Reigning SP PNG Open champion Daniel Gale returns to the Royal Port Moresby Golf Club in 2019 to defend his title following a breakout year as a rookie professional.

Winning his maiden ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tournament in Papua New Guinea in 2018, the region has been a happy hunting ground for Gale who’s path to last year’s SP PNG Open included Monday qualifying and subsequently winning the 2018 Morobe Open on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

“It’s really kick-started my career,” said Gale of his SP PNG Open win. “I had no status, no tour card and was relying on Monday qualifying or a walk up start, which I got for this tournament last year.

“To be able to go ahead and win, especially with a bit of expectation on my shoulders after winning the Morobe Open the week before and to do it in the fashion that I did; winning by 9 shots, it was pretty special.

“To know that no matter how the rest of the year went, I was playing all of the big events this year was great.”

The win has propelled Gale onto the world stage, earning the New South Welshman a two year exemption on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and the 22-year-old has certainly made the most of it.

Recording a host of strong results including a ninth place finish at the Australian PGA Championship and a match-play start at the tri-sanctioned ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth tournament, Gale has proven himself to be a strong competitor.

“This year was my first time playing the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth and I’ve watched that event on TV for the last few years thinking it was such a cool tournament,” added Gale.

“To actually make the top-24 and be in the match-play, I was just thinking, I’m there.

“Playing the big events like the Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship and the Vic Open and playing in the same field as top-50 players in the world, knowing I’m competing with and potentially beating them as well is awesome.

“At the Australian PGA Championship I finished tied ninth and beat a strong quality field so definitely winning this [the SP PNG Open] last year really boosted my confidence.”

Returning to Royal Port Moresby Golf Club with a year of professional golf under his belt, Gale believes he is a strong chance of defending his title despite the strong field assembled for the tournament.

“I definitely think so, there’s no reason that I can’t go back-to-back. It’s a new year,” said Gale.

“The golf course will probably be in different condition compared to last year so I’ll have to adapt to that. The way I played the golf course last year, I know how to play it and score well around here so my game plan won’t change much.”

With rains falling in Port Moresby ahead of the tournament, Gale is expecting course conditions to differ compared to previous years but still believes it takes smart, strategic play to win.

“I’ve seen photos that it has been really wet,” Gale continued. “If it’s wet it’ll work in my favour as well because I’m a pretty long hitter.

“You’ve got to do everything pretty well here but definitely you have to ball strike it pretty solidly around this golf course.

“The greens are quite small and sort of a bit of a dome shape so you’ve got to hit your spots, hit your numbers and hit a lot of fairways because if you get in the trees you’re chipping out sideways and most of the time you don’t have a shot.”

Receiving a warm welcome back to Papua New Guinea, Gale is happy to be back at one of his favourite events on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia calendar.

“When I arrived at the airport yesterday there was a guy with a camera already waiting, that was pretty cool,” Gale laughed.

“I’m getting the vibes from last year. Yesterday I went down to the caddy shack to try and find my caddy from last year and they were all saying ‘hey Daniel, welcome back, great to have you back’.

“I’ve received a really good welcome back and it’s great to be here. I’ve got good memories and I’m looking to try and emulate those again.”

The ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia’s 2019 SP PNG Open tees off on Thursday at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club in Papua New Guinea.

Daniel Gale has secured his first victory on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, running away with the SP PNG Open title in the final round.

Gale shot 6-under in the final round to finish 23-under the card and 9 shots clear from runners-up Braden Becker and Tim Stewart at 14-under the card.

He becomes the first golfer to win the Morobe Open and SP PNG Open in two succesive weeks since Michael Wright in 2009.

This marks Gale’s first win on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

More to come…

New South Welshman Daniel Gale has secured his first victory on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, running away with the SP PNG Open title in the final round.

Starting with a three shot buffer at 17-under the card, Gale flew home with a round of 6-under 66 to finish on 23-under 265, a commanding nine shots ahead of his nearest rival.

He also becomes the first player to win the Morobe Open on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series and SP PNG Open in successive weeks since Michael Wright in 2009.

“I felt a bit shaky to start off with, last week I felt like I was in control because I had to chase down Damien (Jordan),” said Gale.

“A three shot lead can change in one hole and I think my lead got down to one at a point on the front-9 but I went on a roll on the back-9 and had four birdies on the trot and that separated me.

“The last two holes were a lot of fun; I had a seven shot lead with two holes to go and could just enjoy the walk.”

Gale’s work on his short game with his coach, PGA Professional Paul Latham was evident in an impressive chip in for his fourth birdie in a row on the 16th.

“I’ve been doing a lot of work on those simple chip shots with my coach Paul Latham and the hard work is paying off,” added Gale. 

“My short game is getting sharper and sharper and my putting average is getting lower and lower. That’s obviously showed in the last two weeks.”

For winning the SP PNG Open Gale now has full status on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and will tee it up in marquee events on the schedule including the Emirates Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship and his next event, the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways.

“It hasn’t fully sunk in yet, to know that I’m playing Fiji, Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship, I can’t wait,” added Gale, who is now fully exempt until the end of the 2019 season.

“I’ll be able to get my buddies in the crowd, it feels awesome. It was one of my goals this year to get a Tour win, last week was great but this being a Tour win is pretty special, I think that’s why I had a few more nerves just knowing what was on the line.

“I’ve ticked that off the list and the hard work is all paying off. To shoot a personal best of 22-under last week and beat that with 23-under this week is just insane; it’s the kind of stuff you dream about.”

Next up for the newly minted SP PNG Open champion is a trip to the America to attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open and pre-qualify for a handful of Web.com Tour events.

He said the security of status on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia will take off a little pressure as he aims to compete at the highest level.

“America’s my main focus, so I’m going to try and get in to the U.S. Open and if I get in there and play well that obviously opens more doors,” added Gale.

“I’ll focus on a couple of Web.com Tour events and potentially the Web.com Q-School as well.”

Finishing in a tie for second place was Tim Stewart and Braden Becker at 14-under the card, Dale Brandt-Richards, Chris Wood and Aaron Pike round out the top-5 finishing at 11-under the card.

For his win, Gale picks up $21,750, for the 2018 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit ranking, visit pga.org.au.

Gale receives Official World Golf Ranking Points and is fully exempt on to the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia for the remainder of this season plus a further season.

For final scores visit pga.org.au.

The ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia now travels to Kalgoorlie Golf Course for the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship from 10-13 May 2018.

For the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule, please visit pga.org.au.

Daniel Gale has shown punters at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club why they call it Moving Day, firing a course record 11-under 61 in the third round of the SP PNG Open.

His incredible round included three eagles, seven birdies and two bogeys and hands him the lead heading in to the final round tomorrow.

Opening with two pars on the front-9 Gale then went eagle, birdie, birdie, bogey, birdie followed by back-to-back eagles to make the turn at 8-under.

“It’s all still a bit of a blur, that’s the first time I’ve had three eagles in one round and first time back-to-back as well,” said Gale.

“I’ve shot low rounds before but this is in a tournament so it’s even better.”

Making the turn at 8-under for any golfer would mean thoughts of an elusive sub-60 round would begin to creep in.

For Gale it was relaxing to have such a hot start before tackling the back-9 which has proven the tougher part of the course this week.

“It’s a hard one to think about because there are birdie chances on the back-9 but I would have had to shoot 5-under, if you take out my two bogeys there’s a 59. 

“I’ve never shot 59, I’ve shot a couple of 60s before and when you’re that deep under par the nerves go away, I wasn’t really that nervous just trying to get them in.

“It probably did cross my mind but I knew I would have had to play absolutely perfect golf on the back-9 which obviously under tournament conditions is hard to do.”

Gale started the round at 6-under the card and five shots off the lead, his plan was to go low but it’s fair to say he exceeded his own expectations.

“Today’s moving day for a reason and my goal was obviously to go deep and 11-under is pretty deep,” added Gale. 

“I’ve backed up really good rounds before. Back home in December last year I shot back-to-back 12 under on different golf courses so I know I can back it up, I’m looking forward to getting out there tomorrow.”

Sitting three shots back in second position is Tim Stewart who shot 5-under 67 and is 14-under the card.

“My focus today was just go out there and do exactly what I’ve been doing the whole week. The same strategy essentially worked pretty well and if I come off with the same score tomorrow I think it won’t be far away,” said Stewart.

“But ultimately I’ll leave it up to what the golf course is going to give you.

“Galey has had an awesome round so it’s good to know there’s a score out there.”

Local amateur Brian Taikiri has continued his dream tournament and was speechless when he realised he’d be in the final group of his national Open.

Taikiri shot 2-under 70 and is at 13-under the card, just four shots off the leader.

“I’m ecstatic, shocked and surprised, I have never shot three rounds under par in a row, I’ve never done that in my life,” said Taikiri.

“To play in the last group on a Sunday, is amazing. For the past few years I’ve followed pros in the last group when I was a junior.

“For me to be in the last group, I’m really proud of myself.”

Holding outright fourth is Alex Edge who shot 4-under 68 today and is 12-under the card.

After opening with 8-under 64, Edge followed up with a fighting 1-under 71 that included five birdies on his back-9 to stay in touch with the leaders.

He said he won’t be looking to chase the five shots that separate him and leader Gale, but rather focus on his own game in the final round.

“It was a pretty impressive round by Gayley today, very impressive actually, I’ll just do what I do and hopefully it keeps trending in the right place,” said Edge. 

“It could be tough to chase that far ahead but you never know, I might play well and the other guys might play not so well so that’s all I can do.”

Aaron Pike and Scott Arnold share fifth position at 9-under the card.

The SP PNG Golf Open will be played from 26-29 April at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea with the field vying for a prize purse of AU$145,000.

The winner will receive Official World Golf Ranking Points and become fully exempt on to the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia for the remainder of this season plus a further season.

The final round of the SP PNG Open will tee off at 9:20am with Daniel Gale, Brian Taikiri and Tim Stewart beginning at 11:00am.

For round four tee times, visit pga.org.au.

For round three scores visit pga.org.au.

Daniel Gale has overcome a two-shot deficit in the final round, to be crowned the 2018 Trukai Morobe Open champion.

Gale finished regulation play tied at the top of the leaderboard alongside overnight leader Damien Jordan. The pair, finishing with a 72 hole total of 22-under 262, headed to a play off with Gale holding his nerve to claim victory on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

On a perfect afternoon for scoring, spectators were treated to a final round shootout between Gale and Jordan, as both players went shot for shot over the final nine holes.

Jordan birdied the 10^th and 11^th to open up a four shot lead but Gale hit back with birdies on the next three holes to reduce the gap back to one.

With two holes to play Jordan held a one shot lead but saw that eliminated when Gale made a birdie at the 17^th and the pair went to the final hole tied.

With the pressure on, both players made their four foot birdie putts on the final hole to force a playoff.

In search of the largest win of his young career, Gale made the first move with a birdie at the opening hole of a three-hole aggregate playoff to Jordan’s par.

After both players made par on the second playoff hole, Gale stood on the 18^th tee with a one shot lead.

Jordan decided to lay up on the third playoff hole, while Gale went for the par-5 in two.

Unfortunately his second found the water left of the green, opening the door for Jordan to extend the playoff.

Jordan played an almost perfect pitch to one metre while Gale took his penalty drop and pitched it to within one foot of the hole.

The pressure was all on Jordan, but his birdie putt grazed the left edge of the hole leaving Gale with his putt for the win which he made no mistake with.

“It is a great feeling winning the Morobe Open in Lae. It was awesome to win the Sydney Invitational a few weeks earlier but my win this week certainly tops that,” said Gale.

“Damien played really well today. There were some clutch shots made by both of us over the final few holes and the appreciation from the spectators really seemed to push both of us along.

“I have never been involved in an aggregate playoff before, and when my second shot found the water on the final hole I thought I had opened the door for Damien. Unfortunately, he was unable to convert his birdie putt, giving me the opportunity to close it out, which thankfully I managed to do.”

The week has been much more than just golf for Gale, who has also enjoyed the hospitality on offer.

“I didn’t really know what to expect at the start of the week, I asked a few mates who had been before, but I was still unsure of what it would be like. Well, I can say it has been awesome, not only on the course but off. The people are just so welcoming and I really look forward to returning next year.”

As the leaders were battling it out, 18-year-old Cameron John enjoyed the round of his life. After making the turn in 29, John made a further five birdies on the back-9 to sign for a new unofficial course record round of 11-under 60 to finish 6^th overall.

Professional golf remains in Papua New Guinea this week with the SP Brewery PNG Open being staged at the Royal Port Moresby Golf Club as part of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.