GAVIN NEEDS TO MAKE JOBURG OPEN CUT TO SEAL ASIAN NO. 1 TITLE
Gavin needs to make Joburg Open cut to clinch Asian Tour No. 1 title
PETALING JAYA: Gavin Kyle Green could be crowned the Asian Tour Order of Merit champion as early as on Sunday.
The Tour’s No. 1 crown looks like the 23-year-old’s to lose as he leads the season-long money list by more than US$110,000 (RM448,000) with a season’s earnings of US$572,536 (RM2.33mil) prior to the Joburg Open – the penultimate event on the Tour schedule.
The Joburg Open begins at the Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg, South Africa, today.
With closest rivals American David Lipsky ( US$ 461,179, RM1.88mil); India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia (US$440,747, RM1.79mil); and Australian Scott Hend (US$439,229, RM1.78mil) having all opted out of the US$1.2mil (RM.4.89mil) meet this week, Gavin will be looking to seal the deal and become the first Malaysian to accomplish the feat.
All Gavin needs is to make the cut and secure at least a top-60 finish to add US$3,211 (RM13,000) to his account for an unassailable lead over his pursuers.
The only other man still in with a mathematical chance to hunt down Gavin is Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai, who will be playing this week.
Phachara, the sixth- highest money earner on US$364,799 (RM1.48mil), must win and take home the winner’s purse of US$190,000 (RM774,000) to keep his hopes alive.
Next week’s season- ending US$750,000 (RM3.05mil) Indonesian Masters, from Nov 14-17, offers US$135,000 (RM550,000) in top prize.
Gavin hopes to bounce back strongly after missing the cut at the Mauritius Open last week.
He also failed to impress at the Hong Kong Open the week before.
However, he was left unpunished as his rivals also failed to make significant moves from the two lucrative events.
“The plan this week is to obviously finish as high as I can,” said Gavin ahead of his debut in the jointly-sanctioned Sunshine-EuropeanAsian Tours.
“The goal is to gain every single penny I can and move on from there. It wasn’t fun missing the cut last week but it’s time to move on.
“My game is okay. It’s pretty average but I’ve tweaked some parts of my game after Mauritius, so hopefully it peaks this week.”
There’s more than just the Order of Merit crown to play for.
Gavin also stands a chance to become only the third Malaysian after Iain Steel and Danny Chia to play in the British Open.
The Joburg Open is part of the British Open Qualifying Series where the leading three players in the top-10, who are not already exempt, will qualify for next year’s tournament proper at the Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland from July 19-22.