Mark Brown has a deserved reputation as one of New Zealand’s
best ball strikers, and when he gets the flat stick working, he can foot it
with anyone as he showed this week at the Emirates Australian Open. Brown was rock solid over the weekend with
only one bogey in his final 36 holes to finish T6 on -7 in a top class field on
the tough Australian GC layout, one shot ahead of Jordan Spieth, and only four behind winner Cameron Davis.
Meanwhile over in Hong Kong, “never say never” was the motto
of the day as Wade Ormsby recorded his maiden European Tour victory at the 264th
attempt, in the UBS Hong Kong Open.
Emirates Australian
Open
Those who were lucky enough to draw a morning tee time in
Round 1 of the Australian Open got a significant advantage over the afternoon
players, as Cameron Davis showed by ripping apart the Nicklaus-designed
Australian GC course with an opening 63.
Rounds of 72 & 74 then followed, which seemed to rule Davis out of
contention as he started the final round six shots behind red hot favourite
Jason Day. However, Day couldn’t get
going on Sunday and slipped to a 73, while Davis picked up the six shots and
then some with a closing 64, highlighted by an eagle two on the 380 metre par 4
12th hole.
That was good enough for a one shot victory over 2015
champion Matt Jones (NSW), and Jonas Blixt (Sweden).
Mark Brown more than held his own with a closing 68 to
complete an astonishing week with only four bogeys all tournament, three of
which came on the Thursday afternoon when conditions were at their worst. He pocketed $NZ 45,000 for his efforts,
lifting his 2017 PGA Tour of Australasia earnings to over $NZ 100k, and leaving
him 15th on the Tour’s OOM.
Ben Campbell showed some of his NZ Open form from earlier in
the year with a T15 finish on -2, and Michael Hendry had another consistent
week with a T24 result on even par, despite a horrendous start to his final
round with doubles on 3 & 5. Hendry
was another to cop the wrong end of the draw on Thursday, along with Josh Geary
(T56, +6). Both did well to make the
cut, which came in at +2 in the end.
Geary also had post Q School and travel issues to contend with, but
fought back well with a final round of 70 after slipping to 77 in Round 3.
The only other New Zealander to make the cut was Luke Toomey
(T61, +7), while Harry Bateman (+3), Michael Long and Gareth Paddison (+4),
Fraser Wilkin (+5), Kieran Muir (+6), David Smail (+10), Daniel Pearce (+14)
and Brad Shilton (+16) all missed out.
Shilton may have had other things on his mind after holing
in one on his 2nd hole (the 173 metre 11th), which earned
him a $17,000 Tag Heuer watch. It was
the 2nd hole in one in Brad’s professional career, the last one
coming in the 2007 Tahiti Open. He has
had four overall, including one at Titirangi earlier in the year.
The players now move to the Gold Coast for the $A 1.5
million Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines, co-sanctioned with the
European Tour.
UBS Hong Kong Open
In a field which included Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose,
Sergio Garcia, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Rafa Cabrera Bello & Co, Wade Ormsby
would not have been high up the list of most people’s picks. But as the challengers came and went over the
final nine holes, Ormsby found himself standing on the 18th green of
Fanling’s composite course with a two shot lead, and a 35 foot putt for birdie.
That lead was promptly cut to one when Cabrera Bello birdied
the 17th behind Ormsby, and then to none when Wade then proceeded to
three putt. However, the notorious 18th,
which features a sharp dog leg and then a carry over water to the ultimate
sucker pin, claimed another victim when Cabrera Bello found the greenside bunker
and couldn’t get up and down, leaving Ormsby the winner by one.
It was certainly a fitting reward for the 37 year old’s dedication
to the Tour over many years, if nothing else, but Ormsby who was on the cusp of
losing his card for much of 2017, has now secured his future and can look
forward to a stress free 2018 season.
Further down the field, Miguel Angel Jimenez showed he still
has plenty of game at this level, touring Fanling in 63 shots in his final
round.