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.

Scott Arnold has shot the round of the day, 6-under 66, in the second round of the SP PNG Open to hold a narrow lead at the halfway mark of the tournament.

It’s Arnold’s second round of 66 in a row at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club and he now sits at the top of the leaderboard on 12-under the card. 

He said the encore performance was similar to his opening round.

“It was the same again as yesterday really, I started off really good on the front-9 again,” said Arnold who made the turn at 5-under par following an eagle on the 9th hole.

“I missed a short putt on the first for a birdie but I drove it really well and got really close to some of the par-4s, chipped it up pretty close and made some easy birdies.

“I hit a really good drive down the 9th and hit a lob wedge to about six feet and made eagle there so that was a sort of jump-start.”

Arnold said his momentum stuttered slightly as he got off to a shaky start on the back-9.

“I made a couple of bad swings at the start of the back-9 and was just steady really. I wasn’t hitting it close enough like I was on the front-9 so I was happy to get away with shooting 1-under on the back.”

Following his first round, the New South Welshman said he planned to play aggressively off the tee and sees no reason to change that tact heading in to the third round.

“They moved a few tees forward today and I did hit irons off a couple of holes but I think I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing,” added Arnold.

“I’ll stick to the game plan, play it out, go through my process and try not to worry about the result, at the end of the day if I do that it should come.”

Local Papua New Guinea amateur Brian Taikiri held on to outright second position following his round of 2-under 70 and is now 11-under the card.

He was able to bounce back after beginning his round with two bogeys in a row.

“I feel pretty good, I fought back after my start of two bogeys on the first two holes,” said Taikiri.

“Having that fighting spirit, I always know I can come back on the front-9.”

Taikiri said his knowledge of his home track, Royal Port Moresby Golf Club, came in to play as he targeted the front-9 to claw back some ground.

“The front-9 is the easiest of the two and today the wind can support you whereas on the back you’re going against the wind.

“Having that local knowledge helped a bit, I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Following his second round of 5-under 67, Tim Stewart sits in a tie for third at 9-under the card.
It’s a strong start to his debut in the SP PNG Open.

“I got off to a bit of a slow start early. I had about a 10 foot par on the first and just kind of coasted along and then holed about a 30 footer for birdie on seven and then eagled eight and just missed eagle on nine,” said Stewart.

“It was just kind of a crazy round that turned into something. I birdied 11 and 12 and it could have been really low today, I had a couple of slip ups coming in.

“I knew I was playing well and had some good chances. I started to think about it a little bit, but I bounced back and had a birdie at 17 after a couple of mistakes so I’m really pleased.”

After three bogeys on the back-9, Alex Edge caught fire on the front and came home with five birdies and one bogey to finish 1-under par and shares third with Stewart at 9-under the card.

Dale Brandt-Richards and Brody Martin round out the top-5, both at 7-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 cut was made at 3-over the card with 55 professionals and three amateurs making the weekend rounds.

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

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

For round two scores visit pga.org.au.

This week the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia moves to Papua New Guinea for the SP PNG Open.

This event continues to grow each year and provides local players with opportunity to mix it with the Tour’s best players. A quick glance at the history reveals that the past two events since gaining ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia status have been decided in a playoff. You don’t have to be the Tour Insider to work out that this week’s event will likely be a tight contest as well.

Damien Jordan

It is fitting as I write this on ANZAC Day that Damien is on top of the list of picks this week. His military background  has been well documented and it wouldn’t surprise to see Damien carry the ANZAC Spirit all the way to victory this week. Form at the course in the past has been good and he is coming off a solid result in last week’s warm up event in Lae.

Daniel Gale

Last week’s winner in Lae who will go in full of confidence and could prove the man to beat in his first season as a professional. Although not a full Tour member this guy has the game to compete on Tour and as one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, TI would love to see him go back-to-back in PNG.

Ruben Sondjaja

Another guy who has just turned professional but he has made an impressive start to his career. He recently secured his playing status in Canada and he will head across there after the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship next month. Ruben completed his college degree in the U.S. at Iowa State and loves to compete. Another of the Tour’s nice guys, he may just be the man standing on top at the end of the week.

Cameron John

Another who is recently turned professional and warmed up well in Lae last week by shooting a final round 61. You may have noticed the trend with TI believing one of these young guys have a great opportunity to jump start their playing career this week in PNG. Cameron is no doubt up to this challenge despite his young age he enjoyed a good amateur career and is not afraid to hold up a trophy.

James Marchesani

Simply too good a player not to have won on his home Tour yet. Now that ‘little big brother’ Anthony is also playing on the Tour, that might just be the extra motivation required to get him over the line. After all who likes being beaten by their younger brother! Rumour has it Anthony has James covered on the bench press so James would be keen to show who’s the boss on the golf course!

Local Papua New Guinea amateur Brian Taikiri has had the round of his career to share the lead following the first round of the SP PNG Open at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club.

Taikiri’s bogey free round of 9-under 63, an equal course record, was matched by New South Welshman Dale Brandt-Richards who also handed in a blemish free card.

A member of Royal Port Moresby Golf Club, Taikiri surprised even himself with his lowest score to date.

“I didn’t expect this to be honest,” Taikiri said with a smile.

“I just went out and played my own game, this being my home course I knew what the course record was but I don’t normally shoot this in a normal Saturday competition.

“That’s the best score I’ve ever had on any course, but scoring that on my home course I’m privileged and honoured to have done that.”

Taikiri’s knowledge of his home track shone through on the back-9 charging home with five birdies, four consecutively from the 14th to the 18th holes.

“I finished with those four birdies in a row so I’m very happy with that, four birdies on the front-9 and 5-under on the back.”

The local amateur’s next goal is to make the cut in his national Open, something he hasn’t been able to achieve before.

“I haven’t made the cut in the PNG Open yet but shooting this score is certainly going to help me early,” added Taikiri.

“It will be much of the same for me tomorrow; I’ll just come out, relax and try to have fun.”

Brian Taikiri has never made a cut in his home Open.

He’s tied for the lead with a course record-equalling 63 #PNGOpen

Scores: https://t.co/CldCiqVeiP pic.twitter.com/BHjA72H30J

— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) 26 April 2018

Brandt-Richards who has played every SP PNG Open since it became part of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, also had some local knowledge at his disposal. 

“This is my third trip over here so I know what to expect and today I had my caddie Morris who’s been on the bag every year in PNG,” said Brandt-Richards.

“So he came in and read a couple putts for me just to double check my reads. He’s on a 3 handicap so I trust his judgment and a few went in.

“I think I missed one green out there today and I was hitting it pretty solid all day off the tee,” added Brandt-Richards.

“I hit it close a lot, I still missed a few putts but holed a couple and was able to get to 9-under.”

After a strong showing today and in yesterday’s pro-am, Brandt-Richards said he’s looking forward to keeping his momentum rolling in to round two.

“It’s always hard to back up a low round the next day, I don’t know what it is, maybe your mindset or something like that.

“I had a good round yesterday in the pro-am and another good round today so I’ve just got to keep it rolling.”

Now playing in his third SP PNG Open, Brandt-Richards was quick to praise the course’s condition and the staff who have presented the best layout to date.

“It’s definitely the best it’s ever been in the last three years, the putts are rolling a lot smoother, the fairways are a little more lush,” added Brandt-Richards.

“With the improvements in the greens it’s been better to score for us so they’ve done a great job.”

Hot on the leading pair’s heels is New South Welshman Alex Edge who finished with 8-under 64 and a clean card in the opening round.

“I got off to a pretty patchy start, I was in the trees a little bit but a made a couple of good up and downs,” said Edge.

“I ended up chipping in for par on my second hole and then I chipped in for birdie on the next hole so that was pretty rare to have two of those in a row. I knew I was going to be in for a good day when that sort of stuff happens at the beginning.

“I’ve been driving it well the last couple of days and if I keep doing that I can give myself a lot of opportunities on this course.”

Scott Arnold, making his tournament debut in the SP PNG Open holds outright fourth position after a posting a round of 6-under 66 in the morning field on day one.

“I started off a bit scratchy, I was a couple over after the first six holes but had eight birdies over my last 12 holes,” said Arnold.

“I started to find a bit of form,hole a few putts and got a bit of momentum; then everything fell in to place.”

Just three shots off the lead, Arnold said he’ll be taking an aggressive approach in to the second round.

“You’ve got to be aggressive out here, it’s pretty short and it’s pretty warm so the ball is going a bit further, if you can hole the putts you’ll be okay,” added Arnold.

“I’m pretty happy with how I finished up today and hopefully we can keep moving forward.”

Lachlan McDonald, Aaron Pike, Brody Martin, Taylor Macdonald, Tim Stewart, Antonio Murdaca, and Hayden Webb are in a tie for fifth after rounds of 4-under 68.

Englishman Jon Kennedy provided one of the highlights of the day, nailing an ace on the par-3 18th to put a smile on his face after a tough opening round.

“It was a good way to finish after stumbling through for most of my round. It was a 7-iron, we thought we’d lost it in the shadows and it wasn’t until we got to the green we realised,” said Kennedy.

“That was my second hole-in-one; the first one was actually a shank so it’s nice to actually have a true hole-in-one.”

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 second round of the SP PNG Open will tee off at 7:00am with Dale Brandt-Richards beginning at 11:20am and Brian Taikiri off at 11:45am.

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

For round one scores visit pga.org.au.

Damien Jordan would love nothing more than to record a second win on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia during a week when Australians and New Zealanders remember the ANZACs.

Jordan was part of the Australian Army and completed two tours of Iraq before beginning his career as a golf professional. 

He attended the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Port Moresby this morning and given the close history Papua New Guinea and Australia share, a second career victory would mean a little more at the SP PNG Open this week, with a nod to his fellow service men and women.

“It would be great to win especially ANZAC Day week, it’s always a big week for me. I got up for the dawn service in Port Moresby this morning which was pretty special,” said Jordan.

“The day is obviously one I hold in pretty high regard so if I was to go on and get a win, it would be pretty fitting to be this week and in this country given what our armed services went through on the Kokoda Track in PNG all those years ago.”

Jordan enters the SP PNG Open this week off the back of a strong showing at the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series Morobe Open in Lae, having recorded just one bogey across 72 holes.

“I played really good last week, that’s why I wasn’t really disappointed to finish runner-up. I had 22-under with one bogey for the week so I was really rapt with how I played and just came home strong.” 

The Royal Port Moresby Golf Club clearly suits Jordan’s eye having played the last two SP PNG Opens since the tournament was added to the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia schedule and recording a T5 and T11 finish.

He says the course has presented the best he’s seen since he began playing the event in Papua New Guinea, already dialed in, Jordan hit an ace on the par-3 5th hole with his 8-iron during today’s pro-am.

“It’s the best I’ve seen Royal Port Moresby especially the greens they’re really good. Full credit to the green staff because it’s 100 percent better than last year,” added Jordan.

“I don’t mind the course, and you can hit a lot of drivers and if you hit the driver well you get a lot of wedges in your hand which suits my game as well so as long as you hit the drive in a good spot, you can shoot low numbers around here.”

Jordan will be relishing the chance to get aclimatised to tropical conditions in this week’s SP PNG Open ahead of tackling the PGT Asia circuit in the Phillipines.

A top-5 finish at the Tour’s qualifying school just under a fortnight ago signalled a return to form for the reigning Victorian PGA Champion who also finished runner-up at the Morobe Open in PNG last week.

“I went and played in the Philippines and got my card there and that gave me confidence to play well last week,” said Jordan. 

“Obviously you can’t beat momentum out here and when you’ve got it you’ve just got to roll with it.”

It will be Jordan’s first foray on the Philippines premier Tour and presents further opportunities to progress on to the Asian Tour.

He will contest the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship in Kalgoorlie before beginning a short campaign overseas.

“It’s a feeder of the Asian Tour but it’s really good, it’s really well run and we’ve got 12 events up there this year,” added Jordan.

“I leave on the 27th of May and back on the 9th of June, so two weeks, it’s unbelievably cheap up there and your dollar really goes a long way.”

The goal of the overseas venture for Jordan is to stay match fit as the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia takes a two month break before returning in August for the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways.

It’s a new tact for the Tweed Heads based professional who is hoping the extra tournaments under his belt will pay dividends come the end of the season in Australia.

“That’s why I’m doing it. We’re playing for a minimum of U.S. $100,000 every week. so I’ll play a few more four round tournaments now,” added Jordan. 

“Obviously I won’t be playing as many pro-ams but I mean you need those four rounders or week in week out tournaments to get ready for the big events in the back of the year.”

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.

To stay across live scores from Royal Port Moresby Golf Club please visit pga.org.au.

Damien Jordan, Brad Moules and Cory Crawford tee at 11:45am AEST. Round one tee times are available at pga.org.au.

First year Professional Daniel Gale is full of confidence ahead of the 2018 SP PNG Open after he recorded the biggest win of his career, the Morobe Open at Lae Golf Club last week.

One of the richest events on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series, the win was certainly a welcome cash injection, Gale pocketed over AU $20,000 for his victory, however doesn’t present anything in the way of exemption on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

This week Gale tees it up again in Papua New Guinea, this time in the SP PNG Open at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club. As well as AU $145,000 on offer the winner of the tournament will receive full status on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of 2019.

It would be a perfect start to a burgeoning professional career for the 21-year-old.

“I’m happy with how I played, I put four solid rounds together and mixed it with a seasoned field so to get on top of that, it was definitely a big confidence boost,” said Gale.

“The cash is great but the confidence boost going into this week is even more important, I’ve just got to keep plodding along."

Gale came out on top at Lae Golf Club against a field of seasoned Tour professionals including Steven Jeffress, Daniel Fox and Damien Jordan who he edged out in a three-hole aggregate playoff.

He said coming out on top against a field of that strength has re-enforced his self belief as a professional capable of competing at a high level.

“The morning of the final round, I did feel a bit nervous. I guess it was more the excitement, I was all pumped up, but once I started my practice routine and got on course I was fine.

“I’ve been in tight situations like that before and I think it’s the experience of putting myself in that position in the past in amateur events definitely paid off last week.

“This is my first year as a professional I turned pro January 1, to get over the line is a huge boost early, I know that I belong now.”

The New South Welshman now has his sights set on competing overseas and what better goal to conquer than to qualify for a major.

“I’m heading over to the U.S. for the U.S. Open local qualifying, I’m a professional golfer now why not give it a shot,” added Gale.

“I feel like I can get through the qualifying stages, I wouldn’t enter if I didn’t think I could. So I’ve just got to get through the local qualifier which gets you through to sectionals and then that’s 36 holes in one day and if you get through that you’re in the U.S. Open.

“So that’s my plan for about the next month and a half. I’ll go home for a week and then head over there and try to pre-qualify for a few Web.com Tour events.”

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.

To stay across live scores from Royal Port Moresby Golf Club please visit pga.org.au.

Round one tee times will be available at pga.org.au.

The 2018 SP PNG Golf Open will be staged for the third time on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia when it is hosted by the Royal Port Moresby Golf Club from 26-29 April 2018.

The 24th edition of the tournament, which first began as a pro-am, sees SP Brewery extend their support as naming rights sponsor of the AU$145,000 event.

“SP Brewery has had a long and successful history of supporting both grassroots and elite sport in Papua New Guinea and as the official beer of sport in PNG, I am delighted to announce that this year’s tournament will be proudly known as the SP PNG Golf Open,” said South Pacific Brewery’s Managing Director, Stan Joyce.

“This prestigious event offers not only lucrative prize money for the golfing Professionals, but great future opportunities on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, and a very unique golfing event experience in PNG. 

“We are very excited and looking forward to being part of our 12th SP PNG Golf Open.”

The 2017 SP PNG Golf Open went right down to the wire with Queensland’s Cory Crawford defeating Brett Rankin in a six hole playoff to claim his first win on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

Crawford checked in as clubhouse leader after 72 holes at 10-under par and faced an agonising wait for Rankin, who was also 10-under, to finish his round in the group behind him.

Rankin had the chance to seal victory in regulation but was only able to make par on the 18th, forcing a playoff for the second year in a row at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club.

The pair could not be separated through five playoff holes on the par-3 18th, both making par on all attempts.

On their sixth trip, both Crawford and Rankin hit their tee shot approximately 40 feet from the flag. Rankin would eventually bogey the hole and Crawford made par for his first Professional victory.

“It definitely meant a lot considering the rough couple of years I have had out there so it was good to get it all together during that week and obviously to get the win was fantastic,” said Crawford, who has full exemption on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of 2018 courtesy of winning the 2017 SP PNG Golf Open.

The 2018 SP PNG Golf Open will also have its first Ambassador, with dual South Pacific Games Gold Medallist Kristine Seko accepting the prestigious honour.