Ponting pupil takes charge at Australian PGA
JED Morgan will adopt the “aggressive” attitude of his mentor, former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting, in trying to land the Australian PGA title at Royal Queensland.
Morgan shot a course record eight-under 63 in Friday’s second round to lead by six shots from Andrew Dodt.
Overnight leader Louis Dobbelaar failed to improve on a first-round seven-under, shooting an even par 71 to be seven strokes adrift.
“There’s plenty of guys ahead of me that have thought about winning and gone on to win, so no reason I can’t do it,” Morgan said on the prospect of lifting the Joe Kirkwood Cup on Sunday.
A former Australian amateur champion, in 2020 he became the first golfer to earn a Sport Australia Hall of Fame scholarship.
With that came the mentorship of Ponting and Australian baseball legend Graeme Lloyd, a two-time World Series winner with the New York Yankees.
“I don’t know if I take too many words or phrases from people, but I just more take how they (Ponting and Lloyd) act,” Morgan said.
“They’re just both aggressive people, especially when they’re competing, and that’s how you’ve got to be.”
He has also taken advice from Cam Smith, the winner of last week’s PGA Tour Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
As part of the Cameron Smith Scholarship, Morgan stayed at Smith’s Florida home on a 2018 trip that also included four rounds of golf.
“As I’ve gotten to know him a little bit more, he continues just to get better with his view on things,” Morgan said of Smith.
“He doesn’t exert really much energy elsewhere apart from where it’s important, which is probably the biggest thing I’ve taken from him.”
Grace Kim, meanwhile, has emerged as Su Oh’s main challenger for the inaugural Australian WPGA title.
Kim’s second-round 68 at Royal Queensland moved her to five-under par.