Recent NT PGA winner Jordan Zunic has made the most of his opportunity to tee up in the European Tour’s Dunhill Links tournament posting a top 20 finish and picking up a cheque for almost $74,000.
Recent NT PGA winner Jordan Zunic has made the most of his opportunity to tee up in the European Tour’s Dunhill Links tournament posting a top 20 finish and picking up a cheque for almost $74,000.
Zunic, who also won the BMW New Zealand Open in 2015, fired rounds of 70-71-67-70 to be 10-under-par and T18, his best career result in a European Tour event.
The Wollongong native was easily the best of the 11 Australians who teed up in the event and played over three of Scotland’s best courses at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course at St Andrews.
Three back nine bogeys Sunday cost Zunic a place in the top 10 but he will take plenty of positives from the result which comes less than two months after he claimed the inaugural Northern Territory PGA title.
With 24 birdies for the week, the 24-year-old proved he has the game to compete at the top level, his eight birdie round Saturday at the Old Course being one of the best of the day.
Zunic was one of seven Australians to earn a place in the field, courtesy of their money list position at the end of the 2015 PGA Tour of Australasia season.
Just three Australians made the cut in Scotland- European Tour regular Andrew Dodt finishing T47 at 5-under-par for the week with Matthew Guyatt two shots further back and T53.
Brett Rumford, Kristopher Mueck, Daniel Valente, Matthew Millar, Nathan Holman, Richard Green and Mathew Goggin all missed the weekend’s play.
Reigning Australian PGA champion Nathan Holman will be particularly disappointed with his play as he made two double bogeys and two triple bogeys amongst some otherwise encouraging play.
Holman has struggled for much of the second half of 2016 making just two cuts in his 10 events since the BMW PGA Championship in May.
A second round 63 at the European Masters in Switzerland last month showed a glimpse of what the 24-year-old is capable of though he hasn’t been able to reproduce that form since.