Deyen Lawson has won his second Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series event in as many days at the 2019 Coca Cola City of Brisbane Pro-Am, firing 8-under 57 to share victory with TJ Gooding-King, Aaron Pike and Anthony Quayle.

Hosted at Victoria Park Golf Complex, Gooding-King and Pike braved the cold weather in the morning field to make the most of soft conditions and perfect greens, setting the number for the afternoon field to chase.

European Tour player Deyen Lawson and JGTO Tour contender Anthony Quayle headlined the afternoon field where conditions on course remained settled with just a light breeze blowing for the duration.

Trainee Professional TJ Gooding-King received a last-minute entry courtesy of an amateur withdrawal and certainly made the most of the opportunity to claim his first equal win on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

“I’ve always enjoyed the course here and I’m thrilled with my finish,” said Gooding-King.

“I putted well today and just made a couple of long putts when I needed them.”

Indooroopilly based player Aaron Pike finished bogey-free for the day and closed his round with an eagle, par and birdie to jump to the top of the leaderboard.

Pike has been working on his mental side of the game and credits this for his good form.

“I played with my good mate and fellow Professional Clinton Lourens today,” said Pike. “I just kept the ball in play and didn’t make any mistakes out there.”

Sanctuary Cove-based Professional Anthony Quayle is currently enjoying a five-week break from Japan and supporting the local events on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

“It’s a fantastic course and a lot of fun to play,” said Quayle.

“There are many birdie opportunities out there but you have to try not to get ahead of yourself or it can bring you undone.

“I only had one bay hole out there; I hit it out of bounds on the 9^th hole but managed to scramble an eagle with my second ball to save my par.”

In yet another tight finish, Steven Jeffress, Anthony Choat, Daniel Nisbet, Matthew Millar and Brett Rankin have completed the top-9 tied for fifth place at 7-under 58 the card, with Kade McBride rounding out the top-10.

The next stop on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series schedule is the Howeston Pro-Am on Thursday 18 July 2019.

A refreshed Deyen Lawson says he is no longer intimidated by the European Tour elite as he resumes his rookie season at this week’s Trophy Hassan II in Morocco.

In addition to the European Tour regulars teeing it up at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Ewan Porter is coming out of retirement to play his first event on a major tour since the 2017 NSW Open, joining Lawson, Wade Ormsby, Jason Scrivener, Jake McLeod, Nick Cullen, Dimi Papadatos, Andrew Dodt and New Zealand’s Josh Geary who has received an invitation to play the tournament.

Given a hectic end to 2018 and quick start to this 2019 campaign through the European Tour’s desert swing, Lawson was able to regroup over a few weeks in Australia that included a win at the $150,000 Gold Coast Celebrity Pro-Am at Lakelands Golf Club.

The day after his win Lawson spent a day with long-term coach Darrell Brown and said it was a great opportunity to assess a start to the season that includes three top-30 finishes in eight starts.

"This is my first break after a long stint,” Lawson said prior to returning to Europe.

“It’s the first time I’ve been able to sit and talk to my coach about how I feel and where I sit in the field mentally and physically.

"Obviously we’re travelling all around the world so things like when to practise, when not to practise.

“You’re always trying to learn and get better so it was good to be able to come back and see where I’m at and get ready for the next stint.”

Lawson has also spent time working with highly-regarded mental coach Sean Lynch and says the reinforcement of some simple messages has helped in his transition into one of the world’s biggest tours.

"Every week I’m going somewhere that I’ve never been before,” Lawson explained.

“New environments, new courses, new grass, new everything.

“I’ve spoken to my coach and also Sean Lynch about forgetting why you’re there in the first place.

“It’s hard not to see top guys and force the issue when the reality is I just need to play my game.

“It’s good enough to compete and the week that it clicks and you roll a few putts in you may not win but you might finish near the top of the leaderboard. It’s a good tour to finish top-10 on.”

In his first event as a European Tour member Lawson was tied for 30th at the Honma Hong Kong Open, just four shots outside the top-10.

It was early proof to Lawson that consistency across the four rounds – and not the spectacular – is what leads to the big cheques.

“In Qatar there were nine guys tied for second, three shots back was like 25th. If you can play four shots better over the course of four rounds you win,” said Lawson, who was in contention at Qatar until a third round 76.

"It’s so bunched and sometimes I found myself trying to force it a bit too much and trying to push.

“That then leads to a couple of bogeys which makes you 25th rather than eighth. But the more you can get that out of your head then the easier it gets.

"You see that from the top guys on the weekend. They’re forever just playing really solid golf and then when they play really well on the weekend they win.

“They just manage to shoot a couple of 3-unders or 4-unders and finish eighth. That’s the reason they are so good because they show up every week.”

Two aces have been the highlights of Lawson’s rookie season to date, leading to one amusing moment as he flew home after missing the cut at the Magical Kenya Open.

"Flying back on one of the Emirates flights, they replay some of the tour events and I saw on the seat in front of me someone watching the Dunhill and me getting the hole in-one,” Lawson said of his hole-in-one at the Alfred Dunhill Championship that won him a BMW 850M worth around $250,000.

“I had a little chuckle to myself over that one and went back to sleep.”

The European Challenge Tour also resumes this week with the Turkish Airlines Challenge where Ben Eccles is the lone Australian in the field, first reserve Jack Munro hoping for a late withdrawal so he too can tee it up.

End of year celebrations remain on hold for five Australian professionals as the European Tour’s 2019 season continues at the South African Open at Johannesburg’s Randpark Golf Club.

While many players used last week’s Australian PGA Championship as the signal to put the clubs away for 2018, recent Q School graduates and those with limited European Tour status are taking advantage of the opportunity to further improve their position.

By finishing 21st on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit Dimitrios Papdatos will have access to enough starts to build a decent schedule on the main tour, his performance at the PGA at RACV Royal Pines Resort not hurting his cause.

In contention to win the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit heading into the weekend at the PGA, Papadatos ultimately finished tied for 19th, a result that places him equal 56th on the Race to Dubai rankings after just three events.

His runner-up finish at the Australian Open has already secured Papadatos a place in the British Open at Royal Portrush but a strong two weeks in South Africa could open up even more playing opportunities in the new year.

A Qualifying School graduate along with Nick Cullen who is also playing in South Africa this week, Deyen Lawson made his debut as a full member of the European Tour at the Honma Hong Kong Open where his tie for 30th places him in 52nd position early in the Race to Dubai.

Cullen and Lawson both missed the cut at Royal Pines, as did Newcastle’s Jake Higginbottom who will also tee it up at Randpark Golf Club along with Asian Tour veteran David Gleeson.

England’s Chris Paisley returns to defend the title he won at Glendower Golf Club last year but will have to cope with a strong local contingent including Charl Schwartzel, Brandon Stone, Branden Grace and South African major winners Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman and Louis Oosthuizen.

West Australian Jason Scrivener will arrive at RACV Royal Pines Resort full of confidence after registering a top-five finish in the European Tour’s season-opening event, the Hong Kong Open, on Sunday.

Seeking to become the fourth Australian winner of the tournament in the past five years, Scrivener started the week with the equal best score of the opening round – a 5-under 65 – and was never far from the top of the leaderboard.

Tied for fourth heading into Sunday’s final round, Scrivener faced a difficult assignment to catch eventual winner Aaron Rai from England but looked like making a charge with back-to-back birdies early in his back nine.

An untimely bogey at the par-4 14th quelled any momentum the 29-year-old might have been building as he parred his way in to finish tied for third. He can now set his sights on a tilt at the European Tour co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast this week where he was tied for 15th 12 months ago.

Continuing the tradition of being a happy hunting ground for Aussies, Hong Kong Golf Club was also to the liking of Jake Higginbottom and Scott Hend, the pair both recording scores of 69-69 over the weekend to be tied for ninth.

Former Hong Kong Open winner Sam Brazel finished in a blaze of glory with a final round of 65, he and European Tour rookie Deyen Lawson tied for 30th at 4-under par.

Straight from Dubai where he played in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, defending champion Wade Ormsby mounted a strong defence of his title before falling 16 spots on the leaderboard on Sunday to be tied for 36th, his 2-over 72 spoiled largely by a double-bogey 6 on the 72nd hole of the tournament.

Terry Pilkadaris was the only other Aussie to qualify for the weekend, closing with an even par 70 to be tied for 57th.

To earn a 2019 European Tour card I had to play 10 rounds in the space of 14 days against some of the best players in the world. I hit 410 shots in total but there was one shot in particular that changed everything.

I went into the final round having shot 63 the day before to move inside the top-25 but once you get to the golf course on that last day you can feel a very different energy amongst all the players who have so much at stake.

Because the week is so mentally and physically draining you see some players really unravel while others are able to fight through it and grind out a score.

In some ways you just want to get it over with, get that card and be finished with Q-School but at the same time you’re trying to stay in the moment and play those last 18 holes shot by shot.

Around the course they had leaderboards that showed the leading five or six players and also what the score was for the top-25 cut-off, the lucky few who would earn that coveted card at the end of the day.

The 12th hole on the Lakes Course at Lumine Golf Club in Spain is a really long, strong par-4 that we were hitting woods into for our second shots; Alejandro Canizares hit 3-wood for his second and didn’t get there. I made bogey but didn’t play the hole badly by any means.

The next hole I hit my tee shot down the left side of the fairway; it got a wicked bounce and went into a shrub. I had to take a penalty for an unplayable lie and at that point – having made two bogeys in a row – I was starting to wonder whether everything was about to unravel.

The bogey at 13 brought me back to 16-under – the score it looked like you would need to finish in the top-25.

I made a par at 14 and at the par-4 15th I hit a 7-iron to 50 feet right of the pin and turned to my caddie ‘Johno’ and said, “Let’s just roll this in.”

Under the circumstances it was the best putt I’ve ever hit in my life.

When you are level with the cut-off all you’re really thinking is to get down in two putts and get out of there.

But by even thinking about holing it I hit a better putt than maybe I would have if I was just trying to two-putt. Seeing it drop into the hole to go 17-under was massive.

I made a really good up-and-down at the par-3 17th and then went to the par-5 18th one shot inside the number and hit the longest drive I’d hit all week. I’m sure it was just adrenaline but I hit it 25 or 30 metres past where I’d hit it to the previous three times I’d played the hole that week.

At the airport later that night Johno said that under the circumstances, to step-up and smash one on the last hole of the sixth round with water all down the left was a really good sign of my mindset in that moment.

I don’t remember what I was thinking, I just saw where I wanted to hit it and the rest is all the practice and muscle memory kicking in when you need it the most.

At the end of the round there was a massive weight off my shoulders; it was such a relief. So much goes into it both emotionally and financially and at the end of it all I was as mentally and physically drained as I’ve ever been in my life.

I had one drink after the round – a Jack Daniels and Coke with Nick Cullen who also got his card – packed my stuff, had a shower and went straight to the airport to fly home.

I was messaging as many people as I could but I had to put my phone down at one point for 30 minutes because my brain was fried. I didn’t really know what I was writing.

We left Barcelona at 10pm on the Thursday night and by the time we landed in Brisbane at 7am Saturday morning I’d gone from sixth reserve to being in the field for this week’s Honma Hong Kong Open.

My girlfriend Ali picked me up from the airport and was jumping around trying to get me excited but all I was thinking about was flying out to Hong Kong in two days’ time and all the things I had to get done before then.

I did three loads of washing, sorted out my flights and all my clothes for Hong Kong and then on Sunday morning being a member of the European Tour started to sink in.

On Monday morning I was up at 3.45am to get a flight to Hong Kong.

To tee it up as a member of the European Tour on Thursday is exciting but also surreal. I don’t feel like a European Tour player. Not yet anyway.

When I was home for those couple of days I was watching the Race to Dubai Tour Championship and Ali turned to me and said, “You’re a European Tour player now.”

It still doesn’t seem real in many ways. I’ve dreamt about it and watch it all the time on TV but to now actually be doing it is something I’m still getting used to.

On Tuesday I was in getting some treatment with the physio and Miguel Angel Jimenez came in and starts getting treatment next to me.

I hit balls next to Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood is walking past…

I’ve played enough events now with guys like that in the field but there’s still an element of star-spotting that goes on. You forget for a moment that you’re there as a fellow member of the European Tour, not just a spectator hitting balls next to them on the range.

Funnily enough, for my first two rounds as a European Tour member I’ll be playing alongside my good mate Daniel Nisbet, so I’m sure that will help to calm any nerves that may be there when I wake up on Thursday morning.

This is the start. Making it onto the Tour doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to do well so I have to keep working hard and playing the style of golf I play.

Life has now got the potential to change quite a bit but I have to focus on doing what I’ve been doing and trust what I’ve done in the past. I can’t lose sight of the things that have got me to this point.

As for Q-School, I hope I never have to go through that again but at least if I do I’ll know what to expect and how to handle it.

And not to rely on sinking a 50-footer with three holes to go.

Victorian Deyen Lawson has thundered into the Final Stage of European Tour Qualifying School by recording the best four-round total of the 95 players to advance from Second Stage tournaments conducted this week.

Lawson was one of just three Australians to move on from second stage in Spain with Nick Cullen and Ben Eccles also progressing from Desert Springs Golf Club in Almeria where Lawson streeted the field to win by four shots.

Other than a slight stumble in the third round where he shot an even-par round of 72, Lawson was in rare command, logging three rounds of 65, his final round consisting of eight birdies and just the one bogey for a 72-hole total of 21-under par.

New Zealand’s Josh Geary will also carry momentum into Final Stage at Lumine Golf Club that starts on Saturday in Spain.

Geary finished one shot clear of the field at the El Encin Golf Hotel in Madrid, his successful week highlighted by an eagle at the very first hole of the tournament and an opening round of 63.

Two other Australians are entered for Final Stage, veteran Richard Green and recent Queensland Open winner Jordan Zunic.

To be contested over six rounds, the leading 25 players plus ties will receive Category 16 membership of the European Tour for the 2019 season.