier.
I wasn’t in fantasy land about it, thinking about losing my card and how devastating and disappointing it was. I tried to find the positives from it and one of those was that I had earned myself a break.
I played 22 events last year which is the most I have ever played but if I’d got my PGA TOUR card, I could have pushed forward and kept playing. I’d have been ecstatic to get my card so I would have been able to draw some more energy from the excitement and adrenaline of getting onto the main tour and all that comes with that.
It was a big year with a lot of ups and downs. I was in no man’s land for a little bit, pulled myself up into the top 25 on the Order of Merit, hung around there until the thin end of the season and then just missed. Then there were finals. It just got real hectic towards the end.
Once I got back to Melbourne I went four weeks without touching a club. I was battling a strep throat problem as soon as I got home and with such a hectic schedule I couldn’t dedicate the time to recover from it. But I got over that and gave myself a few weeks just to unwind.
I did a lot of surfing. I’d go down Westernport way, Flinders, Gunnamatta. On selective days each has their perks.
I got back into the gym and back into practice but there was nothing pressing technique-wise. I was messing around with a few putters here and there but nothing alarming.
My year last year was golf to a tee. You play a couple of months of really poor golf – even longer sometimes – and then you come out one week and you’re in the hunt with nine holes to go on Sunday. All you can think is, ‘Where has this been for four months?’
When you’re playing bad it feels like you can’t get out of the rut but when you’re playing good you can’t imagine ever playing bad again.
I feel like on these secondary tours – even places like Canada, China, Latin America – it’s so top heavy that you can’t afford be finishing 30th every week. You need five top-10s and miss cuts the rest of the time because that’s ultimately more rewarding on the moneylist.
That’s one thing I had to really battle with. A top-20 or top-15 result as an amateur is a great week but you come out here and 20th gets you nothing. You need to come out here firing. Sometimes grinding it out to make the cut isn’t the best option, especially if you’re struggling physically.
It’s all subject to your hot streak. If you’re playing good you’ve just got to ride it, and that’s something that I didn’t do very well last year.
This year? Well, I’ve had a missed cut and had to withdraw after one round of my second event due to food poisoning so I’m off to a flyer.
I was hitting it fine at Exuma but the wind was 40 miles an hour every day. It was one of those courses where if you miss it by five metres you’re making nine. That element of rust wasn’t ideal for my first week back.
It’s been a funky start to the year but having a full card I can set my schedule and then adjust accordingly. Missing Panama last week might mean a busier schedule towards the end of the year but hopefully I can get it going this week.
And then hopefully make another run at that top 25.
Jason Day’s game – and his world ranking – are headed in the right direction after the Queenslander registered his best result in almost two years at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.
Top five in four of his past five starts at Pebble Beach, Day began the final round within reach of top two Nick Taylor and Phil Mickelson but the flatstick that was firing on Friday fell flat in the final round, four three-putts in the space of seven holes on the back nine ending his hopes for a maiden Pebble Beach triumph.
Strong winds and small greens that became firmer as the afternoon wore on made scoring challenging for everyone who made the 54-hole cut, Day turning in even par and missing birdie chances at both nine and 10.
The 32-year-old’s par putt at 11 horseshoed out of the hole so viciously it almost came back and hit his left foot while his hopes of making three at the par-3 12th were made problematic when his 7-iron tee shot came up well short of the green.
He raised his arms to the heavens when a birdie putt fell at 14 and when Day added a second in succession at the par-4 15th he was suddenly back within arm’s length of the frontrunners.
A birdie attempt from 40 feet at 16 came up six feet short, the resulting par miss extinguishing his hopes for good.
Top-20 in his return from injury two weeks ago at Torrey Pines, Day’s outright fourth is his best since winning the Wells Fargo Championship in May 2018 and given him further cause for confidence heading to Riviera Country Club for this week’s Genesis Invitational.
“It’s bittersweet, because I wanted to (win),” Day told AAP of his closing 3-over 75, eight shots back of the victorious Taylor.
“But it’s still a good step in the right direction.
“You can find negatives in anything, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a top five and it’s a great result to have early in the year.
“I played well and it’s a positive week.”
With the first of the World Golf Championship events looming next week, Day’s top five was timely, expected to move him from his current position of 46th in the Official World Golf Rankings to back inside the top 40.
Australian Open champion Matt Jones should also benefit from a return to the world top 100 after he finished tied for fifth, two shots behind Day.
A chip-in birdie at Pebble Beach’s iconic par-5 18th hole was a fitting way for Jones to close out his round, his cheque for $US277,388 his largest since he won $428,400 by finishing tied for third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March 2015.
Day and Jones are now 66th and 61st in the FedEx Cup respectively with Aaron Baddeley and Kiwi Tim Wilkinson 127th and 124th after they both finished tied for 25th at Pebble Beach.
PGA TOUR
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California
4 Jason Day 67-64-70-75—276 $US382,200
T5 Matt Jones 68-73-65-72—278 $277,388
T25 Tim Wilkinson 69-70-70-74—283 $58,667
T25 Aaron Baddeley 68-69-71-75—283 $58,667
T38 Cameron Davis 71-72-69-73—285 $28,561
67 John Senden 71-71-67-83—292 $16,458
MC Greg Chalmers 67-73-76—216
MC Rhein Gibson 74-69-79—222
MC Rod Pampling 73-73-76—222
Two weeks on from his maiden win on the European Tour, Lucas Herbert was wearing the same orange/red shirt and the same big smile at the end of the ISPS Handa Vic Open.
A final round of 69 at 13th Beach took the newly-minted Dubai Desert Classic champion to ten-under par and a spot just outside the top-10.
All of which was just fine with the 24-year old Victorian. While he was at pains to say he wasn’t actually that tired – at least not physically – after four consecutive weeks on the road mental fatigue was definitely setting in.
“I’ve done a pretty good job managing myself this week,” said Herbert, who is ranked 84th in the world. “But yes, I will definitely be a bit fresher a week from now after a few sleep-ins. I have a week off before I head to Mexico for the World Golf Championship event. I’m pretty proud of how I battled here. I haven’t played that well. It was pretty scratchy really. But I did break par every day, despite not holing much on the greens. The things that have been sharp in my game weren’t quite as sharp this week.”
Still, his recent success has distanced Herbert from the near-despair he was feeling only recently. Only a few months ago, he went public with the mental health issues that blighted his 2019 season.
“Halfway through the year, when I came home from the Irish and Scottish Opens, I didn’t even know if I wanted to play any more because I just didn’t enjoy the game,” he told the PGA Golf Club podcast. “I was playing great but I didn’t enjoy the game, didn’t enjoy a round, didn’t enjoy the many sacrifices that you have to make to play well. I just was not in a place where I wanted to make them. I was like ‘if I lose my Tour card this year, I’ll happily go home and get a job as a chippy or a carpenter or something like that.’”
All of which – again – was in marked contrast to the remarkable progress Herbert enjoyed in 2018. After starting the year ranked 278th in the world, he rose almost 200 places on the back of a string of excellent performances.
As many as seven top-seven finishes on the European Tour – each one achieved from the depths of “affiliate membership” – were a million miles from the more modest ambitions he held at the end of 2017.
“I went to the Q-school in Canada early in ‘17 and got my card,” he says. “I didn’t really have much status though. So I was qualifying on Mondays. I missed the first three by a shot each time. So that wasn’t working out. I came home in the middle of the year and played Fiji and the Diamond Cup in Japan. I had my card in Australia but that was never going to be enough. Then I went to the web.com Q-school and missed there. I was running out of immediate options. And if my aim was to get to where I am now in 12 months, I was running out of time real quick.
“So my plan at that stage was to go back to Canada, basically repeating what I had already done. I was thinking I had ten years to get to the PGA Tour so there was no rush. I wasn’t panicking but I was a bit deflated.”
Not for long though. The rise and rise started at home in Australia. One week after running second in the 2017 New South Wales Open, Herbert was playing alongside Jason Day in the final group on the weekend in the Australian Open. Leading with nine-holes to play, the youngster faded to a T-6 finish, but it was the start of bigger and bigger things that culminated with his thrilling play-off victory in the Middle East.
“Looking back, I just played solidly all week in Dubai,” he says. “I hit the key shots well, especially in the play-off after I found the water on the first extra-hole. That was one of the worst shots I’ve ever hit in my life. I think I’d have gone through a different process if you gave me another go at that one. I wasn’t quite convinced I had the right club – even though it was – and I had doubt in my mind, That’s never good. But it is irrelevant now.
“I was good on the hard holes all day. It wasn’t like I played perfect golf. But I hit the right shots at the right time. Which is an important lesson. It really wasn’t that different from how I have played on Sundays before that.”
Now, of course, there is much to reflect on, albeit briefly in the hectic world of professional golf.
“I’ve had a bunch of people congratulating me, which is great,” he says. “I have an almost three-year exemption on the European Tour. The bank account has had a bit of a boost. There really aren’t too many problems with winning. And it definitely frees you up on the course. On the back-nine today I was pushing a bit to post a score just in case the wind plays havoc with the guys later on. I felt free to do that, There was no worry about making a big score and fall back down the leader board. I was just free to play. Plus, I know what I do is good enough to win. There’s no reason why I can’t do it again.”
And going forward?
“I get into the WGC events,” he continues. “They are a great chance to test myself against the best players and make some money. I’ll get to see some wonderful parts of the world too. All of which will hopefully boost my world ranking. I’m open to playing in everything.
“I sat down this week and made a plan for the rest of the year. I want to get into some PGA Tour events. That would get me some FedEx Cup points and hopefully get me into the KornFerry Tour finals at the end of the year. My ultimate aim is to play in the States. That represents a chance to set-up my family financially for life. And I want to play against the best week-in and week-out.”
Indeed. For Lucas Herbert, life is good. Never better, in fact.
It was a wee bit breezy for the third round of the ISPS Handa Vic Open. Make that very breezy. And so very difficult. And very trying.
It was a day for those who understand their swings and games better than most. A day for those who know their capabilities. A day for those who ‘get’ their limitations. A day for those with superior short games. A day when length off the tee was helpful but not top of anyone’s priority list. A day for inventive shot-makers. A day for pure ball-strikers. A day for patience. A day for perseverance.
A day likely to reward experience, you might say.
All of which sounds like the ideal scenario for the oldest swinger in the field. Step forward Peter Fowler. Seven months into his seventh decade on the planet, the former Australian Open champion fought his way round the Beach Course at 13th Beach in 71, one under par. Employing all of his accumulated worldliness and, no doubt, a few other intangibles too, he is on 210, six-shots into red figures, T-29 and, not incidentally, more than a decade older than any of the other 37 qualifiers for the final round.
Okay, so he caught a break in that the strengthening winds had yet to find their eventually formidable stride when he teed-off at 7.30am. But by the time he putted out for par on the 9th green (he started on the 10th), Fowler was happy to be finished, such had been the increase in velocity.
Also bringing a smile to his face was the quality of his overall play between tee-and-green. A couple of putting surfaces had been missed – “from the middle of the fairway, which was frustrating” – but he knew well enough that any sub-par number was a score well-played.
“All you can really do in conditions like that is knuckle down and work hard to keep your round going,” he said of his four-birdie, three-bogey, 11-par effort. “I drove the ball well, which you have to do here. But I got the benefit of my work in the gym too. My body can still handle what I saw out there today. My birth certificate says I am ’60-and-a-half,’ but I don’t feel a day under 85.”
That last bit was a joke, of course. Because no one toils more assiduously than Fowler at all aspects of the game he has played professionally for 43 years. With some distinction too. As well as that Aussie Open title, the New South Welshman has a World Cup (in tandem with Wayne Grady) on his cv, as well as victories in Germany, Jersey, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand and France. Only two months ago, he picked up a seventh win the on the European Senior Tour, the MCG Tour Championship in the Seychelles.
“I treat playing golf as a job,” he says. “I’m trying to make a living. I can’t do that sitting at home. And I certainly can’t do my job well doing that. I don’t ever want to play average golf. I want to do it well. And to do that, I have to be physically able. Especially when I’m playing against the young fellows. My mind still sees the shots. But if your mind won’t let you hit that shot, you’re in trouble. Happily, I can still hit the shots as well as see them.
“My short game is not quite what it was. But that is partly because I hit more fairways and greens. I don’t need to pitch and chip as much. That was a real strength of mine back in the 80s and 90s. These days, if I putt well I shoot under-par. If I don’t, I shoot around par. I pride myself on the fact that, even when I’m really playing crap, I can slum it around in a decent score.”
Fowler’s longevity, however, stems as much from his almost peerless enthusiasm for the game as it does the technical proficiency he has worked so hard to achieve. His travel schedule is nothing short of breathtaking, his air-miles accounts bolstered by a figure not far short of 500,000 annually as he flies to the “32 or 33” events he habitually plays.
“In the first half of the year I play only about eight weeks,” he says. “I do a lot more in the gym then. From the middle of May I play maybe 25-26 weeks. By the end of the season I’m shattered. But I work hard because I want to keep improving. In 2016 and 2017 I played the Japanese Senior Tour as well. I played 11-12 events there. If I had a week off in Europe, I went to Japan then came straight back. I did that for two seasons and actually won over there. I do all that because I have something to prove to myself – I think I can get better. I just hope my body holds up long enough for me to do that.
“My body is actually the most important part of my ability to play as much as I do. If the body doesn’t want to do it, it doesn’t matter how good a player you are. I see guys’ folding up’ all the time. And I see the young lads not doing enough in that department. I’ve been in gym every day this week and haven’t seen many of the guys, although the girls have been in a lot. Look at Bernhard Langer. He has huge talent. But he works really hard. I look at him and know I have to work at least as hard just to compete.”
Which is what he’ll be doing alongside all those “kids” in the final round. As ever, he’ll be giving 100 percent, one thing for sure whatever happens. If Peter Fowler shoots 76, it will be because he was trying like hell not to shoot 77. The man is a legend.
Jarryd Felton and China’s Jing Yan secured two holes in one in a dramatic round 2 at the ISPS HANDA #VicOpen.
Felton aced the par three 12th hole at 13th Beaches creek course with his nine iron.
It was the West Australian’s third hole-in-one in his career.
The 24-year-old said he simply used the wind to his advantage on the 138-metre-long hole.
“I tried to hit a nine iron on the hole before so I thought it’d be the perfect club and I just hit up with the wind,” Felton said.
“It hit the slope and Marto (Andrew Martin) called it 30-feet out and went ‘get in’ and I was just happy it went down in the little hollow there.
“I’m greateful it went in. It was a nice one.”
Yan secured her first tournament hole-in-one – but her fourth overall – on the third hole of the beach course.
The young gun, armed with a seven-iron, was elated to ace the 140-metre par 3.
“I needed to carry the bunker on the left with the wind coming to the right. I just hit a little draw and tried to hold it up into the wind,” Yan said.
“I was really happy with how the shot came out. It looked like it was rolling towards the hole. I didn’t really think that it might go in.
“Players and the caddies in the group were like ‘oh, it went in’ so I was pretty stoked about that.”
A maiden win in a prestigious tournament means big changes for a professional golfer and for Lucas Herbert, it’s been no different.
His victory at the Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago moved him to second on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings and a different category professionally, but the biggest shift may actually be personal.
Herbert has never been short on confidence. In fact, in the eyes of many, he has often come across as cocky.
But that cocky edge might just be disappearing as the genuine confidence gained from winning on a difficult golf course in an important tournament makes the attitude surplus to requirements.
At his press conference yesterday ahead of this week’s ISPS Handa Vic Open the 24-year-old was still clearly not lacking self-belief but there was less strut and more substance about it.
“It always felt like I was good but wasn’t good enough to win,” he said. “And it’s not until you actually do that that you actually prove to yourself that you are good enough to win. “Within myself, not to anyone else around me, but it’s more with myself like ‘Okay, yeah, I am good enough to win’, especially given that I was not handed that at all.
“I had to go and earn that win. It wasn’t like I won in a playoff where the other guy hit three in the water and it was shaking hands after two shots. So that’s a big thing, I think.”
Herbert has been on the radar at the top levels in Australia since finishing T11 at the 2014 Australian Masters as an amateur.
He grabbed the third-round headlines that year with a course record 65 at Metropolitan Golf Club before driving overnight to Monday qualify for the following week’s Australian Open.
After turning professional he proved his mettle in 2018 when he started the season with no status on any world tour and played his way to full European Tour membership.
Fast forward to 2020 and with the lessons learned along the way has come new-found maturity both on and off the course, the benefits in his play obvious from his results.
“It’s one of those things,” he said when asked the difference between the talented rookie professional and the now successful, more seasoned player.
“I’m 24 now, maybe a little bit more mature. I don’t know that that’s a really big problem with myself because it wasn’t hard to be more mature than 22-year-old Lucas.
“But a couple of extra years under my belt, a few more finishes, a bit longer out on the road of seeing what’s going on and learning about myself as well. I think that’s probably where I’m different. And hopefully we’re sitting here in two years’ time having the same conversation and going, yeah, I’m way better than that 24-year-old Lucas as well.”
In terms of his golf Herbert has every right to be confident ahead of the opening round tomorrow after blistering the Beach Course in ‘about 10-under’ in Wednesday’s pro-am. Playing in his home state and home Open will bring its own pressures this week but his best result of T6 in 2017 suggests he has the tools to contend.
“The Vic Open, I think it was the second tournament, second professional tournament I ever played,” he said.
“It’s obviously my state home open, so I mean, yeah, to win at home would be something different from winning overseas with everyone else around. It would be pretty cool to win this week, but it’s one of those things like it actually, it is quite difficult to come home and play, and I think a lot of players feel that when they go and play back at home.
“To go and play in their home country can be quite tough because there is obviously quite a lot more expectation, quite a lot more pressure on you to play well. You’re expected to play a lot better.”
He readily admitted he will be feeling that pressure but is adamant he is not here just to make up the numbers.
“The challenge for me this week is just going to be try and make sure to keep a level head and not get ahead of myself, not expect too much of myself,” he said.
“I don’t turn up to any tournament just there to kind of enjoy or celebrate at all. You want to win every event you tee it up in. I’m definitely not here this week for a bit of a party with my friends.”
Should he get across the line, expect that to change Sunday night.
The WA Open will return to the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia in 2020 to continue its long-standing history as a premier event in the west.
The Open event will return to Royal Fremantle in its traditional October date to sit within a jam-packed calendar in the second half of the year.
“We are delighted to once again have the WA Open on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia,” said Golf WA chief executive Gary Thomas.
“The tournament is a highlight on the golfing calendar in Western Australia and is loved by the wider community.”
With the aim of providing an opportunity for local players, amateurs and PGA Professionals to showcase their talents, the WA Open also plays an important role in fostering the careers of WA’s rising stars.
“The WA Open gives our leading Western Australian amateurs an opportunity to compete alongside seasoned professionals while providing the wider golfing community in WA the opportunity to watch world-class golf in their own backyard,” he said.
“The tournament has a proud history and has been used as a stepping stone to launch the careers of many Australian golfers.”
Some of the country’s best golfers have won the WA Open including Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch, Terry Gale, Stephen Leaney and Graham Marsh.
It’s an honour roll Nick Dastey, Tournaments Director Australasia at the PGA of Australia, hopes to grow in the future.
“The WA Open has a long-standing history in Australia and we are very pleased to see it back in 2020,” Dastey said.
“It is a tournament that our players will be looking forward to and the Royal Fremantle Golf Club will again be a fantastic host venue and a great test of golf.”
The All Abilities Championship will once again run alongside the WA Open in what will be a week-long celebration of golf in WA.
“The All Abilities Championship is something that Golf WA is incredibly proud of and helps to promote the inclusivity of golf,” Thomas said.
“We also have a number of activations off the course that ensures the WA Open is an event for the entire family.”
Lucas Herbert, fresh from his maiden European Tour victory in Dubai last week, has confirmed his entry to the New Zealand Open, presented by Sky Sport, to be played at Millbrook Resort and The Hills on February 27 to March 1.
Tournament Director Michael Glading expressed his delight at capturing another of the world’s current form players to compete in Queenstown.
“To have two recent tournament winners in Wade Ormsby (Hong Kong Open winner) and Lucas Herbert (Omega Dubai Desert Classic winner) is a real plus for our tournament,” said Glading.
“Both of these players have access to a European Tour event in Oman the same week, but have chosen to come and compete here, which says a lot for the rising stature of our event.
“I have been watching the progress Lucas has been making since he started on the European Tour, and his win last week, resulting in his rise to No. 79 in the world rankings, shows just how much he has improved in two short years.”
Herbert, in announcing his intention to return to play in New Zealand said: “I’m really looking forward to returning to Queenstown. My win in Dubai last week was very exciting and hopefully I can continue that form in the stunning backdrop of Queenstown.”
With just under a month to go, the field is taking shape, with more announcements expected over the next two weeks.
Glading remains confident that the tournament will host greater player depth than ever before, with the players from the Asian Tour and the Japan Tour all due to be finalised within the next few days.
