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The Blitz Golf Pro Series returns for the second year running with three events to take place in three states:
Sunday 5 January – Curlewis Golf Club, Vic
Friday 10 January – Links Hope Island, Qld
Sunday 12 January – Glenelg Golf Club, SA
This year the overall prizepool has increased to $150,000, as men and women will for the first time compete against each other for the same purse.
There will be more competitions and opportunities for player engagement than ever; along with Blitz Kidz zones and pros running junior clinics.
Already confirmed to play at least one event in our 2020 Blitz Golf Pro Series are players including; Peter Senior, Hannah Green, Nick O’Hern, Dimi Papadatos, Marcus Fraser, Zach Murray, Whitney Hillier, Matt Millar, Karis Davidson, Deyen Lawson and Jordan Zunic.
The second running of the Curlewis Blitz Golf tournament will take place on Sunday, with a field of professionals and amateurs ready to entertain and dazzle the crowds.
Geelong Advertiser golf writer Lachie Young breaks down the major contenders.
THE MEN
Nick O’Hern
Age: 48
Professional wins: 5
The only man to have beaten Tiger Woods in Matchplay more than once, Blitz Golf suits O’Hern’s style. New to the format but will be quick to adapt and looms as one of the main hopes.
Matt Griffin
Age: 36
Professional wins: 6
A former Vic Open champion and winner of the OneAsia Tour Order of Merit. Griffin had three top ten finishes on the Japan Tour in 2019 and enters the tournament as the highest ranked player.
Marcus Fraser
Age: 41
Professional wins: 6
Fraser is one of the more experienced players in the field and is a three-time European tour winner. A drawcard at last year’s event, he also represented Australia at the Olympics in 2016, finishing fifth.
Matt Millar
Age: 43
Professional wins: 2
Reigning champion who celebrated his 20th year as a professional last season. Enjoys the Curlewis layout and with a big year ahead in Japan will be keen to start 2020 on a high.
THE LADIES
Stephanie Na
Age: 30
Professional wins: 0
The South Australian celebrated her 10th year on the professional tour last season and after tying for seventh in last year’s Blitz Golf event she will be hoping to move up the order this time around.
Whitney Hillier
Age: 29
Professional wins: 1
Along with Stephanie Na, tied for seventh in this event last year before going on to win the Brisbane International. Hillier finished second in her most recent event at the New Zealand Women’s Pro-Am.
Charlotte Thomas
Age: 26
Professional wins: 0
The Englishwoman enjoyed her biggest pay day at the 2019 Vic Open when she came second but she is still looking for her maiden professional win. The Blitz Golf tournament could be the ideal setting for her to do it.
The world’s leading amateur golfers from around the world will converge in Melbourne this month for the Men’s and Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs Championships at Victoria Golf Club.
It has become an essential tournament for those on the cusp of turning professional.
As an aspiring professional golfer, there’s a considerable jump from playing as an amateur to going pro – and that’s where the Australian Master of the Amateurs tournament makes a difference.
The tournament was set up by former television and cinematographer Peter Mann and his wife Angela, a theatre nurse, 22 years ago.
“Peter’s vision was to set up a tournament that treated amateurs like professionals,” Angela said.
“It’s evolved from a small event into a major drawcard for the world’s best players over the years.”
The golfing industry has recognised this championship as a perfect pathway to transition from amateur to pro, such as Australia’s Jason Day (ranked world number 37), Tommy Fleetwood (10), Bryson DeChambeau (14) and Rickie Fowler (23).
This year the tournament has attracted 78 of the best male amateurs in the world from 21 countries, including three of the top 10 players such as the rising star Ricky Castillo from USA.
Ricky is currently world no.7 and has finished top 10 in over 50 per cent of his championships in 2019.
The male field also includes Benjamin Schmidt (no.2 in England), Keita Nakajima (no.2 in Japan), Nathan Barbieri (no.2 in Australia), Jannik De Bruyn (no.3 in Germany) and Jared Edwards (no.1 in New Zealand).
This is the third year that female players have taken part in the tournament and it has quickly grown in popularity with 11 countries participating.
With Tsubasa Kajitani (no.1 in Japan), Amelia Garvey (no.1 in New Zealand), Alyaa Abdulghany (no.1 in Malaysia) and Doey Choi (no.2 in Australia) fighting it out for the coveted green jacket.
The standard of play is very high, with several of the golfers having amateur handicaps up to plus-seven on some of the hardest courses around the world.
The tournament is from the 7-10 January and entry is free for spectators.
The Victoria State Government is proud to support the Men’s and Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs Championships through its Significant Sporting Events Program.
For more information visit www.masteroftheamateurs.com.au
It’s been a happy hunting ground in the past but there will be no Aussies – and no Tiger Woods – when the PGA TOUR opens the new year with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua’s Plantation Course in Hawaii.
Undergoing an extensive revamp by original course designers Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore in 2019, the Plantation Course has always been a popular place for the previous year’s winners to kick-off their new year, 15 first-time winners among the 34 to accept the invitation to play in the 2020 event.
Given no Australians have won a PGA TOUR event since Marc Leishman’s victory at the CIMB Classic in October 2018 there will be no Aussies in action until next week’s Sony Open while 2019 Masters champion and ZOZO Championship winner Tiger Woods is enjoying an extended break after leading the US team to Presidents Cup victory at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Although Woods is absent this week there are seven members of the American Presidents Cup teeing it up with Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland, Matt Kuchar, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler and defending champion Xander Schauffele eager to start 2020 on the front foot.
It’s been a decade since Geoff Ogilvy claimed the second of his consecutive wins at the picturesque Plantation course and completed an extraordinary run of five wins by Aussies in the space of seven years after Stuart Appleby became the ‘King of Kapalua’ with three straight wins from 2004-2006.
The only other Australian to be victorious among a group of PGA TOUR winners was Steve Elkington, defeating Brad Faxon in a playoff in 1992 and going extra holes again in 1995 before getting the better of Bruce Lietzke.
The resurgent Brendon Todd and Lanto Griffin will be the first group out from 7am AEDT on Friday morning.
It was better than he expected yet short of what he truly needed.
Propelled from tournament obscurity to the final group of the Australian PGA Championship by virtue of his course record-equalling 9-under 63 on Saturday, the Novocastrian wasn’t entirely sure which Nick Flanagan would turn up at RACV Royal Pines Resort.
Would it be the phenomenal junior talent who claimed the 2003 US Amateur and three Nationwide Tour events in 2007 to have the world at his feet? Or would the world No.1118 who has battled injury and a crisis of confidence for the best part of a decade wilt under the intense spotlight that comes with a showdown with Adam Scott?
Settling the nerves with a monster birdie putt from the fringe at the par-5 third, Flanagan remained in contention to win the Joe Kirkwood Cup right up until the 13th hole when a tee shot that found a fairway bunker spiralled into a double-bogey, a further dropped shot at 14 effectively ending his tilt at the title.
That he responded with consecutive birdies at 15 and 16 is testament to his character, character that has been tormented by the cruel vagaries of professional golf.
With he and wife Corinne expecting their first child on January 11, Flanagan has considered a more stable life outside the ropes in recent times and couldn’t suppress the emotional pressure he has been under to simply provide for his young family.
“My wife and I really need it at the moment,” Flanagan said before taking a couple of minutes to compose himself, his tie for third worth $62,700.
“I haven’t been able to really play a stress-free round of golf, kind of wanting to make money.
“And obviously with the baby on the way, this is huge for us.
“Over Christmas I’ll actually feel like I can sit down on the couch for a couple weeks and actually relax and not think about where the next cheque’s coming from, at least for two or three weeks at least, so that’s nice.
“That’s kind of why I was getting a little emotional there for a second.
“I’ve been talking about coming home and doing a (PGA Professional) bridging course and doing all that stuff the last couple of months. It’s still possibly on the cards, but it’s like golf just keeps pulling me back in.
“When I’m just about down, I’ll have a good finish. It’s just golf.”
Although he probably can’t appreciate fully Flanagan’s struggles, Australian PGA Championship victor Adam Scott knows Flanagan’s talent.
The pair were in the same group with Ernie Els when the South African legend shot 60 in the 2004 Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne, Scott a year after winning The Players and Flanagan the country’s ‘next big thing’.
Their paths have gone down wildly differing directions in the 15 years since but Scott saw reason for optimism in the way his former surf buddy handled the Sunday heat.
“Nick and I reminisced just a couple weeks ago about playing golf with Ernie when he shot 60 at Royal Melbourne,” Scott recalled after claiming his second Joe Kirkwood Cup.
“Nick was in the group with me, so that’s 15 years ago, so we’ve known each other a long time.
“We’ve been on surf trips together and I’m really happy to see Nick playing golf like that today.
“He’s playing really good and I hope he takes a lot out of the last couple weeks and gets himself back to where he wants to be.
“He’s obviously very talented, but he looked good out there today, I liked it.”
Flanagan will return to his expectant wife in San Antonio on Monday morning again wrestling with the stranglehold golf holds over him.
His top-five finish on the Gold Coast would earn him a start at the European Tour’s next event, the South African Open, only it falls the week his first child is due.
With only past champions status on the Korn Ferry Tour that offers very few playing opportunities, it’s just another test by the golf god’s of Flanagan’s will to fight on.
“The same thing happened to me last year. I missed the New South Wales Open and the Australian Open cuts and I was hitting it absolutely horrendous,” Flanagan added.
“Actually felt I was hitting it good this year and then I got here and felt like I didn’t have my swing, my wrist was giving me issues.
“It just all builds up and gets to a point where I pretty much just say ‘F it, let’s go out and just try and enjoy it for a week and see what happens.’
“I got in the game out there today, which I haven’t done in a long time.
“I felt like I could have won the tournament.
“If somebody asked me that four days ago, I would have laughed at them.
“Just goes to show I know I can do it.”
The winner of the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit will be determined at the completion of Sunday’s final round of the Australian PGA Championship
It’s the tournament within a tournament and the rewards are significant.
The winner of the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit will be determined at the completion of Sunday’s final round of the Australian PGA Championship and a confluence of events means that a host of players remain in the hunt to claim a one year exemption on the European Tour, starts in two World Golf Championship events and a place in the field for the famed Dunhill Links pro-am in Scotland.
Named the PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year at the Greg Norman Medal awards night on Tuesday night, Kiwi Ryan Fox will carry a $75,000 buffer into the final round and in a tie for 23th guaranteed to add something to his tally.
But Fox’s status on the European Tour earned with his win at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth in February opens the door for the runner-up on the Order of Merit to assume that exemption in Europe as the leading player not otherwise exempt will be invited to join the European Tour.
Heading into the final round one shot from the lead, a win or runner-up finish could be enough for Wade Ormsby to clinch the Order of Merit crown but, like Fox, he too is already exempt for the 2020 European Tour season.
That brings Victorian Zach Murray into the equation, the New Zealand Open champion more than $16,000 ahead of Brad Kennedy but in need of a low round on Sunday to give his prizemoney total a boost of any significance.
Kennedy, a winner on the Japan Golf Tour last year, sits tied for 31std through 54 holes, the two WGCs and big European Tour events through Japan’s off-season in July and August an enticing proposition for the Gold Coast-based 45-year-old.
Currently 31st on the Order of Merit, Nick Flanagan’s course record 9-under 63 on Saturday puts him in the frame but he would need to win to finish second behind Fox, a win that would come with a European membership category of its own.
The other player to watch is 21-year-old West Australian Min Woo Lee. Sitting 12th on the Order of Merit with $75,739.75 in prizemoney, Lee surged up the leaderboard late on Saturday to be tied for third heading into the final round and would move into second behind Fox if he could finish outright second.
| OOM | Name | Prizemoney | PGA Pos |
| 1 | Ryan Fox | $295,029.73 | T23 |
| 2 | Zach Murray | $220,940.35 | T51 |
| 3 | Brad Kennedy | $204,671.42 | T31 |
| 4 | Wade Ormsby | $153,124.70 | T2 |
| 5 | Aaron Pike | $119,946.67 | MC |
| 6 | Josh Geary | $106,544.03 | T36 |
| 7 | Ashley Hall | $105,927.17 | T45 |
| 8 | Jason Scrivener | $101,134.26 | WD |
| 9 | Josh Younger | $86,747.09 | DNS |
| 10 | Denzel Ieremia | $79,261.91 | T23 |
West Australian Min Woo Lee hopes to cap his maiden year as a professional with one of Australian golf’s most prestigious trophies after a thrilling 4-under 68 put him within striking distance at the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast.
This time last year Lee had not yet even left the amateur ranks but on the back of a tie for fifth at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth spent much of the year on the European Tour, only just falling short of retaining his card.
A win in the co-sanctioned event would solve a number of the scheduling issues he currently faces for 2020 but it would more importantly establish his bona fide credentials as a future superstar of Australian golf.
A holed bunker shot he rated “10 out of 10” at the par-3 14th hole came in the centre of a three-hole stretch of birdies, a par saving putt from six feet on the final hole keeping him just two shots back of 54-hole leader Adam Scott with one round to play.
Managing his round and avoiding “rookie errors” is all part of the 21-year-old’s education in professional golf and he knows that will be vital if he is to etch his name onto the Joe Kirkwood Cup on Sunday.
“I’m still learning,” Lee admitted.
“The thing about golf is the one week where you don’t make mistakes, you’re probably going to be up there in the lead or going to win. I’m still looking for that. Hopefully, it’s this week.
“But I’m still learning a lot about myself.
“This whole year most of the pros, probably 90 per cent of them, they hit it very straight.
“They don’t make too many mistakes and I’m over here adventuring in the trees.
“I’ve got things to tidy up. Those major winners, they just hit it so straight and nothing really goes wrong.”
By finishing 117th on the Race to Dubai rankings Lee has only limited status in Europe next year and is entered for the South African Open that begins on January 9.
A win or even a runner-up finish may be enough to improve his status significantly, added incentive to try and log his first win as a professional.
“Of course I’m trying to win. I’ve been here a few times so it will be nice to finish it off,” said Lee, who was third at the AV Jennings NSW Open and is now ranked 299 in the world.
“(A win) is going to solve a few of my problems. Not problems, but I can set my schedule next year and a lot of benefits to it.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
With his family home in Perth preparing for Christmas, Lee expected to receive a message of support overnight from older sister Minjee, herself a five-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
“Whenever I do well or whenever I’m down, she messages me and lets me know just to keep my head up,” said Lee.
“Depends what moods she’s in. She might send one, she might not, but it’s all good.”
Chinese No.5 Yuan Yechun flirted with the course record and showed impressive resolve late to assume sole ownership of the lead through two rounds of the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort.
As close friends Adam Scott and Wade Ormsby reached 7-under at the completion of their second rounds in the morning, the primary Friday charge came from two-time defending champion Cameron Smith until word of Yuan’s round started to filter throughout the course.
Birdies at the first, third, fifth and seventh holes elevated Yuan to 6-under but his rise took on further significance when he eagled the par-5 ninth hole to play the front nine in 30.
A dropped shot at 10 stunted any talk of a possible sub-60 round and after rattling off three successive birdies from the 11th hole to be 8-under for the day – including a monster putt at the par-4 13th – Ross McGowan’s course record of 63 drifted from reach when he bogeyed both 15 and 16, his tee shot at the par-5 15th hole finding the water hazard left of the fairway.
A spectacular approach at the 17th hole to four feet was an impressive response, a regulation par at 18 rounding out a 7-under 65, tied with Smith as the best of the week thus far.
A graduate of the University of Washington and now playing on the secondary Korn Ferry Tour in the US, Yuan played alongside Phil Mickelson at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China in November where he came away with a renewed sense of confidence in his ability.
“It was my second time playing actually, so I knew the course a little better,” Yuan said of his HSBC Champions experience.
“I got to play with Phil Mickelson on Saturday. That was awesome. He has an unbelievable short game.
“That was great. I learnt a lot from that and got a lot of confidence from playing with the big boys.”
First drawn to golf at nine years of age and inspired by Tiger Woods, Yuan won on the PGA TOUR Series-China tour shortly after turning professional and was tied for 17th at the WGC event last month, beating home major champions Henrik Stenson, Francesco Molinari and Mickelson himself.
A strong weekend at Royal Pines will aid Yuan’s hopes of representing China at the Tokyo Olympics next year but he knows that every great round comes with some good fortune.
“It was going good at first and I got some fortunate breaks, I have to say that,” admitted Yuan, who missed the cut in this event last year.
“It was a great day, honestly. I played great, played smart, stick to the plan.
“I was fortunate enough that I got a couple of really long putts that dropped through the round. Yeah, I made two little mistakes, but really pulled myself together and kept it going.”
Quayle’s rise up the leaderboard coincides with his pseudo-honeymoon after he and his partner Sophia were married on the Gold Coast last Sunday.
The 25-year-old showed no signs of the struggles that plagued him during the middle part of the Japan Golf Tour season as he used an eagle putt from 35 feet at the 15th as the backbone of a 6-under 66.
“I don’t want to ever shy away from how I struggled earlier this year. I think that is part of why I am who I am,” Quayle admitted, missing five cuts and withdrawing from another in an eight-event stretch where his best finish was a tie for 60th.
“Going through that has made me a lot tougher at the moment mentally, and any opportunity like this, you just enjoy it and have a little bit of fun.
“Obviously getting married on Sunday, to be honest, this week is a little bit of a holiday for me. I plan to keep it that way, just keep having a little bit of fun with it.”
Lying in wait behind Yuan and Quayle are Ormsby and Scott at 7-under with Gippsland Super 6 winner Tom Power Horan and Kiwi Michael Hendry locked together a further shot back in a tie for fifth following rounds of 66 and 68 respectively.
Smith (65) and South African Bryce Easton (68) are tied for seventh at 5-under par with a group of eight players locked together at 4-under.
American drawcards Cameron Champ and Stewart Cink both remain in contention for the Joe Kirkwood Cup at 3-under and 2-under respectively.
First groups will tee off the third round from 7.02am with Yuan and Quayle to tee off at 11.25am AEST.
The glare of a crowd drawn by the presence of two major champions elicited some “rookie errors” but both Adam Scott and Stewart Cink have praised the way blossoming Aussie youngster Min Woo Lee fought back to finish the first round of the Australian PGA Championship just one off the lead.
Paired with Scott and Cink in the marquee group of the afternoon, Lee admitted to some early nerves as he made a bogey at the opening hole and dropped to 2-over when he gave up another shot at the par-4 fourth hole.
The 21-year-old made three consecutive birdies around the turn and added two more at 12 and 15 to end the day one shot behind joint leaders Lucas Herbert and Brett Rankin who set the early mark at 5-under par.
The longest driver in his rookie season on the European Tour this year with an average of 320.48 yards, it was his ability to compose himself after a difficult start that drew the greatest praise from 2013 Masters champion Scott.
“That’s what I liked most,” Scott said. “He’s got a pretty swing and hits it a long way but it was good to see him compose himself.
“He hung in there for a few holes after his poor start and then he composed himself and got on a bit of a roll there nicely.
“They’re good qualities to see out there because it was easy for it to really get away from you today if you just were a little bit off.”
The Open champion at Turnberry in 2009, Cink dropped shots at each of the final two holes to fall to 2-under on his round and was similarly impressed by the way Lee was able to turn his fortunes mid-round.
“That was impressive, to see a young player tidy himself up and move in the right direction,” Cink said.
“But no surprise, I could see from the first shot that the guy’s got an amazing swing and plenty of power.
“The sky’s the limit for him. Just looks like he’s got all the tools. And he’s young.
“I think it would be exciting to be Min Woo Lee.”
Out of sync early on, Lee said that it was putts at the fifth and sixth holes that allowed him to swing momentum in the right direction, momentum he can carry into Friday courtesy of two crucial up-and-downs at the 17th and 18th holes.
“Just a bit rushed early on, didn’t hole many putts, didn’t hit good shots,” Lee offered.
“But I’m a bit of a fighter, so it was nice to start off bad and then come off good.
“I holed a putt early on the par 3 and then I holed another 10-footer on the hole after and made those two really good putts. It could have been 3-over pretty easy but I brought it back to 1-under (by the turn) and I think those were the turning points.
“Early on I didn’t really take the opportunities because there’s a big crowd and I’m not really used to it, but it’s massive, finishing the round 4-under rather than 1 or 2-under.
“It was pretty calm this morning so hopefully tomorrow morning you can go out there and shoot a low score.”
Narrowly missing out on retaining full playing privileges on the European Tour by finishing seven spots outside the cut-off, Lee is under no illusions about the importance of performing well in the co-sanctioned event this week.
“It’s massive,” said Lee, who finished 117th on the Race to Dubai rankings.
“I know you’ve got to start off pretty well and this is one of the first tournaments so it will be nice to have a good result.”
An eagle on Sunday at the par-5 15th hole provided the catalyst to Adam Scott’s Australian PGA Championship in 2013 and the world No.18 hopes Thursday’s three at the same hole can deliver a similar result.
Describing his opening round as “pretty stress-free”, Scott’s 2-under 70 positions him three back of the round one leaders and with the prospect of ideal scoring conditions when he starts his second round at 6am on Friday morning.
Unlucky not to have picked up an extra shot when his putt at the par-3 fifth hole inexplicably hung over the lip without falling, Scott’s only real error of the day came when his tee shot at the 13th hole found the water to the right of the fairway.
That led to a double bogey to fall to even par for the day, two shots he quickly recovered when he rolled in a putt from just outside 15 feet at the 15th to better reflect on the scoreboard how he felt that he played.
“I was very happy with it,” was Scott’s immediate assessment.
“It wasn’t that easy out there. I seemed to get a lot of in-between numbers and when it’s windy here you have to be a little bit careful. You don’t want to be chipping short side around here, the grain is just too much to deal with.
“I wish I could have that swing on 13 over again, but all in all I feel good about my round.
“I needed to have a good finish. It was a day today where not playing well, you could be over par quite easily and leave yourself a lot of work to do to get into the tournament.
“A round like I ended up at 2-under leaves me in a great spot with hopefully light winds tomorrow morning to come out.”
While his fellow Presidents Cup teammate Cameron Smith struggled through fatigue on day one, Scott refocused his energies when he felt any such lull approaching.
A regular at Royal Pines since the tournament moved to the Gold Coast in 2013, Scott’s only on-course prep this week was an early morning pro-am on Wednesday alongside Greg Norman Medal winner Hannah Green and rugby league legend Johnathan Thurston.
“It’s always hard coming off the back of something very emotionally charged like last week,” Scott admitted.
“Even though we didn’t win, there was a lot going into it for four days.
“There were times out there I just reminded myself to really focus in and play hard because it was a little bit tricky out there.
“Some soft golf would not have been good this afternoon. I’m in a good spot to kind of take advantage of some good golf in the morning.
“Hopefully tomorrow I can have a pretty clean card and work my way up to kind of that pace that’s going to be needed to be in the hunt on the Sunday.”
One was scared to hit a full shot two weeks ago at the Australian Open, the other was forced back to Q School 12 months ago yet Lucas Herbert and Brett Rankin are the unlikely first round leaders at the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort.
Greeted by idyllic conditions, the morning groups fared best on day one but it was a struggle for two-time defending champion Cameron Smith who fought back to end his opening round at 2-over.
Conversely, a chip in birdie at the 11th hole – his second of the day – and an eagle at the par-5 12th saw Herbert race to 4-under through three holes and set a cracking early pace.
He stumbled with bogeys at the 13th, 14th and 18th holes to turn in 1-under but got one back at the first and birdied three of his final four holes to end the day at 5-under and level with Rankin to share the lead on day one.
Battling a ligament injury in his right hand, Herbert played hesitantly as he missed the cut at the Australian Open a fortnight ago but was troubled on any a couple of occasions in his round of 67.
“It’s probably seven weeks today since I did it, so it’s kind of at the point now with a ligament injury that it should start calming down and not hurting as much,” Herbert said.
“I can still just feel it a little bit at times. There was one shot into the eighth today that I felt it a bit and it was bit sore,
“At the Open I was kind of flinching and trying to not hurt my hand whereas I’m not really doing that now. Whether it’s a wedge that you’ve got to take a pretty steep divot with, I’m actually OK with doing that, whereas I wasn’t two weeks ago.
“Hand’s really good, can’t complain there. It’s good to be healthy again and able to play.”
Where Herbert struggled through his second year on the European Tour, Rankin is enjoying a career resurgence in 2019 courtesy of seven pro-am wins throughout Australia and overseas and a breakthrough win at the Northern Territory PGA Championship.
Wins at such diverse places as Lae in Papua New Guinea, Reynella in South Australia, Dysart in North Queensland, Coolangatta and Casino saw Rankin finish second on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series, form he has carried into one of Australia’s major tournaments.
“I’m really happy with the year,” Rankin said.
“It’s been a year of firsts and I’m definitely happy with where the game is at the moment.
“Winning the NT PGA gives you that confidence you know you can do it, that your best golf can win on this tour.
“It’s a tough tour, there’s so many good players out here. You gain that confidence from winning multiple pro-ams and you take that to the next level.
“You win a tour event, and the next you’re like, OK, I belong here. You gain confidence just from doing that.”
Five players are in a share of third one shot adrift of Herbert and Rankin with a quartet of Kiwis – Ryan Fox, Nick Voke, David Smail and Harry Bateman – in a group of seven players to return a score of 3-under 69 on Thursday.
In the group of 17 players at 2-under par are 2013 champion Adam Scott and 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink, Scott making up for a double bogey at the 13th hole with an eagle at 15 while Cink gave up shots at each of his final two holes to sign for a 70.
Scott, Cink and Min Woo Lee (68) will be the first group off the 10th tee at 6am on Friday morning with Jason Norris (69), Rhein Gibson (71) and Dimi Papadatos (72) to commence proceedings from the first.
The group of Cameron Smith, Ryan Fox and Cameron Champ will begin their second rounds from the first tee at 11am AEST.
