A social media push pleading for a sponsor’s invitation has paid off handsomely for Curtis Luck as he and Hank Lebioda recorded a top-five finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in Louisiana.

In a week where Aussie eyes were trained on the high-profile pairing of Adam Scott and Jason Day, it was the last-minute addition of Luck and fellow PGA TOUR rookie Lebioda that saw the Australian flag flying high on the leaderboard on Sunday.

Given the popularity amongst the players of the two-man teams event, Luck and Lebioda looked like missing out altogether until Lebioda’s management company sought a creative solution to their problem.

Leveraging Lebioda and Luck’s connection with the team from the No Laying Up podcast, a plea was made to support their entry via a sponsor’s invitation, an invitation that was forthcoming just a week out from the start of the tournament.

The pair wasted little time in making good on the opportunity, starting with 5-under 67 in the first round fourball format and combing superbly in the second rounds foursomes to climb the leaderboard with a 6-under 66.

A round of 8-under 64 in the Saturday fourball lifted them into the top-10, their 1-under 71 in the final round foursomes moving them up one spot and into a tie for fifth, six shots behind winners Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer.

Matt Jones was the only other Australian to make the cut, teaming up with American JJ Spaun to finish tied for 22nd.

Cameron Davis found himself in the unexpected position of tied for fourth after the opening round after he and Kent Jones fired a 10-under 62 but a 4-over 76 in the foursomes sent the pair spiralling down the leaderboard to miss the cut.

On the Web.com Tour Kiwi Steven Alker has moved within reach of the all-important top-25 on the Order of Merit after a tie for fourth at the Dormie Network Classic in Texas.

Rounds of 65-64 to open the tournament at Briggs Ranch Golf Club had Alker in contention for a fifth win on the PGA TOUR’s secondary tour but a weekend of 69-70 kept him just one shot short of a tie for second, China’s Xinjun Zhang winning by five strokes.

Alker was in danger of dropping out of the top-10 midway through his final round but three birdies in the space of four holes secured a top-five finish and a climb of 21 spots to 28th on the moneylist.

Sydney’s Brett Drewitt began the final day also contending for a top-five finish but three bogeys in his final six holes saw him drop down to a tie for 19th that moved him up 17 places to 71st on the moneylist.

Zurich Classic of New Orleans
TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana
T5           Curtis Luck/Hank Lebioda               67-66-64-71—268           $US163,338 ea.
T22        Matt Jones/JJ Spaun                       67-69-64-72—272            $19,610 ea.
MC         Rod Pampling/John Senden           67-70—137
MC         Danny Lee/Sung Kang                     65-72—137
MC         Jason Day/Adam Scott                   65-72—137
MC         Cameron Smith/Jonas Blix             66-72—138
MC         Cameron Davis/Kyle Jones            62-76—138

Web.com Tour
Dormie Network Classic
Briggs Ranch Golf Club, San Antonio, Texas
T4           Steven Alker        65-64-69-70—268            $22,733
T19        Brett Drewitt      68-66-67-74—275            $5,650
MC         Jamie Arnold       71-69—140
MC         Tim Wilkinson     67-75—142
MC         Rhein Gibson      73-71—144
WD        Brett Coletta      72

PGA TOUR-Latino America
88 Abierto OSDE del Centro
Córdoba Golf Club, Córdoba, Argentina
MC         Harrison Endycott            74-72—146

West Australian Curtis Luck has continued his upward trend with his best PGA TOUR finish in almost two years despite a disappointing final round at the Valspar Championship in Florida.

Luck finished tied with Matt Jones as the best performed Australians at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course as Englishman Paul Casey mounted a successful defence of the title he won 12 months ago.

With scoring at a premium and the famed ‘Snake Pit’ taking a bite out of plenty of competitors over the closing three holes, Luck was in position to record the second top-five finish of his career entering the final round tied for sixth.

A birdie at the opening hole was the ideal start but with 3-under 68 the best score on the final day, Luck was unable to continue that early momentum.

A bogey at the par-5 5^th and an untidy bogey at the 9^th saw him turn at 1-over, dropping a further shot on his inward nine at the par-3 15th to end the week with a 2-over 73 and tied for 13th, good enough to climb 26 spots to be ranked 157^th in the FedEx Cup standings.

Like Luck, Jones started his day in the right fashion with a birdie at the 1^st and made further inroads on the leaderboard with a birdie at the 5^th thanks to a near perfect pitch from close to 50 yards from the hole.

That moved the New South Welshman inside the top-10 but dropped shots at the 8^th, 14^th, 16^th and 18^th holes saw him sign for a 1-over 72 and level with Luck in a tie for 13th.

Kiwi Danny Lee was the only other Australasian player to qualify for the weekend, moving up three spots on Sunday to finish tied for 54^th.

Valspar Championship

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course), Palm Harbor, Florida

T13        Matt Jones          73-68-68-72—281            $121,940

T13        Curtis Luck          70-68-70-73—281            $121,940

T54        Danny Lee           72-71-73-72—288            $15,209

MC         John Senden       74-71—145

MC         Jason Day            74-71—145

MC         Rod Pampling     73-73—146

MC         Cameron Davis   75-73—148

Curtis Luck has completed a remarkable turnaround to play his way onto the PGA Tour in 2019 with a top-10 finish at the Web.com Tour Championship in Florida.

Starting the week ranked 16th and all but guaranteed one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards on offer, Luck sat in second position through 54 holes and eyeing off a maiden win as a professional as the ultimate exclamation point.

But three bogeys in his first three holes not only put paid to his hopes of winning the tournament but also momentarily put his place inside the 25 in jeopardy.

Back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh holes helped to right the ship as he signed for an even-par round of 71 and a tie for eighth, enough to hold his position at 16th in the standings and a step up to the PGA TOUR.

Five weeks ago the 22-year-old didn’t even look like qualifying for the Web.com Tour Finals Series.

Sitting outside the top 75, a tie for sixth at the WinCo Foods Portland Open gave him the momentum to finish top five in the first finals event and take up residency inside the top 25.

Luck joins Cameron Davis and Matt Jones as Aussies to earn 2019 PGA TOUR status through the Web.com Tour Finals Series, Davis moving up to fifth in the top 25 courtesy of his tie for third at the Tour Championship.

Already guaranteed his PGA TOUR card after finishing third and tied for 16th in the first two events of the finals, Davis completed his maiden season on the Web.com Tour in spectacular style, a birdie at the 17th and eagle at 18 contributing to a 5-under 66.

But as Luck, Davis and Jones celebrate their PGA TOUR status the news was not so good for veteran Aaron Baddeley, whose missed cut at the Tour Championship saw him drop from 20th to 30th in the standings and without a card for 2019.

After 16 seasons on the PGA TOUR Baddeley will now rely on invitations to stay on the main tour next year, his 70th position in career earnings not enough to qualify for a special one-off exemption.

A final round of 1-over 72 saw any small sliver of hope Brett Drewitt had of advancing disappear while Rhein Gibson’s missed cut saw him drop 15 spots in the final standings to 72nd.

Cameron Percy, John Senden and Stuart Appleby all missed the cut and face uncertain futures with regards to the PGA TOUR.

Australian Brett Coletta has had a solid first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season.

The Melbourne native made five cuts in seven starts and has a tie for fourth to his credit, at the Staal Foundation Open in mid-July. Last week, at the Syncrude Oil Country Championship in Edmonton, Coletgta tied for 15th. Coletta, who turned 22 last month and has been a pro for a little more than a year, played in three 2017 PGA TOUR tournaments, making the cut at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and tying for 25th.

Coletta also won the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia’s Queensland Open in 2016, the first amateur to win that title since Stuart Appleby, in 1991.

Coletta has made himself right at home in Canada this year, learning, among other things, that Nanaimo is not only a city in British Columbia but the name of a mean dessert that he just had to try.

My favorite movie is “The Shawshank Redemption.” It’s all about the plot twist toward the end. I catch it a few times at home every year. And it’s on the main channels, not even the movie channels. I won’t watch it when it’s on, but I’ll push record so I can re-watch it.

I love my music. I’m listening to a bit of rap and a bit of contemporary, alternative stuff. I like San Cisco. It’s good, alternative Australian stuff. I saw them live in Melbourne, at Phillips Island.

I’ve had three holes-in-one but only one in competition. That one came in my last event as an amateur. It was on the seventh hole at Commonwealth Golf Club. I hit a 7-iron about 180 meters or so. I was struggling on the day, and it was stupid to go at the pin. It was just a no-go. But I thought, Who cares? I’m going at it. I landed it on a dime, and it went in.

I was 15 when I made my first hole-in-one. It came at my home club. We were out playing nine holes in a cart. It was the eighth hole at the Sandhurst Club Champs Course. I hit an 8-iron. It was a back pin, and the green slopes down, so I couldn’t see the ball. I was looking for it for a few minutes over the back, behind the green. I finally found it in the hole. I still have pictures of that in my phone. I probably still have the ball. I just don’t know where it is.

I’ve never putted with a vintage Ping putter, but I have one that is a replica of the famous Ping Anser—just one that uses modern technology.

I’m not a very good cook. I can get by. Let’s put it this way. I could live. I’m not sure what I cook is going to be great, but I could live.

Pasta is my go-to meal. You buy your mince meat from the grocery store, and you throw it on the stove, get it nice and brown. Then you get some tomato paste, and if you’re feeling good you add in some garlic and a bit of onion. Then you get your penne pasta and that’s your meal.

As for other food, I steer away from seafood for some reason. I just get a little concerned about it not being cooked right and then getting sick. I try to steer clear of anything that’s going to get me sick.

The Mackenzie Tour has been my home all season. I was talking to someone at Q-School in Comox [British Columbia], and I said, What’s the one thing I need to eat here in Canada? And she said, a Nanaimo Bar. I had no idea about it, and I didn’t even know it was an actual place. We ventured out and got a 30-minute cab ride just to try a Nanaimo Bar. It was nice. It was pretty similar to a Caramel Slice that we eat in Australia.

I’ve had terrible jet lag in the past, and there have been times where I’ve been good to go in a day and a half. Sometimes it’s taken me four or five days to feel all right. When I go to Canada, I go Melbourne to L.A. and L.A. to Canada. It takes 26 hours, door to door, which is terrible. It’s rough, and it puts a lot of strain on your body.

When I was younger, I played cricket. I had to make a decision when I was about 14, 14-and-a-half years old. Do I put down the cricket bat or stay with it? I was on the verge of playing state cricket, but I chose golf. I just enjoyed the individual side of golf. I think it might have been the right decision.

Here are some of the best shots of the 2017 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia!

Western Australia’s Curtis Luck made a bold run at the Web.com Tour Q-School but despite coming up just shy of victory achieved his major goal, to improve his eligibility ranking for the 2018 season.

Luck’s performances in several tournament invitations on the PGA TOUR in 2017 saw him earn enough money to play the final stage of the Q-School and while a win would have secured full status his T3 result assures him the next best thing.

The medallist at the 72-hole tournament receives unrestricted access for 2018 while players finishing 2-10 receive a free pass for the first 12 events of the season before being re-shuffled based on performance. Those finishing 11-45 are part of a reshuffle after eight events.

Luck was one of four Australians in the field in Arizona but the only one to finish inside the coveted top-45 positions, Ray Beaufils T73, Brett Drewitt T85 and Emirates Australian Open champion Cameron Davis T113.

Luck shared the lead at the low scoring tournament with eight holes to go after posting a brilliant 5-under effort on the front-9.

Having started the day four shots behind co-leaders Lee McCoy of America and Korea’s Sung-jae Im, Luck quickly made inroads with three straight birdies to begin his round and a sixth of the day at the 10th had him in prime position.

But in an event where low scoring was a feature all week a bogey at the par-5 12^th was a momentum killer, a second dropped shot two holes later effectively ending his chances of winning.

A final birdie of the week at the 16^th saw Luck sign for a 67 and with opening scores of 67-64-68 his 22-under total was eventually six shots shy of winner McCoy.

For the other three Australians it was a disappointing finish to the week and while all earn limited status simply for making it to final stage it is unlikely they will earn many starts.

It will be a particularly difficult pill for Davis to swallow after his emotional Emirates Australian Open win, the 22-year-old posting rounds of 72-68-69-74 to be 5-under.

Curtis Luck talks with media ahead of the 2017 Emirates Australian Open.