Six Australasians earn Asian Tour status
Jack Thompson – file photo
Six of the 25 Australasians who teed it up on Wednesday in the 90-hole Final Stage of Qualifying for this year’s Asian Tour have gained one of the cards which went to the leading 35 players and ties at the completion of 90 holes at the Lake View Resort and Golf Club, in Hua Hin, Thailand.
South Australian Jack Thompson did best when he led the qualifiers with a total of 22 under par to win by two over China’s Zhengkai Bai and Sydney’s John Lyras.
“This is great, I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” said Thompson who had only just gained a start at the Final Stage by earning one of the last places at Stage One. “It has been a long week, I have been here for a fair few days now, it’s a relief and it’s just nice to win. There is always concern coming into an event if you can do it or not.
“I hadn’t really had the best prep coming in. I had hurt my wrist playing a shot in the Vic PGA last year so I could only hit a bucket of balls in three weeks. It slowly got better and better. Swinging the first qualifier I had no idea, then the next round I worked it out and it carried on from there. I am just super stoked.”
New Zealand’s Nick Voke needed something special in today’s final round to make it through and he was able to do just that with a round of 64 to finish 13th along with Queensland’s Douglas Klein.
Gold Coast’s Jack Murdoch finished 27th while Victorian Thomas Power Horan just managed to scrape through after earning one of the two remaining spots available after a nine man playoff.
The news was not so good for Dimi Papdatos, Queensland’s Aaron Wilkin and New Zealand’s Denzel Ieremia who agonisingly missed one of the last cards by just one shot.
A total of 77 players survived the 72 hole cut yesterday and set out today to gain one of the 35 Tour Cards on offer for the 2023 season, which features 11 events in the first 14 weeks, starting with next month’s star-studded US$5 million Saudi International Powered by SoftBank Investments Advisers.
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