By Paul Prendergast.
Photo: PGA of Australia.
WA’s Jarryd Felton might still be feeling like he has three quarters of his round to play over a sodden Bonnie Doon Golf Club but if he blinks a few times, the reality that he is the 2022 TPS Sydney champion will no doubt dawn on him in due course.
A decision to abandon the final round with the final group having completed just four holes would see a playoff to decide the outcome between Felton and comeback ‘kid’ Brendan Jones, the pair going from a weather delay to taking to the 18th hole for a sudden death encounter having shared the 54-hole lead at 15-under.
Both players were left with wedge approaches on the downwind 18th and it was Felton striking the first and final blow with a lengthy birdie putt from below the hole that Jones could not match.
With partner Hannah Green having won in consecutive events at the Vic Open and TPS Murray River, Felton said that he had ‘kept up his end of the bargain’ by claiming his first victory on tour since 2020.
The cancellation of the final round was controversial to some, however the Tour’s policy is not to extend tournaments to extra days for events with prize pools under $400,000. These decisions on economics inevitably lead to a bevvy of winners and losers, depending on how earlier players had fared in their rounds and of course, their standing on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Order of Merit leader Jed Morgan was one place out of last position after 54 holes and was not making inroads in the heavy going on Sunday. Cancelling the final round will see his lead extend only slightly over NSW’s Andrew Dodt, who was competing in Thailand on the Asian Tour this week. At the conclusion of that event however, Dodt will be flying back to Sydney to contest the TPS Hunter Valley and NSW Open in coming weeks in a bid to eat into Morgan’s lead but more importantly, to consolidate his position in second place.
Queensland’s Anthony Quayle maintained his narrow hold on 3rd place ahead of Men’s Vic Open champion Dimi Papadatos – remembering that the Top 3 at the end of the season will head to Europe with full DP World Tour cards and for the winner, the added cherry on top of a spot in the U.S. Open at The Country Club at Brookline.
One of the ultimate ‘losers’ from the final round cancellation had to be ‘Doon’ member, Jordan Zunic, who’s final round 67 had hurtled him up the leaderboard with those ahead destined to tumble back given the prevailing weather conditions. Alas, his round and an opportunity to improve both his pay cheque and standing on the Order of Merit, were rubbed out when the round was abandoned.
Although there are still five events remaining on the 2021/2022 schedule (NB. Now six events, following the announcement The National Golf Club will play host to The National PGA Classic from April 5-8) it’s doubtful that every player in contention for the Order of Merit exemptions on offer would have been planning to play all five with foreign tour events beckoning before the concluding tournaments in WA and the Northern Territory in April/May.
Whether the cancellation of the final round at Bonnie Doon will have a significant bearing on the final outcome remains to be seen but depending on results in the upcoming TPS Hunter Valley and NSW Open, some players may have decisions to make about their schedules over the coming months.
A card in Europe can be a life-changing opportunity and it’s one that might just come down to the last event at Palmerston – the NT PGA Championship – in May.