On the Green-back
Gavin in good position to bag Asian Order of Merit Tour win
PETALING JAYA: Gavin Kyle Green took a huge step towards a historic Asian Order of Merit Tour win after carding a fine four-under 67 to move into a joint 27th spot at the Joburg Open in South Africa.
The 23- year- old traded five birdies against a lone bogey at the Randpark Golf Club’s Firethorn Course in Johannesburg on Friday to finish the halfway stage at six-under 137.
Gavin heads into the weekend rounds eight shots behind leader Tapio Pulkkanen of Finland, who fired an eight-under 64 to lead by one ahead of India’s Shubhankar Sharma.
By making the cut, Gavin is assured of taking home US$2,350 (RM9,612).
He needs to secure just US$3,211 (RM13,000) to make history as the first-ever Malaysian to be the Asian Tour No. 1. He currently tops 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.
Gavin’s next three closest challengers, 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) have all opted out of the US$1.2mil (RM4.89mil) meet this week.
As next week’s season-ending Indonesian Masters’ winner’s purse is worth US$135,000 (RM550,000), Gavin will be uncatchable if he finishes in the top 60 this week.
But it’s more than just the Order of Merit triumph Gavin is striving for. Just three shots off the top 10, Gavin aims to make an aggressive attempt to qualify for his first Major championship appearance at 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.
“Oh my goodness, yes, making the cut will definitely ease the pressure now,” said a relieved Gavin.
“Out of the four days, today will be the toughest because you are thinking of all kinds of things.
“I’ll definitely be more aggressive now. I will fire the par fives and stick to the game plan. My hitting was a lot better than today although my scores didn’t show it.”